Hostilities have resumed in the region nearly two weeks after Washington and Tehran signed an interim peace framework

The US and Iran exchanged strikes for the first time since signing an interim peace framework on June 17.

On Friday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that American forces had struck missile, drone and radar sites in Iran in response to a drone attack on the Singaporean-flagged cargo ship Ever Lovely the previous day. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had retaliated by firing at American bases in the region.

Both sides accused each other of violating the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed last week. The hostilities come as Iran and the US clash over differing interpretations of the agreement regarding the administration of the Strait of Hormuz, Israel’s military operations in Lebanon, and Iran’s frozen assets.

Protests also broke out in Beirut after the Lebanese government signed an agreement with Israel and the US in Washington. Hezbollah rejected the deal, demanding that Israel completely withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon. Hezbollah officials warned that attempts to enforce the agreement could lead to civil war.

Here are the latest developments:

Hezbollah warned the Lebanese government that it was risking “a civil war”

Protests have broken out in Beirut after the Lebanese government signed a peace agreement with Israel and the US that was rejected by Hezbollah.

People gathered in the streets waving Hezbollah and Iranian flags. Armed Hezbollah supporters rode in motorcades, while government troops were deployed across the capital and set up checkpoints.

Under the agreement signed on Friday, Israel and Lebanon affirmed “the right of each state to exist in peace” and expressed their intention to conclude a lasting peace.

Hezbollah, however, has demanded that Israel completely withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon.

Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah MP, warned that the Lebanese government would be “unable to enforce the agreement signed in Washington unless they go, with American support, to civil war.”

RT’s Ali Rida Sbeity reports from Beirut that Hezbollah and its allies view the agreement as humiliating and believe it gives Israel greater freedom to operate in the occupied parts of Lebanon.

A spy scandal, a plea deal, and maybe no jail: Bolton’s latest escape act shows how Washington protects its most connected failures

So let me get this straight. Top Iran critic, former Trump National Security Advisor, John Bolton, has successfully cut a deal on spying-related charges with the US government for $2.25 million and to have any prison time capped at five years max – after Iran got ahold of a treasure trove of top secret intelligence thanks to him? And is confident that a judge would just go along with it?

On Friday, a federal grand jury’s initial 18 charges against Bolton for unlawful transmission and retention of national defense information under the Espionage Act were whittled down to a guilty plea on a single count of illegal retention – which the feds have apparently agreed to blow off in exchange for a couple of million dollars from Bolton and maybe a little bit of prison time... or not. Don’t try this at home, kids. Unless you’re sufficiently connected to the permanent neocon Washington establishment.

It’s now up to a judge, sometime later this Fall, to decide whether Bolton will even have to do any hard time that normally accompanies such a conviction. But the plea deal is an attempt to largely put that judge in front of a fait accompli.

Look, I hate to kick a guy when he’s down. Because it’s clear that Bolton’s career has really suffered. He’s still all over every major news network despite – or maybe because of – this plea having been announced earlier this month and now finalized. Or maybe it’s his predictable willingness to slam his former boss, Trump, although Trump’s screwups since getting into war with Iran alongside Israel have largely eliminated Iran as a wedge issue between neocon critics and many of his supporters.

Bolton has been front and center, proclaiming Trump’s dealings with Iran have been disastrous, how he’s given them the upper hand, and how handing them control over the Strait of Hormuz would be a big screwup. Because in Bolton’s neocon world, the US controls the planet and dictates outcomes. Every other country is just a non-playable character.

What Bolton is less forthcoming about – not that he’s ever asked by the mainstream media, so I’ll do so here – is to what degree he himself has inadvertently helped the country that he consistently denounces in gaining the upper hand in its current dealings with Washington and Trump. Would really love to hear Bolton’s hot take on his own contributions to America’s bumbling – before he resumes railing against it. Is Iran’s strategic domination of the current administration 100% Trump’s doing? Or did Bolton’s treasure trove of intel contribute even a few percent? Iran has reportedly engaged shrinks to guide their dealings with Trump, according to Drop Site News, but how much insight did Bolton end up providing them?

The Justice Department’s indictment from October 2025 confirmed that Iran-linked hackers likely accessed classified US national defense information on Bolton’s AOL account. It alleged that he had sent emails to his wife and daughter through that account from intelligence briefings and internal discussions. Such things can reveal what the US thinks about Iran and its allies and foes, and indirectly expose sources and methods.

Meetings with foreign leaders and senior government officials included in the material kept and transmitted by Bolton can provide insight into diplomatic strategy and possibly allied positions and negotiating tactics.

Prosecutors said that Bolton had kept a diary, about 1,000 pages worth of national security gossip. He teased his family with previews of the juicy info that he was going to write up and send, like a teenager. And, boy, were they thirsty. “Diary arrived,” said one Bolton family member. “But no commentary on [Foreign Country 1] judicial system article I sent or administration sentiment on [arrest in Foreign Country 1]?” To which Bolton replied, “I’m working on it!” Meetup with the girls in the bathroom between classes!

Later, he wrote, “Stuff coming!!! Hard copy at home…” It’s not hard to imagine Iranian hackers being thrilled to hear it, at least as much as Bolton’s family members, who despite lacking the clearances necessary to handle top secret sensitive and compartmentalized information, were the recipients of several such documents, including a 24-page report on January 13, 2019, a 47-page document on September 8, 2019, and a 6-page document on September 15, 2019 after he had been fired. That last one was received by a Bolton family member who replied, “Dramatic ending.” She wasn’t talking about Bolton being dropkicked from the Oval Office, but rather how Bolton left her hanging after telling her: “Stuff coming!!!”

We really have no idea how much insight Iran managed to score from one of its top US critic’s insistence on treating state secrets like wine mom meetup fodder. We do know that he got a $2 million advance on his book based on his diary, ”The Room Where It Happened,” which sold 780,000 copies in its first week back in July 2000. The government tried to seize it through a civil suit for breach of clearance, then dropped the case in June 2021, and now they’re basically just making him pay it under the pretext of settling the criminal case. Meaning that he’ll really only be out of pocket $250,000 if the other $2 million of the $2.25 million criminal case dismissal cost are chalked up to payback for profiting from the sale of classified info owned by the government and transformed into published book form.

Seems like a small price to pay for tipping off Iran. Particularly when unlawful transmission and retention under the Espionage Act only requires a willfulness to communicate or retain and knowledge of the information’s nature – not a specific intent to harm the US.

One can only be thrilled that Bolton could end up escaping any real punishment, since it sets a precedent for any whistleblower who does far less damage with classified information than ends up tipping off Iran while publicly ranting against it. Just be sure to ask the US government for the John Bolton neocon discount.

The former Russian Defense Minister was once widely seen as a potential contender to succeed the current president

Former Russian Defense Minister and longtime confidant of President Vladimir Putin, Sergey Ivanov, has died at the age of 73, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on Friday.

Ivanov began his career in the late 1970s as a KGB officer in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, where he first met Putin. He later recalled that they shared an office during their time in the Soviet security service.

Fluent in English, he spent a decade in the KGB’s foreign intelligence branch, undertaking assignments in the UK, Finland, and Kenya, according to Russian media. Years later, Ivanov told reporters that he had also learned Swedish during his stint as a KGB operative.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ivanov joined the newly created Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) before moving to the Federal Security Service (FSB). There, he rose to become deputy director under Putin, who headed the agency in the late 1990s.

During that period, Russia was hit by a series of major terrorist attacks carried out by Chechen Islamist militants – events that preceded the Second Chechen War. Amid the conflict, Ivanov was appointed secretary of Russia’s Security Council.

He served as defense minister from 2001 to 2007, overseeing the early stages of a sweeping military reform aimed at building a more professional armed force by expanding contract service and reducing reliance on conscription.

Ahead of Russia’s 2008 presidential election, Ivanov was widely seen as one of the leading contenders to succeed Putin at the end of the president’s second term, alongside Dmitry Medvedev. Ivanov, however, repeatedly dismissed speculation about presidential ambitions.

After Putin endorsed Medvedev’s candidacy, Ivanov backed the nomination. Following Medvedev’s election victory, Putin became prime minister, with Ivanov serving as deputy prime minister.

When Putin returned to the presidency in 2012, Ivanov was appointed head of the presidential administration, a position he held until 2016.

For the last decade, Ivanov served as Putin’s special representative for environmental protection and ecology before stepping down in February.

Outside politics, Ivanov was an avid basketball fan with a passion for ballet and classic rock, particularly The Beatles and Pink Floyd, as he said in interviews with Russian media.

No details of Ivanov’s funeral have been announced, although Russian media have suggested he may be laid to rest in his native St. Petersburg.

Politics may freeze relations, but the draft still knows where the talent is – and Russian teenagers are again forcing North America to pay attention

This weekend the National Hockey League (NHL) Draft takes place in Buffalo, New York, and the business of sport will outplay geopolitics. Since the 1970s Summit Series, the Transatlantic and Transpacific dialogue between North America and Russia hinged on ice hockey. Then, pro teams in the US and Canada looked covetously upon the Soviet Union’s Big Red Machine and dreamed of ‘freeing’ goalie Vladislav Tretyak and winger Valeri Kharlamov from communism. However, the capitalism then, of using up and disposing of men is very different now, where teens become millionaires in a matter of minutes.

The youngsters from Russia about to be drafted into the biggest hockey league in the world expect to earn millions and never have to work a day in their lives once they retire. After 21 Russians were selected in the 2025 draft, the fourth-highest total by nation, what names should you be looking out for in the biggest sports event this Friday and Saturday in North America?

Top of the Pile

With the top pick, the Toronto Maple Leafs will grab top rated Canadian left winger – his position not his politics – Gavin McKenna. The volatile Yukon teen plays college hockey with Penn State and shot the lights out last year. Despite criminal misdemeanor charges pending against him for a brutal street fight, he is NHL box office. While the top-10 will be filled out with North American and Nordic players, a Latvian defenseman, Alberts Smits, going early will push our first Russian way up in the picking order. 

Nikita Shcherbakov (18), a big, bruising left-sided defender might be the first Russian name called out. Boston’s Bruins desperately need a ‘killer’ in the back line and the 6’5” boy from Salavat Yulaev Ufa fits their bill. The Bruins, with the 23rd pick, know he is close to being ‘NHL Ready’ having already played in the Continental Hockey League (KHL).

In any case, the Chelyabinsk native’s name will be called in the 1st or 2nd rounds, with the Pittsburgh Penguins waiting to catch him with the 7th pick of the 2nd round.

High up on the draft board will be Ilya Morozov (17), who made history last year when he became the youngest college hockey player in US history when he took to the ice for Miami University (Ohio). Ilia left Moscow for Chicago aged 14 to play for the Tri City Storm of the US Hockey League. After starring for their affiliate team, the Windy City Storm, he bagged 11 goals and 11 assists for the main team, before his talent shone brighter in the NCAA.

Eight goals and 12 assists in 36 games doesn’t sound like Ovechkin or Gretzky numbers, but when you factor in his age, the 6’3” monster two-way Center with sensitive hands, is only going to get better.

He’s not NHL ready yet, but the team that gets him now will have a playmaking, goal machine in 2028-29. He’s a 1st round pick with the Ottawa Senators, Calgary Flames, and New York Rangers all looking at him.

Stars in the making

Gleb Pugachyov (18), a right winger from Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, is like one of those horses who wake up late in a race and start a hard gallop a mile out from home. He’s strong, skillful, can pass, and score. NHL insiders didn’t see him as more than a late round (rounds 6 or 7) pick, until he was thrown into KHL action this January.

A European scout from the Detroit Red Wings told me that “he’s got tremendous upside and is almost NHL ready. A year of seasoning here [North America] in AHL and he’ll be a starter in two years.” If that valuation holds, Gleb will go by the end of the 2nd round. The Seattle Kraken, Red Wings, and San Jose Sharks like the look of him.

Alexei Vlasov (18) was talked about as a surefire in the first two rounds only a few months ago. He’s played in the brutal Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and has committed to the University of Connecticut, but the tough left winger from Yekaterinburg is underestimated due to his height. NHL clubs who still believe that size matters.

Fast, clever, durable, aggressive, he’s a typical Russian skater with a bit of Canadian cruelty [towards opponents]. A former colleague who works with the Charlottetown Islanders, a QMJHL club called him “one of the purest scorers for his age.” He noted that a couple of years of NCAA hockey would help him mature and that “whoever picks him is getting a 50 point per season player.” Alexei might well sneak up into the 3rd or even 2nd rounds.

Lavrenti Gashilov (18) is an undersized center who loves to score goals. The Automobilist Yekaterinburg star knows where the goal is and has a maturity well beyond his years. The Urals region is a hotbed for talent, with factory towns and industrial cities relying on hockey for escaping reality one season at a time.

Despite dozens of ‘better’ players in his position up for grabs, NHL clubs recognize his puck handling, intelligence, grit, and vision. The Utah Mammoth want him as a development project, which means dropping to the 3rd or even 4th rounds.

Net Gains

Russian shotstoppers have a superb reputation that began with Vladislav Tretyak. The exposure to football, the kickball kind, gives Russian and, indeed, European netminders a bigger set of tools to work with. Over a decade ago, Tretyak told me that North American keepers are as good technically as their European counterparts, but that the best European was better than the best North American.

Now that the scene has been set, who are the two Russian goalies who might encourage NHL clubs to take a chance on them between their pipes?

Dmitri Borichev and Yegor Rybkin, both 18, are the consensus best non-North American stoppers, but there’s a but. Two of the top ‘North Americans’ are Czechs plying their trade in junior hockey there. The Russians are better, in principle, than them or even highly touted American Brady Knowling, but NHL clubs are risk adverse and will go local.

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl’s Borichev, from Vologda – the home of Russia’s Santa Claus, is a fine player and will be let ripen in Russia for a couple of years, regardless of being picked. The no longer ‘mighty’ Anaheim Ducks could grab him in the 3rd round if the Edmonton Oilers don’t draft him in the 2nd. He will be the 2nd goalie taken, this is a certainty.

Rybkin is a 6’7” giant who fills the net, but NHL clubs worry that his relative inexperience outweighs his gymnastic ability. The Tampa Bay Lightning are considering using their 3rd round pick on him, though the St. Louis Blues are waiting in the 4th if he’s still available.

There is a wild card in the pack of Russian goalkeepers, though. At 6’3”, Samara’s Stepan Shurygin (18) bears an interesting similarity to Tretyak’s style of play and has put himself back on the draft boards of at least 8 clubs, one of whom just won the Stanley Cup. The Carolina Hurricanes received “positive reports” about him and feel he’s worth a 4th round (105th overall) selection. If Rybkin, currently with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League, goes to the Raleigh-based outfit, he could be getting game time in a couple of seasons.

Best of the rest

Alan ShaikhlIslamov (18), who can play on either wing, and Matvei Kotkov (17), who’s capable of playing anywhere in the front 3, are top class prospects whose versatility goes against them.

Alan, currently contracted to Salavat Yulaev Ufa, is a natural born scorer with a verve that excites crowds. But that’s not important for NHL clubs, who don’t seem to appreciate what he can offer and leave it until the 3rd of 4th rounds to take him, with the Winnipeg Jets most likely to be that team.

Matvei has a double disadvantage: versatility and size. This youngster, who is with KHL champs Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, would be a 2nd round steal for a General Manager with a set of pucks and backbone, though sadly the NHL has few long-term thinkers, or even thinkers, running clubs. Matvei could go in rounds 6 or 7, but like 6-7, he will grow and grow, and end up being the standout of Russia’s 2026 class.

Boston, New Jersey, and Las Vegas are looking to take Yaroslav Fedoseyev (18), a defenseman, later on in the draft. His Belye Medvedi (White Bears) team coaches say that he’s dedicated to his craft, butt here’s a chance he might not get drafted at all. Personally, he’s a 5th rounder.

Another right-sided defender, Vsevolod Matveyev (18), is quality but NHL clubs worry about his lack of offensive production. Currently with Spartak Moscow juniors, the Detroit Red Wings like him and plan on letting him marinate for a year in the KHL after taking him in the 5-7 rounds.

In with a chance

A pair of Egors, forwards Shilov and Barabanov, have interested NHL scouts enough to have them picked in rounds 3-5. At 20, Barabanov is one of the oldest Russians in this year’s draft and was overlooked the last two years. Having put up 91 points for the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit this season, he decided to go to college and play for the University of Massachusetts. The speedy sharpshooter from St. Petersburg has interest from the L.A. Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Shilov (18), from the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres, is a proper wildcard. He could be the first Russian picked this year, or he could fall to the 4th round. He can score, assist, and play with great grace, but he’s described as “too intelligent” for the NHL. He’s committed to play college hockey with Penn State next year, though the Chicago Blackhawks might make him an offer he can’t refuse.

Russian rookies will arrive into an NHL where the overall salary cap is set to rise this year and next. While most of those drafted will stay with their junior, college, or KHL clubs for another year or two, they could be earning close to a million dollars a year when they begin NHL play.

By Sunday morning, we’ll know just how accurate these predictions have been and just who is on the road to being the next Ovechkin or Tretyak.

The fatally stabbed UK student was treated as the suspect after his murderer misled police

Newly released police footage shows the man convicted of murdering British student Henry Nowak repeatedly telling officers he had been the victim of a racist attack – claims a judge later ruled were entirely false. The recording comes weeks after bodycam video showing police handcuffing the dying 18-year-old sparked nationwide outrage over the officers’ response. 

Nowak was stabbed to death in Southampton last December after being confronted by Vickrum Singh Digwa, a 23-year-old Sikh from the city. Digwa was convicted of murder last month and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years after the court rejected his account of the attack. 

Published by the Crown Prosecution Service for the first time on Friday, the recording captures Digwa giving officers the account he maintained after the stabbing. He is heard repeatedly claiming that he had been “racially attacked,” alleging the student had pulled off his turban while never telling officers he had stabbed him. He continued making those claims as officers arrested him on suspicion of attempted murder. Unlike Nowak, Digwa was not restrained. 

The killer of student Henry Nowak was never handcuffed by police, newly released video shows

🔗: https://t.co/KqEVYvz3kS pic.twitter.com/LOfCavXBkZ

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) June 26, 2026

Elsewhere in the recording, Digwa claimed he had been “literally just walking” when Nowak barged into him. He told officers he could smell alcohol on the student, continuing to portray himself as the victim. 

Bodycam footage showed officers handcuffing Nowak, who was lying on the ground and repeatedly telling them he had been stabbed and could not breathe. He was dragged across gravel, placed under arrest for assault, and left in handcuffs as he lost consciousness and drowned in his own blood. 

The court heard Digwa stabbed Nowak five times, including a fatal wound to the heart, before hiding the student’s mobile phone in his pocket. Although practicing Sikhs are legally permitted to carry a small ceremonial blade known as a kirpan, prosecutors said the murder weapon was a much larger knife that Digwa carried alongside his kirpan.  

Nowak’s father said his son “did not die with dignity” and described the police treatment as “inhumane and degrading.”  

The police response to the killing sparked protests and unrest in Southampton, where 25 people were later charged with violent disorder. Hampshire Constabulary is under investigation over officers’ handling of the incident. 

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the case was “proof, if ever there was any,” that Britain was “living in a two-tier culture” where “the rights and privileges of white people matter less than those of ethnic minorities.” 

The killing has reignited debate in Britain over policing, immigration, and violent crime, with critics arguing that police and politicians prioritize policing speech, protests, and “hate incidents” while failing to get dangerous blades and violent offenders off the streets. It has also renewed scrutiny of the country’s long-running knife crime crisis. 

Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised Nowak’s family at the time for showing “extraordinary dignity” after their son’s life was “stolen in appalling circumstances” and acknowledged there were “serious questions to answer.” However, he condemned the unrest as “disgraceful and completely unacceptable.”

CENTCOM has accused Tehran of violating an interim peace deal after a cargo ship was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz

The US has conducted airstrikes in Iran for the first time since a preliminary peace agreement was signed on June 17.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said American aircraft struck missile sites, drone storage facilities and radar installations on Friday in response to a drone attack on the Singaporean-flagged commercial vessel M/V Ever Lovely in the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier.

“The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire,” CENTCOM said in a statement on X.

Iranian media reported that explosions were heard on Sirik Island, in the southern province of Hormozgan. IRIB, citing a source, said that two projectiles struck a telecommunications tower near Sirik.

Iranian media, citing a military source, reported that warning shots had been fired hours earlier toward what the source described as “violating vessels” in the Strait of Hormuz. 

Iranian media also reported that warning shots had been fired hours earlier at what a source described as “violating vessels” in the Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier on Friday, Trump blamed Iran for carrying out a drone strike on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, calling it a “foolish violation.”

Although Iran has not claimed responsibility for the attack on the Ever Lovely, the country has said that only Iran and Oman can “define the future administration and maritime services” in the strategic waterway.

“Safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz cannot be guaranteed under ambiguous arrangements, parallel routes or decision-making that does not take Iran’s role as a coastal state into account,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X.

The resumption of hostilities comes at a delicate time, as the US and Iran are discussing the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed last week. The sides have put forward conflicting interpretations of the agreement, clashing over the administration of the Strait of Hormuz, the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, and Israel’s military operation in Lebanon.

Romania’s last-minute snub exposed the hypocrisy of a system that preaches fairness while punishing teenage athletes for their passports

As a former international athlete, seeing your flag raised or hearing your anthem play is a nice bonus. Ultimately you compete for yourself, and win or lose you do it for yourself too. Yes, family, club, coach, friends, pets, nation etc., are important, but so long as you’re treated the same as those you’re up against, you can go and give it your best shot. However, after interviewing Russians since 2019 who saw their flag and anthem banned, I asked myself – what if when I competed, the Irish flag and anthem was banned?

It’s Groundhog Day and the sports world is marching to the beat of the anti-sport drum yet again. Despite ruling that Russian and Belarusian athletes be treated as equals, a Romanian city hosting a sports event for females decided the best way to empower young women was to humiliate them.

Acting against the spirit of sport and committing a major rule violation, the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca told the Russian Gymnastics Federation (RGF) that their national flag and anthem would not be allowed at the World Challenge Cup this weekend. The move, made verbally so as to circumvent sanction, according to one Russian official, goes against a ruling last month by the global governing body World Gymnastics (WG).

In an effort to use sports to increase dialogue and normalize international contact, WG are one of 12 Olympic governing bodies who ruled Russia’s and Belarus’ flags and anthems can return to the arena. The move on Friday by the Romanians was greeted by shock and anger within the Russian rhythmic gymnastics community – a move that pushed Russia to take a stand.

The Russian team refused to take part due to a “gross violation of the competition regulations by the organizers of the competition,” according to federation press attaché Linar Ginatullin. The decision was “appreciated” by WG, according to reports.

Ginatullin confirmed, in a media release on Friday, that the event organizers “verbally notified” Moscow that Russia’s flag and anthem would not be seen or heard in the arena if any Russians were to win.

An RGF official from a regional committee told of the “betrayal” felt by the Russian rhythmic gymnastics community. “These girls train so hard to represent their country and then are told, right as they are going to compete, the rules don’t apply to you, you’re not worthy of this,” she said, pointing out that the way the information was given showed “extreme cowardice” and designed to “cover” the organizers from WG sanction.

“They make it look [like] capricious Russians don’t take part,” she asserted.

It wasn’t only Russia that was feeling confused and annoyed. A number of national federation officials were disappointed that Russia pulled out, but equally disappointed by the organizers. And they pointed out that Kiev has pushed western nations into acting against the interests of the sport and sportswomen.

A Spanish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “It is no longer about sports. The Russians, Belarusians too, are strong and in this [Challenge Cup] series are winning a lot. The Ukrainians have lobbied many [other nation’s] officials to refuse even these girls to compete.”

Following WG’s ruling in May, Russian and Belarusian athletes competed under their own flags and anthems in the World Challenge Cup series second round (of three) in Beijing. With just the Romanian stop of the series left, Russia had four golds, and three silvers and bronzes. Belarus nabbed a silver and bronze. 15-year-old Russian starlet, Sofia Ilteriakova, in her debut senior season, was tipped to keep ahead of Chinese rival Wang Qi and add to her two golds, two silvers, and bronze won in Challenge Cup events in 2026.

Ufa-born Ilteriakova, who has become a darling of gymnastics fans, was the subject of unwarranted abuse and attacks by Ukrainian officials and online trolls when she was overcome with winning silver in her first major international event, the first World Cup series event in Sofia, Bulgaria, and faced the wrong way as the Ukrainian anthem was played.

Watching the video of the child looking more than a little lost as the Ukrainian anthem is played, anyone with a brain can see that she was poorly advised or directed by officials on what to do.

Ukraine’s gymnastics federation demanded that the youngster be stripped of her medal and banned for disrespecting the “state symbol” of Ukraine. WG, in giving her a warning to be careful in future, pointed out that they themselves needed to “clarify the protocol” of awards ceremonies.

This moment, according to the Spanish official, has been used as a stick to beat Russia’s back, but it has repercussions for the young girls in competition.

“It’s disappointing for our girls,” the Spanish official noted, “they want to compete [against] the best. They [the gymnasts] are all young girls, highly competitive, but young girls. They said ‘It could be our flag next’.”

Ukraine, with the support of some EU nations, has used every means to ‘other’ Russia, Russians, and even those of Russian-origin. The stink raised by Ukrainian media and some western outlets when Russia-born German gymnast Darja Varfolomeev dared to post pictures on her Instagram of her competing in Crimea in 2021, when she was just 14, forcing her to delete the ‘offending’ material, was instructive. Nobody cared when she was just another competitor, but when she won Olympic individual all-around gold and Ukraine’s medal hope Taisiia Onofriichuk severely under-performed to finish 9th, Darja was subjected to an onslaught of hate.

Politics should have no place in sports, but they have. Using politics, social media, and threats to defeat opponents, rather than in the arena, is not sport. It’s what sports are meant to get rid of. Sadly, too many European nations seem hell-bent on preventing a normalization of communication between people, while claiming that Israel, the US, and other favored nations must be allowed to compete to… normalize communication between people.

The final round of the rhythmic gymnastics World Cup is scheduled for Milan next month. On Friday, WG officials would not be drawn as to whether the Italian organizers would ensure Russian athletes would be treated like their fellow competitors, or what sanctions the organizers in Romania would face for their violation of WG rules.

Chances are, those who took the decision to break the rules are sitting in Brussels, and have confirmed that funding for the event will be released and nobody will face proscription for not allowing young Russian girls take part in a sports event.

The chain of earthquakes that shook the planet this week was violent and tragic, but can be explained

A string of powerful earthquakes struck different parts of the world on Wednesday, prompting speculation over whether the events could be connected. While seismologists say they were not, the unusual cluster has raised questions about how earthquakes are linked, why some occur in pairs, and what terms such as “seismic doublet” and “earthquake swarm” actually mean.

What happened?

The week’s most devastating seismic event struck Venezuela, where two powerful earthquakes measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 hit just 39 seconds apart near the country’s northern coast, killing hundreds of people and causing widespread destruction.

Hours later, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck off northern Japan, followed by a magnitude 5.6 tremor in northern California. Several smaller earthquakes were also recorded near the Philippines and Papua New Guinea.

Most of the earthquakes shown on the map occurred along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped belt around the Pacific Ocean that accounts for about 90% of the world’s earthquakes. Venezuela, however, lies outside the Ring of Fire, with its earthquakes occurring on the boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates.

The language of earthquakes

The rare back-to-back shocks that hit Venezuela are considered a “seismic doublet,” one of the terms seismologists use to describe how earthquakes occur and how they may relate to one another.

A seismic doublet refers to two earthquakes of similar strength occurring close together in time and location.

An aftershock is a smaller quake that follows a larger one as the crust adjusts after the initial rupture. Aftershocks can continue for days, weeks or even longer.

An earthquake swarm is a series of quakes in one area without one clearly dominant mainshock. Swarms are different from a mainshock-aftershock sequence because there may be no single obvious “main” event.

Another important concept is stress transfer. The term refers to changes in stress caused by one earthquake that can increase the likelihood of another occurring on a nearby fault. But this phenomenon usually applies over much shorter distances, not across continents or oceans.

Were Wednesday’s tremors linked?

The timing prompted speculation on social media that the earthquakes on different sides of the world could be related. However, experts say there is no evidence of a global seismic chain reaction.

Russian geophysicist Pyotr Shebalin, director of the Institute of Earthquake Prediction Theory and Mathematical Geophysics at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Ren TV that the Venezuelan and Japanese earthquakes were “pure coincidence” and that there was “no pattern” connecting the two events.

According to Shebalin, the Venezuela earthquake was not unexpected because the country lies on the boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates, a well-known seismic zone. Japan is also located on active plate boundaries, but the two countries belong to different tectonic systems and involve different fault mechanisms, making a direct connection between the earthquakes unlikely.

US experts have reached the same conclusion. Martin Hudson, an adjunct professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), told The Guardian that “if you look at the last 100 years of earthquakes, we’ve never seen earthquakes this far apart be related.”

Why did they happen on the same day?

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that several million earthquakes occur worldwide each year, although the vast majority are too small to be felt. On average, about 15 reach magnitude 7.0-7.9 – classified as major earthquakes – while roughly one exceeds magnitude 8.0, a category known as a great earthquake. Such figures illustrate why clusters of powerful earthquakes can occasionally occur by chance, even if they are not physically related. 

“Earthquakes happen every day all over the world. Most of them happen far from people,” William Barnhart, assistant coordinator for the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, told The Guardian. He described this week’s sequence as “a very peculiar day,” rather than evidence of a global seismic chain reaction.

Can scientists predict the next major earthquake?

No. Scientists can identify high-risk zones, monitor fault lines, estimate long-term probabilities, and track aftershocks after a major event. But they cannot predict the exact time, place, and magnitude of the next major earthquake.

The best they can do is assess risk and issue warnings after a quake has already happened, such as tsunami alerts or aftershock forecasts.

The inability to predict earthquakes has real-world consequences. The twin earthquakes in Venezuela struck on Battle of Carabobo Day, one of the country’s most important national holidays, when official ceremonies, parades, and commemorative events were taking place across the country. Had scientists been able to forecast the exact time and location of the quakes, many of those gatherings could have been postponed or people evacuated.

Yerevan may gain trade and access, but its outreach to Ankara risks pulling the South Caucasus into a deeper East-West clash

The normalization of Armenia-Türkiye relations has become one of the central political processes in the South Caucasus. Beneath talk of reopening the border and restoring trade and transport routes lies the question of Armenia’s foreign policy path and reliances in the region’s new reality.

At first glance, this looks like a natural attempt by two neighbors to break out of a deadlock that has lasted for decades. The Armenia-Türkiye border has been closed since 1993, and diplomatic relations have never been established. Historical wounds, mistrust, and political restrictions have piled up for years.

Yet this process cannot be separated from its wider geopolitical setting. Armenia traditionally relied on Russia as its main military, political, and economic partner. Surrounded by conflict with Azerbaijan, a closed border with Türkiye, and constant vulnerability, Yerevan looked to Moscow as a pillar of security. Russia was a core element of Armenia’s security system.

Same goal, different agendas

After Nikol Pashinyan came to power, the new authorities started speaking of closer ties with the European Union. Diplomatically phrased as diversification and greater independence, in reality it means reducing ties with Russia while moving toward Western centers of influence.

Ankara is a NATO member, a major Western partner, and a key player in the South Caucasus. Armenia’s rapprochement with Türkiye therefore goes beyond the bilateral and becomes part of a broader route leading Armenia toward Western Europe and Euro-Atlantic structures.

Armenia’s desire for more economic opportunities and stable relations with its neighbor is understandable. How this process is being used, however, is a problem. If normalization serves peace and trade, it could benefit the whole region. But if it becomes a mechanism for sharply pulling Armenia away from Russia, the South Caucasus may gain not stability but another line of confrontation.

For Ankara, normalization is part of a broader regional strategy as well. Türkiye wants to strengthen its role in the South Caucasus, expand transport routes, strengthen economic links, and reinforce its position as a key regional power. An open border with Armenia could support all of that.

At the same time, Ankara is acting carefully. It has no interest in turning normalization into a new source of friction with Russia. Turkish policymakers understand that every move in the South Caucasus has consequences well beyond the bilateral agenda. Türkiye and Russia have built a pragmatic relationship over many years. They do not agree on everything, but they have learned to manage differences through diplomacy, trade and energy ties.

That is why Türkiye is handling Armenia with caution. Ankara does not want dialogue with Yerevan to damage its practical relationship with Moscow. For Türkiye, the value of normalization lies not in building another anti-Russian platform, but in opening space for trade, transport, and diplomacy. A stable South Caucasus serves Turkish interests far better than one split into new blocs and new confrontation lines.

A gradual process

After the second Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020, this process accelerated. At the end of 2021, Armenia and Türkiye appointed special representatives for talks – Ruben Rubinyan for Yerevan and Serdar Kılıç for Ankara. Their first meeting took place in Moscow in January 2022. By February, direct flights between Yerevan and Istanbul had resumed. Further meetings in Vienna addressed practical issues such as border opening, people-to-people contacts, air cargo, and transport links.

In summer 2022, the two sides agreed to open the land border for third-country nationals and diplomatic passport holders. Work also began on launching direct air cargo. These looked like technical steps, but in reality such measures often prepare the ground for larger political change. Once flights resume, border infrastructure is discussed, and crossing procedures are drafted, diplomacy moves into practical spheres.

In 2023, the devastating Türkiye-Syria earthquake created another opening. Armenia sent rescuers and humanitarian aid, which crossed the long-closed border. Later, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan visited Ankara. The trip was a humanitarian effort, but it signaled that Yerevan was ready for direct engagement with Ankara even without formal diplomatic relations.

In 2024, talks became more specific. Special representatives met near the Margara-Alican checkpoint and discussed border infrastructure, visa procedures, crossing mechanisms, and transport opportunities.

In 2025, Pashinyan visited Istanbul and met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Later, contacts continued on international platforms. Another meeting of the special representatives took place in Yerevan. They discussed restoration of the Gyumri-Kars railway, electricity links, the Ani bridge, expanded air routes, and further simplification of border crossings. By now, the dialogue has become systematic rather than episodic.

Yerevan blames Moscow for its troubles

Recent elections in Armenia may accelerate this course. The authorities can claim their foreign policy line has public backing, giving Pashinyan more room to present normalization with Türkiye as a path out of isolation and toward Europe. But alongside that, Armenia is steadily moving away from Russia, despite Russia’s long-standing role as its main regional support.

The Karabakh issue remains especially sensitive. After Armenia’s defeat in the second Karabakh war, Pashinyan’s camp increasingly framed the crisis as the result of insufficient Russian support. The idea took hold in parts of Armenian society that Moscow had failed to act decisively or provide protection. This interpretation shifted attention away from domestic mistakes, the army’s condition, weak governance, and diplomatic miscalculations, placing the blame on an outside partner.

That picture is incomplete. Russia repeatedly tried to support a political settlement, worked to secure ceasefires, acted as mediator, and after the war deployed peacekeepers. The effectiveness of certain decisions can be debated, but it is hard to deny that Russian diplomacy spent years trying to prevent the conflict from ending in total collapse.

After the defeat, however, Yerevan increasingly looked for external explanations. It was easier to blame Moscow than to confront painful questions about Armenia’s own institutions, strategy, and planning. This became politically useful for pro-Western forces long pushing for a sharper turn away from Russia. The more irritation with Moscow grew, the easier it became to justify closer ties with the EU, NATO, and Türkiye.

Gambling on Western support

But the key question remains: is Armenia receiving real security guarantees in return, or only diplomatic encouragement? Western capitals can speak at length about a European future for Yerevan. But are they ready to take responsibility for Armenia’s security in the event of another crisis? Are they prepared to defend a country located in one of the region’s most difficult environments, between Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Georgia? The answer remains uncertain. In the end, replacing difficult but tested relations with Russia by expectations of Western support is a risky gamble.

Russia’s own position on Armenia-Türkiye normalization is more nuanced than it is often portrayed. Moscow does not oppose the opening of communication routes or lower tensions between the two. On the contrary, it has repeatedly supported peace, stability, and the unblocking of transport links. From Moscow’s perspective, open communications can improve the well-being of all countries in the South Caucasus and benefit regional players, including Russia, Türkiye, and Iran.

This was underlined again in June, when the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Moscow welcomes the normalization. It stressed that Russia and Türkiye share an interest in a peaceful and predictable South Caucasus and that this can be advanced through joint efforts in the regional ‘3+3’ format. For Moscow, normalization between Yerevan and Ankara is not a problem in itself.

If normalization is tied to regional stability, economic cooperation, and open communications, it can serve everyone’s interests. Armenia could reduce its isolation. Türkiye could strengthen its role as a regional hub. Russia could preserve its logistical and economic presence. Iran could benefit from a more connected South Caucasus.

Yerevan’s choice

The danger begins when normalization is used not as a path to regional balance, but as a tool of geopolitical separation. Moscow may support peace between Armenia and Türkiye, but it will naturally be concerned if the process is used to push Russia out of the South Caucasus or to turn Armenia into a platform for Western pressure. Türkiye seems to understand this risk too. That is why Ankara’s approach is careful. It wants progress with Yerevan, but not at the cost of disrupting the pragmatic balance it has built with Moscow.

This is the central challenge of Pashinyan’s current line. Under the banners of openness, normalization, and European choice, Armenia risks turning into another pressure point in the post-Soviet space. If Yerevan uses rapprochement with Türkiye not only for peace and trade, but also to distance itself from Moscow, it may become a foothold in the broader confrontation between the West and Russia. For outside actors, that may be useful, but for Armenia, it could create new dangers.

Moscow recognizes that Western actors in the post-Soviet space are turning every ostensibly neutral partnership into a move for influence. They portray every loosening of ties with Russia as liberation, while every effort to maintain balance is cast as dependence on the past. But for countries like Armenia, the issue should be framed more soberly. What is important is not who speaks more attractively about the future, but who can actually provide security, stability, and predictability.

Today, Yerevan faces a difficult choice. One path involves careful normalization with Türkiye while preserving strategic balance and strong ties with Russia. The other leads toward an accelerated Western turn, political distancing from Moscow, and the hope that Europe and NATO can replace Armenia’s old security foundations. Judging by recent steps, Pashinyan increasingly favors the second option.

But the South Caucasus is too fragile for abrupt experiments. If Armenia-Türkiye normalization is used to turn Armenia into a new front in the confrontation between the West and Russia, the region may gain another zone of tension instead of long-awaited peace.

That is why the Armenia-Türkiye dialogue today needs not only diplomatic support, but also a sober assessment of its consequences. An open border could become a road to development. It must not become one to new confrontation.

New Delhi’s UN ambassador has called incomplete the protection of children without accountability

India has raised concern about the repeated targeting of children during armed conflicts, demanding that those committing such crimes be held accountable.

Stressing that education is a right that should endure even in times of conflict, Indian Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Harish Parvathaneni said “education is a right whose fulfilment is among the most powerful contributions to lasting peace.”

He pointed out that “protection of children without accountability is incomplete.”

Under international humanitarian law, a deliberate attack on a school amounts to a war crime.

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday it may never be known who was at fault for a deadly strike on a girls’ school in Iran on February ‌28, the opening day of the US-Israeli strikes on the country, that killed more than 120 students aged 6-13 and 26 teachers.

The US initially tried to blame the Iranian military for the bombing of the school in Minab in southern Iran. But an internal US military investigation showed American forces were likely responsible for the fatal strike, Reuters reported.

📹 India At UNSC: Those Targeting Schools With Impunity Must Be Held Accountable

Ukraine is accused of targeting a bus carrying Belarusian school kids, while the US has been accused of carrying out the devastating strike in Minab. pic.twitter.com/BQZCmqHyWp

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) June 26, 2026

Ukrainian drones targeted a dormitory and school at night in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic on May 22, while students were sleeping inside. The building partially collapsed, leaving 21 people dead, mainly teenage girls.

Kiev targeted a bus carrying 44 people, 28 of them children, in Russia’s Bryansk last week. Those on board were members of a Belarusian youth sports team. 

Following the attack Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of “hunting” children.

“India remains unwavering in its commitment to protecting children in armed conflict and to upholding their right to learn, to grow, and to realize their full potential,” Parvathaneni added.

The Indian permanent representative’s remarks came after the UN Secretary General released a report on ‘Children and armed conflict.’

The report noted that violations against children in armed conflicts reached “shocking levels” in 2025, and a record number of children were affected, a PTI report said.

It said in conflict scenarios, parties “failed to uphold or proactively undermined their obligations… and continued to commit grave violations with near-total impunity.”

Beijing has proposed an initiative which is aimed at boosting regional connectivity

Beijing has proposed an economic corridor which would link China and Bangladesh as well as Myanmar.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman discussed the regional connectivity project during the latter’s first official visit to Beijing, on Friday.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry communique on Xi’s meeting with Rahman said China “stands ready to work with Bangladesh to carry out high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.”

It added that Beijing is ready to cooperate to “advance the development of the China-Myanmar-Bangladesh Economic Corridor for greater regional connectivity.”

Reuters reported that the corridor would connect China’s Yunnan Province with the two countries.

Mahdi Amin, spokesperson for the Bangladeshi Prime Minister’s Office, said Xi and Rahman addressed the proposed connectivity project at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

“President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman discussed connectivity in detail. A proposal was made on how an economic corridor could be developed linking Bangladesh, Myanmar, and China,” he said.

The Belt and Road Initiative, launched in 2013 by President Xi, is an infrastructure and economic development program intended to boost connectivity across Asia, Africa, and Europe through investments in railways, ports, highways, and energy projects. It is modeled on the ancient Silk Road which connected China with the Roman Empire.

Bangladesh first ⁠joined Xi’s initiative in 2016. In a joint communique issued during Rahman’s visit, China and Bangladesh have vowed to promote high-quality cooperation and work together to realize their goals of modernization.

The two leaders also announced the decision to build a China-Bangladesh community, elevating bilateral relations to a higher level.

A pact on the China-Bangladesh Mongla Port Economic Zone was also signed, during an Invest Bangladesh seminar in Beijing.

A Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor was proposed by China in 2015, as part of the Belt and Road initiative. India ignored the proposal and in 2019 Beijing dropped the idea.

Volkswagen’s cuts are a symptom of Germany’s broader industrial decline

Volkswagen is considering closing four German factories and cutting up to 100,000 jobs, Reuters has reported. Amid soaring energy costs and competition from China, the company’s profits have plummeted in recent years.

Should the cuts go ahead, Volkswagen will close factories in Hanover, Zwickau, and Emden, as well as an Audi plant in Neckarsulm, Reuters reported on Friday, citing sources within the company. These closures would result in the loss of 45,000 jobs, on top of the 50,000 layoffs agreed upon with trade unions in 2024.

Volkswagen executives will discuss the cuts at a meeting next month. According to a separate report by Germany’s Manager Magazin, the company is also weighing a 15% cut in investment over the next five years.

A spokesperson for the world’s second-largest carmaker said that they would not comment on “confidential documents,” but admitted that “the entire group, including its brands and subsidiaries, must undergo far-reaching change.”

Volkswagen employs more than 667,000 people worldwide, almost half of them in Germany. However, the company has been forced to scale back production at home since 2022, when Berlin’s decision to abandon Russian gas imports in favor of renewables and expensive American liquified natural gas (LNG) left the industry reeling from higher energy costs. The German economy has experienced two years of contraction followed by two years of sub-1% growth.

Volkswagen already closed one automobile assembly plant, in Dresden, last December – the first time it had closed a factory in Germany in its nine-decade history. BASF, Bosch, Continental, and more than a dozen other German manufacturers have closed one or more facilities over the last four years.

With energy costs eating into Volkswagen’s profits, the company’s electric vehicles are no longer able to compete with offerings from its Chinese rivals. Once the dominant automaker in China, Volkswagen now sells fewer vehicles there than domestic brands BYD and Geely. In Europe, BYD and fellow Chinese brands Chery, SAIC, and Leapmotor have all doubled their market share over the last year.

Back in Germany, Volkswagen’s internal union and the IG Metall metalworkers’ union have vowed to resist the job cuts. “Should such plans go ahead, we would do everything in our power to prevent them,” the organizations said in a joint statement on Friday.

A diplomatic dispute with Poland and questions over aid and graft have eroded support for Kiev among some EU members

The West is scrambling to shore up Kiev with fresh funding and political backing as EU leaders gather in Poland for the Ukraine Recovery Conference, billed as a key forum for rebuilding the country amid the conflict with Russia.

But instead of reconstruction, the summit has been dominated by rows over Nazi collaborators and corruption.

As the conference got underway on Wednesday, RT looked at the controversies that are eroding support for Kiev.

Pretoria maintains relations with China, Russia, and Iran in pursuit of national interests and constructive global engagement, President Cyril Ramaphosa has said

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended Pretoria’s non-aligned foreign policy during questions in Parliament. Tension with US persists over relations with China, Russia, and Iran, as well as trade.

Ramaphosa’s remarks come after US Ambassador to South Africa Leo Brent Bozell III criticized South Africa’s non-aligned foreign policy stance on X, referencing its engagements with China and Iran, including Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s visit to Beijing.

Answering questions during a National Council of Provinces (NCOP) question and answer session on Thursday, Ramaphosa said South Africa’s foreign policy is grounded in the Constitution and guided by principles of human rights, peace, multilateralism and a rules-based international order.

He said the country engages globally on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect and non-interference, adding that South Africa does not regard itself as having enemies.

”We don’t see ourselves as a country of enemies. We are a country that seeks to be at peace with all other countries and have good relations with all,” Ramaphosa said.

He said South Africa maintains diplomatic relations across different regions and political systems in pursuit of national interests and constructive global engagement, consistent with its non-aligned and strategically autonomous stance.

Ramaphosa said this approach allows the country to engage with both Western and Eastern powers, including the United States, China, Russia, Iran, and others, through bilateral and multilateral platforms aimed at dialogue, cooperation, and dispute resolution.

”This does not imply neutrality or disengagement, but rather an independent foreign policy that seeks to promote dialogue, cooperation and peaceful resolution of global challenges,” the president said.

Ramaphosa said the government will continue to engage international partners in a balanced and principled manner, including the United States, despite differences.

”Even in areas where we disagree, even in areas where we do agree, we continue to engage, because non-engagement does not serve any of us any good,” he noted.

He said South Africa values its long-standing relationship with the United States and continues cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, health, education and security.

Ramaphosa also defended South Africa’s participation in joint military exercises with various countries, saying such engagements are routine and not inconsistent with non-alignment. He said these exercises, conducted with countries including the United States, China and India, allow for the sharing of experience, capabilities and approaches to security and peacekeeping.

”We do from time to time have military or naval exercises with a number of countries, including the United States, including a number of Western countries, and countries that are in the East, India, China and many others,” Ramaphosa said.

The president said South Africa has not compromised its sovereignty or independence in its engagements, insisting that the country remains self-respecting and principled in its foreign relations. He said South Africa continues to play a constructive diplomatic role in global conflicts, including the war between Russia and Ukraine, where it maintains engagement with both sides.

”We are one of those very few countries that has been able to do a number of things to give assistance to the resolution of the conflict,” he noted, adding that South Africa is often able to engage with parties on both sides of international conflicts, and is sometimes asked to pass on messages between them.

He also stressed South Africa’s non-aligned stance allows it to engage widely on trade disputes, including tariff measures imposed by major economies.

”We have decided to turbocharge our economic diplomacy and reach out to many countries around the world with a view of establishing sustainable trade relations with them,” he said.

Ramaphosa said South Africa’s participation in international organisations such as BRICS, the United Nations, the Commonwealth and the Non-Aligned Movement is voluntary and based on national interest.

Responding to criticism that South Africa is not consistent in its approach to authoritarian states, Ramaphosa said foreign policy is guided by constitutional values but applied using different diplomatic instruments depending on context. He noted the government does not remain silent on issues of principle, particularly where human rights are concerned, including recalling South Africa’s history under apartheid.

”We will not be quiet. We will speak up,” the president said, adding that South Africa’s approach is deliberate, flexible and aimed at resolving disputes through engagement rather than confrontation.

First published by IOL

A nine-month investigation in Denmark has failed to prove that reported flying objects were actually drones

Danish police say they have found no evidence that flying objects which shut down Copenhagen Airport last year were drones, concluding a nine-month investigation into an incident initially treated as an alleged Russian attack.

Danish airports repeatedly suspended flights in September 2025 after reports of suspected drones near the airfields. Copenhagen Airport was forced to halt operations for several hours after objects were reported flying near the runway, disrupting commercial air traffic and triggering a major police investigation.

At the time, Danish authorities claimed Russia may have been behind the incidents, despite presenting no evidence. In May, Russian Ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Barbin said Copenhagen had failed to produce any proof that drones had entered Danish airspace during the alleged incursions.

Police said on Thursday they could neither prove nor disprove that drones had been operating in the vicinity of Copenhagen Airport. “We cannot demonstrate that there was drone activity in and around the airport,” Chief Police Soren Thomassen told reporters. No suspects were identified and the investigation has been closed, he said.

According to Thomassen, there was unexplained activity in the airspace that evening, but none of the evidence gathered over nine months conclusively showed the objects were drones.

Police said they had reviewed witness statements, photographs, videos, CCTV footage, radar data, and extensive records of air and maritime traffic. Despite the exhaustive inquiry, investigators were unable to establish what the objects were.

One radar detected an object traveling at around 100 kph over the Oresund Strait. However, Dutch manufacturer Robin Radar later told investigators that the bird radar installed at Copenhagen Airport was not designed to detect drones.

Danish officials claimed the alleged drone flights were carried out by a “skilled operator.” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen later escalated the rhetoric, calling the incident a “hybrid attack on critical Danish infrastructure.”

The case had begun to unravel long before Thursday’s announcement. Within hours of the airport shutdown, open-source investigators concluded that a widely circulated video appeared to show a training aircraft rather than a drone, according to Dronewatch portal. An internal memo later reportedly revealed that air traffic controllers had not observed any drones during the incident, while police acknowledged in March that the credibility of a key witness had come under scrutiny.

Earlier this week, investigators also said the first completed police probes into other alleged drone sightings reported across Denmark in the autumn of 2025 had likewise found no evidence of hostile or unauthorized drone activity.

 

The outbreak cannot be contained unless around $1.4 billion is secured, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya has said

Africa requires about $1.4 billion to respond to the ongoing Ebola outbreak, roughly three times higher than previous estimates, the continent’s autonomous health agency has said.

Earlier funding requirements for a coordinated response had been put at about $518 million, developed with the World Health Organization and other partners to support surveillance, laboratory capacity, emergency stockpiles, and rapid response teams.

Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Director-General Jean Kaseya said at a virtual press briefing on Thursday that the revised estimate reflects escalating response needs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and Uganda.

More than 300 people have been killed in DR Congo and Uganda since the outbreak linked to the Bundibugyo strain of the virus began on May 15. The Congolese Health Ministry said on Thursday that the country has recorded 1,155 confirmed cases and 304 deaths.

As of June 18, Uganda has reported 19 confirmed cases, including two deaths, as well as one probable fatal case, according to the WHO. The Bundibugyo strain currently has no approved vaccines or specific treatments.

The WHO has said the risk of wider international spread remains low after the French Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday that France has reported its first Ebola case involving a doctor who returned from a humanitarian mission in the DR Congo.

Kaseya said health systems in DR Congo, particularly in Ituri province, the epicenter of the outbreak, are under strain amid worsening humanitarian conditions. Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu have been affected for years by attacks by armed groups and fighting that has triggered mass displacement of people from their homes.

The UN humanitarian office said nearly 1 million people have been displaced by conflict in Ituri alone, making contact tracing harder as people flee attacks or move frequently through remote areas.

The Africa CDC director-general said that so far about $910 million in funding has been pledged, but only 13% has been disbursed.

“If we don’t have this $1.4 billion and if we don’t resolve the humanitarian issue, we will not stop this outbreak,” Kaseya told reporters, according to Reuters.

On Friday, China handed over $2 million in emergency support to the Africa CDC to help contain the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak and support affected member states, the agency announced.

Before Downing Street, the outgoing PM built his reputation at the CPS – where some of Britain’s ugliest scandals were buried, delayed, or erased

As Keir Starmer prepares to leave the UK’s highest office after less than two years, the media has lined up to explain why he failed to deliver on the enormous hype he received as opposition leader and during his initial months in office. A repeated trope has been that Starmer was a “decent man,” but simply not cut out for mainstream politics. However, his record of concealing the UK establishment’s repulsive crimes – be that serial child sex abuse or spy agency torture – shows him to be anything but decent.

What was the reality of Starmer’s CPS role?

Starmer’s spell as director of public prosecutions for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has been fundamental to his mythology since before he became Labour leader. It was during this time, according to The Guardian, that “Starmer transformed his reputation from that of a radical lawyer to that of a moderate and cautious administrator.” Missing from this account is any reference to how the CPS under his leadership covered up the crimes of notorious celebrity pedophile Jimmy Savile, while he was still alive.

In February 2022, Boris Johnson got in serious hot water after he accused Starmer in parliament of “prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile,” as CPS chief. Condemnation from the media and UK politicians was universal. Johnson’s personal policy chief, who’d worked for him for 14 years, resigned in protest over the then-prime minister’s supposedly libelous statements. Such was the backlash, as pressure grew so severe, that Johnson retracted his comments in a matter of three days. 

It was an extraordinarily rare example of the UK establishment moving in unanimous lockstep, to defend a single mainstream politician accused of wrongdoing. The episode was made all the more shocking by Johnson’s statement being literally true. Starmer was CPS chief when the Service made the indefensible decision to not prosecute Savile, and many aspects of that strangely downplayed and ignored scandal implicate the failed prime minister personally.

What did an inquiry say about CPS treatment of Jimmy Savile?

An internal CPS inquiry into the Savile affair was commissioned by Starmer in 2012, after it was revealed in the wake of Savile’s death that police had failed to press charges against him despite numerous witnesses credibly accusing the UK’s “national treasure” of sexually abusing and raping them when they were young girls. The inquiry found a CPS “reviewing lawyer” told investigating officers early on he “would not be inclined to prosecute these cases because they were ‘relatively minor’.”

The CPS lawyer also didn’t ask the police basic questions about the case. The inquiry report found his attitude troubling. “I would hope that any prosecutor would regard a sexual assault as being in and of itself serious,” the author stated. They found instead that “these particular assaults were far from trivial,” and “represented a course of conduct against vulnerable women and girls” by Savile, over many years. Consequently, the investigator had “reservations about the way in which the prosecutor reached his decision.”

Instead of refusing to pursue the case, the CPS had a duty “to ‘build’ a prosecution,” which its lawyers failed to fulfil. The allegations against Savile were plainly “serious and credible.” The inquiry found that “had police and prosecutors taken a different approach, a prosecution might have been possible.” These conclusions are all the more damning when you consider that all CPS files held on Savile were shredded in October 2010. 

Despite these grave criticisms, the investigator concluded, “I have seen nothing to suggest that the decisions not to prosecute were consciously influenced by any improper motive on the part of either police or prosecutors.” Which might be true, if only because all CPS files on Savile were destroyed. The report was therefore “dependent on material provided by the police to show what documents were seen by the reviewing lawyer and the advice which was given.” 

The service allegedly had “no record at all” of the case, which the inquiry claimed was due to CPS records on Savile being “automatically deleted” after a decision to take no action was made, in line with internal policies. However, the service’s publicly accessible guidelines on “disposal” of evidence clearly state documents on cases where “no proceedings have taken place or where the case was discontinued before trial” must be kept for five years. 

What role did Starmer play in Julian Assange’s persecution?

The Savile deletions were not the only example of suspiciously poor CPS recordkeeping under Starmer’s watch. In 2017, it was revealed the service deleted sensitive email exchanges about Julian Assange with Swedish prosecutors three years earlier – potentially illegally, as a criminal case was ongoing. The communications occurred from 2010 until the WikiLeaks founder sought refuge in Ecuador’s London embassy in June 2012, where he remained for almost seven years, under constant threat of CIA assassination. In 2019 British police forcibly removed him and sent him to Belmarsh, a high-security prison, where he was kept in almost total solitary confinement for five years. 

The emails were deleted by a CPS lawyer who had personally advised Swedish police not to visit London and interview Assange as he had requested, on the grounds that he feared extradition to the US from Sweden. “In my view it would not be prudent for the Swedish authorities to try to interview the defendant in the UK,” they wrote in January 2011. This sentence was redacted in emails released under Freedom of Information by the CPS, but not in files provided by Swedish authorities.

Sweden dropped its investigation into Assange in May 2017. Only later was it revealed that the case could have been closed much earlier, were it not for direct CPS intervention. Beyond advising Swedish police not to interview Assange in London, a service lawyer repeatedly sought to dissuade them from dropping their investigation outright. In August 2012, they wrote to their Swedish counterparts, “Don’t you dare get cold feet!!!”

In October 2013, Sweden’s director of public prosecutions, Marianne Ny, wrote to the CPS that due to the passage of time, and lack of evidence against Assange, “we have found us to be obliged to lift the detention order… and to withdraw the European arrest warrant.” Three days later, Ny emailed a clearly affronted CPS, apologizing over the “[bad] surprise” of moving to drop charges against Assange. “I hope I didn’t ruin your weekend,” she added. 

“All we can do is wait and see and perhaps be eternally grateful neither of us have to share a room in the embassy with him over Christmas!” the CPS lawyer responded. 

Starmer’s personal role in all this has never been adequately clarified, but he visited Washington, DC in 2011, 2012, and 2013 while he was in effective charge of the Assange case, meeting with senior US officials. True to form, all records of Starmer’s trips were quickly destroyed, contrary to CPS protocol.

How did Starmer cover for MI5/MI6 torture?

After 9/11, the CIA launched a global torture program, identifying terror suspects, abducting them and sending them to black sites all over Europe and the Middle East, before torturing bogus confessions out of them to justify the War on Terror. MI5 and MI6 were not only centrally involved in the program; the two agencies ran an autonomous joint operation using “partner” agencies in the Global South to do the torturing itself.

When these activities became public, with legal actions mounting against the state by victims of the torture program and their families, UK police launched an investigation. Vast quantities of incriminating evidence were collected. However, Starmer as CPS chief consistently vetoed bringing offenders, including senior spy agency directors, to trial despite overwhelming cases against them. First, in 2010 he ruled there was “insufficient evidence” to prosecute an MI5 officer who participated in the torture in Pakistan of a UK citizen in 2002.

Police investigations into MI5 and MI6 for torture continued. However, in January 2012 Starmer again decided not to prosecute anyone from these agencies for their role in their unlawful treatment. The next April, Starmer attended the boozy going away party of MI5 chief Jonathan Evans, the first CPS official to ever attend such an event. Evans was a counter-terror veteran who’d served as MI5 director general since 2007, and would’ve been criminally liable if the CPS had decided to prosecute MI5.

Police investigations into the torture scandal weren’t finished though. Documents seized from Libyan security service offices, abandoned in the wake of Muammar Gaddafi’s October 2011 fall, were a treasure trove. This included faxes sent in March 2004 by then-MI6 counter-terror chief Mark Allen to Libyan spies, regarding a terror suspect kidnapped along with his wife in an MI6 operation. The suspect spent six years being tortured in Libyan prisons at the agency’s direction, with MI6 providing his interrogators questions to ask. 

Overall, 28,000 pages of evidence on Allen’s involvement in torture were collected by police. In 2014 however, Starmer yet again decided this was “insufficient evidence” to prosecute the MI6 counter-terror chief, and the case was dropped. In return for a lifetime of serving the establishment and assisting directly in the commission of serious criminality – if only by signing off on coverups and politicized prosecutions of dissidents – Starmer was rewarded with an empty seat in the UK’s highest office, for only two years.

The ministry reported the interception of 660 long-range kamikaze aircraft over eight hours

Russian air defenses stopped 660 Ukrainian kamikaze drones overnight, the military said on Friday. The figure was the largest ever reported for the metric, reflecting an escalation of Western-funded strikes inside Russia.

The Russian Defense Ministry normally reports the total number of drone interceptions conducted between 10 PM and 7 AM Moscow time every day. The previous record was 556 in mid-May, while earlier this month the Russian military downed 555 Ukrainian aircraft overnight. Other standout figures since 2025 were in the 300s.

Kiev is ramping up long-range strikes against energy infrastructure as Ukrainian frontline troops suffer setbacks caused by manpower shortages and Russian weapons superiority. Ukrainian officials claim the economic damage will force Moscow to agree to a ceasefire along the current front line, and have threatened to withdraw the offer unless it is accepted soon.

Both sides are developing more affordable ways to intercept long-range drones, such as cheap interceptor aircraft, and are trying to protect their weapons from countermeasures. Ukrainian operations are supported by Western funding, intelligence gathering, and an industrial base that supplies drone components.

Russia maintains that the pressure campaign will not make it abandon its key security goals in the conflict. However, officials have suggested that Ukrainian military logistics in NATO states could be targeted in some way in response to the escalation of the drone war.