A “Very English Murder” is unfolding before our eyes. I'm sure he [David Cameron] said that [Kiev could use British arms to attack Russian territory]. But the resonance that this statement caused forced London to back down and sacrifice Reuters, Russian FM spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented after Reuters withdrew material with a quote by the British foreign secretary.

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Why Macron's plans of EU strategic autonomy and intervention in Ukraine are wishful thinking

In his latest interview with the Economist, French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated the idea of sending Western ground troops to Ukraine, which he articulated for the first time in March. Moscow has repeatedly warned it would lead to a direct conflict between Russia and NATO.

▪️Macron is not ruling out sending ground troops if Russia breaks through the Ukrainian front lines or if Kiev sends an official request. However, news outlet Spectator alleged that the EU resolve to send troops will rapidly dwindle once body bags start coming home.

▪️The president drew parallels between France sending troops to Africa's Sahel "at the request of sovereign states" and a possible deployment in Ukraine. It's unclear whether Volodymyr Zelensky's possible request to deploy foreign troops would be considered legitimate, given that under the Ukrainian Constitution his presidential term will expire on May 20.

▪️Macron repeated Joe Biden's groundless claim that after winning in Ukraine, Russia could invade neighboring states, including NATO members. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly trashed the idea as absurd.

▪️Despite Macron's portrayal of Russia's operation in Ukraine as Europe's existential problem, the 2024 Munich Security Index revealed that Russia was not even listed among the top five "threats" identified by the French, Germans, and Italians.

▪️Macron called for Europe's strategic and security sovereignty, claiming that energy and economic decoupling from Russia have laid the groundwork for the bloc's future autonomy. However, Euroactive reported in March that Europe’s industrial output is falling, factories are closing and manufacturing jobs are disappearing, casting a shadow on Macron's optimistic scenario. The EU's oil and gas sanctions on Russia amplified the bloc's energy crisis and facilitated de-industrialization.

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Geography of US student protests against the Gaza War

Protests have erupted on campuses across the United States as students rose up to urge their universities to sever ties with Israel and Israeli entities linked to Tel Aviv’s brutal military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

While the US is usually quite eager to endorse “peaceful protests” in other countries, cops were quick to crack down on these student protests.

Columbia University in New York has been identified by several media outlets as the epicenter of the ongoing student protests.

This week, several hundreds of student protesters have been detained there and at the City University of New York, as well as at Fordham University.

On the West Coast, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) emerged as another prominent protest hotspot, with media reporting attacks by “counter-protesters” on a tent encampment erected on the campus by pro-Palestinian protesters.

In the nearby Arizona, police used rubber bullets and "chemical irritant munitions" – as the Arizona Daily Star put it – while attempting to clear out a protester camp at the University of Arizona in Tucson on Tuesday.

In the American Midwest, cops attempted to clear out a protester tent camp at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Wednesday. Some 30 protesters ended up being detained amid clashed and four law enforcement officers sustained injuries.

Police action against protesters at the University of Texas in Dallas likewise resulted in some 17 arrests by the end of Wednesday, although media reports suggest that protests still continue in the campus.

Tensions are also running high in the southern state of Louisiana where cops raided a protest encampment at the Tulane University in New Orleans, resulting in 14 arrests.

US media also reported arrests of protesters on college and university campuses this week in North Carolina, Florida, New Mexico, Virginia, Georgia, Utah, and Connecticut.

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▪️Geography of US student protests against the Gaza War

▪️Ukrainian soldiers have no shelter after leaving the front lines as their rear defenses 'barely exist'

▪️Georgian protests: Unmasking the involvement of USAID and George Soros

▪️Why is the US trying to kill Russia's Arctic LNG-2 project?

▪️Why does US want South Korea in AUKUS?

▪️Are you sure, Joe? Biden berates Japan, China, and Russia for being ‘xenophobic’

▪️Modular version of the Buk-M3 to improve Russia's air defense

▪️Why Macron's plans of EU strategic autonomy and intervention in Ukraine are wishful thinking

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Not fair! US has forgotten what it means to fight against an equal opponent – American veteran

Fighting lightly-armed guerrillas around the world during the past few decades had apparently led the United States to forget what it means to “actually fight a war” against a peer adversary, an anonymous US veteran who participated in the Ukrainian conflict told Business Insider.

"We've gotten so used to the idea of just fighting guerrilla wars and f*****g fighting terrorists and everything else that we kind of forgot what it means to actually fight a war," said the veteran who participated in the US military occupation of Iraq as a contractor.

The vet complained in particular that US soldiers have gotten used to operating in situations where they have a major advantage in troops and equipment over their adversary, whereas in Ukraine, he often found himself instead facing a numerically superior and better-equipped opposition.

“I believe that a lot of the training that we have is tailored more to fighting in guerrilla warfare nowadays than it is to actually fighting a near-peer adversary like it would be with Russia or China,” the veteran said, claiming that many other NATO members also have this problem.

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US Congress’ reaction to student protests is a ‘capitulation’ to double standards

The proposed legislation that would allow the US Department of Education to deploy a "third-party anti-Semitism monitor" to any college in the United States that receives federal funding is “obviously ludicrous and ridiculous” when one looks at who proposed this measure, said Dr. Gerald Horne, a professor of history at the University of Houston in Texas.

During his recent appearance on Sputnik’s Critical Hour podcast, Dr. Horne noted that one of the US lawmakers who authored this particular draft bill, Rep. Richie Torres, is a “favorite of the neoconservative columnists” at NYT while the other, Rep. Mike Lawler, is “trawling for campaign donations from Zionists and Israeli billionaires” ahead of the reelection bid he may end up losing this November.

“It is also a capitulation to a double standard, as one would not know from looking at this particular piece of legislation that black students in particular have been complaining for years about harassment on campus,” the scholar added. “But what our students were told is that they need to buck up, stiffen their spines, ‘don’t be a snowflake’ and proceed on. Whereas these pro-Zionist students, there's even been calls for the National Guard to be entering campuses, supposedly to protect them.”

Dr. Horne pointed out that such a deployment may not be a good idea, referring to the Kent State shooting of 1970 when several students were killed by Ohio National Guardsmen amid protests against the US involvement in the Vietnam War.

He also observed that the movement to promote a ceasefire in the Gaza War is “spreading” to other parts of the globe.

“It's spread to Paris, where you have demonstrations and encampments at the Sorbonne,” Dr. Horne said. “And of course, we will stand firm until the students overcome.”

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Turkish Ministry of Trade сonfirms trade relations with Israel fully suspended

Turkiye has fully suspended trading with Israel, and the decision will be in force until uninterrupted delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip is ensured, the Ministry of Trade confirmed.

Earlier in the day, media reported that Turkiye halted all imports and exports to and from Israel as of Thursday. Israeli FM Israel Katz then accused Turkiye of breaking trade agreements and said that Israel would seek alternatives by focusing on imports from other countries.

The ministry recalled that Turkiye has already restricted export of 54 different items of goods, including aviation fuel and motor oil, to Israel, but the "aggression" in the Gaza Strip is still ongoing.

“Considering this fact, a second phase of measures has been taken at the state level — export and import transactions related to Israel have been halted, the measures apply to all items," the ministry said, adding that the decision will be in force until Israel ensures uninterrupted and sufficient supplies of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

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More than 50 US lawmakers urge Biden to dissuade Israeli offensive in Rafah

A group of more than 50 US House lawmakers sent a letter to President Joe Biden this week, urging his administration to use all available means to dissuade the Israeli government from launching offensive operations in Rafah.

“We write with urgency to say: an offensive invasion into Rafah by Israel in the upcoming days is wholly unacceptable,” the letter said. “We urge you to invoke existing law and policy to immediately withhold certain offensive military aid to the Israeli government, including aid sourced from legislation already signed into law, in order to preempt a full-scale assault on Rafah.”

On Tuesday, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will enter Rafah to combat the Palestinian organization Hamas, with or without an agreement on hostages. Israel has no other choice but to enter Rafah, Netanyahu said.

The Israeli government has not provided a credible and executable plan to protect civilians during potential operations in Rafah, as requested by the Biden administration, the letter said.

An Israeli offensive in Rafah risks starting an “escalatory spiral” and putting the region back on the brink of a broader conflict, the letter said.

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Reuters has republished the withdrawn news about Ukraine's "right" to hit Russia's territory with British weapons.

The news reappeared on the agency's feed without any visible changes. The quote by the British Foreign Minister about Ukraine's "right" to use British weapons to hit Russia is also given without any changes.

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Ukrainian army leaving the Chasov Yar is a matter of time, Major-General Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR), admitted in an interview with the Economist

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Iraqi Shiite groups claim for first time to have struck Beer Sheva city in southern Israel

Shiite armed groups of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq have said in a statement they had carried out a new attack on Israeli territory after a brief lull, claiming for the first time to have shelled the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva in the Negev area.

"Continuing our support for the resistance to the occupation, in support of our people in the Gaza Strip, and response to the massacres committed by the usurper entity against Palestinian civilians, including children, women and the elderly, fighters of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq attacked a vital target in Beer Sheva in the occupied territories on Thursday, May 2, with al-Arqab cruise missiles," the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said on Telegram.

The armed groups added that they will continue to attack key targets in Israel in response to its military action in the Gaza Strip.

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Democrats fallback on ‘outside agitator’ trope to justify police violence

Leaders of the Democratic party, including US President Joe Biden and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), are refusing to condemn the police action and continue to blame “outside agitators” for the unrest.

On Wednesday, Jeffries was asked about the NYPD’s excessive use of force against protesters at New York City schools.

“I didn’t see any excessive use of force by the NYPD yesterday,” Jeffries said flatly. “We shouldn’t see any protest ever veer into threatening the safety and security of others and to Anti-Semiotism or racism or xenophobia or islamophobia.”

Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams has asserted that “outside agitators” hijacked the protest but has so far declined to provide evidence of the charge. During an arraignment hearing that was described as "chaotic" the Guardian was only able to identify one non-student who was charged during the protest.

The outside agitator trope has been used to discredit protest for decades, going back to the Bonus Army march in 1932.

“WKCR, the student radio [at Columbia] has been trying to counteract all of these fictional stories about outside agitators,” a Columbia student who asked to have her name withheld to avoid punishment from the school administration, told Sputnik’s Political Misfits. “They’ve been including in their reports [that] ‘we have nothing to substantiate this claim about outside agitators. We recognize almost everyone here’… this is a completely homegrown movement,” she asserted.

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US CENTCOM says it killed Syrian civilian, not Al-Qaeda leader in may 2023 air strike

The US killed a civilian during a May 2023 air strike in northwestern Syria after misidentifying him as a senior leader of al-Qaeda*, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

“On May 3, 2023, the United States conducted a unilateral counterterrorism air strike in Northwest Syria targeting a senior Al Qaeda leader. Soon after the air strike, reports surfaced the strike may have resulted in a civilian casualty,” CENTCOM said in a statement. “The investigation determined US forces misidentified the intended al-Qaeda target and that a civilian, Mr. Lufti Hasan Masto, was struck and killed instead.”

The investigation into the civilian casualty incident concluded in November 2023, the statement said. Investigators interviewed more than 40 witnesses and reviewed both classified and unclassified materials, the statement said.

The investigation concluded that the strike was conducted in compliance with the law of armed conflict and Pentagon policies, the statement said. However, the probe revealed several issues that could be improved, the statement added.

US CENTCOM acknowledges and regrets the civilian harm from the strike, the statement said.

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* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

Delays in the delivery of US arms to Ukraine undermined the Ukrainian Army's ability to fight and then hit their morale, a leading member of the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, Adam Smith, has said.

In an interview with Foreign Policy magazine, Smith admitted that, unlike the Ukrainian military, which was left without weapons and ammunition, Russia, on the contrary, psychologically feels that it is winning.

As a result, the congressman argued, the best outcome of the Ukrainian conflict for Kiev regime might be to keep "what they have."

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Russian, US forces are housing on the same base in Niger, no access to each other's facilities

Russian forces are being housed on the same base in Niger but in a separate compound with no access to US forces until the withdrawal of the contingent of the United States from the country, a Pentagon official has told Sputnik.

"The Russians are housed in a separate compound and do not have access to US forces, spaces, or equipment," the official said. "We continue to monitor the situation and to take all necessary and prudent measures to ensure the security of US forces, facilities, and equipment."

The official noted that Russian forces arrived a few weeks ago at Air Base 101, a Nigerien Air Force base that is co-located with the international airport in Niger’s capital, Niamey.

US and Niger recently began discussions for the "orderly withdrawal" of US servicepeople based in Niger and the Pentagon later announced that some of the US contingent will also be withdrawn from Chad.

On Wednesday, a US defense official told Sputnik that the US has relocated 60 of its military personnel to Germany, where they will continue their work, as part of their withdrawal from Chad.

There are currently around 1,100 US personnel in Niger.

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The United States is trying to benefit from the Ukrainian conflict, therefore it prevents its termination, said Balazs Orban, political advisor to the Hungarian prime minister, in an interview with Tucker Carlson.

According to the politician, the priority for the United States is "attempts to weaken Russia" and "stop German and Russian energy cooperation." However, strategically, "it destroys Europe as an economic power."

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