◻️ Putin’s visit to North Korea: here is what to expect and what Western media thinks of it

◻️ Russia’s new strategic partnership with North Korea to 'symbolize new level of ties'

◻️ National treasure trove: Putin visited Russia’s largest region of Yakutia

◻️ Where would you rather live – North Korea or USA?

◻️ Sputnik’s infographic: Which countries are the top gold producers?

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💬 "Thank you very much for your hospitality and for your time," Russian President Putin thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

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The Israel Defense Forces has approved battle plans for an offensive in Lebanon

IDF Commander of the Northern Military District Ori Gordin and Head of the Operations Directorate of the General Staff Oded Basiuk approved the combat plans and "held a joint situational assessment in the Northern Command", according to an army statement.

"As part of the situational assessment, operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved and validated, and decisions were taken on the continuation of increasing the readiness of troops in the field," the army's Telegram channel said in a statement.

In May, the IDF Press Service reported that Israel Defense Forces Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi assessed the security situation in the Northern Command location and announced preparations for an offensive on the northern front in light of continued shelling by the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.

The situation on the Israel-Lebanon border has escalated since the start of Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip in October 2023. The Israeli army and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters fire daily at each other's positions in areas along the border. According to the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, about 100,000 people were forced to leave their homes in southern Lebanon because of Israeli shelling. The Israeli side reported about 80 thousand residents of northern Israel who found themselves in a similar situation.

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Ukrainian Journalists Complain About Increasing Government Crackdown - NYT

Ukrainian journalists are facing increasing restrictions and pressure from the government in Kiev to bolster the narratives of leader Volodymyr Zelensky, The New York Times reported, citing Ukrainian reporters.

Managers of Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform distributed a list of opposition figures and elected officials that are "undesirable" to quote in stories, the report said, citing a reviewed copy of the blacklist.

One of the agency’s reporters, Yuriy Stryhun, publicly spoke about the blacklist. One day after speaking out about the matter, Stryhun received a notice to renew his draft registration, the report said, citing Stryhun.

Stryhun reportedly said that the timing of the notice was "suspicious" but that he had no proof it was linked to his coverage of the blacklist.

The agency’s deputy director, Maryna Synhaivska, resigned earlier this year due to political meddling in their journalistic work, the report said.

"It is not democratic to dictate to media what to publish and whom to talk to," the report quotes Synhaivska as having said.

In April, the US State Department released its annual human rights report, which found that Ukraine’s press freedom was curtailed by martial law in the country. Ukrainian authorities have shown a disrespect for freedom of expression and the press, including by banning or sanctioning media outlets and individual journalists considered a threat to national security, the State Department said.

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🧔🏻 Brigitte Macron a man? What do we know of Natacha Rey’s theory about French first lady

A hearing in the libel trial brought by Brigitte Macron against Natacha Rey, the journalist who claims that the French first lady is a man, is due to take place on June 19.

◻️ Rey claims that Brigitte was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux — who is actually Brigitte's brother — in 1953 and transitioned at the age of 30.

◻️ Rey suggests that a little girl in family photos is not Brigitte but their relative, Natalie Farcy, noting physical resemblance between Jean-Michel and Brigitte comparing the boy's and the First Lady's modern photos. She also claims there is little if any media coverage of Jean-Michel Trogneux’s life, casting doubt on his very existence.

◻️ According to Rey, there is a lack of documents to prove the official narrative since birth certificates are not made publicly available under French law.

◻️ Natacha Rey first published the allegations on her Facebook page in March 2021. In September 2021, Rey co-authored an "investigation" into the matter for the French publication Faits et Documents.

◻️ The initially-overlooked story started to make rounds in the media after Rey and Amandine Roy, a self-declared clairvoyant, discussed the story on December 10, 2021. The internet video got 500K views before being removed.

◻️ The theory gained international traction when US conservative commentator Candace Owens repeated the speculations in a YouTube video, which was later deleted. She took to YouTube and Twitter again on June 17, claiming that the journalists working on the story were "visited by the Secret Service."

◻️ Rey and Roy were sued by Brigitte Macron and fined for defamation the equivalent of $2,150 each, but were then obliged to pay £400 and £850 respectively.

◻️ French President Emmanuel Macron fired back at the story only on March 9, calling it "fabricated" and painful.

◻️ At request of Macron's lawyers the new trial was brought forward from March 2025 to June 19, 2024 as the conspiracy theory is spreading fast.

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Russia’s only legitimate peace interlocutor in Ukraine: what is known about Ruslan Stefanchuk?

Ruslan Stefanchuk speaker of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada parliament unexpectedly hit the limelight when Vladimir Putin said he was the country’s sole legitimate authority. According to the Ukrainian Constitution, presidential power was transferred to the speaker of the Rada after the expiry of Volodymyr Zelensky’s presidential term on May 21, 2024.

Stefanchuk could be the solution, but he ruled himself out. After Putin’s statement, the speaker declared that Zelensky was the legitimate president — calling everyone who questioned that an enemy of Ukraine.

Stefanchuk’s reaction may be due to the fact that he owes his political career to Zelensky. Here is a quick recap:

🔶 Stefanchuk graduated with a law degree from the Khmelnitsky Institute and started working as a professor of law in the Vladimir Koretsky Institute of State and Law in early 2000s.

🔶 Stefanchuk entered ‘big politics’ at the age of 44, when he joined the election campaign of future president Zelensky in 2018.

🔶 He reportedly won this position on the recommendation of Sergei Nizhny, a lawyer from Zelensky's inner circle, who also studied at the Khmelnitsky Institute. He was asked to head the ideological side of the presidential campaign.

🔶 After Zelensky’s victory in the presidential election of 2019, Stefanchuk was appointed the president’s representative in the Rada.

🔶 In the early parliamentary elections in 2019, he was elected a deputy from Zelensky’s Servant of the People party. In 2021 he was elected as speaker of the Ukrainian parliament.

Although Stefanchuk now legally holds the highest political position in Ukraine, experts suggest, Russia can hardly rely on his cooperation due to his frequently-expressed loyalty to Zelensky.

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