❗️An increase in the number of mercenaries in the ranks of the UAF has been recorded in the northern part of the Kharkov region, primarily from France. Over 30 French nationals have reportedly been killed, according to the Russian administration in the region.

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🎥 'We simply love life'

Despite all the destruction and hardship that befell the Gazans, local residents continue to enjoy life. Here, children on swings in the ruins of Khan Yunis city.

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❗️Ursula von der Leyen has been re-elected as the President of the European Commission for a new five-year term.

Her re-election was supported by 401 deputies, with 284 voting against and 15 abstaining.

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Can Europe cope with five more years of Ursula von der Leyen's train-wreck policies?

Here is a summary of the recent so-called 'achievements' of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen:

◾️In her election program until 2029, von der Leyen promised to keep on fueling military support for Ukraine "as long as it takes."

◾️ The European Commission, under von der Leyen's leadership, withheld crucial information about COVID-19 vaccine purchase agreements with pharmaceutical firms during the pandemic.

◾️Von der Leyen believes that the EU has fallen behind China and Russia in defense spending in recent years and emphasizes the need to increase spending on defense systems.

◾️Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto castigated von der Leyen's performance as head of the European Commission, excoriating it as "very bad" in an interview with RIA Novosti.

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Odessa leads resistance to mobilization as shock poll reveals Ukrainians’ sympathies for draft dodgers

The southwestern Black Sea port city of Odessa is rapidly becoming the center of resistance to Kiev’s increasingly chaotic efforts to scoop up more souls for the war effort.

◻️ On the night of July 16 alone, a wave of arson attacks targeting the service and personal vehicles of Odessa’s territorial recruitment center employees left five cars burned to a crisp. Similar incidents were reported in Vinnitsa, Rovno, Dnepropetrovsk and Kharkov the same night. Two more cars were burned in Odessa the next night.

◻️ The ‘car-nage’ is no trifling matter for its perpetrators. On Tuesday, authorities in Rovno detained a 22-year-old suspect for the arson of two military vehicles. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

◻️ Arson is just one method used by the Ukrainian anti-war underground. This week, there was an attempt to blow up a recruitment center in Busk, Lvov region. Recent reports have also mentioned sabotage of railway and electrical infrastructure, attacks on recruiters, and many fighting-age men attempting to flee Ukraine. This reluctance to fight has paralyzed much of the country, even in its most pro-European and anti-Russian regions.

◻️ Last week, Ukrainian media revealed that enlistment offices had filed reports on over 417,000 draft dodgers since February 2022, with western Ukraine leading the way. The figures show, for example, that while draft dodging in eastern, central and southern areas of the country range from as little as 4,500 in Kharkov or 14,300 in Kiev, in western areas, which include Lvov, Zakarpatye, Ivano-Frankovsk, Rovno and Khmelnitsky, they total over 334,200 men.

◻️ Polling by Kiev’s Razumkov Center this week found that a whopping 46% of Ukrainians do not consider it “shameful” to dodge mobilization, with 29.1% saying it is shameful, and 24.8% finding it difficult to answer.

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The Dutch pedophile to compete in the Paris Olympics

Beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde was convicted in 2016 in the UK for raping a 12-year-old girl and was sentenced to four years in prison.

After serving his sentence, he returned to the sport, and the Dutch NOC has now included him in the national team for the 2024 Olympics. Experts consider the likelihood of reoffending to be "zero."

The Dutch volleyball player convicted of pedophilia will live separately from other athletes.

Steven van de Velde will also avoid interacting with the press, according to the Dutch Olympic Committee.

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Biden's top 8 racist moments

"Black man": Biden couldn't remember the name of the Secretary of Defense, leading many internet users to accuse the US president of racism. What other off-colour comments has Joe Biden made over his career?

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🌍🇷🇺 Valdai Club gathers experts for Russia-Africa talks in Tanzania

The Valdai International Discussion Club is hosting its second Russia-Africa conference, noscriptd ‘Russia – Africa: Cooperation Strategy in a Multipolar World’, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on July, 24. This marks the first time the event is being held on African soil.

Partnering with the Russian Embassy in Tanzania and the Russia House in Dar es Salaam, the conference aims to bring Russia and African countries together to discuss building a fair and equal world with balanced trade relations. The ideas and suggestions from this event will help shape the upcoming third Russia-Africa summit.

The conference will be open to the media and feature sessions on political dialogue, economic cooperation, climate change and cultural collaboration. Up to 40 experts from Russia and East African countries are expected to join.

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Western Ukrainian nationalists' curiously pro-draft dodging stance explained

Western Ukrainians had gotten “used to the fact that there was some kind of war going on in the east after the [2014] coup and before the start of Russia’s special military operation,” Alexander Dudchak, a leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries, told Sputnik.

This helps explains the disconnect between western Ukrainians’ nationalist, anti-Russian attitudes and incredibly high rates at which they have been dodging the draft, according to the observer. “The attitude was that ‘it doesn’t concern us, let the Donbass sort it out.’ They thought that the Ukrainian army’s terrorizing of the eastern regions would last forever,” Dudchak said.

When it came time to enlist for the current conflict, “they still prefer that the people from those regions be sent to the front first,” Dudchak said. Today, the observer noted, the recruiters sent to eastern cities like Odessa, Kharkov and Nikolayev to collect fresh recruits for the conflict often come from Ivano-Frankovsk, Lvov and other western regions.

As for the rising instances of arson and other acts of sabotage targeting recruiters, the military and infrastructure, Dudchak characterized the phenomenon as a fledgling form of popular resistance and guerilla warfare.

“This is the protest of the local population which in principle does not perceive this government as its own, or this military as their defenders. They act as best they can, using whatever capabilities they have,” he said.

Ukrainian society today in general is in a state of apathy, and “doesn’t see any point any longer to continue the war,” according to the observer.

“Such tendencies are growing stronger. That’s what the sociological services are talking about, although they may also be preparing the population to accept the inevitable and the possibility of negotiations, and ceding territory. But of course, not under the current regime,” Dudchak summed up.

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German defense minister downplays comparison of current US missile plans to 1980s Euro-missile crisis

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius believes that the current plans for deploying American missiles in Germany cannot be compared to the "Euro-missile crisis" that triggered anti-war protests in the 1980s.

He referred to NATO's "dual-track decision," which led to the deployment of Pershing missiles in West Germany and sparked protests involving hundreds of thousands of participants.

According to Pistorius, "the times are incomparable," adding that the earlier crisis involved nuclear-armed missiles, whereas the current plans are for conventional missiles. The minister also noted that he did not participate in the 1980s protests.

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Biden: "Fully vaccinated people are at a very, very low risk of getting COVID-19."

Also Biden: tests "positive for COVID" for a third time despite getting vaccinated repeatedly.

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Biden nomination virtual vote postponed — reports

American media report that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) intends to hold a virtual vote to nominate President Joe Biden; however, the vote will not take place before August 1, according to the co-chair of the Democratic National Convention’s rules committee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. 

Meanwhile, the Axious reports that several top Democrats privately tell us the rising pressure of party congressional leaders and close friends will persuade President Biden to decide to drop out of the presidential race as soon as this weekend.

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🪖🇮🇱 Israeli parliament increases compulsory military service term

Israel’s Parliament, the Knesset, approved the bill extending soldiers' regular service in the Israeli Defense Forces from 32 to 36 months by a majority vote of 56 to 44 to “meet the goals of the IDF and to meet the existing security needs.”

Extended connoscription will take effect once the law comes into force, but it could potentially be applied retroactively to those already serving – in return for extra pay.

The vote’s narrow margin reflects the deepening rift among MKs over new army initiatives.

“It's not just a law that extends the regular service, it's a law that fundamentally casts doubt on the People's Army model,” said Knesset Member Idan Roll.

Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon told Ynet that "increasing the burden on the servants for years, without simultaneously taking actual actions to recruit Yeshiva members and spread the burden, will not be constitutional."

The development follows the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in June allowing the military to draft ultra-Orthodox Jews, citing the lack of a legal framework to differentiate religious scholars from those eligible for military service.

What are major criticisms against Israel’s new initiatives?

◻️ new efforts to build up the army raise concerns over the country’s ramped-up militarization;

◻️ the Haredi religious group, which has previously been exempt from the draft, protested the law and clashed with police;

◻️ at least 120 Israeli abductees are still being held by Hamas, despite Prime Minister Netanyahu pledging to free them;

◻️ the ground operation in the Gaza Strip continues more than nine months after the October 7 attack.

The IDF has announced that it will issue the first call-up papers to thousands of ultra-Orthodox citizens on July 21 “in light of the increased operational needs” and “security challenges”, aiming to recruit some 66,000 Hasidic Jews fit for duty.

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🛬 A Boeing flight from Delhi to San Francisco made an emergency landing in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, emergency services told Sputnik. They confirmed that the fire alarm in the cargo hold was triggered.

There are no signs of fire or smoke on board the Delhi-San Francisco flight that made the emergency landing in Krasnoyarsk, according to Rosaviatsiya.

Air India, whose flight made an emergency landing in Krasnoyarsk, is coordinating with the Russian authorities regarding the passengers and planning further actions, the company stated.

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The Russian Ministry of Defense has released footage showing the destruction of unmanned Ukrainian boats in the Black Sea.

Earlier reports indicated that, overnight, ten unmanned boats heading towards the Crimean Peninsula were destroyed by Russian on-duty fire systems in the Black Sea.

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📹 A member of the European Parliament is getting kicked out of EU Parliament for shouting at EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen

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