🇸🇰 Slovakia's Slovnaft refinery will stop supplying diesel fuel to Ukraine if Kiev does not resume transit of Russian oil, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said.

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Israel can strike at Lebanese ports and power plants in response for Golan Heights strike

Whether the recent missile attack on the town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights may lead to a full-scale conflict between Lebanon and Israel is “very difficult to answer,” said Dr. Shaul Bartal, retired Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer and researcher at Israel's Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.

Regarding the scale of Israel’s possible retaliation, Bartal said that “the margin of Israeli reaction is wide from military targets to significant infrastructure targets such as airports and the seaports,” adding that “power plants and electricity” could also be targeted.

“Hezbollah is trying to deny the shooting, but the IDF spokesman revealed the trajectory of the shooting, the type of rocket and even the regional commander on behalf of Hezbollah who is responsible for the shooting,” Bartal said.

He also mentioned that Israel would prefer to “go to war in Lebanon only after subduing Hamas in the Gaza Strip or reaching a deal and a diplomatic settlement,” but did not mention when either of these two conditions might be met.

Meanwhile, it appears that both Israel and Hezbollah have so far sought to “confine” the ongoing conflict between them “to the implicit ‘rules of engagement”, restricting the combat to South Lebanon and North Israel with occasional violations of these rules,” noted Joseph Helou, assistant professor of political science and international affairs at the Department of Social and Education Sciences at the Lebanese American University.

“The Israeli PM [Benjamin Netanyahu] is in a fragile political condition in Israeli politics, a matter that may incentivize him to launch a large-scale attack against Hezbollah to shore up his legitimacy in Israeli politics,” Helou noted, explaining that this escalation might give some chances for Netanyahu.

Though Israel accused Hezbollah of perpetrating the rocket strike on a Druze town Majdal Shams, the Lebanese movement vehemently denied its alleged involvement while Lebanon’s government called for an international investigation of this tragedy, which took the lives of a dozen people.

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The Pentagon has announced the allocation of $1.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine from the Defense Support Fund.

The new weapons package will include NASAMS and HIMARS missiles, air defense ammunition, and artillery shells.

Western countries ramped up their military support to the Kiev regime shortly after the beginning of the Russian special military operation. Moscow has repeatedly warned that such assistance would add to exacerbating the conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov cautioned that any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russian forces.

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How Google meddles in elections, promotes disinformation and censors entire nations

Alphabet Inc.'s Google has come in the cross hairs over alleged election interference in the US 2024 race. According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Google has placed a ban on Republican nominee Donald Trump. In 2016, the tech giant was accused of favoring then-Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton and providing Chrome extensions to block Trump-related news in its browser.

What else is Google notorious for?

▪️Google's censorship has gained steam in Russia in the wake of the beginning of the special military operation. In July, YouTube kicked off a massive blocking spree of Russian accounts with pro-Russian stance without giving any explanations.

▪️In addition to blocking YouTube channels of Sputnik, RT and other Russian media and bloggers from February 2022, Russian publishers saw a new wave of bans from Google Discovery in November 2023 which crippled their viewership.

▪️In March, the EU obliged tech giants, including Google, to ensure political ads and AI deepfakes are clearly labeled prior to the EU Parliament elections. Remarkably, Google rushed to limit the answers its AI tool Gemini gave to European users in relation to the EU election.

▪️In February, Google's Gemini AI tool was spotted claiming some policies of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are "fascist." Gemini groundlessly alleged India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was "nationalist", used "violence" against minorities and "cracked down" on dissent. New Delhi called the development which came prior to India's general elections "downright malicious."

▪️The same month, the MRC Free Speech America watchdog claimed Google interfered in US elections 41 times over the last 16 years, down-ranking conservative politicians.

▪️Earlier, in 2019, Google was accused of prioritizing anti-Brexit news in its search results and pushing pro-EU stories as the UK's exit from the bloc was underway.

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▪️What Sukhoi Design Bureau aircrafts does Russian army use and why they are superior

▪️How Google censors politics around the world

▪️Nicolas Maduro wins the presidential election

▪️Viktor Orban: European policy has failed

▪️NATO countries could loose US defense guarantees if they continue to supply aid to Ukraine

▪️What can Israel do in response for Golan Heights strike

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Militarization going full throttle: what's behind the Pentagon's Japan command upgrade?

The Pentagon has announced it will upgrade its command in Japan, providing it with more warfighting responsibilities, following the US-Japan security meeting that took place in Tokyo on July 28.

The gathering named Russia, China and North Korea as "security challenges", prompting a rebuke from China that warned Japan and US against "creating imaginary enemies".

Russia warned about counter-measures in response to Tokyo's rapid militarization which contradicts Japan's pacifist constitution, whereas North Korea stressed Japan's bellicosity upends regional security.

▪️The US Forces Japan (USFJ) will be reconstituted as a joint force headquarters, reporting to the commander of US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM).

Up until recently the USFJ has been primarily, an "administrative command," that maintained day-to-day management of the US-Japanese alliance, but not operational command of forces.

▪️The upgraded USFJ will gradually add missions and capabilities including planning of joint drills, commanding of operations and acting on shared intelligence and information together with the Japanese military.

▪️The USFJ will also "complement" the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) Joint Operations Command (JJOC), which was recently created to increase Japan's joint operations capability and facilitate greater interoperability with US forces.

▪️The US and Japan agreed to bolster bilateral training, exercises, operations, intelligence sharing and their military presence in Japan's Southwest Islands in close proximity to Taiwan.

▪️The US and Japan also held first ministerial talks on extending the US nuclear umbrella over Japan.

The military command upgrade followed the signing of 70 military cooperation agreements in April, and decision to deploy the US-made Tomahawk missiles in Japan.

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Pentagon conducted hypersonic test, but it's not clear whether it was successful

A US defense official told Sputnik on Monday that the Army and Navy recently initiated a test of a conventional hypersonic system but avoided commenting on whether the test was successful.

"The US Army and Navy recently initiated a test of a conventional hypersonic system at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida," the official said. "This test was an essential benchmark in the development of operational hypersonic technology."

The US military was scheduled to test the US Army's Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), developed by Lockheed Martin, over the Caribbean last week, media reported.

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📹 A man who planned to blow up a Russian military vehicle was detained in the Donetsk People's Republic when he was removing an explosive device from a hiding place.

He acted on instructions from Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate and has already given evidence to law enforcement officers.

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Does US aim at muscling out Russia and China from Central Asia?

Apparently not content with fomenting conflicts and dissent in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, America is also hard at work trying to spread its influence across Central Asia and combating the perceived Russia and China.

The US is “engaged in an important struggle” in Central Asia against Russia and China, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu said in his testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week.

Lu said the Biden administration seeks some $220.7 million for the diplomatic operations in Central Asia, as USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia Anjali Kaur claimed the funding for the next year will allow the US to act as a “reliable alternative” in the region in question to Russia and China.

Kaur also boasted that USAID allegedly managed to reduce the consumption of Russian media content in Central Asia by up to 10%.

Earlier this month, acting Special Coordinator for the Partnership on Global Infrastructure Investment at the US State Department Helaina Matza revealed G7 countries are willing to invest up to $200 billion in infrastructure projects in Central Asia.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said in May that Moscow is aware of the attempts by the US and its European allies to establish control over Central Asia’s resources and over the “transport arteries” that run across the region.


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'A more important task here – sport': Moscow holds World Wakesurf Cup 2024

"Moscow's dedication to wakesurfing is unparalleled and truly inspiring,” said John Shields, President of the Competitive Wake Surf Association, as the golden stage of the ALFA BANK Wakesurf Cup 2024 concluded in Moscow.

Shields praised the organization and atmosphere of the Moscow event, emphasizing that “the political situation cannot influence the decision to hold the competition.”

He reaffirmed the association's commitment to inclusivity in sport, stating, “We don't suspend athletes if they don't violate the rules of the association. If someone wants to involve politics, be my guest. But we have a more important task here – sport.”

Alexander Vainshtein, President of the Russian Surfing Federation, echoed this sentiment, noting the high standard of international competitions in Russia since 2019.

“The international competitions were held at the highest level and brought together athletes and spectators from different parts of the world: both from Asia and Europe. The Wakesurf Cup 2024 was a true sporting event where the strongest wins,” Vainshtein remarked, highlighting the event’s festive atmosphere, complete with sun, water, and vibrant festival activities.

The event drew 86 athletes from 11 countries, including Japan, Tunisia, South Korea, Zimbabwe, Portugal, Israel, China, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Belarus, and Russia. Competitors showcased their skills in both wakesurfing and wakeskiing, across professional (Pro) and amateur (Amateur) categories, demonstrating the sport's global appeal and growing diversity.

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"Homelessness and drugs epidemic destroys America"

A video in which a woman talked about what was happening on the streets in Seattle, Washington, and sharply criticized the US authorities for allocating huge sums of money to other countries while having a lot of problems at home has gone viral online.

"Nothing is here because we have a huge epidemic of drugs going on here, homelessness. These people, it is horrific, it is terrifying, it is horrifically sad, this is what is going on," the woman said in the video.

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