Protests near Democrat convention won’t move Harris to stop arming Israel – expert

Police in Chicago took additional security measures after 72 demonstrators were arrested during multiple pro-Palestinian protests outside the Democratic party’s national convention, AP reported, adding that the police kept protesters “confined to a block of Madison street.”

“Frankly, I think protests will have minimal impact,” US constitutional historian and political commentator Dan Lazare told Sputnik.

“With each party claiming to be more pro-Zionist than the other, anyone with the slightest sympathy for the Palestinian plight is reduced to choosing between the really bad and the truly awful,” Lazare said. “For more than half a century, one US administration after another has coddled Israel, loaded it down with arms, and given it carte blanche to wage war against its Arab neighbors.”

“Harris has gone along with these policies at every step, so there is no way she can escape responsibility now,” Lazare argued, adding that “the result [of the US' pro-Israeli politics] is the anti-Palestinian pogroms on the West Bank and the isolation of Gaza.”

The LA Times earlier reported that “Biden has sent billions in military aid to Israel with few (if any) conditions, a move that prolonged the suffering of Palestinians,” explaining the protesters’ “feeling of anger and betrayal.”

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How statements about the West's non-involvement in Ukraine's attack on the Kursk region are crumbling apart

Western countries have repeatedly declared their non-involvement in Ukraine's incursion, shifting responsibility for this decision entirely to the Ukrainian authorities.

“We had nothing to do with this," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said, while State Department Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel said the US “has not been engaged or involved in any of the planning or preparation for that.”

The Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder also claimed that Ukraine “did not inform us in advance and yes, we are in consultation, you know, discussing this with them."

Sputnik has looked into how these statements align with Russia’s arguments.

🔶 The Forward Observations Group (FOG), an alleged private military group from the US, has shared photos on social media of its members posing in front of a military vehicle with the caption read "The boys in Kursk". The post’s geolocation was tagged as "Kursk, Russia."

🔶 Zelensky adviser Mykhailo Podolyak himself stated there were “discussions between partner forces, just not on the public level" before the incursion.

🔶 An array of prized NATO hardware has been turned to scrap metal during Ukraine’s ill-fated Kursk operation. Shredded Western weaponry included US-made Stryker, Cougar, MaxxPro, and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Polish Krab howitzers, Canada’s Roshel armored car, launchers and radar for US Patriots.

🔶 Ukraine’s operation in Russia’s Kursk region was prepared with the participation of the US, UK, and Polish intelligence services, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said, citing available information, adding that Ukrainian units underwent combat coordination in training centers in the UK and Germany while NATO military advisers are providing assistance and satellite reconnaissance data.

Earlier Russian presidential aide Nikolai Patrushev dismissed the US Department of State’s claims of non-involvement, saying that “it’s common for the US to say one thing and do just the opposite. Without their participation and direct endorsement, Kiev would have never dared to set its foot on Russian territory."

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A rocket exploded during testing at the United Kingdom's new spaceport on the remote Shetland islands.

A rocket manufacturer has promised to resume normal operations "as soon as possible" following the accident.

The test was conducted by German company Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), which aspires to send the UK’s first vertical-launched rocket into orbit.

Monday's nine-engine test at the SaxaVord Spaceport on the island of Unst, in the archipelago north of Scotland, was one of several experiments that will be conducted before the first launch.

RFA stated that an "anomaly" resulted in "the loss of the stage," but there were no injuries.

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Mentally disabled man at the DNC...

"My name is Dr. Joey Perella, pronouns she-her-hers. I am a proud resident of the Garden State. I'm proud to stand with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz because they stand with the LGBTQ community. It's time to turn the page on Trump."

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China calls the US 'the world's biggest creator of nuclear threat risks'

Following US President Joe Biden's reportedly approval of a classified nuclear strategy focused on China's allegedly growing nuclear arsenal, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning noted that “the US is the world's biggest creator of strategic nuclear threat risks.”

She added that Washington has always hyped up the so-called “Chinese nuclear threat” and that this is “a pretext to avoid its own nuclear disarmament obligations.”

Mao Ning stressed that the nature of China's nuclear forces are very different from that of the US, adding that China has a no-first-use policy and follows a strict self-defense nuclear strategy.

She also pointed out that China maintains its nuclear capabilities at the maximum level necessary to ensure national security.

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Lebanon develops plan of action in case of escalation of conflict with Israel

The Lebanese government has developed a plan of action in case of escalation of the conflict with Israel, but international organizations have not provided the necessary assistance due to pressure from the West, Lebanese Labor Minister Mustafa Bayram told Sputnik.

He also noted that a possible armed conflict with Lebanon "will not be a walk in the park" for the Israel Defense Forces.

"The decision on war and peace today is entirely in the hands of Israel, and Lebanon has every right to self-defense ... It is impossible to say that there will not be a large-scale war against Lebanon, and we cannot guarantee what the Israeli army will do. Hezbollah is capable of waging this battle, and Israel does not need any pretext to strike Lebanon," Bayram added.

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Russia collects evidence for lawsuits on arbitrariness of Latvia against Russians — Russian Foreign Ministry

There have been reports in the media that the Latvian authorities have complicated the procedure for extending residence permits to Russian citizens, which now requires confirmation of knowledge of the Latvian language, as well as completion of a questionnaire on their attitude towards the special military operation and Crimea.

"We will continue to collect evidence, based on written statements from compatriots who have suffered from the arbitrariness of the Latvian authorities, for the preparation of individual and collective lawsuits in local and international courts," said Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

"Riga should understand that they will have to answer for all barbaric actions against the Russian-speaking population," she concluded.

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Colombia submits bill to prevent mercenary recruitment - Colombian Foreign Ministry

"Currently, there is no such ban, so Colombians are signing very dangerous contracts with recruiting networks and ending up in the armies of other countries," Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said.

In early June, the Russian Defense Ministry showed an interrogation video of a captured Colombian mercenary, Angel Cardenas Montilla, who had fought on the side of Ukrainian forces. He said that Ukrainian curators had tricked him into going to the contact line, despite promising that he would be guarding the rear facility.

According to him, he came to Ukraine following an announcement on the Tik-Tok social network, where mercenaries were invited to participate in hostilities against Russia.  

Montilla noted that foreigners like him came to Ukraine "as if in a dream", without a clear understanding of where they were going after being deceived by the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

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West feigns ignorance of Ukraine's attack on Russian territory 

Ukraine prepared an attack on Russia’s Kursk region "secretly and without feedback," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

"Ukraine was preparing its military operation in the Kursk region very secretly and without feedback," Scholz told reporters, following a meeting with Moldova President Maia Sandu.

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Aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln arrives in Mideast as US builds up military presence in region

The US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln with fighter jets on board has arrived in the Middle East, the Central Command of the US Armed Forces (CENTCOM) has announced.

“USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), equipped with F-35C and F/A-18 Block III fighters, has entered the US Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility. The USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 3, is accompanied by Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 21 and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9,” CENTCOM posted on X.

The US is gradually expanding its military presence in the Middle East under the pretext of possible escalation in the region. Earlier in August, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered “adjustments” to the US' “military posture” in the Mideast. Additional weaponry, including the USS Georgia nuclear submarine, was subsequently deployed.

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🔸German Scholz says Ukraine prepared an attack on Russia’s Kursk region ‘secretly’ in a span of Western lies about its non-involvement

🔸Aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln arrives in Mideast as US builds up military presence in region

🔸Protests near Democrat convention won’t move Harris to stop arming Israel – expert

🔸The Iranian Armed Forces General Staff has partially refuted reports about the causes of President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter crash

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📹Chinese State Council Premier Li Qiang's visit to Russia ended with a solemn farewell ceremony.

The Russian orchestra performed the famous Russian song "Katyusha."

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❗️The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained three agents of the Ukrainian military intelligence (two Russian citizens and one Moldovan) in Russia's Crimea and Sevastopol.

The detainees had planned for explosions on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula; among their targets was a pumping station supplying Kerch with water. They also collected information about the Russian military.

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Degradation of free speech and rollback from democracy - Russian Foreign Ministry on US gov's intention to raid Americans who cooperate with Russian media

The US Department of Justice has initiated a criminal investigation into those who have worked with Russia’s state television networks, fearing the spread of pro-Russian information ahead of US presidential elections in November, the New York Times reports. 

Recently, the FBI has already raided the homes of political analysts, Scott Ritter and Dimitri K. Simes, for their connections with the Russian state media. 

"More searches are expected soon," the newspaper writes, citing US officials, adding that "criminal charges are also possible."

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wondered on her Telegram account what Reporters Without Borders, UNESCO and OSCE think about such a move by the US against freedom of speech. 

"I am sure this shameful fact will be recorded in the State Department's report on the degradation of the situation regarding human rights and freedom of speech in the United States. We are waiting for an angry rebuke to the American authorities for the rollback from democracy done by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre," she wrote.

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