🪖 Ukraine can’t win, never had a chance of winning: Former top commander of Britain’s Armed Forces

🔊 “My view is that [Ukraine] would not win. They haven’t got the manpower. Unless we were to go in there with them, which we won’t do because Ukraine is not an existential issue for us. It clearly is for the Russians,” Field Marshal David Richards, the former chief of Britain’s General Staff, told The Independent.

🔊 “The Russians view it [NATO encroachment in Ukraine, ed.] as a threat, and actually, the Americans under the Monroe Doctrine would never allow China to get a foothold in Mexico, for example. So there’s a certain hypocrisy in the West’s stance on this,” Richards stressed.

🔊 “When people like Boris Johnson…encouraged them to go on fighting, but failed to give the means to win and talked about regaining all that territory, I said as a soldier ‘they’re not going do that,’” he added.

🔊 “We’re now having our bluff called. But even if say we wanted to do much more for Ukraine, we can’t do much more, because we don’t have the resources,” Richards emphasized.

Richards is one of the few commanders in Britain’s defense establishment with a penchant for telling hard truths.

In 2016 during the Syrian crisis, he urged the West to “let Assad win and quickly” to stop the bleeding and concentrate on fighting ISIS.* In 2022, he blasted NATO over its “incoherent” Ukraine strategy, and suggested the West’s hostility was pushing Russia into China’s arms.

* A terrorist group banned in Russia.

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🇺🇸🇻🇪 ‘At least 25,000 Americans would die if I allowed this submarine to come ashore’

Trump provides details of US strike at vessel off Venezuelan coast.

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🟠 Trump is done with Zelensky, Tomahawk snub clinches it - ex-Pentagon analyst

🟠 Ukraine can’t win, never had a chance of winning: Former top commander of Britain’s Armed Forces

🟠 Thousands gather all around the US for ‘No Kings’ protests

🟠 ‘Brilliant’ Russia-Alaska tunnel idea could help facilitate peace and global development

🟠 Pakistan, Afghanistan engaged in dialogue aimed at peaceful settlement – FM

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🚨🇺🇸 Millions of Americans may lose food stamps amid government shutdown

Around 42 million Americans could lose access to food assistance within two weeks, CNN reports.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) may run out of funding if the government shutdown continues.

Currently, one in eight Americans relies on SNAP benefits, receiving an average of $188 per month per person to help purchase food.

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🇵🇸 Rafah closure violates ceasefire, breaches mediator commitments – Hamas

Hamas issued a statement calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to keep the Rafah crossing closed “until further notice” a “flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire agreement” and a denial of commitments made “to the mediators and guarantors.”

🔹 The group said the continued closure blocks the exit of the wounded and sick, restricts civilian movement, and prevents the entry of equipment needed to search for missing persons and identify bodies, delaying recovery and return of remains.

🔹 Hamas reported “more than 47 documented violations,” resulting in 38 dead and 143 injured, and accused Israel of using “flimsy pretexts” to disrupt the deal.

🔹 It called on mediators and guarantors to pressure Israel to open Rafah immediately, abide by all terms, and halt “ongoing crimes” in Gaza.

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🗣🇩🇪 Zelensky confides in Merz that he failed to get what he wanted from Trump

💬 “The visit was not what Zelensky had hoped for. I think I can say that here,” the German chancellor said Saturday after a lengthy telephone call with Zelensky Friday night.
The trip demonstrated the importance of continued European assistance for Ukraine, Merz said, suggesting the conflict could only be ended if Ukraine is “strong” militarily.
Germany will continue to support Zelensky “financially, politically and of course militarily,” because if Ukraine surrenders, Russia will attack another European country, Merz claimed.

Germany is the second-largest contributor of military aid to Ukraine after the US, pledging over $20.6B to date, according to the Kiel Institute. It’s total military, economic and humanitarian aid is estimated at over 20% of total NATO assistance, including Leopard tanks, Gepard Flakpanzers and Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers.

📉 Merz and his predecessor Olaf Scholz have wrecked the German economy for the sake of Ukraine, lifting restrictions on government borrowing to enable the largest German military buildup since WWII, and facing deindustrialization and recession after cutting the country off from Russian energy deliveries.

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🚨🇵🇰🇦🇫 Pakistan and Afghanistan agree to immediate ceasefire — Qatari Foreign Ministry

The sides also agreed to hold follow-up meetings in the coming days to ensure the ceasefire’s sustainability, and to establish mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability between the two countries, the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced.

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⚠️ US warns of 'imminent ceasefire violation by Hamas'

The US State Department said it has informed guarantor nations of “credible reports indicating an imminent ceasefire violation by Hamas,” calling a “planned attack against Palestinian civilians” a “direct and grave violation of the ceasefire agreement,” and stating that “measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire.”

Earlier, Hamas said Israel has kept the Rafah crossing closed “until further notice,” blocking the wounded, preventing aid and search teams, and committing dozens of violations that left 38 dead and 143 injured. Hamas called on mediators to press Israel to open Rafah and adhere to the agreement.

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💸 Soros on NGO spending spree amid Trump crackdown — report

Billionaire George Soros’ NGO funding network is handing out cash at an unprecedented rate, the Wall Street Journal reports.

📑 The Open Society Foundations is to spend $1.4 billion in grants spanning from the US to Africa for causes from climate change to birth control, the report says.

Soros, known for bankrolling protests and coups in other countries, gave $10 million to a US Democratic Party initiative to redraw the electoral map of California.

The spending spree comes after the US Justice Department launched a probe into Soros and his foundation’s links to protests and riots against President Donald Trump’s first government during the 2020 election campaign.

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