🇺🇸 🇬🇧 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to a plea deal with the #UnitedStates Department of Justice, where he will plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defense information and be released after five years served in #British prison, with no plans for extradition to the US.

Assange has been locked in a 14 year long legal battle with the US government over the release of hundreds of thousands of classified documents about the war in #Iraq and #Afghanistan that were obtained through former military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. Via theatlasnews.co @AtlasNewsTelegram

🇨🇴 Peace Talks Begin Between #FARC Dissidents and Colombian Government: https://theatlasnews.co/latest/2024/06/24/peace-talks-begin-between-farc-dissidents-and-colombian-government/

The Colombian government and a splinter faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of #Colombia known as the Second Marquetalia began peace talks on Monday in a continuation of Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s efforts to bring an era of “total peace” to the nation. Full article above. Via theatlasnews.co @AtlasNewsTelegram

#Bolivia Coup Fails:

Bolivian military coup leader General Juan Jose Zuniga and his forces have withdrawn from the capital after storming the Presidential Palace.

The withdrawal comes as President Luis Arce swore in new commanders for the country’s armed forces and as Arce supporters began taking to the streets around the palace.

Deputy Minister of the Interior and Police, Jhonny Aguilera, yelled “we are going to look for you Zuniga” and “Zuniga you are going to be imprisoned” as he left the scene. Via theatlasnews.co @AtlasNewsTelegram

🇰🇪 #Kenya’s Ruto Pulls Finance Bill After Protests: https://theatlasnews.co/latest/2024/06/26/kenyas-ruto-pulls-finance-bill-after-protests/

Protests over the signing of Kenya’s Finance Bill, which sought to raise a variety of taxes in order to increase funds to pay off interest on debt repayments, have left at least 23 dead this week and injured scores more, prompting President Ruto to pull the bill.

A statement released by President Ruto on June 26th outlined the advances the country has made under his presidency in decelerating inflation and lowering prices of essential commodities such as unga (maize meal), fertilizer, and petrol. He then noted that “Following the passage of the [finance] Bill, the country witnessed widespread expression of dissatisfaction with the bill as passed regrettably resulting in the loss of life, destruction of property and desecration of constitutional institutions. I send condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones in this unfortunate manner. Consequently, having reflected on the continuing conversation around the content of the finance bill of 2024, I will decline to assent to the Bill.”

Continuing, “Accordingly, as I committed on Sunday, I propose an engagement with young people of our nation to listen to their issues and agree with them on their priority areas of concern. I also propose that within the next 14 days, a multi-sectoral, multi-stakeholder engagement be held with a view to charting the way forward on matters relating to the content of the bill as well as auxiliary issues raised in recent days on the need for austerity measures and strengthening our fight against corruption.”

Despite Ruto’s concessions, anti-administration hashtags continued to trend with signs pointing towards a continuation of protests. theatlasnews.co @AtlasNewsTelegram

🇷🇺 🇰🇵 🇰🇷 🇺🇦 Russian Officials Warn #SouthKorea About Providing Military Equipment to #Ukraine: https://theatlasnews.co/latest/2024/06/27/russian-officials-warn-south-korea-about-providing-military-equipment-to-ukraine/

On June 26th, two Russian officials called on South Korea not to provide weapon systems to Ukraine because it would have consequences for relations between the two countries and increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The comments come after South Korea’s National Security Adviser, Chang Ho-jin, said that the provision of any kind of military equipment would be based on several factors. The most significant of these factors is #Russia’s stance on its relations with #NorthKorea and whether it provides Precision Guided Munitions (PGMs) to the #DPRK.

South Korea currently supplies Ukraine with nonlethal equipment, such as first-aid kits, medicines, portable mine detectors, and protective suits. However, the country has a policy that prohibits it from providing lethal aid or weapons to countries at war. With South Korea supplying arms to them, Ukraine could receive a range of equipment or weapons stock, most vital to their war effort now would likely be MLRS vehicles, man-portable launchers, air defense systems, and 155mm shell supply. @AtlasNewsTelegram

Read more on theatlasnews.co

🇮🇱 🇱🇧 Iron Dome footage shows interceptions during a #Hezbollah rocket barrage targeting the upper Galilee region in northern #Israel earlier today.

Dozens of rockets were launched, with impacts and subsequent fires reported around the city of Safed. @AtlasNewsTelegram

The barrage comes amid escalating tensions between Hezbollah and Israel, with the latter threatening an offensive operation into southern #Lebanon as cross-border strikes and clashes continue. Via theatlasnews.co

🇺🇸 🇱🇧 USS Wasp Moving to Evacuate U.S. Citizens from #Lebanon:

Defense officials have told NBC that U.S. forces are moving closer to the Eastern Mediterranean to facilitate the evacuation of #UnitedStates persons from Lebanon if Israel initiated a full scale invasion. @AtlasNewsTelegram

According to those officials, the USS Wasp, a multipurpose amphibious assault ship will lead the Noncombatant evacuation operations (NEO). The 26th Marine Expeditionary Group has been preparing for a deployment to facilitate a NEO in the Middle East for the past few months.

In 2022, the U.S. State Department estimated that 80,000 USPERS resided in Lebanon and a large number of those would need to be evacuated if the country disintegrated into full-scale warfare, not to mention the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.

USS Wasp (LHD-1) is a United States Navy-multipurpose amphibious assault ship, and the lead ship of her class. In addition to the crew of more than 1,000, the vessel can fit an additional 1,800 onboard. Via theatlasnews.co

🇺🇸 🇮🇱 🇱🇧 U.S. to Release Weapons to #Israel:

The #UnitedStates is set to partially release a weapons shipment to Israel that was suspended back in April over #IDF military operations in Rafah, Palestine, according to Axios.

An estimated 1,700x MK-82 500lb bombs are expected to be delivered to Israel in the coming weeks, while a shipment of 1,800x MK-84 2,000lb bombs remains under review. @AtlasNewsTelegram

The development comes as tensions continue to soar with #Hezbollah, as cross border strikes and clashes continue to escalate.

Earlier this month, the IDF announced that it had finalized operational plans for an offensive over the border if an all out war were to break out with Hezbollah, who warned of large-scale missile and drone strikes across northern Israel if the IDF invaded into southern #Lebanon. Via theatlasnews.co

🇦🇫 Who Has the #Taliban Been Selling Mining Rights To?: https://theatlasnews.co/latest/2024/06/27/who-has-the-taliban-been-selling-mining-rights-to/

Last autumn, the Taliban boasted of seven new mining contracts worth a collective $6.5 billion. Yesterday, the Afghan Witness, an open-source project by the Centre for Information Resilience, reported the total of disbursed contracts since 2021 at 205. Some of the companies were foreign, and many of them were new investors. Chinese, Iranian, Turkish, Qatari, and British corporations seem to represent the large part of the extended contracts according to the report.

After the Taliban took control of the Afghan government in 2021, they began selling off increased amounts of mining rights, promising companies a piece of #Afghanistan’s approximately $1–3 trillion in natural mineral reserves. The ballpark figure of $1–3 trillion is actually outdated; it was created by US military geologists in 2010, and the actual amount could be worth more due to increased market prices. @AtlasNewsTelegram

Afghanistan is rich in critical minerals, holding around 1.4 million tons, according to a report by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MOMP) in 2019. A substantial portion of that is lithium (although actual figures are uncertain) and copper. Afghanistan also boasts substantial quantities of gemstones, in addition to the 1.6 billion barrels of crude oil and 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Full article on theatlasnews.co describing the mining contracts and geopolitical implications of Afghanistan’s burgeoning extraction industries.

🇷🇺 "#Ingush Liberation Army" Releases Video Detailing "Struggle" Against Russian Federal State:

Ingushetia, a small republic in the North Caucasus region of #Russia, is often overshadowed by its larger neighbor, Chechnya, yet it shares a similarly tumultuous history. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ingushetia has faced poverty, insurgency, religious extremism, and political instability.

In a recently released video, a member of the Ingush Liberation Army, speaking in Russian, stated that the group had been contacted by Italian journalists seeking answers about the movement. @ourwarstoday

Five men are present in the video, two of them standing and carrying what appear to be Kalashnikov-type assault rifles – possibly a Bulgarian paratrooper AK-74 on the left and an AK-103 model on the right. A man seated on the right seems to be holding an AKMS, while the man seated on the left appears to be holding a Beretta handgun. The flag of the Ingush Independence Committee – a modified version of the Republic of Ingushetia’s flag, replacing the central solar symbol with the Islamic declaration of faith – can be seen in the background.

During the 3-minute long video clip, the masked man in the center reads the questions sent by the journalists and answers them:

Why are you fighting against Putin’s regime?
“We want to live freely and with dignity on our lands, as owners of these lands, not as slaves. Under no circumstances and conditions do we accept occupation followed by enslavement.”

Russia is powerful. What is your short-term goal in fighting it? And what is your long-term goal?
“The short-term goal is naturally to weaken the regime through sabotage operations, without turning to direct military confrontation, to avoid the suffering and casualties of our people. But at the same time, to pressure this regime with various levers and mechanisms, with the aim of weakening it and ideally destroying it. The long-term goal is naturally military preparation, training in tactics, strategies of warfare, gathering information, reconnaissance, and so on. ”

Do you want Ingushetia to secede from the Russian Federation? Overall, do you want to divide the entire Russian Federation?
“Yes, we are fighting for secession from Russia, for weakening followed by the collapse of this regime, so that every people under this regime’s expansion who desires freedom and independence may claim it.”

Is Moscow’s control over Ingushetia strengthened, or do you see signs of its weakening?
“As such, we do not observe significant signs of weakening of the regime of usurpers in the region, nor generally in the entire North Caucasus. However, it should be noted that Putin’s regime is suffering significant losses in human and material resources in the war against Ukraine.”

Tell us about your most successful operation.
“There are operations that have been quite successful, and also those that are still in development. At this stage, it is not appropriate to discuss the details of the impending operation. ”

Is your fight against Putin and the Moscow regime also religious?
“Our struggle is primarily religious, and then it is liberative.”

The Ingush population has faced political repression and economic neglect, fueling dissatisfaction with federal authorities. In recent years, increased calls for autonomy or independence have emerged. The formation of the Ingush Independence Committee, and its armed wing the Ingush Liberation Army in 2023 underscores the region’s growing unrest and the desire among some of its populace to establish a more independent governance structure, despite a 2017 claim from Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) that all insurgency groups had been eliminated from North Caucasus.

Article: https://theatlasnews.co/latest/2024/06/27/ingush-liberation-army-releases-video-detailing-struggle-against-russian-federal-state/

🇬🇷 Ramstein Flag 24: #NATO’s Newest Joint Air Power Exercise Comes to #Greece: https://theatlasnews.co/latest/2024/06/29/ramstein-flag-24-natos-newest-joint-air-power-exercise-comes-to-greece/

NATO’s newest joint air power exercise, Ramstein Flag 2024, will be held in Greece from September to November, involving 14 NATO allies and over 140 fighter aircraft. @AtlasNewsTelegram

🇮🇷🇦🇲 #Iran and #Armenia to Strengthen Cooperation: https://theatlasnews.co/latest/2024/06/30/iran-and-armenia-to-strengthen-cooperation/

On Friday, June 28th, the Iranian Ambassador to Armenia, Mehdi Sobhani, expressed Iran’s willingness to increase cooperation with Armenia. The Ambassador’s statements come amidst heightened tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. @AtlasNewsTelegram

Iran and Armenia have a unique historical relationship that goes back thousands of years. A significant portion of the world’s oldest Armenian churches lie within Iran’s northwestern regions, an area Armenians were native to. Since Armenia’s independence after the fall of the Soviet Union, Armenia and Iran have held close relations, establishing themselves as strategic partners for each other despite their ideological differences.

In modern times, Iran’s closeness to Armenia is partly driven by the lack of it between Iran and Azerbaijan.

Iran and Azerbaijan’s relations have historically been tense. In recent years, most of this tension has been caused by Azerbaijan’s close relationship with Israel. Israel has become Azerbaijan’s top military provider, supplying Azerbaijan with an estimated 70 percent of Azerbaijan’s military arsenal.

Israeli military equipment, in particular drone technology, was pivotal in securing Azerbaijan’s victory in the 2020 44-Day War (also known as the Second Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh War).

Iran has further accused Azerbaijan of being host to an Israeli military presence and of holding an agreement with Israel that will allow for the use of Azeri military bases to carry out air strikes against Iran in the event of military conflict.

In turn, Iran has been accused of attempting to carry out several attacks and cyber attacks against Israeli and US diplomatic elements within Azerbaijan’s borders.

While the two nations espouse cooperation, tensions between the two have been inflamed and have thawed on several occasions in the last several years.

Read more on the full article on theatlasnews.co