On the eve of the NATO summit in Ankara, Ukraine and Russia seemed to be locked in a competition to see who can torch more of the opponent’s capital. Russia won.

On the night of July 7, Kiev launched over 430 UAVs at Moscow and the Moscow region – the biggest such attack in the past two years. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, over 95% of all Ukrainian drones launched that night were targeting the Russian capital. Russia shot down most of them well before they reached the capital, except 36, which were intercepted near Moscow.

Kiev lit the fuse – Russia lit up Kiev

Moscow deflected a huge UAV assault and dealt crushing strikes on Ukraine’s military production, exposing the mismatch in aims and effect.

By Nadezhda Romanenko

As Belgium responded to the corruption of Trump and Infantino in the best way possible by thumping the US soccer team, Andrew Brown sends birthday greetings to a foundering empire.

Dear America,

Happy 250th, mate.

Quarter of a millennium. Massive effort. Not many countries make it that far, and fewer still make it that far while holding a national debate about whether children deserve lunch.

You started with liberty. Then democracy. Then somewhere in the third act you flogged the lot to a private equity firm and kept the merchandise rights. Now you are three corporations in a trench coat, standing on an aircraft carrier,

screaming about freedom at a bloke who cannot afford an ambulance.

The democratic project is about more than elections; its institutions must be revitalised on the basis of fairness, respect, openness, integrity and trust.

The most obvious sign of democratic retreat in Australia is the rise of One Nation. Voters are supporting this racist and populist party because they are sick and tired of the untrustworthiness of our major parties, as shown in their response to the gambling lobby.

John Menadue

The United States’ military attacks on Iran and Venezuela, its support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza and invasion of Lebanon, and its mounting economic blockade of Cuba are the issues which have most hit the headlines, in what is clearly a rising pattern of U.S. military aggression. Less reported, but also a powerful part of the same pattern, is U.S. participation in military attacks deep inside Russia. This fact that the United States is now prepared to militarily attack a nuclear armed state, something it has never been prepared to do previously, is itself a new qualitative escalation in U.S. willingness to extend the scope of military aggression. 

The Aims of NATO/U.S.-Organized Missile Attacks Inside Russia Go Far Beyond Russia Alone

By John Ross

President Donald Trump said earlier Monday that he didn’t know what a red card was before last Wednesday’s U.S.-Bosnia match.

But FIFA President Gianni Infantino actually gave him a lesson on soccer’s disciplinary system during a 2018 Oval Office meeting after the United States secured the right to co-host the 2026 World Cup.

During the visit, which followed the successful United Bid, Infantino explained the sport’s use of yellow and red cards before pulling one of each out from a case.

“In soccer we have referees and they have cards: yellow cards and red cards,” Infantino told Trump. “Yellow card is a warning, and when you want to kick out someone, a red card. Like this!”

Trump appeared amused by the demonstration.

In 2007 Vladimir Putin warned the West about pushing NATO further east... But the stupid boffins at NATO and the idiots of the West wanted to destroy Russia by using Ukraine as a battering ram... 

In one of the most explosive interviews of the year, George Galloway confronted Piers Morgan over the reality of the Ukraine conflict and the lack of historical accountability in mainstream media coverage.

"You're a FANBOY!" George Galloway SILENCES Piers Morgan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl3ni4l8aO0

The coming NSW ICAC hearings are only part of a deeper problem. Entrenched factional power, gambling interests and political cowardice are corroding trust in Australia’s institutions.

I cannot pretend to be terribly surprised or shocked to learn that the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption is soon to hold public hearings into NSW Liberal Party factional branch stacking, pre-selection rorts and receipt of prohibited donations, primarily from the real estate industry.

Jack Waterford

I received the following email and question from a friend, a man with extensive experience in the US defense realm, who is a solid analyst. His question is legitimate and I will attempt to answer it. He wrote:

Dear Larry 

I read your interesting message. I am at the hospital so I can is only use my phone. Here is my question. If your numbers are correct then how come the Russians seem to be unable to defeat the Ukrainians? They seem to find it difficult to make much territorial progress and now are under heavy pressure in Crimea. I also think they are having major problems defending critical infrastructure including refineries and ports and thus have serious fuel shortages. 

The world is in the midst of a climate backlash. But DeSmog isn’t backing down. We launched 20 years ago, and we’re taking this moment to invite you behind the scenes of our high-impact newsroom that investigates the companies, politicians, and science deniers blocking action to fix the climate emergency.

Join DeSmog editors – along with special guests Naomi Klein, Michael E. Mann, and Jim Hoggan – for a special online conversation as we look back on two decades of climate accountability wins and reflect on what we need to do to ensure that the next 20 years usher in the end of climate denial and obstruction.

On the night of June 21, 2026, as Colombia’s preliminary vote count rolled in showing far-right candidate Abelardo De La Espriella ahead of left-wing Iván Cepeda by less than one percentage point, the narrowest margin in any Colombian presidential runoff in recorded history, something happened that most international outlets buried under boilerplate electoral procedure.

Blue Wave: How Israel, Washington and a Guernsey Shell Company Stole Colombia’s Election

David Wallace-Wells ... had "compelling reasons to revisit this secret page of history." He was particularly interested in challenging traditional historical accounts that either ignored these devastating famines or profoundly distorted their political and economic causes.

Capitalist markets will not solve pandemics nor the climate crisis.

BY Jag Bhalla

A Deliberate Policy

US President Donald Trump on Sunday thanked football's world governing body FIFA for suspending Falorin Balogun's ban that allows the US star striker to play against Belgium this week.

Balogun was given a straight red card during the Round of 32 match between the World Cup co-hosts and Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday for accidentally planting his studs high on a defender's ankle.

World Cup: Trump thanks FIFA for suspending Balogun's ban

IN THE MOVIE OPPENHEIMER, IT SEEMS ONE MISTAKE STANDS LIKE A PYRAMID IN THE DESERT... BY WHATEVER DEED OR FORGETFULNESS, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ATOMIC BOMB WAS LEFT UNMENTIONED...

Sir Marcus Laurence Elwin (Mark) Oliphant (1901–2000), physicist, machine-builder, and governor, was born on 8 October 1901 at Kent Town, Adelaide, eldest of five sons of South Australian-born parents Harold George Oliphant, public servant, and his wife Fanny Beatrice Edith, née Tucker.

Sir Marcus Laurence (Mark) Oliphant (1901–2000)

by R. W. Home and John Jenkin

It’s not every day that an EU member state has the opportunity to push back in favor of freedom. At least not without elections. But a German court did have that chance – and promptly blew it on behalf of European citizens everywhere.

Back in 2022 when the Ukraine war was ramping up, the European Commission made an executive order banning Russian media broadcasting in the EU. Meaning that you couldn’t – and still can’t – access RT from within the EU, either on TV or on the web, without a VPN.

How Germany blew the EU’s chance for information freedom

By prosecuting individuals for reposting RT content, European censors are trying to scare unwanted beliefs off their narrative

BY Rachel Marsden