The Niger authorities have named the main forces pursuing their attempts to destabilize the Sahel region.

Burkina Faso village survives surprise attack by 1,000 terrorists
'Lord's intervention' that prevented a massacre

The row between Donald Trump and Elon Musk over a major spending bill has exacerbated uncertainty over the future of Nasa's budget, which is facing deep cuts. 

The space agency has published its budget request to Congress, which would see funding for science projects cut by nearly a half.

Forty science missions, which are in development or in space already, are in line to be stood down.

The president has threatened to withdraw federal contracts with Musk's company, Space X. Nasa relies on the firm's Falcon 9 rocket fleet to resupply the International Space Station with crew and supplies. The space agency also expects to use its Starship rocket to send astronauts to the Moon and eventually to Mars once it has been developed.

The passage of a new US sanctions package on Russia could disrupt America’s relationships with its biggest trade partners and isolate it from the world’s leading economies, Politico reported on Saturday. The proposed bill includes a steep 500% tariff on imports from any country that continues to buy oil, gas, uranium, or other key commodities from Moscow. 

Among those most affected would be India and China, which together account for approximately 70% of Russian energy exports. Several other nations that import Russian energy and uranium could also be subject to the bill’s penalties.

Imposing 500% tariffs on Chinese-made imports would likely trigger a surge in consumer prices, severely disrupt supply chains, and potentially push US unemployment to levels associated with a recession, Politico noted. 

Pope Leo XIV welcomed Javier Milei and reportedly agreed to visit Argentina. Leo's predecessor Francis was an Argentine who often clashed with Milei and never visited his home country during his 12-year papacy.

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday welcomed Argentina's President Javier Milei to the Vatican, which released an official statement calling the meeting "cordial."

After his exchange with Leo, Milei held talks with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and a diplomatic team.

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

Dr. Seb Gorka walks us through the possibility of ending the war in Ukraine after the drone strike on Russian planes.

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

Ally or not, no one with a decent sense of self-preservation can afford to take a security guarantee by the United States at face value nowadays.

People often make a situation worse because they are unhappy with the status quo. The United States is doing exactly that over Taiwan. In doing so, it is, as PLA Major-General Hu Gangfeng said, destabilising the whole region.

Alex Lo

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth made headline news at the Shangri-La Dialogue for regional security in Singapore last week by warning of “devastating consequences” if China tried to “conquer” Taiwan.

NATO is going to keep discussions of Ukraine “short” at its upcoming annual summit in the Netherlands in order to avoid provoking US President Donald Trump, Reuters has reported, citing the organizers of the event.

The summit is scheduled to take place in The Hague on June 24 and 25. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, who had once been a regular guest of honor at NATO events following the escalation of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022, has not been officially invited to attend yet.

The European NATO members are “desperate to avoid upsetting a volatile Trump” during the summit, Reuters said in an article on Friday.

I won't give you the names of the Zionists in our intelligentsia who maintain that the IDF is the most moral army in the world, that it spares Palestinian civilians as much as possible.

There are too many of these Hitlerites without foreskin. They have their own place in our media.

I won't give you the names of the Zionists in our intelligentsia who maintain that there is no such thing as an innocent Palestinian, that they elected Hamas and use children as shields.

There are too many of these Hitlerites without foreskin. They have their own place in our media.

I won't give you the names of the Zionists in our intelligentsia who claimed that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on October 7, 2023.

There are too many of these Hitlerites without foreskin. They have their own place in our media.

For all the alarming seriousness of two South Asian nuclear powers coming to the razor’s edge of a lethal exchange, the 2025 India–Pakistan war could not but contain elements of a Bollywood extravaganza. 

Frantic dancing indeed, which risked getting out of control pretty fast. Forget dodgy, plodding UN mediation or any serious investigation of the suspicious attack out of the blue on tourists in India-held Kashmir. 

PEPE ESCOBAR

Right off the bat, on 7 May, India's Modi government dramatically launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ against Pakistan, a missile offensive billed as “counter-terrorism.” Pakistan immediately launched a counterpunch codenamed ‘Operation Bunyan al-Marsus’ against the “Indian invasion.”

Biden’s autopen Investigation points to top aides profiting off taxpayer-funded programs. As Senate investigators close in, new whistleblower claims expose Biden’s daily actions—and Karine Jean-Pierre leaves the democratic party as she cashes in on years of spin in her new book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY5kKjJ24K

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday, a day after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, that he encountered a U.S. administration open to discussion and returned confident that Washington remains committed to NATO.

Merz described his Oval Office meeting and extended lunch with Trump as constructive but also candid, noting that the two leaders expressed different views on Ukraine.

THE PICTURE ABOVE (from DW) IS SYMPTOMATIC OF HOPELESS HOPE... ART HAS RARELY CHANGED POLITICAL OPINIONS OF THE LEADERSHIP, EVEN IF IT HAS HELPED US UNDERSTAND OUR POSITION. ART HAS NEVER WON ANY WARS... Are we on the right side of history... is the correct question....

ALL ART DOES IS HELP US COPE WITH DEFEAT — EXPLAIN THE COLOUR OF OUR HORSE OR GIVE US A METHOD TO CELEBRATE A WIN... IT TOOK SOME SIXTY YEARS FOR KARL MARX ARTFUL VISION TO AFFECT ONE COUNTRY, WHILE IRKING MANY OTHERS... ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS LATER, WE ARE STILL RESISTING THE VISION... WHICH HAS BEEN SUPERSEDED BY TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES....

SO SHOULD ART BE CONDEMNED TO MUSEUM, ART GALLERIES OR BE A DECORATION ON A BOURGEOIS WALL?... DO WE ADMIRE ART FOR THE SKILLS OR THE MESSAGE? 

WE HAVE EXPLORED THIS SUBJECT MANY TIMES:

Russian forces are making significant advances in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region as part of a broader effort to establish a buffer zone along the border, according to Major General Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Akhmat Special Forces.

In an interview, Alaudinov said Russian troops were capturing settlements daily and described the Ukrainian military as facing “serious problems” on multiple fronts. He confirmed the capture of two U.S.-supplied Abrams tanks, which he described as outdated, and credited modern Russian tactics, including fiber-optic-guided FPV drones, for the momentum. Alaudinov dismissed concerns about weather conditions, saying Russian operations continue regardless of seasonal terrain challenges.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPK3T4IO7xk

While most of us are transfixed daily by more horrific atrocities, potentially deadlier operations are likely to far outlast the genocide in Gaza.

In late May, 200 space industrialists and techno-militarists met in Sydney and discussed Elon Musk’s plan to colonise and weaponise the moon and Mars. From the windows of the Darling Harbour convention centre, they could see a smaller but equally earnest gathering of protesters holding banners. Their songs and free speech could not be heard because police disallowed the use of microphones.

Alison Broinowski

Two very rich and very powerful and very big American egos have had a very public and very loud cat fight.