https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-mercenary-fighting-for-ukraine-taken-captive-by-lpr

Israeli mercenary fighting for Ukraine taken captive by LPR

An Israeli mercenary fighting for the Ukrainian armed forces was captured during fighting by LPR forces.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed on Thursday that it was aware of the case after videos surfaced on social media showing the captured Israeli, Vladimir Kozlovsky, showing his Israeli ID card.

In the video, the Israeli identified himself as a signal operator in Ukraine's intelligence forces. He also said that he was recruited into the Ukrainian military by border officials who he claimed would not let him leave.

Earlier in April, a footage also surfaced showing several Israelis fighting alongside Ukrainian forces and thanking “Israel” for its assistance. The videos, which went viral, showed the men dressed in Ukrainian military uniforms in an unspecified forested area.

“We want to give thanks to the people of 'Israel' and the government of 'Israel' for the help they give us. We are here fighting against the Russians in this very difficult war,” said one fighter.

“I want to say thank you to the whole Jewish people who are helping us — we are here for you, for the whole nation,” said another man. “We are here for all those whose lives are in danger. We are fighting for you, doing good work.”

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/miscellaneous/ecstasy-drug-lab-found-at-nato-airbase-in-belgium

Ecstasy drug lab found at NATO airbase in Belgium

An airbase belonging to NATO, the force for spreading democracy and freedom in the world, has been caught hosting an illegal drug lab.

The Kleine-Brogel airbase, located in northeastern Belgium, was busted by Belgian law enforcement as a drug lab facility was discovered on Wednesday.

According to authorities, a "neighboring house" adjacent to the installation's premises was involved in the operation as well. Hard drugs, such as ecstasy, were being manufactured at the lab.

During the raid, two suspects were arrested - however, they were not military personnel, and they were released with some conditions.

The Kleine-Brogel airbase is believed to have a stockpile of US A-bombs and weapons under the NATO nuclear-sharing contracts. The number of warheads stored at the base is unknown. Back in 2019, a Green MP told Belgium’s parliament that some 10 to 20 nuclear weapons were stockpiled at the site.

The Guardian has written about the drug lab on the airbase, but removed the news piece just after users started propagating it on social media.

The crackdown on the airbase comes on the same day the NATO Summit in Madrid launched, where the strategic concept for the aggressive alliance for the next 10 years is being laid out.

During the summit, NATO leaders labeled Russia a threat to their security, with the alliance's chief Jens Stoltenberg saying that NATO will “state clearly that Russia poses a direct threat to our security,” as the alliance seeks to upgrade its defense response, by strengthening its eastern flank, given the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Stoltenberg stated that the summit in Madrid is considered “historic and transformative", adding that the leaders "meet in the midst of the most serious security crisis we have faced since the Second World War."

>> Not a coincidence.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/health/head-of-lancet-covid-19-board:-coronavirus-might-have-come-f

Head of Lancet Covid-19 board: Coronavirus might have come from US lab

Economist and author Jeffrey Sachs, speaking at a conference hosted by Spanish think tank GATE center, divulged that COVID-19 did not come from a natural reservoir, but rather "out of US lab biotechnology" by accident.

Sachs, who also chairs the COVID-19 commission at a renowned medical journal, The Lancet, said that he was in the loop: "It’s a blunder, in my view, of biotech, not an accident of a natural spillover.”

He said that while he does not know for sure if this was the case, there is "enough evidence" that could make this conclusion, which "should be looked into."

The renowned economist expressed disappointment that the narrative is not being looked into, "not in the United States, not anywhere."

Neil Harrison, a Columbia University professor of molecular pharmacology and therapeutics, along with Sachs, wrote an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, where they suggested that COVID-19 originated in a laboratory. The two academics demanded greater transparency from US federal agencies and research facilities, including universities, as a lot of evidence was not provided.

The origin of the pandemic can be traced through Virus databases, biological samples, viral sequences, email communications, and laboratory notebooks - however, all of these sources have been subjected to “independent, transparent, and scientific scrutiny."

According to the authors, a sequence of eight amino acids on the virus' spike protein is similar to an amino acid sequence found in cells that line human airways.

US biolabs, very recently, have been exposed to be spread throughout the world, with Ukraine being a hotspot for over 30 US-funded biological weapon laboratories, which have been working on deadly specimens of African swine fever and anthrax.

In March, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, "Documentation was received from employees of Ukrainian biological laboratories on the emergency destruction of especially dangerous pathogens of plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera, and other deadly diseases on February 24. The emergency destruction of especially dangerous pathogens on February 24 was required to prevent the disclosure of facts of violations by Ukraine and the United States of Article I of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)."

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/miscellaneous/salmonella-found-in-swiss-callebaut-firm-stops-production

Salmonella halts production in world’s largest chocolate plant

The world's biggest chocolate plant, run by Swiss Barry Callebaut in Wieze, Belgium, stopped its production after finding salmonella contaminations, the firm said today, Thursday.

A company spokesperson told AFP that the production had been protectively stopped at the factory that produces liquid chocolate for 73 clients making confectionaries.

No reports were issued so far about any chocolate consumers infected by the salmonella. The disease causes salmonellosis, which causes fever and diarrhea but is only dangerous in extreme cases.

The spokesperson Korneel Warlop said that "All products manufactured since the test have been blocked," adding that the company is contacting all customers who may have received contaminated products and that the chocolate production has been "suspended until further notice."

Warlop assured that most of the products found to be contaminated were still on the site and the company has contacted its clients and asked them not to ship any chocolate products made as of June 25 at the Wieze plant, northwest of Brussels.

"Food safety is of the utmost importance for Barry Callebaut and this contamination is quite exceptional. We have a well-defined food safety charter and procedures," the firm said.

AFSCA, Belgium's food safety agency has been informed and a spokesperson told AFP it had opened an investigation and investigators would "gather all the information in order to trace the contamination".

The Wieze plant does not sell chocolates directly to consumers, and the company has no reason to believe that any contaminated goods have made it onto shop shelves.

The Italian giant factory under test period

These concerns come a few weeks after a case of salmonella-contaminated chocolate was discovered in the Ferrero factory in Arlon in southern Belgium manufacturing Kinder chocolates.

On June 17, Belgian health authorities said that they had given Barry Callebaut a three-month test period.

The Italian giant supplies chocolate and cocoa products to many firms in the food industry, including industry giants such as Mondelez, Hershey, Nestle, and Unilever.

It is the world's number one in the field and its annual sales amounted to 2.2 million tonnes during the 2020-2021 financial year.

Over the past financial year, it generated a net profit of 384.5 million Swiss francs ($402 million) for 7.2 billion francs in turnover.

The group has more than 13,000 employees and has more than 60 production sites worldwide.

>>16574923

Before last picture, a he or a she?

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/ukrainian-ambassador-to-german-intellectuals:-go-to-hell-loo

Ukrainian ambassador to German intellectuals: "Go to hell", "loosers"!

The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany has done it again!

Andrij Melnyk, who has recently called German chancellor Olaf Scholz a sausage, has told 21 German intellectuals calling for an end to arms deliveries to Ukraine to "go to hell."

The signatories that signed the open letter were called on the West to make Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky negotiate peace.

He went on to call the signatories "pseudo-intellectual loosers (sic)."

Addressing some of the intellectuals with their last names, he wrote they “should go to hell with [their] defeatist advice.”

The letter which was published in Germany's Die Zeit newspaper on Wednesday, titled "Ceasefire now!", included philosophers, academics, journalists and ex-diplomats.

According to the signatories, it is the EU’s duty to “restore and secure peace on the continent.” Countries should come up with a strategy to bring the war to an end, according to the document.

“Ukraine has so far been able to defend itself against the brutal Russian aggressive war thanks to, among other things, massive sanctions and military support,” they argued.

The intellectuals see that it is highly unlikely that Ukraine will regain control of Donetsk, Lugansk and Crimea, and that Russia is “militarily superior and has the ability to mount further military escalation.”

With that being said, they urged Western nations to consider “what goal they are pursuing and whether (and for how long) weapons deliveries are still the right way.”

The ongoing conflict and the deliveries of weapons will mean more deaths by the thousands and “massive humanitarian, economic and ecological emergencies all around the world,” referring to food shortages in Arica and food prices on the rise.

Finally, the intellectuals see that there should be an opposition to the war in Ukraine, but the continuation of the war "is not the solution."

Last week, Germany announced that it will send Kiev two to three more self-propelled Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers.

Ukraine has been asking Europe for 18 German-made PzH 2000 howitzers to fully arm their artillery battalion, according to the DPA news agency. Germany has sent 7 howitzers and the Netherlands donated 5.

>>16574938