https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/johnson-government-could-break-up-uk:-irish-deputy-pm

Johnson government could break up UK: Irish Deputy PM

London's attempt to overrule the Northern Ireland protocol of the Brexit deal may result in people there abandoning the union, Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar warned.

He called Boris Johnson's government "undemocratic" and "disrespectful".

Varadkar told BBC that “what the British government is doing now is very undemocratic and very disrespectful to people in Northern Ireland because it’s taking that power away from the Assembly, and saying that British ministers can override sections of the protocol."

He was referring to a measure tabled last month in the House of Commons that aims to alter elements of the deal reached with the EU to allow the UK to exit the bloc. Due to Dublin's continued membership in the multinational union, the status of commerce between it and Northern Ireland – six counties on the island that remained part of the United Kingdom after Ireland's independence a century ago – had to be controlled through the special protocol.

“That’s what I find shocking and hard to accept. The British government wants to impose solutions on Northern Ireland that most people in Northern Ireland don’t want. We’ve had this happen twice now,” Varadkar said. “If you make a treaty and you’re an honorable country or an honorable government, you have to honor it, and you have to abide by international law. The approach they are taking is wrong.”

Varadkar also disputed comments by UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss that EU ideas are "worse than the current standstill" and by Northern Ireland Secretary of State Brandon Lewis that ties with Dublin are "great".

"Well, I think once again a square is being called a circle there. In my political lifetime, I’ve never seen relations this bad,” he stated.

The Johnson administration has not been fair by prioritizing the interests of unionists in Northern Ireland over the concerns of the wider public, according to Varadkar, who called it a "strategic mistake".

“It’s a peculiar policy coming from a government that purports to want to defend the union,” he added, warning that if London continues to force policies on Northern Ireland that "a clear majority of people don't want," people would abandon the union.

Unlike goods going to Ireland, items heading for Northern Ireland from Great Britain - the island including England, Scotland, and Wales - would not be subject to customs checks and duties under the plan presently being discussed in London.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/algeria-preparing-for-massive-60-year-independence-celebrati

Algeria preparing for massive 60-year independence celebrations

Algeria will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its independence following 132 years of French colonial rule, the impact of which still reigns heavily over relations with Paris today, despite France's symbolic gestures.

On March 18th, 1962, after close to eight years of war between Algerian revolutionaries and the French colonial army, fighting ceased after the signing of the historic Evian accords, which paved the way toward the announcement of Algeria's independence on July 5 that same year. Algerians took part in a referendum a few days before the announcement, with 99.72% taking part to vote on their independence.

Algeria's authorities are preparing for large celebrations on the 60th anniversary, the most important of which is a large military parade in the capital, the first in 33 years.

In order to further highlight the importance of the occasion, a special logo was designed that has been featured on all television channels for weeks now.

According to the program, which was unveiled by the War Veterans Minister, there will be a huge art show on Monday at the Algerian Opera Hall.

The Algerian War of Independence left behind hundreds of thousands of dead, making Algeria the only former French colony in Africa that freed itself from France by force.

>>16582848

News unlocks the map.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/mali-summons-spanish-ambassador-over-fm-statements

Mali summons Spanish ambassador over FM statements

The Malian Foreign Ministry summoned the Spanish ambassador to the country to protest statements made by Madrid's Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, due to the diplomat not ruling out a NATO mission in Mali, Bamako's Foreign Minister, Abdoulaye Diop said in a said on Saturday.

"I must say that today we summoned the Spanish ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to express a strong protest in connection with the words of Jose Manuel Albares," the Malian aBamako news portal quoted the minister as saying.

The ambassador was summoned on Friday, the news outlet revealed, just a day after the Spanish Foreign Minister made his provocative statements.

Albares on Thursday told the RNE radio station that he did not rule out the possibility of a NATO mission in Mali, adding that this issue was not on the agenda of the alliance's summit in Madrid.

The Spanish agency Europa Press reported, citing sources, that in response, Albares assured that Madrid never demanded a NATO invasion of Mali, noting that there were deep friendly ties between Spain and the West African nation.

Mali and Europe have been having tense relations over the period, especially after the Malian armed forces entered in late April a former French military base in the town of Gossi and reportedly discovered a mass grave, which is said to be the site of a massacre that killed 203. The French authorities have denied any involvement in the burials and insisted they were staged by the Russians, which is a claim heavily disputed by the locals and Moscow alike.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it supported Mali's intent to launch an investigation into France over the mass graves.

France had sent troops to the western African country in 2013, with the stated goal of defeating jihadists in northern Mali and the Sahel. The operation ended in February following the deterioration of France's ties with its former colony.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/ukraine-forces-booby-trap-civilian-infrastructure-in-dpr

Ukraine forces booby-trap civilian infrastructure in DPR

Ukrainian troops holed up at a college and registry office in Bakhmut, Donetsk People's Republic, have booby-trapped the entrances to the facilities without warning civilians, senior Russian military official Mikhail Mizintsev said Saturday.

"Nationalist battalions have been quartered at the Foreign Language Institute and a registry office in Bakhmut in the Donetsk People's Republic, with armored vehicles, mortars, and multiple rocket launchers stationed on the grounds," Mizintsev explained.

"Entrances have been mined, but the locals have not been informed on purpose," he told a regular news briefing.

The usage of unmarked booby-traps is a violation of international humanitarian law, as it is prohibited in all circumstances to use any booby-trap designed to cause injury or unnecessary suffering.

Kiev's forces also deployed heavy weapons and munitions in the town of Kostiantynivka to residential high-rises and pulled howitzers and multiple rocket launchers to a nursery school, the Russian official noted.

Local residents have been prohibited from leaving their homes, allegedly for the sake of their own safety, Mizintsev added.

Ukrainian artillery units in the town of Slovyansk, on the other hand, fired at residential areas on Thursday, he continued. Additionally, a woman was killed and a dozen others were wounded as a result of the Ukrainian actions.

Mizintsev said Ukrainian media took photographs of the aftermath to blame it on Russia’s "indiscriminate attack." He argued that their prompt arrival at the scene proved it a false-flag operation.

The Ukrainian attacks come the same day that Kiev scored major losses on the eastern front, with the Russian armed forces and the allied LPR forces taking the city of Lysychansk, granting Moscow and its allies, the Lugansk People's Republic, full control of the strategic city.

As they were leaving the city, the Ukrainian militants who had just lost their last stronghold in the Lugansk People's Republic blew up and destroyed some of the important administrative buildings, including the mayor's office, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the scene.

Having control of the LPR allows Moscow and its allied LPR forces to push deeper into the Donbass and control more of the region.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov told reporters that three battalions stationed near Lysychansk lost over 50% of their troops in one day of combat.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/state-of-emergency-declared-in-uzbekistan-karakalpakstan-pro

State of Emergency declared in Uzbekistan Karakalpakstan province

After a failed bid to scrap its autonomy, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has declared a month-long state of emergency in the northwestern province of Karakalpakstan.

The presidency announced that a state of emergency was declared according to a presidential decree "in the Republic of Karakalpakstan from 00:01 a.m. on July 3, 2022, to 00:00 a.m. on August 2, 2022,"

Riots broke out in the Province on Friday over a constitutional amendment that sought to remove Karakalpakstan's autonomous status. The area is populated by the ethnic minority of Karakalpaks.

Police stepped in to quell the riots after protestors tried to storm into government buildings.

>> Uzbek connected to Clintons. >>16582996

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/biden-sends-letter-to-congress-on-sweden-finland-admission-t

Biden sends letter to Congress on Sweden, Finland admission to NATO

The White House press service said on Saturday that US President Joe Biden has sent letters to congressional committees on the accession of Sweden and Finland to the North Atlantic Alliance.

"I am providing the report on the Kingdom of Sweden’s Accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, prepared consistent with section 3(2)(E)(ii) of the Resolution of Advice and Consent to the Ratification of the Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 on the Accession of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic of April 30, 1998," one of the letters read.

Another letter was also sent on Finland's accession to NATO.

According to the procedure in the US, Congress must first ratify the decision to admit the new members into NATO.

Following crunch talks ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped weeks of opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

Erdogan declared victory after securing a 10-point agreement in which the two countries agreed to join Turkey's "fight against banned Kurdish militants and to quickly extradite suspects."

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/assad:-syria-iran-alliance-strategic-balance-shifting-in-our

Assad: Syria, Iran alliance strategic, balance shifting in our favor

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said on Saturday, during his meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Damascus, that there is a new status forming in the region that can change the balance in Syria's favor.

According to a statement by Iran's Foreign Ministry, the Syrian president called relations between Syria and Iran a "strategic alliance", adding that over the past forty years, relations between the two countries have constantly grown.

Upon arriving in the Syrian capital, Amir-Abdollahian told reporters that the recent visit to Tehran by the Syrian President was a new milestone in relations between the two countries.

As for his visit to Syria, the FM said that its importance lies in the fact that Iran and Syria are currently in a new phase of comprehensive cooperation, especially in the economic and trade fields.

Furthermore, as he just came from Turkey, he highlighted Iran's understanding of Ankara's security issues and said Tehran strongly opposes "military attempts" in Syria made under any justification, adding that Iran is working to resolve existing misunderstandings between the two neighboring countries through diplomacy and dialogue.

Iran had previously voiced its refusal of Turkey's military incursion into Syria and said it considered such military action to be "a violation of the territorial integrity and national sovereignty" of Syria.

>>16583214

How old?

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/turkish-base-in-iraq-struck-with-at-least-two-missiles

Turkish base in Iraq struck with at least two missiles

A Turkish military base in the northern Iraqi province of Dohuk was attacked with at least two missiles, an Iraqi security source said Saturday.

"At least two missiles fell inside a Turkish base in the Shiladze district of Dohuk province," the source told Sputnik. "There has been no information about casualties so far."

"The available information establishes that there are rising plumes of smoke from inside the base," the official explained.

Over the past few months, Turkish army posts in Dohuk were repeatedly attacked by missiles. The Kurdish armed forces are likely behind the attacks.

The Turkish forces' Sirei camp in Shiladze, Ommaliyah district, north of Dohuk, was hit in May with a guided missile by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants.

Al Mayadeen correspondent in Iraq reported in mid-June that a number of Grad missiles targeted the Turkish army in the Zlikan military base, east of Mosul.

Iraqi Kurdistan Region's Directorate-General for Counter-Terrorism confirmed that the attack was carried out through a drone that launched missiles at the base, which resulted in human and material casualties.

The attack came after the Turkish Ministry of Defense confirmed in a tweet that six militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were killed in northern Iraq as part of the so-called "Operation Claw-Lock."

>>16583315

You have to figure out which are the black pawns and which are the white pawns. There are 2 sides forming already. Alliances are being made.

>>16583350

WUUUUUUT?

>>16583461