https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/over-40-foreign-mercenaries-killed-in-donbass:-russia-defens

Over 40 foreign mercenaries killed in Donbass: Russia Defense Ministry

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed Tuesday that the Russian military has attacked a place of deployment of "the Foreign Legion" in Donbass and killed over 40 militants.

In a statement, the Defense Ministry indicated that "over 40 foreign mercenaries, mostly Poles, were killed by a strike of high-precision air-launched missiles at the temporary deployment point of the Foreign Legion units near the Konstantinovka village of the Donetsk People’s Republic."

In a similar context, Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov underlined that the spread of mercenaries and weapons from Ukraine is an extremely dangerous threat to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

At a meeting with the Prosecutor General of Tajikistan, Yusuf Rahmon, in Dushanbe, Krasnov warned that "today, our countries are facing new, extremely dangerous threats. Among them: the participation of citizens of the CIS states in hostilities as mercenaries, the distribution of weapons, ammunition, drugs."

According to Krasnov, CIS countries and law enforcement agencies need to update their interaction schemes to improve work efficiency in order to eliminate these threats.

In early July Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed that tens of foreign mercenaries have been killed in Ukraine.

Shoigu said that as a "result of the successful offensive" by both the Russian and Donbass republics' forces, “the number of foreign mercenaries and employees of private military companies operating in the country has decreased.”

The Defense Minister previously said the arms supplied by the West to Ukraine were ending up on the black market and spreading across West Asia.

Similarly, Russian Military Spokesperson Major General Igor Konashenkov last month said that hundreds of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine have been killed by Russian long-range precision weapons “shortly after their arrival at the places where they were undergoing additional training and where the tactical units were coordinated.”

It is noteworthy that the Russian Defense Ministry data revealed that 6,956 foreign citizens from 64 countries arrived in Ukraine to fight alongside Ukrainian troops between February 24 and June 17.

Around 1,956 of those have been killed, while 1,779 have left the country, the Ministry highlighted.

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https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/biden-begs-congress-to-pass-52-billion-semiconductor-bill

Biden begs Congress to pass $52 billion semiconductor bill

President Biden pushed Congress to pass a $52 billion payout to semiconductor manufacturers on Monday, as lawmakers face a make-or-break week in order to pass the bill.

For weeks, the White House has been pressing senators to drop a slew of tough-on-China measures in order to get the widely supported CHIPS Act to his desk before industry heavyweights take their money elsewhere.

“Congress must pass this bill as soon as possible,” Biden said Monday during a virtual roundtable with CEOs and cabinet leaders who spoke of the economic and national security imperative of getting the bill through.

“Listen to the business leaders here today and across the country,” he said. “They’re making decisions right now about where to invest and ramp up production of these semiconductors. Are they going to invest in China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the European Union? The United States has to lead the world in the production of these chips.”

The bipartisan bill, dubbed "Chips-plus", includes more than $50 billion in semiconductor manufacturing funding over the next five years, as well as a 25% tax credit for new chip production through 2026.

This comes after Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed that the US Senate was prepared to review a semiconductor chips bill with the aim to help raise American competitiveness.

The Senate voted by a large margin to start the debate on legislation to give more than $52 billion in grants to the US semiconductor industry.

"With this package, the United States returns to its status as a world leader in the manufacturing of semiconductor chips," she said in a press release, adding that this is "an economic necessity to lower costs for consumers and to win in the 21st-century economy, as well as a national security imperative as we seek to reduce our dependence on foreign manufacturers."

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/russia-backs-afghanistans-call-on-us-to-return-7bln-in-froze

Russia backs Afghanistan's call on US to return $7Bln in frozen assets

Russia backs the demand of Afghanistan's new government led by the Taliban that Afghan sovereign assets frozen on foreign bank accounts be restored to it, including $7 billion stolen by the US, Russian special envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said on Tuesday.

From Monday to Tuesday, an international conference on Afghanistan will be held in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital. The agenda is focused on security and economic development.

Approximately 100 foreign delegations have met to discuss how the international community might aid Afghanistan's post-conflict recovery and integration into regional affairs.

"I completely support [acting Afghan Foreign] Minister [Amir Khan] Muttaqi, who has demanded the unconditional return of $7 billion worth of Afghan assets frozen — essentially, stolen — by the United States," Kabulov said at the conference, adding that "the same applies" to $2.5 billion in humanitarian aid funding stranded on World Bank accounts.

The requirement that Afghanistan's central bank be supervised by a US-appointed director is utterly unacceptable, according to the Russian envoy.

The Taliban-led Afghan government took power last fall. Most countries, including Russia, have yet to acknowledge it.

Biden to split $7 billion in frozen Afghan funds

In February, Joe Biden signed an executive order releasing $7 billion in frozen Afghan funds to be shared between humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan and American victims of "terrorism", including 9/11 families.

According to The New York Times, the intricate strategy is intended to address a slew of legal blockages originating from the September 11 attacks and the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.

After the Taliban seized the nation in August, the government was dissolved leaving behind over $7 billion in central bank assets deposited with the US Federal Reserve Bank in New York. The Taliban took over the central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank, and claimed ownership of funds.

Taliban slams splitting Afghan assets

In response, the Taliban movement saw the US decision to split the Afghan funds held in US banks between humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan and 9/11 victims’ families as a showcase of theft and US moral decline, Mohammad Naeem, a spokesperson for the Taliban political office, said.

"The theft of blocked money belonging to the people of Afghanistan by the United States, as well as taking possession of it, is a showcase of the human and moral decline of the country and people," Naeem said on Twitter.

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Loads will be shocked when they find out who their real allies are.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/cold-spell-is-coming-if-europe-continues-with-sanctions:-med

'Cold spell is coming' if Europe continues with sanctions: Medvedev

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian Security Council, described Tuesday Europe’s policy toward Russia as a "repulsive cocktail of arrogant rudeness, adolescent infantility, and primitive stupidity."

On his Telegram channel, Medvedev considered that the European Union will have to bear the consequences of imposing anti-Russian sanctions.

He pointed out that the EU declared from the beginning its intention to severely punish Russia for its desire to protect people who suffer and to secure its long-term interests.

The Russian official considered that Europeans have only just now realized that "winter hasn’t been canceled while alternative supplies of gas, oil, and coal are expensive or just not realistic."

Medvedev underlined that Europeans are scared of "freezing in their cold home" but insist on providing Ukraine with weapons.

"Well, well: A cold spell is coming anyway," he said.

Medvedev’s statements came just a few hours ahead of an EU emergency meeting on gas supply.

On Sunday, The Financial Times reported that the European Union member states are planning to demand exemptions from the European Commission's proposal to ration natural gas and cut demand by 15% during the next eight months.

The EU Commission on Wednesday proposed new coordinated measures to reduce gas demand in EU member states, including the introduction of initially voluntary goals to reduce gas demand by 15% between August 1 and March 31, 2023, which amounts to a whopping 45 billion cubic meters of gas.

EU member states, according to a draft document, said binding targets should be set based on the extent of dependence each country has on Russian supplies and the volumes of gas already delivered to storage facilities.

It is noteworthy that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had considered that the European Union has "shot itself in the lungs" with imprudent economic sanctions on Russia, which risk destroying the European economy if not rolled back.

On May 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the West's continued obsession with anti-Russian sanctions will inevitably lead to more complex and intractable consequences for the EU and its citizens, as well as for the poorest countries in the world, which face the risk of starvation.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-bulldozers-demolish-homes-of-two-palestinians

Israeli bulldozers demolish homes of two Palestinians

Israeli bulldozers demolished, at dawn Tuesday, the houses of Yahya Merhi and Youssef Assi - the two Palestinians who carried out the "Ariel" settlement operation - in the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, west of Salfit.

Palestinian youths confronted the Israeli occupation forces by throwing stones at Israeli soldiers, placing obstacles in front of their vehicles, and setting tires on fire, as the occupation forces heavily fired tear gas.

The mayor of Qarawat Bani Hassan, Ibrahim Assi, told the Palestinian Ma'an News Agency that confrontations erupted after the IOF stormed the town yesterday evening.

He added that the IOF encircled the houses of the families of Merhi and Assi, with the intention of demolishing them, in addition to raiding a number of houses and forcibly evicting their owners.

In early May, an Israeli “Ariel” settlement guard was shot and killed after Yahya Merhi and Youssef Assi opened fire in his direction.

2 Palestinians killed, 9 injured in IOF storming of Nablus

It is noteworthy that two days ago, the IOF stormed the town of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank and fired live bullets at Palestinian youths, killing two and wounding nine others, two of which are in critical condition.

Palestinian Red Crescent reported that martyrs Aboud Sobah, 29, and Muhammad Al-Azizi, 22, have died after sustaining critical injuries as the Israeli occupation forces stormed Nablus.

The Israeli occupation forces retreated from Nablus after a large-scale military offensive that lasted more than three hours.

Local sources reported that violent confrontations erupted between the Resistance fighters and the IOF that stormed the old town in the governorate.

Israeli media reported that the IOF deployed snipers in several areas in Nablus, noting that confrontations have also erupted in the occupied West Bank town of Qabatiya, near Jenin.

Since the beginning of 2022, the IOF killed more than 70 Palestinians, 27 of them from Jenin and its camp including Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was covering an Israeli raid in Jenin.