23 Sep, 2023 10:40

Ukrainian missile stocks and depleted-uranium shells destroyed – Moscow

The Russian Defense Ministry says 12 major strikes targeting military infrastructure have taken place in the past week

Some of Ukraine’s Western-supplied cruise missiles and depleted-uranium shells have been destroyed in a series of strikes, the Russian Defense Ministry has said.

Since last Sunday, Russian forces carried out 12 group attacks against various Ukrainian targets, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The targets included Ukrainian aircraft and armored vehicles repair facilities, oil refineries, depots of ammunition and foreign-made arms, training centers for Ukrainian saboteurs, andaccommodation occupied by foreign mercenaries, the statement read.

According to the ministry, high-precision, long-range ground- and air-based missiles and drones were deployed during the strikes.

“As a result of the attacks, significant damage was delivered to the logistics system of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, operating in theKherson and Zaporozhyedirections,” the statement read.

“Part of the stocks of cruise missiles and depleted uranium shells” provided to Kiev by its Western backers were destroyed, it said. Foreign-made multiple rocket launchers and air-defense systems were also hit, the ministry added.

Ukraine received Storm Shadow/SCALP-Eg long-range, air-launched cruise missiles from the UK and France earlier this year. The munitions have been used by Kiev to attack Russian targets, including those in Crimea.

According to Sky News, Storm Shadows were deployed in the Ukrainian strike on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the city of Sevastopol on Friday. Russia’s Defense Ministry said five incoming missiles had been brought down by air defenses, but the resulting debris damaged the building and caused a blaze. One soldier was reported missing after the attack.

Britain has been supplying Ukraine with depleted-uranium shells since March. The controversial munitions are intended to be used by the Challenger 2 tanks that London donated to Kiev. The US announced that its Abrams M1 tanks, which President Joe Biden said would begin arriving in Ukraine “next week,” would also be armed with depleted-uranium shells.

The delivery of depleted uranium shells by the West to Kiev is “is very bad news,” Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stressed a few weeks ago. The use of such munitions during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 led to a “galloping” rise in the number of people suffering from cancer and other diseases, he said, adding that the same should now be expected in Ukraine.

Earlier this month, the Russian Defense Ministry already reported a successful strike on a Ukrainian warehouse hosting depleted uranium shells.

https://www.rt.com/russia/583438-ukraine-depleted-uranium-missiles/

23 Sep, 2023 01:18

Le Pen accused of misusing EU funds

The French opposition leader should face trial for allegedly embezzling the bloc's money, prosecutors have said

French prosecutors have recommended putting conservative ex-presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and 26 other National Rally (RN) party members on trial over alleged embezzlement of EU funds.

The prosecutors allege that, between 2004 to 2016, money allocated to cover the expenses of European Parliament members was used to pay for assistants who, in reality, worked for RN, known until 2018 as National Front (FN).

Le Pen’s father and party co-founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, was also implicated in the scheme. Overall, 11 MEPs, 12 parliamentary assistants and four other staffers were referred to trial.

If convicted, Le Pen could face up to 10 years in prison and a ban on holding public office for the same period, according to AFP.

The European Anti-Fraud Office reported in 2016 that Le Pen owed €339,000 ($361,000). According to her lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, the politician paid back almost €330,000 in July. The payment, however, “does not in any way constitute explicit or implicit recognition of the European Parliament's claims,” Bosselut said, as quoted by AFP.

Le Pen has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that the allegations against her were politically motivated. The party released a statement on Friday, saying that the accusations stemmed from “an erroneous understanding of the work of opposition lawmakers and their assistants.”

Le Pen came second during presidential elections in 2017 and 2022, losing to Emmanuel Macron. She stepped down as party president last year, but continues to lead the RN group in the French National Assembly.

(Macron using the same tactics of Bidan to jail political opponents,the NWO is showing PANIC mode is accelerated! Germany is trying the same thing to the conservative party that has 25% support in German politics.)

https://www.rt.com/news/583425-le-pen-funds-charges/

The Lame Duck Period Begins – Florida Republicans Move Away from DeSantis, as Failed Campaign Will Return Him to State

September 22, 2023

Politico writes a vast majority of stories from a slanted perspective; however, on the aspect of DeSantis influence in Florida disappearing, they are correct. One is the loneliest number.

Republicans in the sunshine state are ambivalent about the governor returning, after a disgraced and failed presidential effort.Quite frankly, DeSantis is an irrelevant gnat now, and he has three years left in his term as Florida governor.

This isn’t a surprise; it was easily predicted over a year ago when we first discussed the ruse of the Florida election. We knew DeSantis was going to run. We knew he was going to fail miserably; and we knew he would return to Florida a broken politician with no political currency.

The DeSantis operation was built on fraud, and the Florida policy successes were factually constructed (Rovian network) as groundwork for his presidential ambitions – not the Florida voters.

FLORIDA – TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is losing his clout in Florida.

College boards, stacked with DeSantis appointees, are rejecting job candidates with ties to the governor.

The chair of the Republican Party of Florida urged executive committee members to attend all GOP candidate events —giving cover to party faithful who want to attend a dinner at Mar-a-Lago with former President Donald Trump.

And the board that oversees many of Florida’s affordable housing programs this month placed on leave its executive director, who was helped into the job by a top DeSantis adviser.

Interviews with nearly two dozen lobbyists, political consultants and lawmakers revealed that DeSantis’ struggles as a presidential candidate have already eroded his influence in Florida. There is a widespread expectation that his candidacy will end in failure. His standing at home may depend on how long he slogs forward in the presidential campaign — and how he will manage his exit from the race if he eventually drops out.

Now, it may be just a matter of time before Florida Republicans, once unflinchingly loyal, seek distance from DeSantis and his hardball governing methods.

“You don’t get the assumption they are measuring drapes anymore — they are waiting for him to drop out,” one long-time Republican consultant in Tallahassee said of those working for the governor. (read more)

Ron’s ego won’t be able to cope with the failure. Casey will be salt in the wound. The state legislature is already back to the pre-Ron era, and thetoxic pressure his team exhausted in order to bully the state is going to come back like an 800lb boomerang.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/09/22/the-lame-duck-period-begins-florida-republicans-move-away-from-desantis-as-failed-campaign-will-return-him-to-state/

The Lame Duck Period Begins – Florida Republicans Move Away from DeSantis, as Failed Campaign Will Return Him to State

September 22, 2023

Politico writes a vast majority of stories from a slanted perspective; however, on the aspect of DeSantis influence in Florida disappearing, they are correct. One is the loneliest number.

Republicans in the sunshine state are ambivalent about the governor returning, after a disgraced and failed presidential effort.Quite frankly, DeSantis is an irrelevant gnat now, and he has three years left in his term as Florida governor.

This isn’t a surprise; it was easily predicted over a year ago when we first discussed the ruse of the Florida election. We knew DeSantis was going to run. We knew he was going to fail miserably; and we knew he would return to Florida a broken politician with no political currency.

The DeSantis operation was built on fraud, and the Florida policy successes were factually constructed (Rovian network) as groundwork for his presidential ambitions – not the Florida voters.

FLORIDA – TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is losing his clout in Florida.

College boards, stacked with DeSantis appointees, are rejecting job candidates with ties to the governor.

The chair of the Republican Party of Florida urged executive committee members to attend all GOP candidate events —giving cover to party faithful who want to attend a dinner at Mar-a-Lago with former President Donald Trump.

And the board that oversees many of Florida’s affordable housing programs this month placed on leave its executive director, who was helped into the job by a top DeSantis adviser.

Interviews with nearly two dozen lobbyists, political consultants and lawmakers revealed that DeSantis’ struggles as a presidential candidate have already eroded his influence in Florida. There is a widespread expectation that his candidacy will end in failure. His standing at home may depend on how long he slogs forward in the presidential campaign — and how he will manage his exit from the race if he eventually drops out.

Now, it may be just a matter of time before Florida Republicans, once unflinchingly loyal, seek distance from DeSantis and his hardball governing methods.

“You don’t get the assumption they are measuring drapes anymore — they are waiting for him to drop out,” one long-time Republican consultant in Tallahassee said of those working for the governor. (read more)

Ron’s ego won’t be able to cope with the failure. Casey will be salt in the wound. The state legislature is already back to the pre-Ron era, and thetoxic pressure his team exhausted in order to bully the state is going to come back like an 800lb boomerang.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/09/22/the-lame-duck-period-begins-florida-republicans-move-away-from-desantis-as-failed-campaign-will-return-him-to-state/