RT crew witnesses IDF strikes on residential area in southern Lebanon (VIDEO)

The attack comes as Beirut and West Jerusalem just wrapped up a new round of US‑brokered talks

A “huge blast” from an Israeli strike has hit southern Lebanon just as an RT crew was preparing to go on air in Nabatieh province, RT correspondent Steve Sweeney has reported.

The explosion on Thursday was heard “very loudly across the region,” with a large cloud of smoke billowing from the nearby area. “We could hear it very loudly from where we are now,” Sweeney said, describing this part of southern Lebanon as having been “heavily targeted by Israel over the past few weeks” and subjected to daily bombardments and demolitions.

Villages along the ridgeline around Nabatieh have faced repeated air and drone strikes, with roads, vehicles, and other infrastructure among the targets, as local officials appeal for an end of the “Israeli aggression.”

The latest strike came as Lebanon and Israel concluded a two‑day round of US‑brokered talks in Rome, where officials agreed on the structure and guidelines for withdrawing Israeli forces from two ‘pilot zones’ in southern Lebanon. The designated areas are intended to test a phased framework involving an Israeli pullout, the disarmament of Hezbollah units there, and the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces.

Lebanese MP Hassan Fadlallah has condemned the emerging arrangement as an “ill‑fated” agreement that “terminates Lebanon’s existence as an independent state” and “legitimizes the occupation and its criminal practices.” He warned that the proposed pilot areas would prevent the return of displaced people and reconstruction, and make Lebanese authorities “the enemy’s partner in every drop of blood it sheds and every home it destroys.”

According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, more than 4,300 people have been killed and over 12,000 wounded since the conflict escalated on March 2. The Israeli campaign against Hezbollah began days after the US-Israeli bombardment of Iran. While international attention is focused on whether the Rome talks can deliver a breakthrough, for many in southern Lebanon, peace “seems a very, very distant hope,” Sweeney said.

https://www.rt.com/news/643142-israel-idf-strikes-lebanon/

House Defeats Bid To End Israel Aid While Senate Blocks US-Israel Intel Integration

The U.S. House on Wednesday rejected an amendment by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) that would have eliminated $3.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Israel, voting 314–104 to defeat the proposal.

As Tom Gantert reports for The Epoch Times, the vote exposed divisions within the Democratic Party, with 103 Democrats joining Massie in support of the amendment, while 98 Democrats voted against it and 10 voted present. Massie was the only Republican to vote in favor of the amendment.

“Though my amendment to strike $3.3 billion in aid to Israel from the State Dept Approps bill did not pass, 104 House Members voted in favor of it,” Massie said on X.

“The tide is changing. Americans want their tax dollars to be spent improving things here at home, not waging war and genocide.”

The amendment was considered as the House debated the fiscal 2027 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs appropriations bill.

Before the vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) urged lawmakers to reject the amendment, calling it “overly broad” because he said it could restrict funding for humanitarian aid, refugee resettlement, peace-building efforts, and U.S. Embassy operations.

While criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and calling for a “major reset” in U.S. policy toward Israel, Jeffries said the amendment was not the appropriate way to achieve those goals.

“In addition, the so-called Massie amendment would restrict our country’s ability to confront Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations in the region who are sworn enemies of both the United States and Israel,” Jeffries’s letter to his colleagues stated.

Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) made reference to Massie, who lost his primary election to a President Donald Trump-backed candidate in May.

“Very proud of my @HouseGOP colleagues,” Fine posted on X after the vote.

“Today we unanimously repudiated our soon-departing Jew-hating colleague, making clear that standing with our greatest ally is core to America’s interests.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/house-defeats-bid-end-israel-aid-while-senate-blocks-us-israel-intel-integration

‘What we do is called international terrorism’ – Ukrainian spy behind Monaco bombing

Russian law enforcement has lifted the veil on the identity of the agent who plotted numerous terrorist attacks around the world

Ukrainian military intelligence feels complete impunity for their terrorist attacks, be it in Russia or in the heart of Europe, Vitaly Zhikovich, the alleged mastermind of the Monaco bombing, bragged in audio recordings obtained by RT.

The suspect was well known to Russian security services and was on Moscow’s radar for over two years due to his attempts to organize dozens of terrorist attacks and sabotage in Russia.

After Zhikovich was caught getting rid of an asset who tried to assassinate a foe of Vladimir Zelensky in Monaco, Russian law enforcement decided to lift the veil on his true identity, RT’s Roman Kosarev said in an exclusive report.

Monaco bombing

The operation took place on June 29 and was initially described by Monaco officials as an unprecedented attack in the history of the country.

The target was Vadim Ermolaev, a former Ukrainian multimillionaire who was sanctioned by Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and was also suspected of links to organized crime. The network under Ermolaev’s command allegedly scammed people out of money in Russia and the EU through around 170 call centers, many of which were based on his commercial properties.

CCTV footage shows a person leaving a backpack containing an improvised explosive device packed with shrapnel near the entrance to a residential building.

The bomb was detonated remotely, seriously injuring Ermolaev and two other people who accompanied him – a woman whose legs and an arm were amputated and her 13-year-old son.

https://www.rt.com/russia/643111-terrorism-ukrainian-spy-monaco-bombing/

Election Crime Bureau: 2020 Election Report Rebuts Claims of “No Evidence”

This Executive Summary provides brief overview of the evidentiary record compiled in the full

report, The 2020 Election: An Attack Upon U.S. Critical Infrastructure. All assertions in the report

are drawn from forensic analyses, sworn legislative testimony, court filings, inspector general

investigations, vendor invoices, reasonable inference based upon open-source intelligence, and

government communications obtained through litigation and FOIA.

CORE FINDING

The 2020 General Election produced a convergence of ten distinct attack vectors that —

individually — each constitute a predicate for federal grand jury action and — collectively —

represent the most serious documented assault on democratic infrastructure in modern

American history. The threat is constitutional, institutional, and national security in character.

Adversarial foreign powers exploited vulnerabilities deliberately created or maintained by

domestic actors. Independent oversight was blocked at every institutional layer — judicial,

executive, and informational — before forensic verification could occur. No federal agency

has conducted a comprehensive, independent investigation of the convergent record.

https://electioncrimebureau.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2020-Election-Findings-1-Page-Overview_page1.jpg

https://electioncrimebureau.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/EXEC-SUMMARY-2020-Election-Attack-Upon-US-Critical-Infrastructure-V2.pdf

No mention of the Israeli companies that control US critical infrastructure!

Massie Drops Epstein Files Transparency Act 2 To Compel Release Of Records

Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie has announced he will introduce the second iteration of the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA).

Massie announced in a Wednesday press release that the Epstein Files Transparency Act II (EFTA II) would give standing to state attorneys general, members of Congress and victims of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators to sue the U.S. attorney general for unlawfully withholding, redacting, or failing to disclose Epstein-related records.

The legislation would also grant victims access to unredacted files related to their cases, require the Justice Department to provide unredacted records to state and local prosecutors, impose existing criminal penalties on officials who knowingly conceal or destroy covered records, and prohibit the use of common law privileges to avoid disclosure.

“Since the Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed into law on November 19, 2025, the Department of Justice has flagrantly and consistently ignored EFTA’s disclosurerequirements,” Massie alleged in his release.

The original EFTA gave then-Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi 30 days after the law took effect to make all unclassified DOJ records—including those from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices — publicly accessible in a searchable, downloadable format

https://massie.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=395849

https://dailycaller.com/2026/07/16/massie-drops-epstein-files-transparency-act-2-to-compel-release-of-records/

https://www.antiwar.com/

https://www.antiwar.com/

‘Go to hell’: Vance rails at reported Israeli-backed online campaign smearing Iran MOU

In Joe Rogan interview, VP claims some elements within Israeli ‘system’ are ‘beyond a shadow of a doubt manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely’

US Vice President JD Vance fumed on Wednesday at a reported Israeli government-funded influence campaign aimed at criticizing the efforts of President Donald Trump’s administration to negotiate an end to the Iran war.

“There was this Time article that came out yesterday… It lists a bunch of people who have been paid by a former Trump campaign person who was himself paid by certain elements within the Israeli government, and those people are attacking me viciously for trying to accomplish the negotiation objective that the president set for the country,” Vance said during an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, calling it a “very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign to try to derail the negotiations.”

Time revealed on Tuesday that Trump’s former campaign manager has been leading a pro-Israel influence campaign directed and funded by the Israeli government, targeting young Americans within Trump’s MAGA base.

According to the report, Brad Parscale and his company, Clock Tower X, were tapped last September by an ad agency to conduct an influence campaign on behalf of Israel. Time cited the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filings in its report.

Vance brought up the story unprovoked during his Rogan interview.

“It’s social media posts, it’s leaking to reporters — they’re attacking me obsessively, saying that we should not be negotiating with Iran. We should just keep the military campaign going indefinitely,” he claimed.

“People have come after me and said I’m influenced by Qatar, that I’m influenced by foreign governments, that I take my marching orders from Tucker Carlson, and there’s just so much bullshit out there,” he said.

“Foreign governments try to influence the United States all the time. Israel does it. Other countries do it… What bothers me is when American leadership allows that influence to affect their judgment and to affect what they are advocating for,” Vance argued.

“When I open up the pages of Time magazine, and I see that there’s a foreign influence campaign being funded to tank the very deal that I was pursuing, and many of the people who were receiving that money were attacking me in completely dishonest ways, my response to that is, Go to hell. I’m going to do what I have to do for the American people. I represent Americans first,” he asserted.

“There are some people within (the Israeli) system we know beyond a shadow of a doubt who are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely,” Vance charged.

Asked whether the US would have launched its war against Iran if it were not for Israeli influence, Vance responded in the affirmative.

“I think the president, completely separate from any influence from Israel, believes very strongly, and again I agree with this, that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

A surprised Rogan pressed Vance on whether the US would have continued the war, which began on February 28, for as long as it did if not for Israeli influence, though the vice president maintained his position.

Vance has been one of the most outspoken members of the administration in criticizing Israel, particularly as he has come under fire for the MOU that he helped negotiate.

He made headlines last month when he called out far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government who had blasted the administration for the deal, telling them they needed to “wake up” and realize that Trump is the last world leader who still likes Israel.

Claims trajectory of Iran talks still positive

Asked by Rogan about the status of Iran negotiations, Vance claimed that there was a divide in Iran’s leadership between pragmatists who want to make a deal with the US and hardliners who do not.

According to Vance, the hardliners “freaked out” after the MOU was reached because they saw how much oil the US was able to get out of the Strait of Hormuz and began targeting ships there as a result.

“They’ve basically said, ‘We’re going to try to shut this thing down. We’re scared about losing our leverage.’ The pragmatists in their system are saying, ‘This was a mistake. Let’s keep on talking,'” Vance said.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2077456569491460192

https://www.timesofisrael.com/go-to-hell-vance-rails-at-reported-israeli-backed-online-campaign-smearing-iran-mou/

Nearly quarter of Congress is 70 or older while average retirement age is 63.

Congress stays packed with people way past normal retirement age while the country deals with massive problems. They keep power and deliver nothing on key issues. The age gap makes the whole place feel out of touch and resistant to real change.

About 25% of House and Senate voting members are 70+.

House median age around 57-58, Senate median around 64.

24 members are 80 or older, many still running for re-election.

Average US retirement age sits at 62-64 depending on data source.

Boomers still make up a large portion of Congress.

Ballotpedia ages of 119th Congress members: https://ballotpedia.org/Ages_of_members_of_the_119th_Congress_(2025-2026)

Pew Research on age in Congress: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/01/16/age-and-generation-in-the-119th-congress-somewhat-younger-with-fewer-boomers-and-more-gen-xers/

Turkey issues international arrest warrant for Netanyahu

The 11th High Criminal Court of Istanbul has ordered an international arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The warrant stems from the Israeli military's interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), a humanitarian flotilla attempting to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip.

The Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office indicted 35 defendants, including Netanyahu, in April, charging them with crimes against humanity, genocide, imprisonment, torture, and robbery.

According to the prosecution, Israeli authorities forcibly stopped ships, detained civilians using violence, and subjected them to treatment incompatible with human dignity. The prosecution requested life imprisonment for each defendant, plus additional sentences ranging from 1102 to 4596 years.

The warrant issued by the Turkish court is international in nature, but its practical implementation is unlikely. Israel does not recognize the jurisdiction of Turkish courts over its citizens and does not extradite them to third countries.

Nevertheless, Ankara's decision itself is a demonstrative step, further exacerbating already tense Turkish-Israeli relations. Israel, for its part, categorically denies all accusations.

https://en.topwar.ru/286286-v-turcii-vydali-mezhdunarodnyj-order-na-arest-netanjahu.html

You can add Australia, Germany, Ukraine, France…….. also all arming Israel to this day

Save the Children UK

@savechildrenuk

This is your legacy on the occupied Palestinian territory, Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer. History will remember your complicity.

Despite a partial arms suspension in 2024, Keir Starmer's government has continued to enable Israel's atrocities against Palestinians, their families and children through the supply of F-35 fighter jet parts.

Nothing can change the horrors Palestinians have faced. But the next Prime Minister has an opportunity to put an end to the UK Government's role as an ally to atrocities.

The UK Government must:

🔴 Suspend all arms sales to Israel

🔴 Suspend the UK-Israel trade and partnership agreement

🔴 Ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements

To the next Prime Minister: what will your plaque say?

https://x.com/savechildrenuk/status/2077053366316728520

Israel denies German flotilla activist's claim of alleged rape in Israeli detention

According to the complaint and Liedtke’s account, the alleged assault occurred on October 10, 2025, after she was transferred to Givon Prison following the interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla.

A German journalist and Gaza flotilla activist has accused female Israeli prison guards of raping her during a forced strip-search at Givon Prison last October, allegations that the Israel Prison Service (IPS) has categorically denied.

Anna Liedtke, 25, detailed the alleged assault in an interview published by The Guardian on Wednesday, after Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel filed a complaint on her behalf earlier this month demanding a criminal investigation.

The allegations have not been independently verified by The Jerusalem Post. The IPS told The Guardian that allegations are “categorically denied and entirely unsubstantiated,” and that it “rejects any allegation of rape, sexual assault or systematic abuse by its personnel.” Queried by the Post on the nature and status of the investigation, the IPS said it had nothing to add beyond the response already given.

The complaint was submitted on June 1 to the Attorney-General’s Office, the IPS’s legal adviser, the National Unit for Investigating Prison Staff - a sub-unit of Lahav 433’s Serious and International Crime Unit - and the commander of Givon Prison.

“We have confirmation from the Prison Service that a file has been opened, but nothing substantive yet,” Adalah told the Post.

Adalah did not provide further information regarding the nature of the file or whether a formal criminal investigation had been opened.

Liedtke claims assault occured in October 2025

According to the complaint and Liedtke’s account to The Guardian, the alleged assault occurred on October 10, 2025, after she was transferred from Ketziot Prison to Givon Prison following the interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla two days earlier.

Liedtke was among approximately 145 participants in vessels affiliated with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and the Thousand Madleens initiative. The Israeli Navy intercepted the flotilla early on October 8 and diverted the vessels to Ashdod Port, after which most of those detained were taken to Ketziot Prison in the Negev.

The flotilla groups described the voyage as an attempt to deliver humanitarian aid and challenge the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel has maintained that the blockade is a necessary security measure intended to prevent weapons from reaching Hamas and has accused flotilla organizers of staging provocations rather than genuine aid missions.

Liedtke alleged that she was subjected to physical and verbal violence during her detention and was strip-searched three times without her consent.

She claimed that the first search took place at Ashdod Port in an area that was only partly concealed, leaving her visible to male personnel passing nearby. She alleged that she was again required to strip after being taken to Ketziot Prison.

Following her transfer to Givon two days later, Liedtke told The Guardian she refused an order to undergo a third strip-search. She alleged that two, and later three, female guards forcibly removed her clothes, restrained her hands, forced her to her knees and covered her mouth as she screamed.

One of the guards then allegedly penetrated her vaginally and anally with her fingers, according to the account. Liedtke further alleged that male guards could see into the partially screened area and laughed during the incident.

The allegations are based on Liedtke’s testimony and the complaint filed on her behalf. No findings have been issued regarding the events she described.

Liedtke said she informed friends and medical professionals shortly after leaving Israeli custody and first spoke publicly about the alleged rape at a conference in December.

“There is no reason for me to be ashamed,” she told The Guardian. “Whenever we are silent, they will do it to another person.”

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-902739

Fetterman warns he would leave Democratic Party if it turns its back on Israel

Maverick Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has said he has “no plans” to leave the Democratic Party, but he warned on Wednesday that if Democrats completely turn their backs on U.S. support for Israel, that would cross a red line that could push him out of the party.

“If our party ever becomes — and just makes it official — the anti-Israel party, that’s when I would leave because that’s been a moral clarity for me,” he said during an interview at the Hill Nation Summit in Washington.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5970730-john-fetterman-democratic-party-israel/

Europol supports operation against amphetamine producers

Coordinated raids in Germany and the Netherlands lead to arrests and seizure of evidence in suspected multi-tonne amphetamine production network

Europol has supported law enforcement authorities from Germany and the Netherlands in dismantling an international organised crime group suspected of operating multiple amphetamine production laboratories.

As part of an extensive investigation led by the German Krefeld Public Prosecutor's Office and Mönchengladbach Police, officers from the North Rhine-Westphalia Police, as well as Polish and Dutch law enforcement conducted coordinated searches at ten locations in Germany and three in the Netherlands in the early hours of 15 July 2026. Several suspects were arrested during the operation.

Nine suspects of German and Dutch nationality

The investigation currently targets nine individuals of German and Dutch nationality, who are suspected of procuring precursor chemicals in quantities of several tonnes for the illegal production of amphetamine and of operating various amphetamine laboratories since 2025. During the searches, investigators seized numerous items of evidence, which are now being forensically examined.

In addition to searching the suspects' residences, officers searched several suspected production sites, including two warehouses located in Kaldenkirchen and Niederkrüchten, Germany. In addition to Europol experts and the local fire and rescue service, the operation was supported on site by specialists from the Forensic Science Institute of the North Rhine-Westphalia Criminal Police Office.

Europol’s support

Europol provided analytical support throughout the investigation and hosted several operational meetings in-person and online. On the action day, two Europol drug lab dismantling experts supported national authorities in the field. This is a unique service deployed upon request to assist national specialists and provide on-site technical assistance, chemical detection and operation support. It is equipped with state-of-the-art detection tools and staffed by experts in chemical identification and lab safety.

https://malware.news/t/europol-supports-operation-against-amphetamine-producers/123980

Now America is fighting Israel's war and they are not!