Ari Fleischer: The Democrats have created a general election problem for themselves
6:16
https://youtu.be/-N1jDzbB9uA
Report: FBI Labeled Mike Pompeo, Bill Barr as ‘Conduits’ of Russian Disinformation
Elizabeth Weibel12 Aug 2026
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) allegedly labeled people such as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Attorney General Bill Barr as “conduits” of Russian disinformation, according to a recent report.
A report from Just The News revealed that a spreadsheet that was “recovered from U.S. intelligence agency files” and that the White House Government Transparency Task Force “made public,”contained names such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama, along with Pompeo and Barr.
While people like Barr and Pompeo were labeled as “conduits” of Russian disinformation, people such as Clinton and Obama were labeled “targets”:
A spreadsheet that was recovered from U.S. intelligence agency files and made public Wednesday by the White House Government Transparency Task Force shows that spy agencies and the FBI created a list of more than six dozen prominent organizations, Americans or foreigners who became figures in the Biden family Ukraine scandal and the 2019 impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
The spreadsheet neatly divided figures along political lines, with Democrats like the Bidens, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Barack Obama and George Soro listed as victimized “targets” of Russian disinformation and conservatives like Fox News, One America News, filmmaker Michael Caputo and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani as “conduits” for disinformation.
The late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) were also labeled “conduits.”
“An administration official” explained to the outlet that the labeling of people as either a “conduit” or “target” of disinformation was reportedly “part of a secret counterintelligence operation codenamed ‘Round River’ that was launched during the 2020 election.”
The report from the outlet also noted that an “FBI letter made public” showed the “FBI has identified at least 14 informants who were providing derogatory information on the Bidens.”
In the letter “to the White House Government Transparency Task Force” FBI Director Kash Patel stated that the FBI was “investigating whether” the Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) “used information learned from the Round River assessment to undermine or influence ongoing investigations.” Patel also said the task force “was terminated on his watch.”
“While our internal review of the FITF is not yet complete, we are investigating whether the FITF used information learned from the Round River assessment to undermine or influence ongoing investigations by only focusing on the subset of CHS’s (Confidential Human Sources) involving the Bidens,” Patel reportedly said in the letter.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/12/report-fbi-labeled-mike-pompeo-bill-barr-as-conduits-of-russian-disinformation/
Top IRGC Adviser Says Iran Could Prolong War to Outlast Trump — U.S. Vows to Keep ‘Wall of Steel’ Blockade
A top adviser to the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Tehran could deliberately prolong its war with the United States in an effort to outlast President Donald Trump, as Washington doubles down on a “WALL OF STEEL” naval blockade that U.S. and Israeli officials say is steadily worsening the Islamic Republic’s economic crisis.
“One way is to prolong this war until we get to the next term of the presidency and cause attrition, so that if anyone else wants to attack Iran, they will know there is a cost,” Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi told PBS in a rare interview publishedTuesday.
Naqdi, a longtime senior IRGC figure who served as the force’s coordinating deputy from 2019 to 2025 and now serves as a senior adviser to its commander, laid out the potential strategy as Iran’s newly reshuffled military leadership increasingly prepares for a prolonged confrontation with Washington.
“We have to attain deterrence so that the enemy never dares to attack us, so we can live with security,” Naqdi said.
Naqdi went on to argue that time would favor Tehran, claiming the conflict has given Iran valuable experience fighting the United States while exposing the American military as “weaker than what we perceived.”
“The longer this war lasts, the more experience we gain,” Naqdi said.
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EXCLUSIVE: A top adviser to the overall commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) tells PBS News Hour that the U.S. military is "weaker than what we perceived."
"The longer this war lasts, the more experience we gain," Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi said Show more
He added that Iran had never previously experienced a war that allowed it to learn firsthand how to fight the United States, but claimed that “in these five months, we have learned how.”
“It would be wise for Iran to agree to a deal,” the White House told PBS. “Otherwise they know what will happen.”
Naqdi’s proposal to try to outlast Trump runs directly against the strategy the president has increasingly embraced: maintain overwhelming military leverage around Iran while allowing the blockade, frozen assets, sanctions, and Tehran’s mounting economic problems to steadily tighten the pressure.
“The U.S.A. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!”Trump declared Wednesday on Truth Social.
“Our Naval Blockade is being called, by everyone, ‘A WALL OF STEEL,’ and there is nothing Iran can do about it,” he continued.
Trump also reiterated his increasingly grim assessment of Iran’s military and economic condition, declaring that Tehran has “no Navy,” “no Air Force,” unpaid soldiers, and an IRGC that is “decimated and fleeing.”
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/12/top-irgc-adviser-iran-could-prolong-war-outlast-trump/
“They have No Money — Their country is ‘shot,’” Trump wrote. “All they have is FAKE NEWS and 300% INFLATION, and getting worse!”
He concluded that Iran is “all talk and no action” and “the Bully of the Middle East No Longer.”
Trump had laid out the strategy more explicitly in a prerecorded Real America’s Voice interview released this week, describing several possible paths forward — including allowing the current economic pressure to continue working or launching another major military escalation.
OOPS! Jen Psaki Makes a Horrible Admission About the Democrat Party’s Nominating Process on the Air(VIDEO)
by Mike LaChance Aug. 12, 2026 10:00
Jen Psaki admitted something horrible about the Democrat Party on MSNOW last night, during their coverage of the Wisconsin Democrat primary for governor.
Psaki came right out and admitted that the leaders of the Democrat Party typically choose the party’s nominees, not the voters.
Everyone knows this is true. Obviously, no one voted to make Kamala Harris the 2024 Democrat presidential nominee, but you don’t expect to hear someone like Psaki admit this on the air.
From the Vigilant Fox:
Jen Psaki admits on MSNBC that Democratic Party leadership used to “SELECT” the nominees, and nobody was allowed to say it out loud until now.
PSAKI: “We both remember well when party leadership really selected the nominees.”
“Now, you would never say it that way exactly, but they would. Now we can [say it]. We’re free!”
“They really did, because they would put money behind it. They would endorse. And now it looks very much like party leaders are not picking the nominees.”
“In fact, party leaders pushing nominees is a negative.”
The party that claimed to represent “democracy” never trusted its own voters to pick their nominees.
Watch the clip:
During the same show, Psaki had a freakout moment about the polling being so wrong.
From Overton News:
PSAKI: “Okay, I know we’ve been talking about this, but it’s just worth restating that most polls headed into election day show Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong with a VERY safe double digit lead in the Wisconsin gubernatorial primary.”
“And she could certainly still win…but as you can see, with a little more than half of the vote in Francesca Hong is down to the establishment backed candidate, David Crowley, which is, I think, not where most people expected this to sit, with 51% of the vote in…”
“What’s interesting to me, one of the things is that there was over 100,000 people who voted in July, and during early vote and vote by mail. That was a period of time where Crowley was in and out of the…he was in and out of the race, right?”
(
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/oops-jen-psaki-makes-horrible-admission-about-democrat/
Frank Luntz Calls for ‘Total and Complete Shutdown of Primary Polling’ After Polls Got Michigan and Wisconsin So Wrong
by Mike LaChance Aug. 12, 2026
KEK what a dope
One of the most remarkable aspects of the last two Democrat primaries in Wisconsin and Michigan is how utterly wrong the polls were.
Abdul El-Sayed was supposed to win by double digits, according to the polls. He squeaked out a win by one point. Francesca Hong was supposed to win in a landslide, according to the polls. She ended up losing. What is going on?
Pollster and political analyst Frank Luntz took to Twitter/X last night and called for a complete shutdown of primary polling in the midwest.
I am calling for a total and complete shutdown of primary polling in the Midwestern United States until we can figure out what the hell is going on. https://t.co/Wm6TwTuaUG
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) August 12, 2026
He talked about this on Newsmax today:
Pollster and communication strategist Frank Luntz told Newsmax that political pollsters must begin to admit they aren’t always right.
Luntz told Ed Henry on “The Big Take” on Wednesday that “what we have now are pollsters on both sides, Democrats and Republicans, not acknowledging how wrong they are, how they cannot make these projections.”
Luntz said the math doesn’t work with low voter turnouts that happen often.
“How,” he explained, “when you get turnouts of 15% electorate, you can’t make a conclusion or a projection. And pollsters need to stop doing this.”
Luntz posted about the issue in the early hours of Wednesday in connection with the Wisconsin governor’s race, where democratic socialist Francesca Hong had been declared as carrying large, double-digit leads over eventual winner David Crowley.
“I am calling for a total and complete shutdown of primary polling in the Midwestern United States,” he wrote, “until we can figure out what the hell is going on.”
Luntz told Henry that he was among those pollsters in 2016 who went all-in on Hillary Clinton winning the presidency…
Luntz said people who release political polling need to stand up and admit that “this is not a science,” he said. “It is an art, and you need to be much more careful about what you say and how you conclude.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/frank-luntz-calls-total-complete-shutdown-primary-polling/
‘The Matrix’ Director Lilly Wachowski Bashes Hollywood for Refusing to Fund ‘Wall-to-Wall Trans Cast’ Action Film
Warner Todd Huston12 Aug 2026
Lilly Wachowski, the director of TheMatrix series of films andwho now identifies as a woman, is ripping Hollywood for refusing to back his transgender action film.
Wachowski ripped the industry for ignoring his plans to raise $10 million for The Hunted, his next film, according to Variety.
“People like it,” Wachowski said of the script for the proposed action film. “But theyreally don’t want to make it because it’s [got a] wall-to-wall trans cast. I have to get creative and figure out different ways that I can get this in front of people.”
Wachowski, who transitioned in 2016, several years after his brother, Larry, transitioned in 2008, added that the project was “important.”
“This is a script that was extremely important for me to write,” the director said. “It was a response to what is happening inthe world for trans people, and it gave me a hugely cathartic receptacle to dump all of my anger and rage and frustration into.”
“I’m just going to go out and I’mgoing to grab that trans joy with all of my friends,” Wachowski said. “It’s not the thing that I had imagined it was going to be, but the end result is the same.”
Wachowski was behind many actioners including The Matrix series, but also Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas, and Jupiter Ascending. To date, though, only The Matrix films did very well at the box office. The other three films were all disappointments.
Speed Racer, for instance, lost more than $20 million, Cloud Atlas lost nearly as much as Speed Racer, and Jupiter Ascending barely broke even.
One is tempted to believe that Wachowski is having trouble raising money for his trans action film because his films have mostly been huge money losers, rather than because it is “wall-to-wall trans.”
Since transitioning, Wachowski has been a loud trans activist, of course. Last year The Matrixcreator defended a DC Comic book writer who gleefully celebrated the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. And in 2020 he went on the attackagainst Elon Musk when the Tesla chief used the “red pill” reference seen in The Matrix films as a modern political metaphor.
(https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2026/08/12/the-matrix-director-lilly-wachowski-bashes-hollywood-for-refusing-to-fund-wall-to-wall-trans-cast-action-film/
I can’t tell if this person was a woman originally, or a man! Weird!
Comedian Margaret Cho: ‘We’re in the Middle of a Trans Genocide’(comedians are not funny anymore)
Paul Bois13 Aug 2026
Comedienne and actor Margaret Cho attacked policies aimed at curbing transgender ideology, even going as far to say we are in a “trans genocide.”
Cho shared her thoughts on the issue during an appearance on the Who’s With Me? podcast.
“It’s really scary and the way our government treats trans lives. You know, insane bathroom laws and identity laws, or taking people’s driver’s licenses,” she said. “It seems endless whether it’s re-legalizing conversion therapy. Supreme Court on down. You have all of these things that, you know, we’re in the middle of a trans genocide, and we have to do anything that we can to stop it. We have to make sure that trans people are safe and then start working on restoring equality to their lives.”
In the same interview, she took other comedians to task for cracking jokes about transgender ideology.
“I think trans lives has become a very big thing in comedy, because they want to contest it.They don’t understand that when you take trans lives lightly in a comedy routine, trans people die, and they don’t have that understanding(wtf?). There are real consequences to your actions, because they don’t affect you personally, but this will affect a trans person’s life,” Cho said.
Cho recently made headlines last when she mocked the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham(R-S.C.) while wishing that Mitch McConnell would follow him. In an Instagram video released to her 427,000 followers,Cho joked that Graham was a closeted homosexualwhile actively looking forward to the death of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and a third person, whom she did not name.
“From the closet to the coffin- real seamless,” she said. “So it’s Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham…it does happen in threes. Hope.”
While she did not name the third person she hoped would pass, her Instagram had the hashtag #fdt, which generally means “Fuck Donald Trump.” She also shared the hashtag #pride, another reference to Graham as a closeted homosexual.(well she was right about that!)
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2026/08/13/margaret-cho-were-in-the-middle-of-a-trans-genocide/
Nolte: Francesca ‘Thanksgiving Sucks’ Hong and Pollsters Humiliated in Wisconsin Upset
John Nolte12 Aug 2026
Communist Francesca Hong, the Democrat frontrunner in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race,lost Tuesday night in a major upset for her and yet another massive humiliation for America’s utterly useless polling institution.
+18 – August 5
+22 – July 27
+20 – July 22
+13 – July 20
+11 – July 16
Those are the leads Hong held in the five most recent polls out of Wisconsin,where she just lost by almost half a point, 39.4 to 39.8 percent.
Hong, a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly since 2020, opposesThanksgiving,wants the U.S. Senate and ICE abolished, intended to kill off Wisconsin’s school choice program, admitted to having a bipolar disorder, and called the police (she wants to abolish) twice over what she thought was a pro-Israel display.
She once had an anxiety attack in a Culver’s (a family restaurant) because she could read the minds of all the racist, “old white people who didn’t think we spoke English.” She was there with her son, who is half-white because her (poor) husband is white.
Hong might look as sweet and innocent as Sally Field, but she is without question an unstable, power-mad bigot who hates everything America stands for.
Thankfully, Hong is also a retard, as is the campaign staff that stupidly allowed her to do the rounds on national television, where she crashed and burned like a beauty pageant contestant during the Q&A after a night out with Hunter Biden.
All Hong had to do,especially after her closest rival, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, dropped out two weeks ago and endorsed her, was sit on her lead.Her ego wouldn’t let her do that. Instead, her ego sent her out to step all over a field of rakes with a series of national television interviewsthat scared the hell out of Democrats. Francesca Hong is no Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
So what about the pollsters?
How could they get it this wrong?
In this case, if you look at the polling dates above, thepollsters’ one mistake was to stop polling a week and two weeks before Election Day under the assumption the race was over. Hong likely was ahead by double digits when those polls were taken. But by assuming the race was over, the pollsters missed thebottom dropping out of her campaign in the final two weeks of the campaign as she opened and reopened her mouth.
Pollsters made the same mistake during the 1948 presidential election. In poll after poll, Republican Thomas Dewey was so far ahead of incumbent Democrat Harry Truman, the polling stopped weeks before Election Day. Then Truman surged to victory, and that famous “Dewey Defeats Truman” photo was born.
The bad news is that Hong would have been much easier for the Republican nominee, Tom Tiffany, to beat. Now he’s up against Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
Even if the Republican loses, you have to look at the bright side. Had Hong won her primary last night, in a 50/50 state like Wisconsin, she still had a very good chance of becoming governor, so it’s a very good thing that threat has been neutralized.
Nolte is funny!
(https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/12/nolte-francesca-thanksgiving-sucks-hong-and-pollsters-humiliated-in-wisconsin-upset/
Trump Prosecutor Deported Hundreds from California Amnesty Zone
Mariane Angela12 Aug 2026
Federal authorities took hundreds of criminal illegal aliens from California jails despite the state’s sanctuary laws.
President Donald Trump’s deputies managed to deport hundreds of criminals from within California’s amnesty zone, or “sanctuary state,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Wednesday.
Essayli launched the operation last year. He said the strategy worked well enough to serve as a blueprint elsewhere in the country.
“This program is a model for the rest of the nation and a proven strategy to compel states to hand over criminal illegal immigrants to @ICEgov,” he said.
The operation resulted in the arrests of 362 illegal aliens who had previously been deported, according to the New York Post.
Federal authorities use illegal reentry charges to obtain warrants for illegal aliens already being held in local jails. The warrants require the facilities to transfer the inmates to federal custody before they can be released.
“We’re writing federal warrants in real time, so we can force jails to hand criminal aliens over to our custody before they’re released,” Essayli told the New York Post.
“It’s keeping bad guys from ever getting back out into the streets,” he added.
The operation covers Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties.
During one recent operation at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, federal agents took custody of seven illegal aliens who had been arrested on charges including domestic battery, illegal gun possession, and reckless driving causing injury.
Each had previously been convicted of illegally entering the United States and had been deported, making them eligible to face federal charges for returning illegally.
Among those targeted through Operation Guardian Angel are illegal aliens with criminal records involving child molestation and rape, as well as a man accused of murder.
One defendant, 70-year-old Mexican national Jaime Rodríguez Ladesma, was convicted in 2023 of committing lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14. He was deported later that year but returned illegally to the United States.
Federal authorities have also taken action against José Cristian Saravia-Sánchez, 31, a Mexican national accused of fatally shooting an Inglewood man who tried to stop the theft of a catalytic converter in 2025.
Saravia-Sánchez had previously been removed from the United States before returning illegally. He had also been arrested 11 times between June 2022 and August 2024, according to the report.
Federal officials said California’s sanctuary policies prevented local authorities from honoring an immigration detainer during his earlier encounters with law enforcement.
“The purpose of Operation Guardian Angel is to neutralize these sanctuary state policies,” Essayli said.
X users praised Operation Guardian Angel, thanking the Trump administration for targeting criminal illegal aliens in California.
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/08/12/trump-prosecutor-deported-hundreds-california-amnesty-zone/
‘Monstrous consequences’ if Japan sticks to Kuril Islands claim – Medvedev
The warning by the former Russian president came after Tokyo protested Vladimir Putin’s first-ever visit to the archipelago
Published 13 Aug, 2026 11:49 | Updated 13 Aug, 2026 12:50
The Kuril Islands will forever remain Russian land, with Japan looking for trouble by continuing to stick to its claim over the archipelago, former Russian President Dmitry Medvdev has said.
The Kuril archipelago came under Soviet control at the end of World War II following Japan’s defeat and was subsequently incorporated into the USSR. Tokyo, however, continues to claim the four southernmost islands – Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai islets – which it calls its “Northern Territories.”The dispute has been the main obstacle to Moscow and Tokyo signing a formal peace treaty in the eight decades since the conflict.
On Thursday, Tokyo lodged a strong protest over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first-ever visit to the Kurils, withPrime Minister Sanae Takaichi calling the trip “absolutely unacceptable” and saying it “hurts the feelings of the Japanese people.”
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi also issued a statement,insisting that the islands “are an inherent part of Japan’s territory both historically and under international law.”
The Japanese Foreign Ministry also summoned the Russian ambassador to the country, Nikolay Nozdrev, over Putin’s trip, Kyodo News reported.
In post on X later in the day,Medvedev said that “Takaichi can prattle on all she likes about the Kuril Islands being ‘historically Japanese,’ but this chatter won’t change a thing. They were, are, and will remain Russian land.”
“Anyone who fails to understand this will face the monstrous consequences of their delusion,” the official, who currently serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, warned without elaborating.
Putin traveled to Iturup, the largest of the Kuril Islands, on Thursday morning, touring a local fish processing plant, a medical center, and a school. He is only the second sitting Russian president to visit the Kurils after Medvedev made the trip in 2010.
Putin addressed the dispute on Wednesday while attending the final stage of Russian Pacific Fleet exercises off Sakhalin.He blamed Tokyo for the broader deterioration in relations between the two countries.
The president said he could not understand why Japan “under the pretext of the events in Ukraine and without delving into the causes of that conflict, imposed sanctions on Russia” and why Tokyo “classified Russia as a source of major threats in its latest military doctrine documents.”
“I would like to emphasize that we pose no threat. We have absolutely no grievances against Japan. On the contrary, it’s Japan that has territorial claims against our country, specifically regarding the Kuril Islands issue,” he insisted.
The status of those territories “is enshrined in international documents as a reality resulting from World War II. Yet even on this, Russia was prepared to seek a solution to reach a peace treaty,” Putin said.
Moscow and Tokyo signed a declaration in 1956 that “opened the way” for a peace agreement, but Japan later backed out of it, the president recalled. After the fall of the USSR, Russia also engaged in constructive relations with several Japanese leaders, including Shinzo Abe, who served as prime minister in 2006-2007 and 2012-2020 and “did a lot” to align the positions of the two nations, he added.
“Now we see a shift in their [Japan’s] stance. I stress that this shift was in no way provoked by us,” Putin said.
https://www.rt.com/news/644202-kurils-japan-putin-medvedev/
India showing active interest in Arctic route – Putin
India and China among the countries discussing ways to work with Russia on the Northern Sea Route, the Russian president says
Published 13 Aug, 2026 08:07 |
India is among the countries showing active interest in the Northern Sea Route (NSR), Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday,as fast-growing economies in Asia and beyond seek to develop trade with Russia amid Western sanctions.
“We see growing interest from countries wishing to engage with us on this front,”Putin said regarding the Arctic shipping route. “These partners include, above all, our friends China, India, and other nations who are actively discussing these matters with us.”
Putin, who is visiting Russia’s Far East and Sakhalin Region to oversee naval drills, was speaking to Pacific Fleet personnel aboard the missile cruiser Varyag. He said the interest frompartner countries has grown following Western sanctions imposed over the Ukraine conflict, and that cooperation on the NSR would follow international maritime law.
India is a key partner in the Arctic – Regions Forum, being held on August 13-14 in the city of Arkhangelsk in northern Russia.
With the 10,380-km Chennai-Vladivostok corridor, also called the Eastern Maritime Corridor, operational since 2024, India and Russia have speeded up cooperation on the NSR as they seek to reach their $100 billion bilateral trade target.
Last month, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said Rosatom – the designated operator and coordinator of the NSR – has been instructed to sign a memorandum with India on maritime cargo transportation along the Arctic route.
The state-owned conglomerate manages Russia’s unique fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers, essential for keeping the Arctic shipping lane navigable.
Russia is investing heavily in the 5,600-km NSR – which runs through the Arctic Ocean off the country’s northern coastline and is the shortest shipping route between East Asia and Europe – to turn it into a major shipping lane.
The Arctic route offers India alternative passages to ship commodities to markets in eastern and northern Europe,saving up to 40% in distance and about two weeks of travel timecompared to traditional routes through the Suez Canal, which are facing disruptions from the Middle East conflict.
India and Russia formalized the Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Support (RELOS) pact during Putin’s visit to New Delhi in December. The pact offers India access to ports along the NSR, from Vladivostok to Murmansk.
In June, the Russian minister for the development of the Far East and the Arctic, Aleksey Chekunkov, said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi andthe Indian business community are interested in developing trade ties with the Russian Far East.
“We have dramatic common capabilities, common opportunities to jointly develop an ice-level fleet,to jointly develop container shipping, which is happening,” he said.
Indian shipyards are in talks to build non-nuclear icebreaker ships to navigate the harsh icy waters.
(https://www.rt.com/india/644197-putin-india-arctic-route/
Ukraine blocking prisoner swaps with Russia – human rights commissioner
Kiev prioritizes publicity over human life, Yana Lantratova has said
Published 13 Aug, 2026 07
Ukraine has been blocking Russian proposals to exchange certain prisonerswhile publicly accusing Moscow of holding up the process, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova has said.
Lantratova, whose office is directly involved in prisoner swaps, criticized the Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday, accusing them of misrepresenting Russia’s position on a group of detainees captured between 2014 and 2022 who are from Donbass and Crimea.
“The Ukrainian side published lists of our guys… claiming Moscow refuses to include them in exchanges,”Lantratova wrote.
“Those are our lists,” she added. “We compiled them based on conversations with their mothers, families, and loved ones, and we are fighting for each of them. These are the same names Ukraine cynically publishes whileclaiming they have been ‘abandoned,’ despite knowing that in reality we are waiting for Kiev to formally respond to our proposal.”
Lantratova also pointed to a list of 224 Ukrainian citizens whom she said Russia is prepared to release in exchange for prisoners held by Kiev, but whom the Ukrainian government has declined to accept.
“Ukraine refuses to take them back. They don’t want those 224 people. They value publicity, not human life,” she stated.
On Thursday,Lantratova released another list containing the names of 273 Ukrainianswhom she said could also be included in a prisoner exchange.
Last week, several pro-Ukrainian Telegram channels published the personal data of around 150 prisoners from Donbass,alleging that Russia regarded them as “expendable.”
The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics broke away from Ukraine after the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kiev, which overthrew the country’s elected government and brought anti-Russian forces to power. The ensuing conflict saw Kiev launch a military operation against the two Donbass republics.Russia initially pushed for their peaceful reintegration into Ukraine under the Minsk agreements, which envisaged special status for the region.
Former Ukrainian and Western leaders later acknowledged that the Minsk process had bought Kiev time to strengthen its military with Western support. After the conflict escalated in 2022, Donetsk and Lugansk held referendums on joining Russia and were subsequently incorporated by Moscow.
Kiev officials have at times openly disparaged the population of Donbass. Maj. Gen. Mikhail Drapaty, who later became commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces,described the region in a 2023 interview as heavily populated by “settlers and criminal elements” who “do not want to work, want handouts, and do not care which country they live in.”
(https://www.rt.com/russia/644196-ukraine-prisoner-exchanges-blocked/
‘We might rethink paying you’: Poland threatens Musk over Starlink
Warsaw’s response to the billionaire’s roaming restrictions could have implications for Ukraine’s military communications
Published 13 Aug, 2026 06:43 | Updated
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has threatened to reconsiderWarsaw’s $50 million annual spending on Elon Musk’s Starlink after the satellite internet provider excluded Polish customers from its European roaming region.
Starlink’s new roaming system groups 36 European countries and territories into a single region, allowing customers to use the service across participating states.Poland, however, has been specifically left outside the zone.
“Hey, @elonmusk, big man, stop discriminating Polish users of Starlink or we might re-think paying you $50 million p.a. for your services,” Sikorski wrote on X on Wednesday.
The “big man” jab appeared to revive a public spat between Sikorski and Musk last year. After the Polish minister suggested Warsaw might seek an alternative to Starlink if the service became unreliable, Musk told him to “be quiet, small man,”accused him of exaggerating Poland’s contribution, and insisted there was “no substitute for Starlink.”
Starlink operator SpaceX has not explained why Poland was singled out for the latest restrictions,fueling speculation in the Polish media that the decision could be connected to the large number of Starlink terminals purchased in the country and subsequently sent to Ukraine.
According to the Polish government, thecountry has purchased around 25,000 Starlink terminals for Ukraine and pays to keep them connected. Polish-supplied devices have at times accounted for almost half of Kiev’s Starlink terminals.
That support has become particularly important to Kiev’s military in the conflict with Russia.Starlink is widely used by Ukrainian troops for frontline communications, drone operations, surveillance, and targeting. Musk himself has called the network the “backbone” of the Ukrainian Army and claimed thatKiev’s “entire front line would collapse” if he switched the service off.
While the new roaming restrictions do not themselves appear to cut Polish-funded terminals in Ukraine off,Sikorski’s threat could jeopardize connectivity used by Kiev’s forces.
The potential battlefield impact is not merely theoretical. Reuters reported thatMusk ordered Starlink coverage to be shut down in parts of Ukraine during a 2022 counteroffensive, leaving troops without communications, knocking reconnaissance drones monitoring Russian forces offline, and disrupting artillery operations. SpaceX called the report “inaccurate” without specifying which claims it disputed, and said Starlink remained fully committed to providing service to Ukraine.
Russian officials have criticized the use of commercial satellite infrastructure by Ukrainian forces,arguing that it has effectively become part of Kiev’s military apparatus.
Polish Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski has likewise demanded that SpaceX reverse the decision.
“I do not agree with a global technology company treating Poles worse than other Europeans,” Gawkowski wrote on X.
(https://www.rt.com/news/644195-poland-threaten-musk-starlink/
ICE to arm agents with shock gloves (VIDEO)
The immigration agency plans to spend up to $20 million on what the DHS calls “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices”
Published 13 Aug, 2026 09:20
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to equip itsofficers with special gloves capable of delivering painful electric shocks to people resisting arrest,according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notice.
Known as G.L.O.V.E. (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter), the devices are made by Kentucky-based Compliant Technologies and have already been used by some US prisons and police departments.
ICE plans to spend between $10 million and $20 million on what the DHS calls “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices,” under a contract running through March 2027.
The manufacturer does not publicly disclose the price of the gloves, but AP reported that ICE plans to purchase thousands of the devices.
The DHS plans to award the contract to Compliant Technologies without competitive bidding, with the solicitation expected as early as Friday.
A DHS spokesman told Time magazine on Wednesday that “ICE is constantly assessing the needs of our officers in the field to ensure they have the tools and equipment necessary to safely arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens from our country.”
When approached by AP, Compliant Technologies founder and CEO Jeff Niklaus said that “unfortunately, we are unable to speak on this subject.”
The glove looks and functions like regular police gear until its electric mode is activated at the press of a button, according to the manufacturer. Direct contact with exposed skin delivers a painful shock designed to force a resisting person into compliance within seconds.
John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, likened the shock to a bee sting, describing it as “immediate and sharp.”
Peters told AP the gloves could be used to force uncooperative suspects out of vehicles or homes, as well as to maintain order in ICE detention facilities.
The planned purchase has drawn criticism from civil liberties advocates amid mounting scrutiny of ICE’s use of force.
Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy director on policing at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said ICE has spent the past year demonstrating that its officers are “too quick to use force.”
“Introducing gloves that can so easily be used to deliver terrible pain in encounters is a recipe for harm to the public,” she said.
The planned acquisition comes after nationwide protests over the fatal shootings of two US citizens by federal immigration agents in Minnesota in January.
ICE has also faced scrutiny over conditions in its detention centers. At least 52 people died in the agency’s custody during the first 500 days of US President Donald Trump’s second term, according to a June report by Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights.
(https://www.rt.com/news/644190-ice-shock-gloves-immigration/