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Debt Rattle June 28 2025

Jun 282025
 
 June 28, 2025  Posted by at 9:15 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  25 Responses »


Rembrandt van Rijn The spectacles seller 1624

 

• Putin Speaks Of ‘Great Respect’ For Trump (RT)
• Putin Respects US Once Again – Trump (RT)
• Supreme Court Curbs Injunctions Against Trump Birthright Citizenship EO (ZH)
• Trump Suddenly ‘Terminates’ All Trade Talks With Canada (ZH)
• EU Delays Vote On New Russia Sanctions (RT)
• Latest NATO Summit Was The Priciest Humiliation Fetish Ever Produced (Marsden)
• Kremlin Condemns White House Envoy’s Comparing Iran & Ukraine Wars (ZH)
• The West Waging ‘Centuries-Old War’ Against Moscow – Russia’s Top UN Envoy (RT)
• Hungary Blocks EU Accession Talks With Ukraine (RT)
• Zelensky Would Lose Ukrainian Election – Survey (RT)
• Incoming MI6 Boss’ Grandfather Was Ukrainian Nazi ‘Butcher’ (RT)
• NYC Mayor Eric Adams Launches Reelection Campaign (ET)
• Chaos Creeps in on Little Cat’s Feet (James Howard Kunstler)
• U.S. House Bans WhatsApp Over Data Security Concerns (ZH)
• RFK Jr. Axes All Funding For Bill Gates’ Global ‘Vaccine Alliance’ (ET)
• Cancer Patients Recover By Taking Repurposed Anti-Parasitic Drugs (ET)

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Thanks to President Trump, relations between Russia and the US are beginning to level out, at least to some extent. Not everything has been resolved in terms of diplomatic relations, but the first steps have been taken, and we are moving forward..”

• Putin Speaks Of ‘Great Respect’ For Trump (RT)

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he has “great respect” for US President Donald Trump and praised his counterpart’s efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict.Speaking to reporters in Minsk on Friday after a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, Putin described Trump as “a courageous man,” who had overcome serious challenges to return to the White House, including surviving multiple assassination attempts. “I have great respect for the current US president. He went through a very difficult, complicated, and even dangerous path to return to power and to the White House – we all know that well… He’s a courageous man – that’s clear,” Putin said.

He also commended Trump’s diplomacy in the Middle East, as well as his efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis. “We, of course, value all of that… I believe President Trump is sincerely striving to resolve” the conflict. He expressed appreciation for Trump’s domestic and foreign policy initiatives, particularly highlighting his steps in the Middle East and “sincere commitment” to resolving the Ukrainian conflict. Putin said Trump’s recent admission that dealing with the situation was tougher than he had expected came as no surprise. “It’s one thing to observe from the sidelines and quite another to dive into the problem.” Asked whether it was time for a face-to-face meeting, Putin said, “I am always open to contact, to meetings… and we would be happy to work on making that happen.”

He observed that Trump had also expressed interest, while noting that both leaders believed such meetings should be properly prepared and lead to tangible progress in cooperation. “Thanks to President Trump, relations between Russia and the US are beginning to level out, at least to some extent. Not everything has been resolved in terms of diplomatic relations, but the first steps have been taken, and we are moving forward,” he added. Since returning to office in January, Trump has worked to rebuild ties with Moscow, which were largely severed under his predecessor, Joe Biden. Trump and Putin have had multiple phone conversations concerning the Ukraine conflict and broader bilateral issues.

The diplomatic push helped reboot direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, which Kiev had abandoned back in 2022, reportedly at the behest of its Western backers. The latest round in Istanbul earlier this month resulted in the largest prisoner exchange to date, as well as a pledge to continue dialogue. Trump said this week that he would like to see an agreement with Russia that ends the hostilities. Moscow has consistently reaffirmed its commitment to achieving a diplomatic resolution. Putin has said that Russia is ready to work with Kiev on drafting the document and emphasized that “eliminating the root causes” of the conflict “is what matters most to us.”

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Rapprochement. EuroNATO’s worst nightmare. But Trump doesn’t want war with Russia, he wants trade.

“Trump has revived direct contacts with Moscow, which were cut off during the Biden administration, and has held five phone calls with Putin since returning to office in January.”

• Putin Respects US Once Again – Trump (RT)

US President Donald Trump has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has regained respect for America, whose international standing was damaged by the previous administration. Trump was responding to comments made by Putin during his visit to Belarus on Friday, where the Russian leader described the US president as a “courageous man.” “Vladimir Putin made some very nice statements today,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding that such remarks would have been impossible under former President Joe Biden. “He respects our country again. He didn’t respect it a year ago, I can tell you that,” Trump said, claiming that Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also now respect the US since his return to the White House.

“We had a president that was incompetent. We had bad people circulating around this desk – this beautiful, resolute desk. They had, I guess, evil intentions,” Trump said. He has repeatedly described his predecessor’s foreign policy as weak and damaging to America’s global reputation, arguing that the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza would not have erupted under his leadership. Speaking to reporters in Minsk, Putin said he holds “deep respect” for Trump and praised him for overcoming numerous challenges, including surviving an assassination attempt last year. He added that he believes Trump has been “sincerely seeking” to help broker an end to the Ukraine conflict. Trump has revived direct contacts with Moscow, which were cut off during the Biden administration, and has held five phone calls with Putin since returning to office in January.

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Trump had a good week, certainly also at SCOTUS. Which has turned against lawfare.

• Supreme Court Curbs Injunctions Against Trump Birthright Citizenship EO (ZH)

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed President Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship to go into effect in some areas of the country – blocking judges’ ability to halt the president’s policies nationwide. The order, signed Trump’s first day in office, curbs birthright citizenship for children born on US soil if they don’t have at least one parent with permanent legal status – which quickly became a legal question surrounding the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.

The 6-3 ruling along ideological lines found that three federal district judges went too far in issuing nationwide injunctions against Trump’s order. The decision hobbles a key tool used by venue-shopping Democrats and the activist judges that have been blocking Trump’s path since January – with every court having found the legality of Trump’s EO ‘likely’ unconstitutional. nJustice Ketanji Brown Jackson was specifically called out for being retarded… That said, it doesn’t definitively resolve whether Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship are constitutional – a question which could end up in front of the Supremes down the road. It does, howeever, narrow the lower court rulings to only block Trump’s order as applied to the 22 Democratic-led states, expectant mothers and immigration organizations that are suing.

Furthermore, Justices Alito and Thomas note that the Supreme Court ‘completely punted on the issue of third-party class certifications, which will be the gimmick now used to get around the universal injunction ban,” according to The Federalist’s Sean Davis.

The cases will now return to lower courts where they will play out as Trump’s order partially goes into effect. Once the appeals courts issue their final rulings, the parties could bring the case back to the SCOTUS.

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Difficult tariff talks, tough negotiations, and Canada picks that moment to ‘invent’ a whole new tax. Blind blind blind.

• Trump Suddenly ‘Terminates’ All Trade Talks With Canada (ZH)

US stocks and the Canadian dollar are sliding after President Trump announces on TruthSocial that the US is terminating all trade discussions with his northern neighbor due to Carney putting a tax on US tech firms (like Europe): “We have just been informed that Canada, a very difficult Country to TRADE with, including the fact that they have charged our Farmers as much as 400% Tariffs, for years, on Dairy Products, has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American Technology Companies, which is a direct and blatant attack on our Country. They are obviously copying the European Union, which has done the same thing, and is currently under discussion with us, also. Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately. We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The reaction was swift and saw the loonie dumped…

The Canadian digital services tax, which is similar to one implemented by some other countries including the UK, is equal to 3% of the digital services revenue that a firm makes from Canadian users above C$20 million ($14.6 million) in a year. It would apply to companies including Meta Platforms and Alphabet. However, Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne suggested to reporters last week that the digital tax may be renegotiated as part of US-Canada trade discussions. “Obviously, all of that is something that we’re considering as part of broader discussions that you may have,” he said. Seems a little short-sighted given the Canadian trade flow… The Business Council of Canada has come out and said that Carney should drop the Digital Tax… we wonder why… Well the negotiation is on now!

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Will they just kick out Hungary and Slovakia?

• EU Delays Vote On New Russia Sanctions (RT)

EU leaders have opted to postpone discussion of a new package of sanctions against Russia, according to Hungarian news outlet Index. The delay reportedly comes as Budapest and Bratislava oppose the move due to mounting concerns about energy imports. Adopting new sanctions requires unanimous approval from all 27 EU member states. Hungary and Slovakia have spoken out against more sanctions amid disagreements with Brussels over a proposed plan to phase out Russian energy imports by 2027. The European Commission intends to adopt the proposal using trade law mechanisms that would allow it to bypass vetoes from dissenting member states.

The proposed 18th sanctions package was under threat of a veto from Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Index reported on Thursday, noting that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had met with him ahead of the EU leaders’ summit in Brussels. The talks reportedly failed to produce a compromise, leading to removal of the issue from the agenda, to avoid formal rejection. Fico said earlier that day that Slovakia would not support a new sanctions package and will demand a delay in the vote until his country’s concerns over gas supplies after 2027 are resolved. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said earlier this week that Budapest and Bratislava would block adoption of the new sanctions package, also citing the potential ban on purchasing Russian energy.

The European Commission unveiled a proposed 18th sanctions package earlier this month, targeting Russian energy exports, infrastructure, and financial institutions. The measures include a ban on future use of the sabotaged Nord Stream pipeline, restrictions on refined products made from Russian crude, and sanctions on 77 vessels allegedly part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet,” used to circumvent oil trade restrictions. Speaking at a press conference following the summit in Brussels on Thursday, European Council President Antonio Costa said the “18th package of sanctions is underway.” Reuters, meanwhile, reported—citing two EU officials—that the bloc had agreed to extend previously adopted sanctions for another six months.

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“I started to feel like maybe I should be paying for this kind of kinky TV content. Or I guess you could say that European taxpayers already are – to the tune of 5% of GDP…”

• Latest NATO Summit Was The Priciest Humiliation Fetish Ever Produced (Marsden)

Fresh off dropping an “F bomb” on both Iran and Israel for blowing up the only ceasefire in history ever announced exclusively on his social media feed , US President Donald Trump hopped on his jet and headed straight to the NATO summit. Everyone wondered what mood he’d land in after crossing the Atlantic. Apparently not feeling like rolling the dice, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte wrote him a love letter in advance, suggesting that the scariest weapon of mass destruction for NATO is the American president’s mouth. “You are flying into another big success in The Hague. It was not easy but we’ve got them all signed onto five percent! Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe, and the world,” Rutte gushed.

“You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done. Europe is going to pay in a BIG way – as they should – and it will be your win.” Hard to believe this guy was once the prime minister of the Netherlands. Oh, President Trump, way to really stick it to Europe! What a wonderful thing you’ve just done to make almost all of Europe subsidize the American military industrial complex to the tune of 5% of their GDP! Back when Trump first started hounding Europe to cough up 2.5% of their GDP for defense, European leaders rolled their eyes. But after nuking their own energy-driven economy with their anti-Russia, pro-Ukraine policies, they’ve decided to embrace the idea like they thought of it themselves. Nothing like selling European taxpayers on buying a ton more US and European hardware under the pretext of a hypothetical 2030 Russian invasion. Perfect cover for a spending spree that will become the problem of whoever’s in office by then (ie. not them).

Trump initially wanted them all on a 2.5% spending target. But heaven forbid American arms dealers hog all the action. Europe’s military industrial complex needs a piece too. Hence, 5% for everyone and a double-dip dinner at the weapons buffet. Trump showed up straight from showcasing US bombs on Iranian soil – one giant demo reel for his European customers. When he landed, Rutte practically faceplanted directly into Trump’s backside. And if you thought what he wrote to Trump was cringey, wait till you hear what Rutte said aloud in the wake of Trump bombing Iran for Israel – er, I mean, for peace: “You are a man of strength but also a man of peace, and the fact that you also successfully got this ceasefire between Israel and Iran, I really want to commend you for that,” Rutte cooed. “Without President Trump, this would not have happened. Absolutely not.”

Way to thank an arsonist for putting out his own fire. What’s next: nominating him for Fireman of the Year? Even the press did a double-take, basically asking Rutte, Bro, you sure you want him reading your fan mail on live TV? Answer: Absolutely. “Not embarrassed,” Rutte replied. The NATO secretary general sounded so enamored with Trump that you had to wonder why the two of them didn’t just get a room already. “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language,” Rutte told journalists, referring to Trump, as journalists may or may not have barfed into the nearest potted plant.

Between remarks like that and all the gushing about how Trump was making Europe pay for the privilege of being extorted for a protection racket that Trump says isn’t even sure that he would honor, it all sounded so sadomasochistic that I started to feel like maybe I should be paying for this kind of kinky TV content. Or I guess you could say that European taxpayers already are – to the tune of 5% of GDP.

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As I said yesterday: they don’t like that. It has to do with the word “unprovoked”.

• Kremlin Condemns White House Envoy’s Comparing Iran & Ukraine Wars (ZH)

Moscow has reacted angrily to fresh words of Trump special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, who has also been working on US diplomacy with Russia’s Putin, after he drew parallels between the Ukraine war and Israel-Iran conflict. “We’re hopeful that people look at what happened in Iran and say: ‘we want a part of that sort of peace process as well,’” Witkoff told CNBC on Wednesday. “This may well gravitate towards Russia and Ukraine.” In the interview he expressed hope for expanding the Abraham Accords, particularly to Saudi Arabia: “We are hoping for normalization across an array of countries, maybe that people would never have contemplated coming in before,” he said. “We’re excited for that prospect. That would also be a stabilizer in the Middle East.”

But the fact that he briefly drew comparison to the Ukraine war, expressing hope that Russia would take note of President Trump’s peace ‘successes’ – has drawn condemnation from the Kremlin: Israel’s “unprovoked” attack on Iran bears no comparison to the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday, rejecting an assessment made by the US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.nWitkoff had suggested earlier that the recent ceasefire between Iran and Israel could serve as a model for ending the hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. nPeskov emphasized that the two wars greatly differ in “in their essence and nature” and further asserted that the “Israeli attacks on Iran were absolutely unprovoked.”

He said that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is something “going back several decades” – and highlighted constant NATO expansion up to Russa’s doorstep, and especially the “armed coup” in Kiev in 2014. “It is hardly appropriate to draw parallels here,” Peskov continued, and said that unlike Israel’s and the United States’ aerial assaults on Iran, the notion of “peace by force” is not something Russia did in the context of Ukraine. Israeli officials have even dubbed their actions ‘preemptive’. But of course, the West is going to vehemently disagree with this narrative, with the difference fundamentally coming down to whether the Ukraine war was provoked or unprovoked. The question has increasingly been belatedly hotly debated over the last year, & finally even in mainstream publications…

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“..starting with the Polish invasion in the 17th century..”

• The West Waging ‘Centuries-Old War’ Against Moscow – Russia’s Top UN Envoy (RT)

Western nations are using Ukraine as their proxy in a longstanding confrontation with Russia that is deeply rooted in history, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told RT’s Rick Sanchez. In an interview on The Sanchez Effect aired on Friday, the diplomat argued that the conflict “should be seen in a larger context.” “They do not care about Ukraine. This is not a war between Russia and Ukraine,” Nebenzia said. “Ukraine is a proxy in this war. This is a centuries-old war of the West against Russia, starting with the Polish invasion in the 17th century,” he added. As examples of earlier confrontations, Nebenzia cited Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, the 1854–1856 Crimean War, Western military intervention during the Russian Civil War, and the invasion by Nazi Germany and its allies during World War II.

He emphasized that Hitler’s army included not only Germans, but also units drawn from allied countries and occupied territories. The Ukrainians and “their sponsors” in the West sabotaged the 2014–2015 Minsk accords, which were aimed at ending the conflict between Kiev and the breakaway Donbass republics, the Russian diplomat said. Former French President Francois Hollande and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel later admitted the agreement was used by Kiev to buy time and rearm, Nebenzia stated. “We are not going [to fall] into the same trap once again,” he said.

He added that politicians like former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson similarly helped derail the 2022 peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine’s European backers were forced to adjust their position, Nebenzia argued, after US President Donald Trump launched efforts to broker peace and Ukrainian troops began losing more ground. “They changed their rhetoric from ‘We should inflict strategic defeat on Russia’ to ‘Russia should not win in this war.’ Now they are advocating for a full, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire, which is testimony that they want to shield and protect their proxy, as they are obviously losing on the battlefield,” he said. At the same time, Nebenzia noted that the resumption of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations earlier this year provides hope that the conflict could be resolved soon.

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Hungary will not give in.

• Hungary Blocks EU Accession Talks With Ukraine (RT)

Hungary has vetoed a joint EU statement on Ukraine at the bloc’s Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, effectively blocking Kiev’s accession talks, according to a communique published on Thursday on the European Council’s website. The statement, which urged the council to open membership negotiations with Ukraine, was “firmly supported by 26 heads of state” out of 27 EU members, the document read. As unanimous approval is required, talks cannot begin until Hungary reverses its stance. The communique noted that the council will revisit the issue at its next meeting in October. While the document did not name Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban confirmed the veto in comments to reporters.

“We stopped Ukraine’s EU accession with the votes of Voks2025, and I needed it, because I was almost swept away by the public anger when I announced that Hungary would not agree to start negotiations with Ukraine,” Orban said, referencing the national referendum which concluded on June 20. More than 2 million Hungarians, or 95% of voters, rejected Ukraine’s EU bid, according to the prime minister. “I had to remind [the council] that the most important criterion [for accession] is that there is in fact a country,” he said. “There must be a defined identity, borders, a population, a territory, and in the case of Ukraine, none of these apply.” Ukraine made EU accession a national priority in 2019, formally applying in 2022 shortly after the escalation of its conflict with Russia. The EU granted Kiev candidate status later that year and set a 2030 target for membership.

While Brussels supports the move, critics argue that Ukraine’s institutions and economy are unprepared, and the cost would strain the bloc. Budapest opposes EU membership for Ukraine, warning it could escalate tensions with Russia and burden EU taxpayers with decades of military aid. Alongside Hungary, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Polish officials have raised concerns. A recent IBRiS poll shows only 35% of Poles support Ukraine’s EU bid, down from 85% in 2022.

Moscow strongly opposes Ukraine joining NATO, but had previously taken a neutral stance on its EU ambitions, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying in March that Ukraine has the “sovereign right” to join if the bloc remains focused on economics. However, with Brussels ramping up defense spending, Russian officials have recently grown critical. Peskov earlier this week called EU militarization “rabid,” while former President Dmitry Medvedev said the bloc has become “no less of a threat” to Russia than NATO. “This is a politicized, globalist, and fiercely Russophobic organization,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram on Wednesday. “Thus, the so-called ‘Ukraine in the EU’ is a danger to our country.”

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And he knows it. As do his backers.

• Zelensky Would Lose Ukrainian Election – Survey (RT)

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky would lose a head-to-head presidential election against former armed forces commander Valery Zaluzhny if voting were held soon, according to a new poll by the Socis research group. Zelensky suspended elections under martial law and chose not to step down after his presidential term expired last year. Zaluzhny, who was dismissed as commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces in 2024 and later appointed ambassador to the UK, has long been seen as a leading rival. The latest voter preferences were measured in a June survey by the Kiev-based polling agency Socis. The research, released on Wednesday, surveyed around 2,000 Ukrainians and indicated that Zelensky and Zaluzhny would advance to a runoff as the only candidates with double-digit support.

However, nearly a quarter of respondents — 24.7% — said they were still undecided. In a head-to-head, the former top general would receive more than 60% of the vote, according to the poll – a figure that aligns with prior sociological research. Zaluzhny has not declared an intent to run, stating that Ukraine’s ongoing conflict with Russia must be resolved first. When Socis asked voters whom they would support if their preferred candidate were not on the ballot, only 6.5% named Zelensky as their second choice, compared to 18.1% for Zaluzhny and 11.0% for Kirill Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency.

The poll also indicated that if Zaluzhny were to form a new political party, it would win the most votes in a parliamentary election – also hypothetical for now – defeating any party backed by Zelensky. Respondents identified persistent corruption and misappropriation of public funds as the leading failure of the current government, with 65% citing the issue. When asked who was responsible, 55.1% blamed “the entire government,” 40.3% pointed to law enforcement agencies charged with tackling corruption, and 31.2% assigned blame to the presidency, and by extension, to Zelensky.

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Canada, UK: why?

• Incoming MI6 Boss’ Grandfather Was Ukrainian Nazi ‘Butcher’ (RT)

The Daily Mail has revealed that the grandfather of Blaise Metreweli, who is expected to become the first woman to lead the UK’s foreign intelligence service (MI6), was a Nazi collaborator who oversaw atrocities in occupied Ukraine. Metreweli’s father, Constantine, was naturalized in British-administered Hong Kong in 1966. The London Gazette identified him at the time as Dobrowolski, known as Constantine Metreweli, of uncertain nationality. In a story published Thursday, the Mail confirmed that Constantine was the son of a German-Polish Ukrainian man – also named Constantine – who worked for the Nazis and was implicated in the mass killing of Jews and other atrocities during World War II.

The newspaper said it had reviewed “hundreds of pages of documents held in archives in Freiburg, Germany, detailing the extraordinary – and blood-soaked – life and times of Dobrowolski, which are themselves worthy of a spy thriller.” According to the records, Dobrowolski Sr. was born into a family of noble landowners in what is now Ukraine’s Chernigov Region. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, the estate was violently plundered, leading the younger Constantine to become a fierce enemy of the new authorities.

He was imprisoned in 1926 for anti-Soviet and anti-Semitic agitation. He joined the German occupiers at the first opportunity in 1941, and earned the nickname ‘Butcher’ for his brutal actions. He is believed to have been killed in 1943. His wife, Barbara (née Varvara Andreeva), married Georgian-born David Metreweli in Yorkshire in 1947. The Mail alleged that the Russian government is attempting to exploit Metreweli’s family history in an effort to discredit her appointment. While Russian media reported on the announcement of the first female MI6 chief and her family’s ties to Ukraine and Hong Kong, the British media appears to be the first to make the Nazi connection.

”Ms. Metreweli cannot be judged for the sins of her grandfather,” the paper stated. “One of our nation’s most formidable intelligence operatives, she has served her country with distinction on dangerous operations for MI6 across Europe and the Middle East for two decades.” Western nations sheltered thousands of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators after World War II. Many of them were recruited by the CIA to take part in covert operations against the Soviet Union, with a guerrilla war in western Ukraine continuing into the 1950s. In 2023, Canadian lawmakers gave a standing ovation to SS veteran Yaroslav Hunka during a visit by Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky. In Kiev, historical figures associated with wartime nationalist movements, including war criminals, have been honored as national heroes.

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The party wanted him gone. His approval rating was 20%. But then they got something worse…

• NYC Mayor Eric Adams Launches Reelection Campaign (ET)

Mayor Eric Adams launched his campaign for the November general election during a June 26 press conference on the steps of City Hall, days after state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani presumptively won the Democratic primary. Adams, 64, was elected in 2021 as a Democrat but chose not to run in the Democratic primary amid his unpopularity among progressive voters stemming from a now-withdrawn federal indictment on bribery charges and his concurrent decision to permit U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain foreign nationals at the city’s Rikers Island jail. In the primary, Mamdani, 33, an Indian-Ugandan American state assemblyman from Queens, defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo on a progressive platform, making him Adams’s principal opponent in the general election. The city’s progressive lean makes the GOP a nonfactor in the race.

Adams addressed Mamdani’s victory and explained his reelection platform, which he presented as a continuation of work underway during his first term. He highlighted his actions during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was still underway when his term began. “People were debating should our children be in school or not, but as a leader that was unwavering … I stood strong and firm against the naysayers and said, ‘We’re going to open our schools and protect our children,’” said Adams. He added: “Crime was moving at a higher rate. Businesses were fleeing this city. There was a lot of uncertainty. Black and brown unemployment was high. … With my leadership, [I said] we must forge ahead a pattern and a pathway.”

Adams’s approval rating has significantly declined during his term. In March, it was 20 percent, the lowest in the 30-year-old poll’s recorded history. Additionally, 56 percent of voters wanted Adams to resign before his term concluded. Adams stated that his term achieved several accomplishments in key areas, particularly in public safety and affordability, which are the top issues for voters. “We took 20,000 guns off our streets … and we prevented the loss of life of black and brown people. … Gun arrests are at a record high, removals of guns are record high. “Tech is booming, tourism is back, Broadway had the best 12 months in recorded history, construction is growing, and yes, Times Square is alive again,” said Adams. “We’re turning unused buildings into homes and streamlining permitting,” he said, addressing the housing crisis.

During his remarks, Adams also praised former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire owner of Bloomberg LP, who served as the city’s mayor for three terms from 2002 to 2013, and who remains popular in the city. Bloomberg, the city’s last Republican mayor who has since become a Democrat, endorsed Cuomo during the primary. “I saw [leadership] when Mayor Bloomberg came into office. … He turned around this city with real leadership and focus, and I knew I had to have that same leadership, and determination, and focus,” said Adams. “That’s why we’re here today … asking for four more years,” he added, with the crowd breaking into a chant of “four more years.” Adams said that if reelected, he would focus on reducing crime, launch a citywide mental health initiative, advance workforce development, expand housing, and clean streets.

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“Great cities fall to the sound of cheering crowds.” Ami Kozak on “X”

• Chaos Creeps in on Little Cat’s Feet (James Howard Kunstler)

The Democratic Party put another bullet in its head this week with the election of the charming, affable jihadi communist Zohran Mamdani. Is “communist” too harsh a label? (He styles himself, softly, a “socialist.”) Yet his campaign platform looks like a template from the venerable Soviet Council of Ministers circa 1957: Free Everything: housing, buses and subways, college, child-care, government food stores. . . with a cherry-on-top of replacing police with social workers in high crime areas — because rapists and car-jackers would quit their rowdy ways if only they could talk about their feelings. If you believe the news reports emanating from Woke Central, Zohran received major support from the folks who predominate the Upper West Side, where he was raised-up by his Columbia prof Dad and film-maker Mom.

That is, voted in by the same high-income demographic that flocks to Zabar’s Deli on Sunday mornings for smoked sturgeon and babka — a curious alliance. I guess this solves the old riddle of why Europe’s Jews walked so placidly into Auschwitz. “Life imitates art,” old Oscar Wilde liked to say, and with so many self-administered bullets in its head now, the Democratic Party looks more and more like The Walking Dead, a necromantic tribute to its erstwhile mascot, “Joe Biden,” the Phantom of the White House. Fortunately, the Latinx bombshell, AOC, America’s answer to Eva Peron, has stepped up to the leadership role, flanked by the foxy Jasmine Crockett, with their mentor, Bernie Sanders close at hand (on a leash, really) barking validation for the Party’s death trip.

It’s a wonder of our time (and its playful zeitgeist) that New Yorkers might choose a mayor even worse than the brain-dead colossus, Bill de Blasio, but there it is, in plain sight for all to behold. The Big Apple and its various services will now go from their currently merely broke-ass condition, to the complete collapse of infrastructure, transit, housing, revenue, business, and public safety, in other words, to true Third World authenticity! Serious people, who run viable businesses, support families, and pay whopping taxes, are in a panic, all a’chatter about moving elsewhere.

That chatter is not idle, especially among the class that owns major real estate, of which New York City has a frightening and increasingly obsolete inventory — hundreds of office skyscrapers running at fifty percent (or less) occupancy, which cannot cover their mortgages, maintenance, or taxes. What will become of them? I’ll tell you: some will be foreclosed-on, sold for dimes on the dollar (and fail again under new ownership,) and quite few will stand empty waiting for acanthus tree seeds to sprout on their empty windowsills.

Or, they will turn into “squats,” like the towers in the abandoned city center of Johannesburg that I saw visiting there ten years ago. Those giant office buildings were not converted into “residential,” you understand; folks were simply camping-out there, even with the electricity and water turned off. This is exactly what happens when you run the prosperous people, whom you hate, out of town, which is what happened in that sad-sack nation. How many demonstration projects like that are needed to prove that communism with a racist frosting on top is a mug’s game.

Of course, we’re not there yet. Zohran hasn’t been sworn in, though the victory celebration just now looks like it’s fait accompli. You can only imagine the frantic conversation running between the old party poohbahs out in the cold: Chuck Schumer, Hakim, Nadler, Obama, even the loser, Cuomo, plus the non-elected party apparatchiks: Axelrod, Podesta, Carville, Plouffe, Emmanuel. . . . They’re not saying, but I bet many are silently wondering: Is there some way we can just disappear the guy? Make him go away? X him out? Cancel his ass? (Someone, for Godsake, find a couple of girls who will say he groped them in an elevator!)

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I don’t know the difference between one kind of end-to-end encryption and the other.

• U.S. House Bans WhatsApp Over Data Security Concerns (ZH)

The U.S. House of Representatives has officially banned the use of WhatsApp on all government-issued devices, citing serious cybersecurity concerns, according to The Guardian. In a memo sent Monday, the House’s Office of Cybersecurity warned staff that WhatsApp poses a “high-risk to users due to the lack of transparency in how it protects user data, absence of stored data encryption, and potential security risks involved with its use.” The notice, issued by the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), advised House employees to use alternative messaging platforms considered safer by the office. Recommended apps included Microsoft Teams, Amazon’s Wickr, Apple’s iMessage and Facetime, and Signal. Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, strongly objected to the ban and the reasoning behind it.

“We disagree with the House Chief Administrative Officer’s characterization in the strongest possible terms,” a Meta spokesperson said. “We know members and their staffs regularly use WhatsApp and we look forward to ensuring members of the House can join their Senate counterparts in doing so officially. Messages on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted by default, meaning only the recipients and not even WhatsApp can see them. This is a higher level of security than most of the apps on the CAO’s approved list that do not offer that protection.” The Guardian writes that among the apps still permitted is Signal, which also provides end-to-end encryption. However, Signal has recently faced its own controversy. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly used private Signal group chats to discuss sensitive military actions, including details of planned strikes on Yemen.

According to reports, one chat group was created by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and included top U.S. security officials — as well as, unintentionally, journalist Jeffrey Goldberg from The Atlantic. A second group, created by Hegseth, reportedly included his wife, brother, and about a dozen others. Despite Signal’s encryption, the Pentagon has expressed concerns about its use. A March 18 bulletin, described by NPR as an “OPSEC special bulletin,” warned Pentagon employees that Russian hackers could exploit a known vulnerability in Signal. The memo indicated that encrypted messaging apps could be targeted by state-backed cyber actors seeking to access sensitive communications. While apps like Signal remain authorized for sharing general, unclassified information, the Defense Department memo clarified that “third party messaging apps” must not be used to transmit “non-public” unclassified content, reinforcing ongoing caution across federal agencies regarding digital security practices.

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CNN features experts who say RFK is trying to kill untold numbers of Americans. Not kidding.

• RFK Jr. Axes All Funding For Bill Gates’ Global ‘Vaccine Alliance’ (ET)

The United States will not provide money to a global vaccine organization called Gavi until the group changes the way it responds to vaccine safety issues, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a fundraiser for the organization on June 25. “There’s much that I admire about Gavi, especially its commitment to making medicine affordable to all the world’s people. Gavi has done that part of its job very well,” Kennedy said in recorded remarks played at the summit. “Unfortunately, in its zeal to promote universal vaccination, it has neglected the key issue of vaccine safety.” The United States has provided $8 billion to Gavi since 2001. The United States is one of the organization’s largest funding sources. That investment must be justified, according to Kennedy.

“I’ll tell you how to start taking vaccine safety seriously: Consider the best science available, even when the science contradicts established paradigms. Until that happens, the United States won’t contribute more to Gavi,” he said. Gavi said in a statement that the group “fully concurs with the Secretary for Health and Human Services on the need to consider all available science, and remains committed to continuing an evidence-based and scientific approach to its work and investment decisions, as it always has done.” Gavi says on its website that it helps vaccinate more than 50 percent of the children in the world against various diseases. It said in a separate statement that it is enacting reforms, including restructuring to reduce costs.

The organization’s pledging summit took place Wednesday in Brussels. It was co-hosted by the European Union and the Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation said in a statement this week that it will give $1.6 billion to Gavi over the next five years, calling the alliance “one of the most effective mechanisms for delivering lifesaving vaccines to children and preventing disease in the world’s most vulnerable communities.” The United States committed $300 million to Gavi in the funding bill for fiscal year 2025, but the Trump administration’s budget request for fiscal year 2026 does not include funding for the group.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the top minority member on the Senate Health Committee, lamented Kennedy’s announcement during a hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He asked Susan Monarez, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about the development. “I believe the global health security preparedness is a critical and vital activity for the United States,” she said. “I think vaccines save lives. I think that we need to continue to support the promotion and utilization of vaccines,” she added later, promising Sanders that if she receives confirmation, she will look into the matter.

A vaccine advisory panel whose members were all chosen by Kennedy was also meeting on Wednesday. The panel announced it would be examining the effects of the CDC’s childhood immunization schedule as well as vaccines that have not been reviewed for seven years and consider whether to change the current recommendations for Hepatitis B vaccines. Trump previously ordered officials to withdraw from several other international groups, including the World Health Organization (WHO), over concerns about their goals. Kennedy said after meeting with Argentinian officials in May that the United States and Argentina—both of which withdrew from WHO earlier this year—are focused on “the creation of an alternative international health system based on gold-standard science and free from totalitarian impulses, corruption, and political control.”

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Fenbendazole has been building a name.

• Cancer Patients Recover By Taking Repurposed Anti-Parasitic Drugs (ET)

Joe Tippens never planned to discover a potential remedy that he credits with saving his life and thrust him into the spotlight among notable cancer survivors. The 67-year-old businessman told The Epoch Times he just wanted to beat a type of cancer with an extremely low survival rate. In August 2016, Tippens was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer with a fist-sized tumor. After undergoing chemotherapy and radiation five times a week in Houston, the large tumor in his left lung was eliminated. However, Tippens said the treatments came closer to killing him than curing him. When he returned home to Oklahoma after the New Year, he received devastating news. His oncologist told him he had zero chance of surviving for more than a few months.

The story was the beginning of what eventually became the “Joe Tippens Protocol.” Fenbendazole, used for 30 years to treat intestinal parasites in animals, has not received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for human use, meaning doctors cannot prescribe it for people. However, with a terminal diagnosis and nothing to lose, Tippens decided to try it alongside his conventional treatments. Tippens found that Panacur, a trade name for fenbendazole, was sold over the counter at outlets that carry veterinary medications. Starting in the third week of January 2017, Tippens began taking the canine medication, Panacur, 1 gram per day for three consecutive days per week. After four days without the medication, which contains about 222 milligrams of fenbendazole per gram, he would repeat his three-day routine. Three months later, Tippens was cancer-free. His protocol also included Theracurmin, a form of the active compound in turmeric, and CBD, an extract of cannabis which does not cause intoxication.

Dr. William Makis, an oncologist and cancer researcher based in Edmonton, Canada, has studied Tippens’s approach and treats cancer patients worldwide, primarily through telehealth. “I’ve had several patients declared cancer-free after doing the protocol for a number of months,” Makis told The Epoch Times. “What made [Tippens’] situation so powerful is that he cured himself of a cancer that is very aggressive—small cell lung cancer—and he had a terminal diagnosis.”

According to Makis, the family of anti-parasitic drugs that includes fenbendazole, mebendazole, and albendazole works well—scientists have found at least 12 ways the medications can fight cancer. The effectiveness of the drugs stems from key similarities between parasite and cancer cells: both have the capacity for autonomous survival and proliferation, resistance to cell-death pathways, and the ability to circumvent the host immune system. Anti-parasitic drugs appear to fight cancer through multiple mechanisms:

• Boosting protein called p53: P53 is a tumor suppressor protein that helps kill cancer cells.
• Blocking glucose uptake: Cancer cells depend on sugar for energy and growth.
• Disrupting microtubules: These cellular structures are crucial for cell division of cancer cells.
• Affecting mitochondrial function: Depletes cellular energy, increases oxidative stress, and blocks a critical pathway that regulates cell growth of cancer cells.

Researchers at the Stanford University Medical Center have reported several case reports, using fenbendazole to cure Stage 4 cancer cases, Makis said. The series of case reports was published in 2021 in SciTechnol, an online, London-based publisher of scientific journal articles. A thought-provoking review citing animal studies published in 2024 in Anticancer Research Journal concluded that fenbendazole affects energy metabolism—mainly by increasing the levels of p53 and affecting pathways that control sugar uptake. It ultimately starves cancer cells and causes them to die with minimal harm to normal cells. The researchers concluded that fenbendazole’s effects on energy metabolism “could lead to significant advances in cancer treatment.”

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