At least three people were killed and two others injured overnight in western Russia due to Ukrainian drone strikes, according to regional governors, with one signifcant attack sparking a fire at an oil refinery in central Russia after it was hit.

Ukraine’s military confirmed it Russia’s Ryazan and Novokuibyshevsk oil refineries, triggering large fires. It also said it struck the Annanefteprodukt oil storage site in the Voronezh region, which was likely a long-range drone attack, but few details were disclosed.

In the Penza region, Governor Oleg Melnichenko reported that a woman was killed and two others injured following a drone strike, and in the Samara region, Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said an elderly man died after drone debris ignited a fire in a residential building.

In Rostov, a security guard at an industrial site was killed when a drone attack caused a fire in one of the buildings, per regional authorites. This was amid Russian trying to intercept the large-scale drone assault which went on for many hours into the morning, downing drones across seven districts.

Additionally, Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency said its drones hit the Primorsko-Akhtarsk military airfield, known as a launch site for Russian drone attacks on Ukraine. The SBU also claimed responsibility for striking a Penza factory involved in supplying electronics to Russia’s military-industrial sector.

In total, Russia’s milmitary said it shot down 112 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory, including 34 over the Rostov region. In all, the attack reportedly lasted at least nine hours.

“Last night, SBU drones continued targeting Russian military infrastructure deep in enemy territory. The first target of our long-range UAVs was the military airfield in Primorsko-Akhtarsk (Krasnodar Krai), which stores and launches Shahed drones used to attack Ukraine. A fire broke out in the area following the SBU drone strikes,” the SBU said.

“This facility manufactures equipment for digital networks in military command systems, devices for aviation, armored vehicles, naval vessels, and space systems. SBU drones successfully struck the site, and smoke was observed following the explosions,” the agency said.

💥Russian Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery attacked by drones early this morning. 1000km from the frontline.

Oil refining capacity at Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery is 7.9 million tons. pic.twitter.com/yqnbK9tP0h

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 2, 2025

Ukraine’s military said these stepped-up attacks are in response to the heightened deadly Russian attacks on Ukrianian cities, including one this week on Kiev which killed at least 31 people after nine-story apartment building was directly struck.

“In particular, the Ukrainian Defense Forces carried out successful strikes on verified targets in Russia that support the ongoing war of aggression against our country. The attack was in response to Russia’s recent terrorist shelling of Ukrainian cities, which killed and injured civilians,” the General Staff said.

Authored by Lily Zhou via The Epoch Times,

A New York resident accused of running a $30 million green card scam and selling access to U.S. politicians pleaded guilty July 30.

Sherry Xue Li, 53, a China-born, naturalized U.S. citizen and resident of Oyster Bay, admitted to defrauding more than 150 people who invested more than $31.5 million in her fake development project, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn said.

The investors, many of whom were Chinese nationals, were promised either green cards through the EB-5 investment visa program or investment returns. None of the investors in Li’s project, the Thompson Education Center (TEC), received a temporary or permanent green card.

Li also made donations to U.S. politicians and political committees, using money from foreign victims while pretending the donations came from herself or other U.S. citizens, and she sold foreign nationals—mostly Chinese—access to events where they could take photos with elected officials, including President Donald Trump.

“In doing so, she attempted to corrupt a fundamental institution in this country—fair and transparent elections free from unlawful foreign influence,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said in a statement.

Li pleaded guilty at the federal courthouse in Central Islip to conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Li’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 5, and she faces up to 20 years in prison, prosecutors said. She has also agreed to forfeit $31.5 million and property at three locations.

One of Li’s accomplices, Long Island resident Lianbo “Mike” Wang, 48, pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to 60 months in prison. Wang, also a naturalized U.S. citizen, was the marketing director and general manager of TEC.

Another defendant, Guo Xuefeng, director of TEC’s Beijing office, was a citizen and resident of China, according to the indictment. Guo was accused of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Li first proposed in around 2011 to build a China City of America in the town of Thompson.

She touted the amusement park as a “Chinese Disneyland” that could create 3,000 jobs and attract 1.5 million visitors each year.

Following opposition from locals, the project was whittled down and rebranded as the TEC.

While the project was never approved, a billboard serving as a signpost to the nonexistent education center stayed up on State Route 17 for months, The Epoch Times previously reported.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Li and Wang spent only enough money on the TEC project to maintain the “fiction” that it was viable and “actually under construction.”

They spent funds fraudulently obtained from investors on “personal expenses including clothing, jewelry, housing, vacation travel, upscale dining, and political contributions to prominent politicians,” the statement said.

The prosecutors said Li and Wang used political contributions to gain photo-ops with elected officials, and in turn used the photos as a marketing tool to entice more investors for the TEC project.

In one case, the pair charged 12 foreign nationals—11 Chinese and one Singaporean—$93,000 each for admission to a fundraising event with Trump on June 28, 2017. They then used a photo of Li and the president to solicit more investments.

They donated $600,000 in their own names to the joint committee that hosted the fundraiser, which was unaware that the money actually belonged to foreign nationals. At the time, Li made news headlines for the large donations to Republican organizations.

In 2013 and 2014, Li also made donations to Democrats, including a total of $55,000 to then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and $2,500 to then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, The Epoch Times previously reported. 

The recipients are not accused of any wrongdoing.

Last night’s debate was a feisty one to say the least… born out of a Twitter beef between comedian Dave Smith and writer Alex Berenson, Rav Arora (of the Illusion of Consensus podcast) arranged and hosted it.

Berenson kicked off by playing a 10-year old clip in which Smith makes a joke about the Holocaust as evidence of Dave’s Holocaust denial:

pic.twitter.com/dT1fi81CBO

— ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) August 2, 2025

Smith rejected this as dishonest and evasive: “We could talk about issues that I believe in or issues that you believe in… but you want to do this bitch smear job shit.” 

In a mocking tone: “Ooh, you spoke to Richard Spencer in 2017 and made a joke with him. Like really scumbag?”

Flipping the guilt-by-association accusation back at Berenson: “You worked at the New York Times while they were selling the war in Iraq. Who was your favorite person to have lunch with… Judith Miller or was it Michael Gordon? Which one of the mouthpieces for war criminals did you enjoy working with the most as they got a million people killed in Iraq?”

Smith ended the introduction with the line of the night: “Put your thumb in your mouth, blow really hard, and try to turn your vagina into a pair of balls”

And it sent downhill from there…

pic.twitter.com/F5vO7bIzto

— ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) August 2, 2025

Aside from this, there was much back and forth about Daryl Cooper (who seems to get brought up in every debate). We include the full debate below but a forewarning: it was a shit show. We aim to host more productive debates in our series but if you want to see a verbal boxing match, here you go:

https://t.co/VxdcERroN8

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 1, 2025

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

They might wait until after Russia agrees to a ceasefire (if it ever does) since replacing him with Zaluzhny while hostilities still rage could further weaken Ukraine to Russia’s benefit.

Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR) published a report in late July alleging that the Anglo-American Axis organized a secret meeting in the Alps with Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Yermak, GUR chief Budanov, and former Commander-in-Chief-turned-Ambassador-to-Britain Zaluzhny over Ukraine’s future. According to them, Yermak and Budanov agreed with the Anglo-American Axis’ proposal to replace Zelensky with Zaluzhny, which could be advanced on anti-corruption pretexts and “reset” Ukraine’s ties with the West.

Sputnik shared the following assessment of SVR’s report by former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter:

“SVR and its press service are ‘not a media outlet,’ Ritter pointed out. ‘They’re not there to inform the public when they release information. It’s usually done to achieve an objective or purpose’ – in this case signalling the desire to ‘inflict the most harm on Zelensky at a time when he is deemed to be most vulnerable,’ and ramp up divisions within his government, and between him and Zaluzhny”.

SVR’s report followed the Financial Times’ critical piece about Yermak, who SVR claimed had “set up” Zelensky by convincing him to crack down on anti-corruption institutions to justify any Western effort to replace him on this pretext, which came almost a year after Bloomberg’s own critical piece about him. Ritter’s assessment of SVR’s intentions is therefore credible, but seeing as how they and even Putin predicted Zelensky’s impending fall in the past, it remains to be seen whether it’ll happen anytime soon:

* 12 December 2023: “Naryshkin’s Scenario Forecast About The West Replacing Zelensky Shouldn’t Be Scoffed At”

* 22 January 2024: “Why’d SVR Publish Its Prediction About An Impending Bureaucratic Reshuffle In Ukraine?”

* 7 May 2024: “Russia Hopes To Influence Ukraine’s Possibly Impending US-Backed Regime Change Process”

* 22 June 2024: “How Likely Is It That The US Replaces Zelensky In The First Half Of Next Year?”

* 15 August 2024: “Assessing The Veracity Of SVR’s Latest Report About Impending Political Changes In Kiev”

* 14 November 2024: “The US Is Unlikely To Coerce Zelensky Into Holding Elections Without A Ceasefire First”

* 7 February 2025: “Russia’s Foreign Spy Agency Claims That NATO Wants To Depose Zelensky Through New Elections”

Returning to SVR’s latest report, Trump’s new three-pronged escalation of American involvement in the Ukrainian Conflict and his country’s recent subordination of the EU as its largest-ever vassal state via their totally lopsided trade deal might nullify any supposed prior US imperative to replace Zelensky. After all, Trump was just manipulated into mission creep in spite of his well-known spat with Zelensky at the White House in spring, and his new EU vassals already prioritize the proxy war over all else.

Therefore, it’s arguably the case that the West already “reset” its ties with Ukraine even though Zelensky is still in power instead of replacing him for that purpose like SVR said that they’d soon seek to do, which Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh also reported is in the cards 11 days before SVR did. Nevertheless, Zelensky’s most likely successor does indeed appear to be Zaluzhny just like SVR and Hersh reported, but the West might wait to install him until after Russia agrees to a ceasefire (if it ever does).

That’s because replacing him while hostilities still rage could further weaken Ukraine to Russia’s benefit. Doing so after they end could symbolically herald a new era for Ukraine, however, and also serve as a reward to Russia for compliance with the ceasefire by fulfilling its requirement for a legitimate Ukrainian leader with whom Putin might then sign a peace deal. These calculations make the most sense from the perspective of Western interests, but they could always change depending on the course of the conflict.

Maryland’s deepening energy crisis and the resulting hyperinflation in power bill costs that have steamrolled working-class families are a stark reminder of why local elections matter. It’s also a case study in what happens when one-party rule goes unchecked. Under far-left Democratic leadership, the state has been so epically mismanaged that it now faces multiple cascading crises, whether fiscal, energy-related, or tied to illegal aliens or violent crime. 

Last week marked a significant inflection point for the panicking Maryland Democratic Party, which can no longer ignore the power bill crisis. 

Governor Wes Moore, speaking from a swanky vineyard in northern Baltimore County, was forced to address the crisis and now has blamed skyrocketing power bills on the regional grid operator, PJM.

Moore’s claim that PJM is somehow responsible for Maryland’s power crisis is a masterclass in political deflection.

‘Slap in the face’: MD Gov. Wes Moore told me yesterday that he is going to pursue legal challenges against PJM, the region’s grid operator, for skyrocketing electricity bills. When I asked if his energy policies are to blame, he said PJM “continues to thwart” new power plants. pic.twitter.com/zPhBqrgtkl

— Gary M. Collins (@realgarycollins) July 29, 2025

What’s actually happened is that Moore and the Democratic Party have championed failed globalist “green” policies that led to the premature retirement of reliable fossil fuel power generation across the state for intermittent solar and wind, leaving the grid more fragile than ever. Meanwhile, baseload capacity has stagnated, forcing the state to import a significant portion of its electricity from neighboring states just to keep up with the soaring demand driven by data centers, EVs, and reshoring efforts. 

The power crisis is entirely self-inflicted and a result of failed green policies pushed by far-left state and local officials wearing climate-crisis blinders. These crazed leftists have no business managing the state’s energy infrastructure, let alone its future. 

Local TV station WBFF Fox Baltimore’s Gary Collins spoke with Maryland Del. Ryan Nawrocki, a Republican representing Baltimore County, who called the energy crisis in the state “manufactured” by failed green policies of the Democratic Party. 

Meanwhile, Maryland Del. Ryan Nawrocki, a Republican representing Baltimore County, said he believes Gov. Wes Moore is trying to shift blame for rising energy costs caused by his green energy agenda and progressive policies enacted by the Maryland General Assembly. pic.twitter.com/P2wMG2ttd6

— Gary M. Collins (@realgarycollins) July 29, 2025

Our reporting makes one thing clear: the power bill crisis is a political disaster for Moore and the Democrats. The optics are terrible, and worse, they have no real plan to fix the crisis. Instead, they’re deflecting blame onto PJM. But let’s be very honest with readers, anyone paying attention saw this trainwreck coming from a mile away: 

• Goldman Says Mid-Atlantic Power Prices “Finally Caught Up To AI Data Center Load Growth Story”

•  Maryland “Can’t Import Itself Out Of Energy Crisis” Amid Urgent Need To Boost In-State Power Generation

• “Another Reason To Leave”: Top Maryland Power Official Warns Of Regular Rolling Blackouts

• Green Agenda Fallout: Democrat-Led Northeast Now Has Highest Electricity Prices In Nation

• Maryland Democrats Scramble As Green Energy Agenda Sparks Power Bill Hyperinflation

• Brace For Soaring Electricity Bills: Biggest US Power Grid Sets Power Costs At Record High To Feed AI

• “You’re Welcome”: Pennsylvania Boasts About Saving ‘Green’ Maryland From Near Power Grid Collapse

State Democrats had to call in their dark-money funded NGO network to flood the airwaves with propaganda in a desperate attempt to quell growing dissent over the power bill crisis and the broader turmoil unfolding… 

• Far-Left Panic: Dark Money NGO Floods Baltimore Airwaves With Propaganda To Save Governor

GOP (or America First) strategists in Maryland, and every state run by far-left Democrats, should take note: hammering the Democrats on their failed green policies is a winning angle. These policies are directly fueling economic pain for the working poor. It’s not a complicated strategy. 

Can’t make this up: Democrats in Maryland were too focused on condoms for kids rather than actually resolving their own power crisis. 

Condoms for Kindergarteners — this is the priority of @mddems. Rather than supplying the grid with more power and lowering electric bills, or giving children stuck in failed schools a better option, Annapolis Democrats want to put condoms in kindergarten classrooms. Sad. pic.twitter.com/rpBog5jkgd

— Mark Fisher (@fisher4maryland) February 21, 2025

. . . 

Authored by Larry C. Johnson via Sonar21,

Donald Trump made another move in his feckless game of global checkers today in Scotland, with the announcement that he is giving Russia a new, much shorter deadline of ten days to end the war in Ukraine. Trump warned that if President Vladimir Putin does not reach a deal by around August 7–9, the US will impose new sanctions and “severe tariffs” on Russia and countries supporting its war effort. Trump’s new deadline elicited a collective yawn in Moscow.

Since the start of the Special Military Operation (SMO), trade between the US and Russia has shrunk dramatically. In 2021, US exports to Russia totaled approximately $6.4 billion and US imports from Russia totaled about $29.7 billion. This resulted in a US trade deficit with Russia of about $23.3 billion for that year.

In 2024, total trade in goods between the United States and Russia declined sharply due to ongoing sanctions, war-related restrictions, and other political measures. US exports to Russia in 2024:

Approximately $526 million, marking a decrease of over 12% compared to 2023. Major U.S. exports included medical/technical equipment, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and some food and chemical products.

U.S. imports from Russia in 2024:

About $3.0–$3.27 billion, down more than 34% compared to 2023 and down over 75% from pre-war levels in 2021–2022. Key Russian exports to the U.S. were fertilizers (about $1.3 billion), precious metals (about $878 million), and inorganic chemicals (about $683 million). Energy imports have almost entirely ceased.

Trump’s threat of new sanctions is just a blowhard bloviating… Ending shipments of fertilizers and precious metals is not going to hurt the Russian economy one bit. Thanks to the sanctions Biden levied in 2022, Russia’s economy grew to be the fourth largest in the world as measured by purchasing power parity.

Western propaganda that the Russian economy is failing–citing current growth of 1.4%–ignores the fiscal policies that the Russian central bank put in place in 2024 to cool inflation. But those measures were only temporary, with the central bank announcing a two percent cut in interest rates late last week.

That means that Trump, if he is serious, will impose bone-crunching tariffs on China and India. Both countries appear unfazed by Trump’s bullying bluster. China in particular holds some very strong cards… Rare-earth minerals desperately needed by the US military industrial complex. I think this will be another Trump nothing-burger.

So why did Trump whittle down the deadline? One possible explanation concerns the rapid deterioration of the military situation for Ukraine. Russia is making rapid advances all along the line of contact and even Ukrainian media and social media outlets are expressing alarm. Is that what sparked Trump’s decision to shorten the time for Russia to agree to a ceasefire? Fifty day or 12 days, it does not matter. Trump has no leverage to compel Russia to agree to the ceasefire that the US and Europe want to be imposed.

Russia is going to continue with its offensive and will take more territory in the coming weeks. Russian troops are pushing north in Zaporhyzhia, moving south through Sumy and Kharkiv, and advancing to the west, having already taken territory in Dniepropetrovsk. No pressure from Washington or Europe will alter this reality.

I discussed this issue, as well as developments in West Asia, with Nima and Pepe. Following that podcast, I welcomed the Judge back from his well-deserved vacation:

In Italy’s Dolomites, farmers are fighting back against the surge of social media–driven tourism by installing turnstiles and charging visitors €5 (about $6) to access scenic areas on private land, according to CNN. The fee applies to some of the most photographed spots in the Alps, including the Seceda ridgeline and the Drei Zinnen (Three Peaks), which have gone viral on Instagram and TikTok.

The move comes in response to a wave of tourists — sometimes numbering up to 4,000 per day — who cross private meadows to get the perfect mountain shot. “So many people come through here every day, everyone goes through our properties and leaves trash,” said Georg Rabanser, a former Italian national snowboarder and landowner, in an interview with Ladin-language magazine La Usc. “Ours was a cry for help.”

Rabanser says the goal wasn’t profit, but attention. “We expected a call from the provincial authorities. But nothing. We only read statements in the newspapers. Gossip; nothing concrete. We haven’t even received warning letters. So we’re moving forward.”

Though Italian law mandates free access to natural parks, including the Dolomites, the landowners say they haven’t faced any official pushback.

Photos of the long queues have spread across social media — ironically drawing even more tourists to the area. As Alpine Club president Carlo Zanella put it: “The media’s been talking about the turnstiles, everyone’s been talking about it. And people go where everyone else goes. We’re sheep.”

CNN reports that local tourism officials argue the issue is being exaggerated. The Santa Cristina Tourist Board, which oversees one area with turnstiles, has hired park rangers to guide tourists, restrict off-trail wandering, and prevent drone use. “Things have improved significantly,” said board president Lukas Demetz. “And even the litter problem isn’t as serious as people say. It’s significantly reduced.”

Still, other regions are following suit with their own crowd-control measures. In the Aosta Valley, private cars are now banned from mountain routes, with hikers required to take shuttle buses. Lake Braies has introduced a €40 car access fee. And in the Piedmont region, only 150 cars can park near the popular Pian del Re peat bog.

South Tyrol’s governor, Arno Kompatscher, has called on Italy’s national government to enact broader restrictions to protect delicate alpine environments and discourage locals from converting homes into short-term rentals.

As overtourism spreads across Italy, mountain communities are no longer alone in pushing back against social media–fueled travel habits.

Authored by Antonio Graceffo via The Epoch Times,

China’s growing control of African ports, particularly along the Atlantic, combined with deepening military ties and an aggressive propaganda campaign, poses an emerging threat to U.S. national security…

At a July 2025 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Air Force Lt. Gen. Dagvin Anderson warned that Africa is becoming a key battleground in global competition, with China, Russia, and terrorist groups posing increasing threats to U.S. national security.

Nominated to lead U.S. Africa Command, Anderson emphasized China’s shift from purely economic engagement to a growing military presence and aggressive information operations across the continent. He expressed particular concern over Chinese investments in African ports, especially along the Atlantic coast, which could be used to restrict U.S. access in times of conflict.

Chinese state-backed companies now have ownership stakes in roughly one-third of Africa’s 231 ports, with 78 facilities across 32 countries and a heavy concentration in West Africa, 35 compared to 17 in East Africa. Many of these ports have already been used by People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships conducting military exercises. This expanding control includes major ports in Nigeria, Tanzania, and Namibia.

A strong Chinese presence in West African ports would significantly enhance the PLAN’s access to the Atlantic, bringing it inside the U.S. security perimeter, an area far more difficult to defend than the Pacific due to fewer islands and resupply points. Africa lies just 3,000 miles from the U.S. East Coast, roughly the same distance as New York to California, meaning a Chinese resupply base on the Atlantic coast could put submarines within striking range of New York, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta.

While Chinese nuclear submarines can stay at sea for extended periods, they currently lack the ability to resupply or take on provisions in the Atlantic. Establishing a base would solve that, enabling not only sustained deployments but also pre-positioning for intelligence collection, containerized missile rearming, and disruption of U.S. or allied operations.

Since 2000, PLAN vessels have made 55 port calls across Africa, including in West African nations such as Morocco and Mauritania, demonstrating China’s intent to expand its military use of these facilities. A Chinese foothold on the African coast would give the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) a powerful platform to influence global trade and project power across both sides of the Atlantic.

Beijing has already demonstrated its willingness to convert commercial ports into military infrastructure, as evidenced by its 2018 project in Djibouti, where the state-owned China Merchants Group constructed a PLAN-exclusive base adjacent to a commercial port. Seven additional African ports, spanning both the Atlantic and the West Indian Ocean, have been identified as likely candidates for future Chinese military use.

In addition to base building, China is rapidly expanding its military-to-military cooperation in Africa. In 2000, less than 5 percent of African weapons came from China. Today, Chinese-made armored vehicles are used by 70 percent of African militaries, making China the continent’s top arms supplier. Officer training has followed a similar trend: from under 200 African officers trained in China at the turn of the century to more than 2,000 today.

Since 2006, China has conducted 20 joint military drills with African forces, steadily increasing in scale and sophistication, most notably the August 2024 land and sea exercises with Tanzania and Mozambique, and recent joint air force drills with Egypt. The following month, Beijing pledged a 1 billion yuan military grant to support African armed forces, train 6,000 personnel, and host 500 young officers for joint training, patrols, and exercises.

To make its expanding military presence in Africa more palatable, the CCP relies heavily on a coordinated propaganda campaign aimed at reshaping African perceptions. Through state-controlled media platforms such as CGTN and Xinhua, partnerships with local news outlets, journalist training programs, and satellite networks such as StarTimes, the Chinese regime promotes an image of itself as a generous, non-interfering partner, while subtly undermining the United States.

These efforts are part of Beijing’s broader “media warfare” strategy, which includes offering free or low-cost international content to African newsrooms and funding media exchanges and seminars. The China-Africa Press Center places African journalists in Chinese newsrooms for 10-month rotations where they report on CCP activities, reinforcing pro-Beijing narratives. Increasingly, the CCP relies on African journalists as the faces of its messaging, a shift from the 1990s, when Chinese reporters dominated the coverage. This tactic gives Chinese propaganda an air of local authenticity.

From ports to military training to propaganda, the CCP is working methodically to undermine the United States and achieve maritime parity. Africa has become a staging ground for Beijing’s long-term strategic ambitions, encompassing the military, economic, and ideological spheres. Unless the United States responds with a coherent counterstrategy, it risks losing critical access and influence not only in Africa but also across the Atlantic.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

Tiny Slovenia has become the first European Union member state to completely halt arms trade with Israel over its ongoing military operations in Gaza.

The decision was announced by Prime Minister Robert Golob following a government meeting on Thursday, and it features a ban on the transit of weapons to and from Israel. “The government of Slovenia is the first in the EU to prohibit the import, export, and transit of military equipment involving Israel,” an official statement in state news agency STA indicated.

Slovenia clarified that it was taking this step on its own, and complained about a lack of unified action within the European Union due to internal disagreements on the question of policy toward Israel.

The statement from Slovenia on the new drastic arms ban focused on the spiraling humanitarian crisis based on lack of food and aid, which has resulted in at least dozens or more Palestinians dying from hunger. “It is the duty of any responsible country to act, even if that means taking the lead,” the government statement said.

“We have been clear from the beginning: if the EU is not able to take concrete measures by mid-July, we will act on it ourselves in Slovenia. And that’s what we did today.”

However, Slovenia has for some time stopped approving any arms export licenses to Israel – a status quo which has been in effect since October 2023. The prime minister is actually threatening more punitive actions to come, targeting Israel:

“People in Gaza are dying because humanitarian aid is systemically disabled,” he continued. “They are dying under ruins, with no access to drinking water, food and basic medical care. It’s a total disruption of humanitarian access and conscious prevention of basic conditions for survival.”

“Slovenia will always stand on the side of international law and human rights,” he added. “In the coming weeks, we will prepare additional measures against the Israeli government’s actions, which mean serious violations of international humanitarian law.”

Slovenia, which has also been a member of NATO since 2004, is among small European states which have issued formal recognition of Palestinian statehood (done in June 2024).

Just this summer and in the past week, France, the UK, and Canada have said they plan to recognize Palestine at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly meeting in September.

Slovenia banning arms to and from Israel is much more meaningful than EU states recognizing a toothless Palestinian state with no enforceable borders as they continue to arm Israel https://t.co/GrbHIbMYPx

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) August 1, 2025

Meanwhile Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Thursday said the quiet part out loud amid an emerging diplomatic war against Israel, saying the country was in danger of becoming isolated.

Wadephul said Berlin is trying to prevent this. “Israel must always find friends, partners, and supporters in the international community. And that is currently in danger in this situation. And if there is one country that has a responsibility to prevent this, then in my view it is Germany,” he told reporters on a trip to Israel.

Via Remix News,

Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, says Germany is digging its own grave. Her words came during an interview Weidel gave to Hungary’s Patriot Extra program, covered by Mandiner.

According to the nationalist politician, the European Union has “completely degenerated,” does not represent nation states or sovereign peoples, and has now become a machine run by overpaid bureaucrats that only causes harm.

Weidel says Germany’s economic decline is rooted in domestic decisions. High energy prices, the green transition, and the phase-out of nuclear power have made German industry uncompetitive, especially the automotive industry, which she says is being deliberately destroyed by Brussels regulations.

“All the bad rules were made in Brussels,” she said, emphasizing that the ban on internal combustion engines and environmental sanctions benefit China and American companies, not European workers. According to Weidel, Germany and Europe need a free market where everyone can produce and buy what they want.

Weidel also said the German government was playing politics against the population, lying to people, and doing the opposite of what it promised. 

On Angela Merkel, the AfD leader said that she was “the first Green Chancellor, not the conservative leader of the CDU.” She also called current Chancellor Friedrich Merz a representative of the “losing side.”

Weidel contrasted Germany with Hungary, praising Viktor Orbán for his “common sense” and as a role model for national sovereignists. “I can only congratulate Viktor Orbán, Hungary is doing much better,” she said.

“Hungary is the only one that clearly stands out and says: this cannot be done with us,” she said. According to Weidel, in Germany, on the other hand, there is an unstable government that is deliberately worsening the financial situation of the population in order to make people vulnerable. 

Weidel further stated that she believes Hungarians live relatively better than Germans, compared to the country’s economic performance.

According to Weidel, “Everyone should leave the EU.”

Weidel claimed Brussels is trying to build an “artificially created political product” against Viktor Orbán in the person of opposition leader Péter Magyar to interfere in Hungary’s internal affairs. However, Péter Magyar, supported by green and woke politicians and whom Ursula von der Leyen is feeding from the palm of his hand, is doomed to failure, she said, stating that Orbán will emerge from this fight stronger. 

She sees similar interventions from Brussels in Romania and Germany, where the AfD is openly persecuted and even faces a potential ban.

Weidel was particularly critical of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whom she called “openly corrupt,” specifically commenting on the SMS agreements made for Pfizer vaccine purchases during Covid. 

“I wonder where the commissions went?” she asked, adding that Von der Leyen and the Brussels elite were “only working to line their own pockets” and that the EU’s institutional system could not be reformed but must be completely rebuilt. 

In the interview, Weidel outlined what reforms an AfD government would introduce: immediate border closure and mass deportations; social benefits reform, i.e., only those who have paid into the system would receive support; tax cuts for workers; the return of nuclear energy and cheap energy sources; lifting the ban on internal combustion engines; radical reduction of bureaucracy.

“The whole Brussels superstructure is impoverishing us all,” she stressed, adding that the German people are increasingly angry because instead of a “brave new world,” they have been given a more expensive, poorer, and more vulnerable life.

Weidel said Germany should return to the ideal of a strong, independent middle class, which Hungary represents in Europe today.

According to Weidel, the European elections and the processes in Germany also show that people are fed up with globalist, centralized power. He believes that the restoration of national sovereignty, a strong middle class, and the free market are inevitable, even in the face of Brussels. 

“The question is whether Germany can still change or will it be completely absorbed by the Brussels deep state,” she told viewers. 

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