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Zelensky’s Secret Police Being Looked At By Investigators For Monaco Bomb Attack

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Zelensky’s Secret Police Being Looked At By Investigators For Monaco Bomb Attack

The manhunt continues, chiefly focused in France or also nearby Italy, for the culprit who committed a Monday parcel bomb attack on an exiled Ukrainian oligarch and his family at their luxury apartment building in Monaco.

The victims – Vadym Iermolaiev, his ‘partner’ (or wife, according to contradictory reports) and his 13-year-old child, all survived the bombing, with Iermolaiev and his partner having sustained serious injuries and in critical condition. The suspected would-be assassin was seen fleeing to the French border, after which “Dozens of officers were deployed in Monaco, while two helicopters and some 30 gendarmes scoured neighboring France for a man who left a package in a residential building near the border, according to the police and gendarmerie.”

Vadym Iermolaiev, via X

Given that Iermolaiev had long ago been declared an enemy of the Ukrainian state, and has been under sanctions for years for his extensive business dealings in Crimea, Ukrainian intelligence is coming under the spotlight for possible involvement in the Monaco bomb attack – a first of its kind in the small, wealthy principality.

Le Figaro is reporting that the investigation focuses on Zelensky’s secret police (SBU) in the Monaco bomb attack: “According to several concurring sources at Le Figaro, investigators are focusing on the possibility that the attack was orchestrated by the SBU, the Ukrainian intelligence service.”

The report continues, “Vadim Ermolaev, a wealthy businessman residing in Monaco since 2021, as the magistrate specified, had distanced himself from his native country, exchanging his Ukrainian citizenship for a Cypriot passport in 2019, before being targeted by personal sanctions imposed by Kyiv in December 2023.”

And Le Figaro notes further:

According to our information, the attack appears to have been more of a “warning” than a deliberate attempt at murder.

However, police did call it a “powerful explosion” – so significant that parts of Iermolaiev’s partner (or wife’s) legs were lost, reports said.

According to more background of the Ukrainian tycoon’s past:

“Iermolaiev is a real estate developer who was born and raised in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. His company, the Alef Group, also has interests in agriculture and vodka production. In 2018 the oligarch gave up his Ukrainian passport and acquired EU citizenship from Cyprus. As well as Monaco, he is a frequent visitor to London and Paris.

In 2022, the newspaper Ukrainskaya Pravda identified the oligarch as a member of the “Monaco battalion”, an ironic reference to wealthy Ukrainians who live in comfort abroad while their fellow citizens experience daily Russian drone and missile attacks. Iermolaiev enjoyed the high life and drove a £250,000 Bentley Flying Spur, it noted.

The following year, Ukraine imposed personal sanctions on Iermolaiev after an investigation by the country’s SBU security agency. It said the 58-year-old oligarch continued to trade alcohol in occupied Crimea and paid millions of dollars in taxes to the Russian treasury. His assets were frozen and he was prohibited from doing business.

While Russia has long been accused of deploying intelligence-linked assassin squads in Europe to hunt down political enemies, there’s lately been increasingly acknowledgement that Ukraine has been engaged in its own ‘dirty war’ of assassination hits, both within and outside of Russia.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/01/2026 – 09:25

Meanwhile In The UK, You Simply Will Not Believe This…

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Meanwhile In The UK, You Simply Will Not Believe This…

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

A convicted predator who helped destroy the lives of vulnerable girls as young as 13 is days away from freedom in Britain, while Pakistan refuses to take him and archaic rules shield him from removal.

Shabir Ahmed’s case lays bare how legal technicalities, political cowardice, and a refusal to enforce borders have turned the country into a revolving door for the most dangerous offenders.

Ahmed, now 73, arrived in the UK long before 1973 as a Commonwealth citizen. He was convicted in 2012 at Liverpool Crown Court on multiple counts of rape, aiding and abetting rape, sexual assault, and trafficking for sexual exploitation. He treated at least one victim as property, abusing her on an almost weekly basis. Part of a gang of nine men operating out of takeaways in the Heywood area of Rochdale, Ahmed and his associates targeted working-class girls from broken backgrounds.

He received lengthy sentences that later expanded. His British citizenship was stripped. Yet, ludicrously, he cannot be deported. The barrier is a provision in the Immigration Act 1971 that exempts Commonwealth citizens who arrived before 1973 and have long residence from removal.

On release, expected imminently, Ahmed faces lifelong sex offender registration, exclusion zones around Rochdale, bans on contacting any child, strict curfews, and electronic tagging. Breaches mean immediate return to prison. Taxpayers will foot the bill for round-the-clock monitoring and staffed accommodation.

Criminal Lawyer Marcus Johnstone, who has handled grooming gang cases for nearly two decades, pointed out that outdated laws combined with excessive human rights legislation have made Britain the destination of choice for international sex criminals. The gangs are sophisticated. The system that should remove them is not.

Home Office statements emphasise thoughts with victims and the “darkest moments” of the grooming gangs scandal, insisting the full force of the law will apply through these conditions.

Labour MP Paul Waugh, whose Rochdale constituency was ground zero for the abuse, called Ahmed a “depraved paedophile” who should have been removed years ago. He said the people of Rochdale want him gone and urged ministers to amend the Citizenship Act if necessary.

This case fits a wider, years-long scandal of institutional failure and political cowardice.

Separate recent investigations laid bare mini-mart operations where vulnerable children were plied with alcohol and cigarettes in exchange for sexual abuse.

Illegal shops were caught handing out free vapes to kids in return for sexual favours.

And the weary response from parts of the establishment often boiled down to telling victims and the public to simply “get over it.”

The common thread is the same: authorities slow-walked or buried evidence, prioritised community relations over child safety, and treated any mention of ethnic or cultural patterns as radioactive.

Official files had ethnicity redacted. In two-thirds of cases, perpetrator background went unrecorded. Police in some areas told victims the Asian men who abused them were “probably not going to catch them.”

A 2020 Home Office report, relying on hopelessly incomplete data, pushed the false narrative that most grooming perpetrators were white – a claim parroted in Parliament and by broadcasters even after it was exposed as statistical sleight-of-hand.

The motivation was always the same: fear of “racism” accusations, dread of community tension, and the overriding imperative to protect the narrative that mass immigration and multiculturalism have been an unalloyed success. Working-class girls, often from broken homes or care systems, paid the price while officials and media looked the other way or actively smeared whistleblowers.

While Ahmed prepares for supervised release, London Mayor Sadiq Khan faces renewed scrutiny over his past claims. In January 2025 he told the London Assembly there were “no reported cases and also no indication of the grooming gangs” in the capital.

A Metropolitan Police review of roughly 12,000 potential child sexual exploitation reports since 2010 has since flagged more than 4,000 cases that may require reopening. Many had been closed without further action. These have been referred to the National Crime Agency under Operation Beaconport.

London’s current review notes a broader mix of offender backgrounds than the classic Pakistani-heritage networks documented in Rotherham, Rochdale, Telford and elsewhere. That distinction does not erase the scale of what was ignored or the political class that spent years insisting the problem did not exist in the capital.

This London revelation drops just days after the release of Rupert Lowe’s Rape Gang Inquiry Report, which documented a coordinated national campaign of rape, torture and abuse against up to 250,000 British girls by predominantly Muslim grooming gangs operating across 149 local authority districts.

Lowe’s findings laid bare the same pattern of police warnings to rapists, political interference and deliberate suppression of evidence that protected predators for decades while treating working-class girls as disposable.

Britain does not lack the power to change this. Parliament can amend citizenship and immigration rules to close loopholes for serious offenders. It can assert sovereignty over international obligations that shield threats.

Other countries manage deportation of convicted criminals without descending into chaos. The question is whether the political class has the will to put the safety of British girls ahead of globalist pieties and domestic sensitivities.

Ahmed walking free under licence is not justice. It is the predictable result of a system that has spent years protecting itself from hard truths rather than protecting its children. British girls deserve a country that removes foreign criminals who rape its children and never looks back.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/01/2026 – 09:05

Preview And Watch Live: Kevin Warsh Speaks At Sintra ECB Forum

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Preview And Watch Live: Kevin Warsh Speaks At Sintra ECB Forum

Watch live here:

Today’s main event takes place in Sintra, Portugal and the ECB’s annual symposium, where Warsh joins President Christine Lagarde and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey at 9 a.m. New York time.  Bloomberg Economics expects Warsh to strike a carefully balanced tone after signaling different messages to hawks and doves at the June FOMC meeting

Courtesy of Newsquawk, here is a prime of what to expect at the Sintra panel featuring Fed’s Warsh, ECB’s Lagarde, BoE’s Bailey & BoC’s Macklem, at 14:00BST/09:00EDT.

The panel is a ‘policy panel”, lasting for one hour from 14:00BST/09:00EDT, with CNBC’s Eisen as moderator. Text releases are not expected.

Fed

Warsh has already become notorious in not wanting to provide forward guidance, so while traders will be looking to his appearance for clues on future policy, some analysts suggest that traders may be left disappointed. At his first policy meeting as Fed Chair, the FOMC held the FFR target range unchanged at 3.50-3.75%, via a unanimous vote. Warsh described the labour market as keeping pace with workforce growth, with unemployment little changed, while inflation remains elevated due to energy-related supply shocks tied to the Iran conflict. On the 2% target, Warsh reaffirmed the Fed’s “capability and commitment” to deliver price stability, calling the commitment “strong, unanimous, and unambiguous”. Notably, he declined to submit his own SEP projections (though nine of the other eighteen officials projected the FFR target will end 2026 above the current range, pointing to hike risk). On the balance sheet, the Committee reaffirmed its policy of maintaining ample reserves in the banking system, with a dedicated task force reviewing the balance sheet tool’s transmission. Warsh also abandoned forward guidance, shortening the policy statement significantly, and launched task forces covering data, communications, and the inflation framework.

ECB

Lagarde has spoken extensively recently, and will have an opportunity to speak again during the closing Sintra remarks once the panel ends. Lagarde’s remarks on the 22nd of June, alongside the post-MoU energy pullback, have driven much of the moderation in pricing seen in recent weeks, removing a back-to-back hike from the playbook ahead and instead placing focus almost entirely on September for the next potential move. To recap, Lagarde said they “see no evidence yet of de-anchoring of inflation expectations or second-round effects that would warrant a more forceful policy response at this stage” and, as it stood, the ‘current shock appears to be smaller in magnitude…” vs the last period of high inflation, i.e. when Russia’s war in Ukraine commenced. However, at the start of Sintra Lagarde was a touch more hawkish talking around inflation being “away” from target. Though, her commentary didn’t spark any real return towards a move in July. Since, the Flash EZ HICP for June came in cooler than expected, though Services remains above the April figure. While the PMIs are net-constructive, however, much uncertainty remains amid the Middle East situation.

BoE

Following the June meeting and despite the two hawkish dissenters, the narrative has shifted significantly to the BoE being on hold for the foreseeable future. Although Governor Bailey has expressed frustration that inflation is not back to target, he has continued to stick to the narrative that the BoE has time to judge the pass-through of higher energy prices onto the UK economy. There has not been anything to suggest that Bailey will deviate from this.

BoC

After the BoC’s June meeting, Governor Macklem said any decision on possible rate hikes would depend on conditions, not a specific timeline. He noted that core inflation has ticked down, while inflation expectations will remain a key consideration. Economic weakness tends to put downward pressure on prices, adding that higher oil prices have not yet spread significantly into other goods and services, though food inflation remains a concern. He also said little had changed since the previous meeting, with no major data surprises, and that Canada’s economy is not clearly in recession. On communications, Macklem warned that too much forward guidance can imply false precision and become confusing. Separately, speaking last week, he said widening global imbalances and rising non-bank lending increase the risk of economic disruption. He warned that large capital inflows into the US could be misallocated or reverse suddenly, spreading stress beyond US borders, and urged global officials to support higher US savings, Chinese consumption and European investment.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/01/2026 – 08:54

Container Ship Runs Aground In Hormuz Chokepoint

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Container Ship Runs Aground In Hormuz Chokepoint

Hormuz vessel traffic continues to flow, but at a sharply reduced pace compared to the previous week, as US-Iran technical talks resume in Doha without senior negotiators meeting face-to-face.

Data research firm Kpler noted, “Hormuz traffic holds steady.” 

The latest disruption in the strait, beyond the persistent threat of Iranian naval mines and suicide drones, was caused by a foreign container ship running aground after entering shallow waters outside the Iranian-designated shipping route.

Qatar-funded international news network Al Jazeera cites Iran’s state media, which provided more details on the maritime incident early Wednesday:

A foreign container ship has run aground in the Strait of Hormuz after entering shallow waters outside ‌the shipping route designated by Iranian authorities, Iran’s state media says.

The news report reiterated the Revolutionary Guard’s warning that vessels should transit only through the corridor south of Iran’sLarak island, which Tehran says is the sole approved entry and exit route ‌for ships passing through the strait.

In a separate report, Bloomberg cites the Iranian Navy as saying that it “has repeatedly warned ship captains, owners and officials of global shipping companies that any entry or exit via routes other than the authorized one could lead to irreparable incidents.”

Beyond the Strait, and focusing on markets, the beginning of the normalization process to reopen the critical waterway sent commodity prices sliding 9% month on month in June, as conflict fears eased following the US-Iran interim peace deal.

HSBC analyst Jamie Culling told clients:

Global commodity prices fell in June, with our index down by an average of 9% m-o-m, after having reached its highest level since Q3 2022 in May. In June, this left commodity prices up 14% year-to-date, down from 25% year-to-date in May.

The decline largely reflected the impacts of an improving outlook surrounding the US-Iran conflict, including increased traffic flow through the Strait of Hormuz (see Commodity Economic Comment: Better, but the Hormuz disruption is not over yet, 25 June 2026). After the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz picked up. The Brent oil benchmark fell to its pre-conflict level, reflecting an improved supply outlook.

Nonetheless, it is still early days. Transit rates through the Strait are still well below pre-war levels. Insurance is still expensive. Risks and uncertainty remain high, and the situation is fragile, highlighted by missile strikes from both sides over the past week which saw transits through the Strait of Hormuz dip (Bloomberg, 26 June).

Even as the broader news cycle has moved on and fatigue sets in, all things Hormuz, whether vessel traffic rates, insurance coverage, shipping costs, and Gulf export flows, will remain in focus this summer. The question is whether Tehran still retains full leverage over the waterway, or whether the normalization process has begun to dilute its ability to weaponize the world’s most important maritime chokepoint.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/01/2026 – 07:20

The World Is Becoming Increasingly Divided By Fertility

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The World Is Becoming Increasingly Divided By Fertility

The world is becoming increasingly divided by fertility.

One group of countries now has too few births to naturally replace its population, while another continues to see population growth driven by higher fertility rates. This demographic divide has major implications for aging populations, labor markets, immigration, and future economic growth.

This map, via Visual Capitalist’s Jeff Desjardins, shows which countries are above and below the replacement fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman, using projections for 2025 from the UN World Population Prospects 2024 Revision.

While the regional patterns are striking, several countries buck the trend.

Fertility Rates by Country

The table below lists projected fertility rates for 2025 and whether each country falls above or below the 2.1 replacement threshold.

Country Total Fertility Rate (TFR) Above or Below 2.1
(Replacement Rate)
Chad 5.94 Above
Somalia 5.91 Above
DR Congo 5.90 Above
Central African Republic 5.81 Above
Niger 5.79 Above
Mali 5.42 Above
Angola 4.95 Above
Burundi 4.68 Above
Afghanistan 4.66 Above
Mozambique 4.62 Above
Mauritania 4.56 Above
Mayotte 4.50 Above
Tanzania 4.47 Above
Benin 4.42 Above
Yemen 4.41 Above
Nigeria 4.30 Above
Sudan 4.19 Above
Cameroon 4.19 Above
Ivory Coast 4.17 Above
Togo 4.07 Above
Uganda 4.06 Above
Congo 4.05 Above
Guinea 4.04 Above
Equatorial Guinea 4.04 Above
Burkina Faso 4.00 Above
Zambia 3.97 Above
Madagascar 3.84 Above
Ethiopia 3.81 Above
Gambia 3.80 Above
Liberia 3.79 Above
Comoros 3.76 Above
Samoa 3.75 Above
Senegal 3.71 Above
South Sudan 3.71 Above
Guinea-Bissau 3.68 Above
Zimbabwe 3.62 Above
Sierra Leone 3.61 Above
Eritrea 3.61 Above
Rwanda 3.59 Above
Gabon 3.54 Above
Malawi 3.53 Above
Vanuatu 3.53 Above
Sao Tome and Principe 3.53 Above
Pakistan 3.50 Above
Solomon Islands 3.47 Above
Uzbekistan 3.45 Above
Ghana 3.30 Above
French Guiana 3.29 Above
Nauru 3.25 Above
Palestine 3.19 Above
Iraq 3.17 Above
Namibia 3.17 Above
Tuvalu 3.14 Above
Kenya 3.12 Above
Kiribati 3.09 Above
Tonga 3.07 Above
Papua New Guinea 3.03 Above
Tajikistan 2.99 Above
Kazakhstan 2.95 Above
Marshall Islands 2.82 Above
Israel 2.75 Above
Kyrgyzstan 2.75 Above
Egypt 2.71 Above
Guam 2.71 Above
Micronesia 2.71 Above
Eswatini 2.68 Above
Algeria 2.67 Above
Syria 2.66 Above
Botswana 2.66 Above
Lesotho 2.64 Above
Turkmenistan 2.63 Above
Saint Martin (French part) 2.63 Above
Haiti 2.59 Above
Mongolia 2.58 Above
Djibouti 2.58 Above
Jordan 2.57 Above
Tokelau 2.57 Above
Timor-Leste 2.56 Above
Cambodia 2.51 Above
Bolivia 2.50 Above
Oman 2.48 Above
Niue 2.46 Above
Honduras 2.45 Above
Paraguay 2.39 Above
Guyana 2.37 Above
Laos 2.36 Above
Saudi Arabia 2.29 Above
Northern Mariana Islands 2.28 Above
Guatemala 2.26 Above
Libya 2.25 Above
Fiji 2.25 Above
American Samoa 2.25 Above
Lebanon 2.21 Above
Suriname 2.21 Above
Faroe Islands 2.20 Above
South Africa 2.19 Above
Dominican Republic 2.19 Above
Morocco 2.18 Above
Nicaragua 2.18 Above
Western Sahara 2.15 Above
Réunion 2.13 Above
Bangladesh 2.11 Above
Indonesia 2.10 Above
Panama 2.09 Below
Monaco 2.09 Below
Myanmar 2.08 Below
Seychelles 2.08 Below
United States Virgin Islands 2.07 Below
Venezuela 2.06 Below
Guadeloupe 2.05 Below
Belize 2.01 Below
Cook Islands 2.00 Below
Martinique 1.97 Below
New Caledonia 1.95 Below
India 1.94 Below
Peru 1.94 Below
Nepal 1.94 Below
Sri Lanka 1.94 Below
Greenland 1.91 Below
Philippines 1.88 Below
Vietnam 1.88 Below
Gibraltar 1.88 Below
Mexico 1.87 Below
Palau 1.86 Below
Tunisia 1.80 Below
Montenegro 1.80 Below
Ecuador 1.79 Below
Georgia 1.79 Below
Bahrain 1.78 Below
Dem. People’s Republic of Korea 1.77 Below
El Salvador 1.75 Below
St. Vincent & Grenadines 1.75 Below
Bulgaria 1.74 Below
Moldova 1.72 Below
Romania 1.71 Below
Armenia 1.71 Below
Brunei 1.71 Below
Qatar 1.70 Below
Barbados 1.70 Below
Falkland Islands 1.69 Below
Iran 1.67 Below
Azerbaijan 1.66 Below
New Zealand 1.65 Below
France 1.64 Below
Australia 1.64 Below
St. Helena 1.64 Below
United States 1.62 Below
Turkey 1.62 Below
Colombia 1.62 Below
Aruba 1.61 Below
Brazil 1.60 Below
Ireland 1.60 Below
Slovenia 1.58 Below
Antigua and Barbuda 1.58 Below
Slovakia 1.57 Below
Maldives 1.55 Below
United Kingdom 1.54 Below
Liechtenstein 1.54 Below
Malaysia 1.53 Below
Kosovo (under UNSC res. 1244) 1.53 Below
Isle of Man 1.53 Below
Portugal 1.52 Below
Denmark 1.52 Below
Trinidad and Tobago 1.52 Below
Cayman Islands 1.51 Below
St. Kitts & Nevis 1.51 Below
Argentina 1.50 Below
Hungary 1.50 Below
Serbia 1.50 Below
Kuwait 1.50 Below
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1.50 Below
Cape Verde 1.50 Below
Iceland 1.50 Below
French Polynesia 1.48 Below
Czechia 1.47 Below
Croatia 1.47 Below
North Macedonia 1.47 Below
Dominica 1.47 Below
Russia 1.46 Below
Germany 1.46 Below
Grenada 1.46 Below
Cuba 1.45 Below
Bonaire 1.45 Below
Montserrat 1.45 Below
Netherlands 1.44 Below
Sweden 1.44 Below
Switzerland 1.44 Below
Bhutan 1.44 Below
Turks and Caicos Islands 1.44 Below
Sint Maarten 1.43 Below
Norway 1.42 Below
Bermuda 1.41 Below
Luxembourg 1.40 Below
Wallis & Futuna 1.40 Below
Belgium 1.39 Below
Uruguay 1.39 Below
St. Lucia 1.38 Below
Jersey 1.38 Below
Cyprus 1.37 Below
Estonia 1.37 Below
Guernsey 1.37 Below
Bahamas 1.36 Below
Latvia 1.35 Below
Anguilla 1.35 Below
Greece 1.34 Below
Jamaica 1.34 Below
Canada 1.33 Below
Austria 1.33 Below
Albania 1.33 Below
Poland 1.31 Below
Costa Rica 1.31 Below
Finland 1.30 Below
Saint Pierre and Miquelon 1.28 Below
Japan 1.23 Below
Spain 1.23 Below
Belarus 1.22 Below
Lithuania 1.22 Below
Italy 1.21 Below
United Arab Emirates 1.21 Below
Mauritius 1.21 Below
Thailand 1.19 Below
San Marino 1.16 Below
Chile 1.13 Below
Malta 1.11 Below
Andorra 1.10 Below
Curacao 1.07 Below
British Virgin Islands 1.06 Below
China 1.02 Below
Ukraine 1.00 Below
Singapore 0.96 Below
Puerto Rico 0.94 Below
Taiwan 0.86 Below
St. Barthélemy 0.83 Below
South Korea 0.75 Below
Hong Kong 0.74 Below
Macao 0.69 Below

The Great Fertility Divide

The divide is strikingly regional.

Europe is entirely below replacement fertility, joined by most countries across the Americas and East Asia. Meanwhile, most African countries, along with parts of the Middle East, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia, remain above the replacement threshold.

The map also reveals several notable exceptions.

Geographic Pockets That Buck the Trend

While regional patterns are remarkably consistent, several countries stand out as exceptions to their neighbors:

  • Central America: Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala all have fertility rates just over replacement. On both the north and south sides, virtually every other country in the Americas is below replacement.
  • Africa: Tunisia is the sole country in continental Africa with a rate under 2.1.
  • South America: There are two pockets of higher fertility: Peru and Paraguay, and the Guianas (Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana).
  • Middle East: UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain are below 2.1, while surrounding nations in virtually every direction are above replacement.
  • South/Central Asia: A strip of connected countries, from Pakistan all the way up through Kazakhstan to Mongolia, has higher fertility. Bangladesh also stands out as higher fertility.
  • Southeast Asia: Laos and Cambodia stand out as above replacement. Indonesia is the only country with exactly a 2.1 fertility rate, equal to replacement.

Most of these outliers are countries at different stages of the demographic transition than their neighbors.

Their fertility rates remain above or below replacement while surrounding countries have already moved in the other direction, creating pockets that stand apart from the broader regional pattern.

If you enjoyed today’s post, see Japan’s birthrate collapse over the last 60 years in this visualization on Voronoi.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/01/2026 – 06:55

The US Should Exit The UN

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The US Should Exit The UN

Authored by Wendy McElroy via The Brownstone Institute,

The future of the United Nations (UN) is in play, largely because of its refusal to censure Iran—a member nation.

In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio reprimanded the UN:

“If you’re telling me that the international community and hundreds of countries cannot rally behind that, then I don’t know what the utility of the UN system is.” 

Severing all ties to the UN could require an act of Congress, but the US is moving in this direction. On February 4, 2025, Executive Order 14199 directed the US to withdraw from 31 UN organisations. A great deal hinges on how highly Rubio still prizes America’s permanent seat on the UN Security Council which comes with a veto.

The UN is often viewed as an ineffectual bureaucracy that occasionally does some good. It is nothing so benevolent. Its origins may have been well-meaning, but the current UN has become what it claims to oppose. The US should leave the UN altogether and immediately, especially since its unjust policies are likely to get worse…and soon.

The UN’s Original Mission

The UN Charter (1945) opens,

WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED…to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women…  

The Preamble of its Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) states, 

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Article 2 of the Declaration provides, 

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex…

‘All human beings are equal’ is the basis of Western justice, whether the equality is under nature, God, or law. Instead of pursuing equality, however, the UN is now a woke and corrupt actor that creates inequality and division. The UN’s financial malfeasance, the sexual abuse by field personnel, its demonization of the West…are well documented in the 104-page report From Watchdogs to Ideologues: How Politicized UN Rapporteurs Are Subverting Human Rights by the Geneva-based NGO UN Watch. 

The UN’s demonstrated commitment is to social justice or a wokeness rooted in equity, not equality. Equity seeks the redistribution of wealth and power to those who are considered oppressed from those who are considered oppressors. Equity is the opposite of equality under the law.

Consider its treatment of men who clearly are not viewed as equal to women, as the UN’s mission claims. An obvious example is the prominent presence of the UN Women commission that claims to be “the global champion for gender equality.” The commission identifies its goal as ensuring “every woman and girl lives up to her full potential.” No mention of men or boys. No comparable UN Men agency, although males are included peripherally by recognizing a need to train them to oppose patriarchy. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) explains, 

UNFPA works with men and boys around the world to advance gender equality and end violence. These programmes are encouraging men and boys to abandon harmful stereotypes, embrace respectful, healthy relationships, and support the human rights of all people, everywhere.

Men face many of the same global problems as women, however, including poverty, lack of education, violence, disease and harmful stereotypes. Men also face unique problems, including male-only conscription, paternity fraud, false rape accusations, and longer sentences for the same crimes. Nevertheless, compared to the UN’s emphasis on women, men are virtually ignored. And deliberately so.

The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is considered by many to be the international bill of rights for women. Again, no comparable agency exists for men. The FAQ of one CEDAW branch speaks of substantive justice for women. 

Substantive justice judges fairness by results rather than a process; it favors the equitable distribution of rights, not equal rights. CEDAW states, “The concept of substantive equality arose out of the recognition that formal equality may not be sufficient to ensure that women enjoy the same rights as men. An ostensibly gender-neutral policy, while not excluding women per se, may result in a de facto discrimination against women.” 

Instead, in the name of equality, the UN discriminates against men. It denounces the “poison of patriarchy,” decries the manosphere, and discusses the anti-gender movement. The anti-gender movement is defined as groups with an agenda of harming radical feminist and LGBTQIA+ policies. Even questioning these policies or advocating parallel ones for men seems to be anti-gender. 

Earlier, I stated the UN’s policies are likely to get worse and soon. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres steps down on December 31, 2026. The leading contender as his replacement is the aggressively woke Michelle Bachelet, who launched UN Women and served as its Executive Director from 2010 to 2013. After this, she acted as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2018 to 2022).

In between stints at the UN, Bachelet served two terms as President of Chile. A prominent member of the Socialist Party of Chile, she mandated 50% female representation in her Cabinet and instituted political quotas to boost women’s presence in government, as well as establishing a Ministry of Women and Gender Equality; again, no comparable Ministry of Men exists.

And, again, the equality pursued was equity because it applied privileges to women. 

While at the UN, some of the global initiatives championed by Bachelet included: 

  • Safe Cities Free of Violence Against Women and Girls to address sexual violence in public spaces. The word “sexual” is key. Even the U.N. admits men experience more physical violence in public (81%) compared to women (19%). It is not clear the rate at which men experience sexual violence, however, as men report such abuse at a far lower rate than women.

  • Fund for Gender Equality to provide money exclusively to women to empower them at the grassroots level. Males can access other U.N. gender funds but only in order to dismantle gender inequality, not to empower themselves. Men are to act as gender allies and “agents of change.”

  • Increasing Women’s Access to Justice in Post-Conflict Societies to support transitional justice and women’s human rights in conflict and post-conflict zones. 

Everyone has the right to discriminate peacefully on his own time and dime. But the UN is primarily funded by mandatory assessed and voluntary contributions from its member nations; that is, by tax dollars extracted from individuals, half of whom are men and many who are dissenting women, like me. 

The good news: there are rumors of the UN’s financial collapse since some member states—most prominently the US—are withholding their contributions. The US alone owes $2.196 billion to the regular budget and $1.8 billion to separate peacekeeping operations, which amounts to about one-quarter of UN funding. Without it, the UN will be sorely diminished in status.

Good. And if the UN does collapse, then better.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/01/2026 – 06:30

Kremlin Confirms Rare Talks To Import Gasoline Amid Drone Strike Mayhem

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Kremlin Confirms Rare Talks To Import Gasoline Amid Drone Strike Mayhem

Russia has confirmed its government is currently in negotiations with other countries to purchase gasoline while desperately seeking to stabilize its domestic market after months drone mayhem out of Ukraine.

“Discussions are actively being held,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press briefing Tuesday, though without specifying which countries. “If agreements can be reached at acceptable price points, then [imports] will move forward,” he added.

File image: UBN

The development is surprising given that Russia remains the world’s second-largest crude oil exporter and third-largest supplier of refined petroleum products – and yet it is now facing the somewhat humiliating prospect of importing gasoline.

Last week, Reuters dropped a bombshell citing industry insiders who revealed that Moscow has been in backroom talks to import a staggering 50,000 metric tons of AI-92 grade gasoline from neighboring Kazakhstan. India has also been mentioned in reports.

President Putin just over the weekend estimated Russia’s total gasoline reserves to be at at 1.7 million metric tons, which would constitute a 4% decline compared to the same period last year. Politico notes further:

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has described imports as one of the government’s key tools for stabilizing the market, while Russian lawmakers last week approved tax changes creating subsidies to help finance gasoline purchases from abroad.

Putin had further in a speech and separate interview belatedly acknowledged Sunday that his country is facing a “certain shortage” of fuel following weeks of ramped-up drone warfare coming out of Ukraine, which has chiefly targeted oil refineries and domestic supply facilities, including in the Moscow region.

“As for strikes against critical infrastructure in general, and energy infrastructure in particular, of course, these attacks on our infrastructure facilities create problems,” Putin said. “That’s obvious.“

“Right now we’re observing a certain shortage, but it’s not critical,” he added. He also made wide-ranging public remarks at a major summit of the ruling ‘United Russia’ party.

Some Western pundits have agreed that the situation is not yet critical, and that a fuel squeeze has been a long-running Ukrainian goal of its intensified drone attacks…

A state of emergency for all citizens was also declared in Crimea last week – with fuel only being provided to military and state entities at this point.

Putin further acknowledged in his recent comments that small, slow-moving drones have proven a problem for Russia’s anti-air defense systems, which were conventionally designed to intercept large fast projectiles like missiles or warplanes.

This has been big on Russians’ minds, as this month they beheld unprecedented scenes of massive smoke plumes overtaking Moscow’s skyline, as a key refinery there burned. 

Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/01/2026 – 05:45

Police Flee During Riots In The Hague After Morocco Knocks Netherlands Out Of World Cup

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Police Flee During Riots In The Hague After Morocco Knocks Netherlands Out Of World Cup

Via Remix News,

After Morocco knocked the Dutch national football team out of the World Cup, rioting broke out this morning in The Hague, with dramatic footage showing Dutch motorcycle police fleeing from Moroccan supporters. Police also deployed water cannons to control the crowd and at least a dozen people were reportedly arrested.

The video of the Dutch police fleeing prompted a sharp reaction from anti-immigration political leader Geert Wilders, who wrote: “Sweep those streets clean and ship the riffraff with their families off to Morocco. This is our country. Get lost!”

Moroccans gathered in the streets, blocking traffic, and chanting with Moroccan flags. Some supporters danced on car roofs. Many of them are Dutch citizens and second- and even third-generation citizens.

Police regrouped and conducted baton charges, deployed water cannons, and made targeted arrests. A spokesperson said that water cannons were deployed after police were targeted with stones and fireworks.

With the Moroccan football team advancing in the World Cup, police across Europe are likely to be nervous about upcoming football games involving the North African team.

In previous years, Moroccan victories at football sporting events have led to mayhem and mass riots. In fact, it was already in 2022 that Wilders was urging mass deportations in reactions to major riots following victories of the Moroccan national team.

Read more here…

Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/01/2026 – 05:00

Heat Mortality Surges In Europe

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Heat Mortality Surges In Europe
Heat Mortality Surges In Europe

Heat-related mortality in Europe has surged over the last couple of decades.

As Statista’s Katharina Buchholz reports, according to the latest available data published by the Lancet Countdown 2025 Report, between 2012 and 2021, 5.5 people per 100,000 population died of heat-related causes per year on the continent.

This is almost double the annual rate observed between 1992 and 2021.

Infographic: Heat Mortality Surges in Europe | Statista

You will find more infographics at Statista

Similarly rapid surges were observed over the same time period in Asia-Pacific as well as in the Americas.

However, heat deaths stayed on a lower level in these regions and reached only an annual 3.4 and 2.1 in 100,000, respectively, during the last decade.

All three continents in question have an aging population, making heatwaves more deadly as it is older people who predominantly succumb to heat-related causes.

But Europe is also less prepared than other continents for a changing climate as its many temperate regions have not built for the heat and have traditionally neither been equipped for it, may that be in terms of air conditioner ownership or knowledge of ways to stay cool.

Hotter (and younger) regions of the globe have not seen the same developments in heat-related mortality, even though they do experience consistently higher levels of it.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East as well as South and Southeast Asia, brutal heatwaves claim the lives between nine and 14 people per 100,000 every year.

In all three regions, this figure has changed by at most 10 percent since the 1990s.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/01/2026 – 04:15

Ukraine’s Desperate Propaganda Campaign While Russia Advances Along The Entire Front

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Ukraine’s Desperate Propaganda Campaign While Russia Advances Along The Entire Front

Authored by Larry Johnson via Sonar21.com

Volodymyr Zelensky and his Western backers have launched a desperate 40-day “campaign of terrors” — which includes a mix of military escalations and a massive information/psyops operation designed to portray Russia as collapsing and Putin as facing an imminent uprising or coup. The goal is to force Russia into a ceasefire. Western audiences are being flooded with social media and regular media articles that paint a dire picture of Russia’s military campaign, while touting Ukraine’s incredible accomplishments. It is all a load of crap, but that is all the West has left in its quiver as Russia’s campaign of attrition continues to pulverize Ukraine.

The Western-led propaganda campaign consists of the following elements:

  • Information Warfare — Heavy push of 24/7 propaganda about Putin’s “imminent downfall,” including staged videos of supposed Russian soldiers announcing a mutiny.
  • Fake Psyops — Coordinated attempts to stoke panic in Russia (e.g., false claims of fuel/gas shortages, which were partly caused by panic buying triggered by the rumors).
  • Symbolic Actions — Staged drone flag-drops (e.g., on the Kinburn Spit near Crimea) meant to symbolize Russian retreat and collapse — quickly debunked and mocked.
  • Broader Objective — Combine these narratives with actual strikes on Russian infrastructure to create the impression of regime instability, pressuring Putin politically.

Now for the reality. Yes, Ukraine has hit some Russian refineries and created some spectacular visuals of billowing smoke and fire. However, this is nothing more than military political theater that is intended to distract from Ukraine’s setbacks all along the front. As a side note, Russian oil exports have increased during this same period, putting to bed the narrative that Russia’s oil industry in suffering catastrophic losses.

via Reuters

Here is a summary of Russian activity, starting in the Northern section of the front:

Sumy Direction

In the Sumy direction, the “North” assault groups advanced on 19 sectors, and some units of Ukraine’s 104th Territorial Defense Brigade abandoned their positions in Bachevsk. Russian forces continued active operations along the border, conducting strikes on Ukrainian positions and logistics. They reported repelling multiple Ukrainian attempts to cross into Russian territory and inflicting significant losses on enemy manpower and equipment. Russian soldiers are now only a few kilometers from Sumy itself.

Kharkiv Direction

Russian troops advanced in several sectors north and northeast of Kharkiv. The MOD reported the liberation of additional border settlements and improvement of tactical positions. Russian Geran drones conduct a series of high-precision strikes on gas infrastructure in Kharkiv region overnight. A gas distribution station near Panyutino was struck — disabling gas storage tanks, gas pumping plants, and a gas treatment facility. The Skvortsovskaya gas treatment system near Kosogorovka was also hit.​​ Ukrainian counterattacks were repelled, with Russian artillery and aviation playing a key role in degrading enemy capabilities.

Donetsk Direction (Primary Focus)

Donetsk remains the main direction of Russian offensive operations. Russian troops are steadily advancing on the Pokrovsk axis, with Russian forces capturing multiple settlements and pushing toward key logistical nodes. The most notable achievement is in Konstantinovka, where Russian units have taken control of most of the city and disrupted Ukrainian supply lines. With both Pokrovsk and Konstantinovka gone, Russia controls the two southern and eastern approaches that previously buffered the Kramatorsk-Sloviansk agglomeration. The H-32 Pokrovsk-Konstantinovka highway and the T-0504 Bakhmut-Pokrovsk highway — both of which Russian forces had been fighting to seize specifically to link these two axes — now forms a contiguous corridor under Russian control, allowing logistics and force concentration to flow directly toward Druzhkivka and Kramatorsk without contesting two separate urban battles.The Russians also are advancing around Chasiv Yar and Toretsk, including gains in urban fighting and elevated positions.

Overall, the Russian MOD described consistent liberation of territory, high daily Ukrainian losses, and effective use of glide bombs, drones, and artillery to support ground advances.

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (Dnipro region)

In the Dnipropetrovsk direction, the 36th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade captured Bogodarivka, the third settlement in three days since crossing the Dnieper River. Russian forces continue conducting regular long-range strikes (missiles and drones) on military-industrial targets, energy infrastructure, and logistical hubs in the oblast. Key targets included defense factories, repair facilities, and rail nodes supporting the Ukrainian front.

Zaporizhzhia Direction

In the Zaporozhye area, Russian forces have blocked a Ukrainian bridgehead in Aleksandrovka and have reached the southern outskirts of Pokrovskoye. After Russian forces took control of Novy Donbass, they advanced towards Shevchenko and Svetloye, isolating Ukrainian forward positions with drones. Russian forces maintain pressure through artillery, drone strikes, and localized assaults, destroying Ukrainian strongholds and equipment while holding defensive lines.

Kherson Direction

Operations remained largely positional along the Dnipro River. The Russian MOD highlighted successful strikes on Ukrainian crossings, logistics, and manpower concentrations on the right bank. Russian units conducted raids and maintained control over left-bank positions.

In other words, the Russian summer offensive is underway and Ukraine, despite its propaganda offensive, is retreating to the west.

*  *  *

Disclaimer: Contributor posts published on Zero Hedge do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Zero Hedge.

Tyler Durden
Wed, 07/01/2026 – 03:30

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