Prime Minister Mark Carney will also attend the European Union’s annual State of the Union address by the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Prime Minister Mark Carney will also attend the European Union’s annual State of the Union address by the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
«She Believed in it with her whole heart. Dolly Parton’s hope for the genetic vaccine was as pure as anything she ever sang — and then her immune system turned on her, and a “brief battle” took her away».
The Mystery Behind the Form of Cancer That Affected the Singer
«Dolly Parton died Tuesday at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. She was 80. The estate’s official line — delivered first by a nephew in a recorded video, then repeated by publicist Marcel Pariseau and “Team Dolly” — is that she faced “a brief battle with cancer” and departed surrounded by loved ones» adds McCullough, referring to what was officially communicated by the singer’s entourage.
«In a statement to PEOPLE on Aug. 25, reps for the country star confirmed that the “Jolene” singer’s death at 80 on Tuesday followed a “brief battle with cancer.”The type of cancer was not disclosed» People wrote yesterday.
“Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched. Her unmatched generosity reached the lives of countless people whom she would never meet, yet she was always there to offer a helping hand,” the statement read.
Autoimmune Damage Typically from Adverse Reactions to Covid Vaccine
«What type of cancer? Not disclosed. Hospitalized four days prior with, per one outlet, kidney and autoimmune issues. And that’s the whole story the public is getting» adds the American cardiologist, referring to the autoimmune disasters that represent one of the main causes of lethal adverse reactions to Covid mRNA genetic serums.
«For a woman worth a reported $600 million, with access to the absolute best medicine money can buy, the opacity is striking» highlights McCullough.
VIDEO – In 2021, Dolly Parton, a testimonial humming for the Covid-19 vaccine…
It’s disconcerting because, just over five years ago, in March 2021, she was the “testimonial” for the Covid-19 shot, appearing in a video circulated by mainstream media around the world while humming about the vaccine during the injection.
Trump declared National Mourning but he Defends Covid Vaccines which can Trigger Cancer
It’s even more disconcerting because one of her most famous fans, US President Donald Trump, wanted to honor her as a true star by declaring a week of national mourning while continuing to defend Operation Warp Speed, which funded Moderna’s dangerous and suspect vaccine, released on the market despite Big Pharma in Cambridge, Massachusetts, having known since 2019 that the new mRNA biotechnology could cause cancer…
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Aug. 24, 2026.It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
Politicians from Canada’s two biggest political parties vowed on Monday to hit back hard against US President Donald Trump’s trade war against their country.
Trade negotiations between the two countries collapsed last week after Trump reportedly sought to restrict Canada from striking trade deals with other nations, while also pressuring the country to scrap requirements aimed at preserving the use of the French language.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that Trump’s aggression would come back to hurt US workers.
“It’s not a surprise that the US would take some form of reprisal to our response to their unjustified tariffs,” said Carney, a member of the center-left Liberal Party. “But what message does that send to the workers in Michigan and Ohio and Kentucky and Alabama who rely on Canadian demand? We’re their largest customer for automobiles, more than the European Union, Japan, Korea.”
Mark Carney: "It's not a surprise that the US would take some form of reprisal to our response to their unjustified tariffs, which was on top of other unjustified tariffs. But what message does that send to the workers in Michigan and Ohio and Kentucky and Alabama who rely on… pic.twitter.com/2o5rbEmQAo
Carney also said there was an “attitude at the negotiating table” from US officials that “Canada is a subsidiary of the United States,” which is “not something we’re going to accept.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, a member of the rival center-right Progressive Conservative Party, delivered a more strident rebuke to Trump, vowing that Canada’s response would deliver a hit to the president’s voters.
“The red states, we’re going to hit hard,” said Ford.
The Ontario premier then outlined all the ways his country can make life more painful for US consumers so long as Trump keeps trying to undermine Canadian sovereignty.
“If it gets really, really bad, I say everything’s on the table,” Ford said. “We need everyone to be on Team Canada and throw everything and the kitchen sink at them, no matter if it’s electricity, if it’s fuel, again, if it’s potash, if it’s uranium. We need to have everything on the table… we can put massive pain on the US. President Trump underestimates us. And that’s the biggest mistake.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford: "We need to throw everything and the kitchen sink that them — electricity, fuel, potash, uranium … we can put massive pain on the US. President Trump underestimates us. And that's a mistake." pic.twitter.com/IRIidj0iYS
Trump lashed out at both Carney and Ford in a Monday morning Truth Social post.
“The USA will always be far bigger, richer, and stronger than Canada,” Trump wrote. “Without the United States, Canada couldn’t survive—it’s where they get all of their money and, because of their current bad leadership, primarily Governor Carney, and his Flunky, Ford, they will not be allowed to keep taking advantage of the United States—their key to survival.”
A Fast Trip Inside Vaccines’ Nighmare from Serious Adverse Reactions
We have compiled into a single video just over 5 minutes long five videos recorded by renowned American epidemiologist Nicolas Hulscher, who has published dozens of studies in leading international medical journals questioning the safety of vaccines:
The questionable safety of experimental genetic vaccines with the new mRNA biotechnology used for Covid-19 and now already used in Moderna’s new products against influenza and melanoma (on which we will write soon.).
The first three videos analyze adverse reactions such as turbo-cancer, microclots, and fetal mortality among vaccinated women.
The questionable safety of pediatric vaccines, which have not been subject to review for over a decade despite their potential to cause genomic integration from fetal DNA and neurological conditions such as autism and other brain disorders (last two videos).
Below you can find investigative posts on the topics and study quoted by Hulsher
Investigative Posts on the topics and study quoted by Hulsher from Turbo-Cancer to Autism
Originally published on October, 6, 2025 – updated with VIDEO on August, 24, 2026
VIDEO – Two MASSIVE COVID shot studies on 8 MILLION people confirm that can trigger Turbo-Cancer in Vaccinated
Excerpt from American Thinker interview to American Epidemiologist Nicolas Hulscher
Korean Medical Doctors: “1-Year Cancer Risk Associated with COVID-19 Vaccination”
«The oncogenic potential of SARS-CoV-2 has been hypothetically proposed, but real-world data on COVID-19 infection and vaccination are insufficient. Therefore, this large-scale population-based retrospective study in Seoul, South Korea, aimed to estimate the cumulative incidences and subsequent risks of overall cancers 1 year after COVID-19 vaccination. Data from 8,407,849individuals between 2021 and 2023 were obtained from the Korean National Health Insurance database».
We can read in the Abstract of the Korean study Kim et al. titled “1-year risks of cancers associated with COVID-19 vaccination: a large population-based cohort study in South Korea” which was conducted byHong Jin Kim (Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Kyung-in Regional Military Manpower Administration, Suwon) Min-Ho Kim (Informatization Department, Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital, Seoul), Myeong Geun Choi and Eun Mi Chun (both in Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, 1071, Anyangcheon-ro, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul).
The research was published on BMC Biomarker Research 13 (part of Springer Nature).
«The participants were categorized into two groups based on their COVID-19 vaccination status. The risks for overall cancer were assessed using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models, and data were expressed as hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The HRs of thyroid (HR, 1.351; 95% CI, 1.206–1.514), gastric (HR, 1.335; 95% CI, 1.130–1.576), colorectal (HR, 1.283; 95% CI, 1.122–1.468), lung (HR, 1.533; 95% CI, 1.254–1.874), breast (HR, 1.197; 95% CI, 1.069–1.340), and prostate (HR, 1.687; 95% CI, 1.348–2.111) cancers significantly increased at 1 year post-vaccination» adds the Abstract.
«In terms of vaccine type, cDNA vaccines were associated with the increased risks of thyroid, gastric, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers; mRNA vaccines were linked to the increased risks of thyroid, colorectal, lung, and breast cancers; and heterologous vaccination was related to the increased risks of thyroid and breast cancers. Given the observed associations between COVID-19 vaccination and cancer incidence by age, sex, and vaccine type, further research is needed to determine whether specific vaccination strategies may be optimal for populations in need of COVID-19 vaccination».
The Korean study indirectly confirms the warning raised by two Chinese universities in October 2020, even before the Covid-19 vaccines were released, regarding the very serious risks of lung disease that both mRNA and mDNA gene sera could cause.
Furthermore, the study found that booster doses were associated with significantly higher risks of gastric and pancreatic cancer. For pancreatic cancer, the risk more than doubled in booster recipients.
More details below inside the analysis of American epidemiologist Nicolas Hulscher.
Fabio Giuseppe Carlo Carisio – Gospa News director
BREAKING: Second Massive Population Study Finds COVID-19 “Vaccines” Increase Risk of 6 Major Cancers
Originally published by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH on Substack Focal Points – Courageous Discourse by McCullough Foundation
About a month ago, the first-ever population cohort study reported increased cancer risks following COVID-19 vaccination. In Italy, nearly 300,000 residents were tracked for 30 months, showing that mRNA shots significantly increased the risk of overall cancer, breast cancer, bladder cancer, and colorectal cancer
Now, a second—and far larger—population-based cohort study by Kim et al from South Korea has corroborated and expanded upon those findings. Drawing on a massive sample of more than 8.4 million people, this is one of the most powerful cancer-safety datasets ever analyzed.
The results are striking. After accounting for age, sex, comorbidities, income level, and prior COVID-19 infection, COVID-19 vaccination was linked to significant increases in multiple major cancers, with the signal consistent across all vaccine platforms, both sexes, and age groups:
Study Design at a Glance
Design & data: Population-based retrospective cohort using the Korean National Health Insurance database (2021–2023).
Population: 8,407,849 adults.
Exposure: COVID-19 vaccination (analyzed overall and by platform: mRNA, cDNA, and heterologous schedules).
Matching: Large-scale propensity score matching (1:4 vaccinated:unvaccinated for the main analysis; 1:2 within vaccinated for booster vs non-booster).
Modeling: Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models (adjusted for age, sex, comorbidity index, income level, and prior COVID-19 infection), estimating hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs); analyses stratified by sex and age.
Breast cancer: HR 1.20 (1.07–1.34) → 20% higher risk
Interpretation: An HR of 1.53 for lung cancer means that vaccinated individuals developed lung cancer at a rate 53% higher than matched unvaccinated peers, over the same one-year follow-up period. Similar interpretations apply to each cancer type.
Heterologous (mixed schedules): linked to higher risks of thyroid and breast cancers.
Overall cancer HR 1.34 (95% CI 1.21–1.48) → 34% higher risk
Interpretation: The elevated cancer risks were not confined to one vaccine platform. Whether adenoviral-vector (cDNA), mRNA, or mixed schedules, each vaccine type was associated with a measurable increase in overall cancer — and each had specific cancer sites driving the signal. In other words, no vaccine technology was free of cancer risk in this dataset.
Interpretation: Booster doses were associated with notably higher risks of gastric and pancreatic cancers. For pancreatic cancer, the risk more than doubled in boosted individuals.
Women: elevated risks for thyroid and colorectal cancers
Under 65 years: stronger signals for thyroid and breast cancers
≥75 years: markedly higher risk of prostate cancer
Interpretation: Both the overall and site-specific results show a consistent pattern — every demographic group experienced elevated cancer risks, though the type and absolute burden varied. Women and the elderly were hit hardest, but no population segment was spared.
Conclusions: Major Increases in Cancer Risk from Chortes Studies in Italy and South Korea.
Taken together, the evidence is now impossible to ignore. The only two population-level cohort studies ever conducted on COVID-19 vaccination and cancer — one in Italy and one in South Korea — have both found major increases in cancer risk.
The Italian study (≈300,000 people, 30-month follow-up) identified significant elevations in overall cancer, breast, bladder, and colorectal cancers. The South Korean study (8.4 million people, 1-year follow-up) confirmed and expanded these findings, documenting increased risks of overall cancer plus six site-specific cancers (lung, prostate, thyroid, gastric, colorectal, and breast).
Critically, the signal was observed across all vaccine types — both mRNA and viral-vector (cDNA) shots — and in every demographic group analyzed. In plain terms: both major COVID-19 vaccine platforms appear to be carcinogenic
With two independent national datasets converging on the same conclusion, governments, regulators, clinicians, and researchers must confront a sobering reality: nearly 70% of the global population has been injected with a carcinogenic product. The evidence demands immediate market withdrawal of these products.
At the McCullough Foundation, we are deeply investigating both the molecular mechanisms and the population-level data linking COVID-19 vaccination to cancer. We are currently preparing several new studies to expand this critical line of evidence.
This work requires substantial time, expertise, and resources, and we ask for your support in funding this urgent research: mcculloughfnd.org/products/donate-1
Oririnally published by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH on Substack Focal Points – Courageous Discourse by McCullough Foundation
Nicolas Hulscher, MPH – Epidemiologist and Foundation Administrator, McCullough Foundation
After a deadly “derecho” storm and flash floods slammed the midwest in early August, downing trees and power lines, tens of thousands of residents in and around Gary, Indiana have been surviving without power for 12 days and counting. According to the Associated Press, “Northern Indiana Public Service Co. said 68,000 customers were still without power as of Thursday morning, the majority of them in Lake County beside the Illinois border. The utility said it has restored power to 306,500 others since Aug. 11. But power is not expected to be fully restored until Tuesday [Aug. 25] in some places, including Gary.” In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of residents and community leaders about the ongoing blackout in Gary and the conditions that led to this avoidable national tragedy. Panelists include: GlenEva Dunham, president of the Gary Teachers Union, AFT Local 4; Freida Graves, Project Director at the faith-based nonprofit Families Anchored in Total Harmony (FAITH) CDC; and Reverend John Jackson, Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ.
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Alright. Welcome everyone to Working People, a podcast about the lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles of the working class today. My name is Maximillian Alvarez, and today we are in Gary, Indiana with an urgent update on the ongoing nightmare tens of thousands of residents are living through after having to survive 10 days without power as of this recording. And we’re recording on Saturday, August 22nd. So yesterday, the Associated Press reported this. “In Gary, Indiana, schools remain closed after the deadly August 11th storm down trees and power lines. Residents turned to social media to find open laundromats and working wifi while others sought food, diapers, and cleaning wipes for low income neighbors. Meanwhile, heavy rains in central Ohio brought flash flooding that covered roadways Thursday morning in Columbus, the state capitol, where emergency crews rescued motorists from stranded cars and saved a 12-year-old boy who was swept off a bridge.
Northern Indiana public service companies said that 68,000 customers were still without power as of Thursday morning, the majority of them in Lake County besides the Illinois border. The utility said it has restored power to 306,500 others since August 11th, but power is not expected to be fully restored until Tuesday in some places, including Gary. Like Baltimore, Gary is a majority Black town that has been through and is going through a lot. And it is frankly a national disgrace and a moral outrage that it isn’t a bigger news story and a national emergency that an entire chunk of the country and tens of thousands of our neighbors have just been living in darkness for 10 days and counting. And the stories that I’ve been seeing and hearing from working people in Gary are so strikingly and unbearably similar to the stories that I’ve been seeing and hearing from working people in Cuba who are being strangled by the oil blockade imposed by our own government.
It is all just devastating and horrifying and it’s unacceptable. And working people are being crushed and abandoned and they need help. And people in and around Gary, Indiana need help right now. And I’m really grateful to be joined today by three guests who are going to help us understand what is happening, what is and isn’t being done, and what you can do to help. Please introduce yourselves to our listeners and tell them what is happening, what you are seeing around you, what you and your community need, and what they can do to help.
Freida Graves:
Hi, good afternoon. My name is Freida Graves. I’m a lifelong resident of Gary, Indiana. I am director of Food as Medicine for Faith CDC and a member of Progressive Community Church. What I see going on and what I feel went on, this is unprecedented. We’ve never had this kind of damage from the derecho tornado that hit, the land-based tornado that hit. For my prospect, there are certainly things that could have been done to prepare ourselves for this kind of weather event that we felt was coming. For our part, our church is solar. So at our point, we knew that at some point, and we have a solar backup battery. We’ve been fearing that for 10 years because we knew at some point as the weather changed, the weather events were going to get worse and worse. And we’d been speaking about this for years, probably to deaf ears, but some people pay attention to the environmental people pay attention, but the people that need to pay attention and make some changes could have previously done so had they listened.
But right now, I’m not saying we’re the end all be all, but I am saying that there’s some things that we could have done to prepare ourselves a little bit better. Now, as for the second part with the trees down and the poles down, I definitely think NIPSCO could have did a better job over the years of maintaining some of that. Some of this could have been avoided with some maintenance and paying attention. Gary was named Tree City several times. So to let you know how many trees we have and how many old trees and how many trees that are native and not native. I do think that some of this could have been possibly avoided had NYPSCO over the years, maintained it and kept up with what was going on, cutting down the trees that need to be cut down and maintaining the wires and the base.
So I’m not going to say total blame is with NIPSCO because it’s a lot of things that Gary sometimes gets ignored on certain things. But I do think with my mindset, they could have absolutely done a better job and we probably would not be in a position. We might’ve had some outages, but not to the point we have now. My power’s not on after 11 or 12 days. And everybody can afford generators. And we have senior buildings where today our church for two days has been passing out water and household supplies and all these kind of things like that for people that are coming down. Yesterday we did over a thousand people. Today I sent $500 worth of stuff to senior buildings. That’s just one senior building that has no air conditioning, no power, and the people are suffering. So from my point, I think things could have been done better on NIPSCO.
And I think for the mayor and administration, yes, they’re trying to get out there and work, but he can’t do it alone. It has to be NIPSCO. It has to be downstate. It has to be all these things that are regulated and made to be better. So I’ve been trying to keep positive. That’s why we’re doing the giveaways. That’s why we’re doing everything we did. Yesterday was 12 hours today. I’ve been out here 10 hours doing giveaways and sending them to seniors apartments. So because all of us are coming together here, churches, faith-based organizations, people are coming together. That’s what’s made everything better. That’s why we kept maintaining our positive spirit because people are coming together and moving together and working together. Thank you pastor for letting me go. And thank you, Ms. GlenEva, for letting me go. I’m going to have to go back outside, but things definitely could have been done better if they had maintained these trees and poles and all these things.
And I thank you for that. Let me be on the show and everyone have a blessed
GlenEva Dunham:
Day. All right, I’m GlenEva Dunham, president of Gary Teachers Union, AFT Local Number four, also president of State Federation of AFT in Indiana. When the tornado or the storm came on the August 11th, we were in school. And so our whole focus was trying to get the children out safely, and we were successful in that, and that was great. All of our schools, we have 10 buildings. They have been down with power. Right now, six of our schools do have power. So we plan on going back into the buildings on Monday, but no students. Four of our buildings will go into our career center and they will just do some professional development and just getting ourselves together before we bring the students in. So what I’m finding about the whole situation, so School City has been feeding the children. We’ve been having drive through lunches every day since school has been out, and that’s been a great thing to make sure they’re fed.
The city opened up the YWCA where a lot of our children have been going, and that has been a 24-hour service. And a lot of our teachers have been to the YWCA and have found some of their students and able to give them work as well. And so that’s been the focal point. Mayor Melton, we’re good friends. We worked together when he was a senator, getting our schools back. Our schools were taken over by the state. And so he’s been working really, really hard. Social media has really been hard on him, but he’s really been working really, really hard. And so I’m proud of the administration. I’m proud of our city. I’ve been driving around. I’ve been here at Gary all my life. I’ve worked all over because I’ve worked in many schools. I’ve been teaching 48 years, and I’ve really seen the devastation. I’ve never seen anything like it.
As far as the comparison with the neighboring communities, are they getting their service sooner than us? It looks like they are, but I know that Gary has more square footage than any of our regional cities, East Chicago, Hammond. Matter of fact, I’m the state fair president. I have 27 locals and 10 of my locals are right here. Lake Station, Porter County, East Chicago, Hammond, Whiting, Griffin, all of those are my locals. So I’ve been in touch with all of them. And also, there was devastation on the south end of our state, which is not really included, but me being a State Fair president, they had a lot of flooding down there. So they didn’t get it like we got it, but they got it pretty bad. But I’m proud of the city. I’m proud of, like Frida said, people coming together. Now that the folks have got a word about it, people are coming from all over the country and helping us.
And so sometimes bad things happen, but in bad things, good things can come out of that. And that’s what I’m seeing, and that’s what I’m hoping. And I’m praying that we all get our power on. I mean, 10 days for us was hard. We did have a generator, but still when the lights came on, Reverend Jackson, I though I was in heaven. It was so bright. I was so happy. So I’m saying I’m a positive person. And so it’s been a lot of back and forth about on social media, should you be positive? Can you express your feelings? Can you say what you think about the administration or whatever? But at the end of the day, we’re going to get through this because I lean on big shoulders. I always go back to my ancestry. Our ancestors, they went through a lot of stuff. And so we have to go back and think about how did they get over?
And we also have to put God in the picture. We can’t just leave God out and think that he’s forgot all about Gary Indiana because I’ll never believe that. So I believe that we’re going to get through this. I’m praying that it won’t be Tuesday because if it’s Tuesday, a lot of people will lose all hope because that’s just too, too long. The mayor was kind of a positive this morning saying that he hope he got the message through on the front page of the Post Tribune, our daily paper. Bron, the governor was on the headlines pushing NIPSCO to do better. And so like I say, I’m seeing a lot of trucks, so I’m just hoping that we’ll get our power before Tuesday.
Rev. John Jackson:
I’m John Jackson and I pastor the Trinity UCC congregation in the great city of Gary, Indiana. I also write a column in the Gary Crusader spiritual column that connects spirituality. I try to show the merging of the secular and the sacred in those columns. And I’m framing this this way as kind of a Katrina 2.0. Gary and Northwest Indiana, from my vantage point, are experiencing a Katrina moment. And as we know, the hurricane that hit in 2005, it did massive destruction. But what it really did in addition to that was pull the covers off, as I think Gleneva was saying, pull the covers off of the lack of maintenance in New Orleans for the levees. As the levees broke, it showed that in the working people’s area of Black, brown and poor whites, what they had been dealing with all along. And so it pulled the covers off of the same thing I see happening here in Gary, Indiana and Northwest Indiana.
Bulgaria, Indiana in particular because it is an older city, if not the oldest city. And as Friday said, it’s a lot of space, a lot of area. And as Gleneba pointed out, there’s a lot of trees. And what it showed is that the maintenance on the trees really had not been done. And so NPSCO has not been faithful in doing the maintenance, which it would have lessened the effect of trees falling on wires and then power outages. And so that’s one issue. But then it opens up the other issue of the rate hike. NPSCO just got a rate hike. And so when you look at that, and now you’ll hear some of the executives talking about how much money it costs for this, how much money it costs for that, well, those things don’t line up together. Then you put in, and I’m staying on the area of rates right now, because there is this legislation called Construction Work in Progress.
And what that legislation allows NIPSCO to do is bill customers for work they plan to do in the future. So that’s part of our bill. And I don’t understand how you bill somebody for something that you’re not doing right now. I don’t understand how that goes. The other part is that if a tree falls on the wire and the wire connected to your house pulls your meter out, my understanding is that the resident has to hire an electrician to affix and get that meter back. Then NPSCO comes out, connects to power.
There’s some disconnect here, there’s some problem here. And with that, in this time, there are not all electricians, but there are some that see the opportunity to gouge people. So there’s a need for electrical engineers and electricians who are honest and who will take care of that. And in fact, it’s really NPSCO’s responsibility, in my humble opinion. I was in a meeting that Good Mayor Melton had called on Thursday with a couple of NIPSCO executives, the president of NIPSCO, and I think the vice president or something of night source. And so he had leaders in the community, political leaders, religious leaders, grassroots persons, civic organizations were in the room. And so one of the things that was said by the NIPSCO executives is that they’re not coming on your property to trim the tree. And my thought was, “Well, if I give you permission to do that, you should be doing that ahead of time.
But when the tree falls on the wire, you got to come in there anyway.” So these things have exacerbated this moment where you have people who have been sitting. My church is still without power. People have been sitting in hot homes and apartments for 11 days now. And when the first estimates of restoration came out, Gary wasn’t on the list. Now, this is in conjunction with a tornado that came through in June that did massive destruction and a lot of the same things were happening that we’re experiencing now. So there are people that have been recovering from that. And then you have this now and this extended delay in restoring power. I know that ComEd in Illinois has more people, but still, I don’t understand why Gary is always last on the list to get restored. So after the meeting Thursday that Mayor Melton had called with the executive, then they said that very night we’re going to put a new list of days and times for power to get back on.
Once again, Gary last on the list with the prospect of being restored on Tuesday. Why does Gary always have to take the backseat for other areas? And knowing that it’s an older city and the infrastructure needs restored, how come the infrastructure was not taken care of five years ago? Three years ago? How come they haven’t been working all day? These are questions that I’m just relating questions that persons in my own congregation are raising. And then again, people have lost food. And so we do a lot of food giveaways. So as best we can without power, we’ll get food and we have to give it away right away. But people without food and without just the ability to have decency and hygiene, everybody’s not able to have generators. And those that have generators has spent close to a fortune in getting gas for it in 11 days.
And so what compensation will NIPSCO offer? Here’s another question I’m getting from a congregation. So for 11 days, there’s been no power. Why do we got to pay a bill? Why isn’t a moratorium on paying a bill for the next month or two? Because the objective in a transaction is that if I pay my money, then I’m going to get the goods or the service in return. Now, if I pay my money and I don’t get those goods and services, then I’m expecting that there’s going to be some compensation that will help reduce the difficulty that I’ve been placed in because you don’t have the ability to provide what I’m paying for. So these are questions that I’m just fueling for my congregation with what happened in June and then now and this extended thing and all of the excuses that we have now. It was a massive storm.
It was unprecedented. But as I think GlenEva pointed out, we’ve known for years now that the tornado alley has been shifting because of climate change. That means I know the executive of NIPSCO have been apprised of that too. So therefore there is been opportunity to beef up the infrastructure that can help reduce the level of challenge that people are facing.
Maximillian Alvarez:
And I appreciate y’all so much for laying that out for me and our listeners, all of us. It’s really helpful information, even if it’s hard to hear. You’re right. It’s like the echoes of Katrina are just so loud and like Katrina and not just Katrina. I mean, I’ve been going around to places all over this country where working people are experiencing toxic explosions, constant pollution, or huge blackouts like this, or they’re being locked out of their jobs at poisonous facilities. I was just interviewing the BP workers over in Whiting who have been locked out of their jobs for five months. And for listeners, we’re talking about the same area that’s all right around the same area. And so I wanted to hook that into a question. Pastor Jackson, you were laying out the conditions that set Gary up for failure. The conditions that weren’t addressed by the company to mitigate the vulnerabilities that were there in case a major storm hit and certainly prepared for an emergency if this many people are without power.
How the hell are they going to get help? How are we going to reimburse them for the costs and how are we going to make this right? That’s a question that I think is on everyone’s mind right now. But I wanted to hook that into the conditions of Gary itself and life for working people in Gary as well. I wanted to ask if you guys could say, because Gleneva, you’re president of the teacher’s union, and we interview working people in education and all over the place, including BP oil workers in Whiting, Indiana, because we just talk to people about their lives, their jobs. And what we hear from folks is life’s getting harder. We’re working longer for less. Schools are more packed or they’re under-resourced. So that also makes our communities vulnerable to these kinds of catastrophes. I mean that also amplifies the burden that poor and working people have to bear in an economy that’s already asking them to bear too much.
And so I wanted to ask if you could just also help listeners understand what working people in and around Gary have been going through up until this as well. Are they making enough money? Is the air safe to breathe? How are people doing before a catastrophe like this hits?
GlenEva Dunham:
We have to remember, we go back about maybe about two months ago, NISCO was on strike. And I don’t know if you know that, Mr. Alvarez, that they were on strike. I was on the picket line with them and it was for working conditions. And I believe some years ago they did lay off 200 linemen. And so they’re working short-staffed. I sit on the board of the AFL CIO and one of my brothers, he just retired 35 years with NISCO. So he came on Facebook and did a diagram of how the process goes, how the trees and all of this. And then I want to say a couple of things about what Reverend Jackson said. So Mayor Milton did say that the governor, I did get a copy of his declaration because my whole thing was getting my teachers and my paraprofessionals paid. Although we didn’t work, we have in our contract, if it’s anything beyond our control, we get paid.
So that’s part of our working conditions. But there’s a $5,000 per household from the government if you can produce receipts, which is going to be hard because my husband’s been getting gas every night, but the gas stations haven’t had receipts. So that’s going to be hard from your food, if you have receipts from food that you threw away also. And we also have a foundation called the Legacy Foundation where they’re going to help with those monitors or meters that Reverend Jackson is talking about too. So I’m just trying to say there aren’t things working in our favor as far as things that’s not working in our favor. So working conditions, I mean schools, Gary schools were taking over for five years. We just got our schools back last year. This is the second year we’ve been out of state takeover. Then Mayor Melton was Senator Melton, and he was very instrumental in getting our school corporations back.
And it was all about money, but then that’s all about the state. I’m a State Federation president as well. The formula for funding, public education is like trash. Indiana has a, what, $4 billion surplus. And so always people talk about Indiana, I always just say, “Hey, Mike Pitce was our governor.” So it’s always about them being conservative, fiscal, so they can get on Trump’s bandwagon. Bron is, I call him baby Trump. So we’re not getting services. He just passed a law where his children won’t get fed next summer in summer programs, didn’t get fed this summer. When churches have their programs, they usually can rely on the government to bring in lunches. So all of that has been snatched away from us. So yeah, all of that. Big government, NPSCO, people talk about the monopoly. People have said we need another company. NPSCO has been around since I’ve been born, so I don’t even know how that works.
I know it’s all about big money, money talks. But working conditions, like I said, NPSCO was on the picket line. They went back in, their clericals stayed out because they didn’t get. But from my understanding, they really didn’t get what they were out there about, but they just came on back in. Well, BP Amico, theirs was much different. They’re trying to take insurance, everything. They’re trying to strip them and still, still trying to. So they had a bigger fight. So that’s a picture of economics and education. And Gary is always just, people look down on us. I thought Richard Hatcher was the greatest mayor ever, but if you listen to people talk, the detriment to our city started with him. But then it was about the black and white thing. We had the big convention here, the Black convention in West Side, and that’s when we gave the platform for Black America to go forth.
And a lot of people got elected after that. And so that’s on Gary. And then we had the great white flight. I was part of the integration movement. I lived in the projects, was bused to Glen Park, which is our white part of town back in the day where they thought that was better for us. So I mean, it’s a lot of history in Gary about why we are where we are. But I like to think about in the moment. In the moment, I sit on the Redevelopment Commission now appointed by the mayor. I finished one term. We have a lot going on. I hate this happened, but I just see it as a bigger picture. We have Glenn Robinson, one of our NBA players, he just donated $100,000. He did not cancel the Jackson weekend. So I’m sure they’re coming in town. I mean, we had the premier of that movie here.
So that second generation of Jacksons are friends with our mayor. So I can’t, being a union leader, I have to look at it on a positive because I deal with kids. I taught kindergarten for 31 years, so you have to be positive. And so that’s where I am. And I get it. I know the history of Gary. I know Hurricane Katrina. I saw all of that. But still where I sit, I have to think that better days are coming. We’re going to get through this because I’ve never seen what I’ve seen. I’ve never seen all these people coming together. A 18-wheeler truck out of Tree of Life. My husband just left from over there and people on Facebook saying what they got, Pampers and all that. I mean, lay people, a lot of my teachers who got little organizations, nonprofits, they’re meeting on corners, giving out supplies.
I just think it’s going to get better. I see in my own neighborhood, my husband is 80. I see the young man, they helped him pull his choke on his generator. They helped him get his generator fixed. So I’m seeing that in our communities and our communities have always come together in hard times. And I’ve seen it year after year after year. And so that’s what I’m relying on. Yeah, we got to get to the core of what happened. I believe Eddie, he reached across the aisles. He knows how to work with the people across the aisles. That’s how we got things that we’re getting now. That’s how we got all this money for demolition of the blight. Things are going down, things are coming up. So he’s a smart man. And so I put my money on him any day. No matter what anybody says, I know his heart, I know his spirit.
I know like attracts like people coming to our city because tomorrow Jamal Bryant will be here from Atlanta. My son is talking about the Keith B or whoever his name is. I don’t know him, but my son is 33 and that’s exciting. The young folks, the other young folks want to come and do stuff for us. And so I’m looking at it like that. I’m passionate about all of this, but I was out with power for 11 days too. And so I had no ideas. And I got senior citizens, I got retired teachers who I’m looking at. I’m like, how much more can they take? And so I’m glad Reverend Jackson was in on that meeting. I know my superintendent was there, and I know they put a word down in ISCO. And I’m just, like I said, 20 new trucks in our neighborhood. So I don’t know if I answered the question, but there you go.
Rev. John Jackson:
Yeah. GlenEva really set the stage when she went over the challenges Gary has had. Another framing point I tend to use is historically, Gary is similar to what happened in Haiti. When Haiti in 1804 was the first nation to liberate itself from oppression and servitude to France, it sent shock waves throughout the hemisphere. And after that, France, America, Britain has been punishing Haiti ever since, to the point of even forcing Haiti to pay restitution and reparations to have the unmitigated gall to declare that they’re human beings and would not be subjugated. But the people in Haiti are resilient people. They are a positive people. They are hopeful people, which is why they have been able to endure some horrific conditions that have been forced upon them. Like you mentioned And Cuba and how Cuba’s being strangled by this country as we speak. And so Gary has been under attack ever since.
It had the unmitigated gall to declare that Black folk know how to run stuff too and elected Mayor Richard Gordon Hatcher. And so that is when the vicious attack came from downstate in Indiana and then from after the Carter administration, then from the national government. And so the resilient and prideful and strong people of Gary have been enduring this for all of these years. So that’s part of the backdrop of it.
The federal dollars and all of the corporate dollars have not flowed in over the years. So people have had to use gum and duck and everything to put things together and have done a pretty admirable job. But the fact of the matter is we pay taxes and those taxes are supposed to go to making sure that working class people, poor people can have life with dignity. And so one of the other challenges that has been already lifted up is there has been not enough attention to Gary in this moment. This is an incredible moment in the sense that an unprecedented storm comes through and does massive damage and you don’t have national news. Now, Gleneva mentioned that Pastor Jamal Bryant is coming and then there are a lot of social media folk that are moving and using their resources. I’m getting calls from all over Chicago and whatnot because I work with an organization that’s a social justice organization, the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference.
And so there’s mobilization among people, grassroots organizations, everyday people, residents, helping their neighbors get through, cutting down trees so that they can get it off of people’s cars and help folk get the trees off their houses as much as possible, getting the streets clear as much as possible. Of course, folk do this in crisis because of their resiliency and their strength and their love for living and humanity. But the fact of the matter is we shouldn’t have to bear this burden like this. We shouldn’t have to bear the neglect that has happened. It’s not just NIPSCO. It is broader than that. And the line workers for NYPSCO, the people that are going out, getting on the poles and all of that, these people are working hard. They’re working. So it’s not about them. It’s about the institution itself. Because what we’re talking about is institutional.
You were talking about predatory capitalism, these things. So that’s why from this spiritual as a pastor vantage point, I see my faith and as a follower of Jesus Christ who also was a community organizer against the empire of Rome so that he could create an alternative community against the predatory nature of the Roman Empire, which had created society of oppression for people extracting from them profit and not caring about people. And so this is where the vantage point that I come from and therein is the hope because people are going to resist. People are going to build. People are going to help each other get together. But my focus is, okay, the lights are going to come back on. We can’t go back to business as usual. And a lot of people, all of us, you get happy when the light comes on. And again, that’s another metaphor for the light of our faith.
We get joy when the light comes back on, but the light also brings heat. And that heat then has to be applied so that we don’t get to this point again so that we can have a utility company that works better for the people. Now, I really hope that the executives have been listening and hearing the people so that they can take back the changes that need to be made. We’ll see. But we have to not allow the moment to just die down.
We got to keep pushing so that Gary can get the attention and the resources and the work that needs to be done so that again, there’s going to be another storm. It could be another storm in another few days. We are in this season of storms. Now, if things go the way they have been going, we’re going to do this again. And this is something we can’t do. It shows again, it covers all that there’s some stuff that needs to be done to strengthen. One of the executives, because the question was ask, well, how come the wires, the lines are not underground? There are places in Northwest Indiana where the lines are underground. They experience less outages than other places where the wires are on top of the ground. Well, the executive said it costs 10 times more to do that than to do what they’re doing right now.
I understand that, but NIPSCO is recording record profits. I’m going to leave it at that.
Maximillian Alvarez:
And I’m not because I’m like, they’re recording record profits and they’re saying it’s costing more to put the lines underground. And what they’re also saying is that that cost is less tolerable to us than the cost of tens of thousands of people going two weeks without power. That is what they’re saying is that costs, they could pay that cost, but they would rather working people, poor people, regular people bear that cost ourselves of their negligence. We are bearing the costs not just of their negligence, but of their profits. Those profits come in our expense. I don’t know if you could get a more clear cut example than this. Record profits for the same company while people that pay for their service are left without power for 10, 11 days and counting. So sorry, I’m just so fired up and frustrated about all of this. I was even going to say, well, we got to wrap up, but no way we can wrap up on that because I wanted to give y’all just one more chance to hop in because I appreciate you so much for your time.
I know I got to let you go, but I wanted to ask if you could just finish with any final messages you have for listeners about what they can do to help folks in Gary now and what advice you have to them about how they can put that lesson into practice Reverend Jackson spoke of, that there’s a lot of work that needs to be done to make sure that this kind of catastrophe doesn’t happen again or keep happening or keep getting worse every time the news cycle resets.
GlenEva Dunham:
I just want to say, if this is going to our Gary residents, first and foremost, we have to vote. We have to vote. Our voting record is dismal. So we have to get involved. We can’t just wait until crisis and things like that to want to come out. We have to get involved. We have to go to the meetings. We have activists like Carolyn McCrady herself who they have meetings all the time and they call the NPSCO execs to the meetings. And those meetings are not attended by the people who are in line right now. And I know sometimes it’s hard to get to meetings and stuff, but we have to become aware of what’s going on to us. So we just got to put our voice out there. That’s number one. Number two, I know the city has on their website, they have all kind of paid.
They have set up a fund. So there’s people because a lot of people are talking, a lot of people have platforms, and we are suffering. Some people are suffering and need help. And so if you can’t get to Gary, there are places where you can do donations and make sure that the donations get where they need to be. One of them is a legacy foundation that is a not-for-profit in our community.
Just continue to pray for us because I believe in the power of prayer. Tomorrow is Sunday. If you are gathering and worshiping, make sure Gary is spoken out loud, that you pray for us, that we get our power on, and that also we pray for folk like CEOs. We can’t forget them. We need to pray that their hearts are touched, that they would do a better job of the people who keep them living. Like Reverend Jackson said, we pay their salaries. And that’s where we fight all the time as a union leader. We have to tell the people we are taxpayers. These schools, that’s a whole nother thing, they belong to us. So we have to let people know that we are taxpayers and we do know how to protest. And Reverend Jackson again is good at that. His church is Afrocentric and they are a cornerstone in our community.
So we just want you to keep us in your prayers financially if you can, because it’s going to take a lot. I have a neighbor across the street who’s waiting, he has a tree in his yard, and he said that he’s in the queue. We have a 311 that you put your name in there, but I don’t think that they’re going to get his tree out his yard. I don’t think that he’s going to have to get somebody to do that. And I know financially he probably can’t. And so come to the community, get online, see some of the people who are talking, DM them, see what they need, the schools, all of us. So just offer us the assistance that you can.
Rev. John Jackson:
Frida and Gleniva, they are examples of ordinary people who just love God and who love our people and who love to be of service to people, just ordinary people who take on these roles because they want to help people’s lives be better. They are replicated by hundreds of thousands in Gary, Indiana. And so that just gives you an idea of the quality of people that we have. I forgot to mention when you asked about what has the residential Gary had to put up with. I work with a group called GUARD, Gary Advocates for Responsible Development. And just a couple of months ago, we had a town hall meeting dealing with the steel mill, US Steel that has been purchased by Nippon Steel, Japanese company. The town hall was about challenging Nippon Steel who pledged something like $4 billion when they purchased Gary as investments and challenging them to use funds to update the blast furnaces from the toxic furnaces they have to the clean steel.
Because that’s another issue in Gary because of the steel mill, because of a lot of factories and things like that, which there’s a high rate of health problems from breathing problems to cancer. It is a high rate because of this. So you’ve got this going on and now you got this going on. It is a heavyweight to carry. So one of the things that going forward, there is no Citizens Action Coalition for Gary, CAC, which help monitor to help put some accountability to NPSCO. So that’s one thing that needs to happen, that the Citizen Action Coalition would get established. And as Gleneba pointed out, prayer is always necessary because that’s the engine that drives us, that’s the connection that gives us strength because we are a believing people. But also going forward, the right attention and not always trying to find a negative and magnifying it.
Every community has negatives in it, but there has been campaigns to try to magnify a few negatives and not look at the great work and the great citizens of this great city. And so we need more persons like yourself, Brother Alvarez and others and the national attention to point out what actually is missing here. What is not being provided in this city of 60,000 plus people and the needs that they have from the schools to. And we can, as Laniba said, these are other areas that we could have a whole show on. Because again, it comes down to we are taxpayers and our taxes should be used to make sure that life is better. It should not be profit over people. It should not be price over principle. It should not be money over meeting. It should not be those things. And so from the federal government to corporations on down, we need more of the attention to point out that people are enduring and they’ve got joy, but they shouldn’t have to bear the burden alone.
That’s why we pay taxes. And voting, yes, voting is connected to these things. Voting is connected and we have to exercise. It’s one tool in the toolbox, but like a good carpenter, you use all the tools in the toolbox. So voting is important.
Maximillian Alvarez:
All right, gang, that’s going to wrap things up for us today. I want to thank all of our guests from Gary, Indiana. GlenEva Dunham, president of the Gary Teachers Union, Freida Graves, Project Director at Faith Farms, and Reverend John Jackson, Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ. And of course, I want to thank you all for listening, and I want to thank you for caring about this. We do this work for you and we cannot do it without you. Working People is brought to you in partnership with In These Times Magazine and The Real News Network. This show is produced by the great Jules Taylor and is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network. We’ll see y’all back here next time for another episode of Working People. And in the meantime, go explore all the great work that we’re doing at the Real News Network because we do grassroots reporting that lifts up the voices and stories from the front lines of working people’s struggles around the US and across the world.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Check out our great podcasts like Under the Shadow and the Marc Steiner Show, and connect with us on social media and get updates on our reporting there. And please help us do more work like this by going to therealnews.com/donate and becoming a supporter now. It really, really does make a difference. I’m Maximillian Alvarez. Take care of yourselves. Take care of each other. Solidarity forever.
Continuing the project we started in the beginning of “026.
Here is our selection of our 7 most astonishing, original or viewed videos released in this the week.
This reminder ccome back after many months of pause due to that the main important videos were published in the post WARS in Video with dauky updates on the ongoing international conflicts in Ukraine and in Middle East.
But there are many videos that are extremely significant for their social or geopolitical content that sometimes take a back seat to the serious events that occur every day in wars, which is why we decided to start this periodic column.
Inside the Rumble description of each video there is a link to the detailed investigation it refers to or to a related topic.
Enjoy watching with Gospa News. And if you like our work, support us with a small donation.
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Aug. 20, 2026.It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday insisted that Americans should welcome artificial intelligence data centers in their communities, despite polls showing widespread opposition to their construction across the US, as well as mounting evidence of their negative impacts on the environment, public health, and Americans’ utility bills.
During a White House event with cryptocurrency and technology leaders, Trump was asked what he would say to working-class voters who backed him in the 2024 election but are skeptical about the benefits of AI.
Trump said he saw no reason why there should be opposition to building data centers, which have drawn criticism for producing pollution and forcing major spikes in utility bills thanks to their massive energy needs.
“If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in, an AI plant, or a data center, I would absolutely want it,” Trump explained. “The jobs are enormous and the money paid, the taxes paid, are enormous. And if you don’t take it, you’re going to be left behind because there are plenty of places that want it.”
The president then suggested that the only reason data centers aren’t popular is due to lack of effective propaganda from the tech industry.
“Maybe it could use a little public relations help,” he said.
Trump: "If I were the mayor of a town or the governor or a state, and I had a chance to get a big data center, I would absolutely want it" pic.twitter.com/9caqZ8L76b
An internal memo written by the National Republican Senatorial Committee that leaked to Axios on Wednesday warned Silicon Valley that data centers were massively unpopular throughout the country and were putting GOP candidates at risk.
In particular, the memo singled out the US Senate race in Ohio, where former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown has used incumbent Republican Sen. Jon Husted’s support for data centers as a cudgel.
“If voters’ perceptions of data centers are not fixed quickly,” the memo cautioned, “the campaign against them will expand far beyond Ohio.”
The New York Timesreported on Thursday that the backlash to data centers has gotten so strong that it has inspired recall campaigns against officials who approved their construction in states including Missouri, Oklahoma, and Michigan.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has proposed a nationwide moratorium on AI data center construction, told the Times that opposition to Big Tech should be a basic litmus test for any ambitious politician.
“People are standing up and saying, ‘Sorry, we don’t want these data centers in our communities for a number of reasons,’” Sanders said. “If you can’t have the guts to stand up to some large corporation, you should not continue serving in office.”
If education is indeed the great vehicle of social and economic mobility, then higher education is no longer delivering the promise of the “American dream.” In fact, this “dream” has become a fiscal nightmare. Colleges and universities saw 9,000 job cuts and buyouts in 2025, and several college closures, mergers, and looming budget crises have already been announced in 2026. Portland State University is one of the most recent casualties, with a projected deficit of $35 million.
How did we get here?
Universities have been operating like corporations for quite some time now. Business terminologies — like return on investment (ROI), efficiency, strategic alignment, move the needle, transparency, buy-in, revenue generating, burnout, bottom line, deliverable, best practices, and others — have been normalized in strategic plans and administrative reports.
The boards of trustees and presidents running these academic corporations/factories have been boldly claiming that education is business. And just as businesses fail due to strategic missteps, poor financial decisions, and various forms of mismanagement, this “business” called higher ed is on the brink of a great collapse. This collapse has not happened overnight. It certainly did not start with the COVID-19 pandemic. It certainly did not start with blocking international students from attending U.S. universities. It certainly did not start with Donald Trump and the resurgence of McCarthyism, although the various draconian attacks on higher ed under his presidency have exacerbated the collapse.
Decades of mismanagement, fiduciary irresponsibility, a lack of shared governance and accountability, and divestment are responsible for a plethora of failures. Irrespective of these failures, university presidents and boards have been transparent about their singular mindset (at least in their visible actions). To them, growth is essential, but such growth can only take place by cutting various services and programs that are no longer deemed “essential.” Faculty and staff at many institutions have raised warning flags, insisting that universities cannot cut their way to growth. Such illusory growth will weaken programs and prevent students from truly being educated. Such short-term growth will ultimately threaten the long-term foundation of higher ed and lead to the collapse of one of the biggest arenas of 21st-century thought: the university.
There are also other reasons for this collapse. For decades, universities have overspent on real estate, building fancy residence halls, offering attractive dining services, and raising tuition for students. All of this “added value” has been accompanied by cuts to essential student services (particularly those serving the most marginalized students) and insufficient compensation for overworked faculty and staff. Recent reports by the American Association of University Professors have found that faculty salaries still have not recovered from the decreases they saw during the early COVID-19 pandemic.
While faculty salaries have declined, large investments in athletics, online courses with low completion rates, and other designer programs have drained operational costs and endowments. Decades of reduced investment in the well-being of faculty have led to widespread burnout, watered down the system of tenure and shared governance, and led to the rise of the most exploited class in higher ed: the gig hustlers called “adjuncts.” This system, which Adrianna Kezar calls The Gig Academy, has created serious inequity and contributed long-term damage to faculty morale.
The infrastructure of higher ed has been further damaged by administrative bloat, with institutions hiring consultants — like enrollment management companies — that demand hefty price tags, all while cutting essential staff and overworking the ones that remain. In 2023, Forbesreported on this “skyrocketing” bloat and warned that such exponential growth in non-instructional staff in higher ed will drive up the cost of tuition and push vulnerable institutions to the brink of financial crisis. Meanwhile, due to staff cuts, overworked and underpaid faculty and staff are being asked to meet the demands of students who are increasingly coming to them underprepared and with various issues of mental health, food insecurity, homelessness, and learning styles and disabilities requiring multiple accommodations.
But unlike corporations, there is no government backing to bail universities out of their millions of dollars in structural deficits. They are simply closing or merging, destroying the lives of faculty and staff at various ranks and causing serious educational derailments for their students. The age of “the great resignation” that we witnessed during the pandemic has been replaced by “the age of massive layoffs” in higher ed. In my own state of Oregon, sweeping academic restructuring is underway, with 36 faculty layoffs and the closure of the award-winning and nationally recognized University Studies, a general education interdisciplinary program.
Let’s face it: The greatest danger facing higher education is not the “demographic cliff” but the loss of its fundamental mission to educate students. This shift has been accompanied by the loss of public trust in higher ed to serve the public good. The greatest danger facing higher education is not in its ability or inability to provide students with “job-related skills and training,” but the increasing and crushing debt, akin to a mortgage, that students and their families will be struggling to pay for decades.
No university education should cost over $60,000 per year to deliver just an undergraduate degree, which only a handful can truly afford. And these days, some universities are charging over $90,000 per year. There is no justifiable ROI for this kind of exorbitant cost. Yet, most of us who have been in higher ed for a while now know well that the millions of dollars of structural deficits that almost every university is currently facing did not just accumulate overnight. They are a result of shifting priorities.
Universities are no longer mission-driven to create critical, thoughtful, responsible, and well-rounded citizenry to participate in democracy and serve the public good. Instead, higher ed has traded its long-term intellectual benefits for short-term market and profit-driven (sometimes predatory) programs, with the sole and narrow purpose of training a generation of students for the workforce. This focus on job training, under the umbrella of “professionalism,” may or may not even succeed given the volatility of job markets in the age of artificial intelligence. Yet the disciplines that will be necessary to combat AI, like the humanities, are routinely being devalued.
While university administrators are speculating like gamblers to gauge which revenue-generating “programs” will ultimately survive, they are reducing, cutting, or hamstringing the disciplines in the arts, humanities, and sciences that have a long and storied tradition of cultivating “critical thinking.” Yet this strategy conflicts with studies that show the liberal arts, particularly the humanities, are valuable in terms of long-term employment prospects. According to the Mellon Foundation report “Humanities Graduates Can Find a Great Job. It’s Time to Make This Fact Known”:
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences reports that, at latest count, 96.3 percent of terminal humanities bachelor’s degree holders between the ages of 23 and 32 were fully employed, a share that is on par with that for degree holders in the same age range across all fields. Further, the earnings of terminal bachelor’s degree holders in the humanities are comparable to those of their counterparts in the behavioral/social sciences and the life sciences, while the job satisfaction levels among humanities graduates are in line with those of degree holders in all fields.
This and other reports emphasize that students need to learn and practice deep critical thinking, problem-solving, and ethical reasoning as basic skills to enter and succeed in the job market.
In response to the closure of Hampshire College, Ken Burns, one of the school’s most celebrated alumni, hit the nail on its head: “The greatest danger that faces higher education,” Burns said, “is this transactional tendency that everything is about an exchange that ultimately is economic.” What is lost in this game is the mission that education should be “transformational.”
As bell hooks wrote in Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, “The classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy.” These days, in the age of fascism and corporatization, any radical space is a threat, and every effort is being made to destroy those threats. Federal policies target disciplines that challenge the status quo or question power structures, like sociology, pushing for them to be eliminated from the curriculum altogether.
This transformation was underway long before the current right-wing attacks on higher education, as universities slowly eroded critical programs through the use of the terminology of “academic prioritization.” Recently, “academic prioritization” has been replaced by new terminologies of “long-term sustainability,” “strategic growth potential,” “indoctrination,” and “demand programs.”
Irrespective of these terms, the end goal is to reduce and eliminate programs, mostly in the humanities, that have created transformational spaces for generations of students, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds, those who are economically disadvantaged, and first-generation students. Colleges and universities around the country have eliminated humanities majors in art, music, theater, philosophy, history, religious studies, global languages, gender and sexuality studies, and ethnic studies, citing decreased enrollments.
In April, the University of Montana eliminated its master’s degree program in English, focused on Literature and Ecocriticism, raising serious concerns about the university’s identity. “English is such a fundamental core subject within the humanities, and it’s almost like the heart of the humanities is being cut out,” said English Department Chair Louise Economides.
The University of Montana is not the only university where the “heart of the humanities” is being cut out with little to no conversation. The attack has been relentless nationally. Eric Hayot and Matt Seybold have described this crisis as “a crisis of civil society writ large.” They write:
There is no condition in which the humanities are under attack in which the whole university is not under attack. There is no condition in which the university is under attack that the whole of educational infrastructure, public and private, from pre-K up, is not under attack. And there is no condition in which education is under attack in which civil society can remain unimperiled.
Yet none of this is a surprise. While the right-wing attacks on these disciplines and departments have been relentless in recent years, faculty have been witnessing this slow collapse of the arts, humanities, and sciences for quite some time now. The market-driven model that encourages packing students into classrooms like sardines to maximize profits is not conducive to the personal attention that students need in disciplines like the arts and humanities. Many of these departments, slated to be reduced or cut, have been deliberately hamstrung by their administrations (citing low enrollment numbers), resulting in their inability to offer a robust curriculum. The overemphasis on the number of majors these disciplines have is a deliberate strategy to discredit these disciplines. If these programs are retained, they are treated as second-class departments simply serving as the “general education requirements” for the more profitable “revenue-generating” programs.
Higher ed is on the verge of collapsing because it has lost its soul. Can this soul be restored? Perhaps. But this would require a nationwide movement to restore public trust and reclaim higher education, building an academy that is not solely transactional or profit-driven but is deeply invested in serving and collaborating with its broader communities and society writ large. If we cannot do this, then we are one step closer to witnessing the weakening of our civil society and the end of our democracy.
In her 2001 masterwork Nickel and Dimed, the late Barbara Ehrenreich went undercover to report on the daily realities working people in America face trying to get by on minimum-wage. After working as a housekeeper, a nursing aide, a home cleaner, a server, and more, Ehrenreich wrote that “The first thing I discovered is that no job, no matter how lowly, is truly ‘unskilled.’” It is difficult to overstate the impact that Ehrenreich’s book and body of work have had on US culture and working-class politics over the last 25 years, and the enduring relevance of her work today. In this special episode of Working People, we commemorate the anniversary of Nickel and Dimed and celebrate the life and legacy of Ehrenreich by speaking with a panel of guests who are carrying on that legacy today.
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Alright. Welcome everyone to Working People, a podcast about the lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles of the working class today. Working People is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network and is brought to you in partnership with In These Times Magazine and the Real News Network. This show is produced by Jules Taylor and made possible by the support of listeners like you. My name is Maximillian Alvarez, and today we’ve got a very special episode for you guys. And we’re talking about the work, life, and legacy of a very special person, the late great Barbara Ehrenreich. 25 years ago this year, Barbara published what is still to this day one of the most essential and impactful books about working class life in America ever. And the book is called Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America. And if you listen to this show, then chances are you’ve probably heard of it or you may have already read it.
But if you haven’t read it yet, and if you haven’t dug into Barbara’s incredible body of work, then frankly, I kind of envy you because you have a feast before you, a feast for your mind, your heart, and for your soul. And to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Nickel and Dimed, the Nation Magazine just published a really beautiful and vital forum with folks from around the worlds of labor and journalism testifying to the enduring power and relevance of Barbara Aaron Reich’s work today. As author and friend of the show, Alyssa Cort writes in that forum, “The first thing I discovered is that no job, no matter how lowly, is truly unskilled.” This is from Barbara Ehrenreich’s 2001 masterwork, Nickel and Dimed. I read it that year when I was 29. Eventually, Barbara became my good friend and colleague as we created a media organization, The Economic Hardship Reporting Project, and wrote and edited articles together.
To recap, for that book, Barbara went undercover, reporting as she worked as a housekeeper, nursing aide, a home cleaner, a waitress at Jerry’s and Hearthside Restaurants, and a Walmart worker all in her later 50s, wrestling with cleaning products, carrying huge diner orders, and sometimes living in motels. The book was a departure from her earlier acidly funny and sociological work, ranging from midwifery to middle-class anxiety, but for which she rarely interviewed a soul. It’s hard to underestimate the effect nickel and dimes vacuum cleaner’s eye view of what it means to work a minimum wage job in this country had on so many of us. For those blinded by America’s late 20th century comforts, Barbara’s book helped us to stop unseen low wage workers. It also showed us what anyone who has ever made a pizza or taking care of a child already knew, but had perhaps not articulated that there is no such thing as “unskilled work.” As Barbara wrote, “The working poor, as they are approvingly termed, are in fact the major philanthropists of our society.” And Nickel and Dimed also helped precarious creatives like me and my ilk, freelance writers, art handlers, grad students, bookstore clerks, all paid hourly and shabbily, see themselves more clearly as being on a continuum with other working people.
Now, we’ve linked to the Nation Forum commemorating Barbara Ehrenreich and the 25th anniversary of Nickel and Dimed in the show notes for this episode. And you should definitely go read it when you have some time. And it goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway, that you should really, really go read Nickel and Dimed. And hopefully by the end of today’s episode, you’ll see why. There’s really so much that I want to say and could say here about Barbara Ahrenreich, but to keep it short and sweet, I’m just going to say this. I never had the honor of meeting or knowing Barbara personally, but I know that I would not be here doing the work that I do on this podcast, on the Real News Network and beyond without her. Her work has inspired generations of working class journalists and non-traditional storytellers just like me.
Her advocacy and institution building has made it more possible for people like us to have places to publish our work and for working class stories and voices to be heard. And I am so grateful to Barbara for that and to all who carry on her beautiful vital legacy today. And I am so grateful to all of our amazing guests on the show today who are doing just that. Thank you all so much for being here. Please introduce yourselves to our listeners.
Deirdre English:
I’m Deirdre English. I’ve written three feminist and class-conscious books with Barbara Ehrenreich, the former editor-in-chief of Mother Jones Magazine and a professor of journalism at the University of California Berkeley.
Alissa Quart:
I’m Alissa Quart. I created the Economic Hardship Reporting Project with Barbara. I’m a journalist and a poet. I’ve written seven books and edited one anthology. My last book was called Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream. And the one before that was Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford America.
Ann Larson:
Hi, my name is Anne Larson. I’m the author of Cleanup on Aisle five: Essential Work: Poverty Wages and The View from Behind the Supermarket Register. I’m a fellow with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, and Barbara Ehrenreich is one of my intellectual and journalistic heroes and mentors.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Hell yeah. Well, thank you all so much for being here. It really, really is an honor to be chatting with all three of you, and all three of you are my journalistic heroes, and I think you are all living testaments of the incredible legacy of the incredible Barbara Erin Reich. And I wanted to start by asking more about that. Whether you got to know her in person or through your work, tell us and our listeners more about Barbara and what she and her work have meant to you.
Deirdre English:
I got to know Barbara because we were both on the faculty of an experimental radical college called the College at Old Westbury with a mission of social justice and a very multiracial student body and teaching staff. And we taught women’s studies courses together, some of the first back in the ’70s, and then we spent seven years writing three different books together. Perhaps the one I’ll mention is called For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of the Expert’s Advice to Women, which is about the impact of health and mental health professionals on creating stereotypes about women based on gender, class, and race, and helping to authorize those stereotypes to make them seem as though they were scientifically based and authoritative. So Barbara and I were really more than friends and coworkers. We were really sisters. I lived in the same house with her for periods of time.
I’m the godmother, or as she called me, the goddess mother of her two children who I am still very close to and who are remarkable testaments to Barbara’s influence too. Her kids are both extraordinary writers and activists. I’ve had a lifelong relationship with Barbara and profoundly influenced by her. She influenced. And then when I was at Mother Jones, I became her editor and she had a column. She did a cover story on one of her books, and she was a frequent advisor. And then finally with the founding, we’ll be talking about Nickel and Dimed and that whole period. But then with the founding of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, I certainly consulted with her then, and now I continue that role with Alyssa by being on the board. And so Barbara’s just had a profound lifelong impact on my thinking and my commitments. So
Maximillian Alvarez:
Deirdre, I got to ask from one editor to another, going from friend to editor is not an easy transition to make, especially when you’re editing Barbara Ehrenreich. How was that transition for you guys?
Deirdre English:
Pretty smooth because Barbara was such a great writer. It’s actually the best writers who are the easiest to edit. They get the big picture and they get back in the day when we had a paper publication before it was digital, sometimes you just have to cut for space and the professionals know how to do that. So no, no, no, we never had any arguments. But I’ll just say one more thing though. An editor should always remember that the piece belongs to the writer. So your role is to help the writer, not to impose yourself on the writer. So throw that in too.
Ann Larson:
I never met Barbara Ehrenreich, but I read Nickel and Dimed pretty soon after it came out. And I think I was the graduate student at that time, maybe my first year in graduate school. And this was 25 years ago, this was still sort of end of history type era. We just had Bill Clinton for eight years, and there was this sense that everything had worked out how it was supposed to work out. Capitalism was great. It had defeated all the other alternatives, and everybody got what they deserved in life. If you worked hard, you could succeed. And meritocracy was the name of the game. And so Nickel and Dimed just sort of punctured that myth so profoundly and so completely that it was so necessary at that time. I taught the book or portions of the book in a class I was teaching at the time as a graduate student.
And I remember being struck by how funny it was that students that I taught, we were reading these about poverty and low wages and living in motel rooms and cleaning shit out of toilets, and yet we’re all just laughing and hooting and hollering through the whole thing. And I just remember thinking, “What an amazing writer that you could write about these topics that are so dark, and yet we’re all laughing the whole way through.” I just think that’s a very rare talent that she had. And then we can talk about this a little bit more, but at that time I was a graduate student. I was planning on a career in academia. The idea of service work was not something that I worried about for myself, though I had come from a working class background. But a few years later, I found myself working in a supermarket.
And I remember thinking about nickel and dimed and seeing it differently once I’m doing the service work and a line from the book, I hadn’t read it in several years at that point, but I remembered a line from the book. I’m working behind the cash register and I’m tired and it’s weeks and weeks and I’m struggling to learn the job. And Barbara Arenak’s voice popped into my head and it said, “What you don’t necessarily realize when you’re selling your time by the hour is that what you’re actually selling is your life.” And I just thought how apt that was and how accurate it was that she’d really captured that I was now living, I was now experiencing. And so that influenced me and made me think I should write about this job because Barbara did it. She sort of forged a path for me.
Alissa Quart:
I read it when it came out in 2001, but my favorite book by far was Fear Falling. So I had been introduced to her earlier than that. I had been, like Ann, at CUNY Grad Center in English and Sociology and had been adjuncting. It was the introduction for me to what I would later call the middle precarious, this kind of precarious middle class where we were making, I don’t remember what it was, Anne, it was 2,000, $3,000 a class, and we were somehow supposed to also go to graduate school. So I started to see after I read Nickel and Dime, a continuum for the first time between my own experience as a kind of unstably middle-class person and the people around me who were serving food and taking out the garbage and making people’s beds in hotels. And I saw the connection, which I think had been purposely obfuscated by third wave Democrats, which is part of what Anne was saying also.
And I too had gotten lost in the aestheticism of the ’90s in its attitudes, in its stances. It was a very alluring decade for Generation X people who were into alternative culture. You could just lose yourself in Sleeter Kinney or something and in poetics and theory and get disconnected from the experience of class even when you yourself were living it. So what it was, it was both a reminder and a form of self-knowledge reading it because I suddenly was like, “Wow, my time here adjuncting at Kingsborough Community College where people are screaming at me and I can’t afford my rent even in the East Village is being stolen in a way.” And so I actually wound up dropping out of graduate school for better or worse as a result. And then years later, obviously I met her. I was working on a film called The Last Clinic, which is about the clinic at the Center of the Dobbs case in Mississippi, women’s health.
And I was the producer and the writer with the great director, Macy Crow, and I was raising money from Barbara. And I called her and it was unbelievable. I was sitting in the middle of a magazine office. She said, “Hi, Alyssa.” And she starts talking about Jane, which I believe she had firsthand experience with. And I just was like, “My God.” I mean, I fell in love, I think. I felt like I had finally found not just a mentor, but family, a mother of sorts, a spouse of sorts, a place where I belonged as a person, but also as a mind and a kind of politics, which in journalism is hard to find, let’s be frank. This is not a field filled with activists or unusual poetic people or people who are incredibly moral. And she was all those things. And also as a woman, she was incredibly generous to other women, and we can talk more about that.
I feel like she didn’t have some of the conventional gender identifications of a lot of boomer women who might see themselves as internalized masculinity and all this kind of stuff. She really was about women and about encouraging women. I mean, she had a lot of male friends and male colleagues and men in her life. But I think she wasn’t competitive and defensive in a gendered way, which really set her apart, honestly. So after this love match, I started working for her at the Economic Hardship Reporting, and she insisted we call each other co-editors, which of course was a marketing person’s nightmare. She’s like, “We have an anarchist socialist nonprofit.” I was like, “Okay, but I better not share this with our funders. Flat hierarchies.” I was like, “Okay.” But I knew also that this was the only way I could actually do this was with somebody like this.
And the idea of our organization was to fund people who were truly working class and fund people like she and I who were journalists who wanted to write entirely about income inequality and no longer had the resources. So actually, yeah, Max, you were one of the people I encountered early on.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Yeah, baby. I mean, like I said, we are all in some way or fashion living proof of Barbara’s incredible legacy, and that includes me and this show. I mean, not only would I not be doing this work, there wouldn’t be a market for this work without someone like Barbara. And on top of that, the Economic Hardship Reporting Project has sponsored episodes of the show. They’ve connected us to folks that we’ve interviewed on this show. It’s an incredible, incredible organization and legacy that you and Barbara built from the ground up. And it’s touched so many of us and helped tell so many of our stories. And I think I’m honored to be in the struggle with all of you to carry that legacy forward however we can. But I want to go backward again because I think you guys have really touched on something that is super important for folks to understand about Nickel and Dimed itself and everything in it because you can’t understand it just by reading it today.
You have to understand who we were and where we were at the time that it was published. And it was published in 2001 and written in a turn of the millennium America that feels so incredibly far away today in many respects. I mean, I was still a teenager then. I was a conservative, middle-class, dipshit, mixed race kid in Orange County in Southern California who still didn’t really know a whole lot about life and who had no idea how bad things were going to get over the next 25 years. I identify with the stories that y’all were telling because when this book came out, my family was part of the middle class in that post-Cold War boom. And then we lost our middle-class status in the post – 2008 crash Great Recession, including the house that I was raised in. And so I read the book very differently later on in life than I would have had I picked it up in 2001.
So I want to really take listeners back to that time. And I wanted to ask if you could say more about who you were then, what the country was like then, and what working in America was like then.
Deirdre English:
Barbara never bought into the boom myth. I think that certainly throughout the Reagan years, which were the 1980s, Barbara was continuously aware that wages were still stagnant for the working class. The postwar boom really ended by the ’80s, and the boom was for the business elite and corporations, and it was Reagan deregulation. And then moving forward a little bit in time, Barbara never fell in with the Clintons. And in fact, a lot of her concern with poverty came about because during Clinton’s regime, the push to eliminate welfare, welfare as we know it, and to force women mothers into jobs to justify their welfare payments, that was actually the impetus of writing nickeled and dimed. I was actually part of a group with Barbara that I think was called the Committee of 100. It was 100 feminists who were protesting Clinton-esque welfare reform, and we failed to stop it.
And then Barbara was left with the question, well, what is actually going to happen to these working women who are being pushed off welfare and into the workforce? And so if that’s supposed to be the answer, get a job. Let me go out and look and see whether you can support yourself on a low wage job. And that was the genesis of nickel and dimed. So that would be some part of my answer to your question.
Ann Larson:
I mentioned earlier this idea of the end of history and the meritocracy had went out and everything was as. We were in the best of all possible worlds and how nickel and dime sort of punctured that myth. I do think also one of the things that I remember from that period is this kind of looking back, it seems like we were all living in this myth, in this kind of dream world, and our feet weren’t really on the ground in a way. I really thought I was going to get a job in academia and be a professor. I mean, I think about that now, given my background and the fact that I went to CUNY and I studied English, and that was never going to happen. That was always a failed venture. But I believed it. I got on that path and people told me it was going to work out.
If you work hard, it’s all going to work out. And so one of the things that I think nickel and dimed does is it not only punctures the myth, and I’m talking more about Barbara’s work in general, books like Fear of Falling and Natural Causes. She wanted to see the world as it really is, not how we wish it would be. She was really a critic of delusion in all its forms. And this goes from in Bait and Switch, she talks about the myth that just by updating your personality or getting a new wardrobe is going to be the key to a new job. Or in another book that she wrote, kind of busting the myth that positive thinking can cure breast cancer. She sort of refused to succumb to that kind of thinking. She was really insistent on science, on evidence, on rational thinking.
And even in one of the last books she wrote, if not the last, she wrote about these mystical experiences that she had as a young person that sort of hinted at something supernatural beyond the realm that we live in every day. But even that didn’t change her mind about the fundamental class divide in the world and the fundamental reality that we live in. And I just find this very inspiring. To me, it’s a very kind of socialist way of thinking without. Barbara didn’t wear her socialism on her sleeve. She wasn’t out there pounding the gavel. What she showed is a way of looking at the world in a concrete and material way and an insistence that we not be diluted about how things really are. And that way of thinking, that really grounded concrete way of thinking is the foundation for political change.
Alissa Quart:
Yeah, I love that, Ann. When I think about what was going on in 2001, I mean there’d be a terrorist attack six months after Nickel and Dime came out, World Trade Center buildings falling, killing over 3,000 people. There’s the Enron scandal. There’s all those accounting crises. And Wikipedia launched that year and kind of a notion of unskilled expertise, which I think is important too, because she was really pushing in nickel and dime for rethinking what unskilled labor was. And I think the knots had a complex relationship with what skilled and unskilled labor was, especially thinking work, what had to be done by amateurs and what could be done by professionals. And I also think one of the things that was interesting about that time, not just this forcing us to see what the Democrats, the centrist Democrats were masking with the end of AFPC and so forth.
It was also a moment when people could publish these kind of books. Which is less and less common. I mean, Anne, who’s on this panel, just did. I do. A few other people do, you do Max. But I think there was a time when No Logo was a bestseller, Fast Food Nation, Michael Paulin’s early books. And these were mega sellers, as was Nickel and Dimed. There was an audience for them. And there was also a real hot critique of commercialism and a lot of these factors. I mean, my first book branded The Buying and Selling of Teenagers was in this vein. And I do see Nickel and Dimed as part of that as a kind of materialist account. The years that transpired after the Forever War would say, oh, do we have the energy to worry about the consumer economy and labor? Shouldn’t we be worried about the threat against our nation?
There was all these different enemies that have been constructed since then. But it was pretty clear in that ’90s knots period, even though it was being masked, that those were the polls. It was like this flushed consumer economy that rested on the backs of workers, that rested on the brainwashing of teenagers to buy shit, that rested on people being fed terrible meals, supersize me, and Michael Moore’s films were about that. So I think that’s part of the scene that I think of. And I also think of just the level of consumerism in that time. You can’t even imagine. It was very go-go before there was a crash.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Well, and that’s what I remember. I mean now it’s like I tell my daughter, it’s like, yeah, that was the era of what I would call free range capitalism, where we were allowed to run around as consumers and stretch our legs a little more. We had a little more buying power. And the consumer felt like an important thing in the economy, whether you were going to a restaurant or staying at a hotel. It felt like you could still vote with your wallet as the proverb goes. That we still had some power to determine what the economy looked like and get what we could from it. We could still make enough to earn a good living. Like Ann was saying, our feet weren’t even really touching the ground. But that bubble burst for me at least after 2008. And in the years that have followed, I feel like I’ve only come to see more and more what Barbara saw back then that me and my family couldn’t.
Because when we heard about worker issues like that, we saw them as consumers. And we saw them as, well, I’m the fast food consumer going in paying for my meal, or I’m the student going to get an education. Why is it my job to care about the employee on the other side? They should be doing their job kind of thing.That was such a prevalent way of thinking in America and sure as hell in conservative, middle-class, Orange County, California. But again, that really came crashing down for me and for so many of us over the next 25 years. And frankly, reading Nickel and Dimed in the America, in the world that we’ve got here and now in 2026 is quite a trip. And I wanted to ask y’all, why do you think it is still important for folks to read Nickel and Dimed and Barbara’s work in general today?
What can her work still teach us now? Or what has it been trying to teach us for years that we still haven’t learned but really need to?
Deirdre English:
Well, the economic pain has spread. And I think that Alissa really was speaking directly to that when talking about the middle-class precariot and the fact that a middle-class way of life has become increasingly unaffordable to the working class and to large parts of the middle class. I mean, of course in America, everybody thinks they’re middle-class, so it becomes very hard to talk about class for that reason. But basically the great increase in unaffordability since first the enormous crash of 2008 that wiped out so much value and showed that all that home ownership was based on a bubble economics, and then the rise of the forever war, so absorbing so much of our economy in military spending. So we’ve just seen so many social failures during this period of time. And I just want to also mention that the rise of what you were talking about, the consumer economy is also the rise of the service economy from the worker point of view.
And that was a big shift in the working class because it was largely women who got those service jobs, as Anne has written about so brilliantly in her book about grocery store work. I mean, obviously there are men working in grocery stores too, but the “opportunities for women that are often blamed on feminism,” like that feminists encourage women to go into the workforce. Well, no, economics forced women into the workforce. Feminism tried to make circumstances better for them. I don’t think we’ve succeeded. But Barbara was just very aware in nickel and dime, those are all jobs of women workers in the service economy. And so that was really burgeoning while the kind of extractive industries were all being outsourced and technology was coming in and absorbing a lot of those kinds of jobs. So Barbara was just so aware of the shifts in demographics and economic policy and economic reality so that she always saw under the surface of what people thought was going on to what was really going on.
Alissa Quart:
I sometimes see her as sort of like an ultra violet light, like forensic dusting where we can see things that we wouldn’t otherwise see. I love what you just said. That was so smart, Deirdre, and about the consumer economy being a service economy being female. And when we’ve been assigning Looking at the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, a lot of the pieces we assigned were people who have taken low wage work writing about what it’s like inside of that, including Anne, but also Joseph Williams, Danelle Alexander, Daryl Wellington, a bunch of other people. And that to me was part of what Barbara also wanted to do towards the end of her life was she didn’t want to just be the sort of co-pastoral woman underground, my man Godfrey, I’m going to go into the supermarket in a mask and become the worker. It was like she wanted to hire the person who had actually been that, who was a writer and a reporter and an active mind who could name and wasn’t doing it as a stunt.
And I think that to me, that was part of the understanding of the line between journalist and practitioner that started to expand in the knots when experts in amateur started to blend a little more. Publications like The Global Post started assigned to local reporters rather than to have white dudes fly in to cover shit. And I think she was doing the domestic version of that. Let’s not have people parachute in. Let’s have people write from their own place. And I followed that to the letter. I mean, I just thought it was really important. And also having people who could think critically. Anne here is such a great mind and you really are. And she can interpret a lot of the things that she was experiencing structurally. And that’s another thing that Barbara was really interested in.
Ann Larson:
Just wanted to note that one of the things I’m thinking about hearing this conversation is that Barbara was a baby boomer. And I don’t know, that seems important. Somehow we have this whole, hey boomer where we make fun of the boomers, God love them.
Deirdre English:
Okay, boomer.
Ann Larson:
Right, that they’re just like these clueless. And there’s some truth to it. They grew up in this time where there was more opportunity and you get education and it’s going to work out for you. And there was room for upward mobility in a lot of cases thanks to government investment and public goods. And we all know what the French call the tant glory is, these 30 years after World War II when working class was making gains. And so for Barbara to be in that generation and yet recognize all the things that people on this panel are talking about and just see through that mythology and to see, as Deirdre put it, what was under the surface, I think we should pause on how extraordinary that is. I mean, I think one of the reasons that was the case is because she had working class roots herself.
I grew up in Montana and I believe her dad was a minor. But then her dad, if I’m remembering correctly, ended up becoming an executive. He advanced in his career and ended up leaving the mines and became something of a professional. And so she got to see this upper mobility, this transformation. But it wasn’t just that she had a really good memory for that period of her life when she’d been working class, but she really just, she saw welfare being cut. As Alyssa mentioned, she saw what was happening to aid to families with dependent children. She saw free trade agreements sending jobs overseas and that expanding the service economy that she wrote about. And so it wasn’t just a good memory, although that was part of it. She just never lost her talent for recognizing the way the material world was the foundation for what was happening in people’s lives.
And in terms of what’s changed, I mean, I think there’s no better example of what stayed the same than the minimum wage has been stuck at 725 since 2009 or something like this. I mean, this is something out of just the dystopian universe that we have not raised the minimum wage since 2009. And I just think Barbara saw that this was the way things were going. And she was able to see not only through this and of the mythology that we’ve described, but even in her own generation, in which so many people had a different experience, and even in her own experience, her own family kind of crawled out of the working class. She still stayed true to her vision and to herself. And I think that’s very rare.
Deirdre English:
We baby boomers, we came of age in the ’60s and there was a vast movement to be a part of. And Barbara and I were both very much a part of it. The anti-war movement where I really came of age in my college days doing that and worked on two documentaries about the anti-war movement, about anti-war Vietnam, and working with Vietnam vets. And then the women’s movement that Barbara and I both really kind of shared our journey into that world and into what was missing in the women’s movement and what was missing in the labor movement, which was a lack of feminist consciousness and on the left. So all of those, there was this big thing, the movement, and we felt very much a part of it, supported by it, buoyed by it, but also the productive arguments that happened within it. And so Barbara wasn’t a lone figure, she was a standout figure, but I think she always felt part of a much larger community and with multifaceted elements in it from the labor movement, from the women’s movement, and many others.
Alissa Quart:
Yeah. I mean, I think it’s important to note, like you just said, she didn’t see a different distinction between advocacy and journalism, like that thick line that we’ve been taught in J schools for decades, the voice of God and NPR and neutrality and all the major newspapers. She thought it was really important to bring the movements into writing. And that I hope is also another part of her legacy. And honestly, I mean, look at the DSA. I mean, she was the first co-chair with Michael Harrington. So it’s not just what she’s done as a writer or what she’s done institutionally, it’s politically. And I think that is also a legacy within journalism to not forget politics on that level.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Yeah, I think that’s all beautifully and powerfully put. And it really reminds me of Barbara and the rare writers and people who see and fight and write the way that she did, have taught me ever since. Like y’all said, you don’t necessarily need to see the world through socialist goggles, but once you stop seeing them through the kind of capitalist goggles that are welded to our eyes from birth, then you start seeing things how they really are and you become a socialist real quick. So that’s what it was for me is I was so conditioned for so long to see the country I lived in a certain way. And it was a massive financial crash that taught me otherwise. It was our government bailing out the banks and big corporations while families like mine fell through the drain that taught me that. It was working on a warehouse and factory floors with people I had been taught to say were dumb and deserved to be in those jobs because they couldn’t do anything else.
And here I was with a degree from the University of Chicago doing the exact same job in 2010. I mean, life taught me a lot of what capitalism and America tried to keep from me for many years. And Barbara taught me a lot more about that. And I was so grateful when I kind of lost that innocence, that American innocence of realizing the world and the country that I actually did live in, instead of believing I lived in the fiction that had been presented to me. I was so grateful to have a book like Nickel and Dimed to help guide me from that point to a greater consciousness and to more answers and to more hope about what can be done about this for families like mine, for people like me, for the hundreds of people and workers that I’ve interviewed on this show over the years, their families.
I’m so, so grateful to Barbara, to Nickel and Dimed for all that they have helped provide me in my long sort of recovery from the hangover of the capitalist fiction that I and my family had lived under for the first half of my life. And I wanted to sort of turn that into our final question here because I could talk to y’all for hours, but I know I have to let you go soon. And I wanted us to sort of finish by talking about the legacy of Barbara Ahrenreich herself and of course her work, including Nickel and Dimed, whose 25th anniversary we are celebrating this year. And so I want to frame the question this way. We now have the benefit of hindsight to see in our past what we frankly could not see coming in the future that lay before us 25 years ago.
With our life experience and with all the lessons that Barbara Ehrenreich has taught us, what wisdom can we offer through the gift of foresight to ourselves today with everything that we’re facing and to our descendants 25 years from now?
Deirdre English:
Well, I mean, I would say Barbara actually foresaw herself the advent of AI on middle-class jobs. And she actually very presciently wrote in an essay in Time Magazine that I haven’t read since it came out, but it struck me so much at the time that maybe the middle class was soon going to be facing the downward mobility that the working class was experiencing. And that when the robots came, when technology came for writing jobs, journalism jobs, teaching jobs, white collar jobs, the way it was already coming for so many working class jobs, definitely factory jobs, that maybe the middle class would wake up and understand their commonality, which Alyssa has been speaking to and which Alyssa is very alive to talking about the precariot. Maybe they would begin to understand that the bosses were not their friends and that the scraps that they were getting from the owner’s table were getting less and less and that they would begin to experience a sense of unity and class consciousness and fighting spirit.
And so that’s happening. It’s going to accelerate. And one hopes that what will also accelerate is what Barbara called for, which is that unity and oppositional spirit.
Alissa Quart:
Yeah, I’m hoping for this unity. And I’ve been talking to people about how they’re affording America. I wrote a book called Squeeze Why Of Families Can’t Afford America almost 10 years ago now. And I’ve been returning to some of those topics because it seems very of the moment, the middle precarious. And what startles me is people saying things like middle-class people, people who earn six figures saying things like, “I don’t feel like America likes me.” And just that emotionalism of that, I feel like that is where this kind of emotional politics is going to start, where people feel like they’re part of a gradient, a range of class positions that are being kept down by people who are manufacturing insecurity for really the 99%. And that concept is no longer just pablem, but it’s something that people actually live and vote by and connect to each other around.
Ann Larson:
I’ll just end by, I really want to emphasize something Deirdre just said, which strikes me as really important about movements. I think just one generation after Barbara as a Gen Xer, I didn’t feel like I was part of a movement. It was like all individuals who were working hard and trying to make it work in the professional class or whatever. And I think what Barbara would want us to do is rebuild these movements that used to serve as a foundation for social action, for thinking, for camaraderie, for solidarity. I’m also the co-founder of an organization called the Debt Collective that is trying to organize the debtors to bring some sense of community and collective strength to people that are drowning in debt. It’s why I’m so proud to be part of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project where I think the organization publishes people that are writing as part of movements, that they see journalism, like Alyssa just said, is not just something that you should be objective and talk about facts, but as part of a movement building work.
And to me, this is, I think, a real key to. We can’t think of individuals. You can do your best as an individualism, but there’s a limit there unless you have a movement behind you, unless you have a culture that supports the kind of thinking and work that Barbara did and that we should all be trying to do.
Maximillian Alvarez:
All right, gang, that’s going to wrap things up for us today. I want to thank our guests, the great Deirdre English, Alissa Quart, and Ann Larson. I also want to thank the Nation Magazine and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project for all the vital work that they do and for helping us put this special episode together. Go check them out, subscribe and support them using the links that we provided in the show notes. And of course, I want to thank you all for listening, and I want to thank you for caring. We’ll see y’all back here next time for another episode of Working People. And in the meantime, go explore all the great work that we’re doing at the Real News Network, where we do grassroots reporting that lifts up the voices and stories from the front lines of struggle. Check us out across our YouTube channel, our different podcast feeds, our website, and our social media pages, and help us do more work like this by going to therealnews.com/donate and becoming a supporter today.
I promise you guys, it really does make a difference. I’m Maximillian Alvarez. Take care of yourselves, take care of each other, and rest in power, Barbara Ehrenreich. Solidarity forever.
In Colombia, the sky turned a bloody red color after latest earthquakes
Before the fear caused by the 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Colombia had even subsided, an unusual sight in the sky this time caused panic.
The sky turning intense shades of red and orange during sunset hours raised concerns of a new tremor in some areas, while experts stated that the sight was a natural atmospheric event.
Residents of the Colombian city of Galeras witnessed an unusual natural phenomenon when the sky suddenly turned a bright red color.
This event occurred in the northern part of the country, in the Sucre department, in the La Sabana subregion, on August, 16, a few year later the latest earthquake in Colombia of low intensity 4.2 that haven’t caused damage due to its depthness.
Locals were surprised and concerned about what surrounded them. Footage of the red sky quickly spread on social media, sparking active discussion.
POSTED ON JULY, 7, 2026
The sky turning an eerie blood red after Venezuela Earthquake
Days after twin earthquakes struck Venezuela, leaving thousands dead and causing widespread devastation across parts of the south American country, residents in the capital Caracas witnessed the sky turning an eerie blood red.
Videos quickly spread over social media, showing a burning crimson sky as the sun sank below the horizon, bathing the city in a red glow.
Now let’s try to analyze the possible causes from a natural, scientific, and metaphysical perspective.
It would be a mistake, in fact, to ignore potentially supernatural or geoengineered phenomena simply because we persist in confining these areas to a corner where science, unfortunately, still lacks certain and empirically unequivocal answers.
It’s important to note that a video published by the New York Post showed the sky changing in color from deep red to purple, just like the multi-colored auroras triggered by the HARRP station often used by US Pentagon for geoengineering military tests.
A Rare Natural Event
«Scientists say there is a much more simple explanation for the vivid sunset. Known locally as a ‘candilazo’, it occurs when the sun’s light travels through a thicker layer of the atmosphere, scattering blue and violet wavelengths and allowing the red and orange hues to dominate the sky» the bristish newspaper The Independent wrote.
This is called Rayleigh scattering, and it is enhanced when there are more particles in the atmosphere, such as dust, smoke, or moisture. Saharan dust can often cause this to happen when it is carried on the wind across the Atlantic to this part of the world, further intensifying the colour of the sunsets in northern South America.
However, geophysicists say there is no scientific evidence linking red sunsets with seismic activity, and science is torn over whether earthquake lights, or EQL, are even real.
“Geophysicists differ on the extent to which they think that individual reports of unusual lighting near the time and epicenter of an earthquake actually represent EQL,” The U.S. Geological Survey states on its website. “Some doubt that any of the reports constitute solid evidence for EQL, whereas others think that at least some reports plausibly correspond to EQL.”
Therefore, despite the online speculation, the dramatic sky over Caracas is simply a natural event and not linked to the earthquakes, which were caused by the grinding movement along the boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates.
The Fears of a Biblical Omen
Social media users questioned if the colored sky was linked to the deadly earthquake that had recently struck the region.
The timing sparked theories ranging from mysterious ‘earthquake lights’ to biblical signs, as many likened it to Joel 2:30-31, which describes the ‘Day of the Lord’, which is a time of God’s coming judgment and power, Daily Mail pointed out.
‘And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes,’read the verses.
The prophecies about earthquakes in the “end times” announced in the Book of Revelation are also mentioned in the Gospel of St. Luke (21, 10-11):
«Then he (Jesus – ed) said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven”.
“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
A Consequence of a Geomagnetic Bombardment as Forecast by Fidel Castro
But there is another explanation that could instead be related to an anthropogenic geoengineering action as was foreseen and announced by Fidel Castro regarding a possible US military attack through the use of geomagnetic bombardment of the HAARP station in Alaska.
According to the Cuban revolutionary, the infamous structure used for the electromagnetic alteration of the ionosphere in order to cause artificial northern lights – the acronym HAARP stands for High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program – could also be capable of causing earthquakes, as also claimed by various scientists who do not deserve mention as they have not published certified studies.
But it is absolutely certain that the HAARP station is capable of producing dazzling auroras, producing sky colors that vary from green to red and purple depending on the intensity of the radio frequency (as we detailed in a previous investigation, see image below).
CLICK TO READ MORE ABOUT HAARP EXPERIMENTS
Therefore, even if Castro’s conspiracy theory about an earthquake caused by geoengineering in Venezuela is accepted as possible, a phenomenon of strange, intense blood-red illumination of the sky would be entirely consistent with a geomagnetic bombardment.
It’s important to note that a video published by the New York Post showed the sky changing in color from deep red to purple, just like the multi-colored auroras triggered by the HARRP station.
This color variation certainly isn’t evidence of a dangerous geoengineering operation, but it’s certainly a very serious clue that shouldn’t be underestimated.
For the sake of completeness, we’ve listed three different hypotheses regarding Venezuela’s strange red skies. Choose which one you think is most plausible.
Carlo Domenico Cristofori – OSINT investigative journalist
Morens Guilty to Conspirancy for Concealing the dangerous gain-of-function research on SARS virus in China
«A former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) employee pled guilty in federal court, today, to a conspiracy charge stemming from a scheme to evade Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and the Federal Records Act in connection with communications about coronavirus research grants» we can read in statement released by United States Attorneys Office – District of Maryland.
David M. Morens, 78, of Chester, Maryland, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit offenses and to defraud the United States. Morens served as a senior advisor in NIAID’s Office of the Director from 2006 through 2022.
He was therefore one of the closest collaborators of former NIAID director Anthony Fauci, who was charged by a US Senate committee with contempt for invoking the Fifth Amendment by failing to answer 111 questions about the cover-up of the SARS-CoV-2 laboratory theory and the efficacy and dangers of Covid vaccines.
If Fauci fails to benefit from the preemptive pardon granted to him by President Joseph Biden, he risks a sentence of a few months in prison, as contempt of American justice is a misdemeanor.
While according to the statement of O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Morens risks much more…
«Morens is facing up to five years in prison for conspiracy to commit offenses and to defraud the United States. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district judge determines sentencing after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors».
He was charged with concealing funding for dangerous gain-of-function research aimed at enhancing viruses in the laboratory and conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology under Fauci’s supervision. But not only…
«Morens and Co-Conspirator 2 pledged to help Co-Conspirator 1 restore the termination of the bat coronavirus grant and counter the narrative that COVID-19 leaked from a lab».
The charges pertain to the notorious NIH grant titled Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence that funded Peter Daszak, Ralph Baric et al. to perform their gain-of-function research on SARS bat coronaviruses with their colleague Shi Zhengli at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The SARS-Cov-2 manmade: the supspicions on UNC, DARPA, Ukraine, UK and Moderna
Previous investigations by the two congressional committees have highlighted the concrete likelihood that the artificial SARS-COV-2 was created in China with the help of Fauci’s NIAID and other entities, including the US Pentagon (via the military agency DARPA), as confirmed by a CIA whstleblower.
This is not what emerges from the investigations in the Wuhan-Gates series by Gospa News, which have also targeted of well-founded suspicions other biolaboratories, such as those in Ukraine, the Pirbright Institute in the United Kingdom, and the University of North Carolina.
The UNC, thanks to funding from Fauci and DARPA, collaborated with the American pharmaceutical company Moderna trough the microbiologist Raloh Baric who is one of the researcher in the grant for which was indicted Morens (details below).
Moderna has ended up at the center of our journalistic investigations for two reasons:
A Conspiracy to Defraud the US After Withdrawing Funding for Wuhan
But let’s now analyze Morens’ case in detail, as reported in the statement from the Attorney General’s Office for the District of Maryland:
Morens, Co-Conspirator 1, Co-Conspirator 2, and others conspired during the COVID-19 pandemic to defraud the United States after NIH terminated Co-Conspirator 1’s grant. NIH terminated the grant, Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence, based on allegations that COVID-19 emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in Wuhan, China. NIAID awarded the grant to Company 1 and Co-Conspirator 1, who made a subaward to the WIV.
Following the termination, Morens and Co-Conspirator 2 pledged to help Co-Conspirator 1 restore the termination of the bat coronavirus grant and counter the narrative that COVID-19 leaked from a lab. In anticipation that their communications would be requested through FOIA Requests, Morens, Co-Conspirator 1, and Co-Conspirator 2 agreed in writing to intentionally hide their communications from public view by corresponding using Morens’s personal Gmail account, rather than his official NIH email account.
The co-conspirators used Morens’s personal Gmail account to exchange non-public NIH information; correspond about their efforts to influence NIH to fund Company 1; exchange edits to drafts of letters addressed to NIH leadership for Company 1 and Co-Conspirator 1; and “back-channel” information to Senior NIAID Official 1. According to court documents, each of these matters fell within Morens’s role as senior advisor and constituted federal records that needed to be created, maintained, and exchanged on government systems.
All these highly documented and detailed investigations of the Wuhan-Gates cycle instead prove Fauci’s covert direction under the aegis of the CIA, with which he has always collaborated, so much so as to induce the former director of US Intelligence ODNI, Havril Haines (an expert in bioweapons and former deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency itself) to be the main accomplice (if not director…) in the conspiracy aimed at concealing the laboratory origin of SARS-Cov-2 for which Morens will be convicted.
All links to previous Gospa News investigation have been added in the aftermath
The U.S. Department of Justice just announced in a press release that Former Senior NIAID Official Pleads Guilty to Charges Connected to Concealing Federal Records During COVID-19 Pandemic.
David M. Morens served as a Senior Advisor to the Director (specifically in NIAID’s Office of the Director) from 2006 through 2022, and was also a long-time senior advisor to former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The charges pertain to the notorious NIH grant titled Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence that funded Peter Daszak, Ralph Baric et al. to perform their gain-of-function research on SARS bat coronaviruses with their colleague Shi Zhengli at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The Judicial Details of DOJ Statement
The gist of the federal criminal charge to which Morens pleaded guilty is, according to the press release:
Morens, Co-Conspirator 1, Co-Conspirator 2, and others conspired during the COVID-19 pandemic to defraud the United States after NIH terminated Co-Conspirator 1’s grant. NIH terminated the grant, Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence, based on allegations that COVID-19 emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in Wuhan, China. NIAID awarded the grant to Company 1 and Co-Conspirator 1, who made a subaward to the WIV.
Following the termination, Morens and Co-Conspirator 2 pledged to help Co-Conspirator 1 restore the termination of the bat coronavirus grant and counter the narrative that COVID-19 leaked from a lab. In anticipation that their communications would be requested through FOIA Requests, Morens, Co-Conspirator 1, and Co-Conspirator 2 agreed in writing to intentionally hide their communications from public view by corresponding using Morens’s personal Gmail account, rather than his official NIH email account.
The co-conspirators used Morens’s personal Gmail account to exchange non-public NIH information; correspond about their efforts to influence NIH to fund Company 1; exchange edits to drafts of letters addressed to NIH leadership for Company 1 and Co-Conspirator 1; and “back-channel” information to Senior NIAID Official 1. According to court documents, each of these matters fell within Morens’s role as senior advisor and constituted federal records that needed to be created, maintained, and exchanged on government systems.
I perceive this criminal charge and guilty plea for conspiracy to defraud the US government as akin to Al Capone being convicted for income tax evasion. The real issue here is not the concealment of public records and communications, but the illegal creation and subsequent illegal concealment of a bio-weapon in a Chinese biosecurity lab that resulted in incalculable death and damage to all of humanity.
Though Morens will likely serve time behind bars, his guilty plea and his punishment for this particular act of fraud strike me as a distraction from the elephant in the room.
Morens was one of Fauci’s top advisors, and I find it highly conspicuous that he took such a keen personal interest in Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence, which was reviewed by the NIH in January 2014—the beginning of the period covered by Dr. Fauci’s preemptive pardon, as I documented in my post President Biden’s Preemptive Pardon of Fauci.
This story originally appeared in Jacobin on Aug. 17, 2026. It is shared here with permission.
It’s a “Hot Socialist Summer,” proclaims the New York City Democratic Socialists of America Instagram. Indeed, it has been a summer of socialist victories, with more socialists winning electoral office in June than ever, including Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, who are headed to Congress; and the socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is visible everywhere, from announcements about an impending municipally owned grocery store with cheap food staples to the Knicks victory parade to announcing huge gains in back pay for the city’s deliveristas, those who deliver food for DoorDash and Uber Eats.
All this good news feels somehow related to the celebratory atmosphere of summer, a time of cookouts in the park and block parties and dips in bodies of water. But our ability to enjoy summer is deeply tied to the success of the socialist project. That’s because capitalism is ruining summer, and dear reader, only socialism can save it.
Let’s start with the worst part: the weather, brought to you by fossil fuel capitalism. When we think of summer, most of us nostalgically recall childhoods playing on the block, going to the beach, running around barefoot, families grilling at the park — all made possible by the warm, sunny weather. People are still doing all those fun things, but there have been fewer days on which to do them as of late, because the climate crisis has brought some truly horrible weather.
This summer has been marred by deadly heat waves all over the world, including in places like Spain, which used to be a summer vacation destination but at times reached 109 degrees Fahrenheit this summer. Not to mention the awful air quality, which produced many days we couldn’t go outside, caused by wildfires from Canada — a regular feature of the ongoing climate crisis. And on days that were not too hot or polluted to enjoy the outdoors, we were often pelted with flooding rainstorms. All of these forms of extreme weather, and many others, are products of or wildly exacerbated by the climate crisis.
While Democrats, amply funded by fossil fuel capitalists, run away from climate as an issue, claiming it doesn’t poll well, a rising ecosocialist movement fighting for publicly funded renewable energy and against the vampiric, energy-sucking data centers, and electing politicians who will stand up to the fossil fuel and tech polluters, is our only hope.
Of course, summer 2026 has not been an uninterrupted apocalypse. On some days, the weather has been perfect. But for many, capitalist wealth hoarding means that the places they can go to enjoy these days are limited. Since most people don’t have their own private island, the mass enjoyment of summer requires public space. In New York City — mostly because we had social democratic government and powerful unions in the middle of the twentieth century — we do have great pools, beaches, baseball fields, and shady parks. Ninety years ago this summer, as Ted Hamm recently chronicled for the Indypendent, 50,000 New Yorkers attended the grand opening of a new pool in Sunset Park.
“This is the finest swimming pool in the country,” said then Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, who socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani has cited as a role model, “and it’s all yours.”
That same summer, LaGuardia, who was never anti-capitalist but was closely allied with socialists and revered for his pro-worker policies, opened eleven new pools across the five boroughs, all of which are still open today.
Lifeguards getting ready at Astoria Pool in Astoria Park, Queens, New York. Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
New York has continued in this tradition, and the current socialist administration has done so with enthusiasm and intention. This summer, after seventeen years of disuse, Mayor Mamdani reopened the beautiful art-deco-style Orchard Beach Pavilion, built in 1936 with funding from the Works Progress Administration, now renovated with the historic architecture preserved, with upgraded concessions and communal spaces. Mamdani also expanded the lifeguard program to improve access to its wonderful pools and beaches; the lifeguard union pushed for better pay and bonuses, and the mayor widely publicized those improvements to the job, increasing the number by 150, expanding our access to safe swimming at the city’s fourteen miles of public beaches and seventy-nine outdoor pools. This administration has prioritized summer fun for all, allowing huge free street watch parties during the Knicks playoffs and the World Cup, as well as free outdoor film screenings.
American-style capitalism and its insane work culture also robs us of the time to enjoy summer’s pleasures.
But in much of the United States, people are not so lucky. Good public swimming pools have become harder to find, thanks to austerity and privatization (as well as, in some places, the legacy of segregation). Less than half of Americans live within three miles of a forest. And tragically, 70 percent of our shoreline in the United States is privately owned, with only 10 percent protected by robust public access laws. The rich don’t want to pay taxes to make beautiful public spaces, and they’ve been allowed to not only hoard that wealth but also our most stunning natural resources.
Wrecking the weather and robbing us of beautiful spaces aren’t the only ways that capitalists deprive us of the full fruits of summer. American-style capitalism and its insane work culture also robs us of the time to enjoy summer’s pleasures. As Claire Valdez, a trade unionist and socialist assemblywoman from Queens who was elected to Congress in June, pointed out on the popular Instagram show Subway Takes, New York City has the best beaches, but most people are so busy working that they don’t have enough leisure time to go. The United States is the only rich country that does not obligate bosses to give workers paid vacations; without a union to negotiate such benefits, or fair wages, and with so little else provided — health care, housing, college — many can’t afford to stop working even for a couple weeks.
Socialism is the antidote to the wage slavery and work addiction that the boss class prefers. In fact, socialists invented summer vacation. Ninety years ago, in response to trade union demands and a “holiday movement,” Léon Blum, socialist prime minister of France, mandated paid vacation for all the country’s workers. Blum’s Popular Front government was so committed to summer vacation that it not only required the bosses to allow it but also invested in making summer getaways possible for workers, negotiating with railways to offer vacation packages that workers could afford. Communist governments were also ahead of other countries on summer vacation, requiring employers to offer time off and investing in resorts, campgrounds, and spas where workers could not only relax and return ready to work but also have adventures and experiences outside of work, whether exploring unknown places, engaging in activities like biking, or indulging in the apparently socially sanctioned “resort affair.”
New York City summer benefits enormously from our own socialist history and a current administration eager to govern in that tradition. But as Hamm pointed out in his Indypendent piece on the swimming pools, 1930s working-class New York had a freely flowing spigot of federal money to rely on through the New Deal. Mamdani is trying to do a lot with a very different federal government, one seeking to not to improve summer vacation for working-class people but actually worsen its conditions, even cutting staff and access to cherished public vacation spots like National Parks.
The vibes this summer are strong and the commitment to socialist summer fun meaningful. But it will take a much more fundamental rearrangement of our economy to address climate change, redistribute property and wealth for broadly shared public space, and rewrite labor relations to allow us the real time off that we deserve.
Three authorative religious experts explained n three different footage that Christian Zionism as Zionism, as Talmud, as Star of David, as Israelians origin have not roots with Biblical Israelites and Holy Bible.
They are the orthodox priest Fr. Spyridon Bailey and the American Pastor of different Baptist Churches: Dillon Awes Chuck Baldwin
Fr. Spyridon Bailey is a priest of the Diocese of Great Britain and Western Europe of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, serving in England and Ireland.
2nd footage – The Star of David is not in the Bible
Pastor Dillon Awes was born in Fresno, California. He is a pastor of the Anchor Baptist Church in Oklahoma, which was formerly a satellite church of Stedfast Baptist Church.
3rd footage – The Zionist State has not ties with Biblical Israelites
Pastor Chuck Charles Obadiah Baldwin (born May 3, 1952) is an American right-wing politician, radio host, and as founder he served as pastor of Independent Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.As of 2024 he is leading pastor of Liberty Fellowship in Kalispell, Montana.
He was the presidential nominee of the Constitution Party for the 2008 U.S. presidential election and had previously been its nominee for vice president in 2004. He hosts a daily one-hour radio program, Chuck Baldwin Live, and writes a daily editorial column carried on its website, as well as on VDare. He is a former editor of NewsWithViews.com.
The Analysis of VIDEO Contents & Previous Investigations
“Talmud Blasphemies Christ. You can’t be a be Zionist and an Orthodox Christian”
Fr. Spyridon Bailey said that you can’t be a be Zionist and an Orthodox Christian:
«The Talmudic Faith is Alien to Moses, to Isaac and Jacob. Christians must know that Talmud blasphemies Christ and the Mother of God» the orthodox priest affirmed.
The symbol on Israel’s flag is said to be a sign of Remphan or Moloch
Pastor Dillon Awes explained that the Star of David (or the symbol on Israel’s flag) is said to be a sign of Remphan or Moloch, the ancient pagan deities.
Moloch, or Molech, is an ancient, often feared, deity from the Middle East associated with horrific child sacrifice, particularly in the Hebrew Bible where his worship was condemned as a pagan practice involving burning children to him, sometimes depicted as a bull-headed figure.
The difference among biblical scripture, Israelites and modern politics
Pastor Chuck Baldwin breaks down a major distinction many people overlook: the difference between biblical scripture and modern politics. The biblical concept of Israel refers to an ancient faith community described in the Bible. It was never meant to be a modern political ideology or a shield for modern state policy.
Under administrative detention, hundreds of medical professionals, journalists, and children are held without formal charge or trial, facing severe conditions documented by international monitors. Inside these facilities, they document the harshest living conditions, systemic neglect, and severe physical and psychological tactics.
Pastor Baldwin also argues that Zionism is a fascist and communist movement, writing, according to Wikipedia:
“Anyone who claims to be opposed to globalism and neoconism but denies the pernicious part that Zionism plays in globalismand neoconism is either badly ignorant of what globalism and neoconism really are or is knowingly providing cover for the Zionists—and is, therefore, controlled opposition for Zionists. I believe the latter is true in far, far too many cases. And never forget the fact that at their center Zionists are fascists and communists”
Since today, therefore, this War Daily Summary will no longer contain news only on the war (and related geopolitical issue) in the Middle East, but also on the war in Ukraine and any other international conflicts.
Ukraine Drones funded by EU to Kill Russian Civilians, Moscow Missiles to Target Weapons Industries
Brief analysis by Fabio G.C. Carisio on August, 17, 2026
While the Russian Army continues to advance on the battlefield in Donbas, consolidating its military positions—predicting its complete annexation within a year—the Russian Aerospace Forces are engaged in an asymmetric strategic war against Kiev’s air force.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, using drones paid for by European Union citizens and built in a covert partnership with the US Pentagon and EU countries, continues to target Russia’s energy infrastructure and civilian buildings in a vain attempt to provoke a rebellion among the Russian population, as military bases are too well-protected to be attacked.
In the last few hours, more than a thousand kamikaze drones have been launched, killing at least six Russian civilians and seriously damaging the Wildberries (Russian Amazon) online distribution centers alone.
Without having to contend with the costs borne by the European Union, the leader of the pro-Nazi Zelensky regime can waste drones at will on massacres of civilians, as recently happened in Nizhnekamsk.
While Russian President Vladimir Putin, who could level much of Kiev in a single night with undetectable hypersonic missiles, to avoid a massacre of “Ukrainian brothers,” limits himself to striking the military and energy infrastructure that is bringing Ukraine’s military apparatus to its knees, increasingly short of Patriot air defense rockets.
But the escalation triggered by Zelensky, with the applause of US President Trump, has inevitably led Russia to raise the level of retaliation and also include civilian targets, such as ships in the port of Odessa.
Until Putin loses patience and carries out a massacre in Kiev… But from that moment on, thanks to vile Western propaganda, every day will be a good day for the start of World War III.
Iran says Hormuz remains closed despite Oman route deal
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi says the Strait of Hormuz remains closed despite a temporary transit agreement with Oman, insisting that Washington must return to its commitments under the memorandum of understanding before the waterway is fully opened.
US President Donald Trump says that all mines have been cleared and detonated from the strait’s international waters and that Tehran has received warnings that any ships laying new mines will be “destroyed”.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs details a temporary arrangement between the Islamic Republic and Oman concerning the Strait of Hormuz, while asserting that reopening of the waterway hinges on realization of Tehran’s demands, according to Iranian Press TV.
Remarking on Tuesday, Kazem Gharibabadi detailed the arrangement that he identified as tentative pending establishment of a “permanent route” during further negotiations between the two sides that are expected to take between 30 and 60 days.
Iran closed the chokepoint following the launch of the latest bout of unprovoked American-Israeli aggression against the country on February 28.
According to Gharibabadi, under the arrangement involving Iran and Oman, the southern route of the Strait of Hormuz will be closed. As part of its violations of the MoU, the US would try to illegally escort vessels through the southern route that runs along the Omani coastline.
Oman has accepted the closure, the official said, adding that the move would be communicated to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Under the arrangement, “vessels entering the Persian Gulf will use Iranian waters, while vessels leaving the Persian Gulf will use Omani territorial waters,” the senior diplomat stated. “Vessels would pass through Iranian waters in both directions,” he added.
He described the arrangement as functioning “like a two-way highway,” with a total width of approximately seven nautical miles.
Gharibabadi stressed that the arrangement agreed with with Oman does not mean that the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened immediately. He said the issue of the arrangement and the question of reopening the strait were separate matters.
Israeli forces raid UNRWA training centre in East Jerusalem, raise Israeli flag
Israeli far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvircelebrated after Israeli forces raided a facility operated by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, in occupied East Jerusalem, expelling employees and hoisting an Israeli flag in the courtyard.
UNRWA and experts say it is a direct breach of international law.
But after the previous bombings of various UNRWA offices and the massacres of UN officials in Palestine, UN Secretary General António Guterres (who earns $227,000 a year) and his other well-paid aides should stop clowning around on the world stage, resign, or intervene with severe sanctions against Israel and the US, which since 2023 have been protecting Israel’s genocide, as confirmed by dozens of UN reports.
It would be enough to put a resolution to a vote in the General Assembly, bypassing the Security Council, where the US continues to exercise its vote. But the real problem is that many Western countries, including Italy, have effectively protected the massacre committed by Zionists in the Holy Land to speculate on the weapons market.
«Israeli so-called National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced on Tuesday the start of operations to dismantle a vocational training center run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, in the East Al-Quds (Jerusalem) area of Kafr Aqab, near the Qalandiya refugee camp»Al Manar Lebanese TV pointed out.
“Large forces of Israel Police are working together with the relevant authorities to realize the law and get UNRWA out of the area,”Ben Gvir said in a statement.
“An organization whose workers were involved in terrorism, and which served as a front for Hamas time after time, has no right to exist for even another second, and has no place in Jerusalem and the State of Israel.”
Footage from Palestinian media shows Ben Gvir on the scene with Israeli occupation forces at the UNRWA facility.
The Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli forces ordered UNRWA employees to exit the facility and not return.
Ben Gvir’s announcement comes after the Israeli occupation authorities’ Jerusalem municipality this month greenlit a plan to build a road and an “educational complex” over the 82-dunam area.
Explosion in Ammo Depot in Pishchanka, Ukraine, Kills One and Injures 11
An explosion occurred in Pishchanka, Samar District, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, killing one person. Another 11 people were injured.
Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, reported on the consequences of the incident.
The explosion destroyed three private homes. Another 15 houses sustained varying degrees of damage. But according to Russian sources the huge blast happened inside an ammunition depot.
People who were near the epicenter at the time of the explosion were evacuated to a safer location. Access to the hazardous area was temporarily restricted.
Investigators, forensic experts, and other specialized services are working at the site of the explosion in Pishchanka. Oleksandr Hanzha did not specify the cause of the blast, but described the incident as a war crime.
Updates on AUGUST, 25, Breaking News in Video
Vatican Top Diplomat and CIA director together in Moscow for a MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: Peace in Ukeaine
Brief analysis by Fabio G.C. Carisio
Suddenly, as if prompted by the Vatican, on the same day that the Holy See’s top diplomat Paul Richard Gallagher travels to Moscow for a meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, one of the most strategic figures in the United States also rushes to the Russian capital: CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who arrived in Moscow on a US Air Force Boeing C-17, arousing curiosity with his unexpected arrival.
The trip, however, had been planned for at least two days, like that of Pope Leo XIV’s envoy.
The two visits represent two separate and distinct initiatives with different discussions, which remained secret in the case of the head of American counterintelligence.
Both clearly have the aim of attempting the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE of peace negotiations for Ukraine with spokespeople for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had rejected any truce after the ongoing massacres of civilians by the drones of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s army.
Moscow rejected the Peace proposal based on a free trade economic zone in Donbass administered by US: accused of Complicity
Moscow has rejected the possibility of creating a free trade economic zone in Donbass administered by Washington, which was even accused of complicity in Ukrainian attacks vs Russian territory.
The Kremlin thus rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposal to create a free economic zone in Donbas, administered by a third party as a buffer zone under a peace agreement, and reiterated that the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine would be “unacceptable” to Russia.
The external administration of Donbas, proposed by Ukraine, is impossible, as the region is part of Russia, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized today during a briefing.
“Donbas is the territory of the Russian Federation, a federal entity. (…) It is unlikely that a third party could take over the administration of a region of the Russian Federation,”the Kremlin representative stated.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov revealed today that Russia has sent a formal request to the U.S. State Department, detailing intelligence evidence demonstrating the United States’ deep involvement in organizing and carrying out attacks deep inside Russian territory.
According to Lavrov, the evidence shows that the Trump administration was actively involved in helping Ukraine bomb Moscow, St. Petersburg and other places.
«Russia will not forget about Zelensky’s “bloody act” in Starobilsk and will seek justice», Lavrov added in a statement.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe on secret trip in Russia with a Mysterious Flight on a Boeing C-17A
CIA Director John Ratcliffe is in Moscow, Russia, for meetings, sources familiar with the situation told CBS News on Tuesday.
News of his trip comes after a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III transport plane was spotted at a Moscow airport, along with a U.S. diplomatic motorcade. Neither the U.S. nor Russian governments has commented on the identity of the U.S. official in Russia or the purpose of the visit.
The CIA did not immediately comment. It appears to be Ratcliffe’s first known trip to Russia as CIA director, though he has maintained contact with Russian intelligence counterparts.
The CIA has also played a role in recent U.S.-Russia detainee exchanges, including the April 2025 release of a U.S.-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina, whose case Ratcliffe personally negotiated. The agency was also involved in the 2024 prisoner exchange that secured the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan.
Former CIA Director William Burns traveled to Moscow in November 2021, when he met with senior Russian officials and spoke directly with President Vladimir Putin to warn him against invading Ukraine.
Ratcliffe’s visit comes as U.S.-mediated peace talks with Ukraine remain mostly stalled, with the sides still far apart on core issues.
Lavrov and top Vatican diplomat held first Moscow talks since start of special op
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks in Moscow with Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary of the Holy See for Relations with States and International Organizations. who has arrived in Moscow on his first official visit since the beginning of the special military operation.
The sides will discuss international issues and prospects for bilateral cooperation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The Ukraine issue is likely to receive particular attention, including in the context of possible separate consultations on Ukraine at the Vatican. Russian Ambassador to the Holy See Ivan Soltanovsky told TASS that Russia is prepared to take part in such a format.
The central topics were the Ukrainian conflict and possible ways to resolve it, humanitarian cooperation, the situation of Orthodox and Catholics, the situation in the Middle East and other regions, as well as the prospects.
Russia Knocks Out Vessel Supplying Ukraine’s Military in Odessa Strike
Russian forces carried out a strike on a dry cargo ship in the port of Yuzhny, which delivered cargo to the Ukrainian armed forces, as well as port infrastructure facilities, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
“Last night, unmanned aerial vehicles in the Yuzhny port damaged a cargo ship that delivered cargo to Ukraine intended for purposes of the armed forces of Ukraine, as well as port infrastructure facilities used to unload military cargo,” the statement read.
The Russian armed forces continue to launch group strikes against Ukrainian ports and ships targeted in the interests of delivering goods for the armed forces of Ukraine.
In the video below a previous Russian attack on port of Ukraine
Yemeni forces target Saudi oil tanker off Yanbu amid escalation
The Yemeni Armed Forces announced operations targeting a Saudi oil tanker off the coast of Yanbu and Saudi military positions in several areas, as part of Sanaa’s military equation against Saudi Arabia’s aggression.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces were able to target the Saudi oil tanker Amzan in the northern Red Sea, off the coast of Yanbu, with a ballistic missile,” Spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement. “The strike was precise and direct, resulting in a fire on the ship, and the escape of several other ships in the area.”
Saree confirmed that this move “is part of the implementation of the Yemeni Armed Forces’ decision to ban maritime traffic for the Saudi enemy and to enforce a blockade with a blockade.”
Updates on AUGUST, 24, Breaking News in Video
Israeli forces Bombed Gaza, destroying houses, mosques and at least one water desalination facility.
Sources at hospitals in Gaza tell our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic that Israeli air strikes have killed at least eight Palestinians, including two children, since dawn.
Israeli forces have targeted areas in central and southern Gaza, destroying houses, mosques and at least one water desalination facility.
But Israel has released alleged fake claims which said that they “continue to target Hamas weapons depots in the Gaza Strip”, according to a joint statement by the Israeli army and internal security service, Shin Bet.
The statement said Israeli forces carried out attacks in the Shati refugee camp and Deir el-Balah areas in central Gaza and “destroyed two weapons depots belonging to Hamas”.
At least two children are among eight Palestinians killed so far on Monday in Israeli air strikes across Gaza, according to Gaza health officials.
Iran to detain, confiscate violating ships in Strait of Hormuz: PGSA
The Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), Iran’s regulatory body for the Strait of Hormuz, has announced that vessels violating Iranian protocols for the strategic waterway will face restrictions on future passages, including fines, detention, or confiscation, Iranian Press TV has reported.
In a statement posted on its official X account on Sunday, the authority warned cargo owners shipping to and from the Persian Gulf to review the Non-Compliant Vessels (NCV) list prior to chartering in order to avoid potential issues.
Effective immediately, the authority said, any vessel cooperating with listed vessels, including through ship-to-ship (STS) transfers or transshipment, will also be added to the list.
To request removal from the list, vessels must submit a formal application with justifications to info@pgsa.ir, it said.
The announcement comes amid heightened tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy shipments, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.
Iran has warned that it will not tolerate any disruption to its sovereignty over the strategic passage, saying traffic in the waterway will not return to normal unless the United States ends the war and blockade against the country.
Greece moves missile battery to Crete after Iranian threats to US bases in Europe
Greece is moving a Patriot missile battery from the island of Karpathos to the Souda naval base on Crete to bolster air defences, Greek daily Kathimerini is reporting
The move comes about 24 hours after senior Iranian officials threatened possible strikes on US bases on European soil, the paper said.
Greece’s defence ministry and armed forces general staff have been on alert since last week, assessing the threat level and reviewing measures to protect critical infrastructure, according to the report.
The battery, along with its equipment and personnel, departed Karpathos at dawn and was expected to be operational in the wider Souda area within hours, Kathimerini said. The system had been deployed to Karpathos in March as part of a broader plan to shield all sectors of Athens’ flight information region from potential ballistic missile attacks.
Two children killed, seven injured after UAV debris fell on children’s center in Krasnodar
A massive Ukrainian drone attack is being repelled in the Krasnodar Region, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said, adding that debris fell on a private children’s center in Krasnodar, killing two children and injuring seven others, and two adults have been hospitalized.
“The Krasnodar Region is repelling a massive enemy drone attack tonight. Once again, the targets were civilian facilities, peaceful residents, and our children. Drone debris fell on a private children’s center in Krasnodar. Unfortunately, two children died. My deepest condolences to their families. Seven other children were injured and are currently receiving all necessary medical care. Two adults are also in city hospitals. I wish a speedy recovery to everyone,” he wrote on Max.
In the video below the previous Ukrainian UAV’s vs Russian Civilian Buildings that killed Children in Krasnodar (August, 12, 2026 – Novorossiysk)
Ozon’s logistics center in Krasnodar attacked by drone – VIDEO
UAVs have attacked Ozon’s logistics center in Krasnodar, with the strike causing a fire at the warehouse. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties, the company’s press service reported.
“On August 24, a logistics center in Krasnodar was hit by a drone attack. All systems functioned as intended, and we promptly evacuated the staff. Preliminary reports indicate there are no casualties. A major fire has broken out at the warehouse, and emergency services are at the scene,” the report said.
In the video below the second Ozon warehouse attacked in Russia by alleged Ukrainian Drones (August, 23, Orenburg, via ImmaginixConoscer IG)
The company said earlier that the logistics center had suspended the acceptance of shipments, with goods currently at the warehouse to be hidden from the marketplace storefront. Some items will be cancelled or delivered from other warehouses.
If no equivalent goods are available, they will be marked as out of stock, according to the report. Shipments already en route to the warehouse will be rerouted. Ozon will provide sellers with specific information regarding the status of their goods via their marketplace seller accounts and official seller channels on social media.
Ex CIA Johnson: 30 sailors attempted suicide aboard USS Lincoln
Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson and University of Tehran professor Mohammad Marandi told Al Mayadeen that a prolonged confrontation increasingly favors Iran, pointing to mounting military, logistical, economic and political pressure on the United States as Tehran prepares to adopt a more offensive posture.
Speaking during the program The Great Standoff: Iran and the World on Monday night, Johnson argued that Washington faces growing difficulties sustaining its military presence and replenishing advanced weapons, while Marandi said Iran’s ability to endure the consequences of the war is greater because it views itself as defending against an externally imposed aggression.
“Time’s on the side of Iran, not the United States”,Johnson said, arguing that strains within the US military would become increasingly difficult to sustain the longer the conflict continued.
He said those difficulties extend beyond the Navy, citing concerns over suicides and morale across different branches of the US military. “The longer this goes on, the more it wears on the personal morale of individual soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen,” Johnson said.
Johnson mentioned that “One news report indicated that as many as six sailors had tried to jump overboard on the Abraham Lincoln. I had a recently retired US military officer tell me that that was a lie, that the number was probably closer to 30, not just six. And we find that these problems are not confined just to the Navy.”
Beyond personnel pressures, Johnson argued that the United States is increasingly constrained by shortages of advanced weapons and its reliance on foreign supply chains. He said China controls critical materials required to manufacture weapons, including Tomahawk and JASSM cruise missiles, PAC-3 interceptors used by Patriot systems and THAAD missiles.
Iran released the Footage on its Secret Underground Air Base
Footage 1 – Iran has released footage reportedly showing the Aqab 44 Air Base, a military facility built deep underground.
The footage appears to show sections of the facility, highlighting Iran’s underground military infrastructure designed to protect strategic assets from potential attacks.
Footage 2 – Iran has added another significant boost to its missile capabilities! In the latest breakthrough in defense technology, the Ghassem Basir solid-fuel ballistic missile has been unveiled, with a range of 1,200 km+.
With Fatah hypersonic gliders and Khorramshahr-4 heavy warheads, this new missile system is designed for rapid mobility and high-precision targeting.
Russia Ships Nuclear Reactors To Turkey. Pakistan is supplying Atomic Watheads to Ankara?
1st Footage – Turkey’s first nuclear power plant has reached another construction milestone, with Russia’s Rosatom delivering four steam generators for Unit 4 of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant.
The massive components were manufactured in southern Russia before travelling around 3,000 kilometres by sea to the construction site on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.
Once operational, Akkuyu’s four reactors are expected to play a major role in meeting the country’s growing electricity demand.
2nd Footage – Viral claim: Pakistan transferring nuclear missiles to Turkey Reports and social media posts are widely circulating claiming that Pakistan has decided to transfer its strategic nuclear capabilities to the Republic of Turkey.
According to these viral posts, Pakistan plans to deploy 170 nuclear missiles equipped with 16 warheads to Ankara, effectively placing these strategic assets under Turkish command.
This had been happened after the signing of “Mecca Deal” to Defense agreement among Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia too. However, this news is not officially confirmed by any Pakistani or Turkish officials.
Pakistan is a declared nuclear weapons state and maintains that its nuclear arsenal is under strict national command and control. Turkey is a NATO member and hosts US nuclear weapons at Incirlik Air Base under NATO arrangements, but does not own nuclear weapons.
Neither the Pakistan Foreign Office, Pakistan military, nor Turkish government agencies have issued statements confirming such a transfer.
As of this writing, the claim remains unverified and appears to originate from unconfirmed social media posts.
Updates on AUGUST, 23, Breaking News in Video
Iran to attack other oil export routes if Gulf countries support US sanctions
Iran is ready not only to strike oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, but also to attack other oil transportation routes from the Persian Gulf zone, if regional countries join the anti-Iranian sanctions of the United States, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei said.
“We are telling all the neighboring countries not to join the US economic war on Iran, or Tehran will view them as enemies,” he was quoted as saying by the Islamic Republic’s state-run broadcaster.
He added that if the neighboring states join the US sanctions, “not a single drop of oil will be shipped from the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.”
In this case, Iran will “view other routes of oil export from the region as its target.”
In his words, the Islamic Republic does not want the conflict to spread. “But if Iran’s neighbors support the US in its economic war, Tehran will damage their interests,”Rezaei said.
Two days ago (read below updates on August, 21)Iran’s Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned a new round of US economic sanctions against the country, stating that the measures amount to “economic terrorism” and “crimes against humanity.”
Dry cargo ship carrying weapons hit by Russian strikes in port of Chernomorsk, Odessa region
The Russian armed forces have hit a dry cargo ship delivering weapons, as well as seven fuel storage tanks in the port of Chernomorsk of the Odessa Region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
“With the help of high-precision strikes and drones, the following targets were hit in the Odessa Region’s port of Chernomorsk: a dry cargo ship, delivering weapons and military equipment to Ukraine; seven fuel storage tanks, and port infrastructure where military cargo was unloaded and stored,” the ministry said.
Russia has attacked the Odesa region for 11 hours, using a combination of 17 “Banderol” missiles, 4 Х-59 and Х-31 missiles, approximately 10 air-dropped bombs, and about 70 drones, according to monitoring reports.
Israeli army admits firing on car carrying the 5yo Hind Rajab: rights groups see “charade” not justice
The Israeli occupation forces acknowledged on Wednesday that their personnel fired on a vehicle carrying five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in Gaza in January 2024, and announced a criminal investigation into the incident.
Hind was martyred after her family’s vehicle came under fire while they were attempting to flee Gaza City amid an Israeli military advance in northern Gaza. Her body was recovered days after she made a desperate, hours-long emergency call to the Palestinian Red Crescent on January 29, 2024.
She was found inside a vehicle riddled with bullets alongside six relatives. Two Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics who had been dispatched to rescue her were also killed.
The Israeli occupation had previously denied that its forces were present in the area at the time of the incident.
Five-year-old Hind Rajab’s last phone call from a car surrounded by her slain relatives shocks the world; now her killing is one of two Gaza cases Israel’s army says it will investigate. The second case involves 15 paramedics crushed in their convoy in southern Gaza.
«But critics note that only 0.18% of such cases ever reach prosecution, and that high-profile incidents like the World Central Kitchen strike are excluded, leaving families with little faith in justice»Al Jazeera’s Joel Evans reported in the video above.
Mossad chief holds call with Syrian FM week before aggression
The head of “Israel’s” Mossad spy agency, Roman Gofman, held a phone call with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani last week during which they discussed Turkey’s military presence in Syria, three people familiar with the matter said, Reuters reported.
The call, which the sources said took place on August 14, came days before “Israel” launched airstrikes on a Syrian military airbase in the north of the country on Tuesday.
It marks one of the highest-level contacts yet between “Israel” and the new Syrian government since the fall of former dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2014.
Syria was “on the verge of breaching” a security understanding with “Israel” by allowing Turkish forces to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office claimed late on Tuesday.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office accused Damascus of ignoring repeated Israeli warnings against the move, saying that the deployment “would pose a threat to Israel’s security.”
“Israel and Syria agreed to a status quo in security matters, which Syria was on the verge of breaching by permitting Turkish troops to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo,” the office said in a statement.
The statement came hours after Israeli aggression hit Syria’s Abu al-Duhur military airbase in eastern Idlib, the first such strike on the base since Bashar al-Assad’s fall in December 2024. Meanwhile, the Israeli military has not officially confirmed carrying out the attack.
Updates on AUGUST, 22, Breaking News in Video
UN rights office for Palestine calls out Israeli army WAR CRIMES over attacks on Gaza
The UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory says the latest killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces in Gaza may be war crimes, highlighting the ongoing attacks on the enclave’s police, according to Al Jazeera.
“These incidents are a stark reminder that, despite occasional drops in the number of reported attacks, civilians throughout Gaza remain exposed to persistent, unpredictable, lethal harm,” it said in a statement on Friday.
It said the reported killings of at least 22 Palestinians in Gaza between August 13 and 19 alone, including women and children, “may amount to war crimes and other atrocity crimes”.
The UN office also called the “pattern” of attacks on police personnel and facilities in Gaza “alarming”, including an attack on Gaza City’s municipal police headquarters on Wednesday that killed eight officers and a 13-year-old girl.
It says it recorded 18 Israeli attacks on police personnel across Gaza since January, with 77 Palestinians killed, including six children and four women.
Under international humanitarian law, it says, police are protected civilians, unless they are actively and directly participating in hostilities.
New US Sanctions against members of the International Criminal Court.
Based on the same executive order with which Donald Trump authorized sanctions against UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, Marco Rubio announced new measures against members of the International Criminal Court.
This time, it was the turn of Tomoko Akane, judge and president of the Court, and Abdoulaye Seye, a lawyer for the ICC Prosecutor’s Office who was investigating the Israeli case.
Both will be subject to sanctions that include, among other measures, a ban on entry to the United States and a freeze on any assets held in the country, as well as exclusion from the US financial system.
This is not the first time Washington has targeted ICC members: last year, the Trump administration imposed sanctions against several judges and officials of the Court, including Prosecutor Karim Khan, who was targeted after the issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
VITAL VIDEO – At Night Turkey secretly deployed massive weapons systems into Syria. How and Why…
What was feared has happened. Israel has made an indirect move against Turkey…. In the video below a medley of many social footages on Turkish military reaction.
Turkey condemned the strikes, while Israel said it was acting to prevent a potential Turkish military deployment at the Syrian base—an allegation Ankara has denied. Washington is now working on a deconfliction mechanism to prevent accidental military clashes between Turkey, Israel and Syria. (Reuters)
A senior Israeli official revealed that intelligence was shared with the United States prior to Israeli strikes on Abu al-Duhur Airport in the Idlib countryside in the latest day (details below in August, 18 updates), after US ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack expressed concern that the operations constitute an unnecessary escalation.
Yesterday, Israeli forces advanced with tanks and vehicles in southern Quneitra ((details below in August, 21 updates),
Yesterday Turkey’s Ministry of Justice has asked Interpol to issue Red Notices for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an Israeli official on genocide charges, Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced on Friday (details below in August, 21 updates).
VIDEO LEGEND UNDER THE VIDEO
Footage 1 – Turkey is secretly deploying massive weapons systems into Syria under cover of darkness, directed by MIT intelligence. The buildup follows Israeli airstrikes on a Syrian airbase and signals Ankara is preparing for a potential military confrontation with Israel. US envoy warns of direct clash…
Footage 2 – Turkey is reportedly concerned about the possibility of a direct military confrontation or war with the Israeli military inside Syria! It is now fully determined to send Israel a strong and clear message.
Footage 3 (grey part in the general video but visible in the footage below)– According to information provided by a Syrian journalist, Turkey has deployed approximately 200-250 armored vehiclesand 20 tanks along the southwestern Syrian front. This deployment is believed to coincide with recent Israeli air strikes in Syria.
Footage 4 – The Turkish Bayraktar TB3 unmanned aircraft is displayed for the first time at one of the exhibitions – It features radar detection combat skills – Submarine detection using acoustic sensors – Carrying heavy and guided missiles, stealthy with high capabilities
Footage 5 – As part of the NATO 2026 Summit Defense Industry Forum, a high-level reception was held at the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) facilities in Kahramankazan, hosted by Haluk Görgün, Chairman of the Defense Industry Directorate of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey. The program, which highlighted the capabilities of the Turkish defense industry, international collaboration, and alliance spirit, is expected to attract widespread participation.
Footage 6 and 7 – No one knows for certain what Turkey is planning! However, it is believed that #Ankara is making these extensive preparations to deliver a strong response to the Israeli airstrikes carried out last Tuesday.
Israel has relocated 190th Squadron of AH-64A Apache attack helicopters near Syrian, Lebanon borders
“Erdogan is an anti-Semitic dictator who massacred Kurds, harbors Hamas terrorists, occupies half of Cyprus, and imprisons a record number of journalists and political opponents. Now he is trying to extend his aggression against Israel into Syria. Israel will not tolerate this. Erdogan’s pathetic attempt to intimidate the leaders and soldiers of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, will not succeed,”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement after the Turkish Justice Minister announced an arrest warrant for him yesterday.
Israel has fully relocated the 190th Squadron (“Magic Touch”) — operating AH-64A Apache attack helicopters — to Ramat David Airbase in the north, near the borders with Syria and Lebanon, the IDF confirmed.
The permanent move from southern Ramon Airbase is intended to boost rapid-response capabilitie…
In the second footage of the video a Turkish miltary deployement in Syria
China rejects US demand on Iran
China has refused to join a US plan to “squash” Iran’s economy, rejecting Washington’s push to be part of the “toughest sanctions in history” against the Islamic Republic.
On Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on American allies and other countries to choose sides and stop doing business with Iran, as Washington prepares what he touted as “the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world.”
In an interview with CNBC, Bessent described the plan, expected to be unveiled on Monday, as “a one-two punch” combining a naval blockade with “the toughest sanctions in history.” He claimed it would “squash” the Iranian economy and “collapse this regime.”
Beijing, however, has rejected Washington’s call.
“Regarding the Iran issue, sanctions and pressure do not help resolve the problem,” Reuters quoted a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington as saying. “China calls on the relevant parties to take responsible actions and resolve the issue through political and diplomatic means.”
The Russian Army is steadily choking off Ukraine’s fuel supplies, and the recent strike on the KLO fuel depot in Brovary is yet another nail in the coffin of Ukraine’s military mobility.
On the night of August 20, Russian forces struck the KLO fuel and lubricants depot in Brovary, a city just northeast of Kiev, that was storing up to 8,000 cubic meters of fuel intended for Ukrainian forces.
Footage filmed by an eyewitness at the industrial site quickly spread across social media. The depot has ceased operations, according to Ukrainian media reports, and the company said that no site employees were injured.
Building a new gas station costs around $1.2 million, while protecting it against drone attacks costs about $44,800. Ukrainian fuel station network WOG claims that fully restoring a single station can cost up to $1.6 million. Depending on the extent of the damage, repairs can take up to ten weeks.
Since April 2026, Russia has been intensively targeting Ukrainian gas stations, according to Ukrainian media. The extent of the damage is being downplayed by the Ukrainian side. As early as July 6, Ekonomichna Pravda reported that 200 gas stations had been hit. Despite Russia’s military campaign, Ukrainian newspapers have stubbornly continued to cite that figure through the end of August.
Drone strike on Ukraine shopping centre kills six, injures 103
A Russian drone strike hit a major shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, killing six people and injuring 103, including eleven children. Officials said the attack came in two waves, with the second strike occurring as emergency crews were responding to the scene.
10 MINUTES OF NIGHTMARES’ VIDEO! The Major Houthi Attacks on Pro-Saudi Forces in Yemen
Houthis released a major video showing strikes against pro-Saudi forces in Yemen. Footage shows attacks on personnel and equipment in the southwest of the country.
Updates on AUGUST, 21, Breaking News in Video
Turkey requests Interpol red notice for Netanyahu over Sumud Flotilla
Turkey’s Ministry of Justice has asked Interpol to issue Red Notices for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an Israeli official on genocide charges, Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced on Friday.
“Pursuant to the arrest warrants issued on 14 July 2026 for Benjamin Netanyahu and Afek Moskovitch on charges of genocide, our Ministry of Justice requested that the Ministry of Interior seek Interpol Red Notices for their international apprehension. The relevant documents have also been forwarded to our Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the minister said in a statement posted on X.
Benjamin Netanyahu and Afek Moskovitch are standing trial for crimes against humanity, genocide, aggravated unlawful deprivation of liberty, intentional injury, torture and ill-treatment, damage to property, aggravated robbery, and the hijacking or seizure of means of transport.
“The charges relate to the armed intervention against civilians delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza in international waters and the subsequent detention of activists.”
Ship traffic through Strait of Hormuz slides as peace talks stopped. Oil prices stay elevated
Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz dropped on Thursday compared with the previous day amid growing safety concerns in the Middle East, as US-Iran peace talks remain stalled, Reuters reports.
Citing preliminary data from ship-tracking company Kpler, Reuters reported that seven commodity vessels transited the waterway on Thursday, down from 14 ships on Wednesday. Of Thursday’s total, four vessels were entering the Gulf and three were exiting.
No supertankers or liquefied natural gas carriers were recorded passing through the narrow chokepoint, according to the data.
Oil prices held largely steady on Friday, with Brent crude futures gaining 4 cents, or 0.04 percent, to reach $93.82 a barrel as of 01:42 GMT.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slipped 6 cents, or 0.06 percent, to trade at $86.78.
The market remains on track for a second straight weekly gain as the stalemated US-Iran conflict continues to disrupt Middle East oil supplies.
Iran: New US sanctions amount to ‘economic terrorism,’ ‘crimes against humanity’
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned a new round of US economic sanctions against the country, stating that the measures amount to “economic terrorism” and “crimes against humanity.”
In a statement issued on Thursday, the ministry said the new sanctions, announced by the US government on the anniversary of the 1953 coup in Iran, demonstrate the continuation of decades of hostility toward the Iranian people.
“The new US sanctions are not only another indication of the continuation of 73 years of hostility by US policymakers toward the Iranian people, but also demonstrate the anti-human, lawless and hegemonic nature of the US government,”the statement said.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to financially punish any country providing an economic “lifeline” to Iran, as he declared an “economic D-Day” against Tehran.
The threat, six months into the US’s costly conflict with Iran, is Trump’s latest attempt to wield US economic power to achieve his foreign policy objectives, after a series of damaging trade wars earlier in his second term in office.
But Trump’s leverage over China and Russia, two important trade partners with Iran, is limited, analysts say. Russia is already under sweeping US sanctions and operates largely outside the US-led economic framework. China, meanwhile, has repeatedly shown it is willing to ignore US sanctions when doing so serves its own economic interests.
Israeli occupation turns West Bank Palestinian homes into military posts
Israeli occupation forces raided the West Bank town of Yaabad, southwest of Jenin, on Thursday evening and seized a Palestinian home, converting it into a military post.
Local sources told the Palestinian Wafa news agency that occupation forces informed homeowner Hamed Hamarsha that they would maintain control of his home for two days.
Yaabad has faced repeated Israeli occupation raids in recent months, including home invasions, the establishment of checkpoints, the closure of entrances, and restrictions on Palestinian movement.
In a separate incident, Israeli occupation forces raided and damaged the belongings and furniture inside a Palestinian home in Qusra, south of Nablus.
Qusra Mayor Abdul Azim Wadi told Wafa that occupation forces had converted the home of Yusuf Abdel Salam into a military post after besieging it for 12 consecutive days.
On Thursday evening, the forces destroyed the home’s belongings and furniture and threw them through the windows, according to Wadi.
The homeowner is currently staying in another besieged home after occupation soldiers forced him and his family to leave their residence, claiming that the area had been designated a “closed military zone.”
Israeli occupation intensifies attacks across southern Lebanon
Israeli occupation forces carried out a series of attacks across southern Lebanon on Thursday, including demolitions, artillery shelling, drone activity and the burning of homes, amid continued violations of the ceasefire.
The attacks targeted several towns and areas across the southern governorates, according to local reports.
In the Marjayoun district, Israeli occupation forces carried out a demolition operation on the outskirts of Mais al-Jabal and another in the town of Al-Tiri in the Bint Jbeil district.
An Israeli drone also dropped explosive material near the Ali al-Taher area in the Nabatieh region, were a few days ago 3 children were exterminated within their family
In Talsah, in the Marjayoun district, Israeli occupation forces set fire to several homes.
An Israeli Merkava tank subsequently shelled the outskirts of Baraachit in the Bint Jbeil district with several rounds.
Earlier Thursday, a major explosion was reported in the area between Zawtar al-Sharqiyah and Yohmor al-Shqif, following another explosion in the al-Mashaa area of Mansouri, which was also subjected to artillery fire.
The continued attacks come despite the ceasefire, with Israeli occupation forcesmaintaining military operations across southern Lebanon and continuing to strike towns and villages, including through warplanes and drones.
Israeli forces advance with tanks and vehicles in southern Quneitra
Israeli occupation forces advanced on Thursday with two tanks and three military vehicles toward Tal al-Dariyat in the southern countryside of Quneitra, according to local Syrian sources.
The sources also reported that an Israeli occupation patrol advanced into the Tal al-Karoum area in the central countryside of Quneitra.
The Israeli occupation continues to carry out near-daily incursions into the Quneitra and Daraa countryside, accompanied by the establishment of temporary military checkpoints, searches of civilians and vehicles, and raids on homes.
The incursions have also involved the detention and interrogation of Syrians, as well as the bulldozing of agricultural land, according to local sources.
The old video below shows Israeli that tanks was now stationed in towns and villages in Syria’s southwest since 2024…
Yemen targets Saudi sites in Najran after airspace violation
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced that Yemeni forces had carried out two military operations using drones in Saudi Arabia’s Najran region, claiming that both operations successfully achieved their objectives.
Brigadier Saree said the first drone targeted a sensitive site at Najran Airport, while the second targeted Saudi Aramco’s facilities in Najran.
He asserted the operations were conducted as a response to what he called violations by the Saudi regime, including the use of drones in the airspace over Yemen’s Saada province.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces will continue to protect Yemen’s sovereignty against any violation and consolidate this equation,” Saree concluded.
In the video below one of the previous attacks by Houtis on a Yemeni Red Sea Port
Ukraine election debate grows as ousted Defense Minister Fedorov challenges Wartime Politics
Ukraine’s ousted defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for elections, intensifying a debate over political accountability during the war with Russia.
While most Ukrainians oppose holding elections during wartime, growing concerns about government accountability are adding pressure on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Protesters in Kyiv said the recent government reshuffle showed that Ukrainians feel they are not being heard.
Opposition MP Oleksii Honcharenko questioned how elections could be held while missiles are falling, nearly one million Ukrainians are serving in the military and millions remain abroad.
Fedorov has argued Ukraine must find a way to restore the democratic process if the war continues for years. The debate highlights the challenge of maintaining democracy during a prolonged war. Al Jazeera’s Audrey MacAlpine reports from Kyiv.
Updates on AUGUST, 20, Breaking News in Video
Iran-Iraq ties built to resist Zionist meddling: Ghalibaf in Baghdad honored Generals Soleimani and al-Muhandis martyred by Trump
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday and delivered a speech at the site where General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were martyred, paying tribute to the two leaders of the Axis of Resistance, before the monument on these Iranian and Iraqi heores.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in Baghdad during a speech before the monument on the Iranian and Iraqi heores General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis
Ghalibaf said the US government had assassinated “the two heroes of the Axis of Resistance who saved the region from ISIS”,and said Iran’s resistance capabilities had been demonstrated during the Ramadan War.
He further stressed that his visit to Iraq was part of a new regional approach focused on bilateral cooperation with countries in the region, without foreign meddling. “Today, everyone has come to recognize the Zionist entity’s ugly nature”, Ghalibaf stressed.
Iranian Parliament Speaker: US is behind regional crises
Ghalibaf affirmed that during his visit to Iraq, he would meet with senior Iraqi government officials and politicians and participate in the Arbaeen commemorations for the martyred Iranian leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei,Lebanese TV Al Mayadeen has reported.
Just during this religious event, on July, 30, a joint Saudi-US struck on positions of Popular Mobilization Forces (PMU), commonly known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, across the country, which have killed at least 20 resistance fighters and wounded 32 others (details here).
Iranian Parliament speaker also described relations between Iran and Iraq as deeply rooted, saying they reflected ties between two neighboring countries based on a shared destiny, adding that past experiences would guide the two countries toward a bright future.
During his meeting with Amidi, Ghalibaf said Iran and Iraq have recognized that the United States and its policies constitute a principal factor behind the region’s problems.
He said Washington is responsible for problems affecting the Gulf and obstacles facing regional energy markets, linking them to the United States’ reliance on military intervention and war.
“America approached the Gulf states and the region with the aim of plundering and looting their resources,” Ghalibaf said.
The Russian Armed Forces liberated the settlements of Matyashevo and Nikolaipolye in the DPR
The Russian Armed Forces liberated the settlements of Matyashevo and Nikolaipolye in the DPR, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reports.
3 SHOKING VIDEOS – Russia Carried out a massive missile attack on Kiev WIPING Weapons Facilities and Warehouse
Russia carried out a massive missile attack on Kyiv in the night on August, 19, alongside 168 drones, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 40
Last night, August, 19, Kiev was under attack again. In the capital of the Ukraine has received dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles aimed at logistics and industrial facilities.
More than 25 missiles have struck Kyiv, including Iskander-M ballistic missiles, allegedly North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles, and 3M22 Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles.
Additionally, Tu-95MS and Tu-160 strategic bombers launched Kh-101 cruise missiles, while a Buyan-M-class corvette launched several 3M14 Kalibr cruise missiles, which are expected to enter Ukrainian airspace soon.
Fires were recorded on the territory of the Antonov plant,whose capacity can be used to assemble long-range UAVs. Heat tags of fires are also marked in the area of the railway junction to the south of the enterprise (video below).
Two more groups of targets were hit in Svyatoshinsky and Darnitsky districts of Kiev. In particular, fires were recorded in the vicinity of the large Darnitsa railway station, which serves industrial facilities located in its vicinity.
In Brovary, the Russian Armed Forces attacked a fuel storage facility near a city railway junction. There have been numerous fires in the area of the facility, but it is impossible to talk about damage to fuel tanks until additional satellite images are available.
In the Boryspil area, the target of the raid was the Zamler Group logistics complex, the territory of which could be used to store dual-use goods: commercial and military ones. A strong fire in the warehouse was captured by the Ukrainian media (video below).
In addition, the Ukraine nnounced an attack by “Geraniums” at the Reni checkpoint on the border of the Ukraine and Moldova. The fact of the attack is indirectly confirmed by thermal tags in the area of the border crossing.
Russian troops continue to take advantage of the lack of anti-ballistic missile weapons in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As can be seen from the footage from the field, it is these munitions that ensure the destruction of the most important targets, such as logistics hubs or components of large industrial areas
Two explosions hit the regional headquarters of the National Police of Ukraine: 2 cops Killed
Footage filmed in Zhytomyr shows the moment two explosions hit a building housing the regional headquarters of the National Police of Ukraine on August 19.
Ukrainian officials said Russian Banderol-type drones struck the building, killing two police officers and injuring at least 20 people. The attack caused a fire on the roof and upper floors of the building.
Ex-deputy head of Zelensky’s office Mudraya detained
Irina Mudraya, deputy head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office, who was sacked amid a corruption scandal, has been detained and will spend the night in a detention facility, Verkhovna Rada lawmaker Alexey Goncharenko (designated as terrorist and extremist in Russia) said on Wednesday.
Irina Mudraya
“Irina Mudraya has been detained. She is currently under an investigative procedure at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine [NABU]. She will stay during this night at a temporary detention facility,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
“The Americans are building this personnel reserve from the NABU people. And they already have a [reserve] for all the bodies that will be in the competition. They took the customs away from us, the BEB [the Economic Security Bureau], ARMU [National Agency of Ukraine for Asset Recovery and Management] will be taken now, NABU, SAP,” she stated.
“Klimenko will win again, and that’s it, and he’ll secure a second term for seven years, and that will be the end for everyone,” Mudraya noted.
A video from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) about corruption in the highest echelons of power contains a recording of Mudraya’s conversation with a former Rada deputy, in which she says she is unhappy with the lack of control over head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) Alexander Klimenko.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies launched a special operation against a criminal group led by a former and a current member of the Verkhovna Rada, which includes officials from Zelensky’s office. NABU later said the criminal group includes Mudraya, an ex-Rada deputy, and the chairman of a state bank.
Updates on AUGUST, 19, Breaking News in Video
Deadly Gaza City drone attack by IDF hits police post: 9 Killed
A total of nine people have now been reported killed by the Israeli drone attack in central Gaza City, according to a local ambulance source cited by our colleagues on the ground.
In the past hour, a drone attack targeted a police post here in Gaza City. The attack happened during a busy time in the central part of the city, near the municipality and a city park which was filled with people, including children.
A few hours ago, another attack targeted a motorcycle in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. One person was reported killed in that attack.
Israeli army to hold its positions in Gaza
The Israeli military will not withdraw from the so-called Yellow Line and will hold its positions in the Gaza Strip, while Israel will not change its approach toward targeted operations against armed radicals, Dmitri Gendelman, adviser to the Israeli prime minister’s office, told TASS.
“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces – TASS) will not retreat from the ‘Yellow Line’, will remain in its current positions and will continue to counter any threats to its forces and citizens. Israel will not change its approach to targeted killings of militants either,”he said after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Russia’s Submarine Built To Launch Devastating Poseidon Nuclear Drones begins Sea Trials
Russia’s Project 09851 Khabarovsk special-purpose nuclear submarine appears to have begun its first factory sea trials after being photographed leaving Severodvinsk on August 17. The voyage takes Russia’s first submarine designed from the outset around the Poseidon underwater weapon from shipyard construction into at-sea testing.
Khabarovsk was laid down at Sevmash on July 27, 2014. It was rolled out of its construction hall on November 1, 2025, and physically lowered into the water later that month before undergoing final outfitting and dockside tests.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the submarine was built to deploy modern underwater weapons, including robotic systems. Its detailed specifications remain classified, but it is widely assessed to carry up to six Poseidon vehicles.
Poseidon is an autonomous, nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone designed to travel across intercontinental distances. Instead of flying through the radar and interceptor networks built to detect ballistic missiles, it approaches its target beneath the ocean.
Iran downed over 200 enemy aircraft during US-Israeli aggression: IRGC deputy chief
The deputy chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says Iran’s air defense systems shot down more than 200 enemy aircraft, including drones and manned aircraft, during the recent US-Israeli aggression,Iranian Press Tv has reported
An Iranian strike in March, 29, 2026 on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia destroyed a U.S. E-3 Sentry AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft and heavily damaged or destroyed several KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft
Speaking at a ceremony commemorating the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday, Major General Mostafa Izadi said that the downing of over 200 enemy aircraft had stirred serious public scrutiny in the United States and fueled internal instability within the Israeli regime.
He added that the enemy had entered the war with a calculated scenario of “regime change” and disintegration, but suffered defeat on all fronts and failed to gain access to Iran’s nuclear industry.
Turning to the role of the Iranian people in the enemy’s defeat, Gen. Izadi emphasized that the people’s conscious presence had neutralized all enemy ploys, to the extent that national cohesion and authority were strengthened more than ever before.
He also noted that, according to available information, 80 percent of young Americans oppose war with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Iranian strikes expose US military vulnerability as Pentagon weighs Persian Gulf pullback
Iran’s sustained retaliatory strikes against US military positions across West Asia have exposed the vulnerability of Washington’s military footprint in the region, prompting the Pentagon to examine whether the American presence in the Persian Gulf should be scaled back after the war on Iran, according to a report.
The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing eight people familiar with the matter, that the Pentagon’s policy office is conducting an initial assessment of the future of the US military footprint in West Asia.
The review is examining whether bases damaged by Iranian missile and drone strikes should be rebuilt in their previous form or whether Washington should use the destruction to establish a smaller military presence.
The assessment is not yet a formal review ordered by War Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to a senior Pentagon official cited by the Post, who described it as “prudent planning” that could eventually inform decisions on the future of US forces in the region.
The newspaper said the damage inflicted by Iranian missile and drone strikes has given some US officials an opportunity to reconsider Washington’s long-standing military footprint in West Asia.
More than 200 US military facilities have reportedly been damaged or destroyed, according to the Post, while six US service members were killed in a March Iranian strike on Port Shuaiba, a military facility in Kuwait.
Iran warns regional states over military cooperation with US due to they can’t defend their bases
Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Ali Abdollahi said on Wednesday that regional states providing support to US forces could be regarded as parties to any military action against Iran.
Abdollahi added that, “It is unlikely that military aircraft and refueling aircraft would be stationed at regional bases without the knowledge of the host countries”.
In a similar vein, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi commented on Tuesday on the regional balance of power, stating that the recent war “proved that America cannot even defend its own bases”.
The foreign minister also confirmed diplomatic channels between Iran and the United States, noting that Qatar and Pakistan “have played an effective mediation role between Iran and Washington”, adding that “currently, relations between Tehran and Doha are going through a very positive phase”.
Iran rejects UAE’s missile claim, warns of ‘false-flag operations’
Iran has rejected a United Arab Emirates’ claim that Tehran launched two ballistic missiles towards the country, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei warning regional states against making unfounded accusations and urging vigilance over a history of “false-flag operations” seeking to implicate blameless parties.
Remarking on Tuesday, the official categorically rejected that Iran had launched any projectiles towards the UAE, deploring such accusations.
He stressed that such conduct runs counter to the principle of good-neighborliness and undermines ongoing efforts to build trust among regional countries and prevent a further escalation of insecurity in the region.
The spokesman also called on regional parties to take into account the complexities created by the continued “malign actions” of the United States and the Israeli regime against regional peace and security.
In this context, Baghaei specifically referred to the history of multiple “false-flag operations” and urged regional countries to refrain from making unfounded accusations against the Islamic Republic.
“We call on all regional parties to avoid baseless accusations against Iran.”
Earlier in the day, the UAE defense ministry had alleged that its air defenses had “detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran towards the country.”Also on Tuesday, a Press TV reporter revealed that reports claiming Iran launched missile attacks against the Emirates were unfounded.
Updates on AUGUST, 18, Breaking News in Video
‘Israel’ struck Syrian airport after notifying US: Israeli official
A senior Israeli official revealed that intelligence was shared with the United States prior to Israeli strikes on Abu al-Duhur Airport in the Idlib countryside, after US ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack expressed concern that the operations constitute an unnecessary escalation.
The Israeli official, speaking to Fox News, said that “highly sensitive intelligence was shared with the United States in advance” of the strikes. The official also commented on Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, stating, “Al-Sharaa understands that he cannot operate like the previous Syrian regime, which maintained proxy forces. It’s possible that he didn’t understand what was going on, or didn’t know.”
Iran threatens the US with a forceful breakthrough of the Hormuz blockade
The American blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will be broken by force if the United States fails to comply with the terms of the peace agreement, Reuters reports, citing a senior Iranian official.
Iran is threatening the United States in a way it hasn’t done before. But the current conflict has exposed the United States’ weakness, which Tehran has exploited. Currently, the Iranians are threatening to break the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz if Washington ignores Iran’s terms of the peace agreement.
Tehran is ready to shift from a defensive to an offensive policy, with virtually no hope that the conflict can be resolved through negotiations. According to the British publication, Iran has begun dictating its terms to the US, declaring that if Trump fails to reach an agreement with the Iranian authorities within a few weeks, force will be used.
Blood of martyrs of US-Israeli aggression against Iran ‘will not go unavenged’: Ghalibaf
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf vows that the Islamic Republic will not let the blood of the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and other martyrs of unprovoked American-Israeli aggression against the nation “go unavenged.”, Iranian Press Tv has reported.
The top legislator made the remarks on Tuesday, honoring the memories of the 168 victims, mostly comprising schoolchildren, who were fatally targeted at a school in the southern Iranian city of Minab in the opening airstrikes of the February 28-April 7 aggression.
He pledged that, under the guidance of Ayatollah Khamenei’s son and successor, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, the Islamic Republic will “devote all its capabilities to securing the rights of the Iranian people, ending the aggression, punishing the aggressor, and upholding the country’s honor and standing.”
“We will not allow the enemy to target [our] national unity, the popular participation [in support of the Islamic Republic], the nation’s resilience, or the motivation of our officials,” he added.
Ghalibaf slams ‘misplaced’ US attempts at ‘squeezing Iran harder’
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator, says the US is misplaced in “squeezing Iran harder” to win concessions in a post on X.
Ghalibaf said, “Americans think squeezing Iran harder will win concessions that were never part of the agreement. [US Treasury Secretary Scott] Bessent and [War Secretary Pete] Hegseth are way out of their league. Stop waiting for the clown crew to pull a rabbit out of their hat and clean up the mess you made”.
Ghalibaf says Hormuz to remain closed until US meets MoU conditions
The Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States meets the conditions of the interim deal with Iran, including lifting the naval blockade and sanctions as well as the release of Iran’s frozen assets, says Iran’s parliament speaker and top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
“Let me state clearly: until the commitments made by the United States in the memorandum of understanding, including the lifting of the blockade, the release of frozen assets, the lifting of oil sanctions, the end of threats and military operations on all fronts, and other conditions to which America agreed in the memorandum, are implemented, the Strait will not be opened,” Ghalibaf said.
Ghalibaf also warned that internal divisions would weaken Iran and encourage foreign adversaries. The latest statement comes amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington, with the strategic Strait of Hormuz remaining a major flashpoint for regional security, energy supplies and international shipping.
Russian troops gained direct access to a major Ukrainian defense hub after liberating Krasnopodolye
Three footage in one VIDEO
1st footage – Russian troops gained direct access to a major Ukrainian defense hub after liberating Krasnopodolye, located 3 km from Dobropolye, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. Video: Russian Defense Ministry/TASS
2nd footage – Dnepropetrovsk Oblast: Intelligence footage confirms the destruction of two locomotives with freight cars using Geran drones near Shakhterskoye. The strike severely disrupted rail logistics in the region.
3rd footage – Kiev on fire after the heavy
Moscow: 791 Ukrainian drones flew over Russia last night
Ukrainian forces launched 791 drones last night against 15 Russian regions, including Moscow, as well as occupied Crimea and the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that all the aircraft were intercepted, but local authorities reported several injuries. The Tass news agency reported this. Furthermore, Wildberries, a leading Russian online retailer, said its warehouse suffered minor damage in a raid in the Moscow region.
In the Ukrainian town of Energodar, near the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one resident was killed and 15 injured this morning in a Ukrainian drone attack on a bus stop, according to Mayor Maxim Pukhov.
Attempted UAV attack on Moscow largest in two years
The attempted attack on Moscow by hostile drones was the largest in the past two years, according to TASS calculations based on data released by Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.
According to the mayor, 620 UAVs flew toward Moscow and the Moscow Region between Monday evening and 5:00 a.m. Moscow time on Tuesday, with 180 drones destroyed in the capital region. “Emergency services are working at the sites where debris fell,” the mayor said on his official Max channel.
Prior to this, the largest attempted hostile drone attack took place between the evening of August 15 and 6:30 a.m. Moscow time on August 16. According to the mayor, 600 UAVs flew toward the capital, with 201 destroyed in the Moscow Region.
Sobyanin also reported that between the evening of July 6 and 6:00 a.m. Moscow time on July 7, air defense forces downed more than 430 drones, including 36 while approaching Moscow.
In addition, between 8:30 p.m. Moscow time on July 19 and 5:00 a.m. on July 20, more than 400 UAVs flew toward Moscow and the surrounding region. Most of them, Sobyanin said, were neutralized by air defenses at distant approaches, while 85 were destroyed while approaching the capital.
The mayor previously reported that more than 390 drones flew toward the Moscow Region between 8:30 p.m. Moscow time on July 27 and 6:30 a.m. on July 28, while more than 370 UAVs flew toward the region between 8:30 p.m. on July 17 and the early hours of July 18, most of which were neutralized by air defenses at distant approaches. Sobyanin also said that more than 300 hostile UAVs were destroyed between the evening of July 11 and the evening of July 12, including 45 while approaching Moscow. More than 200 hostile drones flew toward the capital on July 4.
The mayor reported the most massive attack on March 11, 2025. At the time, he said that “74 drones were downed while approaching Moscow, while hundreds of combat drones were shot down at various defensive lines overall.”
Updates on AUGUST, 17, Breaking News in Video
BREAKING NEWS – Trump threatens to bomb Oman if it ‘gets in the way’ of Strait of Hormuz talks with Iran
President Donald Trump threatened in an interview with Fox News to bomb Oman if it interferes in a potential deal with Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz, the news outlet reported.
Oman has been negotiating with Tehran over the vital shipping route, where maritime traffic has nearly ground to a halt as talks on ending the U.S. war with Iran have stalled.
Below the CNN Breaking News keynotes about:
• Threat to Oman: President Donald Trump warned of an attack on Oman if it “gets in the way” of efforts in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump previously threatened the US ally in May.
• Iran agreement expires: The 60-day deadline for the two sides to reach a deal toward ending the conflict has now passed. Trump again said he is in no rush and claimed his administration has established a direct backchannel with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the IRGC denies.
• Main priority: The president reiterated that the top goal in the war is preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, undercutting advisers who say keeping oil prices low is an important priority.
• Gaza ceasefire plan: Meanwhile, after Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today for over four hours, Kushner said Hamas could disarm soon but indicated the US would support further Israeli military action in Gaza if not.
«US President Donald Trump threatened today to attack Oman if it interferes with US efforts in the Strait of Hormuz, as the conflict with Iran continues and a two-month window for peace talks expires without a clear path to end the war» CNN has reported in a video.
Trump’s comments come as the 60-day window for peace talks between the US and Iran, agreed to in June, closed Monday without any concrete plans announced for the war to end. Meanwhile, Iran said Monday that its talks with Oman regarding the Strait of Hormuz are complex but continuing.
In the latest days POTUS said that he wants to declare the Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory: “I’ll Never Apologize” War Crimes
Ukraine again Failed to Shoot Down a Single Ballistic or Hypersonic Missile last Night
Ukraine again Failed to Shoot Down a Single Ballistic or Hypersonic Missile last Night
This follows from the summary of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Air Force Ukraine was attacked on the last night (August 16, 2026) nby Onyx, Iskander-M, S-400, KN-23 and Kh-59/69 missiles, as well as 106 drones.
3 FOOTAGES IN ONE VIDEO – legenda below
1st Footage – Kiev on fire after the heavy strikes which hit also the market of book in retaliation to the yet another attack on a distribution center of Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer with two million visitors a day.
2nd footage – Russian troops are delivering precision strikes on Ukraine’s military and fuel infrastructure
In the Kiev-controlled part of the Zaporizhia region, a gas station and related equipment were hit. The fact of the attack was confirmed by the head of the regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov. In the north of the Kharkiv region, the Russian Aerospace Forces are launching guided aerial bombs at enemy positions and fortifications. This is reported by local publications.
Direct hits to infrastructure facilities were recorded in Sumy, and large fires broke out in the affected areas. A massive raid by unmanned aerial vehicles continues in the Odessa region, explosions are heard in Sanzheyka. Systematic attacks on the fuel infrastructure leave the Ukrainian army without fuel at a time when the Western allies are reporting on the supply of new batches of weapons that have nothing to refuel.
3d footage – Russian FAB-500s level Ukrainian drone hub
The Russian forces сonducted a strike on the Ukrainian National Guard’s drone command post in the settlement of Dobropolye in the Donetsk People’s Republic using four FAB-500 high-explosive aerial bombs, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said.
Russian forces strike defense industry facilities, oil refinery, steel plant
Russian forces struck defense industry facilities in Kiev, the Kremenchug oil refinery and a steel plant in Krivoy Rog, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
“Russian forces struck Fire Point in Kiev, a company producing components, warheads and solid-fuel boosters for Flamingo ground-launched cruise missiles. Russian troops also struck Ukrdefense Company in Kiev, which produces components for strike drones, Khrushch interceptor drones and Garpiya air defense drones,” the Defense Ministry said.
Below the previous attack on Fire Point facility launched one week ago
Russian forces struck the Kremenchug oil refinery in the Poltava Region, where the remaining storage tanks continue handling fuel and lubricants supplied from abroad. The Russian military struck steelmaking facilities in Krivoy Rog in the Dnepropetrovsk Region, producing rolled steel for weapons and military equipment.
Russian forces also struck a dry cargo ship carrying military equipment for Ukrainian forces at the port of Odessa, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Russian forces hit Ukrainian uncrewed boats production facility
Russian drones struck facilities for the production and storage of components for uncrewed boats used by Ukraine to attack Russian coastal cities, ships and infrastructure facilities in the Black Sea, the Russian defense ministry said.
“During the day, Russian attack unmanned aerial vehicles struck in the settlement of Belgorod-Dnestrovsky (40 kilometers southwest of Odessa): a production facility and a depot holding warheads and components for uncrewed boats used to attack ships and energy infrastructure facilities in the Black Sea, and Russian cities on the Black Sea coast,” it said.
Russian forces hit three dry cargo ships, two tankers at Odessa port
Russian forces struck three dry cargo ships and two tankers, as well as fuel tanks at the port of Odessa, the Russian defense ministry said.
“Three dry cargo ships and two sea-going tankers used to deliver military cargoes and fuels for the Ukrainian army, as well as fuel tanks and warehouses holding military products were struck at the port of Odessa,” it said.
Russian air defenses down 822 Ukrainian drones overnight
Russian air defenses intercepted and destroyed 822 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over Russian regions and the Black and Azov Seas overnight (august, 16, 2026), the Russian Defense Ministry said.
“Russian air defense forces intercepted and destroyed 822 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles over Belgorod, Bryansk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Oryol, Rostov, Ryazan, Tambov and Tula regions, the Moscow Region, the Krasnodar Region and the Republic of Crimea, as well as over the Azov and Black Seas, from 8 p.m. Moscow time (5 p.m. GMT) on August 15 to 8 a.m. Moscow time (5 a.m. GMT) on August 16,” the Defense Ministry said.
Three killed, one injured in drone attack on Russia’s Rostov Region
Three people were killed and one more was injured in a drone attack on southern Russia’s Rostov Region, Governor Yury Slyusar reported.
“Last night, three people were killed as a result of an aerial attack on the Rostov Region, and one more has been hospitalized with injuries,” he wrote on Max channel.
More than 150 UAVs were destroyed over three cities and nine districts in the region in the Ukrainian attack, the official added.
Below the previous UAV attacks on Russia town of Nizhenekamsk wichiu killed 11 civilians including children
Three injured as Moscow comes under massive drone attack
Three people were injured in a drone attack near the Moscow Automobile Ring Road (MKAD), according to Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.
“Defense Ministry air defense capabilities have downed another nine drones targeting Moscow. Three people were injured near MKAD, they are being given all necessary assistance. Emergency specialists are working at the scene where [drone] debris fell,” Sobyanin wrote on Max channel.
Since midnight (August,16,2026), as many as 132 unmanned aerial vehicles flying toward the Russian capital have been shot down, calculations by TASS based on the mayor’s posts show.
Updates on AUGUST, 16, Breaking News in Video
Elon Musk’s Starlink promised faster data for US Drone, Iran’s air defenses promised faster downing
Iranian state television is showing, for the first time, evidence that Elon Musk’s “Starlink” devices are being used in U.S. military drones.
The IRGC is now displaying wreckage from 171 downed US and Israeli aircraft and drones — including MQ-9 Reapers, Hermes 900s, an F-15 fighter jet, and Starlink modems recovered from the wreckage.
Saudi-linked port halts operations following attacks by Yemeni armed forces (Houthis)
Yemen’s Mokha port has suspended commercial and maritime operations after the Yemeni armed forces targeted it with more than 25 missiles in recent days, the port’s director said on Saturday.
The attacks killed seven people and caused an estimated $16 million in losses, the director told a news conference.
Mokha is a Red Sea port near the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a strategic chokepoint connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and a key route for international shipping.
The port is controlled by Saudi-linked mercenaries. It has a smaller cargo capacity than Yemen’s main ports of Aden and Hodeidah, according to Iranian Press TV.
On Friday, spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said in a statement that the armed forces subjected Saudi Arabia-linked targets to fresh heavy strikes.
He added that the servicemen targeted “warships belonging to its (Riyadh’s) tools and mercenaries in the al-Mokha area, using a large number of ballistic missiles.”
Hezbollah: Israeli Occupation’s Continued Attacks on Lebanon will receive an Appropriate Response
Hezbollah condemned on Saturday the major Israeli enemy’s escalation in southern Lebanon, affirming the Israeli occupation army carried out brutal massacres against civilians and warning that continued attacks and violations of Lebanese sovereignty would be met with an appropriate response, Al Manar Lebanese TV has reported.
In a statement, Hezbollah said Lebanese residents woke at dawn to an aggressive escalation and a brutal massacre allegedly carried out by the criminal Zionist enemy against civilians in the south. It said Israeli strikes targeted a home on the outskirts of the southern town of Ansar and a building in Deir Al-Zahrani, killing 11 people, including women and children, and wounding 12 others.
“Those grave crimes add to Israel’s long record of “massacres, crimes, and the shedding of Lebanese blood, as well as the destruction of homes, the bulldozing of farmland, and the erasure of entire villages,” the statement read.
Hezbollah said responsibility for the Israeli enemy’s continued aggression and violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty rested with the Israeli government and the United States, which it accused of providing Israel with political and military backing and cover.
At the same time, the group called on the Lebanese authorities to explore every available means to halt the Israeli attacks rather than persist with the humiliating direct negotiations and offer “Israel” free concessions, despite the Israeli enemy’s repeated crimes and attacks, as well as its openly stated aggressive and expansionist intentions toward Lebanon.
The Lebanese Parents of Child Martyrs Association on Saturday condemned a new Israeli massacre in the southern town of Ansar that killed a family of six, including four children, and called on Lebanese authorities to document the attack and pursue accountability through regional and international legal channels.
People check a destroyed home that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Ansar village, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo:Mohammed Zaatari via Al Manar Lebanese TV)
«In a statement, the association condemned the Israeli occupation army’s pre-dawn attack on a family in Ansar on August 15, 2026, which killed Ali Al-Hajj Hassan, his wife, Zeinab Nassereddine, and their children Zahraa, Hassan, Hussein, and Abbas» Al Manar Lebanese TV has reported.
Updates on AUGUST, 14-15, Breaking News in Video
Aoun, Salam condemn Israeli massacres in South Lebanon
Israeli forces carried out a series of airstrikes and attacks across South Lebanon on Saturday, killing at least nine people and wounding 11 in the past 24 hours, according to Al Mayadeen’s correspondent, citing the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Our correspondent reported that an Israeli strike on Deir al-Zahrani targeted a building along the town’s main highway. Ambulances rushed to the scene amid initial reports of a massacre, while rescue teams worked to assess the casualties and search for survivors.
The Health Ministry reported that the preliminary toll from the Deir al-Zahrani attack stood at two martyrs and nine wounded, bringing the reported toll from the two attacks to at least nine martyrs and 11 wounded.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned on Saturday the Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, stressing that these violations constitute a “clear message to the negotiating process and to US efforts aimed at implementing the framework agreement”.
For his part, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam described the Israeli escalation since dawn as “extremely dangerous”, saying that the strikes and heavy bombardment targeting Nabatieh, Ansar, Deir al-Zahrani, and neighboring villages were undermining efforts to establish stability in the South, as he posted on his X account.
The Israeli escalation began with an Israeli airstrike on an inhabited home in Ansar, in the Nabatieh district, killing seven people, including three children and two women, while two others were wounded, according to the Health Ministry.
Houthis used 6 ballistic missiles in al-Makha attack, Yemen army says
Yemen’s Houthi rebels used six ballistic missiles in their Friday attack on the port of al-Makha, the internationally-recognised government’s army has said in a statement.
One port security official was killed while two sailors went missing, the army’s statement said. At least 8 civilians were injured in the attack, it added.
Attacking the port, a key hub for the inflow of food and goods, as well as civilian infrastructure, shows the Houthi group’s “determination to impose a suffocating siege on the Yemeni people”, military spokesperson Colonel Majid al-Nuzaili added.
Yemeni Armed Forces Strike Aramco Refinery in Jizan with Two Drones
A Yemeni military source told the Saba News Agency: “The Yemeni Armed Forces targeted an Aramco refinery in the Jizan region with two drones, and the strike was precise”
“The targeting comes in response to the Saudi enemy’s violation of Yemeni airspace and the country’s sovereignty in the governorates of Saada and Hajjah,” the sources added.
Qalibaf says he halted talks, warned of immediate strike after Israeli assault on Beirut’s Dahiyeh
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf says he halted negotiations following the latest Israeli attack on Beirut’s Dahiyeh and said Iran will hit the regime immediately.
Speaking at a gathering of cultural elites on Saturday, Qalibaf said, “In the latest attack on Dahiyeh, I halted the negotiations and announced: ‘Tonight, we will strike the regime, and if the regime responds, we will strike the entire region.’”
He said the outcome was that “the blockade was lifted that same night.”
The top Iranian negotiator also referred to talks over the Strait of Hormuz, saying a reopening had been scheduled for 30 days under an understanding.
He said that after US President Donald Trump said on social media that the blockade and the Strait of Hormuz would be opened together “tonight,” he warned, “If the false claim about the Strait of Hormuz is not corrected, we will carry out an attack.”
According to Qalibaf, Trump was forced to correct his post, which he described as an example of “negotiating as a form of fighting.”
Teheran Govt: “Hormuz cannot be conquered with a tweet or an aircraft carrier”
Iran, however, was quick to react to the US president’s statement.
“The Strait of Hormuz was Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian. This strait will be opened and closed only on Iran’s orders,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi reiterated on X on Saturday morning.
“It cannot be conquered with a tweet or an aircraft carrier, nor with a presidential decree, nor with an election campaign speech,” he added.
US Navy official denied worsening conditions on USS Abraham Lincoln which is leaving Persian Gulf
The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is en route to the United States after completing an extended mission of more than 260 days in the Middle East, necessitated by specific operational needs in the area.
«A U.S official told NBC News that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is set to head home from the Mideast. It comes as some families report poor living conditions for the sailors and marines on board». NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez reports.
Acting Secretary of the US Navy Hung Cao says that reports of dire conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln amid the US-Israel war with Iran, including accounts of sailors trying to jump overboard, have been blown out of proportion.
“Legitimate challenges of a long combat deployment are being twisted into a false narrative, while the genuine difficulties faced by military families are being used for headlines,”Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell chimed in on X. “That is shameful.”
Earlier today, US President Donald Trump dismissed concerns about conditions on board the USS Abraham Lincoln. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump rejected the assertion that the families of those on board the aircraft carrier are worried about their loved ones.
“The Sailors aboard the Lincoln are doing what American warriors have always done: remaining resilient, focused on the mission, and proud of their service on this historic deployment,” Parnell added. “We stand with them”.
Trump wants to declare the Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory: “I’ll Never Apologize” War Crimes
Trump wants to declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory
Donald Trump said that after the completion of the military operation against Iran, he intends to declare the Strait of Hormuz the territory of the United States.
“After we finish defeating Iran … pretty soon I will declare the Strait of Hormuz the territory of the United States,” the American president said, adding that the United States allegedly already controls the passage of ships through the strait.
Meanwhile, a large-scale oil spill was reported in the Strait of Hormuz after a missile strike on the Minoan Pioneer bulk carrier. The oil slick spread over more than 300 km, an area comparable to about 40,000 football fields.
Don told Americans to show some patience and PAY MORE for gas while he bombs more girls in Iran as part of his ego play.
“What we’re doing is a great service for — not only for ourselves, for the world,” the failed emperor declared.
Russian attacks hit 11 locations across Ukraine as grain ports come under fire
Cities across Ukraine are facing near-daily Russian attacks, with 11 locations hit overnight on Thursday, including Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa and Kramatorsk.
Several people were killed and more than two dozen wounded, including children. Ukraine says more than 100 drones were launched, but it is no longer releasing figures for missiles used, citing security concerns and shortages of interceptor missiles.
Ukraine’s grain industry is also suffering from repeated Russian attacks on ports. Hundreds of vessels have been targeted by both sides in the Black Sea over the past month, prompting Ukraine to propose a ceasefire covering civilian vessels.
Kyiv says this would allow ports to reopen and farmers to export their harvest during a crucial period. Russia has not yet responded to the proposal.
These attacks came in retaliation for the ongoing lethal attacks on civilian buildings launched by the Ukrainian military.
Russian Armed Forces liberate Rybalskyoe in Zaporozhye Region
The Russian Armed Forces liberated Rybalskyoe in the Zaporozhye Region within 24 hours, the Defense Ministry reported.
“As a result of decisive actions by units of the Battlegroup East, the village of Rybalskoye in the Zaporozhye Region has been liberated,” the statement reads.
The liberation of Rybalskoye in the Zaporozhye region allowed the Battlegroup East to expand its zone of control northwest of Novoye Pole and continue its advance, the ministry added.
“During the fighting, units of the Battlegroup East broke through the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ defenses. The enemy suffered losses of up to a company of personnel. Seven armored combat vehicles, 10 vehicles, 13 ground robotic systems, and more than 20 R-18 heavy hexacopters were destroyed. The liberation of Rybalskyoe allowed units of the Battlegroup East to expand their zone of control northwest of Novoye Pole and continue their advance in the special military operation zone in the Zaporpzhye region,” the ministry said.
Updates on AUGUST, 12-13, Breaking News in Video
US Ambassador to Israel: “Settler Siege of Palestinian Homes Is Terrorism”
“The actions of those who carried out this horrific act of terrorism, aimed at intimidating and harassing this family, are abhorrent,” the US ambassador to Israel wrote on X, referring to Israeli settlers besieging the home of two Palestinian families in Qusra, in the West Bank.
“There is no excuse for such violent behavior,” Mike Huckabee wrote on X. Among the homes targeted is one owned by a US citizen.
The Israeli army (IDF) has reversed its decision to evacuate Palestinian families whose homes are under siege by settlers in the West Bank village of Qusra, near Nablus, for several days.
The public broadcaster Kan reported, specifying that the commander of the IDF Central Command, General Avi Blot, ordered that soldiers enter only unoccupied homes.
The decision, Kan emphasizes, follows criticism of Israel for its handling of the situation in Qusra. The IDF had initially asked residents of the besieged homes, as well as other residences, to leave their homes for a few days in anticipation of a military operation in the area.
Israeli settlers lay siege to Palestinian family with two daughters
Armed Israeli settlers and Israeli occupation forces have besieged two Palestinian families in their homes since the weekend in an effort to usurp their properties in the West Bank village of Qusra through intimidation.
On Sunday afternoon, armed settlers and Israeli soldiers surrounded Yousef Hassan’s home, erecting a tent just outside and effectively trapping him inside with his wife and their two young daughters, leaving the family confined as the intimidation campaign unfolded around them.
The Israeli men gathered only meters from the location where 28-year-old Amir Moatasem Odeh was killed by a settler in March. Another attacker stabbed Odeh’s father. No arrests have been made in connection with the killing and assault.
“Every night, the settlers throw stones, use obscene language, and shout during the night. We are living in a state of terror,” Hassan said.
‘We will not withdraw’: Katz on Israeli forces in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza
Katz made the remarks on Wednesday during a visit to Israeli occupation forces deployed inside southern Lebanon, according to Israeli media platform Divuhim Online, as senior commanders discussed military preparations for a possible future confrontation with the Lebanese Resistance.
“The Israeli army is here to stay in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza and to protect the entire State of Israel,” Katz said. “We are up above and they are down below. I have instructed the Israeli army to take all necessary steps to prepare for a long-term presence in the area.”
The declaration comes almost two months after Lebanon and “Israel” agreed to a US-sponsored framework involving the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, the disarmament of Hezbollah, and the deployment of the Lebanese Army, beginning in designated test areas known as “pilot zones.”
«His remarks provide an unusually explicit articulation of an Israeli policy increasingly centered on maintaining military control beyond occupied Palestine’s internationally recognized borders, under the pretext of creating buffer or “security” zones.»Al Mayadeen Lebanese TV freported.
Such declarations reinforce longstanding warnings that Israeli military expansion is not intended as a temporary security measure, but as an effort to entrench occupation and impose new realities by force.
IRGC: No Ship Can Safely Pass through Strait of Hormuz without Iran’s Permission
Spokesperson for the Central Headquarters of Khatam al-Anbiya (PBUH) affirmed that no ship can pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz without Iranian permission and supervision.
The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters is the highest operational military command center of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, located in Tehran.
Washington’s baseless claims about the normal movement of ships through Hormuz are nothing but lies, he added.
Meanwhile, hte head of the Basij Mobilization Group, Hojjatoleslam Hussein Taeb, said, “The Americans ignited a war in the Strait of Hormuz to change the balance of power, but they were defeated once again.”
He added, “The Strait of Hormuz is under the administration and control of the Islamic Republic, and Iran continues its path in complete security and stability.
Updates on AUGUST, 11, Breaking News in Video
HUNTER BIDEN to Carlson: “Bibi Netanyahu evil incarnate…”
HUNTER BIDEN: ‘If it’s antisemitic to point out that Bibi Netanyahu evil incarnate… don’t know what to say to people anymore… just open your eyes’
TUCKER: ‘It’s such an obvious lie’
HUNTER: ‘How is it possible that they’re dividing us on things like that?’
TUCKER: ‘I agree’
Russian armed forces launched a coordinated attack on defense facilities in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia
The Russian armed forces launched a coordinated attack on defense industry facilities and transportation and logistics hubs in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defense.
The video shows the aftermath of one of the attacks in Kyiv.
Defense Ministry’s statement quoting by TASS:
“The Russian Armed Forces carried out a coordinated overnight strike using ground-based precision-guided weapons, resulting in the destruction of military-industrial facilities and transport and logistics centers in the cities of Kiev and Zaporozhye” the military said in a statement
The ministry later revealed in another statement that the targets of the overnight strike were successfully hit.
The Russian Armed Forces struck a Nova Post logistics terminal in Kiev, an automated compound storing and distributing dual-use goods, including components for long- and medium-range UAV production, robotic vehicles and electronic warfare systems.
Russian servicemen also hit the Kiev-3 transport and logistics center, also known as San-park, a large warehouse facility of approximately 50,000 square meters that stored up to 15,000 attack FPV drones, including those equipped with thermal imaging cameras, such as Beshket, Spuk, Komik-A, and Gorobets, as well as ground control stations and related components.
The Russian Armed Forces struck the Zaporozhstal steel mill (PJSC Zaporizhstal), a part of the Metinvest Group.
Leader makes new appointments to top military posts; Vahidi named IRGC commander
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei has made new appointments to six top military posts, including the head of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
In six separate decrees issued on Monday, Major General Ali Abdollahi was appointed Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, with Brigadier General Kioumars Heidari as his deputy. Major General Ahmad Vahidi, promoted to the rank of Major General, was appointed commander-in-chief of the IRGC, with Major General Mostafa Izadi as his deputy.
Rear Admiral Ali Ozamaei was appointed IRGC Navy commander, and Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb was named head of the Basij Organization.
Gen. Abdollahi appointed Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces
In another decree, the Leader appointed Major General Ali Abdollahi as Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, following the martyrdom of his predecessor, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, in a US-Israeli airstrike.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the appointment was made in view of Mousavi’s “glorious and honorable martyrdom” at the hands of the Zionist-American enemy and in appreciation of Abdollahi’s worthy services and valuable experience.
Spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Esmaeil Baghaei said the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen as long as the US maintains its naval blockade against Iran, stressing that Washington must end and make amends for its “destructive actions” before further steps can be discussed.
Speaking at a weekly press conference on Monday, Baghaei said the closure of the Strait of Hormuz was a result of the US and Israeli military aggression against Iran.
He noted that negotiations between Iran and Oman over a shipping route are naturally a bilateral matter involving the two coastal states.
The spokesman stressed that reopening the Strait of Hormuz depends on the conditions imposed on Iran and the waterway by the US and the Zionist regime, saying that the necessary conditions for reopening do not exist while the US naval blockade remains in place.
“As long as the US naval blockade continues, the necessary conditions for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz do not exist,”Baghaei stated. He added that it is up to the US to stop and make amends for its destructive actions so that the sides could then discuss the next steps.
Asked about the possibility of Iran imposing transit fees on vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, Baghaei said discussions on such details are still underway and that Iran is not currently discussing the issue.
Drone attack on Nizhnekamsk kills thirteen people killed, including child
he number of people killed as a result of the drone attack on facilities in Nizhnekamsk has increased to 13, the press service of the head of Tatarstan told journalists.
Russian Investigative Committee Spokeswoman, Svetlana Petrenko, told TASS that a child was among those killed. Industrial and civilian facilities in Nizhnekamsk came under a large-scale drone strike, causing fatalities.
Later, it was reported that 12 people had been killed and 39 were injured Later, the press service of the head of Tatarstan told journalists that the number of people killed as a result of the drone attack on facilities in Nizhnekamsk had increased to 13.
According to the investigation, Ukraine used drones to strike residential areas and industrial facilities in Nizhnekamsk.
Ukraine lost 11 locomotives, having received 41 blows to the railway infrastructure
The Ukrainian railway company Ukrzaliznytsia officially called the past days one of the most difficult and destructive weeks in its history. In five years, the country’s transport infrastructure has been attacked 41 times.
11 locomotives were damaged and disabled, tracks and station facilities used for military transportation were destroyed.
Passengers from trains had to be evacuated 350 times due to threats and arrivals. The loss of a key locomotive fleet and the constant destruction of tracks cause critical damage to the entire transport system of the country.
YAF-HOUTIS announce targeting of Saudi-backed factions in Mokha
The strikes by the Yemeni Armed Forces (aka Houtis) on Al-Mukha and Marib decimated Saudi officers and their troop concentrations, targeting a heavy and medium weapons depot alongside a secret storage facility, a senior Yemeni source told Al Mayadeen‘s correspondent in Sanaa.
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the operation, carried out using a large number of ballistic missiles and drones, came in response to Saudi Arabia’s continued mobilization of its proxies, its supply of weapons and equipment to them, and its ongoing attacks along the western coast and in Taiz governorate aimed at deterring the Yemeni people from confronting the blockade and aggression imposed on them for the past 12 years.
“The strikes were precise and caused extensive damage to the equipment and weapons, killing and wounding dozens, including Saudi nationals”,Saree said on Telegram.
The Yemeni Armed Forces reaffirmed their commitment to the declared equation of “blockade for blockade and escalation for escalation,” vowing to continue targeting any military buildup directed against the Yemeni people and the free governorates.
The strike on Mokha is the second operation carried out by the YAF on Sunday. Earlier in the day, the YAF announced that they targeted a Saudi Aramco refinery in Jizan with a drone, stating that the operation comes as a response to Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni airspace.
Saree announced that the forces successfully targeted the Aramco refinery in Jizan with a drone, achieving a precise hit. He said the operation came in response to Saudi drone incursions into the airspace of Yemen’s Saada and Hajjah provinces.
The announcement came after Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry reported earlier that a fire had broken out at a facility belonging to Saudi Aramco’s refinery in Jizan, southwestern Saudi Arabia. The ministry said Aramco’s industrial security firefighting teams extinguished the fire and that there were no injuries.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman pays tribute to journalists killed in Iran, Lebanon, Palestine
“During the last two years, we have lost so many of your colleagues in Iran, Lebanon and Palestine. They have lost their lives for the sake of doing their jobs. We have lost so many of our loved ones,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, said in a news conference on Monday.
“We send a big salute to all of our martyrs who have lost their lives for the sake of our country and for the sake of the mission of journalism,” he added.
Updates on AUGUST, 9, Breaking News in Video
Israel rejects 15-point Gaza document, not to withdraw until Hamas disarms — Netanyahu
Israel rejects the 15-point document on Gaza and will not withdraw its forces until Hamas is genuinely disarmed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the government’s weekly meeting.
“Israel does not accept the 15-point document. The Israel Defense Forces will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is disarmed. And when I say the disarming of Hamas, it means heavy weaponry, lighter weaponry, all weaponry. We are talking about genuine disarmament, not fictitious disarmament,”Netanyahu said, according to his office.
“Right now, we are talking with the Americans about this issue. They have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some of which are unacceptable, and we know how to stand firm against these things,” he added.
Israel will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons regardless of whether Washington and Tehran reach an agreement, Netanyahu said. “I greatly appreciate the historical partnership with the US against Iran’s attempts to acquire nuclear weapons. And I wish to emphasize once again: with or without an agreement, as long as I am prime minister, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Iranian TV Airs Footage of Captured US and Israeli Aircraft
Footage appears to show a drone, aircraft parts, and other machinery.
This week, US media reports said that Washington faces depleted missile stockpiles—including long-range and air-defense systems—following the conflict with Iran, a claim the White House denied. The developments follow a war of words after Donald Trump said the two sides were talking again, which Tehran rejected.
Updates on AUGUST, 7-8, Breaking News in Video
Russian MOD: “Plant Producing Warheads for Flamingo Missiles Hit in Kiev” – VIDEO
The Russian military struck the Fire Point industrial plant in Kiev, which produces components and warheads for FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
“The following were struck in Kiev: the Kiev-111 industrial enterprise (Fire Point LLC), which produces components and warheads for FP-5 Flamingo ground-launched cruise missiles,” the ministry said.
According to the Russian ministry, Russian forces launched a strike overnight with ground-based precision weapons against a military industry enterprise and a fuel and lubricants depot in Kiev.
According to preliminary data, the asphalt-concrete plant in Kiev, used for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, was damaged.
In the Obolonsky district, fuel tanks caught fire, and armament depots were hit in Goloseevsky. In addition, the Fire Point enterprise, which produce kamikaze-drones, components and warheads for missiles, was hit in Kiev.
The Russian army also attacked the Grandterminal fuel depot, which supplies petroleum products to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Long-range Hundreds drones striking Russia are assembled in secret factories underground
The British TV channel Sky News published a report from a secret underground enterprise in Ukraine, which acts as the main hub for the production of long-range attack drones. Technicians, welders and engineers work around the clock at the plant, assembling over 200 drones per day.
The chief designer of Fire Point, Stilerman, also appeared in the frame, telling the journalist that the purpose of his work was to “dismantle the Russian Empire” with the support of Europe 02:01.
The FP-1 and FP-2 long-range drones are being produced on an underground conveyor. The cost of one such device is about $ 60 thousand, and the claimed flight range is up to 3,000 kilometers with an accuracy of 2-3 meters. The project is funded by Western donors through the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
Kiev began the construction of factories underground involuntarily, after the destruction of the traditional defense industry in the early days of its independence. Some of the enterprises have completely gone underground, while others are disguised with fake decorations.
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense repeatedly delivered effective strikes against such centers. At the end of July, the assembly plant of the American corporation Terminal Autonomy, which produced noise-resistant drones for strikes deep into the territory of Russia, came under attack.
On July 19, the UKRTAC factory, which produced tactical equipment and ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, was completely destroyed. Despite the underground execution, Russian intelligence and precision weapons continue to methodically open and destroy military installations of the Kiev regime.
Ukraine’s Missile Shield Crumbles as US and Europe Run Short on Interceptors
The refusal by the US and Europe to provide Ukraine with more Patriot missiles points to depleted stockpiles and sluggish interceptor production, military expert and Arsenal of the Fatherland columnist Alexander Sinyugin tells Sputnik.
The earlier plan for European countries to buy Patriot missiles from the US and pass them on to Ukraine is no longer viable, the pundit explains. The US lacks sufficient missile stocks, while Europe has already depleted much of its arsenal by supplying Ukraine.
“Only three countries currently manufacture these missiles: the US, Japan, and Germany, which secured a production license in 2024,” Sinyugin says. With production capacity well below Lockheed Martin’s, Germany is expected to use all of its missile output to meet Europe’s own needs, he projects.
Lockheed Martin presently produces 50-60 Patriot missiles per month, while it typically takes two to three interceptors to destroy a single ballistic missile, the pundit notes. But Russia produces roughly 120 ballistic missiles per month, meaning that Ukraine needs at least twice as many.
Meanwhile, Russian hypersonic missiles, including Kinzhals and Zircons, easily overcome Patriot air defenses.
Iranian strikes leave hundreds of US troops with lasting brain injuries
Hundreds of US troops have suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in Iranian missile and drone strikes since Washington launched its war on Iran, highlighting the mounting physical cost of the US aggression and the potentially lasting consequences for American forces, according to Iranian Press TV.
Nearly 700 US troops have been wounded in Iranian missile and drone attacks on US bases since Washington’s aggression against Iran escalated, according to US military officials. Most were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries and returned to duty after treatment, the Associated Press reported.
The Pentagon has described most of the injuries sustained over a two-week period as “minor concussions.” But medical experts warn that an apparently mild concussion can develop into persistent neurological problems, including headaches, dizziness, memory loss, difficulty concentrating and chronic fatigue.
Doctors say there is currently no reliable way to determine immediately which blast injuries will result in lasting complications. They are also continuing to study how powerful explosions can damage the brain even without a direct blow to the head.
The widespread use of Iranian missiles and drones has heightened concern within the US military, as explosions can occur in close proximity to American troops, increasing the risk of blast-related brain injuries.
The scale of the injuries has revived concerns that traumatic brain injury could once again become a major legacy of a US war, as it did during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 500,000 US soldiers were diagnosed with TBIs between 2000 and 2025, according to US military data.
Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan joint defence agreement signals closer cooperation
Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have committed to closer military cooperation in a joint defence agreement modelled on NATO’s Article 5, under which an attack on one member is considered an attack on all.
The deal comes as regional countries increasingly look to each other for security following Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, its strikes on several countries in the region and the renewed conflict with Iran.
For Turkiye, which already fields NATO’s second-largest army and one of the world’s fastest-growing defence industries, the pact is a major strategic gain, expanding its reach into the Gulf and South Asia and opening access to new financial resources through a joint weapons programme.
But the real test, as Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar Atas reports from Ankara, will come if a member is actually attacked — determining whether the agreement becomes a genuine regional security architecture or remains just a political declaration.
Updates on AUGUST, 6, Breaking News in Video
Yemeni Armed Forces (Houtis) launch large-scale op. against Saudi troop concentrations
The Yemeni Armed Forces (aka Houtis army) carried out a large-scale military operation against Saudi military reinforcements, reporting hundreds of casualties and significant material damage, the YAF spokesperson, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced.
The Yemeni military spokesperson said the operation was a response to continued Saudi actions, stating that “in light of the criminal Saudi enemy’s persistence in continuing the siege and aggression against our dear Yemeni people for nearly 12 years, our Armed Forces monitored large Saudi military concentrations that were in their final stages, aimed at escalating against the free provinces and the Yemeni people to deter them from their position on ending the unjust siege.”
The operation, according to the YAF, resulted in:
the killing and wounding of hundreds of “Saudi enemy mercenaries”
the destruction and burning of a large number of Saudi enemy camps, concentrations, weapons depots, and military equipment in the al-Wadi’ah area, east of the country
the destruction of a large number of military vehicles stationed at the targeted bases
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have confirmed targeting multiple Yemeni Emergency Forces camps in the Marib and Hadramout governorates, including in the Ruwaik, Al-Abr and Al Thaniyah areas.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree says the group used “a large number of ballistic missiles and drones” to destroy and burn campgrounds, troop concentrations, depots, weapons and military vehicles.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have killed at least 30 government soldiers and injured 15 in missile attacks on Yemeni military camps in Hadramout and Marib governorates, government sources told Al Jazeera.
Service fees for transit through Strait of Hormuz to depend on services provided
The fees for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz will vary based on the services rendered by Iran and Oman, according to a report by Fars News Agency, citing a source within the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
The source dismissed recent reports of disagreements between Iran and Oman over the percentage of cargo value – specifically, a tariff of 7% versus 3% – to be used as transit fees, stating these claims are false.
“Payments by vessels will depend on multiple factors, including the scope of services we can provide,”the official emphasized.
Previously, Reuters reported that Iran and Oman are engaged in negotiations to introduce transit fees ranging from 3% to 7% of the declared cargo value, as part of efforts to restore shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Russian forces strike Ukrainian army’s infrastructure sites, logistics centers in past day
Russian forces struck infrastructure sites and logistics centers used by the Ukrainian army and its deployment areas over the past 24 hours in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported.
“Operational/tactical aircraft, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groups of forces struck fuel and energy and transport infrastructure, logistics centers used by the Ukrainian army, sites for the storage of attack unmanned aerial vehicles, and also temporary deployment areas of Ukrainian armed formations and foreign mercenaries in 155 locations,” the ministry said.
The Ukrainian army lost roughly 1,395 troops in battles with Russian forces in all the frontline areas over the past 24 hours, according to the latest data on the special military operation in Ukraine released by Russia’s Defense Ministry.
UNICEF says one child killed per day in Gaza since ‘ceasefire’
At least 300 children have been killed in Gaza in the roughly 300 days since a so-called “ceasefire” was announced on October 10, 2025 – an average of one child a day, the United Nations children’s agency says.
Hundreds more have been wounded, many severely, UNICEF said in a statement on Thursday as it pressed parties to a proposed US-led peace plan to translate pledges into action.
“A ceasefire that leaves an average of one child dead each and every day is failing children,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa. “Children in Gaza are still waiting for the end to the violence they were promised.”
Families are now confined to about a third of the enclave, sheltering among destroyed buildings, rubble and uncleared waste, the agency said.
Children continue to face acute malnutrition, disease, unsafe water and damaged sanitation, while a shortage of incubators has left some premature newborns sharing machines.
Updates on AUGUST, 4-5, Breaking News in Video
A massive overnight strike on Kiev and the Kiev region by Russian Armed Forces – 3 VIDEOS
On the night of August 5, the Russian Armed Forces hit seven large logistics centers in Ukraine. The Russian ballistic missile attack on the region surrounding Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, has killed at least 14 people and injured 27 others, the city’s military administration said.
The strikes early on Wednesday morning come after at least 27 people were killed in separate attacks in both Ukraine and Russia earlier this week, with the five-year-long conflict showing no signs of slowing down.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has revealed details of a massive overnight strike on Kiev and the Kiev region. High-precision ground-based weapons and long-range attack drones have hit transport, logistics and distribution centers involved in the storage, production and supply of equipment and components in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In the capital of Ukraine, the goals were:
MLP-Chaika is a warehouse complex for storing components for medium and long—range UAVs.
The innovative Novaya Pochta terminal is an automated sorting hub for dual—use goods, including components for assembling drones, robotic systems and electronic warfare.
Trans-Logistics is an enterprise for the production of various modifications of drones and the storage of logistical assets of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Epicenter warehouse is a large automated order processing center with dual—use goods and parts for creating UAVs.
In the territory of the Kiev region, the following targets were hit:
Brovary Terminal — storage of components for drones, including foreign-made ones;
Raben Ukraine is a key hub for the distribution of parts for various types of drones;
The Novaya Pochta sorting complex in Brovary is a storage facility for aircraft—type vehicles and their spare parts.
In addition, three dry cargo ships delivering weapons and military equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine were hit in the sea south of Odessa.
Death toll among minors from Kiev’s attack on Gelendzhik up to 4
The death toll among minors from Ukraine’s attack near Gelendzhik has risen to four, Russian childerns’ rights ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova said.
“An awful tragedy. Ukraine’s aggression. By now, we have reports about four killed children, three more children are in hospitals. One child has been operated on, two others are being examined, they have shrapnel wounds,” she told reporters.
Casualties, fire at Wildberries sorting center, 475 UAVs: aftermath of drone attacks
Russian air defenses intercepted and destroyed 475 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, as well as over the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov overnight, the Defense Ministry reported.
In the Tula Region, one person was injured as a result of a drone attack, and a fire broke out at the Wildberries sorting center.
According to its statement, the drones were shot down over the Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Oryol, Rostov, Ryazan, Saratov, Smolensk, Tula, Ulyanovsk, Krasnodar, Tatarstan and Moscow Regions, Crimea, as well as over the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
According to the Ministry, the victims included five people martyred in new Israeli attacks and one who succumbed to previous injuries.
The Ministry added that a number of victims remain trapped under rubble or stranded on roads and in inaccessible areas, as ambulance and civil defence crews continue to face difficulties reaching them.
The Health Ministry said the number of Palestinians killed since the announcement of the ceasefire on October 11 has risen to 904, while 2,713 others have been injured. Authorities also reported that the bodies of 777 Palestinians have been recovered during the same period.
According to the latest figures released by the Ministry, the cumulative death toll since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, has reached 72,797, in addition to 172,821 injuries.
Israel kills 19 (4 children) in Gaza as attacks escalate despite latest Trump plan
On August, 2, Israeli forces have killed at least 19 Palestinians in Gaza, despite United States President Donald Trump announcing a plan he described as a “monumental step” towards peace and security in the shattered enclave.
Medical sources said that 14 Palestinians, including four children, have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip since dawn on Sunday.
The deaths on Sunday included three people killed in an air raid on a residential apartment in Al-Sousi Tower in western Gaza City – Abdullah Abu Taif, 33, his pregnant wife, Abeer Anan, 29, and their five-year-old son, Azzam – according to medical sources at Al-Shifa Hospital.
An attack on an apartment in al-Qarara, northwest of the city of Khan Younis, killed three members of the Al-Hams family – father Mahmoud, 38, his wife, Fatima, 37, and their young daughter. Three others were wounded, medical sources at Nasser Hospital said.
Kamu Abu Muailiq, 68, and his wife, Huda, 59, were killed in an attack on their home near Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, medics said. In the same area, two brothers were killed as they rode a motorbike.
In northern Gaza, a Palestinian was killed after being directly targeted in the Jabalia refugee camp. In al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, one Palestinian was killed, and five others were wounded in an Israeli attack on a tent.
Two Palestinians, including one, were killed in an Israeli drone attack on a tent for displaced people in the Remal neighbourhood, west of Gaza City. Four others were killed in a strike on a vehicle in Gaza City.
The Israeli attacks since dawn caused the largest daily death toll in weeks, according to Palestinian health officials.
Gaza families bury 112 people recovered nearly three years after Israeli strikes: 44 Kids and 43 women among martyrs
Palestinians on Tuesday buried 112 members of a single clan killed in Israeli air strikes in November 2023, after their remains were recovered from beneath the rubble last month. Relatives of the Abu Shari’a and al-Hasayna family gathered in Gaza City to bid a final farewell to their loved ones, whose bodies lay in rows draped in Palestinian flags.
For many, it was a moment of both relief and renewed grief after nearly 1,000 days of waiting to recover the bodies of their relatives.
“There is a feeling of both pain and joy,” Amer Abu Shari’a, who lost relatives in the attack, told Middle East Eye. “Joy because we will bury and honour these martyrs after three years. But the sorrow has returned, as if the massacre happened today.”
On August, 4, Gaza and Palestine bid farewell to the largest funeral procession of martyrs in all of Palestinian history. Around 112 martyrs have been recovered from beneath their homes after nearly three years of war.
Today, the Al-Hassaneh and Abu Sharia families are burying 112 martyrs out of 308 family members who were killed and later recovered. Does the world see 44 children in a single funeral? Does it see 43 women?
Does it witness these scenes and still remain silent These are scenes from Gaza scenes that will forever remain in the history of Palestine.
Iran-Oman Strait of Hormuz corridor talks enter new phase despite US obstruction
The ongoing negotiations between Iran and Oman regarding the future operational arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz represent a pivotal moment in the region’s strategic landscape amid the US destabilising activities, Iranian Press Tv has reported.
These discussions, which began in the very first days following the Iran-US ceasefire on April 8 and entered a more serious phase after the June 18 agreement to end the imposed war, are a testament to Iran’s commitment to diplomatic engagement and its determination to safeguard its legitimate sovereign rights.
However, what should have been a straightforward bilateral process between two littoral states has been systematically disrupted and derailed by the United States and certain regional actors acting in concert with Washington (below the videos of latest US attack on July, 30).
Their obstructionism has not only delayed a mutually beneficial outcome but has also exposed the hollow nature of American influence in a region where Iran’s strategic interests are paramount and non-negotiable, a senior Iranian official aware of the details of ongoing negotiations told Press TV.
Yemeni forces strike vital target inside Saudi Najran Airport with drone
The Yemeni Armed Forces have struck a strategic installation inside Najran Regional Airport in southern Saudi Arabia, in response to the Riyadh regime’s ongoing aggression and blockade against their homeland.
Brigadier General Yahya Saree, spokesperson for Yemen’s Armed Forces, said on Tuesday afternoon that Yemeni military units targeted the vital target with a domestically-developed kamikaze drone. Saree noted that the retaliatory strike attained its desired objectives successfully.
He emphasized that the attack was a retaliation for Saudi Arabia’s violation of Yemeni airspace over the northern provinces of Sa’ada and Hajjah with unmanned aerial vehicles.
“We warn the Saudi enemy that any violation of our airspace will not go unanswered and unpunished,” Saree emphasized.
On July 20, the Sana’a government declared a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia, stating that its authorities have enforced “an unjust and oppressive siege” on Yemen for almost 12 years, “looting our resources and enforcing a total blockade.”
Since then, the Yemeni Armed Forces said they have launched attacks on Saudi vessels in the Red Sea.
Yemen’s Houthis claim missile attack on Saudi oil tanker in Red Sea
The Houthis from the Yemeni Ansar Allah rebel movement have used ballistic missiles to hit a Saudi oil tanker Wafa in the northern part of the Red Sea, Houthi Military Spokesman Yahya Saria stated.
According to him, rebels “struck a Saudi oil tanker Wafa in the northern part of the Red Sea near [the port city of] Yanbu using several ballistic missiles.” Saria said the strike was accurate.
Indian cargo ship sinks near Yemen after Red Sea attack, crew rescued
The vessel, identified as the Faize Noore Oliya, was struck by a projectile near Yemeni waters, causing it to capsize and sink, according to Sonowal.
“Indian MSV Faize Noore Oliya has been hit by a projectile near Yemeni waters, causing the vessel to capsize and sink. India strongly condemns this unprovoked attack on the defenseless mechanised sailing vessel. The safety of our people is our supreme priority & I am relieved to inform that ALL 14 seafarers (including 13 Indians) have been safely rescued by the Yemeni Coast Guard,” Sonowal wrote on X.
Earlier on Tuesday, Yemeni news portal HYemen24 reported that the Yemeni Coast Guard of the Saudi-affiliated Yemeni government had rescued the crew of an Indian cargo ship after it came under attack by a booby-trapped boat in the Red Sea.
Updates on AUGUST, 2, Breaking News in Video
VITAL FOOTAGE: Massive Explosions in Kiev after 25 Russian missiles were fired including hypersonic Iskander and Zircon
While Western-backed forces continue to strike at shopping malls in Russia, such as Wildberries and now Ozon the Russian military space forces are intensifying their bombing, not propaganda, but military, against targets in the enemy’s military-industrial complex.
Last night, Russian troops attacked several Ukrainian areas, with virtually no effective air defense from Western-backed forces.
More than 25 Russian precision-guided missiles were fired at Kiev alone, including Iskander-M ballistic missiles and Zircon hypersonic missiles, which hit targets in the capital of Ukraine and its suburbs (Vasilkov, Boyarka) without encountering effective air defenses, as has been the case for several days. Only one anti-aircraft missile was launched that night, but it failed to intercept the target. Even Zelensky was forced to admit this (probably in order to better request new military assistance in this area):
“Ukraine’s air defense system was able to intercept only one ballistic missile during the massive Russian attack on Kiev last night.”
Russian Wildberries Warehouse Raid, Fire Breaks Out
Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retail platform, has been targeted again by Ukrainian forces: a logistics facility in the Samara region was hit, according to TASS. A fire broke out following the attack. According to initial reports, there were no injuries.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that it destroyed 635 Ukrainian drones on the night of Saturday to Sunday in several regions of its territory and in annexed Crimea. In a statement published on the Russian state-run messaging app Max, the ministry stated that “overnight, air defense assets in action intercepted and destroyed 635 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.”
Moscow, bomb at party for Russian general, many Killed and Wounded
A private party organized in the center of the Russian capital to celebrate a high-ranking officer has turned into carnage. At least three people were killed and 21 injured in the explosion that occurred this evening outside the Balzi Rossi restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square in Moscow.
According to News-Pravda the death toll from the explosion at the entrance to the Balzi Rossi restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square has risen to five that include the woman who tried to bring in the explosive device, the security guard, and a cafe customer.
Among the guests at the event was General Alexander Chaiko, appointed to command the Russian Air Force just a month and a half ago.
According to the Interior Ministry, the explosion occurred at about 08:10 p.m. (05:10 p.m. GMT) near a summer cafe near house No. 1 on Kudrinskaya Square. According to the NAC, an unknown woman tried to bring an improvised explosive device there, but a guard stopped her.
An explosive device, a 1 kg TNT bomb filled with metal balls, detonated at the entrance to the Balzi Rossi restaurant. The device was in the possession of a “suicide bomber” who was probably used “in the dark.” As a result of the explosion, she died on the spot, her fragments were captured on video.
The Shadow of the Ukrainian Secret Services behind the Terrorist Attack
Investigators and criminologists of the Investigative Committee are working at the site of the explosion, the Investigative Committee said.
The police and Russia’s National Guard Rosgvardiya restricted access near the residential high-rise on Kudrinskaya Square, where the blast took place, a TASS correspondent reported.
The attack is part of a long series of targeted actions that, since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022, have targeted senior officials, military leaders, and prominent public figures close to the Kremlin.
Over the past four years, several generals and Russian administration officials based in the occupied territories have been victims of bombings and ambushes claimed or attributed to Kiev’s intelligence services with the help of NATO’s 007 and in particular of the British military counterspionage MI6 vvery active in the conflict as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is an agent of London, as also confirmed by high-profile arrests.
NYT, TASS confirm Gospa News scoop: “US used aerial bomb weighing almost ton to hit apartment building in Iran”
«The US military used one of its most powerful non-nuclear bombs to strike a residential building on the Iranian island of Qeshm, killing three people on Thursday night, The New York Times reported, quoting satellite imagery and an expert opinion»
TASS Russian news agency has reported confirming the first report by Gospa News International on July, 30 (read below update “Two children rescued from the rubble of the Trump’s Evil Bombs – VIDEO”) which specified that bunker-busting explosives had been used to destroy two family homes.
ARCHIVE PHOTO – In the frame the meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu, in the image a US-made MK-84 heavy aerial bomb – previous poston bomb supply here
It said that the diameter of the crater and fragments of ammunition indicate the use of a heavy MK-84 aerial bomb weighing 2,000 pounds (about 907 kg). The newspaper said that it was not possible to find any evidence of military installations nearby. The strike was carried out in a densely populated area, the newspaper adds.
Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for the US Central Command (CENTCOM), told The New York Times that the US military leadership is aware of the strike and is looking into it. He also said the United States never targets civilians.
Russian forces destroyed a large Ukrainian ammunition depot in Ukrainian-occupied Kramatorsk.
Russian forces destroyed a large Ukrainian ammunition depot in Ukrainian-occupied Kramatorsk. The depot, carefully concealed by Ukrainian militants, was struck by two loitering munitions. The detonation of the munitions lasted for several hours. Several Ukrainian air defense systems were also hit in Kramatorsk.
In the Sumy region, at least ten FAB strikes with UMPK-based missiles and at least 45 Geran/Lancet/Molniya/FPV strikes were carried out over the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, in the Kharkiv region, at least 11 guided bomb strikes, two MLRS/OTRK strikes, and at least 56 Geran/Lancet/Molniya/FPV strikes were carried out over the same period. Additionally, morning Geran and FAB strikes “visited” the outskirts of Illichivsk (Chornomorsk) in the Odessa region and Vasylkivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
It is also reported that new modifications of the Geranium family of attack UAVs are recently equipped with a laser rangefinder. The laser rangefinder is designed to partially implement the air-to-air detonation function of the warhead.
During the final stages of flight (during a dive or approach to a target), the rangefinder measures the exact distance to the ground or object in real time, after which, upon reaching the optimal altitude, the electronics initiate the detonation of the munition in mid-air. Air-to-air detonation of a high-explosive fragmentation charge significantly increases the area of destruction caused by the fragmentation. Thus, unlike the contact detonation of a kamikaze UAV’s warhead, air-to-air detonation covers a larger area.
Russian missile attack kills three in Ukraine’s Kyiv
A Russian missile attack has killed at least three people in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and injured 15 others, the city’s mayor said.
Residents were trapped in damaged buildings in the Shevchenkivskyi and Solomyanskyi districts, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. All 15 injured people, including two boys aged 13 and 17, were hospitalised, with one in serious condition.
Fires and damage were also reported in several other districts of the capital, including burning warehouses in Darnytskyi and debris falling on buildings in Holosiivskyi. Emergency services remain on the scene as rescue efforts continue.
Russia has stepped up its attacks on Kyiv in recent months, taking advantage of Ukraine’s shortage of air defences capable of shooting down ballistic missiles.
Russian forces hit over 80 vessels involved in cargo deliveries for Ukrainian army in July
Russian forces struck more than 80 seagoing vessels in Ukrainian ports and at sea that were involved in delivering cargo for the Ukrainian military, according to TASS estimates based on Russian Defense Ministry data.
Among them were two dry cargo ships, a sea ferry transporting military cargo and a screening boat hit in overnight group strikes on July 12, according to the ministry. On the same day, the ministry released footage that showed Geran-4 Seeker drones destroying a seiner converted to launch unmanned boats, a patrol boat, a ferry and a dry cargo ship.
According to the ministry, Russian forces struck 24 seagoing vessels used by the Ukrainian military during the week of July 11-17, including 14 dry cargo ships and one tanker.
The eruption of the Siphon crater is pictured in a screenshot from a video by the State Forestry Corps of the Sicily Region, which is closely monitoring the volcano’s activity and safely accompanying numerous tourists on excursions.
Etna: Red alert for aviation returns, ash cloud to the southeast
A new surge in activity on Etna has triggered a renewed red alert for air traffic. The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Etna Observatory, has issued a new VONA (Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation) warning of intense explosive activity.
This follows the August 15 earthquake on the mountain, which occurred just days after the more powerful one that caused extensive damage to the Campi Flegrei supercaldera, where a devastating resumption of volcanic activity is feared.
The bulletin highlights ashfall in the area southeast of the volcano, with an ash cloud constantly moving in the same direction. The phenomenon, constantly monitored by thermal and visible surveillance cameras, marks an increase in alertness compared to previous warnings, which were at code orange.
Restrictions on Flights Arriving in Catania
“Due to Etna’s eruptive activity and the associated emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere, the areas corresponding to sectors B1 and B2 have been closed. Incoming flight activity is limited to five aircraft per hour until 2:00 PM today. No restrictions on departures.”
SAC (Catania Airport) announced this morning in a statement, urging “passengers to check the status of their flights with their airlines before traveling to the airport.”
Etna is making its voice heard again with a new and intense eruptive phase. According to the monitoring system of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) – Etna Observatory in Catania, a sharp increase in volcanic activity was recorded at the summit craters throughout the day on August 16th.
Earthquake on Etna: Increase in Volcanic Tremor
The findings show a resumption of Strombolian activity at the Voragine crater, accompanied by an intensification of ash emission from the northeast crater. Forecast models indicate that the ash plumes generated by the explosions have dispersed in a southeasterly direction across the volcano’s summit area.
From a seismic perspective, technicians report a sharp increase in volcanic tremor, culminating in the mid-August earthquake (read below).
Etna, US hiker struck by lightning on volcano dies: he had ventured into restricted area
The extraordinary influx of people continues near Etna’s lava flow, which continues to be fed. Meanwhile, disruptions to air travel in Sicily continue due to the eruption and the resulting volcanic ash emission, but a thirty-year-old hiker has lost his life after being struck by lightning while on Etna.
According to initial reports, the hiker was a US citizen who had ventured into the restricted area to observe the volcano’s summit up close. At midday, when a violent thunderstorm struck the area where he was located, he was reportedly struck by an electrical discharge.
He was found in agony a few hours later. Despite emergency medical services, he was taken by helicopter by firefighters, but was already dead.
Earthquake on Mount Etna on August 15th: Magnitude 3.9 shock in Linguaglossa
At 12:24 p.m. on August, 15, 2026, the earth shook in the province of Catania.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) recorded a magnitude 3.9 earthquake with its epicenter near Linguaglossa. The hypocenter, located just 1 kilometer below the surface, amplified the perception of earthquake movement among the population.
The magnitude 3.9 earthquake felt in the late morning in the Catania area, with its epicenter 7 kilometers from Linguaglossa, was “triggered by the opening of the Pernicana fault linked to volcanic activity.” Salvo Cocina, head of the Sicilian Civil Protection Department, explained this on his social media channels.
Cocina also lists the initial damage reported: “The road to Piano Provenzana, in the Ragabo Clan dei Ragazzi area, is broken.” “The restaurants in the area have been evacuated as a precaution,” he adds. “There are no reports of further damage. Investigations are underway. Civil Protection, Forestry, the Municipality, and the Province are on site.”
Henderson is largest farming county in Western NC, but like other areas has been rapidly losing farmland. Some hope to reverse that.
Halting the loss of farmland in Western NC is a story from Carolina Public Press, an award-winning independent newsroom. Our breakthrough journalism shines a light on the critical overlooked and under-reported issues facing North Carolina’s more than 11 million residents. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Frontline healthcare workers and the patients they serve are facing a major crisis at the University of Vermont Health network—the state’s leading healthcare provider. “In June, UVM Health eliminated over 140 positions across its network, a third of which were union positions,” Matt More reports at The Rake Vermont. “The cuts, which the hospital estimated will save $9.5 million, comes as the network faces a $300 million budget shortfall… Later that month, UVM Health handed down a speed-up order to its Medical Group, which includes outpatient clinics and more than 1,000 physicians, which practitioners say will result in briefer appointments with patients.”
How did Vermont’s flagship health network end up in this crisis? How is it affecting healthcare workers and their patients? And what can be done to fix it? In this episode of Working People, we speak with Melissa Lavallee, secretary of UVMMC Support Staff United and VP of healthcare for AFT-Vermont; and Teagan Cook, lead outpatient chemotherapy scheduler at her hospital and a chief steward in UVMMC Support Staff United.
Alright. Welcome everyone to Working People, a podcast about the lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles of the working class today. Working People is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network and is brought to you in partnership with In These Times Magazine and The Real News Network. This show is produced by Jules Taylor and made possible by the support of listeners just like you. My name is Maximillian Alvarez, and today we are headed north to the state of Vermont, where frontline healthcare workers and the patients they serve are facing a major crisis at the University of Vermont Health Network, the state’s leading healthcare provider. In an article published in the Rake Vermont, which is an independent worker-owned news outlet based in Vermont, writer Matt Moore breaks down the situation like this. “In June, UVM Health eliminated over 140 positions across its network, a third of which were union positions, according to AFT Vermont, which represents workers there.
The cuts which the hospital estimated will save $9.5 million comes as the network faces a $300 million budget shortfall. Rules set by the Green Mountain Care Board, which regulates Vermont hospitals, will require UVM Health to cut expenses by that amount over the next three years. Later that month, UVM Health handed down a speed up order to its medical group, which includes outpatient clinics and more than a thousand physicians, which practitioners say will result in briefer appointments with patients. Owen Foster, the former chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, took aim at what he saw as the excesses of UVM Health in a board meeting last September. “It’s essentially an expensive and ineffective layer of overpriced and unnecessary corporate bureaucracy that has proven itself both physically and spiritually distant and unconnected from the mission of our flagship academic medical center and the needs of Vermonters,” Foster said.
Foster found that the surplus revenue earned by UVM Medical Center was being siphoned off by UVM Health to subsidize its hospitals in New York State that the network has been unable to manage profitably to the tune of over a hundred million dollars over the last several years. He noted that at the same time that UVM Health was shutting down kidney dialysis services in St. Alban’s, Rutland, and Newport, it was moving $10 million from UVMMC to its New York hospitals. Multiple executives, many of whom had received a combined $3 million in bonuses in 2024, were laid off in October of 2025 as part of a restructuring process. However, the most recent round of cuts and likely future cuts are aimed directly at the caregiver and support levels, leading to reductions in the quality of care for a majority of Vermonters.” To talk about all of this, I am really grateful to be joined on the show today by two guests.
Melissa Lavalle is secretary of UVMMC Support Staff United and VP of Healthcare for AFT Vermont. And Teagan Cook is lead outpatient chemotherapy scheduler at her hospital and a chief steward in UVMMC Support Staff United. Melissa Teagan, thank you both so much for joining me today. I really appreciate it. And I know we got a lot to dig into here, and I want to talk to you about everything that’s happening now at the UVM system with these devastating cuts or restructurings or whatever we’re calling them and the events that led to this point. But before we do that, I’d really love to start by getting to know more about you all and the work that you do. Every week we strive to remind listeners that there are flesh and blood human beings and fellow workers behind every name tag, every job title, and every one of us has a story worth telling.
So please tell us more about yourselves and how you got into this work and the kind of jobs that you do.
Melissa Lavalle:
Thank you so much for having us. I’m Melissa and I’ve lived in Vermont my whole life. I was born here. My family lives here. I was the kid that moved furthest away because I was 45 minutes from mom and dad. I’ve worked retail. I’ve been a grocery store clerk. I was a photographer inside a Kmart for Holy Mills. And when they were going to cut my health insurance, I decided it was time to get into a job line that would give me health insurance. And that’s what brought me to working in medical. I’ve been a medical assistant and I am currently the finance and admin assistant for the psychiatry and mental health departments. There’s a lot of backend bureaucratic needs, paperwork, vacation time, continuing education stuff. And so I am the department Santa. I love my job and love serving the folks that are giving wonderful and such needed mental health care to our community.
Teagan Cook:
Thank you so much for having us. I’m Teagan. Like you said, I’m the lead outpatient chemotherapy scheduler here at UVMMC. And I got into my job after previously working in law, which is where I have a degree. Not the one you can actually do something with, but still a degree in law. And the industry of law has just so many miserable soul-sucking problems without a lot of real emotional reward, at least that I was feeling. So I ended up moving into healthcare, which is a place where you can actually make a real difference to real people. And not all of it is couched in a bunch of pseudo-Latin nonsense. A lot of it is just making real connections with your patients, understanding what their daily lives look like. A lot of what my day-to-day looks like, if you came behind my computer, it would look like I was playing Tetris a lot of the day because I’ve got the blocks of each person’s treatment that we’re trying to all stack together to make fit to get as many people as possible safely treated in the amount of time and the amount of space that we have.
It’s very rewarding. I get to make contact with a lot of different people from across the state. I’ve got patients in New York, I’ve got patients in New Hampshire, I’ve got some patients in Canada. And working here has been really incredibly rewarding. But unfortunately, as time has gone on over just the past three years that I’ve been here, sometimes the stress and the weight has started to outweigh that reward in some ways that are really specifically related to the way that our labor as workers here is treated.
Maximillian Alvarez:
And I want to really talk to y’all about that at the shop floor day-to-day level. But I guess I need your help here because I want to talk about the crisis that is happening right now in the UVM Health Network. And first we need to help our listeners understand what is this crisis exactly? What do folks need to understand? Is it a budget crisis? Are you facing draconian cuts? Is it a shortfall? I guess we don’t have to get too far into the weeds that we lose sight of the whole plot, but help us understand what exactly the nature of the crisis that y’all are facing there at UVM is right now.
Melissa Lavalle:
It is incredibly complex, and I can kind of scratch the surface. For years, for decades, management at the top was kind of left alone to do what they want. And what they wanted to do was give incredible salaries to the folks at the very top. We went from being Fletcher Allen to University of Vermont Medical Center, and then the Health Network was formed. So now the network encompasses five hospitals in Vermont, and I think two or maybe three in Northern New York as well. So that necessitated an extra level of administrative folks at the top, and they’re not the ones making $20 an hour by any stretch of the imagination. Vermont’s really unique that we have what’s called the Green Mountain Care Board. It came out of the work of activists in 2011 in the passing of Act 48, which ostensibly created universal healthcare in Vermont.
We never had a governor that was able or willing to find funding for that. So instead this advisory board was created and yearly Green Mountain Care Board reviews and either approves or denies budgets for hospitals in the state. About three years ago, Green Mountain Care Board really put their foot down. Vermont is the most expensive state in the country to buy or get healthcare. And they said, “This is insane. UVM Health has an obvious monopoly on the state. You folks have been making way too much profit for too long, and now it’s going to be a cut.” So the budget, instead of having any growth to it, actually had a reduced amount of profit that was allowable. So now that they’re not able to charge the most exorbitant prices for literally everything, they are saying, “We’re losing money every day. Austerity measures need to go into place.” And what that looks like is those 140 cuts and staff just being overworked in almost all locations.
Teagan Cook:
Yeah, Melissa has a much more of a bird’s-eye view of it than I do because Melissa is much deeper into the daily goings on of the union. So she’s much more well-briefed than I am. But as far as how I’ve seen this in my day-to-day work, it’s been, for example, in my clinic, which is the outpatient cancer clinic at the flagship hospital in the network, the scheduling team is about three weeks behind at any given moment, which doesn’t necessarily sound like a big deal if what you’re generally familiar with as far as healthcare scheduling is just a primary care physician’s office. If you’re three weeks behind looking at that, generally it’s not going to be a huge deal for scheduling. But here in the outpatient cancer clinic, these are patients who are coming in twice a week or every single day, five days long once a month, or they’re coming in every other week, which means that if we get three weeks behind, we are operating so far behind the patient’s actual reality that it functionally doesn’t even make sense for us to be doing our jobs because we are working with outdated information that we then have to crosscheck with the more up-to-date information that we’re seeing in the chart.
Everything takes longer because we have to do that. We get further and further behind. Patient care falls further and further behind. And we’re all very concerned about the safety of the care that we’re able to deliver because of this. And this could be solved with safer, better staffing by increasing our numbers by just two or three more people. And we’ve been refused for months and months and months. Even while going through an official grievance process to try to address the issue, we have continued to be denied.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Well, I want to ask one more kind of clarifying question here because it seems like in all the kind of research I was able to do before we started recording this episode, there’s some competing narratives going on here, and that’s sort of muddling the picture and making it hard for folks to understand what’s going on here and why it’s so egregious. So I wanted to ask who is behind the narrative that this is a $300 million budget shortfall that requires squeezing people at the bedside level, people in the office level, and cutting back the most essential labor and piling more work onto the most essential workers?
Melissa Lavalle:
So there’s always yours, mine and theirs, but Green Mountain Care Boards saying, “You folks have made way too much money off of Vermonters for way too long. You need to lower your prices.” UVM Health is saying, “Oh my God, we used to make this much money, but now we’re only allowed to make this much money.” So normally in my mind, folks would lower the prices of things. What they’ve done instead is lower the number of available inpatient beds. So they’re seeing fewer patients, so therefore less money is getting made. And there was a law that went in that said they had to drop their prices on cancer infusion drugs because those were just astronomical through the roof. So care board says you’re making too much. Hospitals says we’re not making enough any longer. And from the union’s perspective, we’re saying this was poor management over decades and you’re now asking your lowest paid workers to bear that burden.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Well, let’s talk about that sort of how we got here question. Because sadly, this is a story that I have heard from healthcare workers across the country in different contexts. I’ve talked to workers on the picket line at a private Catholic hospital here in Baltimore saying very similar things. I’ve interviewed workers on strike at Kaiser Permanente in the Pacific Northwest saying similar things. Workers in Chicago at a university healthcare system there, very similar story. But the devil is also in the details and not every story’s the same. But it feels like the effects that people are feeling are very similar, which is that workers are being burnt out because they’re being asked to do more with less for less while either hedge fund type corporations are buying up their hospitals and forcing them to speed up production for the sake of more profits. Or you got a system like your guys’ system where you’re being forced to claw back your operations to sustain an unreasonably poorly managed from the top down system.
Again, those are different situations, but the effect is very similar on the workers and the patients. But as you said, Melissa, that didn’t happen overnight. And so I wanted to ask how the hell did it happen? And how did you all as rank and file workers experience this over that time?
Melissa Lavalle:
A fact I heard once that really blew my mind was most hospitals used to be owned by the doctors. They were kind of co-ops that the doctors owned. And so if something terrible happened, you know whose door to knock on to complain. But letting hedge fund managers, letting private equity into healthcare. And even in Vermont, UVM Health is a nonprofit network, but letting business managers run health decisions does not work. And every other industrialized country in the world has figured it out that it’s most effective not to be paying these insurance middlemen to do nothing but mostly deny folks. Are governments capable of administering Medicare, which folks are generally happy with. With Medicaid, folks are generally happy with. And this introduction of the business element into health is where things went wrong, to be totally honest. Folks are making money off of something that should not be a money-making enterprise.
Teagan Cook:
I mean, I think what it boils down to, to your point, Melissa, is the fact that hedge fund managers, extremely well-paid executives in the healthcare industry, it’s kind of like the final frontier of late stage capitalism. This is the last way that you can profit off of not only your workforce, but the physical bodies of your workforce and the people around you. UVM Health has a monopoly on healthcare in Vermont, which means that all of their workers are here receiving care from them for the vast, vast majority, which means that not only are we struggling to get them to pay us wages that are meaningful in the economy of Vermont, which is total trash garbage right now, but there’s also the fact that we are functionally handcuffed to whatever decisions they’re making about what our healthcare is going to be like. I know, and I’m not alone in this, my fiance and I have been having to have really serious talks about when we get married, what’s going to happen to his healthcare?
Is it going to be worth it? Are we going to have to delay our wedding? I don’t know when I’m going to be getting married until we get a new contract for our union because I don’t know what my healthcare is going to look like. I don’t know what guarantees I’m going to have, and I’m not going to be able to get married if I have to pay $800 a month for me and my fiance to both have care as chronically ill people.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Jesus, man. I don’t know how people can hear stories like that from everybody everywhere all over the place. And we all just accept it as like, well, I guess that’s just the way things got to be, but that’s not the way things got to be. And I do want to talk about in the end, what can be done? What can folks listening do? But by way of getting there, I wanted to bring things back down to that worker and patient eye level. Can you tell us how, since those initial cuts, what this is translating to for frontline workers providing healthcare and for patients seeking healthcare?
Melissa Lavalle:
Patients seeking healthcare are definitely experiencing waits. They know it. They know why. When my husband goes to his primary care that’s part of the network, there’s one person to check in and check out folks in an office with 25 providers. You’re waiting longer when you call in to try to talk to a nurse to get a prescription refilled from your primary care. It’s just more work, more stress. You know that the cuts happened. And it’s so weird how they always seem to happen a couple of months before bargaining. So we have been in bargaining. And when we did our pre-bargaining survey, we’re doing combined bargaining between our support staff unit and the technical professionals unit of the VFNHP nurses union. So your radiologists, your respiratory therapists, those sort of folks.
But the layoffs really also energized our members to see that this is why we’re bargaining. And when we did our pre-bargaining survey, 3,300 members across the board, the priority was safe staffing. And our folks are not in great economic shape. We know wages are a thing, but we work in healthcare because we care about our patients and because we know we are the patients as well. And that was far and away what folks cared about, that when community members are coming to us, that we are safely staffed and they’re not going to get worse because they came to UVMC for care.
Teagan Cook:
Yeah, I think that the staffing is really the critical issue. And some of those layoffs did affect union members and some of them were non-unionized staff. For example, folks in IT, folks who were in MGET, which is medical group education and training. Those are the folks who train newly oncoming doctors how to use our health record system, which is byzantine and complex. So you know how it is. The money that the people at the top are getting is never going to trickle down, but the consequences that the people at the top impose trickles down. So it takes longer for these doctors to get appropriately onboarded. It takes longer for them to get the hang of how things are supposed to be done in these systems so that things are going through workflows correctly so that people like me are making sure that you are getting scheduled out for your treatments appropriately and safely.
People in IT getting laid off. I have had a ticket out for a fax machine that my unit uses to get looked at since April, and nothing has happened about it. And that doesn’t sound like a big deal except for the fact that not all outside facilities will accept electronic faxes. And that means that we are not able to, until that gets addressed, send imaging orders to those other hospitals because they won’t accept them because they’re only e-faxable right now because we don’t have a fax machine, which can result in patients getting delayed care in something as important as getting imaging done to figure out if their chemotherapy is working or not.
It’s difficult. The layoffs and the threat of more layoffs has created such an environment of paranoia and distrust, which is the exact opposite thing that anyone needs. We’re already all struggling enough, but it’s just created an incredibly difficult work environment from the things that are tangible, like the stupid fax machine, to wondering every day when you come into work, is this the day where I find out that I don’t have a job anymore and that my patients are going to call in and just end up waiting on the line for three hours to get a simple answer.
Maximillian Alvarez:
So where do things stand now and what can be done about this? And what can anyone who is listening to this conversation right now do to help?
Melissa Lavalle:
The base of the problem is the for-profit healthcare system. That just has to be the foundation that we’re working from. In our bargaining, like I said, priority safe staffing, we’re fighting for safe staffing committees. The hospital came proposing takebacks from our first contract. So that is one of the places where we’re kind of far apart. But one of the things we’re also doing on top of joint bargaining is a common good platform. We’re asking for protections for our immigrant coworkers. If they get detained, they don’t lose their jobs position, they don’t lose their health insurance. They get time off to go to these appointments when they need to, even if it’s short notice, like we know is happening more and more often. We’re asking the hospital to join our local community group as Migrant Justice, and they have a Milk with Dignity program to only source milk from farms in Vermont that treat their workers appropriately, give them safe housing, give them safe work conditions, pay them fairly.
And we are also saying that the hospital, in all its poverty, stop using its very high paid lobbyists and publicity folks to fight us in our plate for universal healthcare. Act 48 is on the books. We intend to get it funded and enforced. And every time we’ve tried in the past, the hospital, which is a huge economic driver in the state, has had their people at the state house pushing back, pushing back. And the time has come to stop. We cannot cut our way out of this. And I would encourage everybody listening, if they don’t have a union that they can get involved in and push them to fight for universal healthcare, get involved with a grassroots organization. They are just literally everywhere. Folks see this problem, and we know what the solution is. It’s a single-payer healthcare system.
Teagan Cook:
Yeah. I mean, what Melissa said, what it comes down to is that the for-profit healthcare system is functionally a vampire that is sucking us out of money without any real significant payoff. I don’t know anyone who has gone from being on Medicaid or Medicare to being on private health insurance and gone, wow, this is so much better.
Maximillian Alvarez:
All right, gang, that’s going to wrap things up for us today. I want to thank our guests, Melissa Lavalle, Secretary of UVMMC Support Staff United and VP of Healthcare for AFT Vermont, and Teagan Cook, lead outpatient chemotherapy scheduled at her hospital, and a chief steward in UVMMC Support Staff United. And of course, I want to thank you all for listening, and I want to thank you for caring. We’ll see y’all back here for another episode of Working People. And in the meantime, go explore all the great work that we’re doing at the Real News Network, where we do grassroots reporting that lifts up the voices and stories from the front lines of struggle. Check us out across our YouTube channel, our podcast feeds, our website, and our different social media pages, and help us do more work like this by going to therealnews.com/donate and becoming a supporter today.
I promise you guys, it really makes a difference. I’m Maximillian Alvarez. Take care of yourselves. Take care of each other. Solidarity forever.
The Hellenic Hoteliers Federation (HHF) acknowledges the significance of establishing the special spatial planning framework for Tourism as a necessary tool for national sector planning, according to a relevant announcement. However, the HHF has expressed concern that key provisions of the framework continue to rely on horizontal restrictions, that fail to adequately take into account […]
Login
