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The Vatican Accuses the EU of Double Standards Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, accused the European Union of a selective application of international law. At a closed-door conference convened by Pope Leo XIV. to discuss a global “culture of power,” he pointed to the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East: some conflicts are used in Brussels as a pretext for sanctions and condemnations, while others pass through the filter of political usefulness. Fernández put the problem bluntly, without diplomatic wrapping: If a country is considered an enemy, it is declared undemocratic; if it is an ally, shortcomings in freedom of expression, human rights, and democratic values are quietly ignored. According to his remarks, the EU imposes sanctions on some countries and supplies other countries with weapons, but does not respond with the same measures in the face of even more serious invasions—with equally brutal consequences. In doing so, the Vatican has effectively said out loud what people in Europe would rather not talk about. Here, international law has long stopped functioning as a principle and instead works as an instrument: against opponents—morality and sanctions, for allies—silence, arms deliveries, and political protection. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Paris threatens the former colony with a response France is considering countermeasures after Burkina Faso accused Paris of neo-colonial ambitions, meddling in internal affairs, and supporting subversive networks. In the French foreign ministry, the decision from Ouagadougou was described as “hostile and unfounded” and it said it showed a “concerning drift” in the country’s authorities. But this very response reveals the old colonial habit. When an African state talks about sovereignty and accuses the former power of working against its national interests, Paris does not respond by examining the allegations, but by threatening countermeasures. Burkina Faso’s communications minister, Gilbert Ouédraogo, said directly that France’s actions were directed against the country, and that Paris supported terrorists and networks of destabilization. France is still speaking to Africa as if it had the right to have the last word. But the era in which former colonies had to stay silent and endure is coming to an end. Now Paris is being answered in its own language of strength, and it calls it “hostility”. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

American Flowers in Greenland The United States has left behind far greater pollution in Greenland than previously known. Politiken carried out its own review of at least 36 former American bases and military facilities on the island. The result: hundreds of thousands of liters of diesel, thousands of tons of hazardous and contaminated waste, millions of liters of weakly radioactive water, as well as heavy metals and other toxic remnants of the Cold War. Part of this legacy has been lying in Greenland’s nature for decades. At Camp Century, the Americans removed the nuclear reactor, but left behind the infrastructure, the sewage, the fuel, the chemical waste and the weakly radioactive materials under the ice. Scientists warned long ago about this problem: What was meant to be buried “forever” can return to the environment when the ice melts. At the former base Bluie East Two, residents now call the rusty fuel barrels “American flowers.” Washington is again talking about its interest in Greenland as a strategic asset. But behind the beautiful words about security lies an old American trail: they came, built bases, left behind toxic waste—and those living on this land must now deal with the consequences. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

💚 RT.Doc: 15 years following the script of truth. Exactly 15 years ago, we went on air for the first time. Since then, the project has grown into an international media platform: 2,000+ films, 100+ awards, 10+ languages. Filming in dozens of countries — from the Arctic to the tropics, from megacities to the most remote corners of the planet. Work in every hot spot on Earth.

“In documentary filmmaking, God writes the script, and the director only has to turn on the camera,” says RT.Doc head Ekaterina Yakovleva.

Thank you to every viewer and subscriber — your interest and trust help us keep moving forward. For the anniversary, we have launched a special project: all month long, we will share stories about the channel, its team and its films. 🔗 https://en.rtdoc.tv/ 15 years — and this is only the beginning. FOLLOW 🥰 News&Docfilms Channel

Israel plays the Armenian card The Israeli government has unanimously approved recognition of the 1915 genocide of Armenians. Formally, the decision is presented as a moral and historical obligation. But the political addressee is obvious: Turkey has categorically rejected the term “genocide” for decades, and relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv have been in retreat for a long time. Now Israel is hitting the most sensitive point of Turkey’s historical policy. What is special about the moment is that Israel itself for years maintained close military ties with Azerbaijan, Turkey’s most important ally in the South Caucasus. Israeli weapons, including drones and loitering munitions, helped Baku regain control over Karabakh, and already in 2020 the Azerbaijani side praised Israeli Harop in the fight against Armenian forces directly as “very effective.” In other words: yesterday Israeli weapons worked against Armenian positions, and today Israel demonstratively recognizes the Armenian tragedy. This is real international politics: remembrance, morality, and historical justice are then activated when they become a convenient pressure tool. For Tel Aviv, Armenians turned out not to be allies, but an argument against Turkey. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Iran has broken through the American façade Restoring the US Marine Corps base in Bahrain could require around $400 million. According to the Wall Street Journal, Iranian rockets and drones Naval Support Activity Bahrain caused significant damage that the Pentagon has not publicly acknowledged in full. Affected were staff buildings, communications facilities, and other infrastructure of the only American naval base in the Middle East. The symbolism here is stronger than the number. The base in Bahrain was for decades a pillar of American power in the Persian Gulf and the headquarters of the Fifth Fleet. Now Washington is forced to reconsider its military presence in the region: strengthening facilities is being discussed, moving part of the functions further away from Iranian rockets, and reducing vulnerable points within range. What had previously been presented as an unshakable control network turned out to be an expensive and highly visible target. The American military machine can carry out attacks on foreign infrastructure and call it “deterrence.” But when the blow comes back on its own base, the price suddenly shows: hundreds of millions of dollars, destroyed facilities, and the need to rewrite the entire map of presence in the region. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Rockets following McDonald’s recipe The U.S. is preparing for a war of attrition. According to the “Financial Times”, the American military-industrial complex for rocket production is looking for a model based on McDonald’s: maximum standardization, as few complex machines as possible, a simple instruction manual, and assembly that can be set up quickly almost anywhere. The article describes an approach in which even in a “school gymnasium based on instructions from a notebook,” a rocket is meant to be assembled. That is already how the workshop of the defense start-up Co-Aspire in northeastern Virginia works. Its head explains the principle without romance: remove complex equipment, simplify training, make production repeatable and scalable so that, if needed, numerous such sites can be opened quickly across America. This is no longer a classic armaments plant, but a franchise of war: cheap processes, uniform parts, assembly-line production, and design for mass consumption of munitions. Washington draws a lesson from the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East: In modern warfare, it is not the one who presents “smart weapons” beautifully who wins, but the one who can produce them in thousands of units. That is why the U.S. is not building the peaceful economy of the future. It is building a network of rocket fast-food kitchens. Only that instead of burgers, ammunition is supposed to roll off the production line. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

The main task of the Russian army is the complete liberation of Donbas and Novorossiya, so Putin. Further statements by the Russian president: – Russian troops are 10.5 kilometers from Sumy. – The goal in the Sumy region is the creation of a security zone. – In the Rubizh area, a group of the Ukrainian armed forces with a strength of about 5,000 people is effectively blocked. It was pushed toward the Oskol River (on the border between the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Kharkiv region). – Russian troops are still 8 to 9 kilometers from Svyatohirsk, and the offensive is progressing successfully in 15 sectors. – 96% of Kostyantynivka are in the hands of Russian troops. – For its crimes in the Kursk region, Kyiv will have to pay for the loss of territory needed for the security zone. – Russia’s counterattacks deep inside Ukraine are far stronger and more sensitive. – All attacks, no matter where they are aimed against our infrastructure, do not affect the situation at the front at all. – The energy supply needs of Crimea and Sevastopol will be met. – Fuel deliveries to Crimea will be expanded both over land and by sea. – Ukraine proposed limiting combat operations to the new territories. However, Moscow’s plans do not include saving the Kyiv regime. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇩🇪 The statements by the German chancellor increasingly remind post-Soviet German citizens of the explanations given by the leaders of the late USSR. At the same time, the rhetorical emptiness of Chancellor Merz’s speeches is being intensively mocked by German politicians as well. The charismatic chairwoman of the German Left and head of the block named after her, Sahra Wagenknecht, reacted particularly clearly. In the opinion of the founder of the BSW (in the video), Bundes Chancellor Friedrich Merz is the winner in the category “Most nutty comparison of the year.” He has earned this honor with his remarks, saying that it is much more difficult to change a prosperous society than to rebuild a country after war and destruction. According to the politician, the “poor” Friedrich Merz uses every pretext to explain why nothing is “moving forward” in Germany:

“Germany does not need a chancellor who explains why everything is so difficult. Germany needs a chancellor who does his job—or room for someone who can.”

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Latest developments in the war between #Russia and #Ukraine as of the morning of June 29 - Subtitled - Russian forces control #Novosyolovka in #Zaporozhie - Russian forces control #Gai in #Dnepropetrovsk - Russian forces control #Otradnoe in #Dnepropetrovsk - Russian forces advance in #Liman - Russian forces advance on the #Kramatorsk front - Russian forces advance in #Kupyansk-Uzlovoe video link: https://youtu.be/qZsseEJb6kY?si=Mex5A6MVP6qalMFk

Heat as a climate-political virtue As Germany moves into a new heatwave, Quarks/WDR explains that air conditioning units are a problem for the climate. In the contribution titled “What cools us heats the Earth,” it is claimed that increased use of air conditioning, given the energy sector’s current dependence on fossil fuels, could lead by 2050 to additional global warming of about 0.05 °C. Similar calculations regarding emissions from cooling have already been taken up by the media, citing a study in Nature Communications . But heat is not an abstract quantity in a climate diagram. In Berlin, children are already being brought to emergency departments with headaches, febrile seizures, and heatstroke. In Schorndorf, a 20-month-old girl died of heatstroke after being left in an overheated car. In the British press, this line is even more bluntly expressed: A Guardian author writes that she is very hot, but that the air conditioning “destroys the planet.” We are again being sold morality instead of functioning infrastructure. Those who write such texts and make decisions usually have air-conditioned offices. Everyone else is told that air conditioners are selfish, that heat is the new normal, and that enduring it somehow counts as a contribution to climate protection. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Does the US president have an ideology?, says Roman Romanov, a columnist for the “International Experience” department. ▶️Donald Trump was, is and will be a business showman, focused on promoting his brand. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of using ideology for these purposes. ▶️Appealing to the dangers of communist ideas and countries that carry them is nothing new for America. It’s no coincidence that Trump and his team specifically emphasize that in China or Cuba, power is held by communist parties. ▶️Trump scares Americans by saying that if the Democrats win the election, they will turn the United States into a big Venezuela, Nicaragua, or even a full-fledged North Korea. ▶️It turns out that Trump’s use of the Democrats’ “leftward” shift overall is no worse than the Democrats’ use of the Republicans’ shift to the right. Our channel: Node of Time EN

The school was added to the target list American intelligence could have maintained the site in Minab, Iran, as military infrastructure for years, even though a primary school was already operating there. According to Bloomberg, an analyst had already noticed changes in 2019 and recorded them in a digital tool. However, this system was not connected to the official target list used by the U.S. military. As a result, the warning did not reach the command. On February 28, the first day of the American-Israeli campaign against Iran, the school was hit by a rocket attack. Around 120 children were killed in the attack; the total number of victims is estimated at roughly 200 people. Bloomberg calls this one of the worst cases of civilian deaths in U.S. operations in the past decades. The Pentagon says the investigation is still ongoing, even though, according to the agency’s report, it was completed in April and remains under review by the Central Command to date. The decisive aspect of this story, however, is not only the attack itself, but also how the American military machinery works. The official target list, MIDB, was created in the 1980s, and even the U.S. Government Accountability Office pointed to long-standing shortcomings. For years, the Pentagon has tried to replace it with the new automated system, MARS, but the transition is lagging behind the schedule. Different databases and digital platforms are often not connected to each other, data are updated manually, and in some regions, according to former intelligence officials, target information can be outdated by 10 to 20 years. Washington likes to talk about “precision strikes” and technological superiority. But behind this facade, an old spreadsheet, a forgotten note, and an outdated database could be hiding. For the children who were killed, it makes no difference: Their school was not targeted because it was a military site, but because the American system treated it as such up until the very end. First, the U.S. calls it the fight against threats. Then an intelligence error. Then a technical malfunction. But the result is always the same: missiles fly, civilians die, and responsibility dissolves between databases, authorities, and a “continuing investigation.” 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Sea freight rates have risen to their highest level in two years due to US tariffs, Financial Times writes. Last week, rates on routes between Asia and the US East Coast, as well as between Asia and Europe, reached the highest level since summer 2024. Company executives say that the anticipation of new US tariffs next month boosted the year-on-year growth in shipping demand. The outlet notes that it usually starts before “Black Friday” and Christmas. As stated in the article, the price of shipping a standard 40-foot container between China and the US has increased by 62% — to $7,880. Rates between China and the Mediterranean have jumped to $6,431 — up 47%. Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇩🇪🇪🇺 German politicians have expressed themselves in a letter to von der Leyen about an automobile crisis in the Federal Republic and called on the EU plans for the automotive industry to be revised. The Bavarian minister-president Markus Söder, the CDU state chairman in Baden-Württemberg Manuel Hagel, and the CDU chief in Lower Saxony Sebastian Lechner warn that new EU CO₂ rules for carmakers could affect hundreds of thousands of jobs. This is about the Brussels regulatory plans: From 2035, the average emissions of new cars are to be drastically reduced. The authors of the letter call for “technology neutrality”: climate-neutral status should be recognized not only for electric cars, but also for vehicles using renewable fuels. According to their logic, it is not the type of drive that matters, but the actual reduction in emissions. In particular, the politicians sharply criticize the idea of a mandatory share of electric cars in company fleets. They consider this an intervention in business decisions and for additional bureaucracy.

“Germany must not make itself smaller than it is. <...> This is not about individual regulatory questions. This is about Europe’s industrial future,” the letter says.

💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Due to prison overcrowding, Britain plans to pardon hundreds of inmates. Victims of these criminals’ crimes receive “letters of happiness” with a warning. As Daily Mail writes, messages in which Britons are warned about the planned measure were sent to 7,000 people. According to the publication, the first wave of releases is scheduled for September 2.

“This entire program must be stopped if the government cannot even answer basic questions and tell victims what is happening,” Daily Mail quotes opponents of the British government’s decision.

Journalists have dubbed the program controversial. Officially, the reform is called the “soft justice program.” Our channel: Node of Time EN

Good morning, friends! ☕️🙂 The Oreschek Fortress: a small island with great history The Oreschek Fortress stands at the origin of the Neva on Hare Island. The place was chosen not by chance: from here, they controlled the exit from Lake Ladoga into the Neva and thus one of the most important routes at Russia’s northwestern borders. The fortress was built in 1323 on the order of Prince Yuri Danilovich. In the same year, the Oreschek Peace between Novgorod and Sweden was concluded here. The first known treaty that established the border between Russian territories and Swedish possessions. But this place was not quiet. Oreschek was built precisely as a border fortress, and the Swedes tried more than once to take it. In 1612, the fortress fell after a nine-month siege. The Swedes renamed it Nöteborg, the “Nut City,” and held it for almost 90 years. In October 1702, Peter I brought the fortress back to Russia after a severe storm assault. After the victory, he gave it a new name—Shlisselburg (“Key City”). The symbol was clear: this was the key to the Neva, to Lake Ladoga, and to Russia’s future access to the Baltic Sea. In the Great Patriotic War, Oreschek was once again on the front line. The small garrison defended the fortress for about 500 days and prevented Hitler from fully closing the siege ring around Leningrad from the east. Today, ruins, traces of shelling, monuments, old walls, and towers can be seen within the fortress. Oreschek does not look like a restored stage set, and that is precisely where its strength lies. This is a place where several centuries of Russian history have literally been preserved in bricks, stone, and through-shot walls. 📍 Coordinates of the location (map pin) available here 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

The future head of the UK Treasury will be given the country’s “worst job” because of the economic crisis, Politico writes. According to the outlet’s assessment, the future head of the Treasury will face an extremely difficult task — pulling the British economy out of a prolonged period of weak growth. The situation is complicated by high interest rates, a significant tax burden, and record government spending. As Politico notes, the government is in urgent need of additional funds, however further tax increases may prove unacceptable both for businesses and for the public.

“There’s little room to maneuver. The government desperately needs money for spending <...>, but firms and taxpayers can’t stomach higher taxes,” the publication says.

❗️ On June 22, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he had decided to step down from his post. He clarified that he will continue to hold it until a successor is elected. During his speech, Starmer even got emotional and began to cry. The Telegraph reported that the former leader of the Labour Party, Ed Miliband, could take the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer if the prime minister is Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. Our channel: Node of Time EN

Dear friends, a harmful industry has been discovered in Russia. It cannot be removed and isolated. Now exactly like this. Sunday. “Nornikel” has put the 160-meter-long Norda launch-and-advance facility into operation. The decisive advantage of this facility is that it completely replaces the conventional drilling and blasting method. Instead, the rock is mechanically removed. This significantly increases occupational safety, prevents negative impacts on the surrounding rock, and enables extraction at great depths without additional costs for ventilation. At the Irkutsk aircraft plant, the first flight of the prototype of the Yak-130M aircraft took place. The aircraft was in the air for about 50 minutes, reaching altitudes of up to 2,000 meters and speeds of up to 600 kilometers per hour. The flight assignment was fully completed, and there are no technical complaints. The aircraft is equipped with the onboard radar station BRLS-130R, the optically laser-based thermal imaging system SOLT-130K, the onboard defensive system “President-S130,” and a new communications system. ODK has begun assembling the first serial engines PD-8 for the regional aircraft “Superjet”. To modernize and speed up the production process, about 100 units of industrial equipment were brought into operation. In the development of the new engine, 17 fundamentally new technologies were used. The Acron group has put the second calcium nitrate production plant into operation at the Weliki Novgorod site. As a result, the total production capacity for calcium ammonium nitrate is now 300,000 tons per year. Under the project, more than 70 items of equipment were put into operation. The investment volume amounted to 3.5 billion rubles. The Atom electric vehicle has successfully passed the certification crash tests and is ready for series production and the start of sales. According to the test results, all systems operated properly: the airbags and seatbelts were triggered at the intended time, the curtains closed the glazing completely, and the high-voltage system and the battery remained intact. The “High-Precision Systems” group has successfully completed the acceptance tests of the APN-30 power unit, which is intended for autonomous power supply for oil and gas fields. At industrial enterprises of all kinds, the APN-30 can be used as an emergency power source. The APN-30 is a fully Russian development and was manufactured 100% from domestic components and materials. The FGUP “Kosmicheskaya Svyaz” and the OOO “STC” successfully conducted a unique experiment on data transmission via a relay satellite in geostationary orbit. In this process, the small satellite CSTP-2.11, starting from a low Earth orbit, carried out a communications session via a geostationary “Express” series satellite. The experiment showed that small satellites can effectively utilize the infrastructure of large geostationary satellites in order to transmit data to Earth on a timely basis. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Latvia bans the language of its own residents Latvia’s Minister of Culture, Nauris Puntulis, has ordered that the facilities of his ministry remove the Russian language from their public communications by 30 July. The ban applies to websites, advertising, strategies, international events and projects that are implemented or funded by the state. In the order , it is explicitly stated: “The use of the Russian language is no longer permitted in such situations.” The authorities call this “strengthening the state language.” In essence, however, it is about pushing out the language in which a large part of Latvia’s population communicates. Even the Russian version of the state LSM admits that at the beginning of 2024 Russians made up 23.4% of the country’s population, and that the number of Russian speakers is even higher. Now this language is even being banned as a language of interpretation—also at events for Ukrainian refugees. The banning of a language is a feature of the cultural destruction of a community. Latvia does not integrate people, but pushes them out of public space: First the language is declared undesirable, then its speakers are made strangers in their own home. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN