The Foreign Ministry of Russia 

Threatens Poland with Nuclear Strike

HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE


Ukrayinska Pravda

DENYS KARLOVSKYI – SUNDAY, 12 JUNE 2022

The Head of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Viacheslav Volodin, threatens that if the suggestion by the former Foreign Minister of Poland Radoslaw Sikorski to provide Ukraine with nuclear weapons is fulfilled, then the possible nuclear conflict will destroy the European continent.

Source: Volodin’s Telegram-channel

Quote: "Sikorski is provoking a nuclear conflict in the centre of Europe. He doesn’t think neither about the future of Ukraine nor about the future of Poland. In case his suggestions are fulfilled, these countries will cease to exist, as will Europe as well.

Sikorski and the like are the reason why Ukraine must not only be set free from the Nazi ideolody but also be demilitarized, securing the nuclear-weapon-free status of the country."

Details: Volodin also warned that such deputies as Sikorski will cause even more problems in Europe.

The Head of the State Duma of the Russian Federation advised Poland's ex-Minister to be stripped of his mandate, forced to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and locked up in his house.

Reminder: Ukraine is already a nuclear-weapon-free country, having voluntarily disposed of all its nuclear ammunition according to the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances signed in 1994. It guaranteed the integrity of Ukraine’s borders and sovereignty. Russia was one of the guarantors.

Background: Radoslaw Sikorski, the European Parliament Deputy and former Foreign Minister of Poland, suggested providing Ukraine with nuclear weapons. He argued that Russia broke the terms of the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances by refusing to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and integrity, so nuclear weapons should be returned to Kyiv, even though Ukrainians voluntarily disposed of them.

Global nuclear arsenal to grow for first time since Cold War - think-tank


FILE PHOTO: Handout of a mushroom cloud rises with ships below during Operation Crossroads nuclear weapons test on Bikini Atoll

Sun, June 12, 2022, 

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The global nuclear arsenal is expected to grow in the coming years for the first time since the Cold War while the risk of such weapons being used is the greatest in decades, a leading conflict and armaments think-tank said on Monday.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Western support for Kyiv has heightened tensions among the world's nine nuclear-armed states, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think-tank said in a new set of research.

While the number of nuclear weapons fell slightly between January 2021 and January 2022, SIPRI said that unless immediate action was taken by the nuclear powers, global inventories of warheads could soon begin rising for the first time in decades.

"All of the nuclear-armed states are increasing or upgrading their arsenals and most are sharpening nuclear rhetoric and the role nuclear weapons play in their military strategies," Wilfred Wan, Director of SIPRI's Weapons of Mass Destruction Programme, said in the think-tank's 2022 yearbook.

"This is a very worrying trend."

Three days after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin calls a "special military operation", President Vladimir Putin put Russia's nuclear deterrent on high alert

He has also warned of consequences that would be "such as you have never seen in your entire history" for countries that stood in Russia's way.

Russia has the world's biggest nuclear arsenal with a total of 5,977 warheads, some 550 more than the United States. The two countries possess more than 90% of the world's warheads, though SIPRI said China was in the middle of an expansion with an estimated more than 300 new missile silos.

SIPRI said the global number of nuclear warheads fell to 12,705 in January 2022 from 13,080 in January 2021. An estimated 3,732 warheads were deployed with missiles and aircraft, and around 2,000 - nearly all belonging to Russia or the United States - were kept in a state of high readiness.

"Relations between the world's great powers have deteriorated further at a time when humanity and the planet face an array of profound and pressing common challenges that can only be addressed by international cooperation," SIPRI board chairman and former Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said.

(Reporting by Johan Ahlander; editing by Niklas Pollard and Bernadette Baum)

Why Ukraine lost a hundred years ago and why It can and should win today

Mon, June 13, 2022
The New Voice of Ukraine

And the lessons of defeat are even more valuable than victories – because they can help us avoid mistakes.

So why did the Ukrainian state collapse a hundred years ago?

Let’s quickly reject the simple answers. Because simple answers to complex questions are simply wrong.

Read also: A history of adversaries, not brothers. Why did this war happen?

Ukrainians are not worse than other nations which also rebuilt their states on the ruins of empires after the First World War. We are no less zealous than Poles, Lithuanians, or Finns. No less sacrificial.

The political elite of Ukrainians was not slow or indecisive, as some say. We were second after the Finns to declare independence. The challenges faced by Ukrainians were more serious than those of our neighbors.


But I do not call for idealizing our politicians of that time or the general state of Ukrainian society. Mistakes played a significant role in their defeat.

So let us try to understand the objective and subjective reasons for the fall of the Ukrainian state, born out of the 1917-1921 revolution. To understand what mistakes we must not repeat.

Let’s start with the objective circumstances, which were almost impossible to influence.

The national consciousness of Ukrainians gradually grew along with the national movement of the 19th century. This was the potential that leaders had to deal with.

Read also: Seven popular myths about Russia's aggression against Ukraine

By the beginning of the revolution, the movement had already entered the political stage of development. That is, its main spokesman was not only poets, writers, and artists. At the beginning of the 20th century, Ukrainian political parties were formed.

The Revolutionary Ukrainian Party, led by Mykola Mikhnovsky, outlined in 1900 its main task – to create an independent Ukrainian state. It defined its direction for the next century.

But the low level of education or its complete absence, the catastrophic economic situation of a large mass of Ukrainians left them behind in the process of national self-awareness or even active participation in the national movement.

Another objective problem was too little awareness of us in the world. At that time, there was no political emigration that could talk about Ukrainians. It began to form just after its defeat.

And those of our compatriots who left their homeland earlier because of poverty and moved to Europe or America, fought for their survival abroad. Their first public association started to appear. Ukrainians in the world were still far from being lobbyists for the Ukrainian national movement.

And finally, the last and most important problem was a large number of powerful enemies. Those who created the Ukrainian state in the early 20th century were opposed by:

The Russian Bolsheviks – the strongest enemy who also counted on the support of some Ukrainians;

UKRAINIAN BOLSHEVIKS THE BOROBITZ WERE AUTONOMOUS FROM THE RUSSIANS

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: UKRAINIAN REVOLUTION CENTENARY 1917-2017 

Military formations of the so-called “White Russia”, which was supported by some European states; ANTI SEMITIC REACTIONARIES

The restored Polish state also enlisted the help of other Europeans. ANTI SEMITIC CATHOLICS

None of the other nations that won their independence had to face such strong, multifaceted and large-scale external aggression.

And now let’s talk about the mistakes that could have been avoided.

First of all, insufficient attention to the development of the armed forces. The creators of the Ukrainian army not only did not have the necessary support from the political elite – they were forced to prove the need for the army.

Politicians believed that after the bloody First World War, all nations would refuse to resolve issues using force, and Ukraine would be the first in this process. These romantic ideas cost Ukrainians dearly.

The lost time and potential of the first months of the revolution were difficult to make up. And it was not possible to “get together in the middle” with the aggressor, so we had to form an army after a full-scale invasion.

The leaders’ belief in the possibility of reaching an agreement with Russia was a gross mistake. It didn’t matter if it was “red” or “white” Russia. None of them were going to put up with the existence of an independent Ukraine.

An even more dangerous delusion was that many Ukrainians believed that this war for independence did not concern them. They believed that their lives would not change much from the victory or defeat of either side.

That it was possible to sit quietly and imperceptibly in a “house on fire”. The decades following this showed that the occupiers will come to the last house and take whatever they want. Including your life.

But the most important mistake was the inability of Ukrainian politicians to distinguish political rivals from enemies of the state. Fierce discussions about different visions of Ukraine’s future were inevitable and quite natural. The problem became that at some point, these disputes became more important than confronting the enemy.

This mistake was very costly to everyone – Hrushevsky, Petliura (ANTI SEMITE), Vynnychenko, Skoropadsky (ANTI SEMITE), Makhno ANARCHIST ARMY OF UKRAINE – they rethought this only in exile. Ukrainians who remained in their homeland paid even more for this mistake – decades of bloody repression awaited them.

And now let’s compare this with today’s Ukraine, to understand why we can win this war with Russia.

The vast majority of Ukrainians today consider themselves Ukrainians. Thus, there are almost no issues with national self-awareness that our predecessors faced.

They don’t just know about Ukraine. We are a state whose independence and integrity are recognized by almost all countries of the world. The Ukrainian diaspora works effectively in many of them. The struggle of Ukrainians for freedom is one of the main topics of the world media.

For the first time in our history, we receive not only economic but also military assistance, including offensive weapons.

The degree of Russian aggression today and a hundred years ago is roughly comparable. But we are dealing with only one enemy, even if he attacks from the territories of two countries. And against this enemy is the whole civilized world. And so, it is easier for us than for our ancestors.

As for the mistakes of the past, which we cannot repeat, the situation is worse here. Society and government began to realize the importance of the army only after the start of the war in Russia in 2014. Having wasted two decades of independence on wasting its military potential.

But even after the start of the war, Ukrainians weren’t consistent. In 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky won, claiming that the war could not be ended by military means. And most Ukrainians believed this was possible.

And so they agreed that the priority of state policy was the construction and repair of roads, not the development of the army and the purchase of weapons.

A new wave of aggression in 2022, which reached Kyiv, changed the situation. Parliament began to allocate more resources to the Armed Forces. The President spoke about the Ukrainian army as the main guarantor of independence.

Most Ukrainians are actively involved in the war – in the Armed Forces, the Territorial Defence, and volunteers. A well-known proverb sounds different now: “I’ll meet the enemy first as my house is on the edge.”

But what about the main political problem of a century ago – the inability of political leaders to cooperate? Unfortunately, the further away from the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, the less confident they are that they have learned this lesson.

Do Ukrainian politicians really understand that they can have friends, allies, competitors, rivals, and opponents? But our enemy outside the country, in Russia, is waging a war against us all.

Competitors, rivals, opponents may see a different Ukraine in the future. Enemies simply do not see a future for us. They can pretend to be allies or even friends, formulate tempting proposals to fight opponents, but we must not forget – their goal is to destroy our state.

Read also: Top five Russian propaganda WWII myths debunked

And so comparing Ukraine a hundred years ago and today, we have better objective circumstances for victory. And even better conditions for overcoming subjective obstacles. We have a chance for our children to read about our era. Unlike our predecessors, we know what defeat in the war with Russia means. We know that peace can cost more than a war.

After all, we have learned our lessons, haven’t we?

As Russia destroys cultural sites in Ukraine, civilians are building digital 3D models to preserve them online

Hannah Getahun
Sun, June 12, 2022

MAKARIV, UKRAINE - 2022/06/11: Young girls ride a bike past a destroyed house in Makariv, west of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, triggering the largest military attack in Europe since World War II.

(Photo by Sergei Chuzavkov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Ukrainian citizens are conserving national landmarks by using their phones to make digital recreations.

The initiative, called Backup Ukraine, is the first of its kind.

There have been 367 war crimes documented during the war by the Ukraine Ministry of Culture.

The war in Ukraine has ravaged cities from Mariupol to Kharkiv and reduced many buildings to piles of rubble. But a first-of-its-kind initiative launched in April called Backup Ukraine is making sure the cultural sites lost in the war will never truly be lost.

Backup Ukraine, which uses technology from the app Polycam, allows citizens to upload scans of monuments, art, and buildings to a digital library of cultural landmarks.

The archive includes everything from historical buildings to children's action figures and Lego sets left behind in the rubble.

"What we wanted to fight against was the willful destruction of Ukrainian heritage as an act of terror, of national intimidation," Tao Thomsen, co-creator of Backup Ukraine, told CNN.

Thomsen also told CNN the initiative has 150 volunteers who scan 10 cultural pieces a day. The project already has thousands of submissions.

"We advise people not to scan in areas where there is immediate conflict ... yet, people still go out by the dozens every day to scan. That to me proves that the national pride of this is a really strong driving factor," Thomsen told CNN.

As of June 8, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization verified damage to 143 sites in the country, including religious sites, historic buildings, and monuments. The Ukraine Ministry of Culture estimates the number to be higher, at 367.

Most of the destruction, the ministry says, is concentrated in the Kharkiv region.

According to rules set during the 1954 Hague Convention, it is against international law to target "movable or immovable property of cultural heritage of every people, such as monuments of architecture, art or history." In 2017, the UN adopted a resolution that made the destruction of heritage sites during armed conflict a war crime.

In June, Zelenskyy pleaded with UNESCO to expel Russian president Vladimir Putin from its membership with the organization.

POSTMODERN TROIKA; LIKE MAHKNO USED
Meet the international team of volunteers who are retrofitting civilian Fords and Toyotas into battle trucks for the Ukrainian forces



Bethany Dawson
Sun, June 12, 2022, 7:43 AM·3 min read




Ukrainian soldiers with a Cars4Ukraine vehicleIvan Oleksii

A team of volunteers from Europe, Ukraine, and the USA are working to turn civilian trucks into Ukrainian military vehicles.

The trucks are retrofitted with armor and weapons.

The team has refitted 60 vehicles and has 15 in progress to supply the Ukrainian army's mobile combat units.

A team of volunteers made up of Ukrainians, Europeans, and Americans is working on retrofitting civilian vehicles into battle trucks for the Ukrainian army.

The team, spearheaded by Ivan Oleksii, a 25-year-old esports analyst originally from Kherson, southern Ukraine, is working to equip the Ukrainian military with retrofitted cars from around Europe.

Since starting the project in March, the team has fully refitted 60 vehicles and has another 15 in progress to supply the Ukrainian army's mobile combat units.

Oleksii, who is based in Lviv, western Ukraine, explained the retrofit process. Truck models that you see parked on the street or being driven to the shopping mall are transformed into vehicles capable of, and ready to attack Russian tanks.

He told Insider they first searched for second-hand 4-wheel drive diesel trucks with 2.0l engines or more, priced around €5,500, roughly $5,821. The favored models include the Toyota Hilux/Tundra, Mitsubishi L200, Ford Ranger, Nissan Navara/KingCab, Isuzu D-Max, Маzda BT-50/Mazda B2500, and the Jeep Gladiator.

Most vehicles are purchased from Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Scandinavia, or the UK.

All of their money comes from crowdfunding through their website.

Once the vehicles arrive at the team in Ukraine, they're retrofitted by volunteer mechanics and engineers who reinforce the body of the truck in to provide protection from mortar and shell fire and add a stand on the back of the vehicle for a machine gun or Javelins, NLAWs, and Stingers anti-tank weapons.

The 43rd civilian car Cars4Ukraine used to retrofit (before)Ivan Olekssi

The 43rd car Cars4Ukraine retrofitted (after)Ivan Oleskii

Adding a second layer of metal plate to the truck's chassis is one of the most critical parts of the refitting process, Oleskii explains, as it has helped save lives.

"There have been a few cases when the vehicle has been attacked, but it has protected the soldiers and saved lives," Oleskii said, showing Insider a photo of a truck that was still able to drive after a being hit by a Russian explosive.

All the trucks come decorated with a Ukrainian flag and the slogan, "Russian warships go fuck yourself."

Ivan Oleksii with a the metal armour used to protect the car from explosions

Ivan Oleksii

Alongside Car4Ukraine teammate Ivan Karbashevskyi, Oleksii has also created War-Stop.com, an initiative that allows anyone worldwide to purchase supplies — ranging from first aid kits and thermal underwear to radios and binoculars — for the Ukrainian military.

"We have found a way to make a real impact."

Ukrainian soldiers shooting from the back of a truck retrofitted by Cars4Ukraine

Ivan Oleksii

Medically exempted from fighting in Ukraine's armed forces, Oleskii said he wanted to find a way to support his country's military effort meaningfully.

"I wanted to do this project because it makes a very direct impact. You buy a car, fix that car, arm it, put the thing on the back to hold machine guns or anti-tank weapons, and then have a burnt Russian tank."

Ukrainian soldiers with a truck retrofitted with an anti-tank weapon by Cars4Ukraine

Oleksii adds that his parents are still trapped in Russian-occupied Kershon. He describes the "new normal" as phone calls to his father to the background percussion of Russian shelling. "Everyone has their arms and legs" when asked if his family is safe.

That's why Cars4Ukraine is so important to him. "If there is at least something we can do to de-occupy the territory, we're going to do that," he said.

GOP Slapped Down Again For Jan. 6 National Guard Lie

Mary Papenfuss

Fri, June 10, 2022, 

Fact checker called out Republican leaders Friday over newly resurrected claims that President Donald Trump was not responsible for a no-show by the National Guard during the Jan. 6 insurrection last year.

Trump has repeatedly blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for blocking some 10,000 members of the Guard that day. But Pelosi has no control or jurisdiction over the National Guard in the District of Columbia. Trump does.

A number of media outlets, from USA Today to The Washington Post and CNN have debunked Trump’s claims that he called out the Guard and Pelosi blocked them protecting the Capitol.

Trump even boasted in a videotaped statement a day after the 2021 insurrection that he “immediately deployed the National Guard and federal law enforcement to secure the building.

GOP leaders again on Thursday blamed Pelosi for blocking the Guard. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for some reason on Thursday instead blamed Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who was Senate minority leader during the insurrection.

As the violence raged for three hours throughout the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump watched the riot on television at the White House. He did not contact anyone to protect the building or the lawmakers trapped inside.

“Not only did President Trump refuse to tell the mob to leave the Capitol, he placed no call to any element of the United States government to instruct that the Capitol be defended,” Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) revealed Thursday night during the first hearing of the Jan. 6 House select committee,

“He did not call his Secretary of Defense on Jan. 6. He did not talk to his Attorney General. He did not talk to the Department of Homeland Security,” Cheney added. “President Trump gave no order to deploy the National Guard that day. And he made no effort to work with the Department of Justice to coordinate and deploy law enforcement assets.”

Her statements were backed up by videotaped testimony aired at the hearing from Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley. He said it was then-Vice President Mike Pence, who was under siege himself at the time, to demand that the National Guard be called out.

Pence told Pentagon leaders to “get the Guard down here, put down this situation,” Milley testified. The general said he later received a call from then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who told him to “kill the narrative that the vice president is making all the decisions.”

Republicans have likely landed on the National Guard issue again because a complete lack of action by Trump for hours to protect the Capitol and lawmakers would appear to strengthen the case the Jan. 6 panel is building against him, claiming he was out to seize control of the election and remain in power,

Thousands of National Guard troops were eventually deployed to Capitol Hill to secure the area.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Capitol attack pardon revelations could spell doom for Trump and allies




Hugo Lowell in Washington DC
Sun, June 12, 2022, 

The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack revealed at its inaugural hearing that Donald Trump’s top Republican allies in Congress sought pardons after the January 6 insurrection, a major disclosure that bolstered the claim that the event amounted to a coup and is likely to cause serious scrutiny for those implicated.

The news that multiple House Republicans asked the Trump White House for pardons – an apparent consciousness of guilt – was one of three revelations portending potentially perilous legal and political moments to come for Trump and his allies.

Related: January 6 hearing: Trump was at heart of plot that led to ‘attempted coup’

At the hearing, the panel’s vice-chair Liz Cheney named only one Republican member of Congress, congressman Scott Perry, the current chair of the ultra conservative House freedom caucus, who sought a presidential pardon for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

The select committee did not elaborate on which other House Republicans were asking for pardons or more significantly, for which crimes they were seeking pardons, but it appeared to show at the minimum that they knew they had been involved in likely illegal conduct.

The extraordinary claim also raised the prospect that the Republican members of Congress seeking clemency believed Trump’s election fraud claims were baseless: for why would they need pardons if they really were only raising legitimate questions about the election.

“It’s hard to find a more explicit statement of consciousness of guilt than looking for a pardon for actions you’ve just taken, assisting in a plan to overthrow the results of a presidential election,” Jamie Raskin, a member of the select committee, told reporters.

Willful blindness

The disclosure about the pardons came during the opening hour of the hearing where the panel made the case that Trump could not credibly believe he had won the 2020 election after some of his most senior advisors told him repeatedly that he had lost to Joe Biden.

Trump, according to videos of closed-door depositions played by the select committee, was told by his data experts he lost the election, told by former attorney general Bill Barr that his election fraud claims were “bullshit”, a conclusion Ivanka Trump said she accepted.

The admissions by some of Trump’s top aides are important since they could put federal prosecutors one step closer to being able to charge Trump with obstructing an official proceeding or defrauding the United States on the basis of election fraud claims he knew were false.

It’s hard to find a more explicit statement of consciousness of guilt than looking for a pardon for actions you’ve just taken
Jamie Raskin

At the heart of the case the panel appears to be trying to make is the legal doctrine of “willful blindness”, as former US attorney Joyce Vance wrote for MSNBC, which says a defendant cannot say they weren’t aware of something if they were credibly notified of the truth.

The potential case against Trump might take the form that he could not use, as his defense against charges he violated the law to stop Biden’s certification on January 6, that he believed there was election fraud, when he had been credibly notified it was “bullshit”.

Trump-Flynn-Powell meeting

Also in the first hour of the hearing, the select committee cast in a new light the contentious 18 December 2020 meeting Trump had at the White House with his former national security advisor Michael Flynn, and former Trump lawyer and conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell.

The Guardian has reported extensively on that meeting, where Powell urged Trump to sign an executive order to seize voting machines and suspend normal law, based on Trump’s executive order 13848, and to appoint her special counsel to investigate election fraud.

Cheney confirmed the reporting by this newspaper and others, that the group discussed “dramatic steps” such as seizing voting machines, but also alluded to a potential discussion about somehow obstructing Biden’s election win certification.

The basis for that characterization, based on how Cheney described the late night meeting in the Oval Office that later continued in the White House residence, appears to be how Trump, just hours later, tweeted that there would be a “wild protest” on January 6.

It was not clear whether Cheney was laying the groundwork for the select committee to tie Trump into a conspiracy of some sort, claiming this represented two people entering an agreement and taking overt steps to accomplishing it – the legal standard for conspiracy.

But the “wild protest” phrase would shortly after be seized upon by some of the most prominent far-right political operatives.

Hours after Trump’s tweet, according to archived versions of its website, Stop the Steal changed its banner to advertise a “wild protest” before Ali Alexander, who led the movement, even applied for a permit to stage a rally on the east side of the Capitol on January 6.

AMERIKA'S BILLIONS FUND
Israel’s defense industry unveils new weapons at Paris defense confab


Tom Weber

Seth Frantzman
Sun, June 12, 2022

JERUSALEM — Israel’s Ministry of Defense International Defense Cooperation Directorate, or SIBAT, is expected to helm a strong showing of the country’s defense industry at the Eurosatory defense exhibition beginning on June 13 in Paris, inaugurating an Israeli pavilion featuring 56 local companies.

Amira Ilany, director for Europe and North America at SIBAT, said that “Europe is one of the most important markets that we have.” She said Israel is seeing interest in its “cutting-edge technologies” all over the world. Israel has three large defense companies: Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries and Elbit Systems.

SIBAT officials are expected to help promote the country’s small and medium enterprises, in particular. The government views these smaller companies “as an important part of the ministry’s value system. We deem it of the highest importance to strengthen these innovative industries, and many of them will be participating in the upcoming Eurosatory exhibition,” said Ilany.

For the dozens of Israeli companies on the Eurosatory show floor the main theme is advanced technology. That includes the use of artificial intelligence, precision in either identifying threats or targeting systems, unmanned platforms and high-end applications for ground forces, autonomous systems, real-time data links, thermal sights and surveillance technologies.

These innovations, some of which are operational in Israel or already being demonstrated abroad, build on Israel’s recent multi-year defense plan, dubbed Momentum. The plan focuses on pushing technology to frontline units and knitting together formations using data and communications. Israel’s political leadership has recently highlighted a move into laser air defenses, and across the spectrum of Israel’s defense industry there is a drive to incorporate AI as well as doubling down on target recognition and situational awareness.

The result is that Israeli companies go to Europe with a cluster of recently developed technologies or increased capabilities for existing systems that they have unveiled recently, many pegged to Eurosatory.

For example, Rafael announced its new Spike NLOS 6th-generation precision missile on June 9. Rafael’s Spike family is used by 39 countries. In Europe it is sold under the name Eurospike, a joint venture between Rafael, Diehl Defence GmbH and Rheinmetall Electronics.

Rafael says its newest variant has improved standoff range (up to 50km), can be launched in a salvo of up to four missiles and can be fired from one platform, such as a helicopter, and handed off for guidance to operators on the ground. It incorporates image-matching abilities, according to the manufacturer

Alongside the new missile, Rafael said it is exhibiting a “new concept called the NLOS Mission Taskforce,” or NMT, a technology package enabling small units to engage faraway or hidden targets.

Rafael links the importance of these systems to the overall need for mobility on the battlefield as well as force protection with systems like its Spyder air-defense system and I-Dome, the mobile version of Iron Dome.

“The security situation in Europe has exposed the need for such defense technologies, ones that can cover vast areas and are easily deployed and relocated according to the needs of the assets in the given arena,” the company said in a statement.

A partnership of Israel’s Uvision and Rheinmetall also appears to be a nod to the Ukraine conflict because they will present an integration of the UVision loitering munitions systems into “next-generation manned and unmanned infantry fighting vehicles.”

These weapons will provide “frontline forces with a new independent ability to locate, track and accurately eliminate heavily-armored targets from long ranges, in challenging battlefield conditions,” UVision said in a statement.

IAI stressed the importance of threat detection for units on the move. The company said it will unveil the Othello-P product, “a passive, high-performance Gunfire Detection System (GDS) with integrated artificial intelligence processing.”

The system is designed to detect gunfire, RPGs and subsonic munitions, such as handguns. It can be installed on various types of vehicles as well as unmanned platforms. IAI stressed in a statement that the system came out of its Innovation Center, which is staffed with engineers who previously served in the Israel Defense Forces.”

The war in Ukraine is something of a backdrop for the Defense Ministry and many Israeli companies showcasing new technology. “We have learned from experience. With the crisis in Europe, all countries are assessing the situation over there for force building,” said Ilany.

“Other countries are assessing [their needs] for defense systems all over the world, everyone is watching quite carefully and I believe each nation will take the responsibility for finding how they can keep and protect their nation and I believe that this will lead to a substantial wave of increasing in investment in defense systems all over the world,” she said.

Among the other new technologies presented, there is a focus on unmanned systems or add-ons to existing unmanned capabilities. For example, Steadicopter is highlighting its new Golden Eagle, which the company says is “the first-ever unmanned helicopter with precise-hit capabilities.” It is based on the existing Black Eagle 50E platform and now uses artificial intelligence and Smart Shooter’s Smash Dragon system, which is essentially a rifle incorporated into a drone.

Robotican is unveiling Rooster, “a hybrid drone-robot for indoor and underground tunnel scanning missions.” It also makes a drone interceptor called Goshawk. Meanwhile, drone specialist Third Eye Systems has a new version of its Chimera payload for UAVs, which provides day and night sensors and vision-based object recognition.

As the Ukraine war surpasses 100 days the tectonic changes in defense posture in the United States, Europe and other countries have meant a new focus on Israel’s defense industry as off-the-shelf suppliers.

This includes reports about German interest in the Arrow 3 air defense system as well as persistent questions about whether Israeli systems like Spike could be supplied to Ukraine.

Israel’s Ministry of Defense, Foreign Ministry and defense companies have declined to comment on these reports, but Israel is keenly aware of monitoring end users and third countries acquiring Israeli systems.

“There is a deep process internally in the Ministry with relevant entities including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs representatives. We check every request ... we take into consideration humanitarian challenges and government stability when we check licensing processes,” says Ilany. “We check and each customer should bring us the end-user certificate and it is something we conclude through the process and licensing.”

SEE LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY 

Fiji says climate change, not conflict, is Asia's biggest security threat


Fiji's Foreign Minister Inia Seruiratu meets his Chinese counterpart

Sat, June 11, 2022
By Joe Brock

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Fiji's defence minister said on Sunday that climate change posed the biggest security threat in the Asia-Pacific region, a shift in tone at a defence summit that has been dominated by the war in Ukraine and disputes between China and the United States.

The low-lying Pacific islands, which include Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, are some of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the extreme weather events caused by climate change.

Fiji has been battered by a series of tropical cyclones in recent years, causing devastating flooding that has displaced thousands from their homes and hobbled the island's economy.

"In our blue Pacific continent, machine guns, fighter jets, grey ships and green battalions are not our primary security concern," Inia Seruiratu, Fiji's Minister for Defence, said at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's top security meeting.

"The single greatest threat to our very existence is climate change. It threatens our very hopes and dreams of prosperity."

The meeting, which closes on Sunday, has been dominated by debate over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions between the United States and China over everything from Taiwan's sovereignty to naval bases in the Pacific.

The Pacific islands became a focus of regional tensions this year after China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands in April, alarming the United States, Australia and New Zealand, who fear a stepped-up military presence by Beijing in the Pacific.

Beijing has said that it is not establishing a military base in the Solomon Islands and that its goal is to strengthen security cooperation with Pacific island nations.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi conducted a tour of the Pacific islands last month in the hope of securing a sweeping regional trade and security pact, but the island nations were unable to reach a consensus on a deal.

Seruiratu played down concerns about a battle for influence in the Pacific islands while highlighting his country's willingness to work with a range of countries.

"In Fiji, we are not threatened by geopolitical competition," Seruiratu said in his speech.

"We have to adapt how we work and who we work with to achieve stability."

(Reporting by Joe Brock; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

SOMA BY ANY OTHER NAME

‘Happy water’, a cocktail of 6 psychoactive substances, is on the rise in Southeast Asia



Carl Samson
Fri, June 10, 2022, 4:18 PM·3 min read

A powerful combination of six psychoactive substances that are dissolved in liquid to make a beverage known as “happy water” is reportedly on the rise in Southeast Asia, triggering a crackdown by authorities.

The literal cocktail, which appears to have gained popularity in recent months, is said to induce a state of euphoria without exhaustion, leaving users feeling “dreamy, active and energetic.”

Reports say the beverage produces an extended sensation of pleasure in situations such as playing games or having sex. The cocktail is also known to cause hallucinations.

Caffeine, diazepam, ketamine, MDMA (ecstasy), methamphetamine and tramadol reportedly compose the superdrug. It’s unclear whether all substances must be in the mix or if a combination of some would deliver the same effects.

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In late April, authorities in Thailand ramped up their campaign against the drug following the arrest of an individual who allegedly sold it in entertainment venues across Pattaya. Investigators said the drug is popular among locals and foreigners visiting the city’s nightspots.

Last Friday, authorities in Myanmar announced that 497 grams of the drug had been seized in a Yangon operation that led to the arrest of four individuals. Each packet was reportedly being sold for 80,000 kyat (approximately $43). Similar to the cases in Thailand, the suspects allegedly sold the drug in bars and clubs.

As early as 2009, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported that a bottled beverage sold as “happy water” began to appear in China. The cocktail included ketamine and methamphetamine, but also had amphetamine, the generic name for Adderall.

Acute abuse of happy water can cause headaches, confusion, memory impairment, high fever, elevated blood pressure and loss of appetite, among other signs and symptoms. Long-term or high-dose abuse can cause insomnia, paranoia, persistent hallucinations, mental disorders, pleasure deficiencies and loss of body balance.

While there are no known fatalities attributed to happy water, the mixture of multiple synthetics can cause death. Inshik Sim, a researcher at UNODC, told Vice World News that other Southeast Asian countries should start paying attention to the dangers brought about by the drug.

“The key issue here is that some batches of ‘happy water’ may contain significant quantities of these substances compared to other batches, as there is no ‘quality control,’” Sim said. “When users consume those batches with high doses of these substances, a risk for overdose, and potentially fatality, increase significantly.”

The drug must be distinguished from the non-alcoholic drink Happy Water from the Chinese brand Shine Bee, which was banned by the country’s Food and Drug Administration in 2017 for containing a “first class psychoactive drug.” The beverage, likewise popular in bars and clubs, was found to be made from a psychoactive plant called Kava, which is native to Southeast Asia and the South Pacific islands.

SELF Cloned crayfish accidentally created in an aquarium are conquering the world

Cassidy Ward
Sat, June 11, 2022

In Jordan Peele’s incredible 2019 horror film Us, an army of human doppelgängers called The Tethered arise to take the place of the existing human population. It hits at some of our core fears, that we might actually be the monsters, and that some other version of ourselves might usurp our favored place upon the Earth. It’s later revealed that the Tethered are genetic clones created by the government and abandoned.

Human cloning is, as yet, still beyond our reach. But nature has the process locked down. A number of animals including some reptiles, birds, and sharks clone themselves through asexual reproduction known as parthenogenesis. That elite club of clone animals has a new member.

Over the last few decades, the planet has been at the mercy of a ten-legged, many-clawed crustacean ravenously creating a clone army bent on world domination. No, it isn’t an interplanetary interloper or the result of an uncontained government experiment. This is biology gone wrong, or if you happen to be a marbled crayfish, biology gone horribly right.

Today, the freshwater marbled crayfish populates various ecosystems across Asia, Europe, and Africa, and they all trace back to a single genetically identical individual born less than three decades ago. Their precise population numbers are unknown, but there are an estimated 23,000 living in a single small lake in Germany, which measures less than a tenth of a square kilometer, so it stands to reason there are a lot of them.

Their invasive nature and rapid spread across a significant portion of the planet made them an intriguing target for scientific investigation. An international team of scientists completed an analysis of their genome in an effort to uncover their origin and found that they were stranger than we could have dreamed. Their findings were published in the journal Nature Ecology Evolution.

The genome of the marbled crayfish has 3.5 million base pairs — that's more than the human genome — comprised of roughly 21,000 genes from 92 chromosomes. What’s unusual is that instead of the expected two copies of their chromosomes, marbled crayfish have three. Their genetic composition is similar to the Slough crayfish, a close relative, leading scientists to conclude that the first marbled crayfish was born through an unusual reproductive happenstance when two Slough crayfish mated.

What’s more, it appears that the Slough parents hail from different parts of the world, making it unlikely that they met in the wild. Instead, it’s believed they might have been dropped in the same aquarium tank and met in captivity where they would later give birth to their unusual progeny.

That might have been the end of the story, but this new genetic aberration must somehow have escaped the tank — or else one of its own cloned offspring did — and made its way into the wild. It’s often thought that clonal species are at higher risk because they lack the genetic diversity which comes with sexual reproduction, but that hasn’t been a challenge for the marbled crayfish, at least thus far.

Despite its unusual origin and asexual reproductive strategy, it has succeeded in gaining a clawhold all over the world. While it hasn’t yet appeared in the wilds of the United States, some areas are taking preventative action, naming them as prohibited, even in the aquarium trade where they have become popular.

It’s a worthwhile strategy. Once they find their way into an ecosystem, there’s likely no stopping them. A single individual can lay 700 eggs, all copies of itself, and they can survive drought conditions by burrowing into the ground and migrate over land. All the while, they outcompete and reduce the numbers of endemic species.

Let’s just hope the marbled crayfish never sets its sights on humanity. If they do, we may never be able to stop them.

An aquarium accident may have given this crayfish the DNA to take ... 

https://www.science.org/content/article/aquarium-accident-may-have-given-crayfish-dna-take-over-world

Feb 5, 2018 ... The marbled crayfish is the only decapod crustacean that reproduces asexually, with the all-female species making clones of itself from eggs ...