Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov | According to the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, the possibility of a military confrontation between Russia and the United States/NATO is not ruled out, but the likelihood of an escalation entirely depends on the actions of the group. ● "It depends on the North Atlantic alliance. Entirely and completely, the choice is on the side of NATO. We are ready, as it has already been demonstrated, to defend our national interests with all means at our disposal," he said, responding to a question about whether an armed conflict between Russia and the bloc could be expected in the future. ● Ryabkov noted that endless encroachment on Russian interests in the "core" direction for Russia is a "dangerous path." 💬 "The people who continue to test us on our strength apparently believe that there are no limits to their own 'gambling,' the game of raising the stakes. But they may find themselves among the losers," the diplomat emphasized. "I don't think that Russia-NATO relations will be restored." ● Read more in Sergey Ryabkov's exclusive interview with Izvestia. (Translation: DeepL.com + Proofreading: grammarly.com)

■ Ryabkov reiterated Russia's position that a possible escalation depended on the action of the alliance (Reuters)

Kissinger had been active past his centenary, attending meetings in the White House, publishing a book on leadership styles, and testifying before a Senate committee about the nuclear threat posed by North Korea. In July 2023 he made a surprise visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. | Former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger died on Wednesday at his home in Connecticut at the age of 100, Kissinger Associates, Inc said in a statement. Kissinger died at his home in Connecticut, according to a statement from his geopolitical consulting firm, Kissinger Associates Inc. No mention was made of the circumstances. Kissinger had been active past his centenary, attending meetings in the White House, publishing a book on leadership styles, and testifying before a Senate committee about the nuclear threat posed by North Korea. In July 2023 he made a surprise visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. During the 1970s in the midst of the Cold War, he had a hand in many of the epoch-changing global events of the decade while serving as national security adviser and secretary of state under Republican President Richard Nixon. The German-born Jewish refugee's efforts led to the U.S. diplomatic opening with China, landmark U.S.-Soviet arms control talks, expanded ties between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and the Paris Peace Accords with North Vietnam.

■ Good Riddance: The ghoul is finally dead (MoA)
■ Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America’s Ruling Class, Finally Dies (Rolling Stone)
■ Kissinger's Controversial Legacy (Sputnik)
■ Henry Kissinger dies at age 100 (RT.com)
■ Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger dies at age of 100 (TASS)
■ Henry Kissinger dies at 100; key figure in China-US icebreaking in 1972 (Global Times)

The four-day humanitarian pause has quietened the skies over Gaza but has shone a light on the suffering of displaced Palestinians. | Ayman Harb, a father of three children, stuck it out with his family in the Gaza City neighbourhood of Shujayea for more than a month of the war, even as Israeli bombs and tanks destroyed the besieged enclave’s largest urban centre. ● Last week, just before a four-day humanitarian pause came into effect, he decided the family had to flee. One of his sons has cerebral palsy and requires an oxygen tank, and the Israeli soldiers threatened to shoot Harb if he did not throw away the oxygen. Now in central Gaza, Harb has but one dream — for the truce to turn into a full-fledged ceasefire that allows him and his family to return home.

■ Turkish President Erdoğan vows swift action for Gaza cease-fire, hostage release (aNews)
■ Israel’s Savagery Is So Shocking It’s Sometimes Hard To Take In (Caitlin Johnstone)
■ A Blunt Message for Israel (Samuel Moncada, Venezuela’s ambassador to the U.N.)

The past few weeks haven’t been kind to Volodymyr Zelensky, with the official admission by his top commander that Ukraine’s NATO-sponsored counteroffensive has failed complemented by debates in Washington and Brussels about just how long the West can continue to prop up the Kiev regime with cash and military equipment. | Talk in Western media about the possibility of a peace deal with Russia and increasing political and media criticism of Volodymyr Zelensky at home signals that he’s lost his value as a puppet for Western elites and that they’re preparing to dump him, French politician Florian Philippot believes. 💬 “Now that Zelensky is no longer useful and annoys NATO with his stubbornness as the theater of conflict has moved on to the Middle East, the Deep State wants to get rid of him,” Philippot wrote in a social media post. As evidence, the Gaullist politician pointed to a recent report in Germany’s Bild newspaper on the existence of a “secret peace plan” scenario and plans by Washington and Berlin to pressure Zelensky into negotiations with Russia, as well as “growing political and media criticism against Zelensky” in Ukraine itself, causing the leader, in fear of his safety, to begin firing people left and right.

Local lawmakers have condemned the slogan as “racist poison” and an effort to “create fear” among immigrants | Police in Northern Ireland have launched a hate crime probe after graffiti reading “Irish lives matter” was left on a wall in Belfast, a phrase thought to reflect anti-immigrant sentiment following several similar incidents in the area. ● Local authorities confirmed the vandalism in west Belfast on Wednesday, with police inspector Andrew Matson saying the graffiti and other anti-immigrant signage would be treated as “hate” incidents.

■ Irish government asked social media to censor posts during Dublin riots (RT.com)
■ Ireland needs all her sons and daughters to stand up 🇮🇪 (11/29/23)
■ Irish Lives Matter som hatbrott (Joakim Andersen)

Stoltenberg acknowledged the battle lines have not moved but said Ukraine was inflicting 'heavy losses' on the Russians | NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday urged alliance members to continue funding the proxy war in Ukraine amid growing signs that Western support for the conflict is waning. ● “We just have to stay the course. This is about also about our security interests,” [???] Stoltenberg told reporters ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. ● The NATO chief acknowledged that the battle lines have barely moved in the past year as Ukraine’s counteroffensive has failed and justified continuing support based on the damage being done to Russian forces. ● “We have also to take into account that even though the frontline has not moved so much, the Ukrainians have been able to inflict heavy losses on the Russian forces with deep strike capabilities, with cruise missiles delivered by NATO Allies,” Stoltenberg said. ● However, the Ukrainian side is facing a manpower shortage as it has taken heavy casualties. The average age of a Ukrainian soldier is now 43, as many young Ukrainians have been killed or maimed in the war.

■ NATO allies vow to stay firm on arming Ukraine (Naharnet/AFP)
■ Ukraine’s military collapse is near (Citizen Watch Report) – VIDEO
■ The Russia-Ukraine War Is Just About Over (Peter van Buren)
■ Ex NATO Chief’s Latest Hair Brain Plan for Ukraine? Can’t Make This S*** Up (Martin Jay)
■ Ukraine as 'Big Israel' and the Heavenly Jerusalem Project (08/12/22)

Ireland needs all her sons and daughters to stand up 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/DcqY2wn1Cc

— MichaeloKeeffe (@Mick_O_Keeffe) October 14, 2023

A truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip will be extended by two days, the Palestinian group and mediator Qatar said Monday, opening the way for further releases of hostages and prisoners. ● With just hours to go before the so-called "humanitarian pause" was to end early Tuesday, Hamas said that an agreement had been reached to prolong it by 48 hours under the existing terms. ● There was no immediate confirmation from the Israeli side of the extension, which was nevertheless hailed by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as "a glimpse of hope and humanity in the middle of the darkness of war."

■ Gaza Truce Extended by Two Days (Alaher News)
■ Truce Extended Additional Two Days; Half of Gazans Now Homeless (IMEMC News)
■ Israel Violates Humanitarian Truce, Kills One Palestinian, Injures Eight, in Gaza (IMEMC News)
■ Israeli occupation forces violated terms of the Gaza truce again (Al Mayadeen)

Children in the Israeli military detention system face inhumane treatment such as beatings, strip searches, psychological abuse, weeks in solitary confinement, and being denied access to a lawyer during interrogations, new research by Save the Children found. | Save the Children consulted more than 470 children from across the West Bank who have been detained over the past ten years. The organisation found that the majority of children were taken from their homes at night, blindfolded, with their hands painfully bound behind their backs. Many of the respondents said were not told why they were being arrested or where they were going.

■ Freed Palestinian children say fellow prisoners were 'tortured to death' (MEE)
■ Stripped, beaten and blindfolded: new research reveals ongoing violence and abuse of Palestinian children detained by Israeli military (Save the Children)
■ Israeli Soldiers Sexually Abuse Palestinian Children (Stephen Lendman)(09/13/10)

Tamara Ryzhenkova | Despite Cairo’s resistance, the old plan to relocate Palestinian people to Egypt has prompted new discussions | Egypt’s reaction to the events in the Gaza Strip has drawn renewed attention to the US-Israeli plan of relocating the Palestinian population living in Gaza to the Sinai Peninsula, which is now a part of Egypt. In former times, this question was repeatedly raised during negotiations with Cairo. Now, it looks like Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will have to deal with the issue once again and find an optimal solution.

Authorities in Jenin say the constant Israeli raids have incurred millions of dollars-worth of damages on the city | Five Palestinians were killed late on 25 November and early the next day during a brutal Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. Israeli troops stormed the city “from multiple directions … while opening gunfire indiscriminately, sparking confrontations with the local residents,” WAFA news agency reported. At least six other Palestinians were wounded as a result of the raid in Jenin. Among the five killed were members of the Jenin Brigade, one of the West Bank branches of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement’s armed wing, the Quds Brigades.

The Algerian who stabbed 3 kids & 2 adults in Dublin was issued a deportation order when he was arrested in 2003.

He fought the order with the help of NGOs and in 2008 was granted leave to remain.

If he had been deported in 2003 nobody would have been stabbed.#IrelandisFull pic.twitter.com/LxGEVcwwW8

— MichaeloKeeffe (@Mick_O_Keeffe) November 26, 2023

The Creech 14 | May 10, 2009 ("CreechAFB") | The armed drones, MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers: Sanitized Remote-Control Death. | In 2009 President Barack Obama dramatically escalated the CIA’s secret air war in Pakistan and the U.S. military occupation of Afghanistan. Relying heavily on unmanned drones for surveillance and air strikes, armed drones and drone-assisted gunships have raised death and destruction to a new level. Soaring civilian casualties demand a public discussion of the legality and morality of drone warfare. ● A drone is a remote-control spy plane that can also launch bombs to kill people. Variously called an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), Unmanned Air System (UAS) or Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), today the focus is on the Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV). As drone technology races toward robotic weaponry, the UCAV is the lethal multi-mission drone of future warfare.

■ Another war crime in Afghanistan: US massacres nine children in air strike (03/05/11)

The owner of X (formerly Twitter) is visiting Israel amid accusations of facilitating anti-Semitism | Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), is set to meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog to discuss tackling anti-Jewish sentiments on social media, the office of the President of Israel confirmed on Sunday. During the meeting on Monday, they will be joined by Israelis whose family members have been taken hostage by Hamas during the militant group's deadly attack on Israel last month. “In their meeting, the president will emphasize the need to act to combat rising anti-Semitism online,” [antipathy against Israel's killing of innocent civilians] Herzog’s office said, as cited by Reuters. The entrepreneur has yet to confirm the visit. ● The Tesla CEO will also meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and, according to Israel's Channel 12, may even tour Israeli settlements along the Gaza border, in what critics claim is an attempt to salvage his public image [as a child-killer].

■ Musk backs Israeli assault on Gaza (RT.com)

The prime minister said he would delay the resumption of hostilities by one additional day for every ten hostages released | In a video statement released on Sunday, Netanyahu said he had discussed with US President Joe Biden the release of hostages held in Gaza – a key point in the recent agreement with Hamas. [...] “At the same time, I also told President Biden that at the end of the outline, we will go to realizing our goals with full force: Eliminating Hamas, ensuring that Gaza will not go back to being what it was, and – of course – releasing all of our hostages,” he added. [...] To date, 39 Israeli hostages and 117 Palestinian prisoners have been swapped. In addition, more than two dozen people captured by Palestinian militants were set free as part of separate agreements. In a statement on Sunday, Hamas said that it was seeking to extend the truce “through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from imprisonment.” A source close to the group told AFP that Hamas was willing to prolong the ceasefire by “two to four days.”

🇵🇸🇮🇱 Gaza, before and after Israeli war crimes.

They’ll NEVER show you the truth on the mainstream media! pic.twitter.com/bG1dcXvARF

— Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 (@jacksonhinklle) October 16, 2023

■ Political scientist Mearsheimer sheds light on Israel-Palestine conflict origins (VIDEO)

Pepe Escobar | As the west's support for Israel's Gaza war becomes indefensible, Moscow aligns itself with the global majority in defense of Palestine. [...] Putin took no time to cut to the chase detailing the official stand of the Russian Federation in the current geopolitical incandescence of two intertwined wars, Ukraine and Israel-Palestine. This was addressed as much to his high-profile audience as to the political leadership of the western Hegemon." 💬 "There is no justification for the terrible events taking place in Gaza now, where hundreds of thousands of innocent people are being killed indiscriminately, without having anywhere to flee or hide from the bombing. When you see blood-stained children, dead children, the suffering of women and old people, when you see medics killed, of course, it makes you clench your fists as tears well in your eyes.”

Oriental Review Editorial | The United States no longer wishes to pay dishonest Ukrainian officials. To investigate where their money is disappearing, they are sending “financial special forces” to Kyiv. | Despite President Zelensky’s continuous request for more US military funding, the 49th installment was a paltry USD 150 million and involved NASAMS/HIMARS missiles, AIM-9M, Stinger, Javelin & TOW, as well as ammunition for small arms. Recently, funding from America has been reduced due to both electoral struggles among political parties and practical concerns. Corruption in Ukraine has reached catastrophic levels. ● There is a huge embezzlement of state subsidies for energy or military objectives. The incident involving ex-Deputy Defense Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov and ex-head of the Defense Ministry’s Procurement Department, Bohdan Khmelnitsky, who took USD 7 million meant for body armor procurement, supports this claim. ● Even former EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and United States Ambassador Brigitte Brink have acknowledged the massive and rapidly escalating levels of corruption in Ukraine. “Everyone who has ever encountered Ukraine is aware that it is an extremely corrupt country and not qualified for EU membership,” stated Mr. Juncker with a firm demeanor.

■ Guerre ukrainienne : "F*ck the EU!" (Euro-Synergies)

On the 30th of November, Latvian officials will commence the deportation of residents who do not pass the Latvian language exam. | A year ago, the Latvian Parliament passed amendments to migration law, compelling non-citizen passport holders residing in the country to acquire a Latvian language proficiency certificate at A2 level before September 1, 2023. Otherwise, their permanent residence will be canceled. How did such a legal term as “non-citizen” come to be used in a European country?

Sasha Latypova | Weaponization of “pathogens” has been a coveted area of military machinery for a very long time. | After decades of beating heads against the wall of nature and definitively confirming what I learned in the 1980’s in a Soviet high school class taught by a drunk colonel, namely - it is impossible to make bio-weapons both lethal and highly spreadable - new approaches were needed. Fabricating scary narratives about superbugs is much easier than delivering on promises of making those bugs in labs. This is also a very productive avenue as people are woefully gullible and thus can be controlled by narratives just as effectively as by an actual scary-scary bioengineered virus.

There is now enough evidence of intent to kill and mame the general population by the government. We need to get the evidence together and demand the police do something. Now could be the time - the MSM is turning against rishi but hes just one cog - MAt hancock is a big player in this. Dr. Mike Yeadon - hundreds of thousands of excess deaths recorded in early 2020.

Spain is willing to move ahead by itself on the matter of recognizing Palestinian statehood, though it would prefer to act alongside other EU members, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Friday. | Spain currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, which Belgium will take over in January. Sanchez and his Belgian counterpart, Alexander De Croo, spoke to reporters at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, just before the Qatar-brokered “humanitarian pause” and release of 13 “Israeli” settlers held as captives. ● Asked if he would support unilateral recognition of the Palestinian state, Sanchez declared that “the moment has come” for the EU and the rest of the “international community” to do so. 💬 “It would be important if many member states of the EU, we do it all together,” the Spanish PM said. “If this is not the case, of course, Spain will take their own decisions.” [...] Relatedly, Barcelona City Council has suspended the city's relations with the “Israeli” regime as long as the latter continues its ongoing deadly war against the Gaza Strip. [...] According to Barcelona’s approved statement, the main obstacles to long-lasting peace are "the occupation and colonization of Palestinian territories," and the "denial of rights" to the people.

■ Prime Ministers of Spain, Belgium Reject Israel’s Criticism Over Stance on Gaza (Sputnik News)

Hamas on Friday freed a first batch of hostages seized in the deadliest attack in Israel's history under a deal that saw a temporary truce take hold in war-ravaged Gaza. Israel meanwhile release 39 Palestinian women and children from its prisons. | Thirteen Israeli hostages captured during Palestinian militants' cross-border raids were back in Israeli territory where they would undergo medical checks before being reunited with their families, the army said. They included four children and six elderly women, an official Israeli list showed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to bring all the hostages home.

■ Israeli troops fire at Gazans returning home, kill two after ceasefire (PressTV)
■ First Group of Gaza Captives Exchanged for Palestinian Detainees (Alahed News)
■ Joy roams Palestine after 39 prisoners freed from Israeli prisons (Al Mayadeen)

X owner Elon Musk condemned Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar for demanding new thought crime legislation in response to Thursday's fiery but mostly peaceful protest against mass immigration. 💬 "Irish children were stabbed by a foreign man in Dublin yesterday yet the government twist the story and use the backlash as an opportunity to pass new hate speech laws," X user Sir Doge of the Coin commented on Friday. "The Irish government want all of your freedoms." "Ironically, the Irish PM hates the Irish people," Elon Musk responded.

■ Riots and arson grip Dublin after stabbing spree (VIDEOS) (11/24/23)

Greta Thunberg is apparently no longer fighting for renewable energy. The planned wind farms in Norway is the latest quixotic battle in which the "Fridays for Future" initiator is engaged. | The Swede, together with other climate protectors, blocked access to the Norwegian Ministry of Energy in Oslo. They are protesting against the construction of wind turbines in the west of the country, reported the AFP news agency. ● The reason for their resistance is the indigenous peoples who live in the area. “We cannot use the so-called climate change as a cover for colonialism,” said Thunberg, according to TV2, outside the ministry’s doors. “A climate transition that violates human rights is not a climate transition worthy of the name.”