Ukraine, 8-17-26

NOTE: Nobody reads this blog. But . . .

Here are links to reports from the Moscow Times and Reuters; others or at least headlines are accessible by clicking on their names. (Scroll up for today’s GAZA, WEST BANK and IRAN so far, and down for UKRAINE 8-15-26.) — MCM

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Ukrainian rocket attack on Belgorad region kills at least 6. From the Moscow Times. Acting Belgorod region Governor Aleksander Shuvaev said this morning that four others were wounded in the attack in the village of Koloskovo, around 24 kilometers (15 miles) from the Ukraine border. READ MORE . . .

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EU plans most far-reaching sanctions against Russia, Kallas says. From Reuters. The European Union plans to significantly expand sanctions against Russia in the coming months over its war in Ukraine, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, told the German newspaper Die Welt. READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

All of it, 8-16-26

The only item in this, my only entry today, is a recommendation of the latest The World This Week, Consortium News’s Saturday night podcast. (Scroll down for ALL OF IT 8-15-26 and MEDIA 8-15-26.) — MCM

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FROM AUG. 15  The World This Week: ‘A fraying empire.’ Joe Lauria of Consortium News hosts retired U.S. Army colonel and former diplomat Ann Wright and former CIA analyst Ray McGovern to explore what might best be encapsulated, simply, as the rot — in the U.S. military, in U.S. politics and governance, in too much of the U.S. media. There should be a transcript. Click HERE for video with subtitles, Lauria ‘s print introduction, and bios of Wright and McGovern.

Iran, 8-15-26

ADVISORY  Watch: The World This Week: ‘A fraying empire.’ Joe Lauria of Consortium News hosts retired U.S. Army colonel and former diplomat Ann Wright and former CIA analyst Ray McGovern to explore a U.S. military in crisis in the Middle East and elsewhere. Click HERE around 8 p.m. EDT to livestream and later to watch video, and for print introduction and bios of Wright and McGovern.

And links to report from the Associated Pressp and Reuters; others anre accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll down for today’s UKRAINE, ALL OF IT and MEDIA, and for IRAN 8-14-26.) — MCM

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Iran claims Qatar holding pilots, vessel is attacked in Normuz, Israeli strikes kill 11 in Lebanon, and other Middle East news. From AP. Here’s a look at the latest developments on today in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found HEREClick HERE for this AP report, and HERE for same one in Spanish, and HERE for others in Spanish.

 

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Iran defiant on strait as Trump tells Americans to accept high petrol prices. From Reuters. CAIRO / GARDEN CITY, New York — Iran called on the U.S. to accept defeat while President Donald Trump blasted Tehran as “evil” and told Americans to brace for continued high fuel prices as a result of the war. READ MORE . . .

   

* Among the news organizations with frequent updates on the Iran war, related wars in the Middle East, and negotiations to pause or end any of them are Al Jazeera, Al Mayadeen, the Associated Press, CNN, Middle East Eye, and Middle East Monitor. They are found HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. AP and El País reports in Spanish are HERE and HERE. *

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TO BE CONTINUED

Ukraine, 8-15-26

ADVISORY  Watch: The World This Week: ‘A fraying empire.’ Joe Lauria of Consortium News hosts retired U.S. Army colonel and former diplomat Ann Wright and former CIA analyst Ray McGovern to explore a U.S. military in crisis in the Middle East and elsewhere. Click HERE around 8 p.m. EDT to livestream and later to watch video, and for print introduction and bios of Wright and McGovern.

   

Links to two reports from Reuters; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll up or down for today’s IRAN, ALL OF IT and MEDIA, and for UKRAINE 8-14-26.) — MCM

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Summer campaign led to capture of 19 settlements in southeast Ukraine: Defence Ministry. From Reuters. Russian troops have taken control of 19 settlements in southeastern Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions over their summer campaign, the Russian Defense Ministry said today. READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine strikes industrial facility in Samara region. From Reuters. Ukraine struck industrial infrastructure in Russia‘s Samara region today, local authorities said. READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

All of it, 8-15-26

A link to an emergency exclamation (!!) from Tom Engelhardt Substack via Informed Comment; other published material is accessible by clicking on their names. (Scroll up or down for today’s IRAN, UKRAINE and MEDIA, and for ALL OF IT 8-11-26.) — MCM

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FROM AUG. 13  A planet screaming at us to pay attention, by Tom Engelhardt | Tom Engelhardt Substack  / Informed Comment  There should be screaming headlines about it every day. Yes, every day! Our planet, the only one we live on (despite Elon Musk’s urge to go to Mars), is distinctly going down, down, down (at least as a viable place for us). READ MORE . . .

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Addendum, by Mark Channing Miller | x-ma911truthwalk  This is a triple footnote to the earlier messages in today’s ALL OF IT and MEDIA entries.

1. Elizabeth Kolbert of the New Yorker magazine and Footnotes from a Catastrophe (2006) fame is or was a Berkshire County resident.

2. Ross Gelbspan (1939-2024) of  the Philadelphia Bulletin, Washington Post, Village Voice, Boston Globe and author of The Heat Is On (1998) and Boiling Point (2004) had a lot of success in a distinguished career but was underrecognized. He used “global heating” to describe humans’ existential crisis.

3. Jay Inslee of the state of Washington, onetime U.S. rep and twice elected governor, also had a lot of success but was not taken seriously in the large field of candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, in part because his stated number one priority was the planet’s natural environment and runaway climate change.

Media, 8-15-26

A link to one of two links to the same emergency exclamation (!!) from Tom Engelhardt Substack via Informed Comment; other published material is accessible by clicking on their names. Also, some context from x-ma911truthwalk.com. (Scroll up for today’s IRAN, UKRAINE and ALL OF IT, and down for MEDIA 8-12-26.) — MCM

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FROM AUG. 13  A planet screaming at us to pay attention, by Tom Engelhardt | Tom Engelhardt Substack  / Informed Comment   Climate change is at best a secondary, if not a tertiary matter in the all-American news media (including the New York Times). The British Guardian online has a genuine “climate crisis” section where you can normally check daily on the latest news about this overheating planet. READ MORE . . .

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A few words, by Mark Channing Miller | x-ma911truthwalk.com   Lying liars lie. This often happens simply through what they leave out.

One reason I had enough skills to put together this website is that I was lucky enough to work for six months for Tom Stokes, who had started a website for something called the Climate Crisis Coalition. In 2005 he figured someone who had worked for two wire services and some daily newspapers would come in handy.

He was right. Working in a little office for four or five hours a day, in the company of Tom’s dog, putting little headlines over single paragraphs introducing articles we found by ourselves and others from “aggregators” whose services the CCC paid for, and getting a daily collection of it out — was more like bliss than work.

Especially when the New Yorker started running Elizabeth Kolbert’s series that became the book Field Notes from a Catastrophe and shamed the wretched excuse for a news media to start paying more attention to global warming — but not enough attention.

The book was easily as important and needed as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring had been decades before, perhaps more so, and started something going but not enough because, you know, some advertisers might object.

At any rate, an incentive for getting Bruce Henry and me walking across Massachusetts with our “9/11 TRUTH” signs was that lying liars lied about so much of the mass-murder attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. This website began a few weeks before the walk.

And a big incentive for me to do this is that the stupid wars the U.S. government wades this country into — most of which are a direct result of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror that the same U.S. government has lied about apart from elements of its own narrative — take needed attention away from the global heating that is now obviously under way.

 

 

Gaza, 8-14-26

First, a link to a report from the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll down for today’s LEBANON, SYRIA, WEST BANK, IRAN and UKRAINE so far, and for GAZA 8-13-26.) — MCM

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Palestinians widely reject Hamas disarmament before full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza: report. From the Cradle. A new poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research published on Wednesday found that 72 percent of Palestinians oppose the disarmament of Hamas before Israel completes its withdrawal from the besieged Gaza Strip. READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

Lebanon, 8-14-26

A link to a report from the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll up or down for today’s GAZA, SYRIA, WEST BANK, IRAN and UKRAINE, and down for LEBANON 8-11-26 .) — MCM

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FROM AUG. 13  Israeli troops conducting ‘deliberate’ arson campaign in south Lebanon. From the Cradle. Large fires continued to burn and spread in south Lebanon on Thursday due to continuous strikes, artillery shelling, and deliberate arson operations carried out by Israeli occupation forces illegally positioned inside the country. READ MORE . . .

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Syria, 8-14-26

A link to a report from Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll up or down for today’s GAZA, LEBANON, WEST BANK, IRAN and UKRAINE, and down for SYRIA 8-8-26.) — MCM

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Israeli minister says war with Syria is ‘absolute certainty.’ From Middle East Monitor. “Syria is Gaza on steroids, and that is the next war, with absolute certainty,” said Amichai Chikli Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister. “There is no avoiding it.” READ MORE . . .

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West Bank, 8-14-26

Links to reports from National Public Radio and Middle East Eye; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up or down for today’s GAZA, LEBANON, SYRIA, IRAN and UKRAINE, and down for WEST BANK 8-13-26.) — MCM

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Mike Huckabee says Israeli settlers atacking West Bank homes are ‘terrorists.’ Reported by  

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Israel to shift civilian enforcement in West Bank from army to police. From Middle East Eye. Israel is preparing to replace the army in the West Bank with civilian police forces, in a move seen as further advancing the annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory. READ MORE . . .

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