First, links to reports from National Public Radio, Reuters, the Associated Press, and Tass; for others, click on their names or initials below. Next, links to an analysis from Reuters on some European energy realities, and an essay, via Global Research, on deception via the wording of headlines. — MCM

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Ukrainian nuclear plant, controlled by Russian forces, temporarily went off line. Reported by A Martínez and Geoff Brumfiel | NPR  Conditions at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine are deteriorating as international monitors are hoping to visit the facility in the coming days. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Ukraine narrowly escapes nuclear catastrophe as plant loses power, Zelenskiy says, by Tom Balmforth and Max Hunder | Reuters * Work ongoing to reconnect two working reactors to grid * Zelenskiy urges world pressure to force Russians from site * Residents in Kyiv worried about situation at plant | KYIV — The world narrowly escaped a radiation disaster when electricity to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was cut for hours, Ukraine’s president said, urging international bodies to act faster to force Russian troops to vacate the site. READ MORE . . .

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Britain to see 80% spike in energy bills as crisis deepens, by Sylvia Hui | AP  U.K. residents will see an 80% increase in their annual household energy bills, the country’s energy regulator announced today, following a record 54% spike in April. That will bring costs for the average customer from 1,971 pounds ($2,332) a year to 3,549 pounds. The latest price cap — the maximum amount that gas suppliers can charge customers per unit of energy — will take effect Oct. 1, just as the cold months set in. And bills are expected to rise again in January to 4,000 pounds. READ MORE . . .

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Why the U.S. cares about the war in Ukraine. Reported by Jackie Northam | NPR  Six months into the war in Ukraine, why should the U.S. continue to care and spend billions of dollars on the war when Europe is so ambivalent? And what do U.S. officials see as the end game? Click HERE to listen and read.

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As Germany struggles in energy crisis, more turn to solar to help power homes. Reported by Bobby Allyn | NPR There is no major industrialized country in the world more dependent on Russian energy than Germany. Natural gas, mostly from Russia, is used to power the country’s manufacturing sector, and it heats nearly half of the country’s households. To Berlin-based entrepreneur Karolina Attspodina, it is an especially . . . Click HERE to listen and read.

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Poll shows 81% of Russians trust Putin. From Tass. MOSCOW — The level of the Russian public’s confidence in President Vladimir Putin rose by 1.2 percentage points to 81.2% in the past week, according to a poll published by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center today. The poll involving 1,600 respondents over 18 years of age was conducted on August 15-21. “When asked . . . READ MORE . . .

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Analysis: Forget showering, for now, it’s heat or eat for shocked Europeans hit by energy crisis, by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin and Canan Sevgili | Reuters  * British energy bills to jump 80% to over $4,000 * Rising bills force households to cut energy use.* Crisis in Europe looks worse than in other developed economies | LONDON — No more ironing, limited oven use and showering at work — Europeans are trying to keep their energy use down but the bills keep climbing. As wholesale gas and electricity prices surge, millions of people in Europe are now spending a record amount of their income on energy, data . . . READ MORE . . .

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How U.S. and allied news media deceive the public, to believe what the government wants them to believe, by Eric Zuesse | Global Research One prominent way that the U.S. regime and its allies (or vassal-nations) deceive the public is by false headlines that often don’t even represent the news-report fairly or at all. A good recent example of this was a 23 August 2022 Reuters report headlined “Analysis: As Ukraine war drags on, Europe’s economy succumbs to crisis”. The lie that the headline was designed to implant into readers’ minds was that the invasion of Ukraine by Russia didn’t merely contribute to “Europe’s economy succumbs to crisis,” but that . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

First, links to reports from  the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters, American Public Media, National Public Radio, and teleSUR; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials initials below. Then, a link to an opinion piece by a Moscow Times columnist. NOTE: Starting within the last 24 hours, reports from Tass, the Russian news agency, are not available; the message “502 Bad Gateway” appears in place of the Tass website, although at another site offering dated Tass reports, is still functioning for the time being. — MCM

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Death toll from train station attack in Ukraine rises to 25, by Inna Varenytsia | AP  POKROVSK, Ukraine — The death toll from a Russian rocket attack as Ukraine observed its Independence Day has risen to 25, including an 11-year-old boy found under the rubble of a house and a 6-year-old killed in a car fire near a train station that was the target, a Ukrainian official said today. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces used an Iskander missile to strike a military train that was carrying Ukrainian troops and equipment to the front line in eastern Ukraine. The ministry claimed more than 200 reservists “were destroyed on their way to the combat zone.” . . . READ MORE . . .

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EU warns Russia to be held accountable for ‘rocket terror.’ From AFP  BRUSSELS — The European Union today condemned Russia’s deadly bombardment of a railway station in Ukraine and warned those “responsible for Russian rocket terror will be held accountable”. “The EU strongly condemns another heinous attack by Russia on civilians,“ EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted . . . READ MORE . . .

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In isolated Russia, a tale of two economies. From Reuters. * This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine. | IZHEVSK, Russia — Russia’s record employment signals a surprisingly smooth decoupling from the West. Its rapid replacement of McDonald’s and Starbucks says business as usual. Yet pressures are building inside its economic machine. . . . The strategies and struggles of Russia’s biggest automaker offers an insight into the contrasting fortunes of a country striving to withstand what Vladimir Putin calls an economic “blitzkrieg” by the West. Avtovaz restarted production of its Lada brand . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia’s economy after 6 months of war. Kai Ryssdal of American Public Media’s Marketplace interviews Dr. Kristy Ironsides, professor of Russian history at McGill University. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, the ruble has cratered and rebounded, and sanctions by Western governments have isolated the country. They talk  about how the war has scarred Russia’s economy and how it may fare. Click HERE to listen.

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On the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s split from Soviet Union, the war hits month 6. Reported by Frank Langfitt | NPR  Ukraine celebrated 31 years of independence from the Soviet Union on Wednesday. It was also six months to the day since President Putin sent troops to try to bring Ukraine back into Russia’s orbit. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Russia takes stock of the Ukrainian conflict’s first six months. From teleSUR. August 24 marked six months since the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. In this context, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu took stock of events to date. “The special military operation is proceeding as planned and all objectives will be met,” he said at a meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, with the defense ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). He said the Ukrainian conflict provided the United States and its allies with an additional pretext to unleash a “hybrid” economic and media war against Russia. “The goal . . . READ MORE . . .

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What are the longterm implications of the U.S. sending military supplies to Ukraine? Reported by Rachel Martin and Tom  Bowman | NPR  The Pentagon is ramping up its support of Ukraine in its war against Russia. The Defense Department is sending another $3 billion to Ukraine. That brings total U.S. aid to more than $13 billion. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Why Europe should ban Russian tourists, by Benjamin Tallis | The Moscow Times  The proposed Schengen visa ban on Russian tourists has attracted strong support from  Europeans who resolutely oppose Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine. It has also attracted criticism, including from some Western European liberals, who see it as an unjustifiable form of “collective punishment” that would run counter to the EU’s values and interests. EU states should ignore such criticisms, which are misguided and, more importantly, both miss the point and misunderstand the purpose of the visa ban. The term collective punishment has . . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

The two posts linked below concern events and policies in Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, and Venezuela. — MCM

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Lithium Power Politics, by Vijay Prashad and Taroa Zuniga Silva | Peoples Dispatch / Consortium News “Extractivism” refers to the extraction of natural resources from the Earth to make profits without any consideration for the Earth being mined or for the people who live in the areas being mined. The people of Potosí, Bolivia, and Tierra Amarilla in Chile want to imagine a different kind of extraction: one that is . . . READ MORE . . .

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The first steps in the normalization of Venezuela-Colombia relations, by Misión Verdad | Orinoco Tribune / Popular Resistance Gustavo Petro became president-elect of Colombia on June 24 and assumed office on Aug. 7. One of his declared aims has been to re-establish diplomatic ties with the constitutional government of Venezuela, a link broken when Colombia, under then-President Iván Duque, recognized the fake government of Juan Guaidó in Venezuela and helped organize an invasion attempt disguised as a “humanitarian intervention” in 2019. Consequently, . . . READ MORE . . .

First, links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, National Public Radio, Agence France-Presse, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials initials below. Then, via Global Research, links to two writers who contend that the war is about trade. — MCM

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Ukraine marks Independence Day six months after start of war, by Derek Gatopoulos and Inna Varenytsia | AP  KYIV — Residents of Kyiv woke up to air raid sirens as Ukraine observed its Independence Day today, which also marked exactly six months since the start of Russia’s military invasion. Authorities in the capital banned large-scale gatherings until tomorrow, fearing the national holiday might bring particularly heavy Russian missile attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the public . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine says Russian ‘shackles’ worse than missiles 6 months after invasion, by Tom Balmforth | Reuters *  Zelenskiy defiant, warns of ‘brutal strikes’ by Russia * Aug. 24 holiday marks six months since invasion * U.N. nuclear agency could visit Ukraine plant in days | KYIV — Ukraine was “reborn” when Russia invaded six months ago, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said today, marking 31 years of his country’s independence from the Moscow-controlled Soviet Union with a vow . . . READ MORE . . .

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Over months, the U.S. and allies delivered weapons and other support to Ukraine. Reported by Rachel Martin and Greg Myre | NPR  The U.S. and NATO are supplying Ukraine with increasingly powerful and sophisticated weapons. Will the West sustain this level of military support as the war grinds on? Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Emmanuel Macron warns ‘sacrifices’ ahead after ‘end of abundance. From AFP. PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron warned today that France faced “sacrifices” in a new era marked by climate change and instability caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that signalled “the end of abundance.” Speaking . . . READ MORE . . . 

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Russian army slows down advance to reduce civilian casualties — defense minister. From Tass. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — The Russian army deliberately slowed down its advance in the special military operation in Ukraine in order to reduce civilian casualties, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at a meeting of defense chiefs from Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states today. “We strictly comply with humanitarian law . . . READ MORE . . .

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6 months of war: The realities in Ukraine. From NPR.  It’s been six months since Russia launched its full scale invasion on Ukraine. Now it’s a war of attrition that has led to a global food crisis, inflation across the world and devastation in Ukraine. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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6 months of war: The view from the frontlines. Rachel Martin of NPR talks with Ukrainian politician Volodymyr Omelyan, who left his job and family, and has been fighting on the frontlines for the last six months. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Ukrainian refugees who ended up in Russia must now decide what comes next. Reported by Charles Maynes | NPR   Ukrainians who have sought refuge in Russia often face a fundamental choice: accept Russian hospitality and the Kremlin’s vision for Ukraine under Russian rule or risk an uncertain road out. Click HERE to listen and read.

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How Daria Dugina’s death impacts security for Putin allies in Russia. Reported by Mary Louise Kelly, Ayen Bior and Patrick Jarenwattananon | NPR  Marlene Laruelle of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University talks about Alexander Dugin’s influence in Russia and beyond. Click HERE to listen and read.

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An engineered food and poverty crisis to secure continued U.S. dominance,by Colin Todhunter | Global Research The war in Ukraine is a geopolitical trade and energy conflict. It is largely about the U.S. engaging in a proxy war against Russia and Europe by attempting to separate Europe from Russia and imposing sanctions on Russia to harm Europe and make it further dependent on the United States. Economist Michael Hudson recently stated that ultimately the war is against Europe and Germany. The purpose of the sanctions is to prevent Europe and other allies from increasing their trade and investment with Russia and China. Neoliberal policies since the 1980s . . . READ MORE . . .

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The crisis in Ukraine is not about Ukraine. It’s about Germany. By Mike Whitney | The Unz Review / Global Research The Ukrainian crisis has nothing to do with Ukraine. It’s about Germany and, in particular, a pipeline that connects Germany to Russia called Nord Stream 2. Washington sees the pipeline as a threat to its primacy in Europe and has tried to sabotage the project at every turn. Even so, Nord Stream has pushed ahead and is now fully operational and ready to go. Once German regulators . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

Today, hours before reading the column below, I came across this quote from the psychiatrist M. Scott Peck (1936-2005) , taken from his book The Different Drum (1987): “If humankind is to survive, the matter of changing the rules is not optional.” — MCM

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Putin & the Emerging Order

By Patrick Lawrence | Consortium News

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Aug. 16 speech to foreign dignitaries at the Moscow Conference on International Security, an annual affair that Russia has hosted for the past decade, articulates a new idea of our world, a veritable Weltanschauung, of great consequence. Putin said: 

“The situation in the world is changing dynamically and the outlines of a multipolar world order are taking shape. An increasing number of countries and peoples are choosing a path of free and sovereign development based on their own distinct identity, traditions and values.”

That a multipolar world is emerging has been evident to many people for a long time — since, at least November 1989 when Germans dismantled the Berlin Wall. 

I’ve long been convinced that in the years following the 1945 victories scores of Asian and African nations in the “independence era” broke colonial bonds and most of humanity aspired to and set out to build the very world order that Putin describes. The U.S. and its allies suppressed these remarkable aspirations with the onset of the Cold War.

This was among the Cold War’s most significant features. When the West divided the community of nations into blocs, the effect was to force the non–West to choose one or the other side. In effect, an identity was imposed: Correspondents could write of “pro–Western Singapore” or “Suharto, a staunch American ally.”

The Non–Aligned Movement, which coalesced gradually in the 1950s and formally declared itself in the Belgrade of Josip Broz Tito in 1961, was in one part a movement of resistance against the Cold War binary. The impulse driving it was never extinguished — the NAM still lives, indeed — but the East–West divide did its awful work over the years.

It was precisely this impulse that was reanimated in November 1989. The window giving onto a multipolar world had reopened. And it was precisely this window the Americans set about trying to close once again during the triumphalist 1990s, with their insistence that the new Russian Federation, along with the rest of the post–Cold War world, follow the Americans’ neoliberal example.

Joseph Brodsky, a poet who was living in New York by this time wrote to his friend Václav Havel that the Americans were playing cowboys and Indians as they tried on their “just like us” routine once again. Russia and the rest of the world had to find its way to the universal values America professed, Brodsky said, but it must find its way in its own way, each nation on its own, not at the direction of cowboys riding high horses, wielding lassos.

Russia stands at the forward edge of this historical movement, this longue durée. I am growing more confident that Russia, along with other non–Western leaders — Xi Jinping, yes, but not the Chinese president alone — will at last push the world through to an enduring world order with multipolarity as its core principle.

I say this for a few reasons. Putin’s assertion that this new order will rest on “free and sovereign development based on their own distinct identity, traditions and values” is nothing but a restatement of Brodsky’s case against the post–Cold War American position.

Going further back, Putin’s remarks reminded me of direct reference to the Five Principles Zhou Enlai proposed in the mid–1950s and which formed the basis of the 10 Principles the NAM articulated in Belgrade a half-dozen years later. This is the well from which I draw confidence.

Putin continued in his speech:

“These objective processes are being opposed by the Western globalist elites, who provoke chaos, fanning longstanding and new conflicts and pursuing the so-called containment policy, which in fact amounts to the subversion of any alternative, sovereign development options. Thus, they are doing all they can to keep hold onto the hegemony and power that are slipping from their hands; they are attempting to retain countries and peoples in the grip of what is essentially a neocolonial order.”

“Globalist elites,” “a neolcolonial order.”  Putin’s audience included many representatives of former colonies with pronounced identities as members of “the third world” or “the Global South,” with whom he wanted to connect as directly as he could. It was Putin’s strongest language on the subject. 

It is one thing for a columnist such as I to write of Western hegemony and the subversive intent of the U.S. and its allies as the reality of a new world order becomes evident. It is another for the president of one of the world’s most powerful nations to use such language. It confirms my surmise that Putin has turned a corner in his thinking.

I date this turn to the document he made public with President Xi on Feb. 4, the eve of the Beijing Olympics — 20 days before Russia commenced its intervention in Ukraine. The Joint Statement on the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development, is a remarkable statement.

The timing of that declaration seems significant. As I have written on several occasions, the Chinese leadership gave up making any sense of their relations with the U.S. after their calamitous encounter with American officials in Anchorage 11 months earlier. From all that subsequently transpired, Xi and his ministers evidently decided then that China would go its own way and stop bothering to mollify a nation that remains powerful but stuck in the past.

As I read things, Putin made roughly the same judgment by Feb. 4. All of Russia’s efforts to talk sense to the U.S. and its NATO allies about a sustainable security order in Europe had yielded nothing more than obstruction and serious nonsense.

It seems Putin and Xi drew a line — or accepted the line the Americans drew: If you insist on adversarial relations, you will get them. “They’re standing in the world’s way” is a simple phrase to translate.

The way I see it, it was late last winter when Putin determined to stand four-square for the new world order he now speaks of with notable clarity and without inhibition. The Joint Statement is a far more extensive exploration of the thoughts shared at the security conference on Aug. 16.

If anything, Putin’s speech reads like an after-the-fact précis of the earlier document. The thinking is well-developed now. Putin’s commitment is quite evident – another reason I am confident a multipolar world will win against Washington’s unilateralism. Time is on their side.

The timing of the speech, and others Putin has made since last winter, seems ironic as it addresses topics of historical magnitude while we watch a succession process in Britain that stands to leave Liz Truss as the nation’s next prime minister.

Truss is . . . READ MORE . . .

First, links to reports from Reuters, National Public Radio, Agence France-Presse, and the Moscow Times; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. — MCM

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U.S. asks citizens to leave Ukraine as fears grow of Russian attacks on capital, by Max Hunder | Reuters * U.S. urges citizens to leave Ukraine ‘now’ * Heightened fears of attack on Kyiv around Independence Day * Wednesday marks six months since Russian invasion * Concern over dangers to nuclear plant | KYIV — The United States today urged its citizens to leave Ukraine, saying it believed Russia was preparing to target civilian and government infrastructure in the next few days as the war reaches the . . . READ MORE . . .

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From warehouses to the frontlines: How Ukraine’s forces are getting drones. Reported by Tim Mak | NPR  Pound for pound, perhaps no piece of equipment is more valuable on the Ukrainian battlefield than lightweight, remote-controlled drones, which volunteers are bringing to the frontlines in the east. . . . Click HERE to listen and read.

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A Kremlin-linked mercenary group is now openly recruiting for the war in Ukraine. Reported by Mary Louise Kelly, Michael Levitt and Patrick Jarenwattananon | NPR   Mercenary expert Sean McFate talks about recent recruiting strategies by the Wagner Group due to Russian losses in Ukraine. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Work goes on inside a Ukrainian nuclear power plant amid threats of Russian bombs. Reported by Ashley Westerman | NPR  Andriy Tuz was at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant when it came under Russian control in March. Now in Switzerland, Tuz talks about work and life at the complex under Russian occupation. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Six months into the Russia-Ukraine war, how can we measure the loss of life? Steve Inskeep of NPR talks to Matilda Bogner, head of the United Nations Human Rights monitoring mission in Ukraine, about whether death tolls in Russia’s war on Ukraine have been underestimated. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Putin says daughter of ultranationalist Dugin killed in ‘vile crime’: Kremlin. From Agence France-Presse. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday expressed his “sincere condolences” following the death in a car bombing of the daughter of hard-line Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin. “A vile, cruel crime ended the life of Daria Dugina, a bright, talented person with a real Russian heart — kind, loving, sympathetic and open,” Putin said in a message to Dugina’s family released by the Kremlin.

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‘She died for Russia’: hundreds mourn pro-Kremlin ideologue’s slain daughter, by Anastasia Tenisheva | The Moscow Times Hundreds of mourners gathered today for the Moscow funeral of Daria Dugina, the adult daughter of a prominent nationalist philosopher, after she was killed in a car bombing that Moscow blames on Kyiv. Her father Alexander Dugin — a vocal supporter of the Kremlin’s military campaign in Ukraine — is thought to have been the likely target of the Saturday attack that killed his 29-year-old daughter. Speakers at Dugina’s funeral . . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

To begin, links to reports from teleSUR, Agence France-Presse, and Reuters; others are accessible by clicking on their names below. –MCM

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Progress in reparations for victims of dictatorships in Bolivia. From teleSUR. SUCRE — Minister of Justice Iván Lima, highlighted said Sunday that Bolivia is making progress in the integral reparation to the victims of the military dictatorships of the 1964-1982 period with the signing of a National Agreement. The General Treasury of the Nation will assume 80% of the resources that were not covered in the reparation of victims in 2004, in addition to the 20% that was disbursed in 2006. In this sense, President Luis Arce paid tribute to . . . READ MORE . . .

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Lula against Bolsonara’s unification of religion and state in Brazil. From teleSUR. Brazilian presidential candidate Lula da Silva criticized politicians who use faith as a political platform. His position was expressed at a time when his rival, President Jair Bolsonaro, carries out such practices to attract voters. Lula, the Workers’ Party candidate, said demagogy has many forms, and one of them is the opportunistic use of people’s faith to gain followers. “I defend the secular state. The state should not have religion and churches should not have political parties”, said . . . READ MORE . . .

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Pope ‘concerned’ after Nicaraguan bishop detained. From AFP. Pope Francis said Sunday he was “concerned” by rising tensions between the state and the Catholic church in Nicaragua, two days after bishop and regime critic Rolando Alvarez was detained. Francis said he was following “closely with concern and sorrow” the situation in Nicaragua, amid a worsening standoff between the Church and a government accused of increasing authoritarianism. I would like to express my . . . READ MORE . . .

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Lula: No need to fell a single tree to boost Brazil farm output, by Lisandra Paraguassu | Reuters SAO PAULO — Brazil’s presidential frontrunner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said today his country did not need to cut a single tree to plant more soybeans, sugarcane or raise cattle as he vowed to restore law enforcement in the Amazon rainforest to curb deforestation. His remarks came as Reuters reported last week that advisors to the leftist former president were proposing subsidized “green” farm loans to spur planting of soybeans and corn on open pasture and reduce deforestation in the Amazon. “If the world . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

First, links to reports from Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Tass, National Public Radio, and the Associated Press; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. — MCM

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Turkey doubles Russian oil imports, filling EU void. From Reuters. MOSCOW — Turkey doubled its imports of Russian oil this year, Refinitiv Eikon data showed today, as the two countries are set for broader cooperation in business and especially energy trade in the face of western sanctions against Moscow. Trade between Turkey . . .READ MORE . . .

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Moscow says Ukraine behind death of Kremlin ideologue’s daughter. From AFP. Russia’s FSB security services said today that Ukraine was behind a car bombing in the outskirts of Moscow that killed the daughter of hard-line Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin. Dugin — an outspoken ultranationalist intellectual and a vocal supporter of the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine — is thought to have been the likely target of the attack. . . . Daria Dugina was killed Saturday when a bomb placed in a Toyota Land Cruiser went off as she drove on a highway some 40 kilometers (25 miles) outside Moscow. READ MORE . . .

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FSB solves Darya Dugina’s murder, masterminded by Ukrainian secret services. From Tass. MOSCOW — The murder of Russian journalist Darya Dugina has been solved, Russia’s federal security service FSB has said. It was prepared by Ukrainian secret services. The perpetrator — a citizen of Ukraine identified as Natalia Vovk — escaped to Estonia, the FSB’s public relations center stated. “As a result of urgent detective measures, the federal security service has solved the murder of Russian journalist Darya Dugina, born in 1992,” the FSB stressed. The special service found that “the crime was prepared and committed by Ukrainian secret services.” Its perpetrator was identified as a citizen of Ukraine, Natalia Vovk, born in 1979. . . . READ MORE . . .

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EU mulls military training for Ukrainian forces: Borrell. From AFP The European Union will debate the launch of a major training operation for Ukrainian forces in neighbouring nations, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said today. The proposal will be discussed next week at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Prague, Borrell told a press conference in Santander, in northern Spain. “I hope it will be approved,” he added.

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Humanitarian groups prepare to send winter help to Ukrainians. Ayesha Rascoe of NPR speaks with Corus International Chief Humanitarian Officer Tamara Demuria about the need for aid in Ukraine as winter approaches. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Kyiv hosts a different kind of parade to celebrate Ukraine’s Independence Day. Reported by Julian Hayda | NPR  Ukraine’s independence day celebrations won’t have the usual fanfare as Russia persists in its invasion. Aug. 24 marks the day when Ukraine’s parliament vowed to separate from the Soviet Union in 1991. The date this year will also mark six months since the war began. Perhaps the most striking departure from past festivities . . . Click HERE to listen and read.

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‘Time stopped’: Ukrainians long to go home as war drags on, by Vanessa Gera and Kirsten Grieshaber | AP  WARSAW, Poland — As the war reaches the sixth-month mark Wednesday, many refugees are facing the sad realization that they will not be going home soon, if they have homes to return to at all. . . . Many wouldn’t feel safe yet, even in areas under Ukrainian control. So they are biding their time, waiting for the end of a war that shows no signs of ending soon, longing for home and refusing to . . . READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

First, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, Tass, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Then, from Global Research, what role has ownership of Ukrainian grain farmland played in that country’s politics? — MCM

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Daughter of Russian ideologue killed in suspected car bomb attack. From Reuters. The daughter of an ultra-nationalist Russian ideologue who advocates Russia absorbing Ukraine was killed in a suspected car bomb attack outside Moscow, Russian state investigators said today. Darya Dugina, daughter of prominent ideologue Alexander Dugin, was killed on Saturday evening after a suspected explosive device blew up the . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russians down Ukrainian drones in Crimea as war broadens, by Paul Byrne and Joanna Kozlowski | AP  KYIV — Russian authorities reported shooting down Ukrainian drones Saturday in Crimea, while Ukrainian officials said Russian forces pressed ahead with efforts to seize one of the few cities in eastern Ukraine not already under their control. The Russian military also . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainian troops open fire on Zaporozhye NPP, critical facilities undamaged – authorities. From Tass. MELITOPOL, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces again opened fire on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant on Saturday using West-supplied weapons, but critical facilities were not damaged in the attack, the civil-military administration of Energodar city, home to the NPP, said. . . . There are no immediate reports about casualties among . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia’s war at 6 months: A global economy in growing danger, by Paul Wiseman and David McHugh | AP  MECKENHEIM, Germany — Six months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the consequences are posing a devastating threat to the global economy . . . . Gas is not only much more costly, it might not be available at all if Russia completely cuts off supplies to Europe to avenge Western sanctions, or if utilities can’t store enough for winter. Germany may have to impose gas rationing that could cripple industries from steelmaking to pharmaceuticals to commercial laundries. . . . High food prices and shortages, worsened by the cutoff of fertilizer and grain shipments from Ukraine and Russia that are slowly resuming, could . . . READ MORE . . .

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A look at Ukraine, 6 months into its war with Russia. Reported by Joanna Kakissis | NPR  An update on the war in Ukraine and a look at how life in the city of Odesa has changed. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Ukraine’s rail system is working overtime to keep people and goods moving. Reported by Eleanor Beardsley | NPR  With airlines shut down and many of the country’s road’s destroyed, Ukraine’s train system has been both the literal and figurative lifeline for the country. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Whose grain is being shipped from Ukraine? America’s GMO agribusiness giants to take control of Ukraine farmland, by F. William Engdahl | Global Research A great humanitarian uproar in recent weeks demanding the safe shipping of Ukrainian grain to ease a hunger crisis in Africa and elsewhere is deceptive on many levels. Not the least is who owns the land on which the grain is grown and whether that grain is actually illegal GMO patented corn and other grains. A corrupt . . . READ MORE . . .

A brief bit of news. Andy Steele talks with an apple-cheeked structural engineer who seems to be making headway inside his professional association in New Mexico. — MCM

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Seth McVey to present on WTC 7 and Twin Towers to the New Mexico Structural Engineers Association. From AE911Truth. We have some great news to share about one of our highly dedicated volunteers! Structural engineer Seth McVey, one of the youngest members of AE911Truth’s Project Due Diligence, was recently appointed to the board of directors of the New Mexico Structural Engineers Association. . . . Along with his appointment to the board, Seth was invited to give two presentations to the organization’s membership. The first . . . Click HERE to read more and listen to a five-minute chat.

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MAY BE CONTINUED