For today, links to reports from the Associated Press, the Kyiv Post, National Public Radio, Agence France-Presse, Tass, and Reuters, and to commentary from the Kyiv Independent; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA entry for this date is HERE.) —  MCM

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Russian strikes leave thousands in northern Ukraine without power and water. From AP. KYIV — Russian strikes overnight left over 100,000 households without power in northern Ukraine and cut off the water supply to a regional capital, Ukrainian authorities said Saturday, while civilian casualties rose sharply in the country’s embattled east. READ MORE . . .

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Russian attacks Friday killed at least 12 civilians, injured 50. From Kyiv Post. At least 12 civilians were killed and 50 injured in Russian attacks over the course of Friday regional governors said. READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine vies for NATO membership ahead of the group’s meeting in Washington, D.C. Reported by Joanna Kakissis | NPR  As NATO leaders prepare to meet in Washington next week, Ukrainian leaders say they have made huge sacrifices to defend the ideals of the alliance and want a clear path to membership. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Russia says captured village in east Ukraine. From AFP. Russia said today its forces had captured a village in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, as Moscow continues to advance slowly across the battlefield. Russia’s Defence Ministry said itstroops “liberated the village of Sokil” . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from Tass.

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Time running out in Toretsk for Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s advance, by Anna Voitenko and Alina Smutko | Reuters  TORETSK, Ukraine — In the devastated eastern Ukrainian town of Toretsk, time is running out for anyone wanting to leave. Russian forces advance slowly but surely, pummelling the town night and day with rockets, artillery fire and air attacks, part of a broad advance in the Donetsk region that . . . READ MORE . … .

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Ukraine’s airfields under fire as Russia braces for F-16s, by Kateryna Denisova | The Kyiv Independent  As Kyiv gets ready to receive the first batch of Western F-16 fighter jets, Ukraine’s airfields face an uptick in Russian strikes. Over the past week . . . READ MORE . . .

For today, links to six reports from the Kyiv Post, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, the Moscow Times, and Tass, and to commentary from the Kyiv Independent; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA entry for this date is HERE.) —  MCM

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Ukrainian drones set another Russian oil refinery ablaze – local officials call it a ‘grass fire,’ by Stefan Korshak | Kyiv Post  Ten explosives-toting, long-range robot aircraft reportedly flew most of the length of the Black Sea from a launch site in south-west Ukraine to hit in a western industrial district of the Russian city Rostov shortly after midnight. Independent news reports and local social media . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine receives third Patriot air defence system from Germany, envoy says. From Reuters. KYIV  — Ukraine has taken receipt of its third German-supplied Patriot air defence system, Berlin’s ambassador to Kyiv said today following months of Ukrainian pleas for equipment to protect its civilians and infrastructure from Russian air strikes. READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainian partisans blow up Russian railroad track used to transport ammo from North Korea, by Kateryna Zakharchenko | Kyiv Post  Ukrainian partisans say one of their agents blew up a railroad track near the Russian city of Yekaterinburg—about 1,600 kilometers (995 miles) from Ukraine—that was being used to transport North Korean ammunition to be used for Russia’s ongoing Ukraine invasion, the Atesh underground movement said today. READ MORE . . .

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Putin tells Orban he is ready to discuss ‘nuances’ of Ukraine conflict. From Reuters. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán traveled to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin today, in rare visit by a European leader since Russian forces invaded Ukraine more than two years ago. Orbán’s visit comes only days after he made a similar unannounced trip to Kyiv, where . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from AFP.

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Report estimates 120,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine. From the Moscow Times. Around 120,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the Ukraine war began in 2022, according to a joint investigation by independent media outlets Mediazona and Meduza published today. The updated figure is an estimate based on . . . READ MORE . . .

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Improvement of Russia’s positions to push West to talks on Ukraine — UN envoy. From Tass. MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. Russia does not observe any significant attempts to begin negotiations on Ukraine from Western states, but their position will change as the situation in the special military operation area unfolds, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said in an interview for Rossiya-24. READ MORE . . .

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What Ukraine’s partial Chasiv Yar withdrawal actually means, by Chris York and Martin Fornusek | The Kyiv Independent  Ukraine announced on Thursday that its troops had withdrawn from the Kanal neighborhood in Chasiv Yar, a strategically important town in Donetsk Oblast, and the scene of an intense, bloody battle that began . . . READ MORE . . .

For today, links to four reports from the Anadolu Agency, the Associated Press, Reuters, Middle East Monitor, and Middle East Eye; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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EU voices ‘deep concern’ over Israel’s latest evacuation orders in Gaza, by Beyza Binnur Donmez | Anadolu Agency  GENEVA — The EU today said Israel’s evacuation orders from Khan Younis in Gaza is “creating a humanitarian crisis within the crisis.” Not only are 250,000 people impacted by these orders, but they also threaten the patients and staff of the European Hospital and are forcing them to relocate, according to . . . READ MORE . . .

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Israel conducts military operation in the area of the West Bank city of Jenin; 5 Palestinians killed. From AP. JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said today it was conducting counterterrorism activity that included an airstrike in the area of the West Bank city of Jenin [miles away from the Gaza Strip]. Palestinian authorities said five people were killed. The military said Israeli soldiers . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from Reuters.

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Gaza ceasefire hopes rise as Israel says it will resume stalled negotiations, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Mohammad Salem and Maayan Lubell | Reuters  CAIRO / GAZA/ JERUSALEM — Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza were gathering momentum today after Hamas made a revised proposal on the terms of a deal and Israel said it would resume stalled negotiations. READ MORE . . .

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Israel army seizes control of 26% of Gaza Strip: report. From Middle East Monitor. The Israeli army has seized control of over one-quarter of the Gaza Strip, Haaretz newspaper said on Thursday, Anadolu Agency reports. The daily, based on the analysis of satellite photographs and other sources of information, said Israeli army forces are now in control of 26 per cent of Gaza’s territory. READ MORE . . .

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UK elections 2024: Pro-Palestine candidates’ victories stun as Labour sweeps to win, by Daniel Hilton, Simon Hooper and Imran Mulla | Middle East Eye  Keir Starmer’s Labour party has swept to a landslide victory in the UK‘s general election, though it appears to have haemorrhaged votes to pro-Palestinian candidates, several of whom picked up shock wins. READ MORE . . .

For today, links to five or more reports* from the Associated Press, Reuters, the Times of Israel, and National Public Radio, and to commentary from the Anadolu Agency and ScheerPost; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE and ASSANGE entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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NEWER  Israel approves plans for nearly 5,300 new homes in West Bank settlements, by Tia Goldenberg, Josef Federman and Kareem Chehayeb | AP  JERUSALEM — The Israeli government has approved plans to build nearly 5,300 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank, a monitoring group said today, the latest in a campaign to accelerate settlement expansion, aimed at cementing Israeli control over the territory and preventing the establishment of a future Palestinian state. READ MORE . . .

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NEWER  Israel sends delegation to negotiate hostage release deal with Hamas, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi,Mohammad Salem and Maayan Lubell | Reuters  CAIRO / GAZA / JERUSALEM  — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. President Joe Biden today he has decided to send a delegation to resume stalled negotiations on a hostage release deal with Hamas, their administrations said. READ MORE . . .  Click HERE for report from the Times of Israel.

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Israel weighs Hamas response to Gaza ceasefire proposal, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Mohammad Salem and Maayan Lubell | Reuters  CAIRO / GAZA / JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his security cabinet this evening to discuss new Hamas positions on a possible ceasefire deal in Gaza, a source in Netanyahu’s office said, as fighting raged in the enclave. Before the cabinet meets, Netanyahu will have consultations with . . . READ MORE . .

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With the focus on Gaza, Israel expands Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Reported by Greg Myre and Steve Inskeep | NPR  As Israel wages war in Gaza, it’s also working to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Several moves are being described as the biggest seizure of land for the settlers in more than 30 years. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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FROM JULY 3  Life and death in Gaza’s ‘safe zone’ where food is scarce and Israel strikes without warning, by Wafaa Shurafa | AP  KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike slammed into a residential building next to the main medical center in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, wounding at least seven people, hospital authorities and witnesses said Wednesday. Nasser Hospital is . . .  READ MORE . . .

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U.S., Germany lead West in arming Israel war on Gaza, by Esra Tekin and Necva Taştan | Anadolu Agency  ISTANBUL — Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, now stretching into its 10th month, has been marked by severe civilian casualties and widespread destruction, significantly fueled by Western arms. Germany, as the second-largest arms supplier to Israel after the U.S., plays . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 29  90 minutes that shook the liberals awake, by Patrick Lawrence | Original to ScheerPost  I have regretted for years the extent to which elections in this country have come to be determined not by ideas, courage and imagination, guiding principles, or the articulation of wise ways forward, but by affect. We are on notice as of Wednesday evening that . . . READ MORE . . .

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* Number is vague because often news services replace an earlier report with a later one, which is sometimes no longer available online.

For today, links to seven reports from Tass, the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, the Kyiv Post, and the Kyiv Independent, and to commentary from the Post, the Independent, and Consortium News; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA entry for this date, so far, is HERE, and an ASSANGE entry is HERE.) —  MCM

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Russia uncertain if Ukraine would reciprocate with ceasefire — Putin. From Tass. ASTANA — Russia can’t agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine as Moscow is not sure how Kiev would respond, Russian President Vladimir Putin said as he wrapped up his trip to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana. He said agreements were reached in 2022 to withdraw Russian troops from Kiev, but . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE for a second report from Tass.

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Ukraine’s army retreats from positions as Russia gets closer to seizing strategically important town, by Hanna Arhirova | AP  KYIV — Ukraine’s army has retreated from a neighborhood in the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a military spokesperson said today. Chasiv Yar is a strategically important town in the eastern Donetsk region that has been reduced to rubble under a monthslong Russian assault. READ MORE . . .  Click HERE to a report from Reuters. 

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Russia says it destroyed Ukrainian fighter jet, vehicles. From AFP. Russia’s Defense Ministry said today its troops destroyed a Mig-29 fighter jet and two or more vehicles during a strike on an airbase at Dolgintsevo in central Ukraine. READ MORE . . .

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Russian offensive inexorably makes gains in eastern Donbas, by Stefan Korshak | Kyiv Post  A relentless Russian offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas sector has grabbed new territory from Kyiv forces hard-pressed following massed air strikes, artillery bombardments and repeated ground assaults. The biggest Russian gain in territory was near the coal-mining town of Toretsk, where . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian attack on Dnipro kills 7, injures over 50, shopping center hit, by Martin Fornusek | The Kyiv Independent  At least seven people were killed and more than 50 were injured after Russia launched drones and missiles against Dnipro on Wednesday, officials said. Five fatalities were reported on the day of the attack. A 60-year-old woman and a 58-year-old woman died in the hospital a day later, Governor Serhii Lysak said. . . READ MORE . . . Earlier reports are HERE, at top.

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F-16 ‘Viper’ combat debut in Ukraine’s skies will be slow, careful and risk-averse, by Stefan Korshak and Christopher Stewart | Kyiv Post  As the clock ticks down to the first combat deployment of Ukrainian-piloted F-16 fighters against the Russian Air Force, and with it a possible . . . READ MORE . . .

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Who needs warships when you’ve got drones? Russia loses control of dominance over Black Sea, by Igor Kossov | The Kyiv Independent  Russia began the war with a formidable Black Sea fleet and all the Ukrainian ports in Crimea it seized in 2014, including the Ukrainian vessels that were docked there at the time. With this, Russia could . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JULY 2  Will Putin attack Poland & the Baltics? by Ray McGovern | Special to Consortium News  At Thursday’s debate with Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal,” claimed that he “wants all of Ukraine. … Do you think he’ll stop? … What do you think happens to Poland and other places?” READ MORE . . .

Links to an interview from Consortium News and to a report from National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE  and a GAZA entry for this date, so far, is HERE.) — MCM

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FROM JULY 3  The road to freedom. Cathy Vogel and Joe Lauria of Consortium News speak successively with Australian Member of Parliament Julian Hill and Australian Senators David Shoebridge and Peter Whish-Wilson several days after WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange was freed from a London maximum-security prison. Click HERE to watch and listen.

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FROM JUNE 26  What did WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange change by releasing classified documents? A Martínez of NPR asks Alan Rusbridger, former editor-in-chief of The Guardian, about the legacy of Julian Assange, and the 2010 WikiLeaks publication of classified government information. Click HERE to listen and read.

NOTE: TO FIND THIS WEBSITE USING A SEARCH ENGINE, TYPE XMAWALKER.

Links to three pieces of commentary from Truthdig, Declassified UK, and the Flautist, all via Consortium News; others are accessible by clicking on their names below. (GAZA and UKRAINE entries are HERE and HERE.) — MCM 

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FROM JUNE 28  Julian Assange is free: Here’s what he’s given us, by Marjorie Cohn | Truthout / Consortium News  After a 14-year struggle, including five years spent in Belmarsh, a maximum-security prison in London, WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange is finally free.  Although the U.S. government alleged that WikiLeaks’s publication of information had caused “great harm,” Assange’s attorney Barry Pollack said at at June 26 press conference in Australia they “admitted there was not a single person anywhere that they could produce that was harmed . . .  READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 26  The media kept Assange behind bars, by Jonathan Cook | Declassified UK / Consortium News / Popular Resistance  The establishment media acted as a willing tool in the demonising narrative the U.S. and British governments carefully crafted against Assange. Even now, the BBC and others are peddling the same long-discredited lies. Those include the constantly repeated claim by journalists that . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JULY  1  The state failed to break Assange, by Patrick Lawrence | The Flautist / Consortium News  Even during the darkest moments of his years under house arrest, in asylum at Ecuador’s London embassy, and at Belmarsh, he never surrendered his sovereignty. He remained ever the captain of his soul, and never did he . . . READ MORE . . .

NOTE: TO FIND THIS WEBSITE USING A SEARCH ENGINE, TYPE XMAWALKER.

For today, links to eight reports from the Associated Press, Middle East Eye, Reuters, the Anadolu Agency, National Public Radio, and the Jerusalem Post, and to commentary from Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE and ASSANGE entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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Settlement tracking group says Israel has made largest West Bank land seizure in 3 decades, by Julia Frankel | AP  JERUSALEM — Israel has approved the largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank in over three decades, a settlement tracking group said today, a move that could further worsen already soaring tensions linked to the ongoing war in Gaza. Authorities recently approved . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from Middle East Eye.

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Israel carries out new strikes in Gaza, warns Lebanon’s Hezbollah, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Mohammad Salem | Reuters  CAIRO / GAZA — Many Palestinians were seeking shelter today after fleeing their homes in southern Gaza and complained of water shortages as Israel pressed on with its military offensive in the densely populated enclave. Israeli forces . . . READ MORE . . .

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UN rapporteur calls on all to ‘wake up’ regarding Gaza, by Merve Berker | Anadolu Agency  ANKARA — The UN’s special rapporteur on Palestine today called on people from all over the world to “wake up” regarding the atrocities in Gaza.“Only a deep-seated dehumanization of Palestinians in Gaza . . . READ MORE . . .

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Israel’s state prosecutor seeks probe of security minister for anti-Gazan incitement: report, by Zein Khalil | Anadolu Agency  JERUSALEM — Israeli State Prosecutor Amit Aisman is seeking to open a criminal investigation into National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for allegedly inciting violence against Palestinians in Gaza in order to show the International Criminal Court that it is holding Israeli officials to account for such actions, local media reported today. READ MORE . . .

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12 former gov’t officials call Biden’s Gaza policy ‘failure,’ ‘threat to U.S. national security,’ by Rabia Iclal Turan | Anadolu Agency  WASHINGTON — Twelve former U.S. government officials who resigned over the Biden administration’s policy on Gaza released a statement Tuesday, calling it a “failure and a threat to US national security.” “America’s diplomatic cover for, and continuous flow of arms to, Israel, they said in a joint statement, “has. . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JULY 1  2 U.S. military members discuss why they resigned over the war in Gaza. Reported by Leila Fadel | NPR  The number of resignations among Biden administration officials and American military service members over U.S. policY in Gaza is small, but growing. Click HERE to listen and read.

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FROM JULY 2  Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 270? From the Jerusalem Post. IDF forces began demolishing the house of Ahmed Duavsha, a terrorist from the village of Duma, according to Israeli media reports on Tuesday. Duavsha had been responsible for the murder of Binyamin Achimair, a 14-year-old shepherd, in April. READ MORE . . .

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The Israeli plan has now been exposed, by Abdul Majeed Swailem | Middle East Monitor  The only guaranteed path for Israel after nearly nine months of its criminal war on the Gaza Strip, and the accompanying aggressive battles along the southern border of Lebanon, is to reduce the pace of the war there and wait . . . READ MORE . . .

NOTE: TO FIND THIS WEBSITE USING A SEARCH ENGINE, TYPE XMAWALKER.

For today, links to five reports from the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, the Kyiv Independent, Tass, and Reuters, and to an interview from the Kyiv Post; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA and  ASSANGE entries are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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Russian missiles and drones strike eastern Ukraine’s Dnipro in a daylight attack that kills 5, by Illia Novikov | AP  KYIV — A Russian missile and drone attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro today killed five civilians and injured 47 others, including a 14-year-old girl, authorities said. Blasts . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE and HERE for reports from AFP and the Kyiv Independent.

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Russian troops destroy first Tunguska anti-aircraft missile system in Ukraine operation. From Tass. MOSCOW — In a statement on the special military operation in Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said today that in the last day its Battlegroup North repulsed a Ukrainian counterattack, inflicted roughly 140 casualties on enemy troops and destroyed the first Tunguska . . . READ MORE . . .

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At field hospital in Ukraine’s battered east, the wounded keep coming, by Anna Voitenko and Alina Smutko | Reuters  Ukrainian forces have begun to receive billions of dollars worth of Western military aid that has eased acute shortages of ammunition and armour, but . . . READ MORE . . .

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The road to how Russia loses in Ukraine. Jason Jay Smart of Kyiv Post interviews U.S. Air Force veteran Jake Broe about a scenario for Russian defeat. Click HERE to watch and listen, and read introduction.

Links to three pieces of commentary from Truthdig, Declassified UK, and the Flautist, all via Consortium News; others are accessible by clicking on their names below. (GAZA and UKRAINE entries are HERE and HERE.) — MCM 

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FROM JUNE 28  Julian Assange is free: Here’s what he’s given us, by Marjorie Cohn | Truthout / Consortium News  After a 14-year struggle, including five years spent in Belmarsh, a maximum-security prison in London, WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange is finally free.  Although the U.S. government alleged that WikiLeaks’s publication of information had caused “great harm,” Assange’s attorney Barry Pollack said at at June 26 press conference in Australia they “admitted there was not a single person anywhere that they could produce that was harmed . . .  READ MORE . . .

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FROM JUNE 26  The media kept Assange behind bars, by Jonathan Cook | Declassified UK / Consortium News / Popular Resistance  The establishment media acted as a willing tool in the demonising narrative the U.S. and British governments carefully crafted against Assange. Even now, the BBC and others are peddling the same long-discredited lies. Those include the constantly repeated claim by journalists that . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM JULY  1  The state failed to break Assange, by Patrick Lawrence | The Flautist / Consortium News  Even during the darkest moments of his years under house arrest, in asylum at Ecuador’s London embassy, and at Belmarsh, he never surrendered his sovereignty. He remained ever the captain of his soul, and never did he . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED