Globalism / Great Reset –
Mall of America now has a new way to keep shoppers safe.
A new high-tech layer of security has been added after gun-related incidents in recent years.
Signs let you know you’re coming face to face with new facial recognition technology.
“Very mixed feelings about this because it could be useful and not so useful sometimes,” said Melva Bargiela, a long-time Minnesota resident who is now living in Spain.
Cameras with the ability to map faces have been installed to give shoppers peace of mind while detecting potential threats.
OBSERVATION - This is a clear example of how the left is taking the chaos it generates and then moving to impose its ‘solution’ onto the citizenry - one step at a time. Mall of America was once a shining star. With imported Muslims and grown BLM entitlists, crime and mayhem has caused a crisis at the mall, driving shoppers away due to the perception of it no longer being safe. Enter biometric identification tools - facial recognition. Yes, on one hand it can be a good tool to ID and keep troublemakers away. OTOH, it can become the camel’s nose under the tent, making way for broader and more intrusive use and a substantially larger data base of everyone - not the the criminal/troublemaker.
Now take this one step further - apply biometric digital ID’s to the mix - globally.
CW2 / Domestic violence - Heightened THREAT
July 25 - Protest of Netanyahu’s appearance before congress.
NOTE - I mis-dated the Netanyahu speech to this month.
***
SCOTUS has overturned the DOJ’s use of 1512(c)(2), obstruction of an official proceeding, in J6 cases. This has the implication to free hundreds of protestors and reverse their judgements. This exposes the DOJ’s unlawful prosecution of these individuals, many of whom have spent / are spending time in prison.
Like so many other items I’ve been pointing out here for years, this is was another govt effort to silence and intimidate the population into submission. Govt at war with the people.
Word is that Garland is already digging in his heels on a timely response and release of those illegally charged under 1512(c)(2). The fight isn’t over yet.
Economy- MODERATE Threat - as of June 26, 2024
The Fed’s favorite inflation indicator – Core PCE – which rose 0.1% MoM in May (after a revised +0.3% MoM for April) and in line with expectations. The headline PCE Price Index was unchanged MoM as expected.
OBSERVATION - Note - previous months having to be revised substantially higher - expect same with May data. Just more numbers thrown into the caldron of economic forecasting.
Military / Strategic Activity / Deployments –
A new report said Pentagon programs to sniff out “white supremacists” in the U.S. military came up empty-handed and were even counterproductive to military readiness and morale.
A zealous diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) bureaucracy has been established in the military and service academies, more recently “through mandated executive orders in the 2010s and 2020s,” the report, produced by the Arizona State University’s (ASU) Center for American Institutions, said. It also revealed that the efforts to “search for ‘violent extremists’ in the military,” have yielded rare and infrequent results.
The report uncovered that the military’s “search for white supremacists – seemingly the only extremists that interest the military – has come up short: only 100 members of the military were deemed to be extremists out of a force of 2.1 million.”
The military has actively pushed DEI policies and re-education classes with the goal “‘to eradicate racism, sexism, and negative biases that diminish our warfighting effectiveness,’” the report said, citing the 2021 Marine Corps DEI Plan.
“Just as private companies have abandoned the toxic advice of DEI consultants and programs, military leaders should end social engineering based on critical race theory and restore approaches that promote character and merit,” said Donald Critchlow, Director of the Center for American Institutions at ASU.
According to the report, “Spending on DEI programming is increasing. The DOD’s allocation for DEI projects jumped from $68 million in fiscal year 2022 to $86.5 million in fiscal year 2023. The Pentagon is requesting $114.7 million for fiscal year 2024.”
OBSERVATION - The link contains more that will make your blood boil. The current regime has taken these matters to an even higher, more absurd level than Obama and even Clinton did.
No wonder recruiting is way down.
Wuhan and other “new” Plandemics –
The World Health Organization (WHO) has backtracked on its stance regarding the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) injections, now claiming that giving children these vaccines is a “low priority.”
Steve Watson of Modernity News highlighted this sudden turnaround, noting that anyone who didn’t recommend the COVID-19 injections would have been “suspended from social media or publicly ‘canceled.’” But given that the global health body was the one that changed its opinion, nobody batted an eyelash.
Meanwhile, Watson pointed out that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still recommends COVID-19 vaccines for children aged six months and older. “It’s unclear whether the CDC will follow in adapting its recommendations to this revised WHO policy,” he wrote.
According to the public health agency’s website, “everyone aged five years and older should get one dose of an updated COVID-19 vaccine to protect against serious illness.” Children aged six months to four years may need “multiple doses of COVID-19 vaccines to be up-to-date,” it added. The CDC’s recommendation for unvaccinated children aged six months to four years is equally outrageous, suggesting that they get injected with “two to three doses of updated COVID-19 vaccine. (Related: CDC is about to add covid-19 vaccines to the childhood immunization schedule, creating total liability protection for Pfizer & Moderna.)
The CDC justified COVID-19 vaccines for children by parroting the “safe and effective” line, deliberately ignoring the countless stories of vaccine injuries and deaths caused by the mRNA injection. Moreover, many studies have proven that vaccine-induced immunity wanes over time and that natural immunity remains superior when it comes to COVID-19.
https://www.naturalnews.com/2024-06-28-who-says-covid-vaccines-low-priority-kids.html
OBSERVATION - I find it unreal that the jab continues to be pressed - especially in the light that it does absolutely nothing to prevent infection AND the massive documentation showing that the jab is more lethal than the virus.
POLITICAL FRONT –
July 15 RNC convention in Milwaukee, WI
August 19 DNC convention in Chicago, IL
***
biden meltdown over whelms the question of who Trump’s VP choice will be. He didn’t announce it at the debate as anticipated.
Contempt vote against Garland is proceeding at a snail’s pace.
Biden / Harris Watch –
Aftershocks from Thursday’s debate still ripple across the democrat party. the biden regime quickly yesterday executed a counter attack against the plethora of voices calling for him to step aside from the 2024 run.
But biden hasn’t won the hearts of core liberal democrats yet. -
President Joe Biden should exit the 2024 presidential race following a subpar debate performance against former President Donald Trump, during which he appeared on the stage as “the shadow of a great public servant,” said The New York Times’ editorial board.
“He struggled to explain what he would accomplish in a second term. He struggled to respond to Mr. Trump’s provocations. He struggled to hold Mr. Trump accountable for his lies, his failures, and his chilling plans. More than once, he struggled to make it to the end of a sentence,” the Times’ editorial said.
“Mr. Biden has said that he is the candidate with the best chance of taking on this threat of tyranny and defeating it. His argument rests largely on the fact that he beat Mr. Trump in 2020,” it said. “That is no longer a sufficient rationale for why Mr. Biden should be the Democratic nominee this year.”
Yesterday, the effort became uniting around biden is to stop the bleeding. They don’t want to come across as a party in disarray, disunited and desperate.
Both 0bama and slick willie called for calm.
In essence, biden’s quick and forceful rejection of the calls to step down basically called the bluff of the, shall we call them the ‘anti-bidens’ of the democrat party. The party has no viable alternative candidate! Even pretty boy newscum would be hammed at this stage. They waited too long for they coup of sorts, and now they have to pay the piper.
Rumor are persisting that top Democrats have given Biden one week to prove himself fit for the presidency after his diabolical debate performance or they’ll oust him, according to reports.
Big financial backers are also warning that they will put their checkbooks away should biden continue in the race.
Next week should prove interesting unless the biden camp can further clamp down this weekend on the calls to step aside.
Russia -
Russian Personnel Issues –-
Russian losses in June continue to keep pace with the record number of personnel killed and injured in May, which averaged 1,200 per day. These numbers appear to be sustained so far for June as well.
Former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Tatyana Shevtsova, who officially was dismissed mid-June, fled to France ‘with hundreds of millions of dollars saved in cryptocurrency.’.
Tsargrad and other Telegram channels report this with reference to a number of sources, although confirmation or refutation of this data has not yet been received.
Economic Impact –
“Profits in Russia’s coal mining sector have plummeted by 93% in the first four months of 2024 to just RUB 14.3 billion (roughly US$161.2 million).”
Ukraine –
WEATHER FORECAST – Temperatures continue in the 70 - 80s and fair.
RUMINT – Ukraine forces building on the border of Belarus.
24 HOUR ROUND UP –
Russian missiles hit an apartment building in Dnipro City and unspecified targets near Kryvyi Rih.
More Russian ground attacks along most of the eastern front.
Ukraine hit another oil storage facility .
Russian 83rd Airborne Brigade has retreated from Vovchansk after a costly three-week deployment, - Forbes
They have too many casualties, they can’t fight, there are too many soldiers who refuses to fight along with the survivors of an entire battalion have been trapped in a chemical plant for two weeks.
NOTE- the 83d is ‘airborne ‘ in name only. It has the reputation of being the go-to unit to pull Russia’s fat out of the fire over the past couple years. That luck appears to have run out.
Ukraine reportedly has destroyed the new S-500 air defense system of the Russian Armed Forces, located at Dzhankoi airfield in occupied Crimea. NASA satellite detected a fire at the location.. Details are sketchy at the moment. Initial reports were that the associated radar system was taken out, later reports included the missile TELS as well. Ukraine reportedly used an ATACAMs missile in the attack. Either way a huge hit since Russia has (had) only one of these in existence. The approximate price is $600 million.
Outlook —
The Russian effort against Kharkiv is slowly coming apart and most of the effort is to construct defenses against the Ukraine counter offensive in the region. Russian losses at Vovchansk threaten the eastern wing of the Russian intrusion, splitting the Russian forces there in two and potentially setting up further encirclement because the town is behind the Russian defenses on both sides.
Russia continues to press assaults along a long front in eastern Ukraine. OSINT and other observers are noting that Russia has shifted to more straight infantry attacks - without armor or tank support - in many of these attacks. Opposite of the successes Russia gained earlier this spring, incorporating maneuver and coordinated assaults, it seems they have returned to even greater meat attacks. Many are noting the elevated and sustained levels of Russian casualties - over 1200 per day. This implies that over the past 100 days, Russia has lost as many as 120,000 soldiers killed/wounded. Russia claimed to have committed 400, 000 to the spring (now summer) offensive. This indicates that over 25% of that force is gone, and equipment losses appear to be even higher.
Ukraine losses are closely held, but it appears that they have declined now that ammo resupply has reached the front.
Ukraine is reportedly making over 1000 drones (FBV) per day, production numbers ramped up during the ammo shortage crisis. Now with restoration of supplies from the west, the battle zone has become even more lethal to Russian forces. Drones can make initial strikes on armor/vehicle columns, stopping them long enough for destruction in detail by artillery fire. Videos supplied by Ukraine consistently show that once the forces are hit with drones, Russian soldiers quickly dismount and beat feet back to their lines before the artillery comes down. Many times they are not fast enough.
Ukraine continues to successfully target key Russian air defense assets, with the biggest kill likely Russia’s only S500 unit. As noted before, this effort is paying off big time as Ukraine drones are increasing their success in reaching and hitting Russian oil related facilities. Now that drone effort is shifting to combat airfields further away from the front as Russia tries to protect its air assets by redeploying them out of ATACMS range.
Ukraine innovative and well planned tactics have driven the Black Sea Fleet to the bottom of the sea or keeping them in Russian Ports. This same effort is stripping Russia of its limited air superiority and defenses, first in Crimea and then Russian areas to the east. Remarkable successes for a nation with essentially no navy and no effective airfares to counter newer Russian jets.
Clearly, to me anyway, the Ukraine campaign to neutralize Russia ADA capabilities is a precursor to likely aggressive use of F16s once they get their hands on them and a cadre of pilots trained.
ISRAEL –
Key overnight developments -
- Weather/sea conditions force removal of US pier in N Gaza.
- More Iranian threats against Israel stay away from Lebanon and Hezbollah.
——— GENERAL ——————————-
Lest we forget - there are still hostages being held in Gaza.
***
The pier built by the U.S. military to bring aid to Gaza is being removed due to weather to protect it, and the U.S. is considering not reinstalling it unless aid begins flowing out into the population again, several U.S. officials said Friday.
https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/gaza-pier-humanitarian-aid/2024/06/28/id/1170583/
——— GAZA FRONT ———————————-
Considerable fighting and air strikes in N Gaza around Gaza City.
Hamas managed to lob a few rockets towards Sderot.
———“ISLAMIC RESISTANCE” ———————————
US military stated it had destroyed seven Houthi drones and one ground control station vehicle on Friday.
———INTERNATIONAL ——————————-
The United Kingdom submitted a brief questioning to the International Criminal Court challenging its jurisdiction over Israel, potentially delaying moves to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, news reports revealed on Thursday.
The ICC awarded itself the competence to investigate war crimes in Palestinian and Israeli territory in 2021, but the British paper challenges this power.
——— FORECAST ————————-
IDF has suffered some losses in recent days due to IEDs and booby traps in central and N Gaza. Yet these operations have also taken out dozens of Hamas and affiliated elements.
More photos sourced from Hamas show civilian clad terrorists firing mortars at Israeli forces from within tent areas - likely those associated with refugees. These are clear violations of the rules of war, and the UN is complete casting a blind eye towards the practice - only speaking up when IDF takes the position out and there are collateral injuries/deaths.
Israel continues to prepare for the conflict with Hezbollah in the north. I still suspect that the main Israeli thrust will be in the far north, generally in the Sheba Farms area and into the southern Bekaah Valley. Now with July at the doorstep, if August is jump off month, one should see greater reserve call ups and exercises in the north preparing for the attack. Israel may likely use these exercises as cover for the actual attack, similar to what they did on a smaller scale against Gaza/Hamas.
Iranian political challenges associated with the runoff vote puts question marks on how ready Iran would be to respond militarily to an Israeli/Hezbollah fight.
One other wildcard developing is the growth of Lebanese opposition fighting forces looking to hit Hezbollah as well. Grudges from the many civil wars in the country has not aided Hezbollah of late. Hezbollah could face a two front war of its own, with israeli and Lebanese elements coming at them. Be sure, Israel has contacts with these other elements and likely has contingency plans to support their efforts with air power as needed. They would also provide excellent targeting intelligence to allow israel to take out leadership command posts and rocket storage locations. Remember, S Lebanon is not the dense urban environment that Gaza is and the fight will be more conventional and the IAF able to unleash with larger bombs without excessive concerns over collateral damage and losses.
Iran –
Iran announced Saturday it will hold a runoff presidential election to replace the late hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi after an initial vote saw the top candidates not securing an outright win in the lowest turnout poll ever held in the Islamic Republic.
The election this coming Friday will pit reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian against the hard-line former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.
Mohsen Eslami, an election spokesman, announced the result in a news conference carried by Iranian state television. He said of 24.5 million votes cast, Pezeshkian got 10.4 million while Jalili received 9.4 million.
Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf got 3.3 million. Shiite cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi had over 206,000 votes.
Iranian law requires that a winner gets more than 50% of all votes cast. If not, the race’s top two candidates advance to a runoff a week later. There’s been only one runoff presidential election in Iran’s history: in 2005, when hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad bested former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
The overall turnout was 39.9%, according to the results.
OBSERVATION - This runoff could be interesting. Odds look to the one who will follow the hardline ruling mullahs the best. A ‘reformist’ doesn’t fit the mold very well. What other effects did the low turnout cause?
***
Iran’s acting FM had phone calls with EU FP chief, UN Secretary General as well as foreign ministers of Germany, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Cyprus in past 24 hours to discuss the situation in Gaza
Turkey –
Erdogan says there is no obstacle for establishing relations with Syria’s Assad. “Turkey doesn’t have any intention to interfere with Syria’s domestic affairs,” he said. “We can come together with Assad as we did in the past as a family”
OBSERVATION - Assad has not been very happy with the Turkish incursion into N Syria. Turkey and Syrian forces have fought on occasion and Turkey in some measure supports the rebels over Assad. Lately, Turkey has focused its efforts to take out Kurdish elements that have used N Syria as a base for incursions into Turkey.
Misc of Note –
Hurricane season is winding up the Gulf region. Get yourselves prepped now and avoid the crowds.
Globalism / Great Reset –
Managed retreat, also known as planned retreat, is a strategy for responding to climate change and rising sea levels by relocating people and assets out of harm’s way. It is a process where communities, buildings, and infrastructure are gradually evacuated from areas designated as uninhabitable or dangerous due to changing geology, extreme weather, or climate change.
In Australia, this concept is gaining traction as a necessary measure to mitigate the impacts of climate change, particularly in coastal communities. In New Zealand, managed retreat is becoming a necessary adaptation strategy to address the impacts of climate change.
That’s the official narrative.
Meanwhile, in New Zealand, residents are up in arms about attempts to impose “retreat” from coastal areas under the pretext of a predicted rise in sea levels.
As this media report shows, they are not buying the scaremongering climate propaganda.
Tim Rees said. “I’ve lived by Paraparaumu Beach since 1965 and the beach is actually getting bigger. For 45 years I’ve dived off Kāpiti Island and the rocks are still at the same height at low tide”.
Added Tania Lees: “The science isn’t settled and there is no consensus. We don’t believe the sea levels are rising significantly and [that] we will all be flooded.” Central and local government couldn’t fund “a process on this scale”, she said. “So far, the ratepayers have paid in excess of $4 million for the Takutai Kāpiti process. “We simply can’t afford to spend more. If implemented, managed retreat would be in excess of $1 billion.”
https://expose-news.com/2024/06/29/managed-retreat-is-a-scam-to-take-peoples-homes/
OBSERVATION - Australia and New Zealand have continued to be beta-testing sites for global reset agenda items. this is just the latest in their progressive move towards greater totalitarian.
Economy- MODERATE Threat - as of June 26, 2024
In its final estimates for the first quarter of 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) revised all measures of income and corporate profits downward, according to a report released by the BEA on Thursday.
Thursday’s report details the third, and final, set of revisions to data comparing the first quarter of 2024 to the fourth quarter of 2023, in terms of seasonally adjusted annual rate of change. Across the board, measures of personal, corporate and national income growth were revised downward.
Compared to the previous quarter, the first quarter increase in real gross domestic income (GDI), was revised down 0.2 percentage points, from 1.5 percent to 1.3 percent. GDI is the total income that all sectors of an economy generate, including wages, profits, and taxes.
In terms of personal income, the income that is received by persons from all sources, the final picture for the first quarter is less sunny than BEA previously reported:
Current-dollar personal income was revised down $7.7 billion to a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of $396.8 billion in the first quarter.
Disposable personal income growth was revised down by a seasonally adjusted annualized $26.6 billion to $240.2 billion in the first quarter.
Real disposable personal income increased 1.3 percent, a downward revision of 0.6 percentage points.
Likewise, the first quarter profit picture for corporations is grimmer than the BEA previously reported:
Friday’s final report also notes that the nation’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2024, an upward revision of 0.1 points from the previous estimate of 1.3 percent.
Even at 1.4 percent, the growth in GDP was the slowest quarterly increase in the last seven quarters.
OBSERVATION - These numbers reflect the pocket book impacts on american perceptions regarding the economy. They do not bode well for any claim of bidenomics ‘success’
Wuhan and other “new” Plandemics –
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on June 27 recommended forthcoming COVID-19 vaccines for virtually all Americans.
“CDC recommends everyone ages 6 months and older receive an updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine to protect against the potentially serious outcomes of COVID-19 this fall and winter whether or not they have ever previously been vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine,” the agency said in a statement.
The COVID-19 vaccines now available, which are also broadly recommended, target the XBB.1.5 strain. But observational data indicate they provide short-lived protection against COVID-19 infection and hospitalization.
OBSERVATION - Unfreeking believeable they are still pushing the jab when all the data shows it is worthless and in fact is more dangerous than wuhan.
POLITICAL FRONT –
July 15 RNC convention in Milwaukee, WI
August 19 DNC convention in Chicago, IL
***
One of the aftershocks from the biden debate debacle is the growing sense that democrats will not retain power in the Senate and lose seats in the House. The president candidate fight is sucking the oxygen from their ability to fight for congress and are rallying the forces to prevent a total melt down of the party over biden.
A deadline is fast approaching in that in a matter of a few weeks the democrats will not be able to remove biden from the ballots in several key battleground state, severely threatening to cause the loss of those states to trump.
Biden / Harris Watch –
There seems to be an ominous lull in the massive fallout following Thursday’s debate. The DNC organization is facing a difficult choice and internal wars are ongoing. They have the choice to maintain pressure on biden in order to force him to step-down on his own (preferred option). Their alternative being forcing the issue, even to the extent of a 25th amendment option.
biden is reportedly huddled with family at Camp David to discuss their path forward. Unconfirmed reports that jill biden is calling most of the shots and is demanding the DNC cough up $2 billion for a presidential library, immunity from prosecution for the WHOLE family and a $200 million dollar book deal. She’s left very little room for negotiations. Adding to that leverage are the reports that biden will hold onto campaign contributions and not turn them over to the DNC or any replacement candidate.
VP Harris, duly miffed that she has been left out of the post-biden discussions is being encouraged to execute the 25th amendment option - so that she can be president, if but for a few months, and potentially grab the rights as the next nominee. She is facing a slick, behind the curtain effort by the used car salesman newscum for that slot.
Support for biden continues to erode, with another MSM flagship news paper - the Atlanta Journal-Constitution coming forward with a front-page editorial Saturday asking Biden to pass the torch to another, more competent candidate, following the lead of The New York Times. “The unfortunate truth is that Biden should withdraw from the race, for the good of the nation he has served so admirably for half a century,” the AJC Editorial Board wrote.
Big democrat donors are joining the pressure, some outright announcing the stoppage of support.
The implications of the struggle between biden supporters and the DNC are huge. The debate totally removed any covering biden’s mental state had and exposed it to the whole world. So far post debate polls have been scarce but indicators are his numbers have crashed like the Hindenburg. Along with it any credibility of those elements that have over the past couple years continually pushed the narrative that though old, biden was still as sharp as a tack.
The potential of a switch in candidates this late in the game threatens to throw the party into chaos. They really don’t have anyone at this point that could challenge trump because of how they clung to biden’s coattails over the past few years.
One team that has been put out there is a newscum / whitmer (gov Michigan) team - a far leftist duo that will likely cause more moderate democrats to split or just not turn out.
democrats face another problem. The bylaws of the DNC do explicitly mention that the DNC’s powers include filling a vacancy on the national ticket; such a vacancy is to be filled by “voting … in accord with procedural rules adopted by the Rules and Bylaws Committee and approved by the Democratic National Committee.”
That word is key: vacancy. As long as Biden is around and running, no such vacancy exists. Changing this process means changing the party rules. And that means going to the committee named above: the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee.
Guess who fills many of these positions - biden supporters.
Bottom line is that at this stage, it appears that the biden campaign won’t cooperate with any transition effort and will not only keep all the money, but fight this process every step of the way, taking the 2024 race hostage. If Dems try to replace Biden, Team Biden will make sure that whoever they replace him with loses.
One more thing to add. Biden is only fully functional from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to a report by Axios published Saturday in the wake of Biden’s disastrous not-ready-for-primetime debate with President Trump Thursday night. The report states White House staff know there are ‘two Bidens’: One who is fully engaged for about six hours a day and the one Americans (and the world) saw staring into space and struggling to articulate lucid, complete thoughts during the debate Thursday night.
Russia -
Russian Personnel Issues –-
In a follow up to yesterday’s note on Russian personnel losses, US officials are stating that “But despite its losses, Russia is recruiting 25,000 to 30,000 new soldiers a month — roughly as many as are exiting the battlefield”
Ukraine –
WEATHER FORECAST – Temperatures continue in the 70 - 80s and fair.
RUMINT – So far unconfirmed but F16 might have flown its first combat mission yesterday in Ukrainian airspace.
24 HOUR ROUND UP –
Russian Ministry of Defense claims shooting down 36 drones overnight. Ukraine drones did manage to hit some of their targets - explosions were reported in Lipetsk overnight
Large Russian ground assault in the Ocheretyne area as well as further north in the Pivnichne region.
Russian ministry of defense claimed full occupation of Spirne village in Donetsk region of Ukraine
Ukraine forces have pushed back Russian forces in the Kharkiv region as well as some areas around Chaziv Yar. In the Vovchans`k direction (Kharkiv front) Ukrainian forces continue to have success. One of the more important things of the situation here, is Ukrainian aircraft are operating more freely with the destruction of most Russian air defenses in the area.
Outlook —
Ukraine is gaining advantaged in the Kharkiv front to the extent that Ukraine fixed wing ground attack aircraft are operating with little to no threat due to the targeted decimation of Russian ADA elements.
Elsewhere on the ground, the standard grind of battle, with no evidence of any pending Russian breakthrough and growing indicators that Ukraine is retaking ground.
Europe / NATO General –
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who is known to be sympathetic toward Israel, has been nominated to replace Joseph Borrell as the next European Union foreign minister. Kallas, who has yet to be formally appointed, belongs to the liberal European political camp. She supports the two-state solution but, at the same time, has expressed strong support for Israel.
***
France is voting in a parliamentary election that could make history, with the far right closer to power than it has ever been in modern times.
The National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella is well ahead in the polls - three weeks to the day since they won European elections. President Emmanuel Macron reacted immediately by calling a national vote and stunning his country.
A high turnout is expected among 49 million voters for such a pivotal election and polls close in the big cities at 20:00 (18:00GMT), when the first exit polls come out.
This is a two-round election, and most of the National Assembly’s 577 seats will not be decided until the second-round run-off vote next Sunday.
Marine Le Pen declares there will be mass deportations if her party wins the upcoming French election.
ISRAEL –
Key overnight developments -
- Significant show of force over Lebanon by IDF assets.
——— GENERAL ——————————-
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that Iran’s message of an “obliterating war” made it worthy of destruction
Lest we forget - there are still hostages being held in Gaza.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber I decided on Thursday to delay its decision on whether to allow ICC prosecutor Karim Khan to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes.
***
Hamas says its leader, Haniyeh, discussed by telephone with the head of Egyptian intelligence on ceasefire negotiations in Gaza from his palace in Qatar.
——— GAZA FRONT ———————————-
Intense fighting in the Gaza City and Rafah areas.
——— LEBANON / HEZBOLLAH——————————-
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah publicly thanked Iran for its support of Lebanon on Saturday.
Hezbollah’s leader thanked Iran following the Islamic Republic’s envoy to the UN addressing Friday night’s tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, and after he posted on his official X, formerly Twitter, account that, “if Israel expands its activities in Lebanon, a war of annihilation will ensue.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati addressed the tensions, stating, “The threats facing Lebanon are a form of psychological warfare. We are at war, and there are many casualties and destroyed villages due to Israeli aggression. The intensity of psychological warfare is escalating, but I believe we will overcome this phase to achieve a semblance of stability at the borders.”
IAF launched a display of force operation over S Lebanon and Beruit. Residents in Beruit reported sonic booms.
Saudi Arabia urges its citizens to leave Lebanon immediately.
——— SYRIA / HEZBOLLAH / IRAN———————————-
Explosion heard in the Damascus area from a suspected IAF strike.
———WEST BANK——————————-
Very high number of Israeli security operations throughout the West Bank overnight.
———INTERNATIONAL ——————————-
The Arab League removed Hezbollah from the list of terrorist organizations.
——— FORECAST ————————-
Continued pockets of intense fighting as IDF locates and liquidates Hamas elements trying to reform.
Growing reports of Hamas / clan warfare as each tries to establish control for a post war leadership in Gaza.
Israel continues to prepare for war with Hezbollah and yesterday’s IAF demonstrations are designed to war the govt of Lebanon the dangers of not confronting Hezbollah causing the fight to eventually spread to other areas of Lebanon. Still see the opening of an offensive window being some time in August at the earliest.
Iran –
Masoud Pezeshkian, who is the sole reformist running in Friday’s election, made the comments to journalists after voting, according to The Associated Press.
Responding to a question from a journalist about how Iran would manage international relations if he were president, Pezeshkian replied, “God willing, we will try to have friendly relations with all countries except Israel.”
His anti-Israel comments are not surprising, as both moderates and hardliners have long been critical of Israel.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/392286
OBSERVATION - The big question is how quickly either candidate can organize a response to any war in S Lebanon and to what extent Iran will be able to support Hezbollah.
Syria -
Russian Ministry of Defense - on June 29, from 11:00 to 11:05, over the village of Es-Sukhneh, Homs province, at altitudes from 7.5 thousand to 8.5 thousand meters, there was once again a dangerous approach of the MQ-9 “Reaper” unmanned aerial vehicle “coalition” with the Su-35 aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces
OBSERVATION - Russia building the case for a shoot down. May see a shoot down over Syria more defendable than shooting down the Black Sea drone clearly operating in international airspace.
Misc of Note –
Beryl, the first named hurricane of the season, is due to make landfall on a number of Caribbean islands late on Sunday.
The major storm is growing in strength as it moves across the Atlantic Ocean towards the Caribbean islands of Barbados, Dominica, Grenada and Martinique, among others.
Forecasters say that Hurricane Beryl, which formed Friday night, has the potential to grow into a Category 3 storm as it moves from the Caribbean into the Gulf of Mexico in the coming days.
They predict that by the time the storm reaches the Windward Islands - made up of Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada - there will be “hurricane-force” winds, a “life-threatening” storm surge and heavy rainfall.
OBSERVATION - The current track has this hurricane tracking almost due west and straight into southern Mexico.