This is life in Oakland, California. It looks worse than any third world country and much more dangerous. Law and order are basically nonexistent and the mayor is under federal investigation for corruption.

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This is NYC's Washington Square Park. Nothing but endless rows of addicts and used needles all over the place. This used to be a place families could take their kids to once upon a time.

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Video: Hundreds of Ukrainian Orthodox pilgrims defy Kiev’s ban on procession

Hundreds of Ukrainian Orthodox faithful have arrived at a major monastery in the west of the country, after setting out on a ‘procession of the cross’ march for hundreds of kilometers.

The long march went ahead despite a ban on the event by authorities, as Kiev continues to crack down on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which it accuses of having ties to Russia

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Patients are fleeing Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip after the Israeli military ordered an evacuation of nearby areas, Al Jazeera reported.

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Durov flew to Paris with a 24-year-old escort from the UAE. He planned to have dinner with her. After the arrest of Durov, the girl disappeared. Evil tongues say that a girl named Julia lured Paul to Paris and also documented his every move.

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Telegram CEO Durov's arrest serves as red flag for those speaking truth to power, warns analyst

"There is actually an oppression of journalists and freedom of speech in the West and especially in the EU," Angelo Giuliano, a Hong Kong-based political and financial analyst, told Sputnik, commenting on Telegram CEO Pavel Durov's detainment in France.

The founder of the encrypted messenger is accused of allegedly enabling of criminal activities through insufficient moderation of the platform, the French press claims, adding that Durov faces up to 20 years in prison.

In his April interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson, Durov suggested that he is a target for Western intelligence services. He said that US cybersecurity officials previously attempted to create a backdoor in his app. Durov stressed that such a backdoor would enable greater government control over social media platforms.

"I wouldn't be surprised that they would try to get their hands on Telegram, to strike a deal with Telegram saying, well, we release you, you give us a price and maybe we can buy you," Giuliano said.

Freedom of speech has become very "inconvenient" for the West, according to the pundit: "What they say clearly at the EU is that they need to control the narrative, because that's everything. The narrative you control controls the mind of the people."

The pundit suggests that Durov's arrest raises alarm bells for people like X owner Elon Musk: "Keep in mind that Elon Musk hasn't actually complied with EU regulation, and in reality he would be de facto also another target."

The Telegram CEO’s arrest is "really a red flag overall for journalists and for whoever is actually spilling the truth, [the] inconvenient truth," Giuliano concluded.

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The strike hit a temporary deployment point of Ukrainian forces in Kharkov, killing approximately 40 soldiers, the pro-Russian underground

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❗️Units of the Russian Zapad Battlegroup secured more advantageous positions, with Ukrainian forces losing up to 510 militants and a Kozak armored vehicle.

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry’s daily briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️ Ukrainian forces lost up to 130 militants in the Volchansk and Lyptsy areas.

▪️ In the Russian Yug Battlegroup's combat zone, Ukrainian forces lost up to 630 militants and another Abrams tank.

▪️ Russian air defense systems shot down eight HIMARS rockets and 41 Ukrainian drones.

▪️ The Russian Tsentr Battlegroup continues to advance deeper into enemy defenses, with Ukrainian forces losing over 500 militants.

▪️ Ukrainian forces lost up to 130 militants in the Russian Vostok Battlegroup's combat zone.

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Crowds at Ben-Gurion airport in the aftermath of Hezbollah's attacks

50 out of 360 international flights have been canceled today, the director of the airport said.

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‘Don’t touch the Churches’: Pope Francis comments on Ukraine banning its largest Christian Church

Pope Francis reflected on Kiev’s decision to ban the Russian Orthodox Church, as part of a bill prohibiting any religious group suspected of having ties to Russia, by saying he was “afraid for the freedom of those who pray”.

“Let those who want to pray in what they consider to be their church, pray” the Pope said, according to Italian media, adding, “Please do not abolish any Christian church directly or indirectly”.

#Ukraine #Vatican

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Orthodox Christian Church accuses Kiev of Soviet-style repression

Ukraine’s latest legislation, which aims to grant the government the right to ban any church or religious community with suspected ties to Russia, is akin to Soviet-style repression, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian MPs approved the bill, which is seen by the ROC as directly targeted against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). Despite the UOC officially declaring full autonomy from the Moscow Patriarchate in 2022, Kiev has nevertheless repeatedly accused the church and its clergy of maintaining ties to Moscow. The legislation also outright bans the ROC and all affiliated religious institutions from operating in Ukraine.

#Ukraine - Boost

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Stadium fire forces mass evacuation, football match canned in France

A fire broke out during half-time of a ‘Championnat National’ match, sending thick smoke billowing through the stadium and forcing the evacuation of fans.

The blaze, which reportedly originated in a food stall, postponed the game between Orleans and Valenciennes as players did not return for the second half.

Fortunately, no casualties were reported.

#Soccer - Boost

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— 🇵🇸/🇮🇱 NEW: Earlier today, Al-Qassam Brigades carried out an ambush operation in the southern area of the Al-Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City by detonating minefield, hitting an Israeli armored force. Israeli helicopters were dispatched to evacuate their dead and injured troops from the site.

@Middle_East_Spectator

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The Ukrainian authorities began demanding that Belarus withdraw its troops from the border.
They are worried about Belarus' response to the raid by Ukrainian drones.
Then Alexander Lukashenko promised to put the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus on alert.
Now they are nervous in Ukraine and are asking to remove the troops so that a "tragic mistake" does not happen.
At the same time, those who committed it are not recognized.
The audacity.

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Zelensky said that he was not ready for the option of stopping the military conflict with the Russian Federation along the current front line and would not change territories for peace
. "Ukraine is not ready to use its territories as an option for offering peace," he said in an interview with Indian media.
He also repeated a recent statement that the purpose of the offensive in the Kursk region was to prevent possible attacks on the Sumy region.
According to him, all actions of Ukraine are aimed at "forcing Russia to be ready for a just peace."

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Local residents report the arrival of drones in Saratov. UAVs crashed into houses, high-rise facades were damaged. Air defense is working.

More than four loud sounds were heard over the area.

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Ukraine desperately begs Belarus to move troops further away from border

Belarus is “concentrating a significant number of personnel, in particular special operations forces, weapons and military equipment ... in the Gomel region near Ukraine's northern borders,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website, citing the country's intelligence service.

The ministry claimed Kiev was not going to take any hostile action just two weeks after Ukraine launched drones towards Belarussian territory. The Kiev regime called on Minsk to withdraw troops from the Ukrainian border “at a distance exceeding the range of fire systems available to Belarus.”

On August 9, “about ten” Ukrainian drones were shot down over the territory of Belarus while other ones were destroyed by Russia over its territory, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said. The Belarusian leader called the attack a provocation, noting that it would not go unanswered. To strengthen the border Lukashenko ordered Belarus's Defense Ministry to increase its military presence in the country’s southern regions bordering Ukraine.

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Gaza ceasefire talks have concluded without reaching an agreement as both Israel and Hamas rejected several proposals put forward by mediators, British media reported citing Egyptian security sources.

Hamas claimed Israel has reneged on its promise to withdraw troops from the Philadelphia Corridor and has introduced additional conditions, such as screening displaced Palestinians as they return to the more densely populated northern areas of the enclave when the ceasefire begins.

“We will not accept discussions about retractions from what we agreed to on July 2 or new conditions,” Hamas official Osama Hamdan told the group’s al-Aqsa TV outlet Sunday.

The Hamas delegation departed from Cairo Sunday after holding discussions with mediators, according to senior official Izzat El-Reshiq. He claimed the group reiterated its demand that any agreement must include a permanent ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

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Durov won’t bend to Western governments like Zuckerberg, that’s why he faces charges - scholar

"The French justice system has deliberately twisted the spirit of the law to formulate excessive charges against Durov. It is clear that this is a pretext," Jacques Sapir, director of studies at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) in Paris, told Sputnik.

The charges brought by the French authorities against Pavel Durov stem from his refusal to censor his Telegram instant messaging service, according to the pundit. Sapir contends that it is unjust to accuse the Telegram founder of complicity in terrorism, drug trafficking, and child pornography - particularly in light of the content that permeates other social networks.

"His case is similar to all the measures that are currently being taken in Western countries that are infringing on freedom of expression," he said.

Sapir suggests that the main difference between Durov and Mark Zuckerberg, whose Instagram* "has a massive child exploitation problem", is that Zuckerberg censors free speech and apparently provided Western governments with a backdoor access to user data, as Elon Musk implied on August 25.

"This is one more step, after the long prosecutions against Julian Assange and those against Snowden, in a long list of attacks on freedom of expression in Western countries," Sapir said.

According to the pundit, what should be regarded as mere administrative offenses are being reclassified as serious crimes based on dubious motives and reasoning. Consequently, he stated, social networks are now facing criminalization.

The French scholar believes this trend will further elevate the significance of social networks that originate outside the Western world and may uphold freedom of expression.

*banned for extremism in Russia

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‘Backdoor for Telegram in exchange for freedom’: Why French cops really arrested Telegram’s creator Durov

French authorities charging Pavel Durov with claims that his messaging app Telegram is being used by criminals is merely "cynical." As investigative journalist Lucy Komisar pointed out to Sputnik, "the real facilitator of international criminality is the offshore bank[ing] and corporate secrecy system dominated by the US and the UK."

“Western law enforcement officials say the offshore system is the way drug traffickers, fraudsters, big-time tax cheats and other criminals move their money. It makes their operations possible. It’s how the US moved money in the corrupt Iran-Contra deal. It’s how the CIA moves cash,” she elaborated.

“The UK’s Jersey, the Isle of Man, Guernsey, the Caymans, British Virgin Islands and other venues, the US states of Delaware and Wyoming, as well as European countries Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland, not Telegram, are the real criminal platforms of the world.”

Yet, the US and its European allies who are eager to crack down on “free platforms on the Internet” are not so keen to take on the offshore system because the latter is “their platform,” Komisar explained.

The real purpose of Durov’s arrest, she suggested, is an attempt to blackmail him “into opening a backdoor to Telegram in exchange for his freedom.”

“The broader implications are an attempt to tighten control of the platforms of the Internet that allow views that challenge the collective West. The European Union is already doing this against X/Twitter, demanding censorship,” she mused. “Durov might give in to a backdoor or censorship to get his freedom. That depends on how draconian the French (and their American sponsors) will be. And it certainly concentrates the minds of other non-compliant internet executives.”

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No arrest for Zuckerberg over child exploitation because he connives with governments – Musk 

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will never be arrested by Western governments despite the massive child exploitation problem on his platforms, since he has already “caved in to censorship pressure", explained tech mogul, Elon Musk, commenting on a post by Naomi Seibt, a German conservative political activist. 

In obvious reference to Telegram founder Pavel Durov's detainment in France, Naomi Seibt wondered why Zuckerberg walks free despite the “child predators” problem. She attached a news report on how a New Mexico Attorney General accused Meta-controlled social media of child abuse and trafficking. 

“Instagram has a massive child exploitation problem, but no arrest for Zuck as he censors free speech and gives governments backdoor access to user data,” stressed Elon Musk. 

Netizens agreed with Musk's astute observation, commenting that from the liberal-left perspective, “free speech is more harmful than child porn”.

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❗️Russia's President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with commanders overseeing combat missions in the territories bordering Ukraine, the Kremlin informed.

The commander of the 810th Marine Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet, the commander of the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet, the commander of the separate 11th airborne assault brigade, the commander of the 56th airborne assault regiment and the commander of the 51st Parachute Regiment reported to the President on the situation at the line of contact.

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Israeli cities, Tel Aviv and Haifa, open all shelters, cancel all activities  

The Tel Aviv Municipality announced that it opened all 240 shelters on Sunday morning, in light of security developments in northern Israel. 

In northern Israel, the mayor of Haifa said, "We have opened all shelters and canceled a show that was planned for tonight. The University of Haifa has also canceled all activities. We urge residents to stay near a protected area," according to Israel Army Radio.

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📹The first moment of the Hezbollah attacks, when a rocket fired from Lebanon landed on the northern region of Israel

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Zelensky signs ban of Ukraine’s largest Christian Church into law

Vladimir Zelensky has signed a law that calls for the banning of any religious group suspected of having ties to Russia. It threatens to effectively shut down the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) – the largest faith-based organization in the country.

The Ukrainian parliament introduced the legislation earlier this week; it is expected to take effect in 30 days. After that, all the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and all affiliated religious organizations will be outlawed.

The UOC will have nine months to sever all ties with the ROC, despite the Ukrainian church having already declared full autonomy from the Moscow Patriarchate in 2022, following the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict.

#Ukraine - Boost

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Ukraine Training & Supplying Drones to Extremists in Africa - Source to RT

It's believed extremist elements in Africa met with the Ukrainian security services and planned a system for training them in Ukraine.

Additionally, Ukrainian drones were sent in parts through diplomatic post and reassembled in Africa - Kiev also attracted mercenaries to the region.

Ivorian authorities are now investigating Ukraine's role in training and equipping extremists among the Tuareg rebels. (Malian news portal Bamada)

Earlier, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso requested the UNSC take action against Ukraine for supporting terrorism in Africa.

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🔥 Massive forest fires in Brazil continue to engulf large regions, burning up populated areas and forcing residents of major cities to evacuate.

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A man was violently attacked by a knife wielding maniac while walking in Birmingham, England Saturday night, with the perpetrator and his sick friends laughing and streaming the attack on social media.

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A little bit of good mood

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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has ordered an extension of the deployment of two US Navy carrier strike groups in the Middle East, according to the US Department of Defense.

The Pentagon stated that these carriers are positioned in the region to provide support for Israel.

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