News ..................................................................................Pages

Ukraine Annexed?

The White House says Russia is planning to start annexing Ukrainian Territory

The White House national security council spokesman John Kirby is reporting that United States intelligence officials have enough evidence that Russia is now looking to annex the additional Ukraine territory and they could hold a fake election as soon as September.

John Kirby said, "This is out of the playbook, and we've seen them do it in the past. What we're seeing now is a more concerted, more strategic effect."

John Kirby said Russia is now looking at Kherson as well as the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.

President Joe Biden administration has been talking for some time that Russia could be looking to annex the areas where they have made territorial gains.

John Kirby declined to talk about the new intelligence, although he did say that it proposes a "more united effort" towards the annexation. John Kirby said, "Russia is laying the ground work to annex Ukrainian territory that it controls in direct violation of Ukraine sovereignty." The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has given easy bipartisan approval to accept Finland and Sweden into NATO, as the lawmakers are aiming for a quick Senate passage and also for a show of congressional support for expansion of the United States and European defense alliance in the face of Russia's war in Ukraine.

The Committee members have now approved the expansion by vote. Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican and frequent critic of United States policy abroad, has voted a neutral present instead of saying a yes or no.

This vote will set up the expansion for a decision by the full Senate as soon as that becomes possible.

John Kirby said, "We obviously want to see Finland and Sweden brought into the alliance as soon as possible."

He also said, "These are modern militaries, militaries that we know well," he stressed the strength that supporters say these two countriesof Finland and Sweden would bring to the military bloc.

Planning an Attack!

The centre of Israel's plans are to attack Iran to stop their Nuclear Program

Israeli Military chief said that the Jewish state has a "moral imperative" to prepare a military attack on Iran's nuclear program, and that an attack on the Islamic republic is "at the center" of Israel's plans. IDF chief of staff Aviv Kochavi said, "Preparing the home front for war has been an important issue since the inception of the state, but it has become increasingly important over the years. This is a task that must be accelerated in the coming years, especially in view of the possibility that we will be required to act against a nuclear threat, and it should be part of the intensive preparations we are advancing for the moment of truth."

Aviv Kochavi also said, "Preparing a military option against the Iranian nuclear program is a moral imperative and a national security order." Aviv said that their plans are "at the centre" of the IDF's preparations and include "a variety of operational plans, which include the allotment of resources, the purchase of suitable weapons, intelligence and training."

American officials believe that Iran is very close to assembling enough material to start developing nuclear weapons. Iran continues to insist that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, yet a senior Iranian official was bragging that his country is quite capable of producing a nuclear bomb. Kamal Kharazi, the head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations said, "It is no secret that we have the technical capabilities to manufacture a nuclear bomb, but we have no decision to do so. In a few days, we were able to enrich uranium up to 60%, and we can easily produce 90% enriched uranium."

The United States and Israel both know they have to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon, but they disagree on how they should go about that. President Biden said in an interview with the Israeli media last week, having to release America's military might against Iran would be their "last resort." President Biden is emphasizing diplomacy instead.

But Israeli Prime

Minister Yair Lapid said that diplomacy won't stop Iran's nuclear program.

Regardless of the differences,

President Biden and Prime Minister

Lapid signed a declaration in which

Washington has sworn to use "all elements in its national power" to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

President Biden has made reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal a top priority. But the talks to restore the deal seem to be at a dead end, because Biden refuses to remove Iran's Revolutionary Guard from the United States' terror list.

Iran has continued to violate the deal's restrictions on uranium enrichment. Israel opposes the Iranian nuclear deal and has threatened to use a military strike to attack Iran alone, if it believes there is a threat of any kind to the Jewish state.