Bosses at Western banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and HSBC are committing war crimes by continuing to indirectly finance the Russian state, an economic adviser to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, Oleg Ustenko, claimed on Tuesday.

In an interview with CNBC, Ustenko announced that Kiev continues to gather data on banks it believes are financing traders of Russian oil, and plans to forward its complaints to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“There is no doubt that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine, against Ukrainians," Ustenko told the outlet. “In our logic, everybody who is financing these war criminals who are doing these terrible things in Ukraine are also committing war crimes,” he added, noting that Kiev will not pursue the banks themselves, but their leaders and managers.

A US aircraft carrier and its retinue of warships departed from Singapore on Tuesday, steaming northward toward Taiwan. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is slated to visit the island next month despite protests by Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a Chinese province in rebellion. Now, she’s inviting more lawmakers along.

It took just six minutes for the fireworks to start.

Anthony Albanese, the nation’s newly installed Prime Minister, was among the last to arrive in the House of Representatives for his first grilling in Question Time.

Sitting opposite him was his new sparring partner, a stony-faced Peter Dutton, the man tasked with navigating the Coalition through its first stint in opposition in almost a decade. 

“I wish him well as Leader of the Opposition and I hope he stays there for a very, very long time," Albanese said as he took his first question from Dutton at 2pm.

Outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has presented Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with the Sir Winston Churchill Leadership Award, drawing comparisons between the two leaders in times of crisis.

President Zelensky accepted the award by video link during a ceremony at Johnson’s London office that was attended by members of the Churchill family, the UK’s Ukrainian Ambassador Vadym Prystaiko and Ukrainians who have received training from British soldiers.

Mr Johnson recalled how President Zelensky confirmed on February 24 that Russia had invaded, adding, “In that moment of supreme crisis, you faced a test of leadership that was, in its way, as severe as Churchill’s challenge in 1940.”

Russia’s Gazprom to disable second pipeline turbine

Natural gas supply via Nord Stream 1 will reportedly be reduced to 20% capacity

Russian energy major Gazprom will stop the operation of second Siemens turbine, the company announced on Monday. As a result supply through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will not exceed 33 million cubic meters per day from July 27, business daily Kommersant has reported, corresponding to 20% of the pipeline's capacity.

Gazprom says the decision to switch off the turbine was made based on its technical condition and the fact that it’s due for an overhaul.

According to the official U.S. government narrative, a “desperate” Russia — suffering significant battlefield reversals in Ukraine including the loss of “large numbers” of reconnaissance drones while its own military industrial capacity lacks the ability to provide adequate replacements due to Russia’s “economic isolation” — has turned to Iran for assistance.

“Our information,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan declared, “indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAV’s [unmanned aerial vehicles], including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline.” Sullivan said. “It’s unclear whether Iran has delivered any of these UAVs to Russia already.”

Once upon a time — and not so long ago —it was a universal belief that in order to be a good “Bohemian”, one lived in a garret, used a candle (stuck in a bottle) for lighting, drank dry wine and absinthe with, and between, occasional repasts of bread and garlic, et cetera, produced masterpieces of paint and poesy in the intervals, bilked the landlady, subscribed to unmoral — or immoral, whichever way you look at it — ideas concerning social ties, and changed collars, if at all, seldom. (you follow me?)

This conception was in accord with the notion that every retired pugilist had to keep a public-house, and drink himself to death; that all lawyers are thieved; that all little blue-eyed newsboys would sooner be run over getting your change than turn a dishonest halfpenny; that tailors’ bills are always evaded; and that Britannia really rules the waves.

In the immediate aftermath of the Hungarian elections earlier this year, which saw Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party win another two-thirds majority in parliament, I interviewed Balázs Orbán, one of the prime minister’s top advisors and now a member of the National Assembly of Hungary.

“Progressives will eventually make you choose,” Balázs told me. “You cannot have two flags. They force you to choose your national flag or the rainbow flag—and you have to choose the rainbow flag. Because if you choose the national flag, you are a bad person.”

BY Bradley Devlin

GUS: THE ONLY SOLUTION TO THE UKRAINE PROBLEM IS TO DIVIDE IT IN TWO COUNTRIES — AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE FIRST PLACE: THE GALICIANS IN THE WEST, THE RUSSIANS IN THE EAST. END OF STORY.

By Maksim Artemyev

A row has erupted in Russian-Israeli relations over the functioning of the Jewish Agency in Moscow. The Jerusalem Post first reported on 5 July that Moscow had ordered the Jewish Agency to cease all operations in Russia, in a formal letter from the Russian Justice Ministry “earlier this week.”

This is National Whistleblower Week, with Saturday marking National Whistleblower Appreciation Day. The National Whistleblower Center in Washington has its annual lunch, seminar and associated events scheduled.  Whistleblowers from around the U.S. attend, a couple members of Congress usually show up and we talk about how important it is to speak truth to power. 

During the upcoming televised debate, British Conservative leadership candidate Rishi Sunak, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Boris Johnson’s government, is expected to promise resolute action against China, which he accuses of “being the biggest long-term threat to the UK.”

President Joe Biden first came under pressure to declare a national climate emergency last week after Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) withdrew his support for climate legislation and killed a bill that promised to bolster renewable energy and electric cars in order to cut carbon emissions.

Manchin, a centrist, has made millions from the coal industry but stated his reasoning for not supporting the bill was that the climate package would worsen current inflation.

Former prime minister Scott Morrison will skip the first week of his first Parliament since losing the federal election to instead make an overseas trip to Japan.

Mr Morrison said he accepted the invitation to speak alongside other former world leaders in Tokyo before the new parliamentary schedule was released.

“Prior to the new Government advising the sitting schedule for the remainder of 2022, I had already accepted an invitation to join other former Prime Ministers from Canada, the UK and New Zealand to address an international event to be held in Tokyo this week,” the Member for Cook said in a statement.

We need to develop the habit of thinking independently in our own national interests.

Which western country has: