The Spanish government has had to contend with a number of critical situations over the past few years, such as the worst pandemic in the last century, and everything but a zombie invasion, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said during an interview with TVE on Tuesday.

Sanchez explained that since he took office in 2018, his government has had to deal with an onslaught of issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the La Palma volcano eruption, Storm Filomena, monkeypox, as well as the conflict in Ukraine and the subsequent economic consequences.

Asked about the low poll numbers for his government, the Spanish leader said he understood the frustration and anger of the people, and is working to “turn these polls around.”

On Aug. 30, President Joe Biden gave a speech at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He was angered that many Republicans were predicting politically motivated violence as a result of the legal proceedings being taken against former President Donald Trump.

Biden argued that “a safer America requires all of us to uphold the rule of law. Not the rule of any one party or any one person .… The idea you turn on a television and see senior senators and congressmen saying, “If such and such happens, there’ll be blood in the street. Where the hell are we?”

Except for a brief moment after his dramatic arrest in 2019, the mainstream media has abandoned Julian Assange. They do this at their own peril.   

That’s because the arrest and espionage indictment of Assange for practicing journalism is a danger to all journalists everywhere. 

Consortium News started covering the Assange case on Dec. 16, 2010 with an article by founding editor Robert Parry, one of the leading investigative reporters of his generation. Bob argued that Assange was practicing journalism in the exact way that he did.   He wrote: 

Is Putin’s Goody Two Shoes Behavior with his “Limited Operation” Blowing up in his face?

The Kremlin’s attempt to fight a war with minimal resources and no commitment to disrupt the government and functioning of Western Ukraine and the weapons flowing in from the US and NATO now brings the humiliation of having Ukrainian troops break through Russia’s thinly defended line in the Kharkov region of Eastern Ukraine.

Paul Craig Roberts

Today the United States, because of the growing global criticism of White House policies, is desperately seeking to maintain its leadership through destructive actions against not only its adversaries, but also allies in all directions. This is evidenced both by the numerous armed conflicts and aggressions around the world instigated by the United States and by the sanctions imposed on states that do not wish to become silent puppets of Washington, in violation of generally accepted norms and without the approval of international organizations.

The position of other countries, including US allies, on the political, economic and military dictate is of no interest to Washington at all, nor are their losses from the same White House-initiated sanctions.

BY Valery Kulikov

Russia is no longer fighting a Ukrainian army equipped by NATO, but a NATO army manned by Ukrainians. Yet, Russia still holds the upper hand despite its Kharkiv setback.

The Ukrainian army began a major offensive against Russian forces deployed in the region north of the southern city of Kherson on Sept. 1. Ten days later, the Ukrainians had expanded the scope and the scale of its offensive operations to include the region around the northern city of Kharkov. 

Henry VII (Welsh: Harri Tudur; 28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.[a]

Congress has spoken when it comes to next year’s Pentagon budget and the results, if they weren’t so in line with past practices, should astonish us all. The House of Representatives voted to add $37 billion and the Senate $45 billion to the administration’s already humongous request for “national defense,” a staggering figure that includes both the Pentagon budget and work on nuclear weapons at the Department of Energy.

The government is conducting a Defence Strategic Review: “an independently-led review that will consider Defence’s force posture and force structure.” The terms of reference are narrow. What is needed, what this Defence Review may not be able to do, is a review of Australia’s overall strategic circumstances. Courage is needed to choose between allocation of resources to what makes Australia strong and healthy as a nation on the one hand, and deeper spending on dangerous pointy toys on the other.

By Dennis Argall

Queen of Chaos: Her record, and her own words, show us exactly what we can expect from a Hillary Clinton presidency, write Jeremy Kuzmarov and Steve Brown.

On March 8, U.S. News & World Report ran a story titled “Hillary Clinton Says No to 2024 Presidential Bid.” But do not be misled by the “No.” The article was simply a shot across the public’s bow — a wake-up call intended to insert the idea into everyone’s mind of Hillary running.

Her “No” seems nothing more than the classic — and expected — response that politicians always make to the media when they are testing the waters.

As energy bills soar, Britain’s new prime minister, Liz Truss, proposes short-term measures to prop up suppliers with public money. But we won't be “back to normal” anytime soon — and it’s working-class Britons who will suffer.

Britain’s constitutional crisis has now lasted twelve years. Were we a weaker country, a collapse of stable governance on this scale would have triggered much debate over whether foreign intervention could fix our institutions, or whether we were simply beyond help.

BY NATHAN AKEHURST

Why is there such a sense of grief at the death of the Queen – not just in Great Britain but also throughout the Commonwealth? And is there anything we have learnt over the past few days from the reactions to the monarch’s death?

Let’s look at why we are so grief-stricken. During her 70 years on the throne, there have been 16 Australian prime ministers, 15 British prime ministers, 14 American presidents, 10 French presidents and seven Popes. The Vietnam war came and went, the Cold War raged, the Soviet Union collapsed, and the Arab Spring turned to winter. A lot happened!

ISAIAH hoped it would be different.

The day would come, he prophesied, when Israel could beat its swords into plowshares and its spears into pruning hooks. True, Israel today produces more than its share of plows and pruning hooks - but it produces even more swords and spears in the form of tanks, fighter jets, rockets, machine guns and military advisers.

By Thomas L. Friedman

Whatever your feelings about former President Trump, there are reasons to be skeptical when government officials say it was necessary to raid his Florida home to recover classified documents that threatened national security.

BY Leonard Goodman

ASTONISHING AS IT IS, MOST PEOPLE DON’T CARE ABOUT THE TRUTH NOR REALITY. THEY ARE COMFORTABLE IN THE ARMS OF PROPAGANDA. OR THEY THINK THAT THE INFORMATION THEY GET IS THE TRUTH ABOUT REALITY. IT’S NOT.

AMERICAN BAMBOOZLE ITS OWN PEOPLE AND MANY NATIONS ON THIS PLANET WITH THE HOPEFUL/BOOM-BANG DELUSIONS OF HOLLYWOOD AND POLITICAL EXCEPTIONALISM. 

THE UK HAS DELUDED ITSELF AND THE NATIONS OF THE COMMONWEALTH FOR MANY YEARS — WITH THE POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE ROYALS, AND THEIR TRADITIONAL PAGEANTRY. 

THE CHURCHES SELL THE DELUSION OF A PLACE FOR YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS IN ANOTHER WORLD CALLED PARADISE. 

NONE OF THESE CONFIDENCE TRICKS MAKES SENSE AND REALITY IS ONLY SEEN FROM INSIDE A FISH BOWL. THEIR FISH BOWL.