Maarten van Vliet

Members of the Women Courage Movement in Afghanistan continue to raise their voices despite threats, writing on walls against child marriage. Child marriage is a violation of human dignity and a threat to the future of children. The world must not stay silent. Where is the UN?

“Politically neutral” Ireland is supplying hundreds of millions of € raw materials for Russias war machine. Absolutely disgraceful

‼️🇷🇺🇪🇪🇷🇴 BREAKING | Escalation between NATO and Russia is reaching unprecedented scales, raising the risks of a potential military confrontation. ​Today, a Romanian Air Force F-16 based in Lithuania shot down a Ukrainian drone in Estonian airspace. The drone's trajectory had been altered and redirected toward Estonia by Russian forces using electronic warfare (EW) systems. ​Ukraine officially denies using the airspace of the Baltic states, noting that Russia is deliberately and provocatively altering the targets of Ukrainian drones to generate certain propaganda threats.

🇨🇦🇺🇸 There is a report sitting on the desk of Canada's intelligence chief that names two foreign powers actively working to separate Alberta from Canada. One of them is Russia. The other one built the international system specifically to prevent this. This investigation covers the Washington meetings, the $400,000-a-month influence machine, the 2.9 million Canadians whose personal data was leaked in the middle of a referendum campaign, and the moment Canada looked at what was being done to it and said, out loud, that the United States is now a greater threat to its security than Russia. It also covers what Canada did next. Which is the part that has the rest of the world paying very close attention. This is not a story about politics. It is a story about a system being dismantled by the country that built it, and what happens to everyone else when that occurs. The full investigation is behind the paywall. It is worth your time 👇. open.substack.com/pub/gandalv/p/…

Trevor Milton defrauded investors to the tune of 30 billion. He personally kept 7 billion. He was found guilty and sentenced to prison for 4 years. He never served a day. He donated a few million to trump. Then trump issued a pardon. Which meant his debtors would not be forced to be paid. He declared bankruptcy but somehow is still a billionaire. He is now trying to sell a shit biz jet and is already exaggerating its specs. theguardian.com/.../trump-pard…...

After cutting almost all assistance to Ukraine, regularly reciting verbatim Kremlin talking points from the Oval Office and removing sanctions from Russia and its allies, now it seems Trump wants Ukraine to hand the intellectual property rights to its massive array of homegrown drone tech to his sons' brand new company.

Israel dropped white phosphorus bombs on farmers harvesting watermelons in South Lebanon. This is not a military target. This is a field. These are farmers. White phosphorus causes severe chemical burns and is prohibited under international law when used in civilian areas.

The company is Global Trade GmbH (or Global Trade) from Lübeck. The network was controlled by the Russian company Kolovrat (also known as Siderius), which is on US sanctions lists and procures goods for the Russian arms industry. Politico.

It is a scandal of alarming proportions: for four years, a German company has unhinderedly supplied European high technology—including microcontrollers, sensors, and other dual-use components—to the Russian military-industrial complex, thereby directly supporting Putin’s war machine. Around 16,000 shipments, valued at over 30 million euros, were processed while the German government apparently stood idly by. Only now, after years of systematic circumvention of EU sanctions, is action finally being taken. This is not merely a failure; it constitutes active complicity through willful blindness. The German Federal Government—which rhetorically positions itself so vociferously as a pioneer in sanctions policy—allowed a network under Russian control (operating via the sanctioned firm Kolovrat) to place fictitious orders for four years, funneling goods through Turkey so that they would arrive in Russia in record time (often within just 5 to 10 days). Particularly insidious is the fact that many components ended up at the All-Russian Research Institute of Automation—an institution directly involved in the development of Russian nuclear weapons. Thanks to these 16,000 shipments, Russia was able to modernize its weapon systems, enhance its precision guidance capabilities, increase the reliability of its drones and missiles, and further expand its nuclear infrastructure. Every single shipment has potentially endangered German and European soldiers, as well as Ukrainian civilians. Why did the German government merely stand by and watch for four years? • Bureaucratic inertia and a lack of political priority: The relevant authorities (BAFA, Customs, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, and the BND) evidently possessed information but failed to consistently translate it into concrete action. • Fear of economic repercussions: There was a reluctance to unduly disrupt Germany’s export-oriented economy, leading officials to instead turn a blind eye. • Political hypocrisy: Loudly proclaiming "Stand with Ukraine" while simultaneously allowing German companies to supply Putin’s war machine with dual-use technology. Why?

Die bittere Ironie ist kaum zu ertragen: Genau die Politiker wie #Merkel, die Ruzzland 🇷🇺 jahrelang gewähren ließen, weggeschaut haben und damit mitverantwortlich für diesen Krieg sind, fordern heute lauthals „mehr Diplomatie“. ​Während sie kluge Reden schwingen, wird in Kyjiw Abschied von der 12-jährigen Lyubava und der 17-jährigen Vira genommen – getötet durch eine ruzzische Rakete. ​Sagt mal, worüber genau wollt ihr eigentlich verhandeln? Über eine Quote, wie viele Kinder Ruzzland noch töten darf, bevor es euch reicht? Die Ukraine bietet seit Jahren echte Friedenspläne an. Mit Tätern verhandelt man nicht, man stoppt sie. Es macht einfach nur fassungslos und traurig. 💔🇺🇦 #Kyjiw #Ukraine #DiplomatieDerSchande #StandWithUkraine

We can beat our chests as much as we want, loudly declaring that we are civilized people… but at this very moment, just as I began writing these lines, air raid sirens started wailing across Ukraine. Year after year, we hear the names of Ukrainian cities that, one by one, turn into what you see in this video from a bird's-eye view. This years-long ordeal has shown my people what the human world really is, and what the concepts of freedom and helping the weak truly mean. We remember the names of the destroyed cities, as if the cities themselves were everything… but do we remember the civilians who lived in them? Tens of thousands of innocent people scattered across the globe by life, circumstance, and war. They do not cry out loud about their struggles. They have left their homes and continue to evacuate, with no hope left that their cities will survive. The city of Kostiantynivka is yet another tragic example. Starting life from scratch whether in Ukraine or abroad, with a baggage full of memories of what they have endured and lost. Many residents of Kostiantynivka are looking at these images of their ruined city right now, just like you. Their emotions defy any literary description; it is so much more than just dry words… And that is how we live.

@AnatoliUkraine Interesting: “Trump reportedly floats the idea of the US, China, and Russia cooperating against the International Criminal Court”

Unbelievable. Xi Jinping warning that Putin may regret invading Ukraine — while Trump reportedly floats the idea of the US, China, and Russia cooperating against the International Criminal Court. Think about how insane that is. The ICC exists to investigate war crimes and hold dictators accountable. And instead of defending democratic institutions, Trump is allegedly talking about aligning America with authoritarian powers against them. That’s the geopolitical inversion of the century. America used to build alliances to contain regimes like this. Now the world watches a U.S. president sound more comfortable standing beside them than confronting them. ft.com/content/567c57…

Absolutely horrifying and painful footage. russia is wiping another Ukrainian city off the map while the world stays silent. Kostiantynivka: from 70,000 people to a ghost town under nonstop russian bombs. Why does the world keep allowing this horror?

Sweden Just Bought Four French Frigates. Sweden has selected Naval Group as  the supplier for its four new Luleå-class frigates, announced by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at a press conference in Stockholm on Tuesday. Defence Minister Pål Jonson cited rapid delivery, cost-sharing with France and Greece, and a proven air defence system as the reasons for choosing the French bid.  The deal is worth around $5 billion  and represents Sweden’s first acquisition of large warships since the early 1980s.  Two frigates are expected by 2030, with two more following by 2035.  Not a single bolt from a Lockheed Martin catalogue. Not a syllable of Pentagon influence. Stockholm looked at what was on offer, decided it wanted something that actually exists and already works, and wrote a cheque to Paris. The FDI class is already in service with the French Navy and has been ordered by Greece. Crucially, crews can begin training on the vessel immediately  – a detail that rather undermined the British and Spanish pitches, which largely involved ships that hadn’t been built yet. This is the pattern now. Germany rearming. Poland buying Korean artillery. Sweden going French. European defence money is circling the continent and largely staying there. For the American defence industry, which spent decades assuming NATO allies would buy American out of habit or obligation, this is beginning to sting. The shift isn’t coming. It has already happened. Gandalv / @Microinteracti1

Ik ga aangifte doen tegen de ponyhandelaar die 23.000 euro compensatie kreeg naar wolvenaanvallen en zijn dieren nog steeds niet beschermd. Sterker hij lijkt de wolf naar zijn dieren te lokken……

Mujer iraní en Suecia: “La pedofilia es legal en la República Islámica de Irán. Las niñas pequeñas son casadas con hombres adultos. Estamos tratando de crear conciencia, pero las feministas occidentales nos están ignorando por completo.”

The United States does not have corruption in its system today, corruption is the point of the system.

De VS opent donderdag hun nieuwe consulaat in de hoofdstad van Groenland Nuuk, 3.000 m2 compleet met kogelvrij glas, zwaarbewapend beton etc. op 200 m van het parlement. Het consulaat heeft drie medewerkers. Groenlanders noemen het al “Toekomstig Hoofdkwartier van de Bezetting”.

A tiny bee just did what chemotherapy couldn't. Scientists in Australia discovered that honeybee venom can wipe out 100% of aggressive breast cancer cells in under 60 minutes. And the healthy cells around them? Barely touched. The breakthrough came from Dr. Ciara Duffy and her team at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, working alongside the University of Western Australia. They tested venom drawn from 312 honeybees and bumblebees across Australia, Ireland, and England. The target: triple-negative breast cancer and HER2-enriched breast cancer. Two of the deadliest, most stubborn forms of the disease. The weapon: melittin. The same tiny peptide that makes a bee sting burn. At one specific dose, melittin tore through cancer cell membranes completely within an hour. Within just 20 minutes, it shut down the chemical signals cancer cells need to grow and multiply. Bumblebee venom, which lacks melittin, did nothing. Zero effect, even at high concentrations. Scientists then recreated melittin synthetically in the lab and got almost identical results, meaning no bees need to be harmed to develop the therapy. Published in the peer-reviewed journal npj Precision Oncology, the findings are still early-stage. Human trials haven't happened yet. But one thing is clear. Nature has been hiding answers in plain sight all along, sometimes inside the smallest creatures on Earth. Source: Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research / npj Precision Oncology (Dr. Ciara Duffy et al.)