That was not a quiet weekend. The world saw a stunning Ukrainian victory against Russia, another consequential European election in Poland, a major exposure of the mainstream news’s bias against Israel, a major terror attack on Jews in America, and plenty more—even a volcanic eruption to boot. Here’s a rundown:

Ukraine’s drones kneecap Russia’s air force: This is a game changer, a major embarrassment for Russia, with implications that extend far beyond the Russia-Ukraine war. Yesterday, Ukraine executed a major drone strike, code-named “Spiderweb,” targeting several air bases deep in Russian territory. The operation was impressive:

• It involved smuggling 117 first-person view drones into Russia, hidden in wooden mobile cabins on trucks with remotely operated roofs.
• The drones were launched near the airfields, striking strategic aircraft designed to carry Russian nuclear bombs, all the way in Siberia and the Arctic.
• Security Service of Ukraine sources claim 41 aircraft were damaged or destroyed. The drones did an estimated $7 billion in damage and degraded 34 percent of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers.
• The operation was planned for over 18 months under President Zelenskyy’s supervision.

The attack has immediate implications for the war:

• It significantly degrades Russia’s ability to conduct long-range bombing campaigns against Ukrainian cities.
• It exposes gaps in Russia’s air defense systems: Drones penetrated multiple regions without being detected until launch. Russia may have to divert resources from the war front to boost homeland defense.
• It demonstrates Ukraine’s growing technological and operational prowess. Developing drones with near 2,000-mile range and executing a covert, logistically sophisticated, multi-region attack—this is highly successful asymmetric warfare.
• It also strengthens its hand in peace talks, which are happening today in Istanbul.

How will Russia respond? This certainly challenges Russia’s narrative of invulnerability and may pressure it to reconsider its strategy, especially as domestic criticism of Putin’s war management grows. The best-case scenario is probably Russia realizing just how costly continuing the war could be. Perhaps it launches a face-saving retaliation, then negotiates peace. Worst-case is an escalation.

Beyond this theater, though, this is a glimpse at the future of warfare. A determined country that is outmanned and outgunned can inflict enormous damage with smarts, ingenuity and willpower. Think too about Israel’s pager attack on Hezbollah.

These are low-cost, imaginative, potent operations. America should take heed: In today’s world, outsized military spending can increasingly be nullified by new technologies and out-of-the-box thinking. We are witnessing some of the weapons of World War iii in action.

“The future of Europe will be decided in this election,” wrote the Telegraph on Friday. The EU faces a fork in the road, and many looked to Sunday’s presidential election in Poland to see which way it would turn.

• One side was pro-EU, pro-abortion, pro-homosexual rights and keen to deal with climate change. In this corner was Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, member of the Civic Coalition, which controls Poland’s parliament. He’s from the same party as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, former president of the European Council. Their party is backed by the EU establishment.
• In the other corner was former boxer, historian and independent Karol Nawrocki. He is aligned with Law and Justice (PiS), the party of the outgoing President Andrzej Duda. They are anti-abortion, anti-migration, climate-change skeptics who oppose lgbt. They want EU officials in Brussels to stay out of Poland’s affairs. Oh, and Nawrocki is supported by the Trump administration.

Nawrocki won the narrowest victory in Polish history: 50.89 percent to 49.11.

A more right-wing Europe is taking shape before your eyes. It is edging toward becoming the authoritarian superpower the Trumpet has forecast for years.

Herbert W. Armstrong wrote that Europe could come together only “with the collaboration of the pope” (Jan. 23, 1980), implying a shift to a more religious union. Nawrocki’s victory is the latest example of all Europe heading in that direction.

But will the PiS have a role in the coming “United Staes of Europe”? We shall see. The party is pro-Catholic, but it is also pretty German-skeptic. One party leader accused Germany of creating a “Fourth Reich” “built on the basis of the EU.” They remember World War ii history. Thus, Germany works hard to keep the PiS out of office. It succeeded in the parliamentary elections in 2023, but failed this time around. That may be because the PiS got the message and toned down the anti-German rhetoric this time. But Nawrocki’s success may force Germany to get a bit more dictatorial in dealing with the EU.

Fake news on “Gaza strike”: On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces reportedly committed a massacre against Gazan civilians at a foreign aid center. Some of the mainstream headlines:

• bbc: “Red Cross Says at Least 21 Killed and Dozens Shot in Gaza Aid Incident”
• Guardian: “Palestinians Gunned Down While Trying to Reach Food Aid Site in Gaza, Hospital Says”
• cnn: “Dozens Shot Dead and Injured Near Gaza Aid Hub, Health Ministry and Doctors Say”
• Some of the other outlets that ran with the story: Al Jazeera, AP, cbs News, Fox News, Haaretz, nbc News, New York Times, pbs, Reuters, Sky News

The narrative is, This is why the UN must give out food, not the Israelis—they can’t be trusted, they’ll just use the aid as a trap for Palestinians.

But it was all a lie.

Gaza’s Health Ministry claimed that the idf opened fire and killed 31 Palestinians who were at an aid center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private American charity. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation released security camera footage showing no such massacre had happened. The idf stated that, about a kilometer away and outside the aid center’s operating hours, there was evasive fire against suspected militants—unrelated to anything happening at the aid center. Yet despite the aid center itself debunking the story, the above media organizations and others are still running with the story. Some ran the story and subsequently disappeared it quietly, with no retraction or apology.

Gaza’s Health Ministry has repeatedly discredited itself as an accurate, unbiased source. Yet many media organizations continue to treat it as reliable. Our article “Truth and Lies About the Israel-Hamas War,” though written closer to the war’s beginning, can help cut through the fog of misconceptions and deliberately peddled lies regarding the war.

Another terror attack on Jews in America: Yesterday at a peaceful pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado, Mohammed Sabry Soliman reportedly shouted “Free Palestine” before blasting a flamethrower and launching Molotov cocktails into the crowd.

All of a sudden, I felt the heat. It was a Molotov cocktail equivalent, a gas bomb in a glass jar, thrown. Av [another marcher] saw it, a big flame as high as a tree, and all I saw was someone on fire.
—Ed Victor, one participant

That victim was a woman marching alongside her husband. In total, eight people were injured, including a Holocaust survivor and a college professor.

The perpetrator is an Egyptian national who has apparently been in the U.S. illegally. One fbi agent said it was “clear this is a targeted act of violence.” It is being investigated as a terrorist act.

This brutal assault follows the deadly May shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, D.C.

Jews are once again being persecuted, killed and even burned alive. Our media, society and many of our politicians are complicit in these attacks. Our world has learned nothing from hundreds of years of pogroms, inquisitions and the Holocaust.

IN OTHER NEWS

Nearly 4 in 10 countries are in debt to China: China has managed to draw the world’s 75 poorest nations into its debt, Jeremiah Jacques reports in our feature story this morning. After signing up to the Belt and Road Initiative, these nations now face a “tidal wave of debt repayments and interest costs” to China. And now with its economy in a downturn, China is eager to collect on those debts.

That’s no way to celebrate a soccer win: Paris is on fire and two people died in riots after a soccer match on Saturday. After Paris St. Germain (psg) won the Champion’s League for the first time ever, race and religion turned the celebration violent. psg is owned by Qatar; its fans regularly support the Palestinian cause and accuse Israel of genocide. Once people got out on the street, many jumped in that had little to do with psg. The Spectator wrote, “Many of those who have sacked Paris in recent weeks are not psg fans. They are ‘thugs’ and ‘barbarians’ from the banlieues who take advantage of any large-scale gathering in a city—be it a May Day parade, a rally against pension reform or a football celebration—to display their contempt for all things French.” The rioting clearly shows France’s problems with radical Islam. Watch for a backlash.

Aiding and abetting Russia: North Korea continues to send arms to Russia despite international sanctions, our In Brief reports. These arms are critical for Russia’s continued war on Ukraine.

As if there’s not enough else going on: Mount Etna erupted this morning on the Italian island of Sicily. It sent a massive ash cloud four miles into the sky and produced lava fountains. Tourists fled as tremors triggered intense Strombolian explosions. Catania Airport was placed on alert, but no immediate disruptions to air travel or risks to local populations were noted. Etna has been busy; this is its fourth eruption this year.