Trump and Putin are the “Crab and Joel” of the New World Order - The Observer

British newspapers were interested in the current developments in the European conflict with Russia, whether after US President Donald Trump signed the diesel agreement with Russian President Putin, or Russian spying activities on European countries, in addition to an article questioning the increasing number of deaths of healthy women from heart attacks.

In its editorial, the Observer newspaper touched on the deal made by US President Donald Trump with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, regarding diesel supplies, and used characters from the famous Harry Potter series to describe them. The newspaper headlined, “Trump and Putin are the Crabbe and Joel of the New World Order.”

It is known that Crabbe and Goyle are the bodyguards and loyal followers of Draco Malfoy, and the story describes them as lacking intelligence and gumption, and relying entirely on their physical strength and huge size to intimidate other students.

The newspaper says that the diesel agreement between Trump and Putin is classified as “serving personal interests” and was “expected,” but it still raises eyebrows. Donald Trump, pressed for diesel supplies as the midterm congressional elections approach, made a deal with Moscow.

Indeed, Vladimir Putin agreed to the deal and to export 1.8 million tons of Russian diesel from now until the end of the year to reduce global prices and relieve pressure on American farmers and transport companies.

The newspaper explains that Trump was happy with the deal, and expressed this by announcing “in capital letters” in a post on his “Truth Social” platform, on Friday, but he did not miss the opportunity and stated “falsely” that the United States has complete control over the Strait of Hormuz, promising voters that diesel prices would fall “by record numbers, and quickly.”

Indeed, diesel prices in the United States fell by 4.5 percent immediately after the deal was announced.

But the newspaper points out that it is unclear whether this decline will continue or not, especially since 1.8 million tons of diesel is barely sufficient for only four days of supplies for the American transportation sector. But pointing out the agreement is what matters most.

The newspaper stressed that Trump did not care at all about what was happening in Ukraine, nor that he would sabotage arduous efforts over four years to impose sanctions on Russia and prevent the flow of money to the Russian war machine, but he only cared about an agreement through which he would save a handful of seats for Republicans in the midterm elections in the Midwest.

The newspaper explained that Putin did not miss the opportunity and was present for Trump in difficult times.

Regarding Britain's position, the newspaper talked about the necessity of revealing the whole truth at some point, which is what British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has begun to do.

Burnham said in the “The Rest is Politics: Leadership” podcast with Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart, that upon entering Downing Street (the seat of the British government), he asked whether there was Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit vote, and received (most likely from sources who only speak to senior ministers) “the clear answer: yes, there was.”

It seems that Trump was aware of what was going on from Russia, because he was constantly ridiculed for his claim that he knew the Brexit campaign would win.

In the end, the newspaper concluded by saying that Trump: “Maybe he already knew.”

We are still with Russia, but this time The Independent focused on its intelligence activities and hybrid warfare against Europe, in an article by Aanchal Vohra, an Indian investigative journalist and international affairs analyst, entitled “Inside the spy scandals tearing Europe apart.”

The writer said that European governments are currently working to restructure their intelligence services to confront a new type of “hybrid warfare,” which is conducted through digital space and uses local criminals.

She pointed to the crisis facing Western intelligence services in dealing with this type of challenges, and said: “Despite the Hollywood reputation of agencies such as the British intelligence agency MI6, European intelligence is receiving successive blows in the face of the escalation of hostile activities.”

Reports indicate that Russia has carried out 150 hybrid attacks since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. They included acts of sabotage, violation of airspace, exploitation of migration, and recruitment of European citizens.

It cited the accusations against British sailor Teddy Young of leaking secrets to a foreign party (believed to be Russia) to reveal the fragility of the security system.

In Germany, a high-level intelligence scandal broke out by accusing August Hanning, the former head of the German intelligence service BND, of obtaining secret documents for Azerbaijan and communicating with a Chinese military official.

The author believes that these cases confirm that the old methods of espionage, such as blackmail and bribery, still exist, but have become integrated with modern technologies.

To deal with this imbalance, European countries began reforms of the intelligence system and adopted new offensive and defensive strategies.

She gave an example of the measures taken by some countries, including the Baltic states (Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia), which intensified public awareness and increased counter-espionage cadres to track down local agents recruited by Moscow.

As for Sweden, it decided to establish a new external intelligence service UND that relies on artificial intelligence and startups, while applying the concept of “comprehensive defense” to prepare society and industry for hybrid threats.

Germany has introduced new legislation granting the intelligence service broader offensive and cyber powers that enable it to penetrate attackers instead of being limited to defense, while bypassing the historical restrictions associated with World War II.

Britain also launched a secure portal on the “Dark Web” called the Secret Courier to attract officials who have access to sensitive information.

There is currently great cooperation between the European Union and Britain, as the two sides imposed joint sanctions on a Russian intelligence unit, and revealed a plan aimed at striking the German and Polish electricity networks to cut off power to half a million people.

The author explains that the danger of the current hybrid war led by Moscow and Beijing lies in that it remains below the level of “outright war” and is easy to deny. Sabotage and espionage operations also take place over the Internet and with the help of cross-border criminal networks, which makes tracking them difficult, unlike the Cold War period, which required the presence of agents in the field.

These transformations confirm that international espionage games have not stopped, but rather have entered a more ferocious and sophisticated phase.

The Mail newspaper dealt with women's health and the causes of premature death of women from heart attacks despite being in good health, and published an article entitled "Why do 'healthy' women die of heart attacks like Emma Chambers?"

The article came with reference to the death of British actress Emma Chambers, of a heart attack, when she was only 53 years old.

This misconception causes many women to be misdiagnosed, according to the British Heart Foundation, which said that the probability of women receiving a wrong initial diagnosis of a heart attack is 50 percent higher than men, in addition to their delay in recognizing symptoms, which leads to delayed treatment and loss of life, which is what happened with actress Emma Chambers.

The article promises that all of the above risks can be controlled, managed and prevented by changing lifestyle and starting with nutrition. It also does not require a harsh diet or a difficult diet, but rather healthy fats such as nuts, olive oil, avocado, oats, and soy can be introduced to reduce cholesterol.