Russia Closes Border Crossings With Several NATO States After Finland Lifts Nuclear Ban

Russia Closes Border Crossings With Several NATO States After Finland Lifts Nuclear Ban

by Tyler Durden
Thursday, Jul 02, 2026 - 12:50 AM


Finland's parliament has finally followed through with a previously threatened move to reverse its decades-long ban on nuclear weapons. The June 17 vote to lift the ban in effect legally authorizes the Nordic country to receive, transport, and facilitate the movement of nuclear weapons on its territory as part of allied operations, with the representatives' final tally at 125 to 61.

Finland officially became the 31st member of NATO in April 2023 - having abandoned its historic neutrality in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in what was among the fastest accession processes in the Western military alliance's history. Now it is already willing to host allied nukes on its territory, making it a target of Russian retaliation.

Moscow has long warned against such an ultra-provocative move. The Kremlin said Monday that this requires a response - given also the fact that Russia and Finland share an over 800-mile long border, which is made up largely of Arctic frontier.

"The results of the vote represent both bright and unflattering victory of the blind Russophobia of the past few years over what we have always viewed as pragmatic sanity in Finland," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

via Atlantic Council


“And let nobody doubt that [response] measures will be taken timely and effectively. In this light, the Finnish people need to think whether this decision made by their elites will actually enhance security in Finland itself,” she added.

As a start, Russia has moved to shutter more rail crossings to NATO states, including Finland - which is to further severely impact trade:


Russia has closed seven railway border checkpoints with Finland, Estonia and Latvia, according to a government decree published Tuesday.

The suspension, which takes effect July 1, halts the movement of individuals, vehicles and cargo through the designated rail crossings. Five of the shuttered checkpoints are located on the Finnish border, while Estonia and Latvia each have one crossing affected.

Officials have not disclosed the reasons for the closures or when the checkpoints might reopen.

In Estonia, the Ivangorod freight and passenger crossing will remain open, and in Latvia, the Sebezh crossing will also stay open. However, the closures leave Finland with no open railway crossings with Russia, which normally exports fertilizer to Finland by rail.

Finland shut its eastern vehicle and pedestrian border crossings with Russia indefinitely in December 2023 following an influx of asylum seekers.

Since the Ukraine war began, and in context of ratcheting tensions with NATO over its military support to Kiev, Moscow has steadily militarized its border with Finland.

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Russia will temporarily close a number of railway border crossings with Finland, Latvia and Estonia from July 1, 2026, for reasons unknown. The appropriate executive order has been issued by the Russian government. The decision concerns five crossings with Finland, one crossing Show more

4:40 AM · Jul 1, 2026

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The most significant source of NATO's nuclear-sharing program is the United States. But lately France has expressed a desire to station some of its atomic arsenal in partner countries, and this could include in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and others.

Israeli forces kill Palestinian goalkeeper in Gaza

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Israeli forces kill Palestinian goalkeeper in Gaza


Palestinian goalkeeper Saleem Al-Ashqar was shot dead by Israeli forces in Gaza. Married just five months ago, he leaves behind a wife expecting their first child. The Palestinian Football Association says more than 1,000 Palestinian athletes have been killed since October 2023.

Published On 1 Jul 20261 Jul 2026

Bersatu members backing PH candidate for Sri Medan seat

Bersatu members backing PH candidate for Sri Medan seat


Yesterday
Faiz Zainudin


A member says he decided to support Hishamuddin @ Misrin Ishak’s candidacy because of the federal government’s stability

Bandar Sri Medan Bersatu members in a group photo with PH’s candidate for the Sri Medan seat in the Johor election, Hishamuddin @ Misrin Ishak (seated centre).

MUAR: A group of Bandar Sri Medan Bersatu members has publicly announced its support for Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for the Sri Medan seat in the July 11 Johor state election.

One of the members, Rosli Moin Ahmad, said he made the decision after considering the views of several former village heads and being persuaded by the federal government’s stability.

Rosli, a former Bandar Sri Medan Bersatu branch chief, stressed that his decision was not driven by disappointment with Perikatan Nasional.


“Besides, the PN candidate here is from PAS, not Bersatu,” he told FMT.

“When my supporters asked me who we should back, I told them we should support the ruling coalition.


“I am still a Bersatu member and have not left the party. I will simply vote for and support the PH candidate.”

The incumbent, Zulkurnain Kamisan of Barisan Nasional, will defend the Sri Medan seat against PH’s Hishamuddin @ Misrin Ishak and PN’s Ahmad Rosdi Bahari.

Zulkurnain retained the seat with a 6,274-vote majority in the last election.

Dismissing claims that he had been pressured or paid to support Hishamuddin, Rosli said his decision was made in the best interests of the residents.


“I was not forced or paid by anyone. I am acting in the interests of my supporters. It is up to the party if it wants to take any action against me,” he said.


According to him, the Bandar Sri Medan Bersatu branch has about 130 members.

PAS is contesting 11 seats, Bersatu 16, the Malaysian Indian People’s Party five, and Pejuang one, under the PN banner. Parti Wawasan Negara and Gerakan are skipping the polls.

While Bersatu and PAS remain coalition allies, the two parties are not assisting each other in their election campaigns.

Pagoh no longer Muhyiddin’s stronghold, says Umno man

Pagoh no longer Muhyiddin’s stronghold, says Umno man


8 hours ago
Faiz Zainudin


Fazli Salleh says his victory four years ago proves that Bukit Pasir voters do not cast their ballots based on the influence of senior figures

Umno’s Fazli Salleh faces a three-cornered race as he seeks to retain the Bukit Pasir seat for a second term.

MUAR: The parliamentary constituency of Pagoh can no longer be considered the stronghold of Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin and Perikatan Nasional (PN), says a Barisan Nasional candidate.

Umno’s Fazli Salleh, who is running for election in Bukit Pasir, one of two state seats in Pagoh, said the current political dynamics mean that no seat can be deemed “safe” for any party.

Although he won the seat with a slim 198-vote majority in 2022, he said the result proved that voters base their decisions on performance rather than the influence of senior figures.


Fazli acknowledged that Muhyiddin’s influence was still a factor given that he had been the Pagoh MP since 1978 and had contributed greatly to the area’s development.

However, he expressed confidence that voters would evaluate the performance of candidates and the incumbent state government during the state election.

“Although some people label Pagoh as a PN or Muhyiddin stronghold, I am confident that the people of Bukit Pasir know how to evaluate (which party and candidate to vote for),” he told FMT.

Muhyiddin retained his Pagoh seat for a ninth term in the 2022 general election (GE15) with a convincing 10,007-vote majority.

Based on the vote breakdown by state constituency, the former prime minister secured a majority of over 5,000 votes in Bukit Kepong and over 4,000 in Bukit Pasir.

In the election on July 11, Fazli faces Perikatan Nasional candidate Idzhar Nasiruddin of Bersatu and Pakatan Harapan’s Najib Lep, of Amanah.


Najib was the Bukit Pasir assemblyman from 2018 to 2022, when he was still in PAS.

Fazli said Muhyiddin’s majority in GE15 should be not be the main benchmark for how Bukit Pasir voters will cast their ballots.

He noted that the voter turnout in GE15 was much higher than in the 2022 state election, saying a similar lower turnout could be expected for this year’s state polls.

His aim is to increase his majority at the polls after serving as Bukit Pasir assemblyman and a state executive councillor over the past four years.

Johor more a bellwether for DAP than Anwar

Johor more a bellwether for DAP than Anwar

S Thayaparan
Published: Jun 29, 2026 9:30 AM
Updated: 11:34 AM


“Politics is a matter of choices, and a man doesn't set up the choices himself. And there is always a price to make a choice. You know that. You've made a choice, and you know how much it cost you. There is always a price.”

- All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

COMMENT | The upcoming Johor election will determine how the base is feeling about the DAP. All politics is local, of course, but rational Malaysians dissatisfied with how DAP has managed non-Malay issues in the era of Madani are going to see if their views are validated or rejected in this upcoming election.

Parti Bersama Malaysia, which is targeting five DAP seats, is going to discover if they have a chance of being part of the political process in this country or will they be consigned to the bin, merely a convenient online distraction.

Anecdotally speaking, I know many non-Muslims who are fearful of the Green Wave and would rather just vote for the lesser of two evils, and they believe DAP is still the best chance they have to ensure that their interests are taken care of.

They would rather the non-Muslims not rock the Madani boat. And believe me, I have much sympathy for that sentiment. As a long-time DAP supporter told me, “… there is a time to rant, and there is a time to vote”.

Of course, this is why things never change or rather, political parties believe that they need never change.


Building empowerment

This is also why Parti Sosialis Malaysia's S Arutchelvan, arguing for a progressive bloc, writes – “We need to stand to put our policies forward. We need to show that we are talking about systemic change, not just changing leaders or parties. We need to build empowerment at the grassroots; the very work that PSM has consistently done.”

S Arutchelvan


It is not that political operatives do not want to sell progressive ideas to their base, even though they live progressive/liberal lifestyles and the religious bureaucracy does not hassle them; it is that they want to keep existing narratives alive so they can profit from them politically.

Arutchelvan is correct when he points out that PAS and DAP use racial narratives, but more often than not, the latter is a defence against the former.

Increasingly, when non-Malays vote, they vote because they want their communities to be left alone. Every time a non-Malay votes, it is in the expectation that whoever they vote for will constrain the religious and racial excesses of mainstream Malay politics. This involves issues from closing down non-Muslim businesses to unilateral conversions to destroying places of worship.

We are really not talking about deep policy issues but merely democratic instincts of self-preservation. This is probably why non-Malays latch onto any Muslim personality who makes the right noises about issues they consider sacred. This is why the non-Malay vote is considered secure in the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

The mandarins of the DAP must be really grateful for this election because it puts the kibosh on the whole deadline thing.


Elections have consequences

The Malay community has choices that non-Muslims do not. Now, while these choices may be more of the same, the reality is that they can punish incumbents and political parties that claim to represent them.

This is why folks say elections have consequences. Malay power brokers understand that it really does not matter what they do because the DAP support base will not punish DAP, unlike the Malay majority polity, who have demonstrated their willingness to shift their support to whatever reactionary Malay/Muslim party they think best serves their interests.

But keep in mind they also thought about this in MCA. What destroyed MCA was not DAP’s propaganda but the acceptance by a large voting demographic of the Chinese community that no representation in the government is better than MCA representation.

This is why we get folks talking about how DAP makes a better opposition for the non-Malays than when they actually occupy seats of power.

The online harassment of third-party candidates, as well as the demeaning of so-called mosquito parties and outliers speaking against the double talk of DAP, is a testament that the non-Muslims have shot themselves in the foot when it comes to viable alternatives to legacy parties.

This is an ethnocracy where all these proud defenders of bangsa (race) and agama (religion) run to DAP and the non-Malays when they need our help and then take a dump on us when they feel confident enough that they have suckered their community into voting for them again.


Afraid to take chances

What we are dealing with here is a new political terrain where there are no truly progressive political parties in the mainstream establishment.

Yes, we could hope for independent candidates and outlier coalitions, but people are too afraid to take any kind of chances, which is what these legacy parties are banking on. This is about fear.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is very well aware that although on social media, non-Malays rant and rave, the reality is that when it comes to the ballot box, they will vote for his factotums because they believe that flawed as he is, there is no alternative.

PM Anwar Ibrahim


For people I have spoken to who are dissatisfied with the way things are, they do not really blame Anwar. They blame DAP for not speaking up. After all, Anwar, they say, is taking care of his community, but why is DAP kowtowing to everything?

This, of course, directly opposes how Perikatan Nasional voters think. They have seen Malay politicians brought down by the will of the people and by factional ideological blocs.

They understand that the individual is less important than the political parties that they support or from which they can withdraw their support.

More the pity that the non-Muslims do not have this advantage.

S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”

Harapan's real enemy in Johor may not be BN

Harapan's real enemy in Johor may not be BN

Mahathir Mohd Rais
Published: Jul 1, 2026 11:32 AM
Updated: 1:32 PM



COMMENT | BN will most likely win Johor, and anyone inside Pakatan Harapan who cannot admit that is not reading the ground properly.

Johor is not a state where BN has to start from zero. The machinery is there, the branches are alive, and the local figures are known.

In many areas, people still know which BN man to call when something needs to be solved. Some complain about BN, some are bored with BN, some want better choices, but familiarity still carries weight.

Harapan cannot fight the election by pretending otherwise.

The issue is not whether BN can form the next state government. BN probably can. The issue is whether BN returns with the same comfort it had in 2022, or whether voters cut that comfort down.

BN won 40 out of 56 seats in the last state election. That was enough for BN to behave as if Johor was safely back in its hands. If BN now wins around 35 seats, it still governs because the simple majority is 29.

But 35 is not 40. It means BN has lost ground. The state is still under BN, but not as securely as before.

Harapan cannot afford to lie about its own target either. Johor will not be taken by mood, slogans or speeches alone. BN’s base is still wide, especially outside urban and mixed constituencies. Harapan’s strength is more concentrated. The numbers are not easy.

Not a useless election

But the election is not useless. If Harapan cannot form the government, it must take as many seats as possible from BN and make the next BN government smaller than it wants to be.

Even that argument is not enough. Harapan cannot walk into Johor pretending voters are waiting to be rescued from a government that has done nothing.

BN has been handling the usual rakyat work. Floods, housing issues, small traders, state aid and local services still go through the BN-led machinery. Voters know this. Some may be unhappy with the speed, the quality or the politics behind it, but they are not blind.

So Harapan must answer the question properly: what exactly are you offering that BN is not already doing? Another service centre? Another assemblyperson to forward complaints? Another speech about checks and balances?

If that is all, voters will shrug. Harapan cannot survive in Johor by selling a weaker version of BN’s ground service, especially while sitting with BN in Putrajaya. It must prove why its presence changes anything.

Does it expose what BN hides? Does it force faster action? Does it protect areas BN takes for granted? Does it speak when state agencies fail, or only when cameras are around?

If Harapan cannot answer that, not all disappointed voters will return to BN. Some are still anti-BN, but no longer fully convinced by Harapan. They may want to punish Harapan without crossing back to BN.

They may still reject BN, but they are tired of Harapan’s compromises. These voters exist in urban seats, mixed seats, younger circles, professional groups, old reform networks and among people who once defended Harapan with real conviction.


Moving beyond BN

Harapan asked voters for years to reject BN. Many did not treat that as normal party talk. They defended Harapan in family arguments, in WhatsApp groups, at workplaces and in coffee shops.

They stood by the idea that old politics had to be challenged. Then the federal arrangement happened, and Harapan sat with BN in Putrajaya.

There are reasons for it. There is arithmetic behind it. But voters are not calculators. They remember the old speeches. They remember the old anger. They remember being told that Malaysia needed to move beyond BN, and now they are asked to separate Putrajaya from Johor.

Parti Bersama Malaysia lives in this gap. It does not need to take over Johor. It only needs to give disappointed Harapan voters somewhere to dump their anger without going back to BN.

In a marginal seat, a few hundred votes can decide everything. A voter may think he is only punishing Harapan, only rejecting the compromise in Putrajaya, only sending a message that the party should not take reform voters for granted.

Once the votes are counted, that protest may appear as another BN seat.

Don’t laugh Bersama off

That is why Bersama should not be laughed off. It does not need a massive wave. It only needs the right frustration in the wrong seats.

It can speak to younger voters who think Harapan has compromised too much, urban fence-sitters who dislike BN but no longer feel excited by Harapan, and old supporters who still cannot fully accept seeing Harapan and BN under the same federal roof.

Bersama is not strong enough to replace Harapan, but it may be strong enough to weaken Harapan.

Harapan cannot answer this by scolding voters. No party owns voters. Harapan does not own urban voters, Chinese voters, Indian voters, young voters, or reform voters.

If they are disappointed, Harapan has to face them properly. The answer cannot be guilt. It cannot be arrogance. It cannot be “you have no choice.” Voters hate that tone, and they should.

The honest answer is simpler: if the aim is to reduce BN’s majority in Johor, the vote must go where it can become a seat. In most constituencies, that means Harapan.

A Bersama vote may feel clean to an angry Harapan voter. It may feel like a way to punish the party without returning to BN.

The trouble is that elections do not care how clean a vote feels. If Bersama takes enough votes from Harapan in a close seat, BN benefits.

BN does not need every voter to love it. BN only needs its base to hold, its machinery to work, and its opponents to split. That is how seats are won even when the wider mood is not fully behind the winner.

Harapan has to speak to its own voters before Bersama does. Harapan works with BN in Putrajaya. That part cannot be hidden. But it does not follow that Johor must give BN another large mandate.

The federal arrangement was forced by national numbers, not by love for BN. Cooperation in Putrajaya does not mean BN should be rewarded with an oversized mandate in Johor.

If Harapan cannot explain that in plain language, Bersama will explain it against Harapan, and BN will quietly enjoy the damage.


Strong Harapan vs weak Harapan

This is the practical value Harapan must sell. A stronger Harapan bloc may not form the state government, but it can still bargain, pressure and force commitments on issues that affect Johor voters.

A weak Harapan can only complain from the side. A stronger Harapan can make the next government think twice. If Harapan cannot make that case, then its campaign becomes another recycled promise that sounds good during campaign week and disappears after polling day.

The worst outcome for Harapan is not simply losing Johor. BN winning Johor is already the likely outcome. The worst outcome is losing seats that could have been won because Harapan’s own disappointed voters drifted to Bersama, allowing BN to walk through the gap and claim a stronger mandate than it deserves.

That would not be bad luck. That would be Harapan failing to manage the doubt created by its own compromises.

Johor voters who still want BN checked have to decide what their vote is meant to do. If the vote is only a message, Bersama may look attractive. If the vote is meant to change the seat count, Harapan remains the more practical vehicle in most constituencies.

A message can feel good for one night. A seat changes the balance for five years.

Harapan should not waste time pretending BN is weak. The task is to stop BN from winning too comfortably. That starts with Harapan proving its added value, facing its own voters, and stopping Bersama from turning disappointment into extra seats for BN.



MAHATHIR MOHD RAIS is a former Federal Territories Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional secretary. He is now a PKR member.

Israel is a Terrorist State

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pstedSoorn17f5c46131amif708163m4fiai41i9hit7lci9u0hcumu5ciat ·

Carrie Prejean Boller, former member of Trump's Religious Liberty Commission, is speaking out strongly against the attacks.

Last night Israel bombed civilian tents again in Khan Younis.

After nearly 1,000 days of genocide, Israel continues the same massacre.

Entire families were hit while sleeping in the darkness.

Innocent civilians, including children, were killed by the bombs.

How much longer will the world stay silent in the face of this barbarity?

#FreePalestine #GazaGenocide #StopTheBombing