U.S. strikes back hard against Iran

• IRGC announced: Strait of Hormoz fully closed until US ceases its interference in this region. No vessel will be permitted to pass through. Following this Iranian move, the US is now carrying out on-going attacks throughout southern and southwestern areas of Iran, by firing surface-to-surface HIMARS ballistic missiles from Bahrain & Kuwait. Explosions reported in: Bandar Abbas, Asaluyeh, Bushehr, Sirik, Minab, Ahvaz. Axios reports that in response Iran targeted US bases in Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait and Jordan.

• Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth: 'Iran made a poor choice. Now, they will pay.' CENTCOM confirms the US is currently attacking Iran in retaliation for blocking ships from crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Trump’s orders. 
• Iran published images of an intercepted American Tomahawk cruise missile launched from a US navy destroyer in the Gulf of Oman toward Iran. The missile was shot down by the Iranian air defenses in Khorramabad, Lorestan province, yesterday. 

• Iran’s MFA Spokesperson: We did not make any request to negotiate with the US, however, we did not reject a request from one of the regional mediators to visit Iran. This meeting took place in Mashhad, and we conveyed our views to the Qatari side.
• Iranian Ministry of Health: 17 Iranians, including a woman, killed and 115 others injured in US recent attacks.
• Close-up footage of the Israeli strikes on Gaza City. 

• More than 1,100 Israeli military and settler violations were recorded across the occupied West Bank in just one week, according to the Moata Centre. The documented violations include raids, attacks on Palestinian communities, property destruction, assaults on civilians, and other violations carried out across different areas of the occupied territory. 

• Middle East Eye: Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said US envoy Steve Witkoff described Gaza’s entire population as “two million Nazis” during a private meeting last year.  According to Smotrich Witkoff told him: “Bezalel, I will not let two million Nazis live next to your children along the border fence.” Smotrich also quoted Witkoff as saying that “There is only one thing that hurts the enemy: land.” The meeting was also attended by then‑Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. Smotrich’s remarks came just days before Trump publicly unveiled his plan to “take over” the Gaza Strip and relocate its population. The initiative proposes so‑called “voluntary relocation packages” for Palestinians, offering $5,000 per person. Developed without any Palestinian involvement, the plan effectively formalized a foreign presence in the Gaza Strip. 
• Trump ready for mid-terms: The Donald is trying out his new talking points in time for the November Congressional elections. His two latest are the 'Commies are coming' and 'They want to kill me'. His supporters are now likely arming up for a possible civil war.

• Tens of thousands of children born in Gaza during the genocide have only known war. But even though they’re still living in tents under near-daily bombardment, they still find moments of joy. 

• Israeli occupation forces opened fire on homes in the town of Mansouri, continued to demolish houses in the city of Bint Jbeil, and carried out a bombing operation this morning in Majd al-Zoun, southern Lebanon.
• Zionist settlers have attacked a CNN crew and detained a US congressman. Imagine what they do to Palestinians. California Democratic lawmaker Ro Khanna said he was detained by Israeli settlers armed with US-made rifles during a West Bank visit this week that he cast as an unfiltered look at the human toll of Israeli occupation. 

• Black Agenda Report: The war in Sudan between government forces and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) backed Rapid Support Force (RSF) continues, and so does what experts call the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. The city of El Obeid is under siege, and there are fears of another massacre, such as in El Fasher.

• Evacuation of Konstantynivka: In a tense environment near the front lines, Russian troops carried out a complex and carefully planned evacuation of civilians from Konstantynivka.  Over three days, combatants from the 4th Independent Mechanized Brigade "South" evacuated several groups of civilians from the city. In total, approximately 20 people, including children, were evacuated. Special and secure routes were developed for the evacuation of the people. During different stages of the evacuation, drones, light and fast all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, and ground robotic systems were used to ensure the safety of the people. "The bad things are already forgotten," said one of the rescued women. [Ukraine has occupied this region generally since 2014 using it as a launch pad for attacks against the Russian-ethnic Donbass population and into Russia itself. Zelensky's Nazi led forces are now on the run.] 

• Sovereignista: "German Embassy suggests we should stop what it called an ‘aggressive war’ and informs us about fuel shortages," says Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. "We agree it’s time for Berlin to stop waging an aggressive war through the Kiev regime. In the meantime, the concerned German diplomats can take public transport."

• South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham unexpectedly died last night and is now on his way to meet his Devil. Graham was a long-time major promoter of the US-NATO war on Russia using Ukraine as the hammer. He's also a Netanyahu lover and has fought hard to fund Israel's wars against Palestine, Lebanon and now Iran.

Hells Angels Airshow Protest in Brunswick, Maine

On Friday the Navy Blue Angels (Hells Angels) came to Brunswick, Maine and spent half the day flying low, just over our heads, as a way to 'build interest' for the air show that would be held over the weekend at the former naval air base in our community. The short clip above was taken right in front of our apartment.

Then on Saturday morning we began lining up just before 8:30 am outside the closed base as legions of vehicles were already crawling toward the air show parking lots. 

Over 30 of us from around the state spent the next three hours in the hot sun with our signs and banners making eye contact with those inching by in the traffic snarl. Most had their windows up but a decent number were reacting positively to the wonderful activist 'Ideal Maine Band' out of Portland that played again (for the 3rd time) during one of our many air show protests over the years. 

We've often heard that Maine is one of the easiest states in the nation where the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines can find eager new recruits due to our depressed economy. Thus lots of air shows have been held in our mid-coast town.

Some years ago a group of us paid to go inside and handed out hundreds of flyers opposing these air shows. We were not surprised by how much of the event was centered on recruitment with big tents for each branch of the military offering fancy video games for the young kids to practice killing 'the bad guys'. After checking out that scene our group on that occasion carried our banner and stood underneath a B-1 bomber. We figured we'd quickly get arrested but they appeared not to want to 'make a scene' by cuffing and dragging us off to jail in front of the enormous crowd. (Click on photo for better view)

Surprisingly yesterday we got a decent amount of waves and peace signs from those entering though we did get many more negatives (middle fingers, thumps down, shouts, and snarls) from Trump's adoring militarist fan club. 

But we were most interested in making eye contact with the kids in the back seats of the cars and many of them rewarded us with curiosity, smiles and waves. Sometimes it is best to take the long term view.

All in all it was a good day. We were able to bring a determined and colorful anti-imperial opposition to another 'USA war mongering event' in our community.

Bruce

• Our next statewide monthly peace protest will be held in Bangor on Saturday, July 25 at 11:00 am at the downtown West Market Square.

~ Photos and videos by MB Sullivan

Sunday song

FIFA football (mafia style): Egypt vs Argentina and The Puppeteer Show

Nicole Jenes analizza le controversie arbitrali avvenute durante l'incontro di calcio tra Egitto e Argentina.

the funnies

Trump worried that Iran might kill him

• Meanwhile in Mashad, Iran: Millions were waiting on the streets ahead of the final funeral ceremony for martyr Imam Khamenei and family members. 

• According to official estimates, 41 to 43 million people attended the funeral ceremony in total over 6 days in 5 cities: Tehran, Qom, Najaf, Karbala, and Mashhad. The ceremonies in Tehran lasted 3 days, while in Qom, Najaf-Karbala, and Mashhad, they lasted 1 day each.

• Head of the Public Relations and Media Center of the Iranian Ministry of Health: The American attacks on July 8 and 9 resulted in 14 martyrs and 78 injured. Among the wounded, 47 people are still receiving treatment in hospitals.

• The maritime traffic control tower was damaged at Bushehr, in order to damage Iran’s eye on the Strait of Hormoz. Two explosions were heard on Boo Musa Island, one of Iran’s three strategic islands. The US also bombed the navy base in Chabahar, southeastern Iran.   

• Among the targets of the US in Iran was on the transit bridge and railway line in Aqqala. It’s a railway line that connects Iran with China and Russia via the east corridor. This route was used by Russia to transport its goods since last November, and the volume of freight trains from China had tripled after the naval blockade. [US now moving to isolate Iran from its allies. Time will tell how this aggressive strategy works out.] 

• IRGC statement: "Retaliation completed". Key infrastructure and facilities at four US bases in Kuwait (Arifan and Ali al-Salem) and Bahrain (Jafair and Sheikh Isa) were targeted. 
• USAF aircraft refueling in the Persian Gulf with refuellers taking off from Tel Aviv & Qatar. Israeli media say the Israeli Air Force may have participated in strikes against Iran. Air defense site near Bushehr nuclear plant targeted in US strikes. 

• CNN on the US Navy: We have at least 19 warships near Iran.
• The IRGC says it struck a US-linked command-and-control center at Muwaffaq al Salti US Air Base in Jordan with 10 ballistic missiles. The IRGC says this was the 2nd phase of retaliation for US attacks, and warn that if the US attacks again, other American bases in the region will also be targeted.
• Haaretz Hebrew Newspaper Israeli Analyst: We are now living in a world more like a madhouse, led by the biggest madman, Trump.
• Hebrew Live: A 21-year-old discharged soldier from the Israeli army committed suicide today by shooting himself in the head.
• Professsor Glenn Diesen: The NATO Summit reads like a declaration of war. The Europeans got what they wanted, diplomacy is dead & this is now Trump's war. How to fight and defeat the world's largest nuclear power in a fight for its survival? We will now see massive escalation as we move toward total war.

• Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister: “Russia will no longer believe that the West wants negotiated solutions regarding Ukraine.” According to Lavrov, the West was simulating a willingness to negotiate on Ukraine, but is now openly issuing ultimatums to Russia. [US always plays good cop-bad cop but in the end is a fascist war mongering colonial power - and a declining one at that.]

• Responsible Statecraft: Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request show that the Selective Service recently gamed out what a military draft would look like in a future war. It would not resemble the one the nation lived through 55 years ago for the Vietnam War. Instead, those with “special skills” would be conscripted first.  According to the January 2026 military mobilization exercise, the first wave of draftees could include “computer network technicians, electronics technicians, aerospace engineers, divers, welders, gas turbine engine mechanics, electricians, heavy equipment operators, longshoremen, steel workers / pipefitters, radar / communications technicians, fiber optic technicians, mariners, aviation structural mechanics, cyber security specialists, robotics operators and technicians, air traffic controllers, logistics specialists, [and] linguists.”

• Between 1966 and 1996, France conducted 193 nuclear weapons tests in French Polynesia, contaminating an estimated 110,000 people —nearly the entire population of the territory at the time.
• CovertAction Magazine: In December 2025, Hawaiian Congressman Ed Case (Democrat) issued a press release announcing his support for the $900 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included $1 billion for military construction projects in Hawai’i. Case gave a speech before Congress last year asserting that Chinese Premier Xi Jinping was cheering on Republicans who voted against funding the Ukraine War because they were supposedly playing into Xi’s ambitions to establish Chinese global domination—enabled by an isolationist US. Case’s use of Sinophobic rhetoric to justify an expansion of the military presence in Hawai’i is matched by Hawai’i’s other Democratic Party congresswoman, Jill Tokuda, who sits on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, a fear-mongering body that has spread alarmist rhetoric and false accusations directed against China reminiscent of the McCarthy era. 
• Former Colombian candidate Cepeda warns about "paramilitary government" in Colombia: "After learning of announcements about the first decrees that he will issue, we have reached a serious conclusion: a paramilitary Government is beginning to take shape in Colombia," said Iván Cepeda in a statement, commenting on the first proposals announced by the elected president of Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella. The senator maintained that this conclusion is based on three initiatives announced by Espriella: the creation of "urban search blocks" and "first lines of security" made up of veterans and reservists, the reestablishment of the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad and the construction of private prisons.  
• Simplicius: NATO has apparently decided that Russia can no longer be defeated militarily or even economically. The only way they now deem it’s possible to bring Russia to the negotiating table is by inflicting pain on the civilian population, which they believe will rebound onto the political elite, putting pressure on Putin to end the war. The problem is the Russian population is far more hip to the true contours of global events than the propagandized Western populaces. Russians know they are fighting an existential war led by the West with the goal to destroy Russia completely. As such, Russian people are not being in some way “radicalized” against their own government, at least not in the ways the West thinks. For Ukraine, the battlefield situation continues to worsen, and this campaign to make Russian society “feel the pain” is all that it’s got left. 

• @MaryKostakidis: Australia’s use as a US military base is being expanded in preparation for war with China, our biggest trading partner, one that has fueled our nation’s prosperity and poses no military threat to our country (or the US for that matter but that is not what it’s about). 

• The Kiev regime glorifies Nazis and everyone in the EU knows it, but nobody cares as long as Ukrainians keep being used as cannon fodder against Russia. The EU Parliament has approved an amendment that criticised Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decision to rename an elite Ukrainian military unit after the World War II Nazi and Holocaust  collaborators Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a move that has sparked a diplomatic dispute with Poland. The move comes only 2 months after Zelesnky started repatriating the bodies of Ukrainian Nazi and Holocaust collaborators to bury them in Ukraine with with all the honours in state funerals. 

BRICS in space?

The new BRICS Space Council enables an unprecedented sanctions by-pass through strategic India-China-Russia cooperation, forever altering the global balance of power.

In June 2026, Bengaluru became the epicenter of a silent revolution. In this video, Think BRICS analyzes how BRICS space cooperation is building a BRICS space economy entirely independent of Western control. 

As the world watches the bloc’s expansion, the creation of the BRICS 'remote sensing satellite constellation' (RSSC) represents the boldest step yet toward a multipolar world. We explore the roles of India, China, and Russia in merging their constellations - Gaofen, Resourcesat, and Kanopus - to create a "virtual constellation" that directly challenges the BRICS vs NASA dynamic.

Why has the geopolitical space race shifted? We examine the case of Iran gaining high-resolution data despite US sanctions and Ethiopia seeking climate sovereignty. We see how space technology is not just science, but a parallel space infrastructure. 

For the latest BRICS news on the global south space collaboration this deep dive is useful. Discover why the US is terrified of BRICS and their new reach into the stars.

While we provide a deep analysis of the BRICS space council  this video does not cover private commercial space missions (such as SpaceX) or deep-space manned missions to Mars unrelated to the bloc's immediate goals. 

The video concentrates on the geopolitical impact of BRICS space technology and its role as a space infrastructure, excluding discussions on space debris management or international treaties regarding space-based weaponry, focusing strictly on the new power architecture of the Global South. 

History lesson: CIA's role in supporting brutal Shah of Iran

In March 1980, the U.S. hostages inside the American Embassy in Iran had been held for four months. 

Iranian students took the Americans hostage because the U.S. allowed the Shah of Iran to get asylum in the U.S. and to take with him much of the wealth of the Iranian nation.

Mike Wallace’s report asked why so many Iranians endorsed their captivity.

The hostage crisis began on November 4, 1979. Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. A total of 52 American diplomats and citizens were held. The hostages were released on January 20, 1981.The total duration of captivity was 444 days.

U.S. Senate race controversy in Maine grows

 

Democrat Party in Maine now silencing the grassroots movement that they built.

This letter of resignation from their party mobilization director indicates the move to insert a corporate candidate in the now open U.S. Senate candidate position due to Graham Platner dropping out of the race due to charges of rape.

The party intends to hold a 600-person meeting to pick the new candidate. They appear to be pushing out the powerful anti-war, anti-corporate base that Platner's campaign successfully built during the past year.

Ben Chin, Graham Platner’s campaign manager writes:

"We’ve said from the very beginning that this campaign was never about Graham but about a movement of working people united to take back power... the Maine Democratic Party said that our movement will 'have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like.'

Instead, under their watch and direction, they allowed the DC-based Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to send staffers to plan a potential nominating process behind closed doors. Both the state and national parties cut our team, our volunteers, and our vast networks of supporters out of the conversation completely.

We firmly believe that the supporters and volunteers who built this movement deserve to have a real role in any nomination process. If the Maine Democratic Party hopes to harness our movement, and avoid disillusioning the hundreds of thousands of supporters who came into the fray because of our movement’s policies, it must consult the feedback and proposals of the people who built and sustained this." 

July 4 protest at NSA spy base in Yorkshire, England

 

Published by The Yorkshire Post, 5 July 2026

Campaigners made their annual Independence Day protest near RAF Menwith Hill at the weekend.

The event was organised by the Menwith Hill Accountability Campaign (MHAC) and Yorkshire Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) to draw attention to what they claim is a lack of accountability surrounding activities at the base near Harrogate, a UK military site which is operated by the United States.

Protesters meet outside the site every Tuesday, but plan a more concentrated effort each year for American Independence Day on July 4.

A spokesperson for the organisers said: “Nominally an RAF Base, this United States surveillance facility is closed even to UK Members of Parliament and maintains secrecy about its actions – for example the directing of drone attacks and economic spying.”

Campaigners opposed to the activities of the United States-run intelligence base at RAF Menwith Hill, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Credit: Asadour Guzelian.

The event included a talk by CND about the role of the base and the concerns of people about its military operations, and some then visiting the main gate of Menwith Hill, where there was a reading of a “Declaration of Independence from America”, which was originally written by members of Otley Peace Action Group in the 1980s.