Trump threatens to grab all Iran's oil

• Iran’s IRGC says it struck 4 major targets at a US air base and command-and-control center in Muwaffaq al Salti Airbase, Jordan, using long-range solid-fuel missiles. Iran also launched missiles on on 21 US targets in the region (Kuwait & Bahrain). The IRGC also downed an MQ-9 drone, and warns that any further US action will receive a harsher response.
• Iran’s IRIB denies reports of hits on commercial port on Qeshm Island. The retaliation attacks came after the US struck a critical water distribution infrastructure in Sirik, southern Iran. According to the CEO of Hormozgan Province Water and Wastewater Company: The US hit a 500 cubic meter tank and a 2,000 cubic meter tank, which played a key role in supplying drinking water to Sirik. Operational and crisis management teams are working to implement alternative measures to ensure sustainable water supply. (Mind you, that’s a severe war crime as if they care).

• This criminal attack against people's lives has led to a complete disruption of the water supply in all villages of the Bamani district, the city of Kouhestak, and ten neighboring villages, amid temperatures ranging between 45°C to 50°C. As a result, thousands of residents have been placed in the midst of a severe humanitarian crisis due to the lack of access to safe drinking water. 
• ABC news: Trump says the US will ‘get half’ of Iran's oil in Marshall Plan-style reconstruction. 
• Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Lebanon's President Aoun and the Lebanese people: 'We in Israel seek peace with Lebanon. The people of Israel support peace with Lebanon. Peace with Lebanon is feasible.' Israel has violated every ceasefire they have ever been a part of - then they blame the other side. The Zionists speak with a 'forked tongue'. 

• Israeli Defense Minister Katz: 'The Middle East is changing before our eyes. Right now, we proudly see our heroic fighters operating deep in Lebanon against the terrorist organization Hezbollah, which acts on behalf of the Iranian regime, delivering heavy blows to it. We must not think the job is done — the campaign against Iran is far from over. If Iran attacks Israel, it will suffer a severe blow as we did a few days ago. The IDF is prepared to strike Iran with great force.'
• A drone strike on an electrical generator just outside the inner perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the United Arab Emirates on May 17, suddenly brought the Persian Gulf to the brink of an environmental and nuclear catastrophe. Iranian military sources have confirmed what the evidence suggests: the attack was carried out by the Israeli military in a calculated provocation designed to push the UAE toward greater hostility against Iran. The UAE now finds itself at the epicenter of a dangerously escalating crisis following the attack on its only nuclear power facility, which, if breached, could irradiate the entire region. The flight path impossibilities, the operational sophistication required, and the consistent, decades-long pattern of US-Israeli false-flag operations across the region all converge on a single point. Iranian military sources have explicitly identified the Zionist regime as the perpetrator. The attack serves Israeli interests with surgical precision: driving a wedge between Iran and its Arab neighbors, sowing regional discord, and creating a pretext for further escalation, all while Tel Aviv celebrates the chaos and destabilization.

• Trump: “We are going to be attacking Iran and attacking them very hard. We will be resuming bombing. We have the right to do that. They shot down our helicopter.” Do any of these people around Trump have a conscience? 

• The EU demands that Georgia impose sanctions against Russia in exchange for visa-free travel. Tbilisi refuses says Shalva Papuashvili, speaker of the Georgian Parliament. In his opinion, such a decision would lead to the destruction of the country. "We cannot destroy our country just because Brussels wants to turn visa policy into a political tool today," he said.
• Ibrahim Rezaei, spokesperson for Iran's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee. 

• US inflation heats up to highest pace in about three years, fueled by war. The rate hit 4% for the first time in three years in May, driven by surging gas prices.
• US spending on nuclear weapons surged by nearly a quarter in 2025. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) reports the world’s nine nuclear-armed states spent nearly $119 billion on their arsenals last year. The US remained by far the biggest spender, pouring $69.2 billion into its nuclear arsenal – more than all other eight nations combined. Washington also recorded the largest annual increase of $12.4 billion.  
• Secretary of War Pete Hegseth at Guantanamo Bay: 'What happens with the future of Cuba is in the hands of the President of the US and the leadership of Cuba. No matter what, the Department of War is going to be prepared and postured for any possible contingency.' Do any of these people around Hegseth have a conscience? 

• In an Op-Ed for The Hill, Peter Garretson, senior fellow in defense studies at the American Foreign Policy Council, and Richard Harrison, vice president of operations, asks, "Is America ready for a nuclear explosion in space? By next week, the Department of Defense and intelligence community should have an actionable plan to deal with this gargantuan problem. Congress needs to stand ready to resource it. Moreover, as we have recommended, it should catalyze investments in space traffic management models, commercial 'what if' agreements, radiation remediation technology, radiation-hardened replenishment, and long-term investments in an in-space industrial base above the threat." 

US space nuke test in 1962

• Taiwan has launched approximately 36 US-supplied missiles into the water off the coast of mainland China, in a first time live-fire drill on the self-governing island’s west coast. The exercise comes amid mounting tensions between Taipei and Beijing, which considers Taiwan sovereign Chinese territory.
• A funny Iran football story: Iran’s national team captain tells the story of getting stopped and searched by masked men in Tulum, Mexico:  “He kept asking ‘country, country?’ We said Holland. My friend goes, ‘Say Iran — these guys are good with Iran!’ Then he searched my friend, who said ‘Iran’ — and the guy just laughed: ‘Iran! Go on, off you go!'”
• Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth: 'When we bomb Iran tonight, it’s not about restarting the war—it’s about getting them to accept our terms of the deal.'
• American Patriot (PAC-3) anti-missile systems were unable to resist Russian missiles, said the former commander of US forces in Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges. "Nine missiles were fired at Kyiv. Nine missiles reached their targets. None were intercepted. None were hit by Patriot batteries, which the US provided specifically to protect Kyiv from strikes of this kind." According to him, other Western systems that have become part of the Ukrainian air defense system did not work either. "It failed because Russia has created a missile capability that the current generation of air defense systems provided by NATO cannot handle. It is unpleasant to admit, but it is so," the general said.

• Following reports of the arrest of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish young man who had evaded military service, Haredi protesters blocked a road in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of occupied Jerusalem and clashed with the police. 

• Musk’s Starlink system hooked rural customers. Then came the price hikes. The billionaire’s satellite internet service is a lifeline to many, but some users who face higher prices say Starlink has amassed too much power.
• Finian Cunningham writes: "The level of NATO participation in waging war on Russia with its Ukrainian proxy has become absurdly obvious. In recent weeks, hundreds of Ukrainian drones have crashed in Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and Romania. The Kiev regime has repeatedly apologized to European capitals for the infringements that have resulted in injuries to civilians. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has even urged that NATO states should help Ukraine in targeting Russia to avoid 'mistakes'. The NATO states are [already] providing targeting data and permitting the use of their territory to maximize the attacks on Russia. Hundreds of Russian civilians have been killed in these NATO-assisted drone operations, the most dreadful being the murder of 21 students at a college dormitory in Starobelsk, Lugansk, on May 22. Last week, on the same day as the drone attack on St Petersburg, eight civilians were killed, and 10 were injured when their bus was blown up in an air strike while traveling through the Donetsk region towards Crimea.

• Children in Cuba are dying amid acute shortages of essential medical supplies caused by US-imposed economic sanctions, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk says. The island nation has endured daily blackouts and severe fuel deficits in recent months after Venezuela, once Havana’s main oil supplier, stopped crude shipments under pressure from the US in early 2026. This was preceded by the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by American commandos in January. US President Donald Trump has since repeatedly stated that he intends to “take” Cuba “one way or another.”

Water in Maine drying up as Poland Spring drains the state

Poland Spring is raking in millions by bottling and selling Maine's water — and throwing their weight around in state politics to keep profits flowing. 

During a drought this year, they publicly said they were cutting back. 

But we found evidence they're pumping even more. 

Remembering fallen journalist in Gaza at the hands of Israel

Trump's World Cup racism reveals true nature of U.S.

• On the eve of the tournament, immigration issues have emerged as an obstacle to a World Cup that was awarded to North America in 2018 with promises of inclusivity. The event is now being threatened by concerns of restrictive entry into the US that FIFA has continually played down.
• Scores of journalists, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, have failed to get clearance to cover the World Cup. 
• Omar Abdulkadir Artan, a Somali referee was among a select group of about 50 World Cup referees, was also detained. Immigration officials questioned Mr. Artan, placed him in a holding cell and then deported him.
• Iran’s fate at the World Cup has been shrouded in uncertainty ever since the US and Israel began a joint assault on the country. Iran’s players were finally issued entry visas for their games in the US, but more than a dozen team officials and staff members have had their applications rejected. 
• Iran’s World Cup squad has been informed that they must leave and enter the US on the same day as their matches, and will not be allowed to stay for any period of time in the US. Iran is the only team in the entire FIFA 2026 World Cup that will be forced to travel back and forth, and will spend their time in Mexico instead.

• Iran said Tuesday that its allotment of World Cup tickets for its three group stage games had been pulled off the market. Iran's first game of the 2026 World Cup is on June 15. In a statement obtained by Reuters, its soccer federation said that it had begun selling tickets to the three games but those tickets are now no longer available.
• Uzbekistan's team (with sizable Muslim contingents) was surprised to see security officials waiting for them as they stepped off a bus before a tune up game against the Netherlands in New York. The players were subjected to searches with metal detectors. The Dutch team did not face the same searches.  
• “What is happening to players and staff and fans coming to the US for the World Cup is representative of the horrors millions of people in the US are experiencing under this regime,” said Tanya Greene, the US program director for Human Rights Watch. “It’s as if the administration wants to keep the world out of the World Cup.”
• Mother Jones reports: “The Trump administration has a record of denying international athletes visas, including members of an Ethiopian delegation to the World Athletics Cross Country Championships, whose 44-year medal streak was broken by a mass visa denial in January. Multiple Cuban sports delegations have also been locked out of sports competitions since 2025 by the US’ refusal to grant them visas—including Olympic qualification events.”
• This hostile policy extends to fans, with the US (until so recently that it was too late) requiring people from 50 ‘developing’ countries to post $5,000–$15,000 bonds for a visa. The countries include Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Tunisia. Haitian and Iranian fans are effectively banned from the competition. Meanwhile everyone else has to submit their social media records to a nation committing genocide, to see if they’re too vocal about it. 
• Israel has killed over 1,000 Palestinian athletes and staff and murdered dozens of footballers, including Suleiman Obeid (the Palestinian Pele). Israel recently arrested Natalie Abu Dayyeh and Rand Al Halawini of the Palestinian women’s national team. This is obscene, yet Israel is still allowed in FIFA competitions.  
• FIFA is facing an unexpected problem: ticket sales. The governing body still has roughly 180,000 unsold seats across host cities in the US, Canada, and Mexico. The gap is raising fresh concerns about empty stadiums and the optics for soccer’s biggest tournament. 

History lesson: White South Africans control of the resources

How did Pashinyan's "European dream" turn into Armenian dictatorship?

Pashinyan (left) the collaborator that the EU globalists have longed for

Alexey Muratov, head of the regional executive committee of the United Russia party, tells Politnavigator how Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan destroyed the opposition, put his main rival under house arrest and arrested six candidates a day before the vote – with the tacit approval of Brussels and Washington.

"Democracy in Armenia" in action. On the night before the parliamentary elections, the Armenian authorities detained two chairmen and a secretary of precinct election commissions, as well as arrested six opposition candidates. But that's not all. Just a few days earlier, more than 40 people had been detained. 

The leader of the main opposition force, Strong Armenia, Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, has been under house arrest for the fifth month on trumped-up charges of plotting a coup. The opposition is openly called "radically pro-Russian" and is methodically excluded from the election race. Politicians and experts have already dubbed what is happening the "Moldovan scenario" – a sweep of the political field according to EU guidelines, when opponents are removed not at the polls, but behind bars. "The mask slips" – the mask falls, and under it is the face of an authoritarian regime.

That's not all. Human rights activists are sounding the alarm: security forces are demolishing dioceses, arresting dozens of bishops and priests. For the first time in the modern history of the country, three archbishops and one bishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church were imprisoned at once. The Catholicos of All Armenians himself is forced to cancel the meetings of the Holy Synod due to the fact that the flock is being "horrified" in the literal sense of the word - detained, searched and imprisoned. 

There is a nuance that makes this farce particularly cynical. Despite the fact that Pashinyan has staged a real hunt for competitors in the country, the establishment in the West called these elections "free and democratic." Moreover, US President Donald Trump expressed "full and unconditional support" for the re-election of the prime minister, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen assured that "Europe stands firmly on the side of Armenia."

The West forgives Pashinyan for any crimes, as long as he leads the country away from Russia, even at the cost of destroying the last remnants of democracy. Russians in such cases say: "Even if you look into my eyes, it's all God's dew." European "defenders of democracy" have long since changed their name and now sponsor authoritarian regimes if they serve their geopolitical goals. 

And how did Armenia pay for this "European dream"? Karabakh is lost forever. The corridor to Zangezur has de facto passed under Baku's control. The economy is in ruins, borders are closed, and the population is fleeing the country. Now Pashinyan is selling off the last remnants of sovereignty for promises of a visa-free regime with the EU. But the price has already been paid – with the lives, territory, and future of an entire nation. 

And now – reap the benefits. You are being strangled, your country is being robbed, and your "democracy" has turned into a police state where the opposition is arrested the night before the vote, and the president is afraid to even go out to people without protection.

The West encourages this circus because Pashinyan is a convenient puppet. But the truth is, his days are numbered. Armenia is not an EU member, it is not even a candidate. She is just a bargaining chip in a big game that will soon be thrown into the dustbin of history. 

The Ukrainian scenario has already been written off. Now it's Armenian's turn. Classic: "Who controls the past controls the future"! Pashinyan rewrote history, forgot Karabakh, and betrayed his allies. And don't expect a miracle. The outcome is a foregone conclusion. 

Iran and allies holding off US-Israel terrorism

• Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC): Do not look for a credible threat anywhere other than Washington and Tel Aviv. If the satanic Zionist-American coalition makes another mistake, the region will become hell for it.
• From the Strait of Hormuz to Bab al-Mandab and from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, there will be a new security belt of resistance. The evils of the Zionist regime and America in this region will result in a reaction from the United Resistance Front.
• Yemen military: "We will only prevent Zionist ships from passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait."
• CNN: It was an Iranian Shahed drone that crashed into the US Apache helicopter.

• According to reports, the building that Iranian missiles hit inside of Israeli Ramat David Air Base, was the HQ of the Israeli Air Force’s 157th Squadron, which specializes in electronic warfare (EW) using classified drones. Ramat David is the only major base of Israel in the north, and the air base from where ‘Israel’ launches attacks on Lebanon. 
• In an article for Haaretz, former Israeli PM Ehud Barak stated that there is no sign of Hezbollah’s collapse and that the conflict can only be resolved diplomatically, given the rising pressures of Israeli society back home, particularly those living along the border regions. One word sums up the situation in Lebanon from the perspective of the prime minister: failure. And in two words: total failure.
• Simplicius: Israel is now trapped in a quagmire in both Gaza and Lebanon with its hands being increasingly tied by pressure from Trump, who himself is being swallowed by the pressures wrought of his failed Hormuz gambit. That means Israel may soon be trapped in an untenable position with all the hornet’s nests of its surrounding enemies having been stirred up, while its economy sinks and military stocks deplete. Iran holds the high ground in virtually every way, and each passing moment brings Iran more strength in reconstituting its losses.  

• The Bulgarian government has stated that it will no longer supply weapons to Ukraine.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama is obviously an Israeli agent doing the bidding of Trump and Netanyahu in order to create another pristine hiding place for 'Greater Israel'.

• Albanians fight Trump-Kushner resort fencing off public beaches. Jared Kushner's 'Affinity Partners' funded by Saudi and Qatari sovereign wealth, with Ivanka Trump publicly attached, is building luxury resorts on Albania's southern coast. A thousand villas and hotel rooms beside a new airport, inside the protected Narta lagoon home to flamingos and pelicans. In 2021 the area's protection was downgraded and shrunk by over 5,000 hectares. In February 2024, Parliament rewrote the Law on Protected Areas to allow building in protected zones. The Constitutional Court refused to strike it down. Then the fences went up. Under Albanian law no beach can be made private, the shoreline is public. Three public beaches were sealed off with no notice. Bulldozers appeared in the lagoon. In May residents and activists marched on the site. They were met by police standing back while masked private security moved in. Protesters reported pepper spray. The people are not asking for a better deal. The movements wants the strategic-investment laws repealed and the destruction work stopped. This is not Kushner's coast, and not Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama's to sell. It belongs to the people who learned to swim there. Albanian prosecutors just froze assets linked to Jared Kushner’s $4 billion resort project after mass protests.  

• A comprehensive global study that surveyed tens of thousands of people in nearly 100 countries found that the vast majority see the United States as the biggest threat to the world. At the same time, more and more nations say they prefer China over the US. China’s approval rating has risen dramatically in the Global South, in particular, where support for the US has plummeted. Most people in 65 out of the 84 countries said the United States is the largest danger. Another 10 countries (almost all in Europe) said Russia is the biggest threat. Seven (in West Asia and North Africa) said Israel. Israel said Iran. Japan said China.
• Trump makes an arrogant appearance at the NBA basketball finals in New York City last night. 

• Data centers. In addition to air pollution, water contamination, and PFAS contamination, the data center gold rush is increasing EMF exposures - which are linked to childhood cancer and other health impacts - through the massive electrical grid infrastructure being built to power these facilities, such as new substations and high voltage power lines.
• The biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) war games, the largest military naval exercise in the world, is scheduled to take place in the waters around, the air above, and on the ‘aina of Hawaii from June 24 to July 31, 2026. The US Pacific Fleet has announced that 31 nations will be participating that includes “a multinational force of approximately 40 surface ships, 5 submarines, 140 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel." Detailed plans of the military training for 2026 have yet to be released, but past training has included bombing and shelling, the sinking of ships, beach assaults, etc. on and around several islands including live fire training at Pohakuloa in the center of Hawaii island.  

• An example of the growing collapse of the US is this story from the Portland Press Herald. Maine's Department of Transportation has an $84 million budget shortfall. How will it affect residents? A gap in funding is forcing the state to postpone road repairs just as construction season begins, leaving local contractors scrambling for answers. Expect more stories like this across the nation as the Pentagon eats up more and more (now $1.5 trillion in 2026) of the federal budget due to endless war$. Isn't it time to connect the dots and cry out that war mongering is destroying our economy and our collective future? 

• President Sheinbaum rejects US military pressure on Mexican territory. The US calls it a security crisis. Mexico calls it a sovereignty violation. When the US proposed unilateral military operations inside Mexican territory, Sheinbaum's response was immediate and unambiguous: No. Not negotiable. Not subject to revision. The framing in US media treated her refusal as obstruction. The accurate framing is that she enforced the same territorial sovereignty the US would enforce without hesitation if the roles were reversed. What do you call it when a country refuses to let a foreign military operate inside its borders? Sovereignty!
• A chained soldier staged a solo picket on the Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine. He demands a clear term of service in the Ukrainian Armed Forces with the possibility of demobilization and calls the current system "slavery." Most of us who have been serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces since the first days of the full-scale invasion are already mentally exhausted and physically crippled. We have the right to have our elected leaders find at least partial options for our release from service after all this time, he wrote. 

USS Gerald Ford carrier fire - the Pentagon lied again

Israel now the top boss

US taxpayers are now, thanks to the US Congress, locked into perpetual funding of all of Israel's evil-doing war machine.

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson explains it quite well. 

Sabby Sabs expresses the much needed outrage as the Congress surrenders to AIPAC. 

Sweden not so democratic, neutral or peaceful

Sweden has quietly ended 200 years of neutrality and is now officially designated as a NATO staging area against Russia, a transformation driven not by public debate but by the behind-the-scenes influence of the powerful Wallenberg banking dynasty and their stakes in Ericsson and Saab. 

Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris are joined on The Duran by Swedish dissident journalist Mats Nilsson, who reveals how a series of agreements including the DCA deal, PAX Sinica membership, and a new US technology prosperity pact have locked Sweden into Washington's military-industrial agenda, sidelining the European Union and stripping Sweden of meaningful sovereignty. 

Did Swedish citizens ever get a vote on becoming a frontline battlefield, and is it already too late to reverse course?

Missiles flying again between Israel, Iran, Yemen & Hezbollah

• Iran’s MFA spokesman says the US bears full responsibility for the ‘Israeli’ aggression, and the consequences of escalating tensions are also on the US. Basically, the aggression against Iran happened in full coordination between Tel Aviv and Washington. The attacks on Iran’s southern regions and the assault on Lebanon are directly the responsibility of the US, and they must be held accountable for these crimes. Exchanging messages with the US happen in an atmosphere of severe mistrust. Iran can’t separate the policies of the Zionist regime from those of the US. 

• Yemen military: "The resistance is pounding Tel Aviv, Haifa, and beyond. The Axis of Resistance will not remain silent in the face of what is happening in Gaza and Lebanon, while the world is in a slumber."
• The IRGC says it targeted the Israeli Ramat David Air Base with ballistic missiles in response to Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon & Beirut’s Dahiyeh. It says Iran accepted the ceasefire only on the condition that all fronts stop firing. The latest attack on northern Israel is a joint Hezbollah-Iran attack. Israel has repeatedly violated the Lebanon ceasefire with US backing, including attacks on southern Lebanon and Beirut’s Dahieh.

• Iran’s Central Military command (Khatam al-Anbiya) says: A painful response was delivered to the regime, and we’ll halt operations for now. However, if aggressions and hostile acts continue, including in southern Lebanon, much harsher and more crushing responses than before will follow.
• During an interview with NBC, Trump unplugged his microphone and left mid-interview because he would not answer the questions and tried to guilt trip the interviewer. 

• The New York Times: The Israeli occupation army used white phosphorus shells in populated areas of southern Lebanon during recent months.
• Gerry Gershon, former deputy commander of the Israeli regime's Northern Front: Israel has lost control of the war, and currently Israel and the US are losing to Iran.
• Prime Minister Edi Rama of Albania threatens the protesters opposing the controversial Trump–Kushner resort project:  "Not 5,000 protesters in the streets, not even 500,000 protesters can stop me."

• Russia's Federation Council Speaker Matviyenko: "What we've seen in recent years is an ideologization and politicization of world politics and the world economy that does enormous harm to global development. These ill-considered actions by the collective West harm not only the whole world, but their own peoples as well." 

• Prisoners are brutally humiliated in prisons, forced to carry slippers with their teeth. The Ukrainian Penitentiary Service stated that an investigation is underway and the leadership of the pre-trial detention centre has been suspended. 

• Cuba has started distributing weapons to civilians, urging the population to prepare for a possible US invasion, according to Versión Final. Such measures are related to the growing tension around the island and the strengthening of the American military presence in the region. As CNN correspondent Patrick Oppmann reported, preparations for a possible military scenario have already affected daily life in Havana - in state institutions and organizations, they are discussing actions in case of an emergency and possible military operations. 

• Telegraph: The entire British fleet of nuclear submarines is found to be non-combat ready and awaiting repairs. All five active British Astute-class submarines are in port awaiting repairs or maintenance. The sixth submarine is not yet ready to go to sea. 

• The President of Romania admitted that the drone that exploded in the port of the city of Constanta was Ukrainian. He was unable to answer how the marine drone managed to penetrate the port. 

• Iran’s World Cup squad has been informed that they must leave and enter the US on the same day as their matches, and will not be allowed to stay for any period of time in the US. Iran is the only team in the entire FIFA 2026 World Cup that will be forced to travel back and forth, and will spend their time in Mexico instead.
• Sputnik: The potential deal with Iran that Trump is seeking would benefit Israel, but not Benjamin Netanyahu, who is using the war to stay in power, security expert Dr. Simon Tsipis told Sputnik. "Everything hinges on whether Benjamin Netanyahu is granted a pardon," Tsipis said. "He is using the prospect of clemency as leverage over both Trump and Israel’s institutions, including the Knesset and the Supreme Court. At present, by resuming strikes on Beirut, Netanyahu is trying, via Trump, to secure a pardon from President Herzog," Tsipis said. "If Herzog does not grant him a pardon, Netanyahu will likely continue bombing Beirut, and the deal with Iran will fall apart."

• Trump picks housing regulator Bill Pulte to lead on national intelligence. Pulte, a staunch political supporter of Trump, will replace Tulsi Gabbard. Pulte leads a federal mortgage regulation agency but has no experience with intelligence work. He will be just another Hegseth-type 'Yes man' for Trump.
• Just Foreign Policy: Donald Trump and Hakeem Jeffries (Democrat House leader) don't agree on much. But they agreed on this: You don't get to know what American forces are doing in Lebanon. This week, Congress voted 324 to 92 to block Rep. Rashida Tlaib's Lebanon War Powers Resolution – a measure that would have required the Trump administration to remove US forces from unauthorized hostilities in Lebanon within seven days. Trump demanded Republicans remain unified and stop the Lebanon War Powers Resolution from passing, like the Iran War Powers Resolution just a few days ago. Similarly, Democratic leadership recommended that the rank and file follow President Trump’s direction and vote against the War Powers Resolution, but for a slightly different reason: "There are no US servicemembers involved in combat operations or hostilities in Lebanon." Here's the problem: WE DON'T ACTUALLY KNOW IF THAT'S TRUE. Pete Hegseth's Pentagon has barred journalists from the building. Press conferences are rare. No mainstream news organizations have reporters embedded with US military units in the Middle East.

• Responding to US-Israeli Lebanese puppet President Joseph Aoun’s exclusive CNN interview, in which he said Iran is holding Lebanon hostage, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Aoun to focus on Lebanon’s “real foe” and added that if Lebanon had been a “bargaining chip” for Iran, a deal would have been reached “long ago.” 
• An airstrike trapped a journalist. She died as rescuers waited for permission to save her. Amal Khalil’s final hours in Lebanon revealed that Israel’s military denied rescuers access to her during a key period when she was still alive.
• Elon Musk has long clashed with the Federal Aviation Administration, which fined SpaceX $633,000 in 2024 for allegedly failing to follow license requirements. It temporarily suspended Starship launches in January 2025 after the rocket exploded for the fifth time. SpaceX requested to cut the FAA’s nuclear payload approval process in 2019 and signed a 2024 committee report recommending the government 'guarantee liability protection for launches with nuclear material'. Musk poured nearly $292 million in contributions to Republicans last election cycle, including $239 million to his America PAC that helped Trump’s comeback by shouldering canvassing and get-out-the-vote efforts. “Musk would like to have as little limitations to what he wants to launch as possible,” space law expert Frans von der Dunk told Sludge. “And if he has a government which is very sympathetic to the general idea, and where all the expertise to actually determine whether what he does is reasonably safe [is] eroding, then that worries me a lot.”
• The EU has authorised its warships to detain foreign tankers suspected of transporting Russian oil says Estonian lead pirate Kaja Kallas. Detentions are authorised to be carried out as part of the EU Naval Force operation, which was deployed in the Mediterranean Sea in 2020 to prevent illegal arms supplies to Libya. The EU countries to which the ships belong have not yet confirmed intentions to intercept ships. Europe has previously detained tankers with Russian oil, but soon released them. 

• An Israeli investment group — IDM Capital — has proposed a €136.5 million luxury resort and holiday village on the western part of Kalamata, Greece beachfront, covering approximately 205,000 square metres of coastal land. Greeks who have used that beach for generations would effectively lose access to it. Local residents and opposition politicians are pushing back hard. (More 'Greater Israel')
• Jean Shaoul reported last year that US troops were stationed in Lebanon at air strips not far from Beirut, and that the US was building a $1.2 billion fortified embassy on a 43-acre site near Beirut whose declared purpose was to counter the “Axis of Resistance,” meaning Iran. Shaoul wrote that the embassy’s “scale, out of all proportion to the country’s size, is indicative of US geo-political interests in Lebanon, with its strategic location and newly found sources of gas and oil under the eastern Mediterranean Sea.” Historically, the US has tried to exhibit control in Lebanon through Maronite Christian factions.  

Ajamu Baraka on Resistance to the World Cup & capitalism

In this episode of El Taller, the interview program from the Soberanía podcast, hosts José Luis Granados Ceja and Kurt Hackbarth sit down with Ajamu Baraka, national organizer and spokesperson for the Black Alliance for Peace, former vice presidential candidate of the Green Party, and a lifelong anti-imperialist activist.

The conversation focuses on the upcoming World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico; and the growing movement to oppose it. Baraka explains how the U.S. is using the tournament to sportswash its litany of international crimes: the war of aggression against Iran, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the kidnapping of Venezuela's president, and the escalating threats against Cuba. He describes FIFA's decision to proceed as evidence of the "moral and political bankruptcy" of Western institutions, driven by an estimated $11 billion in projected revenues.

The episode details the work of the Anti-Fascist Football Coalition, which is entering its second phase: organizing in the 11 U.S. host cities to educate the public, amplify local opposition to gentrification and resource diversion, and decide whether to call for an explicit boycott. An organic boycott may already be underway, with hotel bookings in some host cities running below normal summer levels — a consequence of the Trump administration's travel bans, visa-bond demands, and social media screening.

The discussion also touches on Mexico City's experience as a host city, where leftist local government has nonetheless fallen into the same traps: superficial beautification projects, conceding demands for tax exemptions, and pressure to suspend regulations. Baraka draws lessons from Brazil, where hosting massive events under Lula helped lay the groundwork for a subsequent right-wing backlash.

Finally, the conversation turns to Colombia's upcoming presidential election, where the U.S. is actively meddling. Baraka warns that the region is facing a coordinated right-wing offensive, but insists that beneath the surface, revolutionary currents remain alive. "When this is reversed," he says, "it won't be a pink tide. It's going to be blood red."