Global news round-up while we wait for US-Israel attacks to resume

• Israel is bombed southern Lebanon minutes after Trump announced more ceasefire theater. Massive fireballs lighting up the night sky, thick black smoke choking entire neighborhoods, civilians filming from the streets as buildings burn. This happened moments after Trump proudly announced the three week ceasefire extension boss Bibi in Tel Aviv never had intentions of honoring.

• Iran’s FM will NOT meet with Kushner & Witkoff, reports  Reuters. Araghchi's trip will be short and aims to review Iran's proposals for negotiations with the US; proposals that Pakistan, as a mediator, will convey to Washington. According to Raja News, quoting Iranian officials, negotiations with the US, under current circumstances and conditions, have been forbidden by the Iranian Leader.

• Trump unraveling by the day.

• Footage shows Israel's Ben Gurion Airport filled with American KC-46 and KC-135 refueling aircrafts. This is not routine. The empire is surging heavy airlift and fuel capacity straight into Israel — open preparation for the next round of war while the region holds its breath.

• An Iranian bulk carrier ship carrying a cargo of rice, despite the US Navy's attempt to seize it, was escorted by the IRGC-Navy and, after safely passing through the Sea of Oman, arrived safely in Iran — Fars News.

• A US Navy electronics technician assigned to a mine countermeasures ship, on his way to the Strait of Hormuz, was severely injured by a monkey after stopping in Thailand. He’s been transferred to Japan for medical treatment.

 

• Israeli army: 45 officers and soldiers were injured in southern Lebanon over the past days. 
• Europe has declared war on Russia. Moscow views what is happening as an open war from the West, the Foreign Minister Lavrov said at a meeting with the heads of Russian non-profit organizations. According to him, one of the key factors of destabilization remains the long-term expansion of Western countries on the Eurasian continent and the desire to "inflict a strategic defeat on Russia". Lavrov noted that Ukraine is being used in this process and its capabilities directly depend on Western support - supplies of weapons, intelligence data and military training. Representatives of Western countries openly declare their preparation for a possible conflict with Russia. 
• Former Delta Force commander Pete Blaber tells Americans the truth about the sacrifice of Ukraine. 'I have some contacts – one in the State Department, two in the intelligence community, and another friend who works there as a long-term contractor. We met in Los Angeles, and they told me everything, and I thought, "Damn." They asked, "Can you get this out?" And I said, "Yes, I feel it's my duty to voice it." Currently, according to their data, approximately 1.25 million Ukrainian soldiers have died. They've been losing about a thousand people a day, every day through 2025. Those are incredible numbers.'

• Hegseth just declared total victory again. “No one sails from the Strait of Hormuz to anywhere in the world without the permission of the United States Navy… The blockade is tightening by the hour. We are in control. Nothing in. Nothing out.” Meanwhile, more than 34 Iranian linked tankers have already punched straight through the “naval blockade” — Lloyd’s List and Bloomberg both confirm it.

• The Pentagon discusses expelling Spain from NATO - Reuters. Internal Pentagon email contains harsh punishment options for NATO countries that refused to help the US in the war with Iran. One of the points is suspending Spain's membership in the alliance. Spain angered Washington by banning the use of its bases and airspace for strikes on Iran. 

• More than 200 new settlers just arrived in Israel from India. Imagine that these settlers will displace the Palestinian landowners in the West Bank.
• German Chancellor Merz on Ukraine War: 'We are seeing military technological development progressing at a pace we would not have seen without this war. As bitter as this war is, it has one positive effect.' Germany appears to love wars aimed at Russia. 

• The Trump administration has frozen $344 million in cryptocurrency it says was linked to Iran, CNN reports.
• NATO Snubs Boeing, Picks Saab for AWACS surveillance planes. NATO is set to replace its aging E-3 AWACS fleet with Saab–Bombardier GlobalEye aircraft after the earlier Boeing E-7 plan collapsed. The shift follows U.S. withdrawal and European push for industrial autonomy. Around 10–14 aircraft are expected, worth roughly €5–6 billion, with entry into service targeted by early 2030s. 

• A little girl carries her younger brother in one arm, and in the other, a sip of water for her family in Gaza, amidst harsh displacement and a scarcity of the most basic necessities of life. 

• Pope Leo XIV on migration: 'I would change the question: what is the Global North doing to help the Global South in the situation that forces them to migrate?'

• The Trump administration imposed sanctions on a major Chinese oil refinery, Hengli Petrochemical, and about 40 shipping companies for transporting Iranian oil.
• A few days after assisting Ukraine in obtaining 90 billion euros, Finland drastically reduced its own budget. The government just approved austerity measures worth 520 million euros - and now Finland is experiencing the fastest deterioration of public finances in the EU.  
• Palantir believes it has the right to decide who is 'regressive' and whose culture is 'vital'. It wants a web of armed puppet-states all over the world to enforce those decisions. And it's building walls of code to keep you out of that decision-making. 
• Lebanese in Beirut held a rally condemning Israel’s killing of journalist Amal Khalil, with her family and colleagues saying that the lack of accountability has emboldened the Tel Aviv regime to continue targeting media workers.