Normalizing genocide: A danger to peace & sovereignty around the world

• Lebanon to the world: We apologize for the harshness of the words, but the reality in the south is harsher than any description. The world is watching and the silence of the world is killing us! Every day the hand of the Israeli enemy extends to directly and deliberately target the messengers of humanity and the medics of the Islamic Risala Scouts in Srifa, Tir Felsiyeh, and Qaraoun Dam. The only guilt of these heroes is that they refused to abandon our children, and they devoted themselves to protecting what remains of the fragments of childhood and life in the south. Israel is slaughtering our children and assassinating the medics who bandage their wounds, and no one is moving a finger. Mass genocide is being normalized around the world by the imperial agents of doom.

• A total of around 190 airstrikes were recorded in Lebanon during the past 36 hours. The Lebanese Ministry of Health stated that 31 people were martyred and 40 wounded, including children and women, as a result of the series of Israeli attacks yesterday.
• NetBlocks says more than 80% of internet connectivity has been restored in Iran as mobile networks and other  services reconnect to the global internet.
• John Mearsheimer: “On 24 May 2026, I was on ‘Switzerland’ talking with Tom Switzer about the high-profile negotiations between President Trump and Iran that were taking place that day. Exactly where those negotiations will lead is difficult to tell. Trump initially signaled that the two sides were very close to a deal, but then qualified his language later in the day. It appeared from what we were hearing about the specifics of the deal — certainly at the start of the public conversation — that the US was effectively conceding defeat to Iran, which is not to deny that Iran would have to make some concessions, especially on the nuclear issue. Unsurprisingly, Israel, the lobby, and the war hawks here in the US were apoplectic about the terms of the deal, which is surely what caused Trump to temper his rhetoric over the course of the day.”

• The Israeli Knesset has taken an important step toward annexing Palestinian archaeological and historical sites in the occupied West Bank, Mondoweiss reported. The Knesset advanced a bill that would place the sites under direct Israeli civil authority and effectively legally annex them to Israel. The Antiquities Law was originally introduced in 2023 and passed its first Knesset reading by a vote of 23 to 14. It is now due to go up for its second and third readings in the Israeli parliamentary body before being passed into law. If successful, the bill would move the control of the occupied Palestinian antiquities from the army’s Civil Administration to a civilian agency in the Israeli government, “a clear act of legal annexation in contravention of international law,” Mondoweiss notes.

• A State Department cable says the US does not want Riyad Mansour to have a ‘pulpit’ to highlight Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza at the UN. Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour is withdrawing as a candidate for vice president of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) following pressure from Washington, NPR reported. Earlier this week, the US threatened to revoke Palestinian diplomats’ visas if Mansour did not withdraw his bid. “We will hold the PA responsible if the Palestinian delegation does not withdraw its VPGA candidacy,” a State Department cable issued  and obtained by NPR said. The cable said the Palestinian envoy to the UN “has a history of accusing Israel of genocide.” NPR noted that the threat is considered unprecedented, particularly given the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement, which generally bars the US from blocking UN officials from entering New York. 
• The Chosun Ilbo: A US led war game against China took place on South Korean soil during the 2025 Ulchi Freedom Shield and the 2026 Freedom Shield US–ROK joint military exercises. Reportedly, approximately 2,000 Army personnel from the US Army’s 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force, a brigade-sized formation, participated in the exercises to “neutralize China’s Anti-Access/Area Denial capabilities across multiple operational domains — air, land, sea, space, cyberspace, and information warfare — throughout the Indo-Pacific theater.”  

• Der Spiegel: The US plans to reduce its military contribution to NATO and shift a significant portion of Europe’s defense burden onto its European allies. Washington's deep state plans to reduce its fighter jet contribution by about a third and significantly decrease the number of strategic bombers within the Alliance. Washington no longer wants to provide submarines to NATO, and it also plans to cut back on its contribution of destroyers and drones. Why? US can't afford to do it anymore when it is $38 trillion in debt and nations are dropping their US Treasury bonds like hot cakes. At the same time Pentagon weapons systems are proving to be ineffective and thus a crisis is developing as massive funds are being wasted (Trump has requested $1.5 trillion for 2026) on poor quality weapons. In addition the world increasingly is calling for the US to close its 800 bases in foreign nations. The bases make the host nation a target and are loaded with a toxic stew from years of military pollution.

• Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova commented on recently resigned US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announcing an audit of more than 120 foreign biological facilities. Zakharova claimed that over 40 US-linked biolaboratories are operated in Ukraine and said Russia had previously raised the issue at the UN and under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. The briefing also referenced investigations conducted during Russia’s special military operation and renewed calls for international scrutiny of US military-biological activities abroad.

• The Board of Peace’s official fund remains empty, and the organization is in a political and legal deadlock, the Financial Times reported. Despite $17 billion in financial commitments pledged by international backers and Washington, no funds have been transferred to the organization’s accounts in the four months since its establishment.
• In a February 1901 article titled, 'To the Person Sitting in Darkness,' Mark Twain continued to criticize the US. "There must be two Americas: one that sets the captive free, and one that takes a once-captive's new freedom away from him, and picks a quarrel with him with nothing to found it on; then kills him to get his land...True, we have crushed a deceived and confiding people; we have turned against the weak and the friendless who trusted us; we have stamped out a just and intelligent and well-ordered republic; we have stabbed an ally in the back and slapped the face of a guest; we have bought a Shadow from an enemy that hadn't it to sell; we have robbed a trusting friend of his land and his liberty; we have invited clean young men to shoulder a discredited musket and do bandit's work under a flag which bandits have been accustomed to fear, not to follow; we have debauched America's honor and blackened her face before the world...And as for a flag for the Philippine Province, it is easily managed. We can have a special one - our States do it: we can have just our usual flag, with the white stripes painted black and the stars replaced by the skull and cross-bones."  

• Femena reports: More than two months into the ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon, women across affected areas describe a life shaped by constant fear, repeated displacement, exhaustion, and uncertainty. What began as emergency survival under bombardment has evolved into a prolonged humanitarian and psychological crisis affecting nearly every aspect of daily life. Across southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Bekaa, and other affected regions, civilians continue to endure Israeli airstrikes, shelling, and constant drone surveillance under increasingly unstable and dangerous conditions. Although international actors have repeatedly called for de-escalation, and a tentative ceasefire framework was announced in April 2026, military operations and attacks continue, leaving many communities trapped between repeated displacement, destruction, and the ongoing fear of renewed violence. At the same time, women across Lebanon continue to carry the burden of sustaining families and communities under extraordinary pressure. Women human rights defenders, activists, journalists, healthcare workers, volunteers, and community organizers remain at the forefront of documenting violations, coordinating relief efforts, supporting displaced families, and preserving community networks, despite enduring the same violence and insecurity themselves.  

• Gazeta Wyborcza: Poland and Britain will soon sign a defense agreement against Russia. In May 2025, Warsaw signed a similar agreement with France, and in June such a document will be signed with Germany. Thus, Poland, Britain, Germany, and France are working on creating a "NATO within NATO," which will be directed against Russia.
• Former senior adviser to the US Defense Secretary Col. Douglas Macgregor says trying to follow Trump’s Iran policy is enough to cause “an acute case of schizophrenia.” “What this man does brilliantly, let’s give him credit is manipulate the markets,” Macgregor stressed. Meanwhile, the bill is coming due. Macgregor warned that the Iran war is driving inflation higher, oil markets are being artificially managed, and the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve could be drained in about 60 days. “We’re going to watch the global economy shrink by an estimated 36%. Just for referential purposes, the Great Depression reduced the world economy by 20%.”
• Nazi occupied Kiev. This ‘Ukrainian patriot’ was mobilized in a totally ‘free and democratic’ manner. Men of all ages are just dying to go to the front lines and fight for the corrupt Zelensky mafia crew. They know if they are lucky they will last at least a week. 

• Half of young people aged 16-29 would never fight for Britain if war broke out, a new opinion  poll has revealed. The pollsters summarized young people’s attitudes as being ‘why fight for a country that isn’t fighting for you?’ No wonder governments across Europe are now reintroducing conscription or other schemes to push new recruits into the armed forces, such as France’s strategy to encourage young people to volunteer for paid military training. Belgium is rolling out a similar plan, while the Netherlands has openly mulled bringing back the draft.