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Global brands ‘likely’ using mineral that funds rebels accused of atrocities in DRC, investigation finds
Amazon and Sony among firms that may have sourced coltan, used in phones, from supply chains controlled by the M23 rebels, says Global WitnessLeading global brands including Amazon, Ericsson and Sony are “likely” to have sourced minerals linked to a militia accused of widespread sexual violence, summary executions and torture, a new investigation claims.The companies allegedly, but unknowingly, acquired coltan smuggled from mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that are occupied by the M23 militia, which has committed myriad atrocities in eastern DRC. Continue reading...
Trump's $10B BBC lawsuit is about to backfire spectacularly: legal analysts
President Donald Trump's lawsuit against the BBC is about to implode, legal experts reported on Tuesday.National trial lawyer and strategist Michael Popok, the host of the "Legal AF" podcast, discussed with legal analyst and MeidasTouch co-founder Ben Meiselas how Trump's attempts to sue the BBC for $10 billion — after he accused the broadcaster of deceptively editing a documentary about his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — were likely to come back to haunt him."Donald Trump's litigation strategy seems to be blowing up in his face," Popok said. "The BBC and their defamation defense want to take the testimony and obtain documents from 47 different entities because they tell a federal judge that they've got to prove that Donald Trump actually did foment an insurrection and led an insurrection. See, Donald Trump couldn't leave well enough alone. The law of unintended consequences — obviously not something taught at Penn when Trump attended there — because look at all these unintended consequences."Popok pointed to how the BBC had already apologized to Trump. "They already said, 'sorry, we put together a 12-second clip about your ellipse speech,' but the heart of it, the heart of our reporting is still accurate," Popok said.But Trump didn't think that was enough, Popok argued. And he sued for $10 billion."Not only that, he made a decision that he didn't want to stop discovery — 'I have nothing to hide,'" Popok added, mocking Trump's move. But that backfired. "And then when 47 subpoenas came flying into his family and Jack Smith and everybody else, suddenly he's got something to hide," Popok said. "Same kind of backfire that we're seeing with the weaponization fund, the anti-weaponization fund. This is just giving the Democrats — and strengthening their hand — the ability to attack Donald Trump as corrupt and get Republicans to back it. It's just mind-boggling how many mistakes Donald Trump makes because all he does is fight without any strategy or tactics."Trump has filed multiple $10 billion lawsuits, including the one against the BBC, the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department, Meiselas explained."All the $10 billion lawsuits are backfiring in his face," Meiselas said."Donald Trump's refusing to turn over all financial records in discovery," Meiselas added. "Surprise, surprise. When you stand up for Donald Trump and you do aggressive discovery and litigation, Donald Trump backs down."
US strikes Iran in retaliation for downed Apache helicopter: report
The U.S. military struck Iran in response to an attack against an Apache helicopter, according to breaking news reports.Trump vowed to retaliate for the attack against the helicopter, saying that the U.S. "must, of necessity, respond," Axios reported. He said the attack against the helicopter "wasn't a big deal" in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, however.Axios noted that it wasn't clear what the U.S. military was targeting with the strikes, but Central Command described it as "a proportional response." CNN reported that the U.S. military was attacking islands along the Strait of Hormuz.Iranian state media reported explosions in a province called Hormozgan, which lies on the Strait of Hormuz, according to Axios. The Tasnim News Agency said that Iran vowed a "decisive response" to the attacks and called the allegation that it downed the helicopter a pretense, Axios reported."Foreign forces in proximity to our territory are at constant risk," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X. "We prefer language of diplomacy but speak other languages too."
Expert flags detail that 'changes the entire situation' in Iran's strike on US helicopter
A military expert on Tuesday revealed new details emerging after Iran struck a United States Apache helicopter and how it "changes the entire situation" involving the ongoing conflict.After reports that a Shahed drone struck the helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz, and it was unclear whether the drone had initially targeted the Apache or if it was an inadvertent strike, Col. Peter Mansoor told CNN that it could change the response. "I really think that changes the entire situation because Shahed drones are not air-to-air drones," Mansoor said. "It could have been just an accident that the drone was aimed at something else and ran into the Apache, you know, by chance. But, if it was actually aimed at the helicopter, this would be a new use for this particular type of drone, which is really an air-to-surface, guided cruise missile rather than an air-to-air missile like Ukraine has developed."CNN anchor Brianna Keilar cited a recent CNN report that Iran had employed the ceasefire to help rebuild its drone supply and overall military industrial response — and asked Mansoor if that was reflected in the attack this week."Well, we never destroyed the entire drone capability of Iran in the first place," Mansoor said. "In fact, much of it survived. And they were able to dig out the collapsed tunnels and so forth, and reconstitute many of their launch platforms. So I'm not sure they're producing many new drones, but they are recovering those buried by initial strikes and getting them ready to launch. So there's no doubt that Iran today is more capable than it was when the ceasefire began. But it's going to take years for it to recover the sort of production capability that was lost during the airstrikes."
Trump's perfect image of 'decadence and rot' could be his undoing: Ex-GOP operative
Steve Schmidt, a former Republican strategist, ripped President Donald Trump after he showed up at the Knicks' NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden, right in the heart of New York City, where he appeared to fall asleep during the historic game. He warned this could signal Trump's undoing.The co-founder of the anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project described how Trump's 30 percent approval rating, the Iran war and his declining health were all leading to MAGA's pending implosion after he was viciously booed by the crowd during the National Anthem on Monday night.Schmidt described his experiences working with former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney and presidential candidate and former Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his interactions with the Secret Service. He explained that presidents in the modern era have been considerate of how their travel impacts the voters who elected them — except for Trump."He just doesn't care about anyone besides himself, and that's the point in New York City," Schmidt said."It's not about him, but Donald had to make it about him," Schmidt added. "He needed to inconvenience hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people, and ruin the experience for lifelong fans so he could fall asleep in the luxury box. It is the perfect image for the sloth and the corruption, the decadence and the rot that has descended over America." He explained how, as gas prices rise and when people around the world see "this obese sloth," they know "that our greatness has turned into a necrotizing rot, that we are a falling republic."
Trump officials privately worry ceasefire being used as cover for Iran attacks: report
Trump administration officials have expressed in private that they are concerned that the ceasefire between the United States and Iran has given Tehran a chance to recover from previous attacks, CNN reported on Tuesday. CNN senior reporter Zachary Cohen said that as President Donald Trump responded to a downed Apache helicopter that was patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz and vowed to retaliate, behind-the-scenes sources said this issue had been raised.CNN anchor Brianna Keilar asked Cohen about a recent report that Iran had started to build drones again and "re-upped its drone production during the ceasefire." She questioned if Trump administration officials were reflecting on whether "the ceasefire being dragged out now, weeks and weeks, is giving Iran these capabilities."Cohen confirmed that was the case — but not something that Trump has acknowledged in public."That's something that we hear from sources and U.S. officials in private, for sure," Cohen said. "But we have not heard the president in particular, or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, voice a similar concern, really painting a more optimistic and a more confident view of the damage that the U.S. military has inflicted on the Iranians' capabilities," Cohen added. "But as you mentioned, we reported that the Iranians have been using this time the ceasefire to reconstitute many of their military capabilities. And it's already restarted production on some of these attack drones that, as we're seeing today, are capable of taking down an Apache helicopter, also a threat to U.S. Navy ships and commercial ships alike."
Global trade faces 'two-front crisis' as Trump's war sparks second strait blockade
The Yemeni Houthis announced early Monday they would impose a “complete ban” on Israeli sea vessels from passing through the Red Sea, a partial blockade that risks hitting global trade with a “two-front crisis” as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted, several outlets reported.“We declare a complete ban on enemy navigation in the Red Sea and we consider any Zionist movements to be military targets for our forces,” said Houthi spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Al Saree in a televised statement released on Monday, according to the United Arab Emirates news outlet The National.“We will respond to escalation with escalation and our operations will intensify in line with the battle and in conjunction with the axis of jihad and resistance."The announcement comes in response to Israel’s strikes on Iran Sunday, itself a response to Iranian strikes on northern Israel as retaliation for Israel’s siege on Beirut, Lebanon.While not as critical to global trade as the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea is still a major shipping waterway, with around 12% of global trade passing through the channel, “including 30% of global container traffic,” according to The Guardian. Together, disruptions to both shipping waterways would likely further exacerbate supply shocks sparked by President Donald Trump’s deeply unpopular war against Iran.“The two waterways together carry an estimated 30% of global container shipping and approximately 22% of the world's seaborne oil supply, according to analysis by The Middle East Insider,” reads a report from Insurance Business Magazine. “A combined disruption places an estimated US$10 billion per day of global trade at risk.”YEMENI HOUTHIS ANNOUNCE NAVAL BLOCKADE ON ISRAEL IN THE RED SEA pic.twitter.com/AWSP9pEgvI— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) June 8, 2026
Trump begs Israel, Iran to 'immediately stop shooting' as ceasefire crumbles in real time
President Donald Trump publicly pleaded with Israel and Iran to halt their fighting early Monday as the two countries traded their worst strikes since the April truce, threatening to collapse the peace deal Trump had declared was days away from completion."Israel and Iran must immediately stop 'shooting,'" Trump posted on Truth Social at 5:36 a.m. Eastern. "President DONALD J. TRUMP."The all-caps signature did not appear to have the desired effect. By morning, Israel was defending fresh waves of Iranian missiles — with CNN's Oren Liebermann reporting interceptions visible over Jerusalem — while Iran threatened to target all oil and gas facilities associated with the U.S. and Israel if attacks on its energy infrastructure continued.The escalation unraveled a week of optimistic diplomacy. Trump had told the Financial Times just days earlier that negotiations were "very close" and predicted a deal would be announced this week. He had also told Netanyahu to hold off on retaliating against Iran, according to a U.S. official — an instruction Netanyahu appeared to ignore.The sequence: Iran fired close to 30 ballistic missiles at Israel, according to the IDF, with Yemen's Houthi rebels launching two more in the first such attacks since April. Israel responded with two waves of strikes on Iran, targeting aerial defense systems in the first wave and a petrochemical facility in the second. Iran then struck petrochemical infrastructure in Haifa, with footage showing missiles bearing the message in three languages: "You will regret this."Iran's Foreign Ministry said the U.S. "bears responsibility" for Israel's actions as a party to the April ceasefire. Iran also called "absurd" any suggestion that frozen Iranian assets could be redirected to compensate U.S. allies for war damages.The financial fallout was immediate. Brent crude surged nearly 5 percent to $97.52 a barrel. Asian stock markets tumbled, with South Korea's KOSPI plunging more than 8 percent.Pope Leo XIV, speaking at the Spanish parliament in Madrid on a peace-focused visit, called war "a painful defeat of the capacity to negotiate" as the strikes unfolded. Israel's military said it was preparing for at least several days of fighting and the possibility of a prolonged campaign.Trump told Fox News the Iranian attack "certainly is not going to help negotiations" and called on Iran to "get back to the table and make a deal." He had previously told the Financial Times that Israel "would have to accept any deal" the U.S. reaches with Iran, saying "I call all the shots."On Monday morning, that bold claim was being tested in real time.
‘What if all cockroaches came together?’ The youth movement threatening to shake up India’s politics
Cockroach Janta party began as online joke but is growing into one of the most unexpected challenges to country’s rightwing governmentThe call out to the youth of India was simple: “Get ready to swarm the streets of Delhi with peaceful and loving dissent.” They came in their thousands.The weekend marked the first public protest of the Cockroach Janta party (CJP), a movement that began as an online joke, but which has swiftly grown into one of the most unexpected challenges to the indomitable power of the country’s rightwing Narendra Modi government – driven by millions of discontented and disillusioned young people. Continue reading...
Iran says Trump just cleared the way for major attacks on US bases: 'Our forces are ready'
The United States was issued a dire threat Sunday after a wave of Israeli airstrikes pounded Lebanon’s largest city earlier the same morning with supposed backing from the Trump administration, threats that may materialize as major attacks on U.S. bases and assets in the Middle East.As Washington and Tehran continue to negotiate terms to end the ongoing Iran war, a key sticking point has been Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon, which since early March has killed more than 3,400 Lebanese and injured over 10,200. Iran has demanded that Israel halt its bombardment as a condition to end hostilities.And yet, despite multiple attempts by Trump to force Israel’s hand and end its bombardment of its northern neighbor, Israel has defied the president, and has since expanded its military siege of Lebanon, including with the reported use of white phosphorus bombs, which is a potential war crime.“The naval blockade against the Iranian nation and today's U.S. green light to the Zionist regime turn American and regime bases and assets in the region into legitimate targets,” said Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf on Sunday, according to Axios reporter Barak Ravid. “Our armed forces are ready as always.”Last week, Trump admitted to hurling expletives at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call over Israel’s refusal to halt its bombardment of Lebanon, telling The New York Post he was “a little bit perturbed” at Israel’s defiance.????Iranian speaker of parliament and chief negotiator Ghalibaf: "The naval blockade against the Iranian nation and today's U.S. green light to the Zionist regime turn American and regime bases and assets in the region into legitimate targets. Our armed forces are ready as always" https://t.co/ObwY6kTc0U— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) June 7, 2026
Trump's big promise to financially 'benefit' Americans implodes in real time: report
President Donald Trump vowed back in January that his administration’s takeover of Venezuela would “benefit” Americans, and yet, just over six months later, that promise appears to be imploding after key players have reportedly gotten cold feet, The Washington Post reported Sunday.In the immediate aftermath of the unprecedented U.S. attack on Venezuela earlier this year, the Trump administration took control of the nation’s oil revenue, which Trump claimed at the time would be “used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States.” The Trump administration had hoped U.S. companies would invest $100 billion into the South American nation’s energy infrastructure.“But businesses don’t want to spend big on capital-intensive projects to extract heavy crude, which take decades to pay off, if there’s a high chance the government will backslide,” the Post’s report reads.“ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said recently that Venezuela has ‘a lot more work to do on their side of the equation.’ He said the overhaul of the hydrocarbon law was insufficient ‘to attract a whole lot of investment’ because it could amount to a ‘95 percent government take.’ Chevron CEO Mike Wirth has expressed similar sentiments.”The Trump administration was recently in hot water over its handling of Venezuela’s oil revenue. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) pressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week during a congressional hearing on whether the administration was concealing lucrative private contracts related to Venezuela’s oil.“The Venezuelan government’s illegitimacy raises the risk of investing capital,” the Post’s report reads. “Once real elections are held, U.S. companies will gain a clearer sense of whether it’s worth pouring in money.”
Hegseth hammered for his 'disrespectful' D-Day speech in Normandy: 'Shameless'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used the 82nd anniversary of D-Day to compare migrants crossing the Mediterranean to the Nazi invasion of Europe — and the backlash was immediate and bipartisan.Speaking at the Normandy ceremony, Hegseth departed from solemn remembrance to deliver an anti-immigration political statement. "Sadly, today different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies," he said. "In Spain and Italy and Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion? Or is it too late?"Greg Bagwell, a retired British Air Marshal and former senior RAF commander, was among the first to respond. "The commemoration of the bravery, tragedy and importance of D-Day is not ever the place to try and score cheap political points. What an ignorant and disrespectful dumba--."Tom Nichols, a national security expert and staff writer at The Atlantic, noted a glaring historical problem with Hegseth's framing — one that multiple people picked up on. "Making an analogy where the West is the defender of the beaches — you know, where the Nazis were — is not the smartest speechifying," Nichols wrote, "even for the man some inside the Pentagon refer to as 'Dumb McNamara.'" His post was reposted by former Republican congresswoman Barbara Comstock.Reed Galen, a Republican strategist and co-founder of the Lincoln Project, was less clinical about it. "If you've been to the American Military Cemetery in Normandy, and you've looked out over those rows of crosses and stars of David, you'll know how odious this man is," he wrote. "Those men didn't die for this ideology or a------- like Pete Hegseth."British attorney Jessica Simor pointed to Hegseth's "Deus Vult" tattoo — the 1095 Crusader rallying cry of Pope Urban II to expel Muslims from Jerusalem, which has since been adopted as a symbol by far-right extremists. "As a far-right Christian nationalist, likely of the kind that favoured the Final Solution, he should have been banned," she wrote.Political commentator Anna Neumann put it plainly: "The heroes of Normandy deserve remembrance, gratitude and humility. Using D-Day commemorations as a platform for culture-war politics is shameless."Occupy Democrats noted the core absurdity: Hegseth had compared migrant boats to the Allied invasion — placing Europe's governments in the rhetorical position of the forces that were trying to stop it.Tim Kaine also weighed in, saying, "Apparently our nitwit Secretary of War(drobe) thinks a D-Day commemoration is an appropriate time to push his far right ideology in Europe."Podcast host Matthew Yglesias chimed in with a question:"Why did he construct an analogy in which he is on the side of the Nazis?"


