Trump Family Corruption Czar Jared Kushner Burrows into Albania

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama looks on during an interview with Reuters as Albanians protest against a planned luxury resort backed by a company linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, on an environmentally sensitive part of the Adriatic coast, in Tirana, Albania, June 8, 2026. REUTERS/Florion Goga

Albania's Rama vows to push on with Kushner-linked luxury resort despite protests

June 8, 2026. 
By Edward McAllister
Tue, June 9, 2026 \

TIRANA, June 8 (Reuters) - Albania will plough on with a luxury resort planned by Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner on a remote stretch of Balkan coast despite persistent protests over its environmental impact, Prime Minister Edi Rama told Reuters on Monday.

Thousands of ‌people have taken to the streets of the capital Tirana and on the southern coast where the resort has been proposed, calling for ‌the project to be scrapped because of the impact on a protected wetland home to flamingoes, seals and sea turtle nesting sites.

The flamingo has emerged as the movement's symbol: protesters hoist inflatable ​pink birds and signs saying "Flamingo Revolution".

Rama is unmoved, telling Reuters that the developers will "stun" onlookers with their plans in the coming months and that parts of the resort could be open to the public before the end of the decade.

"I'm telling you, it's going to be a beautiful project and we're going to do it and we're going to be proud to contribute to Europe," Rama said during an interview in his office, a few metres from where nightly demonstrations against the project have ‌taken place.

"I was voted in to make these things ⁠happen. I'm not voted to be led by people that have a different idea of how to develop the country."

Thousands took to Tirana's streets on Monday evening, calling for a halt to the project but also venting a litany of grievances ⁠against Rama's 13-year tenure that they say has failed to uproot corruption or improve basic services.

"We are getting bigger and we are here until he resigns. Not only for biodiversity but for every injustice we face," said student Albano Lushi.

BIG DREAMS FACE CONTROVERSY

Rama, 61, a former basketball player and artist who took office in 2013 and aims to ​bring ​Albania into the EU, takes pride in presiding over the modernisation of a country that ​had languished for decades under a particularly stifling communist dictatorship ‌until the 1990s.

He cultivates an informal style, in a baggy black suit with black T-shirt and white sneakers. His office looks like an urban co-working space, with wallpaper overlaid with his own colourful paintings. Plates filled with crayons and coloured markers are scattered about and his desk is a mess of doodles.

The resort development he champions is the brainchild of Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, who described falling in love with Albania a few years ago while visiting on a boat. Rama met them on that trip and found them to be "very nice, humble...humanly good people."

Now, Kushner's investment firm Affinity Partners is involved in the €1.4 ‌billion ($1.6 billion) project near the Vjosa-Narta protected area, and another one on nearby Sazan Island.

Together ​the projects are worth up to €5 billion, Rama said.

"It's a big dream and big dreams have ​always faced controversy."

Affinity Partners and Kushner have not responded to requests ​for comment. Sazan Real Estate Development LLC, which is developing the plans, has told Reuters that it will do so responsibly.

RAMA ‌PROMISES TO PROTECT WILDLIFE

Protests kicked off at the end of ​May when the site near Vjosa-Narta was ​closed off with barbed wire fencing amid work on an access road and other pre-construction developments. Some protesters were injured in clashes with private security. Anger then spread to Tirana.

The fence has since been removed. Rama conceded that it was a "disgraceful idea" to put it up.

Still, Rama played down ​the environmental concerns. He said that an environmental impact ‌assessment was not yet done and would be completed in parallel with the developments.

"We are very proud of what we have done for ​the wildlife in Albania. The European Commission has no reason to doubt our firm will to protect whatever has to be protected ​when it comes to wildlife and nature."

(Reporting by Edward McAllisterEditing by Peter Graff)

Timid Sanctions on Zionist Settlers Should be Extended to Colluding Israeli Govt

Palestinians watch as foreign Zionist settlers demolish their home near the Palestinian city of Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank, June 8, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma

Imagine some foreign barbarians with strange names and accents who come to your country from Europe or the US, cite biblical garbage from 3,000 years ago as their "rights" to your land where your ancestors have lived for millennia, tear your house down, uproot your olive trees, steal your animals, and build themselves a new house on the same spot.

What would you do?

Some countries from which these barbarians have come didn't do a thing for 70 years. Now faced with the intolerable violence their own citizens are inflicting on the indigenous Palestinians, these countries have begun taking very timid measures against a handful of the Zionist barbarians, but continue to choose to ignore that behind the Zionist settler criminals is an entire state, its government and its terrorist militia that protects and incites the settlers to more violence.

The sanctions against the few barbarian settlers should be extended and expanded to the entire government of Israel and its militia. Diplomatic relations with the Zionist colony in Palestine should be severed and trade banned.

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UN inquiry finds Israeli forces shield settlers during attacks on Palestinians

By Olivia Le Poidevin
Tue, June 9, 2026 

GENEVA, June 9 (Reuters) - Israeli authorities are directly involved in settler attacks that have killed, injured and displaced Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, while Israeli security forces provide protection to settlers, a U.N. inquiry said on Tuesday.

The report by the Commission of Inquiry on ‌the Occupied Palestinian Territory found that Israeli authorities had enabled settler attacks through financial and military support, in a climate of impunity fostered by judicial and ‌law-enforcement bodies. It also found that the Palestinian militant group Hamas had committed war crimes against both Palestinians and Israelis.

The Israeli prime minister's office and military did not immediately respond to requests for comment, nor ​did Hamas.

The report said Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian villages and agricultural land had surged since 2023, rising by 130%, including incidents involving groups of masked assailants. Israeli security forces routinely accompanied settlers and acted as a shield for the violence, it said.

Israel rejects charges that its troops shield settlers during attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, saying such actions are rogue incidents that violate military protocol and are investigated. Israeli and Palestinian rights groups say such investigations rarely lead to punishment.

Hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers live among millions of ‌Palestinians on land Israel captured in a 1967 war. Most ⁠countries consider such settlements a violation of international law, a position upheld in a 2024 ruling by the U.N.'s top court. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land.

At least seven Palestinians were killed and 832 injured last year, with violence continuing into ⁠2026 in the form of near-daily attacks, according to the United Nations.

"The increasing participation of Israeli security forces in settler attacks amounts to a de facto collapse of the distinction between settlers and soldiers," the report found.

It said such violence has been used to advance state policy, including the unlawful occupation, displacement of Palestinians and the annexation of Palestinian territory.

The commission documented cases of ​assaults, ​abductions and abuse of Palestinian children by settlers. In one incident on April 19, 2025, a ​12-year-old girl and her 3-year-old brother were abducted at knifepoint, dragged ‌to an olive grove and tied to a tree with plastic restraints until their family intervened.

The Commission also said settlers committed or threatened sexual violence to instil fear and harassed Palestinian women.

"The relentless, daily assaults by Israeli settlers against Palestinians are intolerable — and must end," said the commission's head, S. Muralidhar, an Indian former senior judge. He urged the international community to press Israel to dismantle settlements and outposts and curb the violence.

Despite periodic condemnations and the dismantling of some unauthorized outposts, Israeli authorities have not taken sustained measures to stop the attacks, the report said.

Wassel Abu Yousef, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the body the U.N. recognises as representing Palestinians, ‌told Reuters the report "reflects the extent of the violence perpetrated by settlers against our people". He called ​for measures such as sanctions in response.

HAMAS VIOLATIONS

The report said it was also gravely alarmed by serious ​abuses it documented in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

The commission found that Hamas-affiliated forces ​were involved in at least 60 of 249 documented cases of executions and severe physical violence in 2024 to 2025, including beatings with ‌metal pipes and bone-breaking as punishment for alleged collaboration with Israel ​or looting aid.

In two instances, 11 men were ​publicly executed. The Commission said these acts amount to war crimes and violations of international law.

The Commission found that October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas and other armed groups, which killed 1,200 people and involved hostage-taking and destruction of property, amounted to war crimes. The attacks precipitated an Israeli assault ​on Gaza which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and ‌destroyed much of the territory.

A previous report by the Commission found that Israel had committed genocide during its military offensive in Gaza, and that ​senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had incited these acts. Israel rejected those allegations as "scandalous".

(Reporting by Olivia Le PoidevinAdditional reporting by Rami ​Ayyub in Jerusalem, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Ali Sawafta in RamallahEditing by Peter Graff)

Bamboozled by Netanyahu into Iran War, Trump Wants Out Fearing Midterms Debacle

The man who failed to ensure Israel's security on October 7 has now dragged the US into a Quixotic war in which neither the US nor Israel has achieved any of their stated objectives and are now at pains to bring to an end. The criminal smartass Netanyahu misled the criminal idiot Trump into the war promising a collapse of the Iranian regime within a few days. 

Not only did this not happen, but the war has rattled world markets, caused major setbacks to the Arab Gulf allies of the US, created a previously non-existent trade and oil shipping bottleneck in the Strait of Hormuz and exacerbated an inflation-riddled US economy with no end on sight. Netanyahu wants to continue his warmongering, while Trump wants an immediate end to the war in the hope that the US electorate would have forgotten about the war by November.

One can presume that Trump wants out of the Iran war, but only temporarily for the duration of the elections campaign. As he has always done, he lies his lungs out with wild promises during a campaign, only to renege on all those promises once in power and resume his corruption and hateful warmongering afterwards. At stake for him in November is whether he can maintain his control of Congress. 

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Netanyahu and Trump are at odds over the war they started together


FILE - President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the end of a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump Netanyahu Divisions
JULIA FRANKEL and AAMER MADHANI
Updated Mon, June 8, 2026 

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's latest strikes on Lebanon and Iran have made clear that U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who started the war in lockstep, want different things.

Trump had publicly warned Israel not to strike Beirut in its war with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. When it did, on Sunday, Iran responded by firing ballistic missiles at Israel for the first time since the April ceasefire. Israel then struck Iran, with which Trump has been engaged in weeks of high-stakes negotiations.

The fighting has since died down, but the differences between the two leaders are likely to persist.

That's because Trump, whose party faces elections later this year, wants to wind down an unpopular war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ease gas prices. Iran says a full ceasefire in Lebanon is key to any deal.

Netanyahu, who also faces elections this year, is under pressure to stop Hezbollah's attacks and prove that he is winning the war with Iran and its allies. He also needs to manage relations with Israel's most important ally without appearing to kowtow to it.

Political considerations push in opposite directions

When the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, the allies appeared shoulder to shoulder.

Netanyahu said the goal was to degrade the Islamic Republic's military, eradicate its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and topple its government. Trump announced the death of Iran's supreme leader in the opening barrage and urged Iranians to "take back" their country.

But it soon became clear that while Trump was seeking a quick win — like the one he secured in Venezuela — Netanyahu wanted to vanquish Iran and its allies, even if it required an extended conflict.

As Iran withstood weeks of heavy strikes and kept the Strait of Hormuz closed, Americans and Israelis grew increasingly frustrated — but for different reasons.

In the U.S., the price of gas and other goods soared as even some erstwhile supporters accused Trump of breaking a campaign promise and plunging the U.S. into another Mideast quagmire. He has pushed back against those critics as rising anger threatens Republicans in November's congressional elections.

In Israel, anger grew over Netanyahu's failure to secure a lasting victory in the wars sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which happened on his watch. More than two years on, Hamas still rules part of Gaza, Hezbollah still fires rockets and Iran's government and nuclear program remain intact, despite heavy losses.

Israel's bombardment of Lebanon strains relations

The collision course runs through Lebanon, where fighting still rages between Israel and Hezbollah despite ceasefire announcements.

Iran wants Lebanon included in any wider regional truce, a demand Trump seems to have accepted in order to get a deal. Iran has threatened to attack Israel again if it keeps striking Lebanon.

Israel is determined to keep the theaters separate and continue its campaign in Lebanon, where it has occupied large swaths of the south, until the threat from Hezbollah has been eliminated.

The tensions spilled into the open last week, when Trump acknowledged holding a tense call with Netanyahu about Lebanon. He admitted to using expletives and calling the Israeli leader "crazy," saying he'd grown frustrated that Israel's war on Hezbollah threatened the Iran talks.

In a series of interviews, Trump made clear that he was not happy about Israel's Sunday strike in Beirut, which came without warning and hit a residential building, killing two people and wounding 20, according to Lebanese authorities.

He then urged restraint from Israel after Iran launched its first barrage of missiles later that day. "I call all the shots," not Netanyahu, Trump told the Financial Times.

Hours later, Israel bombed Iran.

Officials downplay differences

Trump had initially urged restraint in order to calm markets and keep negotiations from falling apart, according to a person familiar with the U.S.-Israel deliberations who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive conversations.

Israeli officials made the counterargument that the U.S. would not tolerate attacks without a swift response. The person added that it was also understood by both sides that not responding to the Iranian strikes would put Netanyahu in a difficult position politically.

Netanyahu has downplayed any perceived differences.

After the latest strikes, he told reporters in Hebrew that "Israel has a full right to self-defense, and we are exercising it to the extent necessary."

"I say this to you, just as I say this, with appreciation and respect, in my good conversations with my friend, President Trump," he added.

It's unclear if there will be lasting damage

It's not the first time that Trump has been publicly at odds with Netanyahu about a military operation.

In March, less than three weeks into the conflict, Trump was riled by Netanyahu's decision to attack a critical Iranian gas field, which prompted Iran to retaliate against energy infrastructure in the Gulf.

"I told him, 'Don't do that,'" Trump said at the time. "We get along great. It's coordinated, but on occasion he'll do something."

While Trump publicly disagreed with the decision, two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly said the U.S. was made aware of Israel's plans ahead of the attack.

It's unclear whether the latest dispute will cause lasting damage.

"It's not so uncommon for the U.S.-Israel relationship to have these kinds of tensions. What's so different right now is how publicly it's playing out," said Michael Singh, managing director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

He noted that Trump has had similar public spats with other heads of state, including close allies.

Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations at Israel's Bar-Ilan and Reichman universities, said he doubted the rift seriously threatened the alliance. He said Netanyahu had been careful not to push things too far.

"If there was a big threat, like if Israel were to continue the war in Iran and drag the U.S. into it, that would have been a different situation," he said. "But that is not happening."

He noted, though, that there are still "basic disagreements between Netanyahu and Trump on Iran, Lebanon and Gaza" that remain unanswered.
___

Madhani reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed.

Trump Admin Begins Racist Harassment of World Cup Officials from Shithole Countries

As expected, the white supremacist MAGA Administration of Donald Dumb is already showing off its xenophobia and racism as it hosts the World Cup along with Mexico and Canada.

World Cup officials, referees, and athletes from countries Donald Dumb has qualified as "shithole" countries are already experiencing harassment and denial of entry visas under the pretext of safety and security concerns. "Shithole countries" is white supremacist code for countries from Africa, Asia and South America, and more broadly from the developing world, whose citizens generally have brown or black skin.

A world-renown Somali soccer referee who was slated to officiate the FIFA World Cup has been barred by US federal immigration authorities from entering the U.S. over the weekend, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on Monday, citing "vetting concerns". FIFA has confirmed that Omar Abdulkadir Artan "will be unable to train and officiate at the FIFA World Cup 2026 after he was denied entry into the United States", adding "in line with previous FIFA events, a host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and who is admitted into their country."

CBP, which oversees customs agents at international airports and which has, under directives from Donald Dumb, been very aggressive in its harassment and deportation of US residents and foreign visitors, said the referee was "determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns and was denied entry." He had arrived at Miami International Airport on Saturday on a flight from Istanbul, and underwent additional inspection, CBP said.

It is unclear why Artan was denied entry, but Somalia is one of 39 "shithole" countries listed on President Trump's "travel ban" executive order signed last year, which bars or restricts the entry of foreign nationals on national security grounds. Somalia is among the countries facing a near-total restriction on entry into the U.S., and while that order has exemptions for World Cup athletes and staff, immigration officials retain broad discretion to decide whether to grant or deny someone entry.

Ciise Aden Abshir, a senior adviser to Somalia's Ministry of Youth and Sports and a former national team captain, condemned the decision not to admit Artan. He told Agence France-Presse that Artan is "among Africa's most respected referees and deserves the support of the entire football community," and argued the decision "undermines football's commitment to fairness, merit, and the spirit of fair play."

Artan has officiated international soccer matches for years, including at the Africa Cup of Nations, and he was named male referee of the year by the Confederation for African Football last year.

Referee Omar Artan during the Total Energies CAF Champions League 2025/26 Final 2nd Leg match between AS FAR (Morroco) and Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) at Prince Moulay Abdallah Stadium in Rabat, Morocco, on May 24, 2026. / Credit: Photo by Andrew Surma / SIPA USA via AP Images

All three countries - the US, Mexico and Canada - are hosting the 2026 World Cup. The tournament is set to start Thursday with a match in Mexico City and will include teams from 48 countries and scores of foreign tourists, at a time when the Trump administration has aggressively tightened entry into the United States from countries it deems "undesirable" because of race, skin color, religion and other criteria that are "incompatibile" with the US as a Christian and a White country.

Iranian soccer officials, for example, still do not have U.S. visas, according to Iranian officials. The team is also facing strict restrictions on when it can enter the U.S. before a match and how long it can stay after the conclusion before returning to its training grounds in Mexico.

Scores of foreign nationals and football team fans, who normally would attend the World Cup events, have decided to either not attend or have canceled their travel plans (flights and hotels) against the background of the Trump administration admittedly racist and xenophobic policies. Over the past year, CBP and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) have become the Trump administration arms in implementing policies hostile to migrants, immigrants, and visitors to the US. Many foreign nationals and US citizens have been caught in the chaotic and often violent methods used by these two Trump administration agencies. US citizens have been shot and killed by CBP and ICE goons. Many have been deported upon arrival at a US port of entry while others have been arrested and arbitrarily held in poor conditions for weeks and months without due process, before being suddenly being deported or released without any explanation. The thrust of these arbitrary policies seems to be to deter visits, and by extension to ultimately reduce immigration from these non-White, non-Christian countries.

The most flagrant example of these policies is the denial of adjustment of status for Afghan nationals who assisted the US military during the American invasion and occupation of that country, after they were promised safe haven in the US. In contrast, the Trump administration has literally begged and invited white supremacist neo-Nazi Afrikaner settlers from the former Apartheid South Africa to immigrate into the US with extremely favorable terms and conditions.

The Great Moron will be 80 Next Week: More Dozing and Dazing at the Wheel

Brace yourselves, my fellow 'Mericans. The joy ride with the Greatest Ever American Moron is about to get even more dangerous as he sinks further into dementia, senility and the like. Since he was born an idiot, this transition is so smooth that no one seems to notice that the US is led by an imbecile who is turning senile. 

As a younger man, Trump was very "penile", lashing out his reproductive organs at young and old women alike and often getting caught with his pants down: He is an equal opportunity sex scavenger. Now as an older, but unfortunately not wiser, idiot he spends most of his time sleeping and dozing off. DOZY DON is visibly worse than his predecessor "Sleepy Joe". Then when he appears a bit awake, the dozing off becomes even more like dazing: a state of confusion, mumbling on words, ranting into space over strange subjects that almost always are inappropriate for the circumstance.

'Tis sad that the country celebrates its 250th with a dangerous moron at the helm.
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Trump to join Biden in 80-year-old presidents' club: Is his health an issue?

Zac Anderson, USA TODAY
Sun, June 7, 2026 

President Donald Trump wanted everyone to know he didn't fall asleep on the job.

Following a lengthy Cabinet meeting in December during which the president closed his eyes for stretches, giving the appearance he was dozing, Trump offered Cabinet officials an explanation at their next gathering. He told them he had shut his eyes at the previous meeting because it was "boring."

"I didn't sleep, I just closed them because I wanted to get the hell out of here," Trump said, adding: "I don't sleep much."

After mocking his predecessor with the nickname "Sleepy Joe," Trump has increasingly faced questions about his own fitness as his second term wears on, sparking strong pushback from the president and his allies.

The spotlight on Trump's health is likely to intensify, though, as he prepares to join an exclusive club of octogenarian White House occupants, one started by the president he often ridicules.

The oldest person ever elected president, Trump, on June 14, will become just the second 80-year-old to hold the job after Joe Biden, who was pressured by leaders of his own party not to seek reelection and dropped out of the 2024 race amid concerns about his age and mental acuity.

Biden prompted a national debate about aging and leadership that was fueled by Trump's relentless questioning of his opponent's mental competence. Now, as Trump approaches a major birthday milestone, he, too, is facing scrutiny about his health. That includes questions about his swollen legs, bruised hands, and perceived drowsiness – not to mention, as polling indicates, behavior most Americans view as erratic.

At an age when many people are slowing down, Trump is trying to negotiate an end to the war in Iran and making other weighty decisions. He has sought to assure the public he's up to the task, regularly boasting that he "aced" his cognitive exams and saying last month, after a physical, that "everything checked out perfectly." He has continued to tout his vigor, which has been central to his political pitch.

"Most people don't welcome frailty, but I think he's really reactive to it, wants to distance himself in every way from any possible hint of it," said Trump biographer Gwenda Blair.

Whether or not he wants the attention, surveys show most Americans have concerns about the president's fitness.

President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on Dec. 2, 2025. Brian Snyder, REUTERS. [Rise and shine, Dozy Don, it is time, don't you know, to get the hell out of our lives]

'80 isn't what it used to be'

A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos survey from April found that 55% of U.S. adults don't believe Trump is in "good enough physical health to serve effectively as president," up from 28% in 2023. Nearly 6 in 10 also don't believe the president "has the mental sharpness" required for the job.

Amid the growing public concern, the president's doctor says Trump is "fully fit" for office and White House spokesman Davis Ingle described his energy as "unmatched."

"President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises, and he remains in excellent health," Ingle said.

It's not surprising for someone of Trump's age to face health questions. The president has exceeded – by three and a half years – the average lifespan for an American man.

Yet about half of men now live into their 80s, and those who are wealthier and better-educated tend to live the longest said Steven Austad, a professor at The University of Alabama at Birmingham who is an expert on aging. Trump is a billionaire with an Ivy League degree, and his father lived to 93.

"80 isn't what it used to be," Austad said, adding: "The question is: What kind of 80-year-old are you?"

Trump has long sought to project strength, what Blair described as the "ultimate virility," and the president's allies say he still has plenty of energy. They point to his busy schedule of public events, travel, late-night posts on his Truth Social site and regular interactions with the media.

"I think most people would kill to be as active as he is at a fraction of his age," said Sean Spicer, who served as White House press secretary during Trump's first term. "I mean, I'm in my 50s, and I kind of get a kick out of the fact that I'm in bed hours before he stops truthing."

While reaching the ninth decade of life is a major moment, Trump isn't prone to reflecting on it, according to a White House official, who said the president doesn't talk about his birthday. That's always been the case, said former GOP House speaker Kevin McCarthy.

"All the time I've known him, when it comes to his birthday, he really doesn't like to celebrate," McCarthy said, adding: "It's just his style."

This year, Trump is staging an Ultimate Fighting Championship contest at the White House on his birthday, but the White House official said that is just how the timing worked out for the event, and it wasn't conceived as a birthday celebration.

Blair, the biographer, sees significance in the show of brute force on a day when Trump's advanced age will be in the spotlight, saying it will project "total strength."

Trump has long criticized what he saw as Biden's weakness. Concerns about how age impacted Biden as he occupied the Oval Office into his 80s could add to the scrutiny Trump faces. However, McCarthy said there's no comparison between the two.

"There's a fundamental difference, and it's in a lot of different ways," said McCarthy, adding: "I think Trump, you can put him against any president in our history, and I bet you he still outworks 'em.' Age doesn't determine that with him."

Joe Biden listens as Donald Trump speaks during their debate in Atlanta on June 27, 2024. Biden dropped out of the presidential race after the disastrous debate performance. Brian Snyder, REUTERS
Swollen legs, bruised hands, closed eyes

Yet health questions have been accumulating in Trump's second term.

Last year, the president was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a benign condition that causes swelling in his lower legs and one that the White House doctor noted is common in people over 70.

Trump also has experienced bruising on his hands, which his physician attributed to his use of aspirin – an anti-inflammatory drug commonly taken as a blood thinner – combined with regular handshaking.

Additionally, the president's stamina has been under scrutiny because he sometimes closes his eyes for stretches while others are speaking at public events.

"Donald Trump's inability to stay awake on the job shows that there's something very wrong with his health and cognitive abilities," Rep. Ted Lieu, D-California, said June 3 during a congressional hearing at which he questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the December Cabinet meeting.

"I've never seen him fall asleep," Rubio said. "On the contrary, the guy doesn't sleep."

Trump is close to being clinically obese, based on the body measurements from his most recent physical. The president has expressed disdain for exercise other than golf, calling it "boring," and joking that he works out "about one minute a day, max. If I'm lucky." Meanwhile, he eats "really bad food," according to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who pointed to the president's consumption of McDonald's, candy and Diet Coke.

"He has the constitution of a deity. I don't know how he's alive, but he is," Kennedy said in a podcast interview.

Trump's doctor recommended exercise and weight loss. Overall, though, the president's "cognitive and physical performance are excellent," and "he is fully fit to carry out all duties of the Commander-in-Chief and Head of State," Capt. Sean Barbabella, the White House physician, wrote in summarizing the results of last month's physical.

Trump has undergone four medical checkups in 13 months, prompting questions about the frequency of his visits, the types of tests being performed and what doctors are looking for.

"There's a reason he keeps going to the hospital and they keep giving him cognitive tests," Lieu said at the June 3 hearing.

Mehmet Oz, a doctor who oversees the Medicare and Medicaid programs, told reporters on June 2 that Trump keeps getting checkups because "he likes the results."

"I do actually believe that he's curious to make sure everything is going in the right direction," Oz said. "He's a very meticulous person."

Holding up a copy of the doctor's report summarizing Trump's recent medical exam, Oz called the results "spectacular."

"That amount of energy, that amount of mental acuity does not exist in a vacuum," Oz added. "You have to have a vessel to carry it, and the president has the unique ability to just keep going at all hours of the day with remarkable strength."

Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz displays a document as he speaks about President Donald Trump's health during a press briefing at the White House in Washington on June 2, 2026. Jonathan Ernst, REUTERS
Is Trump more erratic?

One of the biggest concerns as people age is the potential for their decision-making ability to decline, said Austad, the aging expert.

"The conventional wisdom ... is that aging brings wisdom, but after a certain point that's no longer true," he said. "That's why con men go after older people."

A Reuters/Ipsos survey found that 61% of Americans believe the president has "become erratic with age," and only 45% believe he is "mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges."

Some of Trump's recent statements have caused bipartisan alarm, most notably when he threatened to destroy Iran's entire "civilization" while pressuring the regime in Tehran to submit to his demands.

"A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again," the president posted on social media in April, shortly before announcing a ceasefire.

Democrats subsequently introduced legislation to create a commission that would assess Trump's fitness for office and recommend whether to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. Some MAGA media figures have also suggested utilizing the 25th Amendment, which establishes a process for removing a president from office.

"We are at a dangerous precipice, and it is now a matter of national security for Congress . . . to protect the American people from an increasingly volatile and unstable situation," Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, said in a statement on the bill.

In addition to Trump's Iran comments, Raskin cited the president's feud with the pope and the fact that he posted a Christ-like image of himself online. Trump's late-night social media posting sprees have attracted attention for including AI-generated images ranging from the bizarre to the highly controversial.

The Christ-like image and a video Trump posted depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes were both deleted after backlash. The posts have raised questions about Trump's judgment, but his round-the-clock social media use also is cited as a sign of tirelessness.

A post on President Donald Trump's Truth Social account depicts an AI-generated image of himself apparently as Jesus posted on April 12, 2026.
Partisan views on health

Republican pollster Whit Ayers said polling results on Trump's health and mental fitness are colored by people's partisan views of the president.

While the Reuters/Ipsos survey found that 89% of Democrats believe Trump has become erratic with age, only 30% of Republicans say the same.

"The answer to that question is much more a reflection of what people think about Donald Trump than what they think about age," Ayers said.

Reports from Trump's doctors about his health may not sway many people. Austad, the aging expert, suspects that "nobody believes" them, saying presidential administrations have long shielded negative health information from the public.

People can draw their own conclusions, though.

"We get to see him a lot, we get to hear him a lot and my thought is people can sort of judge for themselves," Austad said.

Whatever people think about Trump's health and fitness, Austad said that having a president in his 80s brings risks. While 80-year-olds can be high-functioning, they are more likely to go downhill quickly, potentially leading to impaired judgment, he said.

After having two successive presidents in their 80s, the country might be ripe for a "national conversation" on presidential age limits when Trump leaves office, Austad said.

"I'm very much against ageism, but there's also realism," he said. "Whatever you think about Trump's performance in office to date, it could be vastly different a month from now."

The bruised right hand of President Donald Trump is visible during a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Aug. 25, 2025. Brian Snyder, REUTERS

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump is poised to become the second president to hit 80

Trump in Sync with Putain* on Ukraine, to the Detriment of US Interests

The American Jackass-in-Chief's policies on supporting Ukraine continue to disadvantage the latter to the benefit of his beloved Russian dictator Vladimir Putain, just as a deal over weapons with Ukraine stands to benefit the US military with know-how the Ukrainians have acquired in field combat. 

Meanwhile, Ukraine President Zelensky, offered to meet one on one with Putain, an offer turned down by the war criminal lording it over "Moscow and All the Russias"'s vodka-imbibed bullshit nationalism.

Remember that the US Moron-in-Chief promised, if elected, to solve the Ukraine-Russia conflict in 24 hours thanks to his moronic charm and demented shallow stupidity. He thought he could seduce the Russian tyrant, but alas, Trump continues to accept his "scorned lover" status. 

* Have a translator define "putain" for you
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Trump drags feet on drone deal with Ukraine, mystifying experts
Ellen Mitchell
Sun, June 7, 2026 



The Trump administration's hesitancy in signing a major drone deal with Ukraine is slowing the U.S. military down in an area where it's already trying to play catch-up.

Even as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged Washington to make a deal, with talks between the two nations stretching back to at least September, the U.S. has so far refused to embrace Kyiv as a partner in its drone development.

Zelensky posted a lengthy message to social platform X last Sunday calling for a "bilateral drone deal — a big framework document" between the U.S. and Ukraine, which has made astounding strides in drone warfare since Russia attacked the country in 2022.

But even with senior Pentagon officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll lauding Kyiv's drone abilities, the Trump administration is still biding its time on taking full advantage of the Ukrainian capabilities, a delay that experts say is potentially kneecapping the U.S. military.

"I don't know what the hangup would be in denying ourselves the ability to take advantage of that. I don't think there's any good reason," Rebeccah Heinrichs, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute think tank, said of Ukraine's drone capabilities.

"I don't know if there is a hangup, I don't know if there's a different view between people about what the process needs to be, or what needs to come first, but clearly there is a great advantage on the U.S. side to partnering with Ukraine on drones," she told The Hill.

Likewise, Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow with Brookings Institution, said he was "mystified" by the lack of a deal given that the U.S. has been trying to learn from Ukraine, including by sending teams to the country to study developments on the ground.

"Perhaps there is a procedural problem holding things up — or perhaps White House politics and directives are doing so, given that President Trump remains unpredictable in his degree of commitment to the Ukraine cause," O'Hanlon said.

One former official who spoke to The Hill on the condition of anonymity had a more blunt assessment, calling the holdup "lethargy" on the part of the Trump administration and "a certain amount of hostility towards Ukraine coming from the very top."

Indeed, Trump and Zelensky maintain a tenuous relationship, with the U.S. president repeatedly voicing his view that the Ukrainian leader is an obstacle to a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow — even more so than Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump has largely stopped U.S. military aid for Ukraine in his second term and often extols Putin as "smart" and a "strong leader," while regularly insulting Ukrainian officials, even berating Zelensky in the Oval Office in February 2025.

The former official said Trump and Zelensky discussed a potential drone deal "in very positive ways" when they met in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York City, but there has been little follow-up to the conversation.

"Those talks didn't suggest any substantial energy on the U.S. side," they said.

Zelensky told CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday that Kyiv agreed to allow the U.S. to test and train with its drones, but the two sides have not signed "the big document."

"I think this cooperation can be huge — the most powerful of its kind in the world," he wrote on X after the segment aired. "We need to negotiate, not just talk about it. Take the necessary steps and do it as quickly as possible. For this, we need President Trump to say yes."

He added: "American companies have advanced AI technologies we don't have. In turn, we have many things they don't have, due to our extensive experience on the battlefield."

A deal in some form seems to be in the works, with the U.S. seeking access to Ukrainian drone technology and intellectual property rights as part of a proposed defense cooperation agreement, Bloomberg reported May 19.

As part of that deal, currently awaiting approval, the Pentagon reportedly wants to test Ukrainian drones and electronic warfare systems that could eventually be bought by the U.S., and wants to gain access to technologies — and possibly intellectual property rights — to allow Washington to replicate Ukrainian systems at home.

America's ability to compete in the drone race has taken on added urgency with the war against Iran, which has used kamikaze drones to deadly effect against U.S. allies across the Middle East

Even as most were intercepted by Gulf countries and U.S. forces, those that evaded air defenses have caused major infrastructure damage and death. Six American troops were killed in March in Kuwait by an Iranian long-range one-way attack drone known as Shaheds.

"The U.S. is putting its own troops in danger by not working as closely as possible with the Ukrainians on drone development," Phillips O'Brien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, wrote on X. "To stay close to Putin, Trump is showing once again how little he cares about US soldiers."

The Army referred questions from The Hill on any current, smaller deals or the holdup on a larger bilateral agreement with Ukraine to the Pentagon's press office, which declined to comment.

Kyiv in its more than four years of war with Moscow has acquired a drone expertise that has allowed it to strike further and further across Russian borders, destroying Kremlin oil and military facilities, stopping Russia's battlefield gains and even clawing back territory.

Now the world leader in drone warfare, Ukraine has "developed a truly ingenious circuit where the engineers producing the drones are in direct touch with the soldiers, usually for immediate feedback," the former official said.

"Ukrainians have figured out how to produce drones at a high speed, they know how to operate them and be iterative, and so they can learn from how the Russians are defending against them, how they can adapt them, not just in software, but how the operators pilot them," Heinrichs said.

Ukraine out of necessity "has figured out how to create what is something like an industry, a drone industry, and we just haven't fully taken advantage of learning how they've been able to do this, and against a pure adversary," she added.

Heinrichs, who visited Ukraine and saw the country's drone ecosystem firsthand, said their successes have not gone unnoticed by defense officials, one of which told her "just how incredible Ukraine was in drone warfare and drone capabilities, and how this is clearly something that the United States should take advantage of."

Driscoll last month praised Ukraine's integrated drone operating system during testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, saying it "fully integrates every single drone, every sensor, and every shooting platform into just one single network. Ours does not."

Following the attack in Kuwait, the United States quickly put out a request for help and Ukraine responded, sending interceptor drones and a team of drone experts to protect U.S. military bases in Jordan, Zelensky told The New York Times in March.

The Iranian-designed attack drones are similar to what Russia has been using in Ukraine for years, allowing Kyiv to show off its expertise.

Zelensky said his government also had received calls from leaders in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia looking for aid in countering Iran's drones, with a team of Ukrainian experts sent to the Middle East to help countries figure out how to best protect themselves.

Ukraine, a non-NATO member, has likewise advised or plans to help train European countries in the alliance on drone warfare, including Germany, Sweden, Poland and the United Kingdom.

"We are now at the start," the former official said of the U.S. military's own drone endeavors. "I don't think it's been as well pursued because they haven't paid sufficient attention to the best drone work on the planet."

Summer Season in Full Swing. Americans Celebrate with Folkoric Mass Killings

When you watch a western/cowboy movie, try to keep in mind that the American soul has not changed much for the past 200-300 years. It all started with lawlessness, random acts of violence, and atrocities by barbarian English crooks, followed by other foreign European settlers (mostly illiterate ignorant peasants from the boonies of the old continent) against the indigenous American peoples and nations. The ethnic cleansing continued apace until the remaining indigenous Amerindians were herded into reservations and basically forgotten. All driven by a white colonial sense of supremacy and religious horse manure: People who were persecuted in Europe ended up persecuting the indigenous peoples of the American continent. The victim becomes the criminal. 

An identical story unfolded in Palestine when foreign settlers - also Europeans - descended on Palestine in wave of illegal migrations some 100 years ago. Again driven by self-congratulatory biblical garbage and a deep racist conviction of superiority by those Zionist settlers over the indigenous Palestinians. You see, the Zionists, whether they like it or not, or whether they are aware of it or not, are cultural heirs to the generic racist European colonial mindset of the "white man's bullshit burden" of civilizing - i.e. of erasing the native and replacing it with a copy of the invading culture - the "savages". For the French, English, Dutch, Spanish.... all other peoples around the globe were barbarians in need of civilizing. The Germans (then known as Nazis) embodied that cultural notion but implemented it inside Europe against certain categories of their own citizens and peoples: Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, southern Europeans...

The Zionists have adopted the American and South African settler strategy: Herd the natives inside enclosures like cattle (known as reservations, bantustans, Zones A, B, C of occupied Palestine, etc.) and steal their land. Sign a treaty today granting fake autonomy to these concentration camps but comprising clauses allowing the rapists to resume their rape at a later time. The White Europeans manufactured those treaties, knowing full well that they will begin violating them in earnest, and perpetrate another round of ethnic cleansing with more displacements and herding of natives into still smaller reservations... In Palestine, it was in 1948, then 1967, then the 1990s Oslo and Madrid treaties, when no sooner had the Zionists signed the papers that they resumed killing Palestinians, uprooting them and stealing their lands and building settlements.

This background aims at constructing in the reader's mind a blueprint for how an average white American thinks, and why there is so much violence in the United States and in Palestine. A colonial settler is, by definition, someone constantly on the move in search of new territory. His instinctive impulse is to look for more land and more stuff to steal from less sophisticated, more innocent native people. And that blueprint is still in the persona of the white American and white Zionist as we speak. While the indigenous Amerindians have ceased resisting the onslaught because of their numerical and technological disadvantages, the indigenous Palestinians have shown tremendous resilience and adaptability, particularly because the invading settlers were, and will always be, demographically at a disadvantage, just like Black South Africans managed to defeat their European rapists because of their sheer numerical advantage.

After all, when the League of Nations in 1919 decided to grant a Mandate to Britain over Palestine, it deemed the Palestinian people sufficiently developed to be independent and not be subjected to full-fledged colonization. The purpose of the Mandate was for the British to assist the Palestinians in building their sovereign institutions. While in Palestine, the British crooks sold Palestine to the European Zionists instead of complying with the fiduciary obligation they had, right next door in Lebanon the French did deliver on their Mandate: They helped the Lebanese draft a constitution, create their state institutions in the three branches of government, built an extensive infrastructure (roads, bridges, railroads, water and sanitary systems, etc.) before departing after some 22 years (1921-1943).

So, if you ever wonder why there is so much unwarranted violence in the US, why the white trash government of Donald Dumb can only operate with hatred, vulgarity and animosity, it is because the colonial mindset is still alive in the average American mind: They love guns even as they claim to have evolved from the barbarity of the Frontier and the Wild West. Every day in the US there are untold numbers of crimes and mass killings, for no apparent reason than the simplistic one of "I owe a gun, I might just as well use it", which leaves the moron with the task of finding a good setting and a good pretext.... a school, a church, a fair, a club....

Yesterday in Ohio.... Tomorrow, who knows, in Colorado or in Texas...

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At least 12 people wounded in shooting near festival in Toledo, Ohio
Faris Tanyos
Updated Sun, June 7, 2026 


Toledo police give update on shooting near festival that injured at least 12 04:02

At least 12 people were shot Saturday near a neighborhood festival in Toledo, Ohio, authorities said.

The Toledo Police Department reported that the shooting occurred near the Old West End Festival, a little after 5:30 p.m. local time.

In a news briefing Saturday night, Toledo Deputy Police Chief Joe Heffernan told reporters that there were believed to be at least two shooters.

"It appears as though there were at least two shooters, I think they were probably shooting at each other," Heffernan said.

At least 12 people sustained gunshot wounds, two of whom were in critical condition, Heffernan disclosed. The victims ranged in age from 14 to 61.

Police officers work at the scene of a shooting near a festival in Toledo, Ohio on June 6, 2026. / Credit: WTVG via AP

Heffernan said there were no suspects in custody at this time.

"It's pretty active right now as far as the investigative part of this goes," the deputy chief said.

Authorities said they were still working to determine the circumstances that led up to the shooting and a possible motive.

According to its website, the Old West End Festival is in its 53rd year, and consists of a parade, food markets and live music.

Tito Aguilar told CBS News he was ordering food when he witnessed a group of what he described as juveniles attacking another juvenile. Aguilar said he started recording on his cellphone, and then heard gunshots.

In the cellphone video he provided to CBS News, what sounds like at least 10 gunshots can be heard.

Aguilar said he ran from the area, but eventually returned to locate his own friends and saw several people with apparent injuries from the shooting.

"I am deeply concerned about the situation in Toledo tonight," Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a social media post. "Summer festivals should be safe spaces for families to spend time together without fear of violence. Fran and I are praying for everyone impacted by the incident at the Old West End Festival, and we are confident that law enforcement will locate the suspects involved in this senseless crime."

— John Filippelli contributed to this report.

Finally, a Lebanese President with a Backbone, but Without Weapons

But the Americans refuse to sell weapons to the Lebanese Army (which it could use to defeat Iran's terrorist militia Hezbollah) because, according to Israel, those weapons might be later used against Israel. "Damned if you do and damned if you don't" for the past sixty years.

Trump is putting maximum pressure on the Lebanese to disarm Hezbollah by force (which they can't for lack of weapons) or face Israel's barbarity as it pretends to fight Hezbollah. In fact, Israel loves Hezbollah because it serves it as a pretext for endless colonial expansion and warmongering. 

Imagine what would the value of Israel be if there is genuine peace in the region. Israel thrives on presenting itself to the world as a victim of its own Palestinian victims, and thus uses this "victim" status to keep extorting a credulous West for its guilt in perpetrating the Holocaust and making it unnaturally support Israel's genocide of the Palestinians and its theft of Syrian and Lebanese lands.

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Exclusive: Lebanese president accuses Iran of using his country as a bargaining chip in peace talks with the US
Mostafa Salem, CNN
Sat, June 6, 2026


CNN - Christiane Amanpour interviewing Lebanese President Joseph Aoun

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun delivered a searing rebuke to Iran on Friday, accusing it of using his country as a bargaining chip against the wishes of the Lebanese people in the conflict with the United States and Israel.

In a rare and exclusive interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, President Aoun declared that he is committed to doing "whatever it takes" to save his country from conflict, and that the Lebanese people are "fed up" with war between Israel and Hezbollah, a heavily armed Iranian-backed proxy that has built strong domestic support by portraying itself as the defender of southern Lebanon and the Palestinian people.

"We are fed up and we want to live in peace," Aoun said, adding "(Lebanese people) deserve to live in peace and in dignity, they deserve not seeing their homes being destroyed every five to 10 years."

Since its founding in the 1980s, Hezbollah has gone to war with Israel multiple times. This year, the group fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for a joint US-Israeli assault on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and much of his senior military command. Israel's aggressive response has killed more than 3,500 Lebanese and displaced nearly a fifth of the population.

Weakened by decades of foreign meddling, sectarian strife and its repeated entanglement in wider wars, the Lebanese state had pledged to tackle the daunting task of disarming Hezbollah in an effort to dismantle the group's immense influence and halt Israel's advancement.

Despite a ceasefire between Tehran and Washington in April and subsequent negotiations, Beirut has found itself increasingly embroiled in the wider conflict after Iran conditioned an agreement to end the war with the US on Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon.

"It's not your country, it's our country," Aoun said addressing Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – the main backers of Hezbollah. "(Iran is) using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiation with US."

Addressing Iran, he said, "You are not trying to help us … the people of Lebanon are paying the price … for the sake of your own interest," adding, "our interests … do not coincide with your interests."

Following the interview, Iran's top diplomat pushed back on the remarks Aoun made regarding Tehran using Lebanon as a bargaining chip. Responding to the clip of the CNN interview, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said: "Had Lebanon been a bargaining chip for Iran, we'd have a deal long ago."

"Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President," Araghchi added, in an apparent reference to Israel.

'We are ready, we are willing'

Facing limited options and mounting desperation to weaken Iran's influence in Lebanon, the US-backed President Aoun has instructed his government to negotiate direct ceasefire agreements with its longtime adversary, Israel – an unprecedented move by a Lebanese government that appears to be designed to pile further pressure onto Hezbollah.

"We are ready, we are willing, we are committed (to negotiations to end the war)," Aoun told Amanpour at the presidential palace in Beirut. "If you are not, you will never live in peace, safety and security," he said addressing the Israeli people and government.

He added that Lebanon and Israel have a "great opportunity" to end the state of hostility and for both the Lebanese and Israeli people to live in safety and security.

"They are both fed up with war since 1948," he added. "This is a huge opportunity. They both have to choose: war or… diplomacy."

But the truces between Lebanon and Israel have barely taken hold as Hezbollah continues rejecting any disarmament without Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.

In a statement on Thursday, Hezbollah's leader Naim Qassem slammed the Lebanon-Israel talks as a "surrender," saying the resulting truce was rejected in its "entirety by broad segments of the Lebanese people."

Aoun said he spoke to Lebanese people across different religious sects, including Shiites, who have told him they are "fed up" with Hezbollah's war with Israel.

"They are Lebanese people. They are not Naim Qassem's people," he said in a rare public criticism of the Iran-backed Shiite militant leader.

Still, the Lebanese president slammed the Israeli military strategy in dismantling Hezbollah, saying the group can only be "dealt with" by the Lebanese government after the Israeli military withdraws – and the conflict can only end through negotiations.

"They can invade the whole country, they can flatten the whole country, but they will never be able to achieve their objective," Aoun said on Israel. "Hezbollah is not an objective you can see… it's an idea."

Before becoming president, Aoun served eight years as army chief. He was wounded in battle and says he still carries shrapnel in his body, with his hearing damaged from close-quarters combat. Yet he says he hates war.

"I prefer negotiations over wars. I don't want my children … and I don't want the people in Lebanon to live the same hardship," he said. "The best way forward is diplomacy."

For almost three years, Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in aggressive skirmishes. Israeli forces have occupied dozens of villages in southern Lebanon to clear Hezbollah's forces.

The Israeli government has conditioned their withdrawal from Lebanon on Hezbollah laying down its weapons – a step that the Lebanese government led by Aoun said it is committed to.

Yet, outside of vocal critique and a few symbolic steps of dismantling Hezbollah's capabilities, the former military commander has not taken concrete steps to disarm Hezbollah in fear of sparking what many observers believe is a direct clash with the heavily armed group, which could spark a repeat of a brutal 15-year civil war that tore the country apart.

Instead, Aoun has watched his presidential palace tremble under Israeli strikes as Israel widens its campaign in Lebanon. At the same time, Iran continues raising the price of any ceasefire with the US while refusing to release its grip on Lebanese sovereignty.

"I will try… to negotiate and reason with them," Aoun said in reference to Hezbollah and disarmament. "Eventually they will be persuaded, but the cost will be high."

Ami Kaufman contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

Daily Good Deeds of the Most Moral Army in the World

The idea is perhaps is to cull the Palestinian population and have less "indigenous savages" to ethnic cleanse when the time comes for the Messiah to finally show up and end 5,000 years of barbarity in his name.

It's just standard procedure on the part of foreign settlers who are simply obeying Yahweh's biblical commandments to kill every man, woman, child and animal. No big deal. It's all in the garbage torah-old testament. The most moral army in the world cannot be challenged on following standard barbarian procedures. 

The British crooks who started this entire charade of the colonial "return to the promised land" are "shocked and saddened" by the incident. 

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Israeli soldiers shoot and kill 7-month-old Palestinian baby in West Bank
Abeer Salman and Eyad Kourdi, CNN
Sat, June 6, 2026 


Fahd Abu Haikal, 41 displays a mobile photo of his seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam, who was killed on Friday by Israeli soldiers who fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents, in Tel Rumeida, at a hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. - Mahmoud Illean/AP

Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 7-month-old Palestinian baby boy in the occupied West Bank on Friday and wounded his parents, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Sam Fahd Abu Haykal was in a car with his parents when an Israeli soldier opened fire at the vehicle near the city of Hebron, the ministry said. The gunfire killed Haykal and injured both of his parents.

The boy's grandmother, Firyal Abu Haykal, told Reuters that one bullet struck their car, killing the baby. "The incident is unbelievable and unacceptable," she told Reuters. "We are being harmed just because we decided to stay at our homes."

Father and brother of Sam Abu Haykal, a 7-month-old Palestinian child who was killed by Israeli soldiers, carry his body during his funeral in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 6, 2026. - Mussa Qawasma/Reuters

A bullet hole in the front window of a car of Palestinian father Fahed Abu Haykal after his seven-month-old baby was killed by Israeli forces, in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 5, 2026. - Mussa Qawasma/Reuters

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that soldiers "perceived" a vehicle accelerating toward them. A soldier fired a single shot at the vehicle, the IDF said, acknowledging that those injured were "uninvolved civilians."

The IDF said the incident is under review.

Such incidents have occurred before. In March, four members of the same Palestinian family, including two boys aged 5 and 7, who were out on a late-night drive after breaking the daily Ramadan fast, were shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, Palestinian officials reported.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

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Israeli forces kill Palestinian baby in the West Bank: Health ministry
CBS/AP
Sat, June 6, 2026

How archaeology turns political in the West Bank 11:37

Israeli troops killed a seven-month-old Palestinian baby boy after firing at his parents' vehicle in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Sam Fahd Abu Haikal was killed Friday evening, and his parents were wounded while driving in the Tel Rumeida area south of Hebron City, according to the ministry.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said the baby was critically wounded after being struck in the face by the same bullet that injured his mother. He later died of his injuries. His father, Fahd Abu Haikal, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, was shot in the hand. They were traveling from Bethlehem to visit family in Hebron when soldiers opened fire, the agency reported.

Photos from the Associated Press show that the baby's carseat was behind the driver's seat of the vehicle. Photos also show damage, including at least one bullet hole, in the car's windshield.

A man inspects the damaged family vehicle of seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, onSaturday, June 6, 2026. / Credit: Mahmoud Illean/AP

Israel's military has scaled up military operations in the West Bank since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack that killed some 1,200 people and took 251 people hostage, which triggered the war in Gaza. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has so far killed more than 72,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, is generally seen as reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts.

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces told CBS News that soldiers "perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them" in the Hebron area. A soldier responded by firing single shots, the spokesperson said. The statement said three Palestinians were injured and evacuated for medical treatment, but did not confirm the age or gender of any of the injured.

An initial inquiry "found that those injured were uninvolved civilians," the IDF spokesperson said, adding that the incident is under review and that the IDF "expresses deep sorrow for any harm caused to uninvolved individuals."

At Al-Ahly Hospital in Hebron, the baby's father told Associated Press reporters that a bullet struck the car's windshield before piercing his hand, then his son and wife.

"It entered the child's face on the right side and exited on the left, then passed directly into his mother's face and exited on the other side, with shrapnel lodged near her heart," Abu Haikal said.

Fahd Abu Haikal, 41 displays a mobile photo of his seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam. / Credit: Mahmoud Illean/AP

The mother is in critical condition because there's shrapnel close to her heart, he said. They haven't told her yet that her son, who turned seven months old on Friday, was killed.

The baby's grandmother, Feryal Abu Heikal, was in the car during the shooting and said they were driving near a checkpoint and stopped when they saw Israeli military vehicles and soldiers in the distance. As the forces fired at them, she initially thought it was warning shots before they were struck, she said.

"The scene was horrific to see a seven-month-old baby with a smashed face," she said. "What kind of army in the world does this? ... What happened to my grandson can't be easily forgotten."

The baby's funeral is expected later Saturday.

The British consulate in Jerusalem said it was "shocked and saddened" by the incident, saying on social media that it was calling for an "immediate and transparent investigation and accountability" and that "civilians must be protected."

Child care bag of seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam Fahd Abu Haikal. / Credit: Mahmoud Illean/AP

The United Nations said last month that more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem since the war began. At least 240 of them children, according to the U.N. Forty-nine people have been killed since the start of 2026, it said.

In March, Israeli soldiers fired on a car carrying a family in the northern West Bank, killing four people, including two children, the Palestinian Authority's Health Ministry said at the time.

Israeli soldiers accused of harming Palestinians are rarely penalized and were indicted in fewer than 1% of cases based on 2,427 complaints alleging wrongdoing between 2016 and 2024, according to Israeli rights group Yesh Din.

More than 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 from Jordan and sought by the Palestinians for a future state.

Now That Greater Lebanon's "Coexistence, Consensual Democracy, etc." Experiment Has Failed....

Edmond Nicolas
June 4, 2026
From: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CehjWXqm9/

If we think objectively—and acknowledge that the "Greater Lebanon" experiment, led by the Maronites, was a failed endeavor that proved incapable of securing the necessary peace between Muslims and Christians over the course of a century—then the optimal solution lies in a peaceful separation between Lebanon’s Christians and its Muslims. We ought to view the cause of this "divorce" between Lebanon’s religious communities as akin to the situation of a couple who have been bound to one another for a hundred years, yet have remained in perpetual conflict—literally over everything—since the very first day of their marriage. Furthermore—and above all else—they have no children, nor is there any compelling reason for them to preserve the unity of this "family."

This is our reality—as viewed with absolute objectivity and complete impartiality!

What, then, is wrong with them separating amicably, thereby allowing each party to live in peace within its own home?

I swear by God: there is no fault or shame in separation. In fact—and in accordance with the teachings of Christ—if we examine this matter of "divorce" from the perspective of religious differences, we find that it poses absolutely no threat to non-Christians. This is because Christian religious culture does not instill fear in the hearts of adherents of other faiths; the reason being that Christ’s own commandment to our Phoenician people—specifically in the cities of Tyre and Sidon—was crystal clear: it not only calls for unconditional love among all human beings, but also obliges Christians to pray even for their very enemies. This commandment rests upon theological pillars and principles that mandate the propagation of peace—thereby imposing upon the Christian, with even greater urgency, the duty *not* to create enemies for himself in the first place; lest he find himself compelled to pray for those who seek to kill him—simply for being a Christian.

Indeed, the conspiracy against the continued existence of my Phoenician-humanist identity in Lebanon shall not be repeated—nor shall I, as a Christian, stand idly by, contenting myself with prayer alone! Consequently, a separation grounded in love would serve to entrench peace rather than to create enemies—unless, of course, there exists a specific religious mindset that continues to harbor ill intentions toward the "Other," regardless of whether such a separation takes place or not. 

Let us now return to the heart of the matter: examining the path leading to a peaceful separation between Christians and Muslims in Lebanon. Quite frankly—and speaking as a Phoenician who once fought against Muslims in defense of Tripoli—I will not stand as an obstacle in the path of a million individuals from the Sunni community who choose to place themselves under the mantle of Syria's "Ahmad al-Sharaa, ak.a. al-Joulani." If this is truly what the people of Tripoli desire, then let the separation be amicable; the Christians would have absolutely no objection to it. What I mean is this: were you to ask me whether I—as a Phoenician—would consent to ceding "Phoenician Tripoli" to Syria, my answer would be "Yes." However, my acceptance is conditional upon Syria, in return, ceding those Christian-majority regions in the north known as "Wadi al-Nasara" ((The Valley of the Christians). As for the East, I advocate for expanding Lebanon’s borders to encompass Saydnaya and the adjacent Christian territories.

If such an amicable separation were to foster peace between Muslims and Christians, what possible objection could be raised against this concept? What, specifically, is wrong with the idea of ​​establishing a Christian state within Lebanon—modeled after the Jewish state currently existing in Israel, and just as we are surrounded by numerous Muslim states throughout the region? And what, then, is wrong with extending a hand of peace to our Jewish neighbors—precisely as we ask them to extend a hand of peace to us?

And what is wrong with extending a hand of peace to our Muslim neighbors—precisely as we ask them to extend a hand of peace to us?

Perhaps the time has come to abandon religious instincts as a basis for human interaction, and to allow reason to govern our human affairs!

The contradictory statements issued by Christian and Muslim religious leaders, following last week's "Spiritual Summit" between the heads of all the religious communities, confirm that the Lebanese people are left with no choice but to call for another gathering—one dedicated to discussing the optimal path toward an amicable separation. Or perhaps we should all simply go to sleep with our fingers on the triggers, poised for another round of violence—only to survive long enough to face yet another round of fighting.