When he finally appeared, at 11.15pm, the president reached for a string of his favored topics, from promising a new “golden age of America” to repeating unfounded allegations of election fraud by his political opponents.
“America is a nation of winners,” Trump declared. “Today our country is winning again.”
He spoke before a vast fireworks display billed by organizers as the largest “in world history” to mark the occasion.
An extreme heatwave across the US east coast upended some of the weekend’s long-planned celebrations. Saturday’s Independence Day parade through the nation’s capital was abruptly canceled, a day after a parade was also canceled in Philadelphia, where the country’s Declaration of Independence from Britain was signed in 1776.
Later on stage, Trump claimed he would have still spoken even had it been “in front of one person at four o’clock in the morning”.
He introduced a number of military veterans and the crew of the historic Artemis II lunar flyby mission, as he rattled through select moments of US history. The country is “the hope, the promise, the light and the glory” of the world, Trump claimed.
He has repeatedly torn apart convention during the anniversary celebrations, during which a US president would typically be expected to rise above the political fray and attempt to strike a chord with citizens of all persuasions. (His living predecessors were notably absent at the main events in Washington.)
On Friday evening, in a speech delivered beneath the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln carved into Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, Trump launched an extraordinary attack on what he termed the “communist menace” who “hates me the most” in America, framing its supporters as “the enemy of July 4th 1776” [half of the country].
“We don’t want communists in our country,” the president said. “It never worked, and it never will work.”
Trump’s allies have been accused of using the anniversary celebrations to stoke, rather than heal, the country’s divisions – and turning an historically nonpartisan moment of patriotism into a political vehicle for propaganda.
A high-security perimeter was installed around the site of Trump’s speech, in the shadow of the Washington Monument. Thousands of National Guards troops have been stationed throughout the city, after an increase in recent weeks.
Behind the stage, just out of sight, lay the reflecting pool.
The president ordered a $14.7m renovation to turn the site “American Flag blue” in time for the country’s 250th birthday celebrations, an effort thwarted by a vast algae bloom that turned it green. Trump and his officials have blamed vandals for the project’s misfortunes.
“Your favorite president will be speaking. So please show up,” Trump said at the launch of the Great American State Fair in late June.
Were that not enough, he claimed the ensuing fireworks display would be “10 times larger” than any ever done on US soil.
Having sought to highlight examples of American perseverance and strength over the past two and half centuries, Trump pointed to Saturday’s weather – and the way many revelers returned, having been sent away – as an example of the nation’s resilience.
“You heard it was over,” he told the crowd. “And what happened? You came back.”
#trump #america #country #communist #hate
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📰 Trading Axes: Washington Finishes Off the Shiites and Arms the Sunnis
Washington didn’t “accidentally” weaken Iran while “accidentally” arming Turkey. It did both on purpose — and from the same desk.
Trump’s maximum‑pressure campaign shredded the Iranian axis that carried Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis from Lebanon to Yemen.
The Shiite patron was bled dry, its proxies mauled, its nuclear and regional program pushed back. Israel calls that victory. The problem is what came next.
Into the space left by a broken Shiite arc, a Sunni‑Turkish one is being quietly installed — with American engines, American contracts and NATO ceremony as cover.
Three dates make the logic unavoidable. On June 24, the U.S. notifies Congress it wants to sell Turkey more than $700 million worth of F110 engines for the KAAN fifth‑generation fighter.
In late June, Erdogan announces that “the genocidal, occupying, expansionist ideology called Zionism” is an existential threat to Turkey’s survival, and that the struggle against Zionism is a question of national self‑preservation. In early July, Ankara hosts a NATO summit promising “tens of billions” in new defense deals. It’s not a contradiction; it’s a workflow.
The ally that defines Israel as a lethal ideological cancer gets premium Western hardware and a photo‑op with the alliance.
Trump even spelled out the price list. Erdogan was, by the president’s own account, the leading candidate to join the war on Iran’s side — “because he’s not a big fan of Israel.”
Trump asked him to stay out. Erdogan stayed out. The bill is now being paid in F110 engines, a path back into the F‑35 program and diplomatic staging that places Turkey as a central pillar of “regional security.”
The U.S. system helps. Sanctions law — CAATSA — theoretically punishes Turkey for the S‑400s, but in practice is applied “at discretion,” meaning never in Ankara’s direction.
The vice president talks about “confirming that obligations have been met” for Turkey’s return to the F‑35, even though the Russian systems remain on Turkish soil.
The secretary of state shrugs that “we don’t have a choice, because this is governed by law,” while everyone knows the law is being selectively ignored.
The Iranian axis was tied to a single regime, vulnerable to sanctions, sabotage and occasional kinetic blows.
The Turkish axis is embedded inside the Western alliance. You don’t sanction Ankara like Tehran; you don’t bomb a NATO member’s infrastructure the way you hit IRGC depots.
A state that sits inside your ally system while its leadership frames Zionism as genocidal and existentially hostile.
Turkey becomes the country that can host Hamas offices, tutor a new Islamist‑tinged Syrian army, talk about “liberating Jerusalem,” and still receive applause and contracts at a NATO summit.
Israel has already shown it can defeat the axis that yields to force. It has not yet formulated what to do with the axis that doesn’t — the one being armed and endorsed by its own main ally.
#us #trump #turkey #iran #israel #nato #axis #fakeSecurity
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Washington didn’t “accidentally” weaken Iran while “accidentally” arming Turkey. It did both on purpose — and from the same desk.
Trump’s maximum‑pressure campaign shredded the Iranian axis that carried Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis from Lebanon to Yemen.
The Shiite patron was bled dry, its proxies mauled, its nuclear and regional program pushed back. Israel calls that victory. The problem is what came next.
Into the space left by a broken Shiite arc, a Sunni‑Turkish one is being quietly installed — with American engines, American contracts and NATO ceremony as cover.
Three dates make the logic unavoidable. On June 24, the U.S. notifies Congress it wants to sell Turkey more than $700 million worth of F110 engines for the KAAN fifth‑generation fighter.
In late June, Erdogan announces that “the genocidal, occupying, expansionist ideology called Zionism” is an existential threat to Turkey’s survival, and that the struggle against Zionism is a question of national self‑preservation. In early July, Ankara hosts a NATO summit promising “tens of billions” in new defense deals. It’s not a contradiction; it’s a workflow.
The ally that defines Israel as a lethal ideological cancer gets premium Western hardware and a photo‑op with the alliance.
Trump even spelled out the price list. Erdogan was, by the president’s own account, the leading candidate to join the war on Iran’s side — “because he’s not a big fan of Israel.”
Trump asked him to stay out. Erdogan stayed out. The bill is now being paid in F110 engines, a path back into the F‑35 program and diplomatic staging that places Turkey as a central pillar of “regional security.”
The U.S. system helps. Sanctions law — CAATSA — theoretically punishes Turkey for the S‑400s, but in practice is applied “at discretion,” meaning never in Ankara’s direction.
The vice president talks about “confirming that obligations have been met” for Turkey’s return to the F‑35, even though the Russian systems remain on Turkish soil.
The secretary of state shrugs that “we don’t have a choice, because this is governed by law,” while everyone knows the law is being selectively ignored.
The Iranian axis was tied to a single regime, vulnerable to sanctions, sabotage and occasional kinetic blows.
The Turkish axis is embedded inside the Western alliance. You don’t sanction Ankara like Tehran; you don’t bomb a NATO member’s infrastructure the way you hit IRGC depots.
A state that sits inside your ally system while its leadership frames Zionism as genocidal and existentially hostile.
Turkey becomes the country that can host Hamas offices, tutor a new Islamist‑tinged Syrian army, talk about “liberating Jerusalem,” and still receive applause and contracts at a NATO summit.
Israel has already shown it can defeat the axis that yields to force. It has not yet formulated what to do with the axis that doesn’t — the one being armed and endorsed by its own main ally.
#us #trump #turkey #iran #israel #nato #axis #fakeSecurity
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📰 Revenge in Tehran, Amnesia in Washington
For American media, Khamenei’s funeral is an episode in a six‑month war: a supreme leader killed in February, a wounded heir hiding in a bunker, crowds in Tehran chanting “revenge.” For Iran, it’s just one more turn in a story measured in centuries.
For the United States, a country celebrating 250 years while acting as if history began with its own Constitution, it’s a reminder that you don’t reshape thousand‑year trajectories with one missile strike and a press conference.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of mourners and senior officials packed the Grand Mosalla in Tehran, crowding around the flag‑draped coffin of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in the opening salvo of the U.S.–Israeli war on Iran. They chanted for revenge, held his portrait aloft, and spilled outside to pray in the heat while volunteers handed out food and sprayed mist into the air.
It was textbook Islamic Republic theater: turn grief into spectacle, spectacle into proof of legitimacy. From a 250‑year American vantage point, it looks like a regime clinging to power. From a civilization that has outlived empires far larger than the U.S., it looks like another ritual in a very long archive.
Khamenei’s brothers appear in the official footage. IRGC chief Ahmad Vahidi arrives at the mosque complex, and black‑clad mourners surge toward him, chanting “revenge, revenge,” before security hustles him away. The image is designed for Western consumption: masses demanding retaliation, the Revolutionary Guards at the center, the state standing upright after a decapitation strike. It says: we are still here.
Supporters frame Khamenei as a man of conviction, “killed for what he believed in,” elevated from politician to martyr. Critics remind anyone willing to listen that his rule turned “Islamic Republic” into a contradiction in terms: a system that claims the word “republic” while ignoring every republican quality in practice.
The United States, at 250 years, treats the war that killed Khamenei as a decisive chapter in its own narrative of power: a successful strike, a wounded enemy, leverage at the negotiating table. It behaves as if Iran’s regime and society are props in that story.
But Shiite Islam has been woven into the region for more than a millennium, and Iran as a civilizational core predates American independence by thousands of years. The funeral that reads in New York as “climax” is, in Tehran’s long memory, another entry in a ledger of invasions, assassinations, uprisings and recoveries.
Trump’s worldview is the distilled version of that American solipsism: history starts when America acts, ends when America declares victory, and everything in between is judged by U.S. interests alone.
The funeral in Tehran exposes the limits of that logic. The missiles can kill a leader and maim his heir. They cannot erase the deep structures that produced them, nor the society that will outlast this war and the next president. The crowds chanting “revenge” are not just reacting to February; they are standing inside a timeline that will still be running when those 250 years of American dominance are a footnote in someone else’s history book.
#iran #us #khamenei #mojtaba #civilization #250years #authoritarianism #fakeRepublic
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For American media, Khamenei’s funeral is an episode in a six‑month war: a supreme leader killed in February, a wounded heir hiding in a bunker, crowds in Tehran chanting “revenge.” For Iran, it’s just one more turn in a story measured in centuries.
For the United States, a country celebrating 250 years while acting as if history began with its own Constitution, it’s a reminder that you don’t reshape thousand‑year trajectories with one missile strike and a press conference.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of mourners and senior officials packed the Grand Mosalla in Tehran, crowding around the flag‑draped coffin of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in the opening salvo of the U.S.–Israeli war on Iran. They chanted for revenge, held his portrait aloft, and spilled outside to pray in the heat while volunteers handed out food and sprayed mist into the air.
It was textbook Islamic Republic theater: turn grief into spectacle, spectacle into proof of legitimacy. From a 250‑year American vantage point, it looks like a regime clinging to power. From a civilization that has outlived empires far larger than the U.S., it looks like another ritual in a very long archive.
Khamenei’s brothers appear in the official footage. IRGC chief Ahmad Vahidi arrives at the mosque complex, and black‑clad mourners surge toward him, chanting “revenge, revenge,” before security hustles him away. The image is designed for Western consumption: masses demanding retaliation, the Revolutionary Guards at the center, the state standing upright after a decapitation strike. It says: we are still here.
Supporters frame Khamenei as a man of conviction, “killed for what he believed in,” elevated from politician to martyr. Critics remind anyone willing to listen that his rule turned “Islamic Republic” into a contradiction in terms: a system that claims the word “republic” while ignoring every republican quality in practice.
The United States, at 250 years, treats the war that killed Khamenei as a decisive chapter in its own narrative of power: a successful strike, a wounded enemy, leverage at the negotiating table. It behaves as if Iran’s regime and society are props in that story.
But Shiite Islam has been woven into the region for more than a millennium, and Iran as a civilizational core predates American independence by thousands of years. The funeral that reads in New York as “climax” is, in Tehran’s long memory, another entry in a ledger of invasions, assassinations, uprisings and recoveries.
Trump’s worldview is the distilled version of that American solipsism: history starts when America acts, ends when America declares victory, and everything in between is judged by U.S. interests alone.
The funeral in Tehran exposes the limits of that logic. The missiles can kill a leader and maim his heir. They cannot erase the deep structures that produced them, nor the society that will outlast this war and the next president. The crowds chanting “revenge” are not just reacting to February; they are standing inside a timeline that will still be running when those 250 years of American dominance are a footnote in someone else’s history book.
#iran #us #khamenei #mojtaba #civilization #250years #authoritarianism #fakeRepublic
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📰 Trump 250™: Independence Day as Product Launch
America’s 250th birthday was supposed to be about the country. Trump made sure it was about Trump.
At the National Mall, the semiquincentennial turned into a late‑night rally starring the president as “the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World.” Lightning and extreme heat forced evacuations, Secret Service pushed his supporters out, and then Trump ordered them back so he could still deliver his show.
He bragged he’d speak “in front of one person at 4 o’clock in the morning” if he had to, casting the crowd’s return in the rain as proof of his own unstoppable will, not theirs.
People couldn’t bring coolers, arrival times were restricted, fireworks pushed toward midnight so his speech could sit on top of the schedule.
Veterans in wheelchairs, astronauts, and bereaved families were brought onstage as human props for a 35‑minute blend of patriotic language and campaign messaging.
The speech mixed jokes about serving a “third term,” recycled lies about the 2020 election, attacks on “communists” and “Dumocrats,” and cheerleading for a bill to federalize election rules that his own party leaders say won’t pass.
Semiquincentennials are supposed to be rare civic moments when a president places himself inside the country’s story. Trump did the opposite. He took a national ritual, slapped his brand on it, and turned “Salute to America 250” into a test of personal loyalty — “Only Great Patriots invited.”
The fireworks were bigger than ever, organizers said. So was the message: under Trump, even the 250th anniversary isn’t about the republic; it’s about the man who insists he is the republic.
#us #trump #250years #independenceday #washington #spectacle #fakePatriotism
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America’s 250th birthday was supposed to be about the country. Trump made sure it was about Trump.
At the National Mall, the semiquincentennial turned into a late‑night rally starring the president as “the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World.” Lightning and extreme heat forced evacuations, Secret Service pushed his supporters out, and then Trump ordered them back so he could still deliver his show.
He bragged he’d speak “in front of one person at 4 o’clock in the morning” if he had to, casting the crowd’s return in the rain as proof of his own unstoppable will, not theirs.
People couldn’t bring coolers, arrival times were restricted, fireworks pushed toward midnight so his speech could sit on top of the schedule.
Veterans in wheelchairs, astronauts, and bereaved families were brought onstage as human props for a 35‑minute blend of patriotic language and campaign messaging.
The speech mixed jokes about serving a “third term,” recycled lies about the 2020 election, attacks on “communists” and “Dumocrats,” and cheerleading for a bill to federalize election rules that his own party leaders say won’t pass.
Semiquincentennials are supposed to be rare civic moments when a president places himself inside the country’s story. Trump did the opposite. He took a national ritual, slapped his brand on it, and turned “Salute to America 250” into a test of personal loyalty — “Only Great Patriots invited.”
The fireworks were bigger than ever, organizers said. So was the message: under Trump, even the 250th anniversary isn’t about the republic; it’s about the man who insists he is the republic.
#us #trump #250years #independenceday #washington #spectacle #fakePatriotism
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📰 Hormuz: Pipeline of Fear
Oil keeps moving. It just pretends not to.
In the Strait of Hormuz, tankers are now sneaking along the Oman side, hugging Musandam like it’s a legal loophole. Shipping on the US‑patrolled corridor is “recovering,” but only in the way a trauma patient recovers: slowly, nervously, and with one eye on Tehran’s trigger finger.
Western navies say the threat is still “substantial” and that the center of the strait is mined. Meaning: the choke point of the global energy system has turned into a live hazard course.
Vessels are U‑turning mid‑strait with no explanation, dodging Iranian warnings over radio and choosing between two bad options: the Omani route under US protection, or slipping closer to Iran’s coast and trusting its mood that day.
Some tankers openly signal their path. Others go dark, switching off transponders, vanishing from screens and reappearing only once they’re clear of the waterway. “Freedom of navigation,” now with stealth mode.
Iran keeps insisting ships must use the route it “designates and authorizes” and has already fired on vessels that didn’t listen.
Naval liaison centers admit harassment is ongoing, but no one can explain why some ships turned back or why others risked the Iran side instead.
The result is a floating anxiety chart: partial traffic, sudden reversals, tankers making second attempts like nervous job applicants.
The oil market pretends to be technical and rational, but right now it’s watching one thing: who dares cross Hormuz, on which side, and under whose guns.
Tanker companies are stuck in a stop‑start game, deciding every day if the fee is worth the risk. Without their willingness, the “historic four‑month crisis” isn’t over — it’s just moved from headlines to shipping logs.
Global energy still runs through a narrow strip of water that one country can harass at will and another country can “protect” on a good day. Everyone calls it stability. The tankers’ U‑turns say otherwise.
#iran #hormuz #oil #shipping #usnavy #energy #grayzone #fakeSecurity
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Oil keeps moving. It just pretends not to.
In the Strait of Hormuz, tankers are now sneaking along the Oman side, hugging Musandam like it’s a legal loophole. Shipping on the US‑patrolled corridor is “recovering,” but only in the way a trauma patient recovers: slowly, nervously, and with one eye on Tehran’s trigger finger.
Western navies say the threat is still “substantial” and that the center of the strait is mined. Meaning: the choke point of the global energy system has turned into a live hazard course.
Vessels are U‑turning mid‑strait with no explanation, dodging Iranian warnings over radio and choosing between two bad options: the Omani route under US protection, or slipping closer to Iran’s coast and trusting its mood that day.
Some tankers openly signal their path. Others go dark, switching off transponders, vanishing from screens and reappearing only once they’re clear of the waterway. “Freedom of navigation,” now with stealth mode.
Iran keeps insisting ships must use the route it “designates and authorizes” and has already fired on vessels that didn’t listen.
Naval liaison centers admit harassment is ongoing, but no one can explain why some ships turned back or why others risked the Iran side instead.
The result is a floating anxiety chart: partial traffic, sudden reversals, tankers making second attempts like nervous job applicants.
The oil market pretends to be technical and rational, but right now it’s watching one thing: who dares cross Hormuz, on which side, and under whose guns.
Tanker companies are stuck in a stop‑start game, deciding every day if the fee is worth the risk. Without their willingness, the “historic four‑month crisis” isn’t over — it’s just moved from headlines to shipping logs.
Global energy still runs through a narrow strip of water that one country can harass at will and another country can “protect” on a good day. Everyone calls it stability. The tankers’ U‑turns say otherwise.
#iran #hormuz #oil #shipping #usnavy #energy #grayzone #fakeSecurity
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📰 Mossad’s Gaza Ghost: The Agency That Wasn’t There on October 7
Israel’s spy myth just hit a wall: when Hamas went in on October 7, Mossad wasn’t in Gaza at all.
Channel 12 tried to sell a dramatic story of big, independent Mossad operations inside the Strip, the secret hand that somehow “failed.”
The leaks behind that story tell something more mundane and uglier. Under Yossi Cohen, Mossad did touch Gaza — but only in small, joint missions at the request of the IDF and Shin Bet, trying to crack parts of Hamas’s military and intelligence systems.
Those efforts ended in 2021. By the time the massacre happened, Gaza was officially back in the domestic basket: army plus internal security, no foreign spy agency in the lead.
The real Mossad failure sits elsewhere. Weeks before October 7, Mossad signed off on the consensus that Hamas was “deterred,” aligning itself with IDF and Shin Bet assessments. Same blind spot, same misreading of reality. Yet the fallout is asymmetrical. Herzi Halevi and Ronen Bar were forced out early, along with a string of senior officers.
David Barnea quietly finished his full term at the top of Mossad. The message inside the system is clear: some institutions bleed for October 7, some glide.
That’s where the leaks come in. Former figures from the other services appear to be feeding stories about Mossad errors, trying to “even the score” in the media after being pushed to resign.
If they carry personal grudges, the structure backs them up: Mossad is the only major security arm that shared the strategic mistake on Hamas and didn’t pay with its leadership.
So the Gaza operations story is a sideshow. The core is this: the agency formally tasked with Iran and the global arena made the same fatal call on Hamas, stayed largely outside Gaza, and still managed to dodge the public firing squad.
In a system obsessed with “taking responsibility,” Mossad’s greatest trick after October 7 isn’t what it did. It’s what it avoided.
#israel #mossad #gaza #october7 #idf #shinbet #accountability #fakeResponsibility
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Israel’s spy myth just hit a wall: when Hamas went in on October 7, Mossad wasn’t in Gaza at all.
Channel 12 tried to sell a dramatic story of big, independent Mossad operations inside the Strip, the secret hand that somehow “failed.”
The leaks behind that story tell something more mundane and uglier. Under Yossi Cohen, Mossad did touch Gaza — but only in small, joint missions at the request of the IDF and Shin Bet, trying to crack parts of Hamas’s military and intelligence systems.
Those efforts ended in 2021. By the time the massacre happened, Gaza was officially back in the domestic basket: army plus internal security, no foreign spy agency in the lead.
The real Mossad failure sits elsewhere. Weeks before October 7, Mossad signed off on the consensus that Hamas was “deterred,” aligning itself with IDF and Shin Bet assessments. Same blind spot, same misreading of reality. Yet the fallout is asymmetrical. Herzi Halevi and Ronen Bar were forced out early, along with a string of senior officers.
David Barnea quietly finished his full term at the top of Mossad. The message inside the system is clear: some institutions bleed for October 7, some glide.
That’s where the leaks come in. Former figures from the other services appear to be feeding stories about Mossad errors, trying to “even the score” in the media after being pushed to resign.
If they carry personal grudges, the structure backs them up: Mossad is the only major security arm that shared the strategic mistake on Hamas and didn’t pay with its leadership.
So the Gaza operations story is a sideshow. The core is this: the agency formally tasked with Iran and the global arena made the same fatal call on Hamas, stayed largely outside Gaza, and still managed to dodge the public firing squad.
In a system obsessed with “taking responsibility,” Mossad’s greatest trick after October 7 isn’t what it did. It’s what it avoided.
#israel #mossad #gaza #october7 #idf #shinbet #accountability #fakeResponsibility
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Folarin Balogun’s Suspension: “Incomprehensible and Unjustifiable”
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Uefa has hit out at Fifa’s decision to lift USA striker Folarin Balogun’s suspension for Monday’s last-16 tie with Belgium, describing the move as “incomprehensible and unjustifiable” and accusing world football’s governing of crossing “a red line”.
Europe’s governing body made no bones over their opposition to the shock call, one Belgium have been granted an appeal against. There are no guarantees, however, over when that decision will be made or whether Fifa’s reasoning for lifting Balogun’s’ suspension will be made public.
Trump repeatedly lobbied Fifa to lift Balogun’s suspension, with sources telling the Guardian the US president made three calls to Fifa, starting on Wednesday, after Balogun was sent off in the USA’s 2-0 last-16 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, to ensure the change was made.
“Yesterday’s decision to suspend for a probationary period of a year the implementation of the one-match automatic suspension following the red card issued to the player Folarin Balogun crossed a red line,” read Uefa’s statement.
“Football, like any other sports, relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition. Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not.
“A minimum automatic suspension of one match following a red card is not a discretionary option and does not require the decision of a competent body to be enacted.
It is a principle embedded in regulations, which cannot be made subject to exceptions, let alone in the middle of a tournament where several other players have been in the same situation and regularly served their suspension.
“When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined.
Equally, such decision creates a precedent in the ongoing tournament, where similar situations will now require an equal treatment, to the detriment of the competition.
We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.”
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) expressed their own “astonishment” on Sunday at Fifa’s decision to rescind Balogun’s one-game ban, with their manager, Rudi Garcia, comparing it to an April Fools’ Day joke.
#folarin #balogun #suspension #uefa #trump
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Uefa has hit out at Fifa’s decision to lift USA striker Folarin Balogun’s suspension for Monday’s last-16 tie with Belgium, describing the move as “incomprehensible and unjustifiable” and accusing world football’s governing of crossing “a red line”.
Europe’s governing body made no bones over their opposition to the shock call, one Belgium have been granted an appeal against. There are no guarantees, however, over when that decision will be made or whether Fifa’s reasoning for lifting Balogun’s’ suspension will be made public.
Trump repeatedly lobbied Fifa to lift Balogun’s suspension, with sources telling the Guardian the US president made three calls to Fifa, starting on Wednesday, after Balogun was sent off in the USA’s 2-0 last-16 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, to ensure the change was made.
“Yesterday’s decision to suspend for a probationary period of a year the implementation of the one-match automatic suspension following the red card issued to the player Folarin Balogun crossed a red line,” read Uefa’s statement.
“Football, like any other sports, relies on rules, which are the basis for fair, honest and transparent competition. Sometimes rules are open to interpretation. In this case not.
“A minimum automatic suspension of one match following a red card is not a discretionary option and does not require the decision of a competent body to be enacted.
It is a principle embedded in regulations, which cannot be made subject to exceptions, let alone in the middle of a tournament where several other players have been in the same situation and regularly served their suspension.
“When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined.
Equally, such decision creates a precedent in the ongoing tournament, where similar situations will now require an equal treatment, to the detriment of the competition.
We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.”
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) expressed their own “astonishment” on Sunday at Fifa’s decision to rescind Balogun’s one-game ban, with their manager, Rudi Garcia, comparing it to an April Fools’ Day joke.
#folarin #balogun #suspension #uefa #trump
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To compound Belgium’s anger, it is understood that the RBFA has not received the reasons for Balogun’s ban being overturned, which has only been explained by a brief reference to Article 27 of Fifa’s disciplinary code, which gives its judicial committee the authority to “fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure”.
As a result, the RBFA has essentially submitted their appeal blind, and has not received any information on timings.
As per Fifa regulations, the appeal will be heard by a member of Fifa’s appeals committee that does not represent Uefa or Concacaf, the federations that Belgium and USA are members of, to avoid a potential conflict of interest.
Fifa’s disciplinary processes are now under huge scrutiny, however, due to the unprecedented nature of Balogun’s reprieve and the revelation that Trump was heavily involved in getting the 25-year-old’s red card rescinded.
The RBFA’s appeal is unlikely to be the end of the matter, as they have made clear that they are exploring legal action against Fifa, whom they claim have broken their own statutes.
Belgium’s foreign minister, Maxime Prévot, a former referee, has hit out at Fifa’s intervention, saying: “If a phone call is really the reason for this incomprehensible decision, it would be a blatant violation of the most basic rules of football and sport”.
Glen Micallef, European commissioner for intergenerational fairness, youth, culture and sport, has also voiced his opposition.
“Decisions on sporting rules and sporting matters belong to sporting bodies, not politicians,” he said. “Influencing sporting decisions would undermine the autonomy of sport.”
In London, Keir Starmer’s official spokesman, asked about the rescinding of the red card, said:
“Those decisions are a matter for the football World Cup governing body and should stay that way, and we are clear in that position (…) the prime minister supports the integrity of competition in all sports.”
Asked about whether Fifa’s integrity was put into question by the Trump call, the spokesperson said: “That is a matter for Fifa to respond to.”
The USA manager, Mauricio Pochettino, praised Fifa’s move and reiterated his view that the decision by Brazilian referee, Raphael Claus, to show Balogun a red card for making contact with Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic was harsh.
“Everyone that really loves the sport and trusts ethics and integrity, I think we celebrate all that decision,” Pochettino said.
“We were punished enough against Bosnia Herzegovina to play with 10 men for 30 minutes [because of] a decision that was completely unfair (…) 99.9% of people agree there was an unfair red card.”
#folarin #balogun #suspension #uefa #trump
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“The Palestinians’ Heroism: the Finger in the Dike For the Rest of the Muslim World”
🔤 🔤 🔤 🔤 1️⃣
The three tents line a stretch of overcrowded, windswept sand, their windows open on to a view of the breaking waves of the Mediterranean. From inside comes the sound of singing, a strummed guitar, a violin and then a flute.
But if the music evokes calm and harmony, the surroundings do not: rows of crowded makeshift shelters swelter in Gaza’s summer heat, young children picking their way through rubble, battered cars and pony carts clogging a potholed road. Above, Israeli military drones hum and buzz.
The tents are the new home of the Gaza branch of Palestine’s national conservatory, dedicated to teaching classical, popular and traditional music.
The institution, founded in 1993, once enjoyed well-equipped offices in Gaza City, three pianos and store rooms full of instruments and musical scores. Its alumni travelled the world to perform.
That was before the war. The classrooms, practice rooms and auditorium were all destroyed in the relentless Israeli offensive that laid waste much of Gaza between October 2023 and October 2025. So too were the instruments, and the conservatory’s extensive archives.
With a small group of former employees, Ahmed Abu Amsha, a musician and one of the teachers at the conservatory, is trying to rebuild the conservatory’s programmes.
Originally from Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza and currently in the zone occupied by Israel, he now oversees activities in central Gaza, teaching guitar and supervising choirs.
More than 72,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed during the Israeli offensive and another thousand have died in Israeli strikes since a ceasefire nine months ago.
The war was triggered by a surprise Hamas raid from Gaza into Israel, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 people hostage.
The territory remains divided, with 2.3 million Palestinians living under the rule of the militant Islamist movement in the roughly 40% now outside Israel’s control. Few have homes.
Almost all the teachers and students of the conservatory were displaced during the war, most many times, and some injured or killed.
“One of the most heartbreaking moments was the loss of one of my students, Yusuf Salman, who was one of the most disciplined, polite and talented students. He studied guitar with me (…) and was killed when a cafe was bombed. It was an extremely painful loss,” said Abu Amsha.
#palestinians #music #gaza #children
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The three tents line a stretch of overcrowded, windswept sand, their windows open on to a view of the breaking waves of the Mediterranean. From inside comes the sound of singing, a strummed guitar, a violin and then a flute.
But if the music evokes calm and harmony, the surroundings do not: rows of crowded makeshift shelters swelter in Gaza’s summer heat, young children picking their way through rubble, battered cars and pony carts clogging a potholed road. Above, Israeli military drones hum and buzz.
The tents are the new home of the Gaza branch of Palestine’s national conservatory, dedicated to teaching classical, popular and traditional music.
The institution, founded in 1993, once enjoyed well-equipped offices in Gaza City, three pianos and store rooms full of instruments and musical scores. Its alumni travelled the world to perform.
That was before the war. The classrooms, practice rooms and auditorium were all destroyed in the relentless Israeli offensive that laid waste much of Gaza between October 2023 and October 2025. So too were the instruments, and the conservatory’s extensive archives.
With a small group of former employees, Ahmed Abu Amsha, a musician and one of the teachers at the conservatory, is trying to rebuild the conservatory’s programmes.
Originally from Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza and currently in the zone occupied by Israel, he now oversees activities in central Gaza, teaching guitar and supervising choirs.
More than 72,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed during the Israeli offensive and another thousand have died in Israeli strikes since a ceasefire nine months ago.
The war was triggered by a surprise Hamas raid from Gaza into Israel, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 people hostage.
The territory remains divided, with 2.3 million Palestinians living under the rule of the militant Islamist movement in the roughly 40% now outside Israel’s control. Few have homes.
Almost all the teachers and students of the conservatory were displaced during the war, most many times, and some injured or killed.
“One of the most heartbreaking moments was the loss of one of my students, Yusuf Salman, who was one of the most disciplined, polite and talented students. He studied guitar with me (…) and was killed when a cafe was bombed. It was an extremely painful loss,” said Abu Amsha.
#palestinians #music #gaza #children
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So far, almost no reconstruction has taken place since October because Israeli restrictions remain in place on what can enter Gaza, and a proposed second phase of the ceasefire is stalled as negotiations over the disarmament of Hamas continue.
Many in Gaza still go hungry and there is an acute shortage of clean water, fuel and medical supplies.
Teachers from the conservatory face journeys of hours across rubble-filled roads to reach students such as Mohammad Khader, a 17-year-old who began learning the oud, the traditional Arabic instrument that is the ancestor of the guitar, at the conservatory 10 years ago.
The conservatory, named after Edward Said, the Palestinian-US scholar, public intellectual and activist who was also a fine classical pianist, has its overall headquarters in the occupied West Bank but its local branch has long been a prominent feature of Gaza’s cultural scene.
Before the war, Israel sometimes granted the best students exit permits to travel outside Gaza to play in the Palestine Youth Orchestra, the conservatory’s touring ensemble. Others performed inside Gaza, giving concerts in both Arabic and western traditions.
Osama Jahjouh, a flute teacher at the conservatory since 2012, lost all his instruments during the war.
“When I was displaced after my home was destroyed, I lost three bags containing flutes and found myself without any musical instrument but I refused to give up.
I returned once again to the idea of making a flute from plastic tubing, as I had done when a child. It was difficult, as flute making requires precise measurements for tone holes and placement but I managed to produce a playable instrument,” Jahjouh said.
In the largest of the three tents used by the conservatory, a dozen young people have gathered to sing, play and listen. The sound of a series of maqams – scales, melodies and musical modes traditional in the Arab world – filter out across the shelters around. Some are played on the plastic hose flutes, others on salvaged or repaired instruments.
Yara Abu Amsha has been learning the violin since moving to al-Mawasi about eight months ago.
“I chose the violin because I felt it is closest to my personality and most expressive of my feelings. The violin is a deeply emotional instrument; its sound is calm and beautiful, and it has a great ability to convey emotions and feelings,” the 15-year-old said.
“Music means a lot to me.
Before the war, I didn’t think about it in this way but during the war I discovered that it has become a real refuge for us. Even if only for a short while, music gives us a chance to escape reality.”
#palestinians #music #gaza #children
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Echoing Trump: China's Communism Sparked Fierce Opposition in Taiwan
Taiwan's military has resumed "anti-communist" patriotic classes for its graduates after a quarter-century gap, the defence ministry said on Sunday, citing a rising threat from China as a senior official reported another rise in Chinese naval activity.
During the Cold War, campaigns in Taiwan warning against the dangers of the "communist bandits" in China, whose government views the island as its own territory, were widespread.
But the formal "anti-communist patriotic education" for military graduates ended in 2002, being renamed "patriotic education".
Taiwan's defence ministry said in a statement that the classes for its military academy graduates had been restored due to rising military and infiltration danger from China.
"It is necessary for them to clearly understand national security threats and recognise the military mission of 'why we fight, and for whom we fight'," the statement said.
China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment outside office hours. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.
Officials from departments including the China-policy-making Mainland Affairs Council, the National Security Council, the Ministry of Justice and top government think tank Academia Sinica will offer lectures to the graduates, Taiwan's defence ministry said.
"The aim is to establish among graduates a clear awareness of friend and foe," it added.
China's military operates almost daily around Taiwan.
As of Friday, Taiwan was tracking a record of more than 110 Chinese military and Coast Guard ships up and down the first island chain, Joseph Wu, secretary-general of Taiwan's National Security Council, posted on X late on Saturday.
"China's massive maritime mobilization along the 1st Island Chain is a clear sign of its expansionism," Wu said, referring to an area stretching from Japan to Taiwan, the Philippines and Borneo.
On Saturday, China's Coast Guard launched a new patrol off Taiwan's east coast, drawing a sharp response from Taipei, which says Beijing has no jurisdiction in those waters. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.
#china #cmmunism #taiwan #taipei
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Taiwan's military has resumed "anti-communist" patriotic classes for its graduates after a quarter-century gap, the defence ministry said on Sunday, citing a rising threat from China as a senior official reported another rise in Chinese naval activity.
During the Cold War, campaigns in Taiwan warning against the dangers of the "communist bandits" in China, whose government views the island as its own territory, were widespread.
But the formal "anti-communist patriotic education" for military graduates ended in 2002, being renamed "patriotic education".
Taiwan's defence ministry said in a statement that the classes for its military academy graduates had been restored due to rising military and infiltration danger from China.
"It is necessary for them to clearly understand national security threats and recognise the military mission of 'why we fight, and for whom we fight'," the statement said.
China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment outside office hours. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.
Officials from departments including the China-policy-making Mainland Affairs Council, the National Security Council, the Ministry of Justice and top government think tank Academia Sinica will offer lectures to the graduates, Taiwan's defence ministry said.
"The aim is to establish among graduates a clear awareness of friend and foe," it added.
China's military operates almost daily around Taiwan.
As of Friday, Taiwan was tracking a record of more than 110 Chinese military and Coast Guard ships up and down the first island chain, Joseph Wu, secretary-general of Taiwan's National Security Council, posted on X late on Saturday.
"China's massive maritime mobilization along the 1st Island Chain is a clear sign of its expansionism," Wu said, referring to an area stretching from Japan to Taiwan, the Philippines and Borneo.
On Saturday, China's Coast Guard launched a new patrol off Taiwan's east coast, drawing a sharp response from Taipei, which says Beijing has no jurisdiction in those waters. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.
#china #cmmunism #taiwan #taipei
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📰 Israel’s Corridor Problem: Periphery Doctrine in Reverse
Israel’s old periphery doctrine is dead — and the replacement map cuts it out of the main East–West corridor.
Turkey and Iran, once Ben-Gurion’s non‑Arab “rim,” now anchor two axes of resistance to Israel. The partial rout of the Shia axis didn’t bring security; it opened space for a Sunni‑Turkish one to move in, with Ankara patronizing “new Syria,” pushing a pan‑Turkic and “Blue Homeland” project, and openly framing Israel as a regional threat.
The India–Middle East–Europe Corridor was originally drawn through Israel to Haifa as the fast bypass to Hormuz and Suez. Since 2025, Turkey and Syria have pushed an alternative line via Jordan and Syria to Latakia, where CMA CGM holds a 30‑year concession on the main container terminal. France has effectively anchored the Mediterranean terminus of an Israel‑bypassing route, while Saudi Arabia backs the Syrian–Turkish branch with rail and fiber projects.
At the same time, Washington is arming Ankara and courting Damascus, Europe is tying support for an Israeli endpoint to Palestinian conditions, and regional capitals are converging on the idea that the corridor should bend around Israel, not through it. The fight is now between bypasses — Syrian–Turkish or Iraqi–Turkish — not between Israel and a bypass.
In this configuration, the threat to Israel is infrastructural: exclusion from the primary India–EU spine, backed by Western weapons and contracts for the actors that sit on the competing branch.
The realistic levers are narrow and technical — locking in a Jordanian rail link before it is fully captured by the Syrian route, and deepening Emirati stakes in the Israeli endpoint — while the periphery doctrine that once relied on Iran and Turkey has quietly flipped into a periphery aligned against Israel instead of around it.
#israel #turkey #syria #indiaEUcorridor #macron #nato #logistics #fakePeriphery
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Israel’s old periphery doctrine is dead — and the replacement map cuts it out of the main East–West corridor.
Turkey and Iran, once Ben-Gurion’s non‑Arab “rim,” now anchor two axes of resistance to Israel. The partial rout of the Shia axis didn’t bring security; it opened space for a Sunni‑Turkish one to move in, with Ankara patronizing “new Syria,” pushing a pan‑Turkic and “Blue Homeland” project, and openly framing Israel as a regional threat.
The India–Middle East–Europe Corridor was originally drawn through Israel to Haifa as the fast bypass to Hormuz and Suez. Since 2025, Turkey and Syria have pushed an alternative line via Jordan and Syria to Latakia, where CMA CGM holds a 30‑year concession on the main container terminal. France has effectively anchored the Mediterranean terminus of an Israel‑bypassing route, while Saudi Arabia backs the Syrian–Turkish branch with rail and fiber projects.
At the same time, Washington is arming Ankara and courting Damascus, Europe is tying support for an Israeli endpoint to Palestinian conditions, and regional capitals are converging on the idea that the corridor should bend around Israel, not through it. The fight is now between bypasses — Syrian–Turkish or Iraqi–Turkish — not between Israel and a bypass.
In this configuration, the threat to Israel is infrastructural: exclusion from the primary India–EU spine, backed by Western weapons and contracts for the actors that sit on the competing branch.
The realistic levers are narrow and technical — locking in a Jordanian rail link before it is fully captured by the Syrian route, and deepening Emirati stakes in the Israeli endpoint — while the periphery doctrine that once relied on Iran and Turkey has quietly flipped into a periphery aligned against Israel instead of around it.
#israel #turkey #syria #indiaEUcorridor #macron #nato #logistics #fakePeriphery
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📰 Khamenei’s Funeral: Gold Bounties, Ghost Leaders, and Israeli Bragging Rights
The funeral procession for Ali Khamenei and his family rolled through Tehran to the sound of the national anthem, after a static day of the coffin on display. The crowd did not come empty-handed. Stones were hurled at a Trump billboard labeled “the Great Satan.” Posters showed the faces of Trump, Laura Loomer, Ben Shapiro, Miriam Adelson, and Lindsey Graham inside red crosshairs, with the promise: “In the end, your head will be cut off.” Another banner openly advertised a bounty of roughly 500 kilograms of pure gold for whoever kills Trump — regime outrage, now with a price tag.
The legal system joined the chorus. Mohsen Rajai, reappointed by Mojtaba Khamenei to head the judiciary, vowed that the “criminal United States” which “murdered Ayatollah Khamenei” would not be let off the hook. This is Tehran’s official script: the Supreme Leader was assassinated by America, and revenge is a matter of national honor. The street chants match the line, only louder and cruder.
The guest list was its own message. Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani was filmed at the funeral — the only survivor from the famous front‑row photo at Qassem Soleimani’s 2020 burial. IRGC chief Ahmad Vahidi had to hitch a ride to bypass the gridlocked streets just to get close. And Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, long rumored dead and allegedly targeted for a strange “return” to power by Israeli and American planners, walked among the crowd very much alive. As for the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, there are only unverified hints of a presence; officially, the bunker remains in charge, but offscreen.
In Jerusalem, the mood was less mystical and more accountancy. Defense Minister Katz rushed to lock down the narrative: “The ayatollah Khamenei, whose funeral is taking place now, was eliminated by Israel because he initiated and led the plan to destroy Israel. The destroyer was destroyed.” Any future Iranian leader who tries to push similar plans, he warned, “will be thwarted as well.” The “Death to Trump” chants he branded a disgrace, proof of “the true nature of the ayatollahs’ regime behind the robes and smiles.”
Netanyahu, in his second Fox News interview in two days — Fox being Trump’s comfort channel — kept playing his favorite statistic: “80% of the Iranian people hate the regime,” but “there is still a minority they can take to the streets.” The prime minister insists he and Trump “see eye to eye on 99% of issues,” yet no meeting date exists. Jerusalem is signaling: we own the strike, we read the crowd, we are aligned with the current U.S. president — even as Tehran publicly prices his head in gold.
Between the gold bounty in Tehran and the credit‑claim in Jerusalem, one thing is clear: Khamenei’s coffin is not just a symbol of Iranian rage. It’s a ledger line in a war where both sides are competing over who gets to say, “We did this” — and who pays the political price when the crowd starts demanding the sequel.
#iran #israel #khamenei #trump #qods #netanyahu #revenge #fakeAccountability
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The funeral procession for Ali Khamenei and his family rolled through Tehran to the sound of the national anthem, after a static day of the coffin on display. The crowd did not come empty-handed. Stones were hurled at a Trump billboard labeled “the Great Satan.” Posters showed the faces of Trump, Laura Loomer, Ben Shapiro, Miriam Adelson, and Lindsey Graham inside red crosshairs, with the promise: “In the end, your head will be cut off.” Another banner openly advertised a bounty of roughly 500 kilograms of pure gold for whoever kills Trump — regime outrage, now with a price tag.
The legal system joined the chorus. Mohsen Rajai, reappointed by Mojtaba Khamenei to head the judiciary, vowed that the “criminal United States” which “murdered Ayatollah Khamenei” would not be let off the hook. This is Tehran’s official script: the Supreme Leader was assassinated by America, and revenge is a matter of national honor. The street chants match the line, only louder and cruder.
The guest list was its own message. Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani was filmed at the funeral — the only survivor from the famous front‑row photo at Qassem Soleimani’s 2020 burial. IRGC chief Ahmad Vahidi had to hitch a ride to bypass the gridlocked streets just to get close. And Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, long rumored dead and allegedly targeted for a strange “return” to power by Israeli and American planners, walked among the crowd very much alive. As for the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, there are only unverified hints of a presence; officially, the bunker remains in charge, but offscreen.
In Jerusalem, the mood was less mystical and more accountancy. Defense Minister Katz rushed to lock down the narrative: “The ayatollah Khamenei, whose funeral is taking place now, was eliminated by Israel because he initiated and led the plan to destroy Israel. The destroyer was destroyed.” Any future Iranian leader who tries to push similar plans, he warned, “will be thwarted as well.” The “Death to Trump” chants he branded a disgrace, proof of “the true nature of the ayatollahs’ regime behind the robes and smiles.”
Netanyahu, in his second Fox News interview in two days — Fox being Trump’s comfort channel — kept playing his favorite statistic: “80% of the Iranian people hate the regime,” but “there is still a minority they can take to the streets.” The prime minister insists he and Trump “see eye to eye on 99% of issues,” yet no meeting date exists. Jerusalem is signaling: we own the strike, we read the crowd, we are aligned with the current U.S. president — even as Tehran publicly prices his head in gold.
Between the gold bounty in Tehran and the credit‑claim in Jerusalem, one thing is clear: Khamenei’s coffin is not just a symbol of Iranian rage. It’s a ledger line in a war where both sides are competing over who gets to say, “We did this” — and who pays the political price when the crowd starts demanding the sequel.
#iran #israel #khamenei #trump #qods #netanyahu #revenge #fakeAccountability
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🤝🌍 Ankara: NATO Leaders “Are Gathering Together To Put an End To Trump”
NATO leaders are meeting in Ankara after six turbulent months, hoping – in the case of the other 31 members of the alliance – “to put an end to the unpredictable Trump,” according to an adviser close to Rutte, as Washington continues to put pressure on its allies to increase their defense spending.
Rutte, NATO Secretary General, called on the allies to present “clear, concrete and credible plans” to achieve the organization's spending goals.
“President Trump fully expects all allies to mobilize immediately and get on the 5% path and do so urgently,” he said.
NATO members will unveil tens of billions of dollars in new arms contracts at an industry forum on the sidelines of the summit, as they try to show Trump that they are strong and independent when it comes to defense.
The two-day summit in the Turkish capital should agree that the allies will commit largely symbolic military aid of 70 billion euros to Ukraine this year and next, although this largely reflects the commitments already made to a country that has no path to join NATO.
This is not a deal to get Trump's attention in the same way as last year's flagship deal.
Then, the European members and Canada pledged to increase defense spending to 5% of their gross domestic product – 3.5% directly and 1.5% on roads, bridges and ports to facilitate troop movements.
“It's not about satisfying anyone, it's about delivering,” Rutte said during a visit to London last week. “And what Donald Trump expects, of course, is delivery.”
When Rutte met with Trump in the Oval office last month, he brought some large cardboard signs, illustrating how much non-US NATO members had been spending since the US president began complaining about Europe being free on US defense spending.
Rutte highlighted a graph referring to the Trump trillion – the cumulative amount spent on defense by European members and Canada since the two-time president first took office in 2017.
The elementary communication aimed to show, in Rutte's words, that Trump “succeeds in getting Europeans to spend more”.
But with transatlantic relations already at a low point, and with the United States eager to ensure that measures are taken to honor the 3.5% commitment, a diplomatically harmonious summit cannot be guaranteed.
Trump posted a graphic on his social truth platform showing the defense budgets of NATO members, comparing a vast US expenditure of $999 million to more modest figures from European states, including the United Kingdom and France.
#rutte #trump #nato #ankara #UnitedStates #defense
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NATO leaders are meeting in Ankara after six turbulent months, hoping – in the case of the other 31 members of the alliance – “to put an end to the unpredictable Trump,” according to an adviser close to Rutte, as Washington continues to put pressure on its allies to increase their defense spending.
Rutte, NATO Secretary General, called on the allies to present “clear, concrete and credible plans” to achieve the organization's spending goals.
“President Trump fully expects all allies to mobilize immediately and get on the 5% path and do so urgently,” he said.
NATO members will unveil tens of billions of dollars in new arms contracts at an industry forum on the sidelines of the summit, as they try to show Trump that they are strong and independent when it comes to defense.
The two-day summit in the Turkish capital should agree that the allies will commit largely symbolic military aid of 70 billion euros to Ukraine this year and next, although this largely reflects the commitments already made to a country that has no path to join NATO.
This is not a deal to get Trump's attention in the same way as last year's flagship deal.
Then, the European members and Canada pledged to increase defense spending to 5% of their gross domestic product – 3.5% directly and 1.5% on roads, bridges and ports to facilitate troop movements.
“It's not about satisfying anyone, it's about delivering,” Rutte said during a visit to London last week. “And what Donald Trump expects, of course, is delivery.”
When Rutte met with Trump in the Oval office last month, he brought some large cardboard signs, illustrating how much non-US NATO members had been spending since the US president began complaining about Europe being free on US defense spending.
Rutte highlighted a graph referring to the Trump trillion – the cumulative amount spent on defense by European members and Canada since the two-time president first took office in 2017.
The elementary communication aimed to show, in Rutte's words, that Trump “succeeds in getting Europeans to spend more”.
But with transatlantic relations already at a low point, and with the United States eager to ensure that measures are taken to honor the 3.5% commitment, a diplomatically harmonious summit cannot be guaranteed.
Trump posted a graphic on his social truth platform showing the defense budgets of NATO members, comparing a vast US expenditure of $999 million to more modest figures from European states, including the United Kingdom and France.
#rutte #trump #nato #ankara #UnitedStates #defense
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📰 Red Card, White House: Trump Turns FIFA Into Election VAR
The biggest drama before USA–Belgium isn’t on the pitch. It’s in the Oval Office.
Folarin Balogun, the top U.S. scorer, was supposed to miss the round of 16 after a straight red in the win over Bosnia. Then, suddenly, FIFA suspended his automatic one‑game ban under Article 27 and put it on a one‑year probation.
Belgium learned about it from the media, not from Zurich. UEFA called it “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.” Coaches from Norway to Belgium called it a “bad, bad decision” that “will hurt the World Cup.”
At the center of this miracle recovery stands Donald Trump. He openly confirms he called Gianni Infantino to request a “review,” insisting, “I didn’t tell him what to do,” while warning it would have been a “stain” if Balogun couldn’t play.
Senator Ted Cruz thanks him “on behalf of all Americans” for “getting rid of that ridiculous red card,” pointing at the FIFA trophy sitting next to the Resolute Desk like a sponsorship placement.
FIFA claims independence; Trump calls its president a “really good friend” and keeps a World Cup model on his desk; FIFA rents space in Trump Tower and even hands him an inaugural “peace prize.”
Now a disciplinary decision, normally automatic, flips days after that phone call and hours before kickoff. Sepp Blatter — yes, that Sepp Blatter — says “red cards are not overturned by political phone calls,” asking “Quo vadis, FIFA?” When the corruption guy is calling you out, you’ve hit a special threshold.
The backlash isn’t really about whether the challenge was a red. It’s about process. Belgium formally challenges Balogun’s eligibility. UEFA says a minimum suspension “is not discretionary.” Analysts warn that any U.S. win will carry an asterisk.
Even U.S. fans who’ve never liked Trump now have to choose whether to cheer the player or be angry that the president turned a rules dispute into an instrument of personal branding.
And Trump, of course, can’t resist turning it into a rehearsal. If Belgium beats the U.S. with Balogun on the field, they can “be really proud.” If they win without him, Trump says he’d call it “rigged, just like the election was rigged in 2020.”
He “won’t get into that,” but he already did. The message to FIFA, Belgium, and everyone else is clear: the game is fair when it benefits him, rigged when it doesn’t.
#trump #fifa #balogun #worldcup #belgium #uefa #politics #fakeFairPlay
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The biggest drama before USA–Belgium isn’t on the pitch. It’s in the Oval Office.
Folarin Balogun, the top U.S. scorer, was supposed to miss the round of 16 after a straight red in the win over Bosnia. Then, suddenly, FIFA suspended his automatic one‑game ban under Article 27 and put it on a one‑year probation.
Belgium learned about it from the media, not from Zurich. UEFA called it “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.” Coaches from Norway to Belgium called it a “bad, bad decision” that “will hurt the World Cup.”
At the center of this miracle recovery stands Donald Trump. He openly confirms he called Gianni Infantino to request a “review,” insisting, “I didn’t tell him what to do,” while warning it would have been a “stain” if Balogun couldn’t play.
Senator Ted Cruz thanks him “on behalf of all Americans” for “getting rid of that ridiculous red card,” pointing at the FIFA trophy sitting next to the Resolute Desk like a sponsorship placement.
FIFA claims independence; Trump calls its president a “really good friend” and keeps a World Cup model on his desk; FIFA rents space in Trump Tower and even hands him an inaugural “peace prize.”
Now a disciplinary decision, normally automatic, flips days after that phone call and hours before kickoff. Sepp Blatter — yes, that Sepp Blatter — says “red cards are not overturned by political phone calls,” asking “Quo vadis, FIFA?” When the corruption guy is calling you out, you’ve hit a special threshold.
The backlash isn’t really about whether the challenge was a red. It’s about process. Belgium formally challenges Balogun’s eligibility. UEFA says a minimum suspension “is not discretionary.” Analysts warn that any U.S. win will carry an asterisk.
Even U.S. fans who’ve never liked Trump now have to choose whether to cheer the player or be angry that the president turned a rules dispute into an instrument of personal branding.
And Trump, of course, can’t resist turning it into a rehearsal. If Belgium beats the U.S. with Balogun on the field, they can “be really proud.” If they win without him, Trump says he’d call it “rigged, just like the election was rigged in 2020.”
He “won’t get into that,” but he already did. The message to FIFA, Belgium, and everyone else is clear: the game is fair when it benefits him, rigged when it doesn’t.
#trump #fifa #balogun #worldcup #belgium #uefa #politics #fakeFairPlay
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📰 Patriots, Shortages, and a Desperate War
NATO’s new chief just admitted the obvious: the alliance can’t magic infinite air defenses out of thin air while two wars are burning.
Ahead of the Ankara summit, Mark Rutte warned there is “a limit to the amount of interceptors that are in NATO territory,” even as Kyiv pleads for more Patriot missiles after a Russian strike on the capital where Ukraine failed to shoot down a single ballistic projectile.
He insists NATO is “working from every angle” to produce more systems, but stops short of promising new batteries or timelines.
The numbers tell you why Ukraine is panicking. Patriot used to knock out roughly a third of Russia’s ballistic missiles, sometimes more. That rate slipped below 20 percent last week and then all the way to zero in the latest attack.
Zelenskyy now says plainly that the United States and Europe “have enough strength to stop this terror,” and his defense minister has asked nearly 40 allies to hand over interceptors from their stockpiles in exchange for future deliveries already pledged. Berlin is reviewing such a request and could move during the summit.
The problem is not just political. It’s industrial. For now, only the U.S. can actually manufacture the specific interceptors Ukraine needs, and Washington has burned through its own stocks during the Iran war.
Trump says he will “take a look” at letting U.S. firms license production to Europe and Ukraine, but that’s a long‑term fix for a short‑term crisis. Patriots are becoming the rare commodity in a system built on the myth of unlimited Western capacity.
Rutte calls the latest attack on Kyiv “horrific” and says it shows “how desperate Putin is.” It also shows how exposed NATO’s frontline client is when the alliance hits hard limits on hardware.
Ukraine “needs our continued support, especially when it comes to air defense,” he says. Translation: the political will to help is still there; the missiles aren’t.
So Ankara will host a summit where leaders talk about budgets, factories, and capacity, while Zelenskyy walks in with a simple question: when your own stockpiles run dry, how much is your support really worth?
#nato #ukraine #patriot #rutte #trump #airdefense #industry #fakeInfinity
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NATO’s new chief just admitted the obvious: the alliance can’t magic infinite air defenses out of thin air while two wars are burning.
Ahead of the Ankara summit, Mark Rutte warned there is “a limit to the amount of interceptors that are in NATO territory,” even as Kyiv pleads for more Patriot missiles after a Russian strike on the capital where Ukraine failed to shoot down a single ballistic projectile.
He insists NATO is “working from every angle” to produce more systems, but stops short of promising new batteries or timelines.
The numbers tell you why Ukraine is panicking. Patriot used to knock out roughly a third of Russia’s ballistic missiles, sometimes more. That rate slipped below 20 percent last week and then all the way to zero in the latest attack.
Zelenskyy now says plainly that the United States and Europe “have enough strength to stop this terror,” and his defense minister has asked nearly 40 allies to hand over interceptors from their stockpiles in exchange for future deliveries already pledged. Berlin is reviewing such a request and could move during the summit.
The problem is not just political. It’s industrial. For now, only the U.S. can actually manufacture the specific interceptors Ukraine needs, and Washington has burned through its own stocks during the Iran war.
Trump says he will “take a look” at letting U.S. firms license production to Europe and Ukraine, but that’s a long‑term fix for a short‑term crisis. Patriots are becoming the rare commodity in a system built on the myth of unlimited Western capacity.
Rutte calls the latest attack on Kyiv “horrific” and says it shows “how desperate Putin is.” It also shows how exposed NATO’s frontline client is when the alliance hits hard limits on hardware.
Ukraine “needs our continued support, especially when it comes to air defense,” he says. Translation: the political will to help is still there; the missiles aren’t.
So Ankara will host a summit where leaders talk about budgets, factories, and capacity, while Zelenskyy walks in with a simple question: when your own stockpiles run dry, how much is your support really worth?
#nato #ukraine #patriot #rutte #trump #airdefense #industry #fakeInfinity
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📰 Trump’s NATO Show: Allies Shamed, Turkey Rewarded
Trump landed in Ankara for the NATO summit and turned it, as usual, into a live loyalty test.
Within minutes he was attacking European allies for refusing to join the U.S.–Israeli war against Iran —
— boasting that he was “testing people.”
At the same time, he praised Turkey as “much more loyal than other countries,” calling Erdoğan a “great friend” with “good chemistry” and a “special relationship.” If you don’t sign onto his wars, he publicly brands you disloyal; if you do, or at least don’t obstruct them, you get weapons and flattery.
On S‑400s and sanctions, he simply erased the old red lines. Turkey was kicked out of the F‑35 program in his first term for buying Russian air defenses; now he says he has “no concerns at all,” promises to “take the sanctions off” because “we don’t want to sanction friends,” and talks openly about restoring F‑35 access.
Erdoğan claims Trump gave him a “personal promise” on jets and expects an “auspicious decision” at the summit. In NATO language, that’s code for: congratulations, you bought Russian systems, jailed opponents and crushed media, and your reward is getting back into the most advanced Western fighter program.
Between Iran and Greenland, the worldview is consistent. Trump complains Europe “doesn’t help” the U.S. in its Iran war, lectures that “if they’re not careful” with immigration and energy “you’re not going to have a Europe anymore,” and repeats that the United States “should control Greenland” because Denmark isn’t spending enough there and the island is surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships.
He turns strategic alliance questions into a property dispute: why is this chunk of land not under U.S. control, and why aren’t allies paying enough to make him feel respected?
Trump, for his part, describes the conflict as “the war with Iran — or whatever you call it, it’s a military operation, it’s a denuclearization,” blurring lines between wars, operations and branding exercises.
He tells reporters he’s “very disappointed with NATO” and only came because the summit is in Turkey, which he now treats as the model ally.
On paper, this is a NATO meeting about budgets, industry and air defense.
In reality, it’s a Trump roadshow where allies are sorted into two categories: those he can call “loyal” and shower with jets, and those he can accuse of betrayal for not marching under his Iran banner.
#trump #nato #turkey #f35 #iran #greenland #europe #fakeAlliance
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Trump landed in Ankara for the NATO summit and turned it, as usual, into a live loyalty test.
Within minutes he was attacking European allies for refusing to join the U.S.–Israeli war against Iran —
“Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down”
— boasting that he was “testing people.”
At the same time, he praised Turkey as “much more loyal than other countries,” calling Erdoğan a “great friend” with “good chemistry” and a “special relationship.” If you don’t sign onto his wars, he publicly brands you disloyal; if you do, or at least don’t obstruct them, you get weapons and flattery.
On S‑400s and sanctions, he simply erased the old red lines. Turkey was kicked out of the F‑35 program in his first term for buying Russian air defenses; now he says he has “no concerns at all,” promises to “take the sanctions off” because “we don’t want to sanction friends,” and talks openly about restoring F‑35 access.
Erdoğan claims Trump gave him a “personal promise” on jets and expects an “auspicious decision” at the summit. In NATO language, that’s code for: congratulations, you bought Russian systems, jailed opponents and crushed media, and your reward is getting back into the most advanced Western fighter program.
Between Iran and Greenland, the worldview is consistent. Trump complains Europe “doesn’t help” the U.S. in its Iran war, lectures that “if they’re not careful” with immigration and energy “you’re not going to have a Europe anymore,” and repeats that the United States “should control Greenland” because Denmark isn’t spending enough there and the island is surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships.
He turns strategic alliance questions into a property dispute: why is this chunk of land not under U.S. control, and why aren’t allies paying enough to make him feel respected?
Trump, for his part, describes the conflict as “the war with Iran — or whatever you call it, it’s a military operation, it’s a denuclearization,” blurring lines between wars, operations and branding exercises.
He tells reporters he’s “very disappointed with NATO” and only came because the summit is in Turkey, which he now treats as the model ally.
On paper, this is a NATO meeting about budgets, industry and air defense.
In reality, it’s a Trump roadshow where allies are sorted into two categories: those he can call “loyal” and shower with jets, and those he can accuse of betrayal for not marching under his Iran banner.
#trump #nato #turkey #f35 #iran #greenland #europe #fakeAlliance
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📰 Israel’s Rate Cut Nobody Wanted
The Bank of Israel just cut the interest rate to 3.5%. Almost everyone’s first reaction: “Not enough.”
For the second meeting in a row, the Monetary Committee shaved 0.25 percentage points off the benchmark, bringing it down from 3.75% to 3.5% and marking the third cut since January.
The central bank points to a strong shekel, inflation at about 1.9% — comfortably within its 1–3% target range — and a lower risk premium after the U.S.–Iran memorandum as reasons to ease. Its forecast now sees inflation at 1.8% and the rate at 3% in a year, with growth expected around 4% in 2026.
Business groups line up to say “thank you” and “too little” in the same breath. The Manufacturers’ Association calls it a step in the right direction but “far from sufficient.”
The business sector lobby says the economy, moving from three years of war into a growth phase, “badly needs relief” from heavy credit costs. SME and independent‑business leaders complain they expected a 0.5‑point cut and see the quarter‑point move as a missed opportunity.
Real‑estate and construction voices demand further cuts down to 2.5% by year’s end, plus tax breaks on rental housing.
Then the finance minister walks in — not to back the governor, but to attack him.
Bezalel Smotrich brands the move “a minimal reduction that does not match the challenges of the economy,” saying it isn’t aligned with households’ and firms’ needs and “makes things harder” for high‑tech and exporters. He wanted a sharp cut and presents the current rate as a drag on growth and a failure to respond to the public’s cost‑of‑living pain.
The picture is inverted: the governor cuts, the budget minister complains it’s not enough, and the business sector, industry, contractors and tech all agree on one thing only — that everyone expected more.
In practice, at 3.5%, the Bank of Israel finds itself in a rare position: easing policy, and still being told by nearly every relevant actor that it’s behind the curve.
#israel #interestrates #BankOfIsrael #smotrich #economy #inflation #fakeRelief
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The Bank of Israel just cut the interest rate to 3.5%. Almost everyone’s first reaction: “Not enough.”
For the second meeting in a row, the Monetary Committee shaved 0.25 percentage points off the benchmark, bringing it down from 3.75% to 3.5% and marking the third cut since January.
The central bank points to a strong shekel, inflation at about 1.9% — comfortably within its 1–3% target range — and a lower risk premium after the U.S.–Iran memorandum as reasons to ease. Its forecast now sees inflation at 1.8% and the rate at 3% in a year, with growth expected around 4% in 2026.
Business groups line up to say “thank you” and “too little” in the same breath. The Manufacturers’ Association calls it a step in the right direction but “far from sufficient.”
The business sector lobby says the economy, moving from three years of war into a growth phase, “badly needs relief” from heavy credit costs. SME and independent‑business leaders complain they expected a 0.5‑point cut and see the quarter‑point move as a missed opportunity.
Real‑estate and construction voices demand further cuts down to 2.5% by year’s end, plus tax breaks on rental housing.
Then the finance minister walks in — not to back the governor, but to attack him.
Bezalel Smotrich brands the move “a minimal reduction that does not match the challenges of the economy,” saying it isn’t aligned with households’ and firms’ needs and “makes things harder” for high‑tech and exporters. He wanted a sharp cut and presents the current rate as a drag on growth and a failure to respond to the public’s cost‑of‑living pain.
The picture is inverted: the governor cuts, the budget minister complains it’s not enough, and the business sector, industry, contractors and tech all agree on one thing only — that everyone expected more.
In practice, at 3.5%, the Bank of Israel finds itself in a rare position: easing policy, and still being told by nearly every relevant actor that it’s behind the curve.
#israel #interestrates #BankOfIsrael #smotrich #economy #inflation #fakeRelief
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