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Jun 8, 2026 - World

The Yemeni Houthis announced early Monday they would impose a “complete ban” on Israeli sea vessels from passing through the Red Sea, a partial blockade that risks hitting global trade with a “two-front crisis” as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted, several outlets reported.“We declare a complete ban on enemy navigation in the Red Sea and we consider any Zionist movements to be military targets for our forces,” said Houthi spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Al Saree in a televised statement released on Monday, according to the United Arab Emirates news outlet The National.“We will respond to escalation with escalation and our operations will intensify in line with the battle and in conjunction with the axis of jihad and resistance."The announcement comes in response to Israel’s strikes on Iran Sunday, itself a response to Iranian strikes on northern Israel as retaliation for Israel’s siege on Beirut, Lebanon.While not as critical to global trade as the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea is still a major shipping waterway, with around 12% of global trade passing through the channel, “including 30% of global container traffic,” according to The Guardian. Together, disruptions to both shipping waterways would likely further exacerbate supply shocks sparked by President Donald Trump’s deeply unpopular war against Iran.“The two waterways together carry an estimated 30% of global container shipping and approximately 22% of the world's seaborne oil supply, according to analysis by The Middle East Insider,” reads a report from Insurance Business Magazine. “A combined disruption places an estimated US$10 billion per day of global trade at risk.”YEMENI HOUTHIS ANNOUNCE NAVAL BLOCKADE ON ISRAEL IN THE RED SEA pic.twitter.com/AWSP9pEgvI— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) June 8, 2026

Jun 8, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump publicly pleaded with Israel and Iran to halt their fighting early Monday as the two countries traded their worst strikes since the April truce, threatening to collapse the peace deal Trump had declared was days away from completion."Israel and Iran must immediately stop 'shooting,'" Trump posted on Truth Social at 5:36 a.m. Eastern. "President DONALD J. TRUMP."The all-caps signature did not appear to have the desired effect. By morning, Israel was defending fresh waves of Iranian missiles — with CNN's Oren Liebermann reporting interceptions visible over Jerusalem — while Iran threatened to target all oil and gas facilities associated with the U.S. and Israel if attacks on its energy infrastructure continued.The escalation unraveled a week of optimistic diplomacy. Trump had told the Financial Times just days earlier that negotiations were "very close" and predicted a deal would be announced this week. He had also told Netanyahu to hold off on retaliating against Iran, according to a U.S. official — an instruction Netanyahu appeared to ignore.The sequence: Iran fired close to 30 ballistic missiles at Israel, according to the IDF, with Yemen's Houthi rebels launching two more in the first such attacks since April. Israel responded with two waves of strikes on Iran, targeting aerial defense systems in the first wave and a petrochemical facility in the second. Iran then struck petrochemical infrastructure in Haifa, with footage showing missiles bearing the message in three languages: "You will regret this."Iran's Foreign Ministry said the U.S. "bears responsibility" for Israel's actions as a party to the April ceasefire. Iran also called "absurd" any suggestion that frozen Iranian assets could be redirected to compensate U.S. allies for war damages.The financial fallout was immediate. Brent crude surged nearly 5 percent to $97.52 a barrel. Asian stock markets tumbled, with South Korea's KOSPI plunging more than 8 percent.Pope Leo XIV, speaking at the Spanish parliament in Madrid on a peace-focused visit, called war "a painful defeat of the capacity to negotiate" as the strikes unfolded. Israel's military said it was preparing for at least several days of fighting and the possibility of a prolonged campaign.Trump told Fox News the Iranian attack "certainly is not going to help negotiations" and called on Iran to "get back to the table and make a deal." He had previously told the Financial Times that Israel "would have to accept any deal" the U.S. reaches with Iran, saying "I call all the shots."On Monday morning, that bold claim was being tested in real time.

Jun 7, 2026 - World

Cockroach Janta party began as online joke but is growing into one of the most unexpected challenges to country’s rightwing governmentThe call out to the youth of India was simple: “Get ready to swarm the streets of Delhi with peaceful and loving dissent.” They came in their thousands.The weekend marked the first public protest of the Cockroach Janta party (CJP), a movement that began as an online joke, but which has swiftly grown into one of the most unexpected challenges to the indomitable power of the country’s rightwing Narendra Modi government – driven by millions of discontented and disillusioned young people. Continue reading...

Jun 7, 2026 - World

The United States was issued a dire threat Sunday after a wave of Israeli airstrikes pounded Lebanon’s largest city earlier the same morning with supposed backing from the Trump administration, threats that may materialize as major attacks on U.S. bases and assets in the Middle East.As Washington and Tehran continue to negotiate terms to end the ongoing Iran war, a key sticking point has been Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon, which since early March has killed more than 3,400 Lebanese and injured over 10,200. Iran has demanded that Israel halt its bombardment as a condition to end hostilities.And yet, despite multiple attempts by Trump to force Israel’s hand and end its bombardment of its northern neighbor, Israel has defied the president, and has since expanded its military siege of Lebanon, including with the reported use of white phosphorus bombs, which is a potential war crime.“The naval blockade against the Iranian nation and today's U.S. green light to the Zionist regime turn American and regime bases and assets in the region into legitimate targets,” said Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf on Sunday, according to Axios reporter Barak Ravid. “Our armed forces are ready as always.”Last week, Trump admitted to hurling expletives at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call over Israel’s refusal to halt its bombardment of Lebanon, telling The New York Post he was “a little bit perturbed” at Israel’s defiance.????Iranian speaker of parliament and chief negotiator Ghalibaf: "The naval blockade against the Iranian nation and today's U.S. green light to the Zionist regime turn American and regime bases and assets in the region into legitimate targets. Our armed forces are ready as always" https://t.co/ObwY6kTc0U— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) June 7, 2026

Jun 7, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump vowed back in January that his administration’s takeover of Venezuela would “benefit” Americans, and yet, just over six months later, that promise appears to be imploding after key players have reportedly gotten cold feet, The Washington Post reported Sunday.In the immediate aftermath of the unprecedented U.S. attack on Venezuela earlier this year, the Trump administration took control of the nation’s oil revenue, which Trump claimed at the time would be “used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States.” The Trump administration had hoped U.S. companies would invest $100 billion into the South American nation’s energy infrastructure.“But businesses don’t want to spend big on capital-intensive projects to extract heavy crude, which take decades to pay off, if there’s a high chance the government will backslide,” the Post’s report reads.“ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said recently that Venezuela has ‘a lot more work to do on their side of the equation.’ He said the overhaul of the hydrocarbon law was insufficient ‘to attract a whole lot of investment’ because it could amount to a ‘95 percent government take.’ Chevron CEO Mike Wirth has expressed similar sentiments.”The Trump administration was recently in hot water over its handling of Venezuela’s oil revenue. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA) pressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week during a congressional hearing on whether the administration was concealing lucrative private contracts related to Venezuela’s oil.“The Venezuelan government’s illegitimacy raises the risk of investing capital,” the Post’s report reads. “Once real elections are held, U.S. companies will gain a clearer sense of whether it’s worth pouring in money.”