Monkeypox

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he wants U.S. support of Israel to move from “aid” to “cooperation.” In a recent letter, he calls this a “new framework” by which Israel will reduce U.S. financial military assistance and reframe it as “joint defense cooperation, codevelopment, coproduction and mutual investment in areas including advanced missile defense, artificial intelligence, unmanned systems, cybersecurity, and next generation military platforms.” In other words: don’t end the relationship—deepen it. Don’t call it foreign aid—call it a partnership. Your money becomes our money. This comes as there is growing outrage over Section 224 of the House version of the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act. It would require military cooperation between the U.S. and Israel in a way the U.S. has never agreed to with any other country. There are at least two members of Congress who have publicly said they are

Russia says it could respond to Ukraine’s latest attacks with nuclear weapons. That warning came after Ukrainian drones struck targets in St. Petersburg during Russia’s flagship international economic forum, an event hosting roughly 20,000 attendees from more than 130 countries. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said attacks on Russia’s territorial integrity could, under Russia’s military doctrine, justify the use of nuclear weapons in a worst-case scenario. The strikes are significant not only because of where they occurred, but because they hit deep inside Russia on civilian targets while Moscow is hosting one of its most important economic and diplomatic gatherings. Reports also circulated of civilian casualties from a separate drone attack on a passenger bus, adding to domestic pressure on the Kremlin to respond. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to publicly support peace negotiations while simultaneously renewing his push for NATO membership. During meetings with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte,

The Pentagon is taking yet another step to keep Americans in the dark about what their military is doing behind closed doors. The Defense Department has now designated its press office as a classified space, meaning journalists can no longer freely enter an area where they once interacted with public affairs officials, asked questions, and gathered information on behalf of the public. Officials say the change is necessary because Pentagon speechwriters working in the office require access to classified systems. But others argue the move is really about something else entirely: “Banning journalists from the ‘press office’ in the Pentagon, where they worked professionally in previous administrations, is simply a sign that current DOD leadership fears accountability,” said Trip Gabriel, a reporter for the Times. Others are saying the move is “Orwellian.” Placing restrictions on the press isn’t something new to this administration. Last year, officials introduced a new set

Tensions in the Middle East are rapidly spiraling as U.S. officials insist the latest round of military action falls under the guise of “self-defense.” This is a blatant lie. According to reports, U.S. forces struck targets connected to Iran, including facilities on Qeshm Island and an Iranian-linked vessel near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks targeting American military installations in Kuwait and Bahrain, as well as targets in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Has Iran finally run out of patience with the United States? It certainly appears that way. Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute, an organization dedicated to moving U.S. foreign policy away from endless wars, had this to say: “Iranian source tells me Iran has stopped playing the tit-for-tat game. Instead, it’s now striking back ‘at least 1.5x as hard’ for every attack the U.S. [carries out] against Iran.” The Pentagon’s version of

Donald Trump lost his patience with Benjamin Netanyahu and told him off. Or did he? According to Axios, Trump exploded during a private phone call with the Israeli prime minister after Israel expanded its military operations in Lebanon and reportedly considered strikes on Beirut. U.S. officials familiar with the conversation claim Trump unloaded on Netanyahu in unusually blunt terms: “You’re f** *ing crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” If the conversation went as reported, F-bombs and all, would that be all it would take for Netanyahu to change course? It doesn’t seem likely, but according to Trump, the so-called pressure worked: “I had a very productive call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, and there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on

CEPI, an organization that played a major role in funding COVID-era vaccine development and which sports the slogan “Preparing for Future Pandemics,” has announced roughly $60 million in funding for Moderna and other groups to accelerate work on Ebola Bundibugyo vaccines. There are a few concerns here… As of May 16, the WHO was only able to report eight laboratory-confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases, and 80 suspected deaths. The repeated use of the word “suspected” really stands out here. It’s also worth noting that an Ebola vaccine already exists, but authorities stated that it won’t target the new strain. How could they make that determination from only eight confirmed cases? Officials are also saying they suspect it’s an outbreak. This is odd, given the limited number of confirmed cases. On top of this, we don’t know how reliable the PCR tests are for Ebola, so the numbers could