Hostages or High-Rises? Trump’s Contradictory Gaza Strategy

About 10,000 people across nearly two dozen villages in southern Iran were left without access to drinking water after a U.S. strike destroyed a desalination plant in the village of Bonji near the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. just targeted a facility whose primary function is to provide drinking water to the civilian population. Wouldn’t this be considered a war crime? Under Article 54 of international humanitarian law, intentionally attacking civilian infrastructure, such as drinking water installations, is prohibited unless it’s being used for military purposes, which it wasn’t. As if taking out the region’s water supply were not enough, the attack came during an excessive heat warning, making the loss of water even more dangerous. How did Iran respond to the incident and the other clear breaches of the recent MOU? Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, stated, “The U.S. has violated and suspended all its commitments within the framework of

More than 180 Iranian lawmakers signed a joint statement Tuesday declaring the Iran-U.S. memorandum of understanding “dead” and calling for retaliation. The lawmakers say the June 17 agreement, signed by President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, was meant to bring an end to hostilities and pave the way for peace negotiations. Instead, Washington resumed bombing Iran. Is that really any surprise, though? U.S. Central Command announced Monday: “At 3 p.m. ET today, U.S. Central Command forces began launching an additional round of strikes against Iran.” Trump also formally notified Congress that Washington had resumed the war with Iran and would continue to carrying out “limited defensive strikes.” Backing up that position, Trump posted on social media: _”The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran.” _ He also added, “The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,’ but as such, and as

Who should appear on a nation’s currency? Its greatest historical figures, or whoever best reflects today’s diversity targets? That’s a ridiculous question, right? Not really. The UK Cabinet recently urged the Bank of England to rethink who appears on British banknotes. And their proposal wasn’t about security features or artistic design. It was about identity. According to correspondence sent to the Bank, Cabinet Office officials argued that Britain’s current historical figures reflect “limited dimensions of British identity.” They called for “greater representation of women, disabled people, ethnic minority communities and LGBT+ individuals.” The Bank of England appears to have its own agenda, moving away from historical figures on banknotes altogether in favor of British wildlife. That means Churchill, Jane Austen, J.M.W. Turner, and Alan Turing would eventually make way for animals such as the hedgehog, badger, fox, and puffin. It seems that one institution wants more diversity and the

Longtime Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who served South Carolina in the U.S. Senate since 2003, passed away Saturday evening after suffering an aortic dissection. He was 71. Many have publicly mourned the passing of Senator Graham. One tribute that stood out came from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said: “Israel has lost one of the great champions of the American-Israeli alliance, and frankly, I’ve lost a beloved friend. He was an incredible patriot for America.” If Graham was indeed a true “patriot of America” and put the United States first, would Netanyahu have such kind words for him? And then there’s Adam Schiff, who wrote, “What I’ll remember most about Senator Graham was his sense of humor and how he deployed it to move his policy positions forward.” Most would agree that there was nothing humorous when it came to Graham’s policy positions, and one man’s direct response to Schiff’s post brings this to

We’re being conditioned to accept constant monitoring as normal, and this latest move only confirms it. As of July 7, every new passenger car and van sold in the European Union must include a driver-monitoring camera under the bloc’s General Safety Regulation. Known as the Advanced Driver Distraction Warning system, it uses an infrared camera to track your eyes and head movements, warning you if it determines you’ve looked away from the road for longer than the permitted time. Brussels says it’s about saving lives as part of its Vision Zero initiative to eliminate traffic deaths. Maybe it will. But it’s also another example of governments normalizing constant surveillance in the name of public safety. Officials insist the system won’t include facial recognition or biometric identification and is designed as a “closed loop,” meaning the camera data is supposed to remain inside the vehicle and not be transmitted

Just one day after President Trump publicly floated the idea of bombing Iran’s bridges and critical infrastructure, Iranian officials say that’s exactly what happened. In Trump’s own words: “We’re not attacking at the highest level. The highest level is the bridges, which we can knock down. I would say in one day we could knock down every bridge in Iran, there’s not a thing they can do about it.” Iran’s Foreign Ministry is now accusing the United States of committing a “blatant war crime” after airstrikes damaged two railway bridges, including one connecting Iran with Turkmenistan and China. Iranian media also says another strike disrupted passenger rail service between Tehran and Mashhad, where millions of mourners gathered ​​​​​for the funeral procession of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The timing isn’t going unnoticed. Targeting transportation routes during one of the country’s largest public gatherings raises obvious questions about whether the strikes were directed solely at military objectives.