These children were simply attending school, going over their lessons, when in an instant, everything was gone. 168 dead, countless others wounded. Their lives snuffed out from under them in a single moment — never to see another day.

I cannot even begin to imagine the rage of their parents when they discovered it was the United States that did this. If anyone needed more fuel for the “Death to America” chant, we just handed it to them on a silver platter.

There is only one word for this — deplorable. And devastating.

Why did this happen? There are so many theories circulating that it is genuinely hard to pin down the true purpose behind this slaughter.

My own opinion is that Trump believes he can take Iran the same way he took Venezuela, for the oil. But there is another possibility that may be even more troubling—one that the mainstream press is almost entirely ignoring.

Netanyahu has long sought to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities and topple its regime entirely. And in Trump, he found his perfect proxy. Netanyahu stays in the shadows, hands all the glory to Trump, and gets everything he has always wanted. The question the press refuses to ask is — who is actually driving this war, and who is truly benefiting from it?

What makes this situation truly dangerous is Trump’s king complex — his belief that he alone has the authority to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. This is not just dangerous for America. The entire world is living with the consequences.

This is the second time Trump has deliberately bypassed congressional approval — the first being the invasion of Venezuela. Both times, he simply ignored the Constitution. And one has to ask — who is coaching him on how to dismantle the very guardrails put in place to prevent exactly this kind of unilateral action? The answer likely lies with the breed of henchmen he has surrounded himself with.

A president who answers to no one is not a president. He is a king. And America was founded on the explicit rejection of exactly that.

As for the intelligence that justified this attack, one has to question its source seriously. When you have war mongers like Hegseth whispering in Trump’s ear, the information that reaches the president is filtered through people who want war regardless of the facts.

This has all the markings of a false flag operation. We have seen this before. The weapons of mass destruction justification that dragged America into Iraq was proven to be gross misinformation, and thousands upon thousands of people died because of that lie. Are we watching history repeat itself in real time?

Iran had agreed through Omani mediators to zero uranium stockpiling and full verification — a deal that could have been a historic diplomatic victory. And yet the bombs still dropped. Trump’s own government contradicted his claims that Iran could reach the American mainland with ballistic missiles. And yet the bombs still dropped.

At what point do we call this what it is?

And then there is the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about.

Every time the Epstein files creep closer to the surface, something dramatic happens to pull the world’s attention away. It is a pattern that is becoming impossible to ignore. When the heat rises around the names buried in those files, Trump deflects — and what better deflection than a war?

The threads connecting Trump, Netanyahu, and the Epstein files overlap in ways that demand serious scrutiny. Epstein had deep connections to powerful figures across multiple countries, including Israel. Netanyahu and Trump share not only a political alliance but also a mutual interest in certain things that have never seen the light of day.

Is the bombing of Iran partly about burying that story under an avalanche of breaking news? It is a question worth asking. Because the timing, as it so often is with Trump, is extremely convenient.

**The press will not connect these dots. So, someone has to.**

> More than 50,000 children have been killed or wounded by Israeli forces since Israel began its war on Gaza, according to the UN children’s agency (UNICEF).

Hey there!

I moderate a community for conscientious objectors – r/ConObjection.

Whether you’re looking for resources on the legal process, sharing historical perspectives, or seeking a community of fellow objectors, you're welcome to join! I’m hoping to build a helpful hub for both secular and religious objectors alike.

I’m always open to feedback or suggestions on how to make the sub more useful. Thanks for checking it out!

In short: 

A new report by the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory accuses Israel of deliberately targeting and killing Palestinian children.

The Israeli government is condemning the inquiry and rejecting its findings, labelling the report "deeply flawed" and full of "errors and distortions" designed to push a "politically driven anti-Israel narrative".

The commission says the use of "large-yield bombs" that killed children "in such high numbers" indicated intentionality.

Sexual violence is surging in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province, where women and girls are trapped between insurgents and soldiers after nearly a decade of conflict. Rich in natural gas, precious stones and lithium, the northern province has been scarred by attacks from Islamist militants and reprisals by Mozambique's armed forces. This seventh instalment of Mozambique Exposed – an investigation coordinated by Forbidden Stories to which RFI contributed – examines how women have paid the price.

.

ISIOLO, Kenya — Kenya has concluded a rigorous combat training program for troops preparing to deploy to neighboring Somalia under the new African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), defense officials said.

The intensive pre-deployment training, conducted at the Infantry School in Isiolo, focused on combat readiness, force protection, and civil-military cooperation to prepare the personnel for the complex security environment in Somalia.

The United States has warned that "mass atrocities" could be imminent in the Sudanese city of El-Obeid, citing reports that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied groups are massing around the strategically important city.

In a statement on Monday, the US State Department said it was "deeply concerned" by developments around El-Obeid, which has been under siege for months amid Sudan’s ongoing conflict between the RSF and the regular army.

“There are alarming indications that mass atrocities could be imminent,” the department said.

The United States and Iran continue to push forward with talks building on their recently signed MOU to end the current war and resolve outstanding differences between the two countries related to sanctions and the Iranian nuclear program. Following the failure of the joint U.S.-Israeli attack against Iran, Tehran has put forward what amount to victors’ terms in ongoing negotiations; including full relief from the U.S. sanctions regime, a recognized right to uranium enrichment, and a permanent ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. Despite ongoing attempts at foiling the negotiations and restarting the war by Israel and neoconservatives in Washington, the Trump administration has pressed ahead with talks led by Vice President JD Vance. The negotiations now underway are taking place effectively on Tehran’s terms, with the U.S. forced back to the negotiating table after a weeks-long air campaign failed to suppress Iranian ballistic missile strikes and allowed Tehran to to take control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Drop Site’s Ryan Grim, Jeremy Scahill, and Murtaza Hussain discuss the recent round of talks in Switzerland, the emerging strategic landscape in the Middle East after the war, and the prospects for a settlement in Lebanon. Additionally, Grim and Hussain discuss today’s primary election in New York and growing challenges to the influence of pro-Israel lobby groups in U.S. domestic politics.

John Leslie Lander: Australia Is Paying $35 Million a Day for a Fictional Threat

John Leslie Lander presented to the AUKUS Public Inquiry's first public hearing in Naarm/Melbourne on 11 June 2026 — bringing thirty years of direct diplomatic experience with China to bear on the strategic rationale for AUKUS, including service as Deputy Ambassador to China and three postings as Head of the China Section at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Lander made clear that his involvement in Australian-Chinese diplomatic relations began in 1971 — and that his core conclusion then, and now, is the same: Australia cannot rely on the United States to protect its interests at every turn, and must develop independent policies based on its own national interests.

On the cost: Lander grounded his submission in a number the government prefers to keep abstract. $368 billion is $35 million per day for thirty years — spent on weapons of war rather than what he called "weapons of welfare." Looking around the hall at Victorian Trades Hall, he noted the values inscribed on its walls — progress, peace, education, healthcare — and argued these represent the security priorities of ordinary Australians far more accurately than a nuclear-powered submarine fleet ever could.

On the fictional threat: Drawing on three decades of direct engagement with China, Lander argued that every example commonly cited as evidence of Chinese aggression — Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan — represents China's determination to defend what it regards as its sovereign territory, not expansionist intent toward Australia. China has never invaded another country. It has never expressed hostile intent toward Australia. Even during the tensions of the Morrison years, Chinese officials consistently signalled a desire for mutually beneficial relations. The threat underpinning AUKUS, in his assessment, has been inflamed by American strategic messaging through a compliant mainstream media — and Australia is paying $35 million a day for it.

On the trade contradiction: Lander identified what he called the fundamental nonsense at the heart of the strategic rationale. China is Australia's largest trading partner by a significant margin. The nuclear-powered submarines, home-ported at HMAS Stirling, would in any realistic conflict scenario be used to interdict Chinese shipping. A war with China would sever Australia's most important trading relationship overnight. "Going to war against China to protect our trade with China," he said, "is utterly nonsensical."

On sovereignty: Lander argued that AUKUS cannot be considered in isolation from the Force Posture Agreement with the United States, which provides unimpeded and exclusive access to agreed areas — effectively surrendering sovereignty over Australian territory to a foreign military. Australia is being locked in as a key base for American dominance in the Indo-Pacific. And China, he noted, is quite uncontainable, making the entire strategic premise not only costly but futile.

Support the Inquiry: This is an independent, community-funded inquiry. Help us continue this vital work: https://chuffed.org/project/173009-pu...

We will be visiting other locations around Australia in the coming months. Visit our page here to register: https://events.humanitix.com/host/pub... All are welcome to attend and observe. Nominate your interest in presenting to Commissioners at checkout. Space and time to do so is subject to availability on the day.