US Iran Talks Face Persistent Impasse

July 11, 2026 | Bloomberg Economics analysts Becca Wasser and Dina Esfandiary say the US and Iran remain far apart on key issues, with intermittent strikes and negotiations likely to define the conflict for the foreseeable future. They say technical talks on Iran's nuclear program are a constructive step, but disputes over the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions and implementation of the memorandum of understanding continue to hinder progress.

How the US Blunder in Iran Accelerates Its Decline and Dooms Israel | Andreas Krieg | UNAPOLOGETIC

July 4, 2026 | We sat down with Andreas Krieg for the fourth time on UNAPOLOGETIC, this time in the aftermath of the war on Iran, to ask what it has done to the balance of power across the Middle East. His answer is stark: this is the most fundamental shift in regional order in thirty years, and it has undone the American empire in a way he does not think it can recover from.

We get into why the Gulf no longer believes the United States can protect it, why its bases have become magnets for attack rather than deterrents, and why nobody in the region has a plan B for the order that is now crumbling. Andreas lays out the battle between the Israel lobby and the Gulf lobby that he believes will decide Washington's approach for years to come, the split between Marco Rubio and JD Vance, and why Iran has emerged able to impose its will without ever building a bomb.

We also talk through Iran as a network state, the Strait of Hormuz as a chokepoint, Saudi Arabia's strategic drift, Qatar's network power, Egypt reduced to a beggar state, the violation of Iraqi sovereignty, Syria under Sharaa, and why Andreas argues Israel has become a hammer that sees everything as a nail, isolated and digging itself into a hole it may not climb out of.

UNAPOLOGETIC is hosted by Ashfaaq Carim.

"United States Has Wedded to Idiocy”: Chris Hedges | Talk to Al Jazeera

July 5, 2026 | As the United States marks 250 years of independence, author and journalist Chris Hedges reflects on the promise of the American experiment, its greatest achievements, and its deepest contradictions. From the ideals of the Declaration of Independence to slavery, civil rights, war, and democracy, he examines whether the nation has lived up to its founding principles and what its future may hold.

If you ask me, America has gor FA to celebrate. The country is a total and utter disaster. — © Mark Alexander

Civil Rights Professors Call for a 'Second Founding' of America as the Nation Celebrates Its 250th

July 6, 2026

ANTHONY DAVIS can be supported on Patreon here.

Masked White Nationalists Descend on Washington DC

THE TELEGRAPH: Hundreds of balaclava-clad Patriot Front members march through capital on independence day chanting ‘reclaim America’

Hundreds of masked white supremacists descended on Washington DC ahead of July 4th celebrations on Saturday, marching through the city centre and riding on the city subway.

An estimated 400 members of a group called the Patriot Front met for a march in the US capital on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Dressed in khaki trousers and navy blue shirts, the marchers hid their faces behind white balaclavas, baseball caps and sunglasses.

One picture of the day, shared prominently on social media, shows a black woman sitting on a metro train surrounded by masked white men.

The group carried US and Confederate flags as it marched to a drum beat near the Capitol.

In a video posted on social media, two young men apparently associated with the group declared that the march was proof of the “total Aryan victory”.

According to videos posted on social media, members of the march chanted “Reclaim America” and “Life, liberty, victory!” » | Jörg Luyken | Sunday, July 5, 2026

This is what you get when you elect and then re-elect a racist and fascist as president. More especially when that fascist is a convicted criminal who is hell-bent on turning America white again! He is emboldening these despicable people to exercise their so-called fascist rights under the US Constitution. (Just because you can express your opinions doesn’t mean that you should, especially when other innocent people’s rights are threatened.) Trump is turning America and the rest of the world upside down. — © Mark Alexander

At Trump’s Direction, Federal Agencies Are Abandoning Discrimination Cases

This screenshot has been taken from this NYT article. | Kenni Miller joined a class-action lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but the case was later dropped by the Trump administration. | Credit: Kristian Thacker for The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: President Trump has tried to scale back anti-discrimination regulations that date back decades. Federal agencies have heeded his call.

When Kenni Miller started as a shift manager in his local Sheetz convenience store in Altoona, Pa., he felt something that he rarely had as a Black man in the workplace.

He felt trusted. He felt appreciated.

When he was fired a few weeks later, in the summer of 2020 after a background check, Mr. Miller, then 27, was devastated. A nonviolent, felony drug conviction from his teenage years had never caused him to be denied a job before. And he already proved he could do the work.

“I was well spoken,” Mr. Miller told The New York Times in an interview. “They had me running the cash register, talking to people, all the customers. I’m doing these things, learning the whole store, so I’m equipped for the job. That’s not the issue here, right?”

In 2024, Mr. Miller was part of a class-action lawsuit against Sheetz filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that the company’s criminal background checks disproportionately screened out applicants of color.

But soon after President Trump took office, the E.E.O.C. abruptly dropped the case.

The agency cited an executive order by Mr. Trump that directed federal agencies to “deprioritize” cases like Mr. Miller’s, in which companies are scrutinized not for intentional discrimination, but for having policies that have an unintentional, “disparate impact” on minority applicants. » | Erica L. Green and Niko Gallogly | Erica L. Green is a White House correspondent and Niko Gallogly writes about business. | Sunday, July 5, 2026

Is this the behaviour of a man sent by God to save a nation? Has God such poor judgment that He would send a convicted criminal and sex offender to save a nation? What a joke! What a sick joke!

My heart bleeds for this young man, trying his best as he is to scratch a meagre living, and then Trump goes and screws it all up for him. How disgusting!

Trump is a racist, through and through. And those American wallies cheer him on. Go figure! — © Mark Alexander

Bombshell Report: USA Is Seen as Biggest Threat to World

Ben Norton enlarges on this report.
Ben Norton’s and his Geopolitical Economy Report can be supported on Patreon here.

Obduktion angeordnet: Deutscher stirbt in ICE-Gewahrsam in den USA

TAGESSPIEGEL: Er kam nach US-Angaben ohne gültige Papiere an die US-Grenze. Nun ist ein 85-jähriger Deutscher in Gewahrsam der Migrationsbehörde ICE gestorben.

Ein Deutscher ist in Gewahrsam der Migrationsbehörde ICE gestorben. Der 85-Jährige sei im Ort Harlingen in Texas verstorben, wo er sich seit November in einer Klinik befand, wie ICE am Donnerstag (Ortszeit) mitteilte. Dort sei er unter anderem wegen Demenz, Bluthochdrucks, kognitiver Beeinträchtigungen und Magengeschwüren behandelt worden. Ein Arzt habe am 24. Juni seinen Tod festgestellt. Für die Ermittlung der Todesursache sei eine Obduktion angeordnet worden.

Der Mitteilung zufolge hatte der Mann Ende August 2025 am Grenzübergang bei Laredo versucht, in die USA einzureisen, was ihm aufgrund fehlender gültiger Dokumente verweigert worden sei. Die Zoll- und Grenzschutzbehörde CBP habe ein Verfahren eingeleitet und den Fall an ein Gericht des US-Justizministeriums verwiesen. Einen Tag später sei der Mann in ICE-Gewahrsam überstellt worden. Die Behörde habe ihn wiederum einen Monat später in einem Pflegeheim untergebracht. » | Helena Wittlich | US-Korrespondentin | Freitag, 3. Juli 2026

Trump kündigt Treffen mit Iran in Doha an – Teheran spricht von freigegebenen Vermögen

BERLINER ZEITUNG: US-Präsident Trump kündigt für Dienstag neue Verhandlungen mit Teheran in Katar an. Irans Präsident spricht derweil von der baldigen Freigabe von Milliarden eingefrorener Gelder.

Die USA und der Iran wollen ihre Gespräche nach Angaben von US-Präsident Donald Trump am Dienstag in Katars Hauptstadt Doha fortsetzen. „Der Iran hat um ein Treffen gebeten. Es findet morgen in Doha statt“, schrieb Trump am Montag auf seiner Plattform Truth Social. Aus Teheran wurde die Ankündigung jedoch nicht bestätigt.

Der iranische Vizeaußenminister Kasem Gharibabadi erklärte laut der staatlichen Nachrichtenagentur Irna zudem, Berichte über technische Gespräche der Arbeitsgruppen in Doha seien „nicht bestätigt“. Konsultationen mit Katar liefen wie gewohnt weiter.

Die Sprecherin des Weißen Hauses, Karoline Leavitt, teilte dem Sender Fox News derweil mit, Trumps Sondergesandter Steve Witkoff und sein Schwiegersohn Jared Kushner würden zu hochrangigen Treffen nach Doha reisen. » | Sophie Barkey | Montag, 29. Juni 2026

Geburtstag der USA – 250 Jahre Unabhängigkeit | Terra X

Jun 28, 2026 | Am 4. Juli feiern die USA ihren Independence Day – doch wie wurde aus 13 britischen Kolonien eine der mächtigsten Nationen der Welt? Zum 250. Jubiläum der amerikanischen Unabhängigkeit gibt Terra X History einen detaillierten Einblick in die bewegte Entstehungsgeschichte der Vereinigten Staaten: von den ersten Siedlungen über die Amerikanische Revolution bis zur Unabhängigkeitserklärung und der bis heute bestehenden Verfassung mit ihren großen Ideen von Freiheit, Demokratie und Gleichheit – doch wie viel hat davon heute noch Bestand und wie belastbar ist die amerikanische Demokratie heute noch?

Dieses Video ist eine Produktion des ZDF, in Zusammenarbeit mit Bilderfest.

Team:

Autor: Florian Breier
Schnitt: Moritz Krause
Kamera: Frank Becht, Moritz Frisch
Grafik:Kathi Weiss
Sprecher:Tillman Graach

U.S. Strikes Iran in Retaliation for Attack on Vessel in Strait of Hormuz

THE NEW YORK TIMES: President Trump on Friday called Iran’s attack on a container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier a “foolish” act.

The U.S. military said it launched strikes on Iran on Friday in retaliation for an Iranian attack in the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, hours after President Trump called the Iranian action a “foolish violation” of the fragile cease-fire between the two countries.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it had struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites as a “powerful response” to the Iranian attack on Thursday.

The extent of damage from the new U.S. strikes was not immediately clear. A U.S. defense official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly, described the strikes as a retaliatory measure and not a restart of major combat operations.

The strikes on Friday concluded after about 90 minutes, a U.S. official said, and included strikes by American fighter jets against four Iranian sites along the Strait of Hormuz and on Qeshm Island, a U.S. official said.

Iran’s security forces claimed that in response to the American attacks on Friday, Tehran had struck U.S. Army positions in the region. There was no immediate confirmation from the U.S. military of such strikes.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement carried by state media that the U.S. strikes had violated the cease-fire, and warned that if such aggression “is repeated, our response will be more extensive.” » | Helene Cooper, Euan Ward, Jenny Gross and Pranav Baskar | Helene Cooper reported from Washington. | Friday, June 26, 2026

The Terrifying Reason Peter Thiel Escaped the US

Jun 19, 2026 | Peter Thiel moved his family to Buenos Aires just as California weighed a billionaires’ tax, sparking headlines about secret escape plans and a crumbling West. But his companies are raking in record US government cash, and his fortune remains rooted in America.

This video exposes why Thiel really chose Argentina, the loopholes that shelter his wealth, and what it reveals about how the world’s richest dodge taxes and borders while the rest of us are stuck in place.

US-Iran Ceasefire Under Strain as Fighting Flares in Lebanon | DW News

Jun 19, 2026 | Ongoing fighting in Lebanon could undermine a ceasefire between the US and Iran. Hours after US President Donald Trump warned all parties to respect a peace deal, Israel launched deadly attacks in southern Lebanon while four Israeli soldiers were killed in combat. Meanwhile talks between the US and Iran in Switzerland have been postponed. So are Israel and the militant group Hezbollah undermining the deal? Was it set up to fail?

Cuba under Siege, with Ben Norton

Jun 17, 2026 | The US embargo on Cuba has been in place for nearly 70 years and getting tighter by the day, devastating the lives of millions on the island. Ben Norton, founder and editor-in-chief of the Geopolitical Economy Report, has "seen the consequences with his own eyes."

He joins CGTN to break down how the US has weaponized the international financial system by levying sanctions, in violation of international law, to cause "hunger, desperation and overthrow of government."

US-Iran Agreement Leaves Israelis 'in Profound State of Shock' • FRANCE 24 English

Jun 18, 2026 | Israeli leaders are privately fuming about the US-Iran deal, seeing the initial agreement as a form of capitulation. This comes as a final blow to the increasingly fraying relationship between Netanyahu and Trump, previously thought thought to be iron-clad. FRANCE 24's Noga Tarnopolsky tells us more.

Democracy Now! Trump's War on Iran Ends with a "Triumphant" Tehran

Jun 18, 2026 | The United States and Iran have officially signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war in Iran. The 14-point agreement includes an immediate end to fighting on all fronts including Lebanon, an end to the U.S. naval blockade on Iran and the full resumption of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. It also proposes easing oil sanctions on Iran, unfreezing Iranian assets and launching a $300 billion investment fund to rebuild Iran, all while tabling the question of Iran’s nuclear program, which is instead set to be negotiated over in the coming months.

“The United States is more eager for this war to end than Iran is,” says Professor Vali Nasr, who teaches at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. “In Iran, they’re very triumphant.” We discuss the long-term effects of the war, from the growing U.S. distrust of Israel, to the new generation of political leaders in the Islamic Republic, to the evolution of Iran into a major power player in an increasingly multipolar world.


Democracy Now! can be supported here.

Trump's Action in Iran Is Akin to Putin's Strikes on Ukraine | Peter Hitchens

Jun 16, 2026 | "It's not a false equivalence, and it actually exists."

Public opinion in democratic states has been so feeble on the US involvement in Iran that author and broadcaster Peter Hitchens can't understand it.

U.S. and Tehran Send Mixed Signals on Emerging Peace Agreement

THE NEW YORK TIMES: President Trump said it would be signed on Sunday, but Iran’s Foreign Ministry cautioned that the timeline could be slower.

Screenshot is from this NYT article. | People walking past a mural in Tehran last week. | Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times
It was unclear early Sunday when or whether the United States and Iran might sign a peace agreement, after President Trump and Tehran offered conflicting timelines.

Mr. Trump said in a social media post on Saturday that a deal was “scheduled to get signed” the next day and that it would immediately open the Strait of Hormuz. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, a key mediator in the negotiations, had said in a post hours earlier that the finalization of an agreement was expected within 24 hours, followed by the “electronic signing of the peace deal.”

But Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said that a deal would not be signed on Sunday, though he left open the possibility that one could be in the coming days, according to the Iranian state news media.

Neither the United States nor Iran has shared text of the deal being considered, and it could still be derailed. American and Iranian officials have said that under a “memorandum of understanding,” Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the United States would lift its blockade on Iranian ports, and the cease-fire that the two sides agreed to in April would be extended for 60 days.

During that period, both sides would commit to holding detailed negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, where differences persist and neither side has shown much willingness to compromise, and over the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Iran. Iran War Live Updates » | Yan Zhuang, Jonathan Swan and Abdi Latif Dahir | Sunday, June 14, 2026

How Is Mike Huckabee Allowed to Be US Ambassador To Israel?

June 12, 2026

Mike Huckabee? Another dim-witted, American, benighted clown! Does America have a bottomless supply of these stupid, bigoted MFers? — © Mark Alexander

Indischer Außenminister: „Die USA forderten Indien auf, russisches Öl zu kaufen“

BERLINER ZEITUNG: Der indische Außenminister Jaishankar äußert sich zu dem Kauf russischen Öls. Zudem kritisiert er die aus seiner Sicht widersprüchliche Haltung der USA.

Dieser Screenshot stammt aus diesem Artikel. | Indiens Außenminister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar | © Lehtikuva/imago
Der indische Außenminister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar hat den Kauf russischen Öls durch Indien verteidigt und den USA wechselhafte Politik vorgeworfen. Bei Gesprächen im finnischen Kultaranta sagte Jaishankar laut Bloomberg am Donnerstag, nach Beginn des Ukraine-Kriegs sei viel des verfügbaren Öls russisch gewesen, weil europäische Staaten Lieferungen aus dem Nahen Osten aufgekauft hätten – der traditionellen Bezugsquelle Indiens.

Die USA riefen Indien nach Angaben des Ministers zu diesem Zeitpunkt dazu auf, russisches Öl zu kaufen. „Damals forderten die USA Indien ausdrücklich auf, russisches Öl zu kaufen, um den Ölmarkt zu stabilisieren“, sagte Jaishankar demnach. „Ich kaufe Öl auf Basis von Kosten und Verfügbarkeit.“ » | Anika Schlünz | Freitag, 12. Juni 2026