Update: it appears the earlier warning by the UAE was a false alarm:

• UAE SENDS ALERT SAYING ‘PLEASE DISREGARD THE PREVIOUS WARNING’
• UAE ASKS PEOPLE TO IGNORE PREVIOUS WARNING

* * * 

Earlier

Is the ceasefire over (again)?

Moments ago stocks hit session lows and oil jumped from post-war lows after the UAE issued a phone alert warning of potential missile strikes.

Iran’s Tasnim promptly followed up, saying that according to news sources, there were explosions heard in Dubai.

And while the initial report sent futures to session lows…

… , and oil bounced…

… a subsequent report from UAE indicated that the situation is “currently safe” after a potential threat alert.

• *UAE SAYS SITUATION CURRENTLY SAFE AFTER POTENTIAL THREAT ALERT

While it is unclear what may have prompted the escalation, especially since the UAE and Iran are now aggressively backchanneling, moments earlier the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said that Iran’s military capabilities guarantee its right to self-defense. And now we wait to see if more fireworks are coming. 

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

Vice President JD Vance has said that during talks in Switzerland, Iranian officials agreed to establish a direct line of communication between Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the US military.

Vance told Sohrab Ahmari, the US editor for UnHerd, that one of the things the US wanted to “come out” of the talks with was a “channel on the Iranian side” for reducing conflict.

“Which we did. They were like, ‘OK, fine, we’ll send somebody from the IRGC to go hang out in Doha with somebody from CENTCOM,’ and that’s how we’re going to settle a lot of these disputes,” the US vice president said during an interview conducted aboard Air Force Two on the flight home from Switzerland.

Flare-ups between the US and Iran remain possible, as the US hasn’t reduced its forces in the region and there appear to be differences between the two sides’ views on the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.

A direct communication channel between the two militaries, if implemented, could help de-escalate tensions after any flare-up to prevent the region from plunging back into full-scale war.

Vance also told Ahmari that Arab states like the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding “because of the conversations they’re having with the Iranians.”

“The Emiratis — by far the most hawkish, by far the most pro-Israel country in the [Gulf Cooperation Council] — they’re having conversations with the Iranians that have never happened before, including with the IRGC, about various types of economic incentives — ‘Here’s what we’d need to see to make your country investable’ — and the Iranians come back and say, ‘Okay, yeah, we’re willing to do all those things,'” Vance said.

The UAE had taken a much more offensive role in the US-Israeli war against Iran than the other Gulf Arab states, and as a result, it was pounded by Iranian missiles and drones.

VP signals there is now an IRGC-CENTCOM channel as part of US-Iran talks https://t.co/3X3MTN1hlV

— Alex Ward (@alexbward) June 25, 2026

While more hawkish than other regional countries, Abu Dhabi, like the other Gulf countries, would likely prefer a diplomatic solution to a return to full-scale war since it would likely involve an escalation of Iranian attacks on oil infrastructure in the region.

The New York City Rent Guidelines Board voted 7–1 to freeze rents on about 1 million rent-stabilized apartments for up to two years, giving tenants a win on a central campaign promise from Mayor Zohran Mamdani while revealing tensions over the board’s independence.

The board set the annual increase at zero percent for both one-year and two-year leases starting in October. The affected apartments house roughly 2.5 million residents. The board’s 2025 study found the average monthly rent in regulated units was $1,599 last year, far below the $3,950 that listings agency StreetEasy said was the median for new market-rate leases citywide.

As Kimberley Hayek reports for The Epoch Times, the decision comes after the board’s usual review of wages, inflation, maintenance costs, taxes, and landlord incomes. Tenants at public hearings called for a freeze or outright reduction, citing stagnant pay and higher living costs. Landlord representatives argued that a zero percent increase would hurt building upkeep and mortgage payments. Some owners have offset losses by raising rents on unregulated apartments, the board was told.

Mamdani, who took office in January, appointed six of the nine board members. Hours ahead of the vote, landlord representative Christina Smyth, appointed by the prior mayor, resigned. She said the panel had been rebuilt to produce this outcome.

“This rebuilt board was required to deliver a rent freeze,” Smyth said. “Everything since has been theater.”

Board Chair Chantella Mitchell, a Mamdani appointee, maintained that the board and its staff served with full independence and integrity. The other landlord representative, Maksim Wynn, also a Mamdani appointee, drew boos from tenant advocates at the Manhattan proceedings but voted for the freeze. The crowd erupted with cheers and whistles when the outcome was announced.

Ann Korchak, board president of Small Property Owners of New York, called the vote a farce.

“Defunding rent-stabilized housing when the [Rent Guidelines Board’s] own data showed a 5.3 percent increase in operational costs and expenses is setting up already financially distressed small owners for failure, which plays into Mamdani’s sinister plan to illegally take private property and convert it into socialized housing,” she told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

Mamdani called the vote a breakthrough.

“This is a historic victory for New York City tenants,” he said in a statement. “This is the relief that working people across our city deserve.”

The action marks the first major delivery on Mamdani’s housing agenda. The democratic socialist mayor campaigned explicitly on freezing rents for regulated apartments and holds sole authority to appoint the Rent Guidelines Board’s members. In May, Mamdani unveiled a broader “Block by Block” housing plan that calls for building 200,000 new units over 10 years while preserving another 200,000 through subsidies or other measures, including potential property interventions.

Previous rent freezes under former Mayor Bill de Blasio covered only one-year leases. Thursday’s vote applies to both lease terms and follows weeks of hearings and a rally outside El Museo Del Barrio that drew hundreds of tenants.

The board’s action applies only to rent-stabilized units, primarily in pre-1974 buildings or those that received certain tax benefits. Market-rate apartments remain unaffected.

Mamdani, whose campaign promised to pursue affordability, moved into the mayor’s official residence after his election. Before that, he lived in a rent-regulated one-bedroom apartment in Queens.

Futures point to a lower start for cash trading on the last day of the week, as tech stocks dragged global indexes lower following renewed selling in chipmakers, while a report that OpenAI could postpone plans to go public also weighed on sentiment. The volatility reflects a valuation test, profit‑taking and flow-driven positioning, according to Christian Stocker, equity strategist at UniCredit, who suggests it’s a “temporary correction within a still-intact long-term AI growth trend.” As of 8:00am ET, Nasdaq 100 futures slid 1.1%, while those on the S&P 500 fell 0.4%. In premarket trading, semiconductor names, including Micron and optical stocks were broadly lower following news of OpenAI’s IPO delay; the “chip paying” hyperscalers showing moderate gains as the equilibrium seems to shift away from chip stocks. A selloff in Korean chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix triggered a second trading suspension in Seoul within days. Oil resumed its slide, failing to lift stocks but offering a fillip to bonds. Bond yields declined further led by the front-end of the curve: 2y is down 3.5bp; USD is lower. Oil fell -2.74 this morning to $69.18. US economic data calendar includes May goods trade balance, retail and wholesale inventories (8:30am), June final University of Michigan sentiment (10am) and Kansas City Fed services activity (11am). Fed speaker slate includes Minneapolis Fed’s Kashkari at 11:30am

In premarket trading, Mag 7 are mixed: Microsoft is the is a top gainer as investors rotate into software stocks from hardwar (Microsoft +0.8%, Apple +0.5%, Amazon unchanged, Meta Platforms +0.3%, Alphabet -0.7%, Nvidia -1%, Tesla -1.1%).

• Semiconductor stocks are broadly lower amid investor concerns over the staying power of chip demand given price increases seen across Apple and Xbox products. A potential delay to OpenAI’s IPO, as reported by the New York Times, also dampened risk sentiment.
• ON Semiconductor (ON) slides 14% after the chipmaker agreed to an all-stock deal to buy Synaptics. Analysts worry that buying a business that’s exposed to smart devices and the consumer market may distract a push to supply for AI data centers. Synaptics (SYNA) is up 4.2%.
• Rocket Lab (RKLB) gains about 1% after the space firm said NASA selected it to provide three Electron launches for two missions, PolSIR and TSIS-2, from early 2027.
• Tango Therapeutics (TNGX) climbs 5% after Jefferies upgraded the drug developer to buy citing durability of its experimental therapy to treat pancreatic cancer.
• Wise (WSE) climbs 5% after the financial technology firm announced it will begin a new buyback program and reported results for the full year which analysts say were in line with expectations.

In other corporate news, EV maker Polestar will exit the US after the Commerce Department banned the company due to a rule prohibiting Chinese software in cars, according to the WSJ. And Volkswagen is looking to cut tens of thousands of additional jobs and may shutter factories in a push to be more competitive, Manager Magazin reported.

Markets are capping a volatile week in which shifting sentiment around the once-relentless tech trade whipsawed stocks, with traders parsing everything from spending plans to corporate earnings. Investors pulled money from US equities for the first time in three months, with record withdrawals from tech.

Friday’s bout of weakness came as price increases in products from Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. triggered fears about the staying power of chip demand. A New York Times report that OpenAI could delay its initial public offering until 2027 also brought into focus how volatility could affect the sector. In Japan, OpenAI backer SoftBank Group Corp. tumbled following the NYT report, sending the Nikkei 225 down 4.2%. The tech sector led declines in Europe as well, with the Stoxx 600 on course for its worst performance since the middle of May.

“Technology remains a crowded trade, positioning is relatively tight, and that makes the sector more sensitive to negative news flow or sharp moves in individual names,” said Francisco Simon, European head of strategy at Santander Asset Management.

AI valuations relative to the rest of the S&P 500 have fallen to their lowest levels since the Iran war, with AI stocks now trading at just a 15% P/E premium to ex-AI stocks, notes Bloomberg. The case for the AI trade remains intact, but the risk of getting it wrong has risen considerably with leverage, crowding and dispersion in focus.

Investors say the roller-coaster week shows that while the case for the AI-trade is still strong, the days of everything going up in a straight line appear to be over. While there hasn’t been panic selling, the cracks are real, and extreme investor positioning means the easy days could be a thing of the past.

The most sensible strategy “is to maintain well-diversified portfolios across geographies, styles, sizes, companies, and sectors,” said David Manso, chief investment officer at CaixaBank AM. “In a couple of weeks, the earnings season will kick off, and leading indicators are pointing in the right direction. We expect corporate results to become a positive catalyst.”

Also in AI, the Pentagon has revised its doctrine on how the US military picks its targets in battle, opening the way for AI to make critical wartime decisions in the future.

In politics, New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board voted to freeze some apartment rents, handing Mayor Mamdani a major political victory. Commerce Secretary Lutnick intervened to delay the opening of a new bridge between the US and Canada and is pressing to renegotiate the deal for a larger share of toll revenue. 

The Stoxx 600 is down by 0.6%, with energy and technology equities leading declines, while food beverage and personal care drug stocks are the biggest outperformers. Here are the biggest movers Friday:

• Wise shares climb as much as 8.2% after the financial technology firm announced it will begin a new buyback program and reported results for the full year which analysts say were in line with expectations
• Pandora shares rise as much as 5.1% after BofA upgraded the stock to buy from underperform, saying it has a “clear catalyst path ahead as main pressures subside and LFL [like-for-like sales] stabilizes”
• Barratt Redrow and Bellway climb after Berenberg upgrades both stocks to buy, saying depressed valuations, strong balance sheets and attractive capital returns create selective opportunities in UK housebuilders despite a downbeat market outlook
• Koninklijke KPN shares rise as much as 2.5% after the Dutch telecoms firm was upgraded at Citi, as analysts said there is an opportunity for investors to increase their holding in a “quality stock” following a recent pullback
• Technology shares declined in Europe, following Asia peers lower, after Apple slumped Thursday following price increases on its products. A report that OpenAI may delay its IPO also weighed on sentiment
• Zalando shares fall as much as 11% after the German Financial Supervisory Authority BaFin opened a probe into the online fashion retailer’s 2025 report over suspected violations of accounting rules
• Accor shares drop as much as 2.8%, pulling back from an all-time high after the hotelier was downgraded at Jefferies. Analysts believe any potential recovery in the Middle East is already priced in
• INWIT shares slip as much as 2.1% after a downgrade to neutral from buy at Goldman Sachs, which sees “heightened operating and structural uncertainty” for the Italian telecoms company’s investment case

Asian stocks resumed their decline after a brief reprieve the prior day, as concerns about the sustainability of recent tech gains weighed on sentiment. Trading in Asian stocks has remained volatile, with investors torn between whether the rally in technology shares is stretched or backed by confidence in continued AI-driven growth. In the end, tech stocks dragged Asia lower, with the Kospi falling 5.8% and the Nikkei 225 dropping 4.2%. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped as much as 3.6%, with Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and TSMC weighing most on the gauge. South Korea, Japan and Taiwan led declines. For the week, the index has fallen more than 4%, on track for its worst showing since early March. The selloff comes after Apple said it raised prices to offset cost hikes caused by an unprecedented shortage of memory chips, dragging supplier shares across the region lower. For some, it underscored just how vulnerable the chip rally — which has lifted benchmarks to repeated highs — has become. 

“After recent performance, it’s not difficult to expect some consolidation,” said Kieran Calder, head of Asia equity research at Union Bancaire Privee. Apple price hikes highlighted “memory shortage impact on consumer electronics prices and part of the inflation narrative.”

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index down by 0.1% and the euro back to testing $1.14, while sterling has climbed back above $1.32. The Norwegian krone is underperforming among major currencies on the slide in oil prices.

In rates, a falling oil price is lifting short-end bonds across Europe and the US, with a pullback in bets on central bank rate hikes. US two-year yields falling by four basis points and outperforming moves in the same direction in Europe and the UK.

treasury futures hold gains led by front-end tenors, extending Thursday’s yield-curve steepening move, as oil prices resume their slide toward pre-war levels and short-term rate products price in less Fed tightening in the coming months. 2-year yields are lower by 3bp-4bp, long-end tenors by less than 1bp, steepening 2s10s curve by 1.5bp, 5s30s by 3bp; 10-year, down 2bp near 4.375%, outperforms bunds and gilts in the sector by around 1bp. IG dollar issuance slate empty so far. At least two borrowers stood down Thursday as three priced a combined $5.4 billion, paying about 5bps in new issue concessions on deals that were 3 times oversubscribed.

In commodities, Brent is sliding by nearly 4% and below $73/barrel and WTI futures are sinking toward $69/barrel and headed for biggest weekly drop in a month after transits through the Strait of Hormuz accelerated; Gold little changed but holding above $4,000/oz.

US economic data calendar includes May advance goods trade balance, May retail and wholesale inventories (8:30am), June final University of Michigan sentiment (10am) and Kansas City Fed services activity (11am). Fed speaker slate includes Minneapolis Fed’s Kashkari at 11:30am

Market Snapshot

Top Overnight News

• Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister said the safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz without consideration of Iran’s sovereignty is not guaranteed. This follows an Iranian strike on a Singapore-flagged cargo ship after failing to follow the set route: RTRS
• Traffic through Strait of Hormuz slows after attack on ship: RTRS
• US Chip Stocks Decline on Worries Over Memory Prices, OpenAI IPO: BBG
• US President Trump said we have a new market coming up called Iran and added that Iran wants to make a deal with us very badly and thinks they will make a deal.
• Venezuela Seeks Survivors as Quakes Death Toll Hits 235; Quake Crisis to Test Legitimacy of Rodriguez Regime: BBG
• OpenAI Leans Toward Holding Up I.P.O. Until Next Year: NYT
• SpaceX Plans New Starlink Mobile Service for US Consumers: FT
• US President Trump’s administration asked OpenAI to restrict the launch of its next model, GPT-5.6, to only a small set of government-approved partners before a wider release due to security concerns: Axios.
• Russian hawks urge Putin to escalate war, drop US talks as Ukraine strikes deep: RTRS
• Volkswagen weighs up to 100,000 job cuts and four plant closures in overhaul: RTRS
• On immigration, Supreme Court accedes to Trump’s restrictive agenda: RTRS
• Wall Street Realizes It Needs More Than Money to Counter Mamdani: WSJ
• Representatives Gottheimer (D) and Moolenaar (R) are reportedly introducing legislation that would allow US cloud companies to report suspected foreign misuse of advanced AI computing: Axios 
• Novak Djokovic Joins General Atlantic in His Wall Street Debut: BBG
• BofA’s weekly flow report notes USD 25.5bln out of cash, USD 5.0bln out of stocks, USD 16.6bln into bonds, USD 0.5bln out of gold. Bull & Bear Indicator fell to 9.1 (prev. 9.2)

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks were pressured following the choppy performance stateside, where markets were indecisive amid two-way trade in tech, a recent data deluge and a rebound in oil. The overnight deterioration in risk sentiment coincided with renewed selling in tech after Apple raised prices of some products by nearly 20% and with OpenAI leaning towards delaying its IPO until next year. ASX 200 was rangebound with the index cushioned as the underperformance in tech, telecoms and healthcare was partially offset by resilience in some defensive stocks. Nikkei 225 suffered heavy losses as tech stocks dominated the list of worst performers, with SoftBank down by a double-digit percentage owing to its large exposure to AI and semiconductors. KOSPI remained volatile with the slump triggering a sidecar and eventual circuit breaker alongside notable declines in both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp conformed to the sell-off across the region amid the tech rout

Top Asian News

• China sharpened tools for retaliating against foreign sanctions with Beijing preparing a new law that would add to its ability to punish foreign companies and individuals deemed to harm Chinese interests, according to WSJ.
• PBoC has requested that some commercial banks increase lending in June amid ongoing weak credit demand, according to reports.

European bourses (STOXX 600 -0.9%) are entirely in the red in the last session of the week, driven by another day of losses in South Korea (SK Hynix -8.4%, Samsung -5.3%). Some analysts are citing Apple’s price hikes on products due to memory chip shortages as a catalyst for the recent sell-off, raising concerns that rising component costs could curb demand for devices. An analyst at Javelin Wealth Management also said the recent gains for chipmakers could come at the expense of product manufacturers. The losses in South Korean giants have weighed on European chip names (Infineon -3.1%, ASML -1.0%) and indices composed of technology companies (DAX 40 -0.8%, AEX -0.6%). European sectors highlight a negative bias. Optimised Personal Care (+0.8%), Food, Beverages & Tobacco (+0.6%) and Utilities top the sector pile. Energy (-1.5%) is the underperformer again, with Technology (-1.4%) and Financial Services (-1.1%) also lagging.

Top European News

• The Times’ Swinford reported that it is likely to be a two-horse race between Ed Miliband and Shabana Mahmood for chancellor, with allies of Streeting say they do not think he will get the job.

FX

• USD finds itself under modest pressure. DXY at a 101.18 base, but well clear of the 100.76 WTD low, with the index set to see the week out around the middle of its range. In brief, a tale of two halves for the index which began the week on the front foot before reversing after Thursday’s data deluge and continuing to slip since.
• EUR outperforms as a result of the continued USD pressure. No real move to the ECB CES, which showed a moderation in the 12-month price view and an uptick in the growth view. The growth revision is not enough to provide comfortable space for further tightening, and equally the price moderation is not sufficient to take another move off the table. Nonetheless, the price moderation does add to the post-PMI & Lagarde dovish tilt we have seen in recent days.
• In more detail, EUR/USD has breached 1.14 to the upside. Picking up gradually across the morning, as the US data on Thursday has and continues to permit an unwinding of some of the yield differential moves we have seen in recent days, with the Fed more-hawkish and ECB mixed but net less-hawkish, particularly from Lagarde as referenced. However, while it has hit a 1.1407 peak, EUR remains in the red on the week and continuing the near unbroken downward trend of the last seven weeks.
• Elsewhere, G10s generally are slightly firmer against the USD. With GBP the next-best behind EUR, comfortably above 1.3200 and flat/firmer WTD, but again, still towards post June policy announcement lows, as BoE expectations coalesce around the on hold for the foreseeable narrative, despite the hawkish dissenters.
• CAD, JPY and CHF all faring around equally. Of those, USD/JPY participants remain on watch for potential intervention risk, particularly as Japanese authorities tend to target Friday’s and go with the market move rather than fighting it. USD/JPY just above a 161.53 base, and while the JPY is firmer today the bearish trend remains near-enough unbroken at a weekly level over the last month and a half.
• Today is spot month/quarter-end. As a reminder, Barclays model was neutral overall for the USD against all majors, formed of a moderate USD buying signal on the month-end, but countered by a strong USD sell signal for quarter-end

Commodities

• The US-Iran situation remains complex. It was reported that the IRGC attacked a Singapore-flagged cargo ship, after it attempted to traverse through the Strait through a route not designated by the Iranians. This led the UN to pause its evacuation plans for ships around the Strait. Despite the attack, Bloomberg data continues to indicate that ships continue to traverse through the Hormuz, highlighting that traffic continues to flow in “both directions”.
• On the Lebanon front. The US-mediated Lebanon-Israel talks were expected to conclude on Wednesday, but were then extended into today. Israeli sources have suggested that there has been some progress, but no deal has been reached thus far. The negotiations focus on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon; there may be a chance that Israel will only withdraw from areas where operations have already been concluded, and continue such action in other parts of the region. Therefore, the risk is that Iran is not satisfied by the outcome of the talks, and potentially restart closures of the Strait.
• Crude benchmarks are in the red, with WTI (-3.5%) and Brent (-3.4%) holding at the bottom end of their respective USD 68.98-71.86/bbl and USD 72.14-75.13/bbl ranges. Despite the flare-up on the Strait in the prior session and the continued lack of progress between Lebanon and Israel, crude prices continue to slip. It is the case that as long as ships continue to traverse the Strait, other friction points can be ignored… at least in the short term.
• Spot gold (+0.2%) is ever so slightly firmer this morning, but continues to remain near recent troughs. Today, the yellow-metal holds just above the USD 4k/oz mark, and within a USD 3,982-4,039/oz range. Elsewhere, base metals are broadly slightly lower this morning, with 3M LME copper currently off by c. 0.6%. It currently holds around USD 13.25k/t and within a USD 13,088.3-13,281/t range.
• Saudi Aramco reopened the Ras Tanura oil loading operations after a prolonged halt, with two supertankers loading oil at Ras Tanura on Friday, while another is awaiting loading, according to shipping data.
• Several Japanese-related vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz as part of IMO evacuation plans, which have since been suspended following the attack on a cargo ship, according to Mainichi.
• China’s MOFCOM released a list of non-state Chinese companies eligible for oil imports.
• Kazakhstan cut the gas production at the Karachaganak gas field after Ukraine drone attacks on Russia’s Orenburg gas processing plant. Raw gas from the field is usually delivered to the Orenburg plant.
• Kazakhstan Energy Minister said we may consider fuel exports to Russia if there is an official request.
• Russia is considering a short-term ban on diesel exports for a few months, TASS reported.

Central Banks

• Fed’s Goolsbee (2027 voter) said it is difficult to determine whether inflation pressures are persistent or temporary, while noting inflation is moving in the wrong direction, and some of that is being driven by one-off factors. He added that inflation remains more concerning on the services side and that spending based on expected future gains makes him concerned about potential inflationary pressures. Goolsbee also said there are some signs of improvement in services inflation, but it remains well above where it needs to be, as well as stated that core inflation it is still too high and trending in the wrong direction, while services-driven core CPI is more concerning than inflation driven by goods or oil-related items. Furthermore, he stated that wages are not a particularly good leading indicator for inflation and that inflation could rise before wages do, adding that inflation needs to be monitored closely.

Geopolitics

• US President Trump said they have a new market coming up called Iran, and that Iran wants to make a deal with them very badly, while he thinks that they will make a deal and stated the Strait is open.
• Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister said safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz without consideration of Iran’s sovereignty is not guaranteed and that any framework for passage through Hormuz must be in coordination with Iran, otherwise it will be suspended from the designated route.
• N12’s Segal posted after a conversation with a source on the Iranian issue, “His opinion on the agreement and the situation is much less negative than what has been written anywhere else, including here.”
• Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters declared that if the US is unable to contain and control the Zionist regime, Iran will not tolerate any threat against itself and considers it its right to respond to these dangerous actions.
• Israeli Embassy in Washington said due to extension in the discussions, negotiations between Israel and Lebanon mediated by the US will continue on Friday for a fourth day, according to a Kan reporter.
• Israeli Energy Minister said the withdrawal from southern Lebanon is not under consideration and would be rejected even if requested by US President Trump, while he stated that Israel does not plan to occupy all of Lebanon, but intends to establish full security control over the entire Gaza Strip.
• Israeli PM Netanyahu said that we will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon as long as necessary and have ordered the army to have complete freedom of action to counter any threat against our forces or residents of the North.
• UN said the Lebanon ceasefire is largely holding, though Israeli military operations inside Lebanon continue. It was separately reported that Israel’s military conducted airstrikes on Beit Yahun, Lebanon, while Israeli tank movements were reported in Wadi Saluqi and Bint Jbeil, Lebanon.
• IAEA chief Grossi said it’s undeniable we have an agreement that IAEA will have access to Iran for inspection, while added that they hope to resume their work in Iran soon.
• GCC Secretary General said the proposed USD 300bln for the reconstruction of Iran has not been presented to us officially or unofficially, and it has not been discussed with the US, Sky News Arabia reported.
• Russia claimed to have shut down 660 Ukrainian drones overnight, Moscow’s mayor reported that 47 drones were intercepted that were heading to the capital.
• North Korean leader Kim oversaw the testing of key weapons, according to KCNA.

US Event Calendar

• 8:30 am: May P Wholesale Inventories MoM, est. 0.4%, prior 0.6%
• 10:00 am: Jun F U. of Mich. Sentiment, est. 50, prior 48.9
• 11:30 am: Fed’s Kashkari at Aspen Ideas Panel

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

I can pretty much guarantee the imminent end of the extreme record-breaking heatwave currently engulfing most of Europe, and a very low chance it will ever return. Last night my wife spent a small fortune ordering industrial fans for everyone’s bedrooms. So stand by for the next ice-age.

There seems to be a mini ice-age in Asia this morning with tech again selling off. The KOSPI is slumping -8.01% as I type with the Nikkei -4.54% lower. SoftBank is around -14% lower after the NYT suggested that OpenAI may delay its IPO until 2027. This follows a sharp decline for the Magnificent 7 (-2.54%) yesterday. The tech mega cap index moved deeper into correction territory after the news that Apple (-6.12%) would be raising the price of its Macs and iPads. That came in response to demand surges for memory and storage, but the news played into broader concerns that AI data centres were generating inflationary pressures. Marion and Camilla in my team wrote an excellent piece last week looking at the recent parabolic increase in memory prices, and its potential macro impact. Apple’s announcement yesterday emphasizes some of these themes. See it on the Deutsche Bank Research Institute site here.

Elsewhere in Asia the Shanghai Comp is -2.14% lower with the Hang Seng -1.87%. S&P 500 (-0.71%), NASDAQ (-1.45%) and European Stoxx (-0.79%) futures are also notably lower. In terms of data, headline and core core Tokyo CPI were both a tenth higher than expected at 1.7% and 1.9% respectively.

Ahead of that, markets had actually generally put in a decent performance yesterday amid encouraging US data even as oil prices rebounded from 3-month lows to post their biggest rise in three weeks. Most notably, the PCE inflation data for May (the Fed’s target measure) came in on the softer side, which pushed back a bit against the building narrative towards Fed rate hikes in recent weeks. Indeed, headline PCE was only up +0.4% on the month (vs. +0.5% expected), whilst core PCE was at a softer +0.3% on the month as expected.

That PCE release helped markets to dial back expectations of Fed rate hikes. For instance, the amount of hikes priced by December fell to 34bps by the close, down -1.5bps on the day. So there was growing speculation again that the Fed might not need to hike at all this year, even as Fed officials remain cautious on the inflation outlook. Chicago Fed President Goolsbee said that core inflation is “still well too high and it’s trending the wrong way”, while New York Fed President Williams called inflation “unquestionably elevated”. Nonetheless, front-end Treasury yields declined, with the 2yr yield (-2.4bps) down to 4.12%, its lowest since last week’s Fed meeting, while the 10yr yield (+0.1bps) was little changed at 4.39%. They are down another -3.3bps and -2.2bps respectively this morning.  

Whilst the PCE release was the main focus, several other US releases added to the optimism around the economy. For example, the weekly initial jobless claims fell to 215k over the week ending June 20 (vs. 225k expected), so the labour market still appeared in decent shape. Meanwhile, the third estimate of Q1 GDP was also revised up half a point to an annualised rate of +2.1%, suggesting things were on a stronger footing than thought earlier this year.

That backdrop of strong data and more dovish Fed pricing meant most US stocks advanced even with some tech wobbles. However, the S&P 500 (-0.01%) ended up narrowly posting a fourth consecutive loss, as the tech sell-off we mentioned at the top dragged. It wasn’t all bad news for tech as the Philly Semiconductor index rose +3.59%, with Micron surging +15.7% after Wednesday night’s results. And more broadly, both the equal-weighted S&P (+0.67%) and the small-cap Russell 2000 (+0.71%) had solid days.

The market mood was also partially disrupted by news that a cargo ship was hit by unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, which also followed reports of some ships turning around while attempting to cross the strait. So that led to some renewed uncertainty over the normalization of shipping, after the number of vessels going through the strait had risen in recent days. Oil prices moved higher following the incident. Brent crude rose +2.06% to $75.26/bbl, despite have traded as low as $72.06/bbl earlier in the session, which was below its $72.48/bbl level on February 27, the day before the US and Israel began strikes on Iran. This morning Brent is back down -1.95% to $73.79 as I type.

Over in Europe, investors continued to price out the chance of further ECB rate hikes. In fact, the number of hikes priced by the December meeting fell to just 26bps by the close, down -3.2bps on the day. So that helped to push the STOXX 600 (+0.80%) to a record high by the close, alongside gains for the DAX (+1.03%), the CAC 40 (+0.55%) and the FTSE 100 (+0.65%). A large amount of that will likely reverse at the open this morning with the overnight sell-off. Meanwhile for sovereign bonds, the 10yr bund yield (-0.8bps) hit a 3-month low of 2.85%, alongside a marginal rise for yields on 10yr OATs (+0.4bps) and BTPs (+0.1bps).

Looking at the day ahead now, US data releases include the advance goods trade balance for May, and the University of Michigan’s final consumer sentiment index for June. We’ll also get the ECB’s Consumer Expectations Survey for May and hear from the Fed’s Kashkari and the ECB’s Vujcic.

Authored by Andrew Korybko,

If Russia continues fighting this “war of attrition” for years to come instead of decisively ending it soon, then it’ll be more vulnerable than ever to the “cordon sanitaire’s” invasion threats around 2030, thus compelling it to either capitulate or resort to nuclear weapons in self-defense.

RT drew attention to Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko’s recent assessment that “we proceed from the premise that [NATO is] really preparing for a military clash with Russia somewhere around 2030.” This followed the National Defense Strategy declaring that “European NATO dwarfs Russia in economic scale, population, and, thus, latent military power”, but these resources must be properly managed in order to unleash their full potential. The US seeks to fulfill this management role for the EU.

Accordingly, it was concluded that “The EU Poses A Much More Credible Threat To Russia Than The Inverse”, which preceded former President and incumbent Deputy Chair of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev warning about the 1941-like threat posed by Germany’s remilitarization. Earlier this month, former top Russian spy Andrey Bezrukov raised awareness of the “new war” that he believes that Russia is in and which might last decades, one primary goal thereof being to neutralize its nuclear capabilities.

Grushko’s assessment coincided with the start of Trump 2.0’s “war of attrition” against Russia, so taken in sequence, it’s arguably the case that the US hopes to atrophy Russia through Ukraine prior to the EU becoming powerful enough to threaten a then-weakened Russia with invasion. The “cordon sanitaire” that formed around Russia over the past year largely due to Trump 2.0’s Neo-Reagan Doctrine could also lead to Turkiye and/or Japan threatening the same in order to obtain maximum concessions from Russia

This US-organized geostrategic construct was built in the Arctic-Baltic through UK-led efforts, Central Europe through Polish-led efforts, along Russia’s entire southern periphery through Turkish-led efforts, and in Northeast Asia through Japanese-led efforts. If Russia’s nuclear capabilities are neutralized or severely degraded by that time, then it might be coerced into selling controlling stakes in its state natural resource companies to the West for pennies on the dollar, which is Trump 2.0’s grand strategic goal.

Given this goal and the modus operandi of first trying to achieve it through the incipient “war of attrition” against Russia before threatening the use of force by around 2030 if that fails, Russia’s urgent interests are as follows. It must swiftly end the Ukrainian Conflict on as many of its terms as possible in order to then focus on preparing for potentially impending clashes with the US-led “cordon sanitaire”. Remaining embroiled in the “war of attrition” will sap its strength and make it relatively weaker by then.

Between now and then, Russia must also employ creative means for breaking this “cordon sanitaire” or at the very least preventing it from extending to Kazakhstan, which could potentially involve prioritized intelligence operations against shadow NATO member Azerbaijan or even another special operation. In parallel, it might also leverage its influence with North Korea to embolden Kim Jong Un to carry out more missile and possibly nuclear tests, hoping to abruptly shift the US’ focus from Europe to the Asia-Pacific.

If Russia continues fighting this “war of attrition” for years to come instead of decisively ending it soon, then it’ll be more vulnerable to the “cordon sanitaire’s” invasion threats around 2030, thus compelling it to either capitulate or resort to nuclear weapons in self-defense. Neither scenario is favorable, but both would be due to Russia failing to restore deterrence by then. It’s therefore imperative to immediately restore deterrence, swiftly win the Ukrainian Conflict, and then break this new “cordon sanitaire”.

The US military is still conducting attacks inside Syria, at a moment its close regional ally Israel is gobbling up territory in the south, and Golan region, with IDF ground forces holding territory within dozens of miles of Damascus.

“A senior Islamic State leader was killed by an airstrike last week, Central Command announced on Wednesday, as the region grapples with a fraught security landscape amid U.S. base closures in Syria and the escape of ISIS personnel from detainment,” Defense News writes based on a fresh Wednesday Pentagon statement.

Hussein Al-Alawi has been identified as the target killed in northwestern Syria in the special forces operation.

“The attack is part of our continued efforts to disrupt terrorist activities and to target those who seek to plan attacks on the United States of America and its interests both domestically and internationally,” CENTCOM stressed in its statement.

“The continued collaboration with the regional partners in the fight against the group,” added the statement.

“CENTCOM and its partners remain committed to defeating the last remnants of ISIS and to guaranteeing its demise,” stated Admiral Brad Cooper, US Central Command commander.

The over decade-long proxy war to oust Assad, which heavily involved the CIA and Gulf states, as well as Israel, has long been discussed as part of the ‘pipeline wars’ theme, and has for years been an open secret.

President Trump, who helped put new Syrian self-declared President Sharaa in power, and vouched for him when they first met in Saudi Arabia, is expected to attend the G7 summit.

But despite Damascus under Sharaa now being a willing puppet of Washington, economic relief for the war-ravaged Syrian population has remained illusory, as one Middle East outlet previously underscored:

Because Syria had been under crushing sanctions since the start of the 14-year war that began in 2011, many expected the economic situation to improve after Sharaa toppled former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government and western nations began easing sanctions.

However, “attracting foreign investment and restoring normal banking ties ⁠have ​proven slower and more difficult than ​many officials had hoped,” Reuters noted. More than 90 percent of Syrians live below the poverty line and have suffered from major increases in the price of fuel, electricity, and food in recent months.

All the while, looming large in the background is the fact that the Syrian government is now full of Sunni extremists, who have repeatedly targeted Alawites, Druze, and Christians for being “unbelievers”. 

Thousands have died at the hands of ISIS-style Syrian government-linked military members, who have sought to cleanse the country of its ancient Christian and Alawite communities. 

Israeli officials have of late lumped Turkey and Syria into an ‘axis’ which threatens Israel and its interests in the region. Also, Washington has been putting pressure on Damascus to move against Hezbollah, and yet the reality remains that Syria’s defenses have been largely obliterated – ironically enough through Israeli strikes in the wake of Assad’s exit.

Authored by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com,

• Major LNG suppliers say the EU’s methane regulations are too burdensome to comply with and could lead to reduced gas supplies.

• The U.S. and Qatar contend that tracking methane emissions across complex gas supply chains is technically difficult or impossible.

• With nearly 60% of its LNG imports coming from the U.S., the EU risks straining relations with key suppliers as it pursues stricter climate policies.

The United States and Qatar have once again warned the European Union against doubling down on climate policies seeking to penalize the LNG industry, saying that if it continues on this course, the EU will face a gas crunch and higher prices.

“There is no viable path to compliance with the regulation”, the top energy officials of the U.S. and Qatar, Chris Wright and Saad al-Kaabi, wrote in a letter quoted by the Financial Times.

“Because legal compliance remains paramount, exporters and importers alike are unwilling to enter into contractual agreements that knowingly violate EU law,” the U.S. energy secretary and the Qatari energy minister also wrote. “Significant supply and price impacts are a certainty.”

The letter comes ahead of a meeting on Friday when the energy ministers of EU member states will discuss the policies of the bloc. It was also signed by two other large gas suppliers to the European Union, Algeria and Nigeria, the FT also reported.

The so-called methane regulation, adopted by the European Union two years ago, aimed at reducing not only the bloc’s own emissions of the greenhouse gas that constitutes almost 100% of natural gas but also forcing countries outside the EU that do business with the bloc to cut their emissions as well, notably gas suppliers.

The regulation, starting this year, extends to all energy suppliers to the EU, and these suppliers were anything but happy about it.

Both the United States and Qatar have already repeatedly warned the EU that they are unwilling to do business with it under the methane regulation that requires gas producers to track their methane emissions from the wellhead to the liquefaction plant and the LNG carrier after that, report them, and take pains to reduce these emissions, or face financial penalties.

Qatar was blunt about it, saying last year that if the EU was so concerned about methane emissions, they should look for some other source of LNG because Qatar would stop selling to the bloc. Secretary Wright also said last year that the methane regulation was impossible to implement and described it as “a critical non-tariff trade barrier that imposes an undue burden on U.S. exporters and our trade relationship.”

In response, Brussels caved partially, saying it will not enforce the penalties stipulated in the regulation until 2030. LNG exporters are still not happy with this option, insisting on what would effectively be the cancellation of the regulation—and they are not alone because there are EU member states that are not really eager to pay the additional cost of low-methane LNG, which would be inevitable, as pointed out by Wright and al-Kaabi.

Not only are higher gas prices for European buyers inevitable, but Secretary Wright was not exaggerating when he said the regulation would be impossible to enforce in the U.S. shale gas patch. The reason is quite simple: U.S. natural gas is produced by multiple companies that then feed their output into a complex gas network that takes the gas to the liquefaction facilities on the Gulf Coast. Tracking every molecule to ensure it was produced and shipped with as few methane emissions as possible is quite literally, physically impossible.

According to energy consultancy Rystad Energy, however, there is no problem with the EU methane regulation, because there are three times as much compliant natural gas available in the world as the EU imports, it said in a study commissioned by climate outlet the Environmental Defense Fund, as cited by the FT. One wonders, however, if that is indeed the case, why would both Qatar and the United States, which together account for a pretty solid portion of global LNG output, claim compliance is impossible, meaning there is not enough compliant gas in the world.

The EU, for all its power posturing, is not in a position of strength. Bloomberg’s Javier Blas reported in a recent column that the bloc buys some 59% of its LNG from the United States, with the figure going all the way to 64% in April. As a result, Blas wrote, some in Brussels are starting to worry that the EU has become too dependent on a single supplier of a vital commodity—and it does not exactly have many alternatives should anything strain relations, such as, perhaps, an ill-conceived methane regulation.

Yet it appears the purpose of the methane regulation is not necessarily to make sure the gas that Europeans buy is “clean”. The purpose, as described by the FT and attributed to proponents such as the Environmental Defense Fund, is to reduce gas consumption, apparently by making the conditions for purchasing that gas unpalatable. For those proponents, reducing gas consumption would improve the EU’s energy security. European industrial energy consumers beg to differ. Who will prevail should become clear pretty soon.

After his Oval Office visit today, an affair dominated by foreign reporters speaking truth to power by clamoring for more global military spending, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had to defend his alliance’s often-touted moral assertion: that NATO is defensive in nature.

Asked by ZeroHedge whether NATO’s good deeds in Libya and Iraq qualified as defensive, Rutte had this to say:

NATO chief Mark Rutte often refers to his alliance as “defensive.”

I asked whether Hillary Clinton’s regime war in Libya or Cheney’s Iraq — both NATO operations — were defensive operations. pic.twitter.com/sa8X1qcsFt

— Liam Cosgrove (@cosgrove_iv) June 24, 2026

Rutte: Again, NATO is there to defend 1 billion people living in NATO territory, from California up to and including Turkey, and everything in between. This is a transatlantic, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Alliance. It is extremely powerful. It is the strongest defensive alliance in world history. And we have our discussions, as you have seen this afternoon. There are always debates. These are democracies.

ZH: But what about those wars? What about Libya and Iraq?

Rutte: I’m not going to comment on everything, but I can assure you, NATO is there to defend. But if we would be attacked, you can be assured, that if we get attacked by anyone, for example the Russians or whoever, that our reaction would be devastating.

One million Iraqis may be dead. Libya may no longer be a cohesive country, with sub-Saharan slave auctions returning post-NATO liberation… but hey! It was debated. We’re democratic.

Libya was infamously a Hillary Clinton operation, something she reportedly believed would be a slam dunk victory and propel her into the presidency in 2016. Instead, after killing Gaddafi, Benghazi happened, where embassy officials and CIA contractors were murdered in a surprise attack.

Most know of this scandal but few know why there was a secret CIA compound still located in Benghazi, Libya after Gaddafi had been murdered. As investigative reporter Seymour Hersh broke in 2014, it was to smuggle weapons from the no-longer-needed Libyan “rebels” to the freedom fighters in Assad’s Syria… a regime change that would eventually be achieved and was publicly celebrated by Israeli PM Netanyahu, who took partial credit.

Western values:

Hillary Clinton,on hearing about Gaddafi’s death in Sirte, Libya.

20 Oct 2011.
Hillary Clinton: “We came, we saw, he died!”

Q:”Did it [Gaddafi’s death] have anything to do with your visit?
Clinton: “Nah…I’m sure it did (giggles)”
🤔 pic.twitter.com/QoUQS0sp4d

— Richard (@ricwe123) March 19, 2023

Mark Rutte has been successful at ratcheting up weaponry spending across Europe, combining his ability to flatter Trump and by leveraging Trump’s threats against NATO members to “pay their fair share”. Rutte is apparently an aspiring Lindsay Graham as he approaches 60 years of age with no kids, wife, nor girlfriend and a seemingly singular focus at prolonging wars.

His latest attempt, today, to seduce Trump included a posterboard-demonstration featuring the global increases in European NATO spending that has occurred under Trump’s terms:

Nothing like cheerful, childless men trying to drag you into World War III while they constantly remind you of their moral virtuosity. Reminiscent of the Biden years.

Trump and Vance deserve great credit and support as they try to resist the warmongers in the Levant. Let’s hope they can resist the ones in Brussels as well. And yes, yes.. Trump started the war in Iran. But, to anyone paying attention, it was against his will and now he and Vance are entering uncharted territory in their defiance towards Israel. To reference Sey Hersh again, from his latest Substack post:

“Last week President Donald Trump walked away from a postwar alliance dating back almost eight decades by telling Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that America’s romance with Israel is over. The bond between the two nations, officially dating back to 1948, when Israel was recognized by the United Nations, was shredded. Perhaps forever. Trump has told the New York Times and its columnists who bemoan what they fear will be a bereft and vulnerable Israel, in constant peril from a potential Iranian nuclear weapon, that Israel is on its own.

It had been an American political ritual, like kissing babies when campaigning, to support Israel in all things, as did President Joe Biden”

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

The case of 18-year-old white British student Henry Nowak has delivered yet another layer of disturbing detail.

Officers from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary arrived at the Southampton scene roughly five to ten minutes after he was stabbed five times with a ceremonial knife. Henry remained conscious and spoke loudly at first. He told them he had been stabbed and could not breathe. They chose instead to believe the man who had just knifed him.

New evidence released this week shows it took those officers a full eight minutes to discover the fatal wound. During that time they lifted Henry, striking his head against a wall, and later began CPR. A female officer started compressions. According to the transcript and reports, officers performed chest compressions over his clothing and directly onto the area of the stab wound.

? BREAKING: Newly released evidence shows how police officers took eight minutes to discover the stab wound that killed Henry Nowak.

The attending officers also hit Henry’s head on a wall as he was lifted, before a female officer begins CPR.https://t.co/C5Wb1IQZ93

— The Mercian (@TheMercianNews) June 24, 2026

It took police officers 8 minutes to check Henry Nowak for stab wounds. When they realised he wasn’t breathing they did chest compressions over his clothes ONTO A STAB WOUND, somehow managing to make the situation even worse.

— Patrick Christys (@PatrickChristys) June 24, 2026

Bodycam footage shows officers dragging Henry across gravel, turning him, and forcefully pulling his arms behind his back to apply handcuffs. He lost consciousness within about three minutes of that restraint and was pronounced dead at 00:37 on 4 December 2025 after 51 minutes of resuscitation efforts.

A paediatric critical care specialist with battlefield medicine experience, Dr Krzysztof Magier, reviewed the footage and post-mortem report. He concluded there is a high probability that the police actions contributed to Henry’s death.

The main source of bleeding was damage to the subclavian vein. Venous bleeding under low pressure often forms a natural clot that can slow or stop on its own. Forcefully twisting the arms behind the back and handcuffing likely stretched the vein, tore the forming clot, and triggered sudden massive internal haemorrhage.

Dr Magier stated: “I am convinced that if Henry had arrived there alive, the doctors would not have let him die.” He added that paramedics arriving first could have given Henry a roughly 50% chance of survival through fluids, tranexamic acid to stabilise the clot, and other interventions. Southampton University Hospital, a major trauma centre, was only two to three minutes away by ambulance.

Serving and former Hampshire officers have now admitted that mandatory “Inclusion Matters” DEI training played a direct role in how they processed the incident. They described sessions that drummed in “white privilege” and “unconscious bias.”

One officer said: “we had it drummed into us about our white privilege and unconscious bias.” The outsourced trainer was described as “deeply hateful of white people and our culture.” Officers feared career damage if they pushed back.

This ideological environment framed the white teenager as the likely aggressor and gave credence to the attacker’s fabricated claim of racial abuse.

Vickrum Digwa, from a Sikh background, lied to police and his family reinforced the narrative on the 999 call, downplaying any knife involvement. Officers initially accepted the story. One was heard telling Henry: “Don’t think you have mate.”

An ex-police officer appearing on BBC Newsnight called the response “unfathomable.” Basic procedure requires immediate medical assessment and priority for anyone reporting a stab wound and breathing difficulty – not restraint and dismissal. The BBC presenter appeared visibly surprised at the unsparing assessment.

Judge William Mousley KC noted the attending officer’s “genuine shock” upon realising CPR was being given over a serious chest wound and suggested it showed officers “doing his best in a very difficult situation.” The judge also observed that “sometimes, someone arrested and handcuffed will feign injury.”

Dr Magier directly challenged that leniency: “I fear that the Judge and pathologist were too lenient towards the police.”

A full jury inquest opens at Winchester Coroner’s Court on 20 September 2027. It will examine whether any act or omission by police caused or contributed to the death.

The release of bodycam footage earlier this month triggered protests and disorder in Southampton. Henry’s father, Mark Nowak, stated: “My son was dragged across gravel, handcuffed and called racist as he lay dying. Being read his rights was the last thing he heard.”

Vickrum Digwa was jailed for life with a minimum of 21 years. His sentence has been referred to the Court of Appeal as potentially unduly lenient. Prior warnings about Digwa – including 2022 reports of him firing an illegal air pistol in his garden – were reportedly not acted upon effectively by police.

The pattern fits a broader picture of institutional capture. Training that elevates identity politics over impartial procedure produces exactly this outcome: a dying white teenager treated as a threat while his attacker’s narrative receives deference.

Critics from across the spectrum have highlighted the double standard compared with other high-profile custody deaths that triggered institutional upheaval and global campaigns.

He wasn’t breathing ? you start chest compressions immediately.

That’s basic first aid protocol.

Taking 8 minutes to check for stab wounds, handcuffing him while he’s saying he can’t breathe, and then compressing over clothes directly onto the wound is a complete failure of…

— WasAcop (@WasAcop) June 24, 2026

I read that they also banged his head when they moved him after realising that he’d been stabbed. Honestly, when you think this case can’t get any worse, it does. ?

— Leanne (@LeanneSpurs) June 24, 2026

They were told he had blood coming out of his mouth when they arrived, and he repeatedly said he’d been stabbed.

Totally unacceptable dereliction of duty.

— PixelatedBoot (stamping on a human face – forever) (@PixelatedBoot) June 24, 2026

It would help if the police were taught life saving rather than DEI protocol.

— Pat Herbert (@PatHerbert2) June 24, 2026

Henry’s family has asked that his death not be used to sow further division. The facts, however, speak for themselves. When police training and culture elevate racial grievance narratives above the immediate duty to preserve life, the result is not justice – it is preventable tragedy.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

It’s no longer just a Trump-Meloni spat on the level of public rhetoric, but Italy is newly making clear that it is imposing real policy and limitations on the US, now clarifying that it had formally denied US use of its bases to strike Iran for past and future potential missions.

This has been a long time in coming, as Italy already clearly restricted at least some US use of its bases within the past months related to the Iran war, but now it is official.

On Thursday Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani reportedly told his Iranian counterpart by phone he firmly rejects NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s recent claims that US forces used Italian military bases in operations against Iran.

Tajani has insisted that Italian bases were never used for any kind of offensive strikes on the Islamic Republic. According to US military publication Stripes, “The Iranian foreign minister thanked Italy for the clarification and said a clear, formal denial was necessary.”

Italy of course remains a member of NATO, and so the fact that Rome was responding to recent remark’s of the organization’s leader is glaring, and reveals a serious inter-NATO rift.

The NATO chief had been interviewed on Fox earlier this week, wherein he claimed that some 500 American military flights had taken off from bases in Italy in support of Operation Epic Fury. Italy’s foreign ministry is firmly rejecting the claim.

In addition, the Italian Defense Ministry came out and said that Rutte “has nothing to do with Operation Epic Fury” – which might explain whey he’s making “completely misleading” remarks.

“Italy only authorizes flights that are provided for by the treaties and totally exclude kinetic activities,” said that Italian defense ministry statement.

It seems Italy is trying to appease both the Iranian and US sides at once, by trying to shroud its role in ambiguity and abstract definitions of terms: 

In a post analyzing how Italy’s bases were used to support the war, the site ItaMilRadar said this week that Navy MQ-4C Triton surveillance drones from Sigonella “conducted extensive intelligence and reconnaissance missions over the Persian Gulf area” before the Triton operations appeared to shift to Jordan in April. Navy P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft operated from the base before and during the war, and several deployed to Djibouti to support U.S. naval forces in the Indian Ocean, according to the site.

Back in late March, as US-Israeli bombs were still being unleashed on Iran, a statement from PM Meloni’s office had also alluded to matters of procedure, stating that Italy is “acting in full compliance with existing international agreements”  – while underscoring that each request must be “carefully examined on a case-by-case basis, as has always been the case in the past.”

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto had also at the time confirmed that “some US bombers” were denied landing at Sigonella – one of seven US navy bases in Italy. The complaint is that the US didn’t follow required permission protocol, and requested landing only while in the air and already en route to Sicily.

But the truth also is that American hegemonic action in the Middle East, and the Iran conflict in particular, remains deeply unpopular among the Italian population, which has long had a strongly anti-war bent especially among the youth.

In a display of obedience to the US, the NATO Secretary General bragged about NATO’s participation in the war of aggression against Iran:
– “If you take Italy for example, 500 U.S. planes took off from U.S. bases in Italy to support Operation Epic Fury.” pic.twitter.com/cuJWD6Uy7N

— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) June 25, 2026

The Guardian previously wrote, “The unpopularity of Trump in Italy has also started to erode the popularity of Meloni, who is ideologically in tune with the US president and has established good working relations with him.” However, she’s lately sought to distance her government from the war, having told parliament earlier this month there’s a growing dangerous trend of interventions “outside the scope of international law.”