In a move bound to test the limits of the fragile Washington-brokered regional ceasefire, Israel has unleashed massive ordinance on southern Lebanon, saying it has utterly destroyed a huge underground complex built and used by Hezbollah.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have freshly announced that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) completely demolished a massive Hezbollah underground fortress embedded deep beneath the southern Lebanese village of Majdal Zoun. The village itself was leveled, with the IDF having released footage showing an unusually strong explosion:

Israel says its military destroyed a 200+ meter-long underground Hezbollah tunnel in southern Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/XajqdpePGW

— Clash Report (@clashreport) June 29, 2026

The military revealed the subterranean complex spanned roughly 200 meters and plunged more than 25 meters deep – serving as a critical hub where Hezbollah allegedly assembled, stored, as well as launched Iranian-sourced suicide drones.

Notably, Israel had previously postponed the demolition following intense pressure from the Trump administration to halt all kinetic activity in southern Lebanon. However, either Israel’s patience just ran out, or else Washington is secretly still giving the greenlight to move against such infrastructure.

Ahead of the detonation, Netanyahu and Katz noted that Israel did provide a courtesy heads-up to the Trump administration and to US officials representative in Lebanon.

“Troops of the 551st Brigade Combat Team and Yahalom forces, under the command of the 91st Division, destroyed an underground route located in the village of Majdal Zoun, in the security zone in southern Lebanon,” the IDF spokesperson announced. 

A chief allegation is that “The compound was built using technology and knowledge from the Iranian terror regime,” the IDF statement continued.  Also, as cited in Reuters, “The ⁠Israeli statement said the tunnel contained hundreds of weapons and ​launchers.”

While the IDF has yet to issue its official post-operation briefing, it took the unusual step of warning residents in northern Israel to expect a massive, earth-shaking blast.

The military had actually escorted journalists on a propaganda tour of the complex earlier this month to showcase the scale of the threat, amid the ongoing Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.

⭕️ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli military destroyed what they described as a Hezbollah tunnel and underground infrastructure in the Majdal Zoun area of southern Lebanon.

🔹 They said Israel notified the United States… https://t.co/atvK4kLqmJ

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) June 28, 2026

Despite the nominal ceasefire, Israel is clearly signaling that it will not tolerate a Hezbollah reconstruction phase on its border, also wishing to permanently secure a security ‘buffer zone’ to prevent Hezbollah missiles and drones from being fired into northern Israel, something which has been happening for years spanning back to the Gaza war.

Comcast shares jumped the most in nearly two decades on news that it plans to split NBCUniversal and Sky into a separate publicly traded company through a tax-free spin-off.

The transaction, expected to close in about one year, would leave Comcast shareholders owning stakes in both.

Comcast would remain centered around broadband, wireless, business services, and entertainment platforms, backed by a network that reaches more than 65 million homes and businesses.

NBCUniversal, which will also include Sky, will house Universal’s film and TV studios, NBC, Telemundo, Peacock, Bravo, sports, news, and the company’s theme parks business.

Comcast said the standalone media company will have the scale, content library, and intellectual property needed to compete with leading streaming platforms.

Mike Cavanagh will become CEO of NBCUniversal, and former Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis will return as CEO of Comcast.

Comcast expects to retain up to a 19.9% stake in NBCUniversal for up to one year after the spin-off and plans to monetize that position over time in a tax-efficient manner. The company said both businesses are expected to have strong investment-grade balance sheets.

Shares of Comcast in pre-market trading soared 23% on the news, the largest intraday gain since the 24.5% gain on October 28, 2008. On the year, shares are down 17%, as of Friday’s close.

Goldman Sachs and PJT Partners are advising Comcast on the tax-free spin-off, with Davis Polk serving as legal counsel.

Americans spent a record $26.4 billion during Amazon’s four-day Prime Day sales event, a 9.3% increase from a year earlier, per Adobe Analytics and according to Reuters. 

The gains were fueled by heavy promotions across categories including electronics, appliances, clothing, toys, personal care products, and household necessities, as consumers looked to maximize savings amid ongoing cost pressures.

Industry analysts said several factors contributed to the stronger spending, including larger tax refunds and early back-to-school purchases, which gave many households extra flexibility to buy items they had been postponing.

Reuters writes that rather than spending freely, however, shoppers appeared to be concentrating purchases around major discount events to get the best value.

The data also suggests consumers remain selective. While overall sales climbed, retailers relied on promotions that were similar in size to last year’s to generate demand, raising questions about whether deep discounts will remain necessary through the holiday shopping season.

Separately, Numerator reported the average Prime Day order fell to $47.66 from $53.34 last year, indicating many shoppers are still keeping a close eye on their budgets despite higher overall spending.

If there’s one takeaway from this year’s Prime Day, it’s that the American consumer isn’t necessarily getting stronger—they’re getting more tactical. People aren’t throwing money around because they feel flush; they’re waiting for the biggest sale of the year to buy things they need anyway.

When households have to time purchases around deep discounts, larger tax refunds, and promotional events just to make the math work, it’s another reminder that years of inflation have quietly eroded purchasing power, even if headline retail spending continues to look healthy.

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

One out of every 16 people in the world uses drugs, the highest level at any point in human history, the United Nations said in a June 26 post on X.

“While cannabis remains the most widely used drug, the global cocaine market has reached record levels,” the U.N. stated in the post. In the 10 years between 2014 and 2024, global production of cocaine has surged by more than 370 percent.

The numbers come from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) World Drug Report 2026, released on June 26.

In total, 331 million people worldwide used drugs in 2024, up by 34 percent over the previous 10 years. Cannabis was the most used narcotic with 256 million users, followed by opioids with 63 million, amphetamines with 32 million, cocaine with 25 million, and ecstasy with 21 million users.

There were about 63 million people with drug use disorders, with one in 12 undergoing treatment.

Among women with drug use disorders, one in 23 was receiving treatment. This figure was higher among men at one in nine. 

Out of the 14 million who used drugs via injections, almost 7 million had hepatitis C, 1.7 million were living with HIV, and 1.5 million had both.

The report observed that one of the “biggest reckonings with drug use in recent years occurred in Canada and the United States, which were rocked by an opioid crisis in the first two decades of this century that caused nearly a million deaths.”

However, the peak of the crisis “appears to have passed,” with 2024 figures showing a decline in opioid deaths involving fentanyl.

In a January 2026 report, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that drug overdose death rates involving synthetic opioids other than methadone fell by 35.6 percent between 2023 and 2024.

While opioid deaths have declined, the vast majority of such deaths took place in the United States and Canada, the UNODC report said, adding that fentanyl opioids continued to account for the largest share of such deaths.

The agency also highlighted the impact of nitazenes—synthetic opioids that are more potent than fentanyl—in the United States. In 2024, 409 deaths were attributed to nitazenes in 43 U.S. jurisdictions.

In a June 26 statement, UNODC said that drug manufacturers are inventing new synthetic drugs in a bid to avoid detection and bypass regulations. In 2024, five times more drug types were found in drug seizures than prior to 2000.

Monica Juma, executive director of UNODC, said there has been an “unprecedented spike” in new drug types entering the market, some of which are more potent or dangerous than existing ones.

“We are already suffering the impact: millions of premature deaths and healthy years of life needlessly lost; drug trafficking networks that are distorting economies; the destruction of lives, communities, and livelihoods; and the compounding of insecurity and violence,” Juma said.

“The imperative to focus on stopping organized crime groups has never been greater. We must surge deterrence efforts, increase intelligence-sharing, and coordinate joint operations, while investing more in prevention and treatment.”

Tackling US Drug Addiction

Last month, the Trump administration’s drug czar, Sara Carter, released the 2026 National Drug Control Strategy, detailing the roadmap that the United States plans to use to tackle the drug crisis.

While the strategy involves several measures, such as securing global supply chains from transnational criminals behind the influx of drugs into the United States, one of the key focus areas is the treatment provided to counter addiction.

Carter said authorities will “work tirelessly” to eliminate the demand for drugs in the United States.

“We will build a culture of resilience where living drug-free is the norm. We will empower educators, faith leaders, and families to protect our children from this chemical assault,” she said.

“And we will ensure that compassionate, effective treatment and recovery support are available to every American who is courageously fighting to reclaim their life from addiction.”

According to the strategy, the administration will seek to ensure that treatments for drug addiction are “more accessible than continued drug use.”

In a May 7 statement, Libby Jones of the Global Health Advocacy Incubator raised concerns about the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget request that cut funding for some addiction programs.

The request cuts $261 million from the Substance Abuse Prevention program and $576 million from the Mental and Behavioral Health subtotal.

“A strategy that says treatment should be easier to obtain than illicit drugs must have the infrastructure to make that real,” Jones said.

Meanwhile, in a June 19 statement, the Department of Homeland Security said that the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized 32 percent more cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and marijuana nationwide in May compared with two years back.

“CBP has seized 56 percent more drugs this fiscal year through May than it seized during the same period of FY 2024,” the department said. FY refers to fiscal year.

Authored by Robert Lakin via CoinTelegraph.com,

The European Banking Authority on Friday unveiled a sweeping framework to penalize cryptocurrency issuers that violate the European Union’s digital-asset laws, signaling a tougher enforcement stance as the trade bloc finalizes its historic regulatory architecture.

The consultation paper published June 26 establishes a standardized playbook for hitting non-compliant issuers of what the EBA considers “significant” tokens with potentially multimillion-euro penalties. Under the proposal, the Paris-based watchdog will deploy a strict two-step process to determine fines, assessing the baseline severity of an infraction before factoring in aggravating or mitigating behavior.

The move represents the sharpening of teeth for the EU’s landmark Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. Introduced to bring order to a historically freewheeling sector, MiCA is the world’s first comprehensive regulatory regime for digital assets, forcing token issuers and crypto service providers to operate with bank-like compliance, consumer protections and capital reserves if they want access to the single European market.

The stakes for non-compliance are explicitly designed to be punitive. According to the EBA’s consultation paper, final penalties could reach statutory ceilings of 12.5% of annual turnover for issuers of significant asset-referenced tokens and 10% for significant e-money tokens, or two times the profits generated by the violation, caps meant to deter even the largest global digital-asset operators.

Cover screenshot of European Banking Authority’s 14-page consultation paper.
Source: EBA

The roll-out of the penalty framework comes at a critical juncture for Europe’s digital asset industry, landing just days ahead of a crucial July 1 deadline. By the start of next month, cryptocurrency firms must have secured formal licenses from national regulators to legally offer their services or market stablecoins within the 27-nation bloc, ending a transitional grace period that allowed many operators to function under looser local rules.

Firms that fail to secure their regulatory passports by July 1 face the prospect of being forced to halt operations entirely or risk triggering the exact infractions, such as unauthorized public disclosures or organizational failures, that the EBA’s new framework is built to penalize.

Binance pushes “pause” on EU operations after license fail

The world’s biggest exchange operator, Binance, last week notified European Union users that access to key services will be restricted after the exchange failed to secure MiCA authorization from a member state before the July 1 deadline after it withdrew its MiCA license application in Greece.

Those restrictions include halting the onboarding of new EU users and limiting certain services for EU-based accounts effective July 1, according to exchange notices shared by users on social media.

Notice sent by Binance to customers in Poland. Source: IT_Tech_PL

The notices said users will still be able to withdraw their assets after that date, stating that “all digital assets are still available for withdrawal,” in line with applicable regulatory requirements.

Binance recorded $1.96 billion in daily net outflows on Wednesday, following its withdrawal announcement, according to DefiLlama data viewed by Cointelegraph on Sunday. The exchange then saw another $2.52 billion and $1.46 billion in net outflows over the following two days.

EU move shows sharp contrast with US enforcement approach

The timing underscores the European Union’s broader strategy to position itself as the dominant global standard-setter for digital finance, contrasting sharply with the regulation-by-enforcement approach seen in the United States. By laying out clear financial penalties right as the licensing mandate takes effect, authorities in Brussels are telling the market that the era of leniency is officially over.

The industry now has a three-month consultation window ending September 28 to lobby for changes to the EBA’s penalty methodology. However, with the July 1 licensing cliff edge just days away, executives will have to navigate an unforgiving compliance environment long before the final fining guidelines are formalized under law.

General Motors is once again under the microscope after expanding automation at its Detroit-based Factory Zero plant, installing about 50 collaborative robots not long after cutting more than 1,000 positions, according to Yahoo Finance.

The decision reflects a broader shift across the auto industry as manufacturers lean more heavily on robotics and AI to improve efficiency while labor groups warn about the impact on employment.

Factory Zero, where GM builds the GMC Hummer EV and Chevrolet Silverado EV, was originally marketed as the centerpiece of the company’s electric vehicle ambitions. Instead, inconsistent EV demand has forced production adjustments, temporary downtime, and workforce reductions, even as GM continues pouring money into advanced manufacturing technology.

The newly installed Fanuc cobots assist employees with attaching body panels during assembly. GM says the machines are intended to reduce repetitive, physically taxing work and improve safety—not eliminate workers. Even so, their arrival shortly after significant layoffs has sparked concern on the factory floor.

The Yahoo Finance article notes that the United Auto Workers’ Local 22 has challenged the rollout, filing grievances over the new equipment and arguing that employees have good reason to question what expanded automation means for future staffing levels. GM maintains that robotics complement, rather than replace, human workers by allowing employees to focus on more skilled tasks.

The investment fits into GM’s long-term manufacturing strategy. The company has spent the last several years highlighting artificial intelligence and automation as key parts of its future, including a partnership with NVIDIA to develop AI-powered factory systems. CEO Mary Barra has repeatedly said advanced technology is critical to improving productivity and keeping GM competitive.

The trend extends well beyond GM. Companies including Toyota and BMW are accelerating their own investments in robotic manufacturing as rising labor costs and competitive pressures push the industry toward greater automation. Following the UAW’s 2023 contract, GM estimated the agreement would add roughly $500 to the cost of every vehicle it builds.

With automation becoming more sophisticated each year, the debate over where robots end and human workers begin is only likely to intensify. As the next UAW negotiations approach in 2028, the role of AI and robotics on factory floors is shaping up to be one of the industry’s biggest labor issues.

Authored by Joanna Gray via DailySceptic.org,

The best way to approach Andy Burnham, our new Prime Minister-in-waiting, is like the latest girlfriend of a desirable but emotionally damaged philanderer.

We should be polite but there’s no real point in spending too much time getting to know her, because she’ll be replaced with a new model in a matter of months.

Let’s call this philandering gentleman Mr Great Britain. He’s the dashingly handsome lothario with daddy issues (in this case loss of Empire). We all know the type: the rakish uncle who’s still smoking at Christenings. He’s a sort of Hugh Grant chap with emotional baggage who can’t resist flirting with everyone, from the great aunt to the minx who’s just finished her A-Levels and all the waitresses. In spite of his obvious flaws (the NHS, insane energy and welfare policies), Mr Great Britain is still a deeply desirable thoroughbred with excellent breeding, ancestry, land and property. The problem is, he just keeps hooking up with all the wrong girls.

Mr Great Britain’s ancestors have made some outstandingly successful marriages that have expanded and solidified the family fortunes (Pitt, Disraeli, Liverpool, Salisbury, Baldwin, Thatcher). Sadly our current Mr Great Britain, when a young man, got into bed with a certain Anthony Blair who, as Mr Great Britain sobs into his drink with his next hook up: completely broke his heart. “I thought she was the one,” Mr Great Britain cries, “She had everything a young man could want: an ability to smile, a catchy slogan. But it turns out she was an absolute cow. She made me go to war and changed all the funny institutions in the old manor.”

Add this early heart break to his loss of Empire daddy issues, and poor old Mr Great Britain doesn’t know whom to settle down with. He flails around from one type of woman to another thinking they will solve his problems. In a pique of revenge, he seduced Anthony Blair’s severe best friend Gordon. Friends hoped Gordon would steady Mr GB, but instead she just shouted at everyone and sold the family gold. Thankfully this relationship didn’t last long and people were delighted when Mr Great Britain brought home the elegant Dave Cameron. She was just the right sort, a handsome filly with breeding and a pretty face. Alas like many willowy Sloanes, Dave turned out to be a sopping wet drip.

Time was ticking on and Mr Great Britain turned his wandering eye to a rather forgettable older woman who had an improbable interest in shoes. This petered out when Mr Great Britain remembered his deep seated predilection for fun times. He dumped Theresa and leaped into the willing arms of good time girl Boris Johnson. A knockout blonde who’d been round the block with plenty of other chaps, Boris was surely the girl to revive Mr Great Britain’s vim and vigour. Alas there was nothing more to her than her hair. Boris failed in all fundamental aspects of family care: she locked up the children, spaffed the family money and invited millions of people over to the family estate. She had to go.

Things then took a turn for the worse for poor old Mr Great Britain. He had the audacity to bring another ridiculous blonde to his grandmother’s funeral. She had a strange way of talking and everyone was convinced Liz was quite mad.

He then went through his exotic phase and a dated a small polite woman of Indian extraction who did lovely things with candles at Diwali but wasn’t at all suited to the English rain.

Most recently Mr Great Britain has dumped his latest squeeze, a rather terrifying lawyer who bored everyone to tears.

Rumour has it that Mr Great Britain is in the early stages of a relationship with a Northern Woman called Andy.

She has a Northern accent so might be good with the staff but is unlikely to stick.

Friends of Mr Great Britain know that time is running out.

He’s getting a bit too old and craggy and will soon go entirely to seed unless a good woman grips him. Again, we all know the type: the gorgeous stud who finally settles down at the age of 52 with a charming and competent wife. She solves his daddy issues and gives him a sense of belonging and purpose. They create a wonderful family home and have a quiverful of children. We also know the other type: the gorgeous stud who continues dating a series of inappropriate women well into his dotage. Whenever there’s a social event, we old friends think: who will the old rogue bring this time? Shall we bother to get to know her? Oh dear, we mutter, he’s looking shabbier and shabbier; it’s too late, no-one will want him now, he’s entirely broke, lost his estate as well as his looks.

Which path will our Mr Great Britain take? For now, I wouldn’t waste too much time in getting to know the new northern lass. She’ll be gone in a matter of months. Will the next honey be another embarrassing disaster or the one who sets Mr GB on the right path to fulfil his neglected potential? If I were a matchmaker, my wife of choice for Mr Great Britain would be that lovely Christian woman Danny whose mother is a tremendous cook.

The World Cup has triggered one of the most surprising global cultural awakenings in decades and almost no one saw it coming.  The establishment media had been running negative propaganda for months, claiming that the event was going to be a disaster because it was being held in the US.  The machine had already decided that the World Cup in 2026 was going to be sold as a disaster from start to finish. 

Rumors were spinning that because Americans don’t care about “soccer” that the tournament would be mismanaged, that America was “racist”, the players would be treated poorly, and that the US is such a dangerous place it would deter travelers from going overseas to attend the games.

The anti-American sentiment being generating by western journalists is staggering.  However, all it took was a few weeks and around 1.2 million foreign visitors per city coming to see the World Cup at the same time.  Suddenly, Europeans have realized they’ve been lied to about everything.

The US hosted event is now being called one of the most successful in history.  The propaganda spell has been broken.  Europeans are going on social media to apologize for the hate their countrymen have been dumping on the US over the years.  And, most importantly, they’ve discovered air conditioning.

Strangely, it’s not American gun rights that are sparking mass debate.  Rather, it’s the air conditioning issue that’s causing the most friction with political leaders back in Europe, and the elites are not happy. 

Americans have trouble understanding the angst.  Only 19% of all Europeans have air conditioning in their homes, compared to 90% or people in the US.  In Britain, 14% of people have cold indoor air.  In France it’s 25% and in Germany it’s 19%.  Keep in mind, these are high rates compared to only 10 years ago.  Europe’s love affair with air conditioning is a very recent phenomenon; they’ve been burning up in silence for decades.  

But now, travelers visiting America are wondering why a technology created in 1902 is not more common in their home nations?  They’re starting to ask questions, and they’re finding out that their own governments simply don’t want them to have it.  In other words, air conditioning is a luxury for politicians and the wealthy, not for the peasants.  How else can the west save the world from “climate change”?

France has banned drinking alcohol in public to counter dehydration. Residents are stampeding stores and fighting each other for fans and the few air conditioning units they can find.  EU leaders are facing increasing demands for a reexamination of “Net Zero” policies. 

WATCH: Fights are breaking out inside stores across France as shoppers scramble to buy fans and air conditioners amid the country’s extreme heat wave. pic.twitter.com/7HaZ3oro83

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 25, 2026

The French Environment Minister says she is “horrified” by the rising calls for air conditioning, suggesting that the peons need to worry less about the heat and more about global warming, if that makes sense.  The debate is being presented as a matter of “selfishness” on the part of common citizens who want to stay cool.

🇫🇷‼️🚨 “WE AGREE THAT PEOPLE MUST NOT SUFFOCATE – BUT”

French Minister of Ecology Monique Barbut rants about air conditioning:

“I’m horrified by people who tell me we just need to put AC everywhere …

Do you think that by air-conditioning everything we’re going to prevent… pic.twitter.com/rUyJYmv55X

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) June 28, 2026

“I’m going to tell you how I see it: I’m horrified by the people who tell me, ‘We just need to put air conditioning everywhere.’ Do you think that’s going to prevent forest fires? Do you think that’s going to stop a crop from disappearing? Do you think that’s going to prevent the death of the animals we’re seeing? Do you think that’s going to prevent anything? Nothing! Of course, people shouldn’t suffocate, but this isn’t adapting to climate change — it’s just an emergency measure.”

In response, governments across Europe are cracking down even more on air conditioning in order to send a message.  The EU commission is shutting down air conditioning in their Brussels HQ to set an example, but only for the bottom seven floors where all the lower wage employees work.  The top floors where the important people reside still get cool air.

In Britain, local councils are being instructed to force residents to remove air conditioning appliances from their homes or face fines.  They assert that the devices create too much “carbon emissions” and should only be used as a last resort.  Climate change fanatics are taking to British media to admonish people who dare to purchase one of the evil appliances.

Is it selfish to get air con in the heat wave?

Air conditioner units are selling out as Brits struggle with the soaring temperatures, but with around 4% of total global greenhouse gas emissions attributed to air con, should we be using them when we know they’re heating the… pic.twitter.com/h2XIXaPL93

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 25, 2026

Europe is in the midst of a rare summer heat wave.  Over 1300 deaths have so far been linked to the rising temps.  The temperatures are climbing to ranges common in the US but shocking by European standards.  One would think that this would be a perfect rationale for air conditioning, but globalist leaders in the region are testing the will of the public and seeing how much they can take away.

In reality, the Earth has been much hotter many times over the course of millions of years and it had nothing to do with carbon emissions or air conditioners. 

The concept of man-made climate change is a farce, which means all of this discomfort and potential death is pointless.  Americans discovered this a long time ago, and thanks to the World Cup and social media, Europeans are finally catching on. 

Via Middle East Eye

Rights groups have condemned a protest ban imposed by Turkey ahead of a Nato summit, as well as the arrest of hundreds of people in a sweeping crackdown.

Last week, the Ankara Governorate announced a 13-day province-wide ban on all public assemblies from Sunday, citing “national security” and security measures around the conference.

A total of 225 people were also arrested, including alleged supporters of the leftist Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) and the Islamic State group.

Other detainees included academic Emel Memis, gay rights activist and journalist Yildiz Tar, environmental NGO Tema Foundation representative Nevzat Ozer, independent labour union Umut-Sen spokesperson Burcu Arikan, and Progressive Lawyers Association lawyers Semra Demir and Kursat Bafra.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said that 178 suspects taken into custody were formally arrested, while 34 others were released under judicial supervision.

In a statement, Amnesty International condemned the ban and the arrests as an “unjustifiable attack on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression”.

“All the excessively broad and disproportionate restrictions that prevent the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly must be lifted,” said Esther Major, Amnesty International’s deputy director of research for Europe.

“In addition, Nato’s decision to deny accreditation to some journalists and media outlets from Turkey is a blow to media freedom. We call on Nato to reverse its stance and enable those who have been excluded to cover the event.”

Journalists denied access

The Nato summit is scheduled to take place on 7-8 July and is expected to be attended by leaders from all 32 member states. US President Donald Trump is among those expected to attend.

Turkey has been a member of Nato since 1952 and has the second-largest land army in the alliance.

Leftists and some Islamist groups have long criticized Turkey’s membership, saying it has kept the country under US dominance and suppressed socialist and anti-imperialist movements in Turkey. US support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as well as its attacks on Iran, has further provoked anger towards the summit in Turkey.

Dozens of journalists have been denied accreditation for the summit, including those from respected independent outlets such as Cumhuriyet, Sozcu, Anka, T24 and Medyascope.

On Friday, a range of media freedom bodies issued a joint statement condemning Nato’s decision to deny the journalist’s access.

🇹🇷Turkish people protest; “NATO must be disbanded” pic.twitter.com/8wm2SUggRi

— S p r i n t e r (@SprinterPress) June 28, 2026

“Given Nato’s own accreditation criteria, which lists editorial independence as a core eligibility requirement, rejection of outlets defined by that very quality is difficult to reconcile,” the statement said.

“Should a governmental institution with a documented track record of restricting press access have played any role in this process, Nato risks allowing domestic media pressures to influence what should be an independent credentialing framework.” Middle East Eye contacted Nato for comment, but had received no response at the time of publication.

An artificial-intelligence bust (and thus bubble), inflation and fiscal stress are the three the most alarming threats to global prosperity at present, the Bank for International Settlements warned. In its annual report published on Sunday, the Basel-based institution – better known as the central banks’ central bank – cited those on a list of “pressure points” that currently “demand attention,” with underlying financial vulnerabilities lurking that could amplify any shock.

“The global economy remains caught in the crosscurrents of progress and peril,” Basel officials said in the report. “Resilience is being increasingly tested and strained.”

The assessment highlighted AI-led risks prominently in a report that arrived on the eve of the ECB’s three-day annual symposium in Sintra, where a host of global policymakers will also scrutinize such stability dangers closely.

“Disappointment in returns could trigger a sudden pullback in financing and turn the capex boom into a protracted investment bust, with potential knock-on effects on financial conditions,” the BIS said, before observing that “a major equity-market correction could have larger macroeconomic consequences today than in the past.” 

Besides AI, the Basel officials went on to note that other assets could face similar dangers, and highlighted credit in particular.

“Repricing of risk this time, whether triggered by higher interest rates or an AI bust, has the potential to be similarly disruptive” in that segment to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, the BIS said. 

On AI specifically, officials highlighted vulnerabilities linked to funding, including complex arrangements such so-called “circular financing” deals that can mix equity and debt with supplier-client contracts (as discussed here “The $1.8 Trillion Off-Balance Sheet Time Bomb At The Heart Of The AI Supercycle“). 

For instance, chipmakers and hyperscalers take stakes in AI labs or neocloud providers, who in turn commit to multi-year purchases of chips or computing power, the BIS said. Data center construction is more frequently outsourced to third parties that lease facilities back to hyperscalers on long-term contracts with embedded exit clauses.

“The terms of such deals are typically poorly disclosed, with risks of the same asset being pledged multiple times,” officials wrote.

The BIS’s separate warning of a possible return of inflation jars with some initial optimism that the current energy shock caused by the Middle East crisis might recede. Signs of progress over a peace deal this week brought the oil price down to levels below where they were when the Iran war broke out in late February.

BIS officials, in tune with peers at institutions such as the ECB, also worry that the disruption to energy supplies may not be over, that infrastructure will take time to rebuild, and that existing impacts could linger. 

That followed US data last week showing prices rising at the fastest pace in more than three years, and precedes numbers in coming days that may show euro-zone inflation still far above officials’ 2% target.

The last cost-of-living shock in 2022 “is still in the memory of economic agents,” BIS chief Pablo Hernandez de Cos told reporters, intending no puns with the whole “memory” thing, and noting that this can mean a “higher probability of second-round effects.”

The BIS also highlighted what has become a familiar warning about how fiscal dangers posed by high sovereign debts still loom large, with added complications given the other risks. Echoing counterparts such as the Paris-based OECD, it pointed to how hedge funds have become much more prominent as buyers of government bonds, often using funding that can quickly unwind when conditions deteriorate as part of their massively levered basis trades.

“These hedge funds employ highly leveraged strategies that rely on short-term financing on favorable terms, creating risks of fire sales and de-leveraging feedback loops,” the BIS said. “Financial stresses can now propagate quickly and broadly through funding markets, across borders and between banks and non-banks.”

This year has already seen moments of bond-market tension, with broad selloffs on the UK gilt market summoning memories of the country’s 2022 crisis, and similar developments in Japan causing global ripples that extended to US Treasuries. 

“Market reactions can emerge in any moment, depending on sometimes political events or economic events,” de Cos said. “It will be important to reduce these vulnerabilities before these market reactions might take place.”

In its capacity advising global central banks, the BIS said that a strict focus on monetary discipline remains essential, ensuring that inflation expectations don’t become unhinged on the back of the recent energy price spikes and other supply shocks, Bloomberg reported, yet as we noted earlier, the US has been above the Fed’s 2% inflation target for about 5 years now, making a mockery of the central bank’s core pillar. Officials shouldn’t shirk from raising interest rates if needed, even if that harms growth in the short term, BIS said, knowing fully well nobody would do anything that harms growth in the short term.

“Policies reinforce each other,” the officials wrote. “Disciplined fiscal policy underpins monetary credibility and financial stability. Robust regulation strengthens market resilience, preserves fiscal space and limits the need for frequent central bank interventions. Credible monetary policy anchors inflation expectations.”