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Category: War

How a German-U.S. corporate giant became the world’s largest foreign financier of Israel’s wars

How a German-U.S. corporate giant became the world’s largest foreign financier of Israel’s wars

Middle East Eye reports: At the height of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, one company became the single largest foreign financier of the Israeli state – holding more in Israeli government bonds than the US, the UK, France and every other country put together. That company is Allianz, the German insurance and financial services giant, alongside its California-based bond management subsidiary PIMCO, the world’s largest active bond manager. Data shared with Middle East Eye by Profundo, an Amsterdam-based sustainability research…

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Israel’s national security minister spurns call for truce: ‘All of Lebanon must burn.’ Iran closes Strait of Hormuz

Israel’s national security minister spurns call for truce: ‘All of Lebanon must burn.’ Iran closes Strait of Hormuz

The Hill reports: A far-right member of Israel’s governing coalition on Friday said that “all of Lebanon must burn,” as fighting broke out between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah despite a ceasefire imposed by the U.S. and Iran. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister and head of the far-right Jewish Power party, posted on the social platform X that Israel must respond with overwhelming force to the death of Israeli soldiers killed in fighting overnight. President Trump has publicly…

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UK develops low-cost long-range missiles without U.S. parts or navigation for Ukraine

UK develops low-cost long-range missiles without U.S. parts or navigation for Ukraine

Kyiv Post reports: The UK is developing a new, low-cost, long-range weapon system for deployment in Ukraine that will function without US components or data, Bloomberg reported. According to the UK Ministry of Defence, the initiative, known as “Project Brakestop,” was launched in late 2024 and is operating on an accelerated timeline to provide support for Kyiv. Defense companies MBDA, MGI Engineering, and Rotron Aerospace are currently developing three competing weapon systems. Testing is scheduled to take place in the…

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Trump has underestimated the power of patriotic sentiment in countries besides the U.S.

Trump has underestimated the power of patriotic sentiment in countries besides the U.S.

Alexander Burns writes: When Donald Trump won a new term in the White House, Danielle Smith joined the parade of foreign leaders visiting Mar-a-Lago to honor the president-elect. The populist premier of Alberta, Smith enjoyed lively relationships across the American right, even hosting Tucker Carlson in Western Canada in 2024. Yet when I asked Smith last fall, at a policy summit in Toronto, how she’d feel about Trump potentially intervening in Alberta’s fragile politics, her MAGA stripes vanished. “I don’t…

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The era of free and open global commerce, underwritten by American power, has ended

The era of free and open global commerce, underwritten by American power, has ended

Edward Fishman writes: The United States and Iran have a deal: For 60 days, Tehran will allow ships to sail through the Strait of Hormuz without charging tolls; in return, Washington will lift its naval blockade, waive sanctions on Iranian oil and help Iran get access to its frozen assets. Negotiations on the future of Iran’s nuclear program are also set to begin. Even if the deal holds, Iran is poised to emerge from the war battered militarily and economically…

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U.S. intelligence warns Israel is likely to undermine Iran peace deal, officials say

U.S. intelligence warns Israel is likely to undermine Iran peace deal, officials say

The Washington Post reports: U.S. intelligence agencies have warned the Trump administration that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to take steps that will undermine President Donald Trump’s effort to reach a lasting peace deal with Iran, as the Israeli premier faces intense political pressure to continue waging his country’s war in Lebanon, current and former U.S. officials said. Israel appears intent on maintaining military operations against Iran’s proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon, an aim that would flout a core…

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Israelis see Trump-Iran deal as ‘catastrophic capitulation’ and ‘diplomatic Oct. 7’

Israelis see Trump-Iran deal as ‘catastrophic capitulation’ and ‘diplomatic Oct. 7’

The New York Times reports: Israel awoke to a frightening new reality on Thursday as it absorbed, with disbelief and largely in silence, the terms of President Trump’s preliminary agreement to end the war with Iran. It accomplishes none of Israel’s war aims, analysts and officials said, and arguably leaves the country in worse shape on each of them. Regime change? The government in Tehran is emerging from the war even more hard-line and emboldened, despite being decapitated at the…

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Vance cautions Israeli critics: Don’t attack ‘the only powerful ally’ you have left anywhere in the world

Vance cautions Israeli critics: Don’t attack ‘the only powerful ally’ you have left anywhere in the world

Politico reports: Vice President JD Vance on Thursday warned Israeli political leaders critical of the Trump administration memorandum of understanding with Iran not to attack “the only powerful ally” they have “anywhere left in the entire world.” It is the latest rebuke of a close ally with which the Trump administration has apparently grown increasingly frustrated as it works to wind down the monthslong war that the U.S. and Israel have waged together against Iran. Cabinet-level officials in Israel have…

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The billionaire hidden behind the curtain inside Trump’s Pentagon

The billionaire hidden behind the curtain inside Trump’s Pentagon

The Guardian reports: The only available video over the last 15 months of the official who really wields power in Donald Trump’s Pentagon is a cartoon animation. Released in May on X by the US government, it shows a silver haired figure in a grey suit lighting up a cigar and sitting at a massive wooden desk with a nameplate: DEPSECWAR FEINBERG. Stephen Feinberg, the 66-year-old billionaire founder of the private equity giant Cerberus Capital Management, has served as the…

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Moscow oil refinery struck in Ukraine’s biggest air raid on city since start of war

Moscow oil refinery struck in Ukraine’s biggest air raid on city since start of war

The Guardian reports: Ukrainian drones have hit several locations across Moscow in Kyiv’s biggest air raid on the city since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, setting a major ⁠oil refinery on fire and forcing evacuations at the country’s largest airport. Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as a response to Russia’s strike on a historic Kyiv monastery complex earlier this week. “We do not want this war and never did,” the Ukrainian president said in a voice message to journalists….

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Trump went to war triumphant and leaves in defeat

Trump went to war triumphant and leaves in defeat

Jonathan Lemire writes: President Trump lost. The war he waged against Iran promises to conclude in a humbling whimper with the signing of a cease-fire agreement later this week. The United States is left weaker—diminished militarily, strategically, economically, and perhaps morally. The war, which the United States fought alongside Israel, accomplished none of the goals that Trump named at the outset. Instead, it only empowered the hard-liners in Tehran and arguably emboldened them to someday seek a nuclear weapon. Despite…

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Iran is returning to nuclear talks no longer afraid of America

Iran is returning to nuclear talks no longer afraid of America

The Wall Street Journal reports: After more than three months of bombing and blockades, the U.S. and Iran are back to square one, preparing for what promises to be difficult negotiations over limits to Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. This time, the Iranians will come to the table armed with valuable knowledge: They can survive the worst the Americans can throw at them. President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gambled that their fierce campaign of airstrikes, launched on Feb. 28…

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MAGA hawk mutiny deepens Trump’s isolation on Iran

MAGA hawk mutiny deepens Trump’s isolation on Iran

Axios reports: President Trump’s Iran deal has opened an explosive second front in MAGA’s civil war, waged by hawkish allies who view U.S. concessions as an existential betrayal of Israel. Why it matters: Across two terms and 11 years in the political spotlight, no issue has divided Trump’s base more than the Iran war. When U.S. strikes began, leading isolationists — from Tucker Carlson to Marjorie Taylor Greene — were excommunicated for suggesting Trump had abandoned “America First” principles on behalf of Israel. Three months later, with an…

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Trump’s off-ramp from war with Iran runs through Qatar

Trump’s off-ramp from war with Iran runs through Qatar

Shane Harris writes: Several countries can claim some credit for the tentative memorandum of understanding to end the war between Iran and the United States, which officials from both countries plan to sign later this week. Pakistan had for some time led negotiations. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Oman were involved in elements of the talks. But to hear Donald Trump tell the story, the whole deal might not have materialized without the intervention of a crucial friend in the neighborhood….

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Iran deal includes $300 billion fund, more than half of which already committed, source says

Iran deal includes $300 billion fund, more than half of which already committed, source says

Reuters reports: A $300 billion private fund designed ​to trigger investment into Iran is outlined in the U.S.-Iran framework agreement and more than half that sum has already been committed, a source with ‌direct knowledge of the deal told Reuters. The fund is designed to give both sides an economic incentive to conclude a final deal, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not yet been announced as Washington and Tehran prepare to sign…

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Republicans hopeful Iran deal could stop the pain at the pump — but it may be too late

Republicans hopeful Iran deal could stop the pain at the pump — but it may be too late

Politico reports: Republicans who have been raising alarm about the political costs of gas pump sticker shock are relieved the Iran war could be ending — and hopeful prices will soon ease near pre-war levels. They’re split on whether it’s too little, too late. Gas prices have been falling since their pre-Memorial Day peak of $4.56 per gallon in anticipation of a deal to end the war, now hovering just above $4 a gallon. A reopening of the Strait of…

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