Multicultural French Crowds Brawl Over Discount Air Conditioners As Heatwave Looms

US, Japan Begin Major Military Exercises Focused On Islands Near Taiwan Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com The US and Japan kicked off their biennial Keen Sword military exercise on Monday, one of the largest joint drills between the two countries. This year, the exercise will focus on Japan’s southwestern islands, including its westernmost island, Yonaguni, just 68 miles east of Taiwan. Both the US and Japan have deployed new anti-ship missile systems to Yonaguni for the drills, ratcheting up tensions with China. Source: Military News AgencyUS Marines have been deployed with the Navy-Marine...

Iran Strikes Covert Missile Deal With Moscow In Backchannel Rearmament Iran is squarely in the Trump administration's crosshairs, and both Russia and China are to some degree coming to Tehran's aid with some significant arms deals meant to potentially stave off future attack. Most significantly, the Financial Times is reporting that Russia will supply the Iranians with thousands of advanced shoulder-fired missiles in a deal worth 500 million Euros. via ReutersIt's said to be part of a broader effort to rebuild Iran's air defenses, which were heavily destroyed and retarded by Israeli-US airstrikes in the last...

Oil Spikes As Iran Denies Progress Despite Hasty Lebanon Truce: US Talks Halted For 'At Least A Few Days' Summary: Washington has seen the Lebanon partial truce as opportunity enough to press forward on broader talks, with Trump saying he expects a broader Iran deal "over the next week". But Fars denies this Tuesday: "exchange of messages between Iran & the US has been stopped for at least a few days" on MOU. In Lebanon, "While the ceasefire appears to be largely holding, there was further violence overnight," reports BBC, with more dead & wounded...