For now, links to reports from Reuters and the Associated Press, and to a commentary from Real Scott Ritter; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll down for today’s UKRAINE and ALL OF IT so far, and for IRAN 5-12-26.) — MCM

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FROM MAY 12  Saudi Arabia launched covert attacks on Iran as regional war widened, sources say, by Timour Azhari and Parisa Hafezi | Reuters  RIYADH / DUBAI — Saudi Arabia launched numerous, unpublicized strikes on Iran in retaliation for attacks carried out in the kingdom during the Middle East war, two Western officials briefed on the matter and two Iranian officials said. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 12  Trump and Hegseth claim ‘control’ over Iran and the Strait of Hormuz as ceasefire talks are stalled, by Jon Gambrell and Melanie Lidman | AP  DUBAI — “We have Iran very much under control,” U.S. President Donald Trump said on his way to China. “We’re either going to make a deal or they’re going to be decimated. One way or the other, we win.” READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish; and HERE for others.

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FROM MAY 12  Mushroom clouds, by Scott Ritter | Real Scott Ritter  The former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer and former UN weapons inspector talks about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, actual and otherwise. “The U.S.,” he says, “has a tendency to create risks where they don’t exist to justify wars that shouldn’t be fought.” Click HERE for video of monologue.

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TO BE CONTINUED

A link to commentary from Edward Slavsquat via Substack; others are accessible by clicking on the author’s name. (Scroll up or down for today’s IRAN and ALL OF IT so far, and down for UKRAINE 5-11-26.) — MCM

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FROM MAY 12  Scott Ritter says Moscow faces strategic defeat in Ukraine, by Edward Slavsquat | Substack  On Feb. 20, 2026, a “Flamingo” long-range cruise missile hit the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant, a defense enterprise located in Russia’s Udmurt Republic — more than 1,300 km from the border with Ukraine. READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

A link to an essay from Pelle Neroth Taylor, introduced by Kit Klarenberg of Global Delinquents; others are accessible by clicking on names as highlighted. (Scroll up for today’s IRAN and UKRAINE so far. Scroll down for ALL OF IT 5-11-26.) — MCM

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FROM MAY 8  Finland did not win: The lost realism of the Winter War, by Pelle Taylor | Pelle Neroth Taylor  In the established Western imagination, the Winter War of 1939–1940 occupies an honoured place as a moral fable: the small, plucky democracy resisting a totalitarian colossus, vindicated by skis, sniper rifles, and superior pluck. READ MORE . . .  Click HERE and scroll down for an intro by Kit Klarenberg of Global Delinquents.

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Links to SEVENTEEN-plus reports, commentaries and analyses (18 or more): from Reuters, Consortium News, the Associated Press, the Cradle, National Public Radio, Middle East Monitor, Middle East Eye, Geopolitical Economy Report, and ScheerPost; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll down for IRAN 5-11-26.) — MCM

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Iran now defines Strait of Hormuz as far larger zone. From Reuters. Iran has expanded its definition of the Strait of ​Hormuz into a “vast operational area” far wider than before the Iran war, ‌according to a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. READ MORE . . .

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Epic desperation, by Patrick Lawrence | Special to Consortium News  History, so often a reliable guide to what is out our windows, is clear. This is a war between a strong nation and another that, even with a vicious client in the region, is merely powerful. In contests between the strong and the powerful, the former is bound to prevail. READ MORE . . .

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Washington ‘seriously considering’ renewing war on Iran: report. From the Cradle. U.S. President Donald Trump is “frustrated” with negotiations between Tehran and Washington, and is close to ordering the resumption of full-scale attacks against the Islamic Republic, sources told CNN today. READ MORE . . . 

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Washington slaps new sanctions on China-Iran oil network ahead of Trump’s visit to Beijing. From the Cradle. The U.S. Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on 12 individuals and companies on Monday, accusing them of facilitating the movement of Iranian oil to China ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s scheduled summit with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. READ MORE . . .

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UAE secretly bombed Iranian oil refinery in April: report. From the Cradle. The UAE carried out its own military strikes against Iran in direct support of the U.S.-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic, the Wall Street Journal revealed in a report today. READ MORE . . .

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Global oil market in ‘race against time as Asian nations brace for new energy shocks: report. From the Cradle. The oil market is in “a race against time” as oil prices threaten to reach catastrophic levels amid the Iran war if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed into June, Bloomberg reported on 11 May, citing analysts at the US investment bank Morgan Stanley. READ MORE . . .

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Trump goes to China as Iran war smolders. Reported by Tamara Keith | NPR  Initially delayed by the war with Iran, President Trump leaves today for a state visit to China. Click HERE to listen and read; and HERE for links to both Iran war-related reports to from NPR‘s “Morning Edition.”

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U.S. consumer prices rise further on oil price surge. From Reuters. WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer prices rose at a brisk clip for a second straight month in April, resulting in the largest annual increase in inflation in nearly three years and further bolstering expectations the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates unchanged for a while. READ MORE . . .  Click HERE for report from NPR.

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FROM MAY 11 Trump says Iran ceasefire is on ‘life support’ and proposes gas tax pause as strait stays closed, by Jon Gambrell, Samy Magdy and Seung Min Kim | AP  DUBAI — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the Iran ceasefire is on “life support” after he rejected Tehran’s latest proposal, which officials said included some nuclear concessions. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish; and HERE for others. Click HERE for report from Reuters.

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FROM MAY 11  Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport becomes ‘U.S. military base,’ official says: report. From Middle East Monitor. Israel’s civil aviation chief warned Monday that Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv has effectively become a “US military base,” disrupting civilian flights and threatening Israeli airlines, according to a report by the daily Yedioth Ahronoth. READ MORE . . .

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Iranian military engineers using unexploded U.S. Tomahawks to develop missile technology : report, by Heba Nasser | Middle East Eye  Iranian armed forces are reverse-engineering U.S.-made Tomahawk missiles recovered during the U.S.-Israeli war to replicate their technology, according to Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 11  Gulf turns to Turkey for air defence systems amid Iran threats, by Ragip Soylu | Middle East Eye  ANKARA — As the United States government and defence companies face long backlogs in delivering weapons to their clients, Gulf and Arab states are increasingly signing deals to buy or invest in Turkish arms. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 11  Trade and Iran war are on the agenda for Trump’s state visit to China. Reported by Tamara Keith | NPR  President Trump meets with China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing with a trade truce and the Iran war on the agenda. Click HERE to listen and read.

Links to reports from Middle East Eye and the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on their names. (Scroll down for LEBANON, IRAN and ALL OF IT, and for GAZA 5-8-26.) — MCM

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Israel kills three, including police officers, in latest Gaza truce violation. Middle East Eye. The General Directorate of Police announced on Sunday that an Israeli air strike killed the director of the Khan Younis police investigations department, Wissam Abdel Hadi, and Sergeant Fadi Heikal. READ MORE . . .

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Israeli soldiers admit killing Palestinians in Gaza ‘no matter the age, even if unarmed.’ From the Cradle. The Israeli army ordered its troops to kill any males they encountered in Gaza, including the unarmed and the elderly, during the genocide of Palestinians that began in 2023, according to a May 7 investigative report aired on Israel’s Channel 13. READ MORE . . .

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Links to reports from the Cradle and Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on their names. (Scroll up or down for GAZA, IRAN and ALL OF IT, and down for LEBANON 5-10-26.) — MCM

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Israel seeks to ‘escalate’ Lebanon invasion despite warnings of ‘collapsing army.’ From the Cradle. The Israeli military is preparing for an expansion of its ground campaign in south Lebanon, Hebrew media reported today, coinciding with concerns over a shortage of troops within Tel Aviv’s ranks. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 10  Israelis army chief says more results needed ‘immediately.’ From Middle East Monitor. Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said on Sunday that the army needs more soldiers immediately,” amid the escalating crisis surrounding the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews, or Haredim, and the continuation of military operations on several fronts, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .

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Links to NINE-plus reports: from the Associated Press, National Public Radio, Middle East Monitor, Reuters, the Cradle;, and Anadolu; others are accessible by clicking on theirs names or initials. (Scroll up or down for GAZA, LEBANON and ALL OF IT, and down for IRAN 5-10-26.) — MCM

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Second in this new category*, a link to a film from Jigsaw Productions via YouTube; others are accessible by clicking on their names. (Scroll up for GAZA, LEBANON and IRAN, and down for ALL OF IT 5-9-26.) — MCM

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FROM 2012  ‘Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream,’ directed by Alex Gibney | Jigsaw Productions / YouTube  A documentary about the wealth gap in the United States. Among other things, it compares the access to opportunities of the residents of 740 Park Ave. on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and those on Park Avenue in the South Bronx. It was inspired in part by the 2005 book 740 Park: The Story of the World’s Richest Apartment Building, by Michael Gross. Click HERE for video on YouTube.

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*  The name of this category borrows from a phrase — “the rest of the story” — Paul Harvey used years ago for the segment at the end of his ABC news show in which he would expand on a news item. Here the category will include links to things closely or somewhat related or completely unrelated to IRAN, GAZA, UKRAINE, 9/11 TRUTH, MEDIA, ENERGY, etc.

For now, links to reports from the Associated Press and the Grayzone (the latter via ScheerPost) and to a discussion from Consortium News; other published material is accessible by clicking on their names. (Scroll down for today’s LEBANON and IRAN so far, and for UKRAINE 5-5-26.) — MCM

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Russia accuses Ukraine of violating US-brokered 3-day truce. From AP. Russia and Ukraine swapped accusations of breaking a U.S.-brokered ceasefire today, with both sides claiming to have suffered casualties in drone and artillery strikes over the past 24 hours. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish; and HERE for others.

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FROM MAY 9  Covert NATO initiative turns film into anti-Russia battleground, by Kit Klarenberg | The Grayzone / ScheerPost  A scandal has erupted over covert NATO conferences with the Western entertainment industry. Leaked documents show how for decades NATO has sought to infiltrate film and TV, with UK intel operatives taking the lead. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 9  Watch: The World This Week — ‘Playing with fire.’ Joe Lauria of Consortium News spoke on Saturday night with former CIA analyst Ray McGovern and former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter about various aspects of both the Iran and Ukraine wars. Click HERE for replay.

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TO BE CONTINUED

First, a link to a report from the Cradle; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll up or down for today’s UKRAINE and IRAN so far.  Scroll down for LEBANON 5-8-26.) — MCM

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FROM MAY 9  Israeli strike levels building sheltering displaced families in south Lebanon. From the Cradle. An Israeli airstrike on Saturday leveled a building sheltering a number of forcibly displaced families in Saksakiyeh, Lebanon, with dozens of civilians believed to be dead under the rubble — part of a massive wave of drone, warplane, and artillery attacks that killed at least a dozen people. READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED