For now, links to reports from Middle East Eye and Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on their names. (Scroll up or down for IRAN, GAZA and LEBANON, and down for WEST  BANK 5-13-26.) — MCM

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How the West Bank is being ethnically cleansed, by Peter Osborne | Middle East Eye  Armed, funded and openly endorsed by Israel’s far-right government, settlers are terrorising Palestinians with impunity. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 14  Israel begins illegal settlement construction atop historic Hebron municipality building in West Bank. From Middle East Monitor. Israel began illegal settlement construction works atop the historic Hebron municipality building in the southern West Bank, municipal authorities said Thursday, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .

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Links to TEN reports, commentaries and analyses: from the Associated Press, Reuters, National Public Radio, Middle East Monitor, Indian Punchline, and Declassified Australia (the last via Consortium News) others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll down for UKRAINE, LEBANON and GAZA, and for IRAN 5-13-26.) — MCM

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Ship reported seized off UAE coast heads to Iranian waters, by Adam Schreck and  Melanie Lidman | AP  DUBAI — A ship anchored off the United Arab Emirates was seized and taken toward Iran and another was attacked and sank, authorities said today, in a renewed escalation on shipping near the Strait of Hormuz. READ MORE . . .

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Iranian FM blasts UAE at BRICS summit over ‘direct involvement’ in U.S.-Israeli war. From the Cradle. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the UAE of being an “active partner” in the U.S.-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic during a BRICS meeting in New Delhi. READ MORE . . .

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Iran urges BRICS nations to condemn war, Indian-flagged vessel sunk. From Reuters. NEW DELHI — Iran’s foreign minister urged BRICS nations today to condemn what he called violations of international law by the United States and Israel, as diplomats from emerging economies met for talks in Delhi in the shadow of war in the Middle East. READ MORE . . .

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Iran implements new system to collect fees from ships in Strait of Hormuz. Reported by Jackie Northam | NPR  Iran has set up a new agency to collect tolls from ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.  Click HERE for May 13 report from Middle East Monitor.

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Israeli premier made secret trip to UAE to meet President bin Zayed. From Middle East Monitor. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed Wednesday that he made a secret trip to the United Arab Emirates to sit down with that country’s leader amid the war against Iran, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 13  In Hormuz deadlock, U.S. and Iran refuse to back down. Reported by Tom Bowman and Aya Batrawy | NPR  The U.S. and Iran remain deadlocked in the Strait of Hormuz, with no clear way forward. Click HERE to listen and read.

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India’s quasi-alliance with Israel and UAE won’t have happy ending, by M.K. Bhadrakumar | Indian Punchline  When U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee disclosed on Monday that Israel secretly deployed Iron Dome missile-defence batteries and highly trained special forces to operate it to the United Arab Emirates in order to shield the Persian Gulf monarchy during the war against Iran, one could tell with fair certainty that it was . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 11  Unasked questions about the war on Iran, by Alison Broinowski | Declassified Australia / Consortium News  Most of the Western media refuse to join the dots and explain Israel’s decades-long obsession with defanging Tehran. READ MORE . . .

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Links to reports from the Associated Press and Reuters, and to an interview from the Glenn Diesen Show via ScheerPost; other published material is accessible by clicking on their names. (Scroll up or down for IRAN, LEBANON and GAZA, and down for UKRAINE 5-13-26.) — MCM

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FROM MAY 12  A new European military bloc for war against Russia. Glenn Diesen of the Glen Diesen Show talks with economist and diplomat Jeffrey Sachs of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University about the history of European-Russian relations — especially since 1990 — and what seems to be in store. Click HERE for video and partial print outline by Joshua Scheer of SheerPost.

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Links to reports from the Associated Press, the Cradle, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on its name or initials. (Scroll up or down for IRAN, UKRAINE and GAZA, and down for LEBANON 5-13-26.) — MCM

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Israeli officials say Hezbollah drone wounds 3 civilians. From AP. JERUSALEM — A Hezbollah drone exploded inside Israel today, injuring three civilians, two of them severely, according to the Israeli military and hospitals. READ MORE . . .  Click HERE for report from the Cradle.

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Israel and Lebanon meet in D.C. again for peace talks. Reported by Jane Arraf | NPR  Representatives for Israel and Lebanon meet in Washington, D.C., for a second time to end the war, as their ceasefire frays. Click HERE to listen and, later, read. 

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A link to a report from Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll down for today’s IRAN, UKRAINE and LEBANON, and for GAZA 5-13-26.) — MCM

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Israel’s Oct. 7 narrative under fresh scrutiny after army accused of deleting footage. From Middle East Monitor. The Israeli army secretly seized and deleted parts of the Oct. 7 security camera footage, according to a report published by Israel Hayom on May 13, in the latest revelation to deepen suspicion over the official Israeli account of the events of that day. READ MORE . . .

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A link to an interview from Middle East Monitor; other published material is accessible by clicking on its name. (Scroll down for LEBANON, WEST BANK, IRAN, UKRAINE and ALL OF IT, and for GAZA 5-11-26.) — MCM

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Israeli genocide and Palestinian statehood. Jasim Al-Azzawi of Al-Jazeera and Middle East Monitor talks with journalist Gideon Levi of Hararetz about aspects of some of Israel’s current wars. Click HERE for video.

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Links to reports from the Associated Press and the Cradle; click on their names or initials for others. (Scroll up or down for GAZA, WEST  BANK, IRAN, UKRAINE and ALL OF IT, and down for LEBANON 5-11-26.) — MCM

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Israeli drone strikes hit highway south of Beirut, killing 8 including 2 children. From AP. BEIRUT — Israeli drones struck three vehicles on the main highway south of Beirut today, killing eight people, including a woman and her two children, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. Click HERE for report including photos. Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish; and HERE for others.

A link to a report from the Associated Press; click HERE for links to others. (Scroll up or down for GAZA, LEBANON, IRAN, UKRAINE and ALL OF IT, and down for WEST BANK 5-6-26.) — MCM

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FROM MAY 12  Israeli bulldozers raze Palestinian shops ahead of road project, by Sam Metz and Mahmoud Ilean | AP  AL-EIZARIYA, West Bank — Israeli bulldozers tore down dozens of Palestinian shops on the edge of a town southeast of Jerusalem this week, clearing land ahead of a settlement-linked road project in in the occupied West Bank. Click HERE for report including brief video and photos.

Links to NINE-plus reports (at least 12): from the Associated Press, National Public Radio, Middle East Monitor, Middle East Eye, the Cradle, and Reuters, and to a commentary from Real Scott Ritter; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up or down for GAZA, LEBANON, WEST BANK, UKRAINE and ALL OF IT, and down 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  Iran, Oman discuss legal rules on shared sovereignty of Hormuz. From the Cradle. Iranian and Omani delegations convened a legal-technical meeting in Muscat to discuss the Strait of Hormuz, arrangements for the secure passage of ships, and the sovereign rights of both nations over the waterway, Fars News Agency reported on Tuesday. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 12  UK to send drones, fighter jets, warship for future Hormuz security mission. From Middle East Monitor. The United Kingdom will deploy drones, Typhoon fighter jets and the Royal Navy warship HMS Dragon as part of a future multinational mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz, the UK Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .

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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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FROM MAY 10  U.S. heading for ‘checkmate’ and ‘total defeat’ in Iran war, says neocon Robert Kagan, by Elis Gjevori | Middle East Eye  Robert Kagan, one of the United States’ most prominent neoconservative voices and a long-time pro-Israel hawk, has warned that Washington is heading towards “total defeat” in its war on Iran — a setback he says “can neither be repaired nor ignored.” READ MORE . . .

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A link to commentary from Edward Slavsquat via Substack; others are accessible by clicking on the author’s name. (Scroll up or down for GAZA, LEBANON, WEST BANK, IRAN and ALL OF IT, 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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