Links to EIGHT reports: from the Cradle, National Public Radio, Reuters, the Associated Press, and NBC News; to a commentary from Middle East Eye; and to a discussion from Consortium News; other published material is accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up for GAZA, LEBANON and UKRAINE, and down for IRAN 5-30-26.) — MCM

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FROM MAY 29  U.S. lawmakers seek to ‘fuse’ Israeli, U.S. militaries under 2027 defense authorization act. From the Cradle. Lawmakers in Washington are quietly moving to integrate the U.S. and Israeli militaries in unprecedented ways, according to a clause in the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act released this week. READ MORE . . .

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Trump seeking last-minute changes to draft deal reached with Iran: report. From the Cradle. U.S. President Donald Trump is now asking for “amendments” to the draft deal his envoys negotiated with Iran, informed senior officials and sources told Axios today, following a report the day before saying the president has “toughened” his terms. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 30  Trump says a ceasefire extension deal with Iran is near, but core issues remain. Reported by Jane Arraf, Adrian Florido and Jim Kane | NPR  President Trump has not yet decided whether he’ll extend a ceasefire with Iran, and Israel continues to attack targets in Lebanon, in spite of a ceasefire there. Click HERE to listen and read.

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FROM MAY 30  Hegseth says U.S. ready to restart strikes on Iran if no deal. From Reuters. SINGAPORE — The U.S. is ready to restart attacks on Iran if a deal cannot be reached, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, as negotiators from Washington and Tehran worked to bridge major differences blocking an agreement. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 30  U.S. says it struck a commercial ship trying to breach blockade and reach Iran, by Konstantin Toropin | AP  WASHINGTON — The U.S. military stopped a merchant vessel trying to break through its blockade of Iranian ports by firing a missile into its engine room, the U.S. Central Command said on Saturday. 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 30   UAE secretly bombed Iran dozens of times alongside Israel, U.S.: report. From the Cradle. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the UAE carried out “dozens” of covert airstrikes against Iran, collaborating with Israel and the U.S. from the beginning of the war in late February and continuing even after the April ceasefire was declared. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 29  Iran may have used Chinese missile to shoot down U.S. fighter jet, sources say, by Dan De Luce, Courtney Kube, Katherine Doyle and Gordon Lubold | NBC News  WASHINGTON — The F-15 fighter that was shot down over southwestern Iran last month and set off a dangerous rescue mission was probably struck by a Chinese-made shoulder-launched missile, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 30  Israeli claims about an Iran ‘threat’ were always a lie. Now we have proof, by Jonathan Cook | Middle East Eye  Could it be that Israel’s 30-year narrative about Iran — one that persuaded U.S. President Donald Trump to wage a criminal and disastrous war of aggression — was always a fiction, an invention cooked up in Tel Aviv? We got a definitive answer last week, care of the New York Times. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 30  Watch: The World This Week  — ‘Luring Russia into war.’  Joe Lauria of Consortium News spoke again with former CIA analyst Ray McGovern and former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer (and former UN weapons inspector) Scott Ritter. Although nearly two hours of Saturday night‘s 140-minute conversation concerns the Russian-Ukraine war from before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 to events of the last few days, about 23 minutes near the end deals with developments in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran and talks related to ending it. Click HERE for Lauria’s article introducing the discussion and a video of it.

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ADVISORY  Watch: The World This Week  — ‘Luring Russia into war,’ at 8 tonight EDT. Joe Lauria of Consortium News talks again with former CIA analyst Ray McGovern and former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter. From CN intro: “NATO’s Ukraine proxy war seeks to weaken Russia and topple Putin. To launch an economic, information and ground war, NATO needed Russia to invade. Now it needs Russia to attack a NATO nation to justify direct war. Click HERE for Lauria’s analytical article and tonight at 8 to livestream discussion; video to follow after live discussion is over.

A link to a report from the Associated Press; others are accessible by clicking on its name or initials. (Scroll down for LEBANON, IRAN and GAZA, and for UKRAINE 5-29-26.)

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Ukraine keeps up assault on Russian oil infrastructure as Kyiv braces for more strikes. From AP. Ukrainian drone strikes caused fires at more Russian oil facilities overnight into Saturday, local Russian officials said, in what appeared to be the latest attack on Moscow’s vital oil industry. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish.

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Links to THREE reports: from Middle East Eye, the Associated Press, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up or down for UKRAINE, IRAN and GAZA, and down for LEBANON 5-29-26.) — MCM

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Israel issues new expulsion orders as forces press deeper into Lebanon. From Middle East Eye. Israel‘s military on Saturday issued three expulsion orders for residents of 13 villages in southern Lebanon, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said troops had pushed deeper into the country. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 29  Israeli fighter jets strike southern Lebanese village after Israel warned residents to leave. From AP. The strike on Friday occurred a little over an hour after the military told residents of Ain Qana to leave, damaging several houses. Click HERE for brief video. 

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FROM MAY 29   Ceasefires in Iran, Lebanon and Gaza are interconnected — and fraying. Reported by Greg Myre of NPR  On paper, there are ceasefires in place between Israel and the U.S. in Iran, and also in Lebanon, Gaza. On the ground, fighting goes on. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Links to TWO reports from National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on its name or initials. (Scroll up or down for UKRAINE, LEBANON and GAZA, and down for IRAN 5-29-26.) — MCM

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FROM MAY 29   Ceasefires in Iran, Lebanon and Gaza are interconnected — and fraying. Reported by Greg Myre of NPR  On paper, there are ceasefires in place between Israel and the U.S. in Iran, and also in Lebanon, Gaza. On the ground, fighting goes on. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Former amassador Ivo Daalder on his critique of the U.S. approach to military conflict. Scott Simon of NPR asks Ivo Daalder, former U.S. ambassador to NATO, about his recent criticism of America’s approach to military conflict. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

Links to TWO reports: from the Associated Press and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up or down for UKRAINE, LEBANON and IRAN, and down for GAZA 5-29-26.)

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First, links to reports from the Cradle and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll down for today’s GAZA, UKRAINE, IRAN and LEBANON so far, and for MEDIA 5- -26.) — MCM

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Israel funneling millions through Trump-linked firms to spread digital propaganda in the U.S.: report. From the Cradle. Public disclosures filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act reveal that a firm operated by Brad Parscale, the former campaign manager for U.S. President Donald Trump, has funneled approximately $13 million from the Israeli government to a “web of right−wing businesses” and Republican digital strategy firms, the Intercept reported today. READ MORE . . .

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American journalist charged with acting as an agent for the Chinese government. Reported by Steve Inskeep | NPR  The FBI alleged in federal court that an American journalist who worked for Chinese state media illegally acted as an agent for the Chinese government. Click HERE to listen and read. 

For now, links to reports from the Cradle and Middle East Eye and to commentaries from or via Middle East Monitor; others are accessible by clicking on their names. (Scroll up or down for today’s UKRAINE, IRAN and LEBANON so far, and down for GAZA 5-28-26.) — MCM

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Israel’s Netanyahu orders army to seize 70 percent of Gaza. From Middle East Eye. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he had ordered the army to occupy 70 percent of the Gaza Strip, in the latest violation of the October ceasefire. He said that “at this point, we are fully in control of 60 percent of the territory of the Gaza Strip.” READ MORE . . .   Click HERE for report from the Cradle.

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FROM MAY 28  Netanyahu’s theatre of ruin, by Jasim Al-Azzawi | Middle East Monitor  Benjamin Netanyahu has defeated nobody. Not one enemy. Not one objective. After Gaza, after Lebanon, after Syria, after Iran, after all the airstrikes and the assassinations and the pager operations and the . . . READ MORE . . .

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Stop blaming Netanyahu, stupid . . . by Jamal Kanj | Middle East Monitor  By blaming Netanyahu et al., the Zionist-managed Western media and liberals in the U.S. and Europe want you to believe that there is a moral daylight between the politics of the Israeli governing coalition and the state they lead. READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED

For now, links to SEVEN reports: from Middle East Eye, the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, the Moscow Times, and Reuters; others or just headlines are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up or down for today’s MEDIA, GAZA, IRAN and LEBANON so far, and down for UKRAINE 5-28-26.) — MCM

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NEWER  NATO vows to defend ‘every inch’ of territory after Russian drone hits Romania. From Middle East Eye. NATO accused Russia of “reckless” behaviour and said it would defend “every inch of Allied territory” after Romania said a Russian drone crashed into an apartment building during an attack on neighbouring Ukraine. Romania’s defence ministry said radar systems . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 28  Russia brushes off U.S. call not to launch ‘systemic strikes’ on Kyiv. From Reuters. WASHINGTON — The United States on Thursday levelled unusually harsh criticism against Russia and called for it to refrain from its promised “systematic strikes” against Kyiv, but Moscow brushed off the appeal and reiterated a warning to foreign diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital. READ MORE . . .  

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TO BE CONTINUED

First, links to SIX reports: from National Public Radio, the Cradle, Reuters, and the Associated Press; others or at least headlines are accessible by clicking on their names or initials. (Scroll up or down for today’s MEDIA, GAZA, UKRAINE and LEBANON so far, and down for IRAN 5-28-26.) — MCM

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President Trump’s whiplash diplomacy on Iran continues. Reported by A Martínez and Franco Ordoñez | NPR  After a weekend of diplomatic whiplash, uncertainty remains around where President Trump’s negotiations to end the war with Iran stands. Click HERE to listen and read, and HERE for link to second Iran war-related report today from NPR‘s “Morning Edition.”

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FROM MAY 28  U.S. Treasury slaps sanctions on Iranian authority overseeing Hormuz. From the Cradle. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced on Wednesday the designation of the Persian Gulf Strait Authority as an officially blacklisted entity, effectively freezing the agency’s assets and banning any global business with it. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 28  Iran, U.S. reach deal to extend ceasefire, pending Trump’s approval, by Jonathan Landay, Steve Holland and Yomna Ehab | Reuters   WASHINGTON / CAIRO — The United States and Iran reached an agreement on Thursday to extend their ceasefire and lift restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, sources said, though U.S. President Donald Trump has yet to approve it and Iranian state media said it had not been ‌finalized. READ MORE . . .  Click HERE for report from AP.

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FROM MAY 28  A look at Trump’s plan to build on the Abraham Accords. Reported by Michele Kelemen | NPR  President Trump is pushing Saudi Arabia and Qatar to normalize relations with Israel, as part of an end to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Experts call that unrealistic. Click HERE to listen and read.

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TO BE CONTINUED

For now, links to THREE reports: from the Cradle, Middle East Eye and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on its name or initials. (Scroll up for today’s MEDIA, GAZA, UKRAINE and IRAN so far, and down for LEBANON 5-28-26.) — MCM

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Parliament speaker rejects Lebanon-Israel talks. From the Cradle. Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri slammed direct talks between Beirut and Tel Aviv today, hours ahead of a new round of negotiations that will involve Israeli and Lebanese military delegations, in violation of the country’s laws, warning that Lebanon does not hold “a single card.”  READ MORE . . .

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On average, 11 children killed or wounded every day in past week in Lebanon: UNICEF. From Middle East Eye. A total of 77 children have been killed or injured in the last seven days by Israeli attacks, UNICEF said. Since the ceasefire began in April, 55 children have been killed, and 212 wounded, according to the agency. READ MORE . . .

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FROM MAY 28  As Israel expands attacks in Lebanon, a city flees. Reported by Jane Arraf | NPR  Refugees cram roads from southern Lebanon as Israeli airstrikes target Hezbollah in the city of Tyre. Click HERE to listen and read.

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TO BE CONTINUED