#Israeli tank shellfire killed at least 51 Palestinians on Tuesday as they awaited aid trucks in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, the territory’s health ministry said, adding that dozens of others were wounded.

American empire, Trump’s presidency — Tucker Carlson
Other nations would like to see that, and this is a perfect way to scuttle the USS America on the shores of Iran, US journalist said

NEW YORK, June 17. If the United States gets dragged into the conflict with Iran, we could be witnessing the end of the American empire, US journalist Tucker Carlson said.

"I am saying this because I am really afraid that my country is going to be further weakened by this. I think we are going to see the end of the American empire. Obviously, other nations would like to see that, and this is a perfect way to scuttle the USS America on the shores of Iran," Carlson said, commenting on the latest escalation in the Middle East. "But it’s also going to end, I believe, [Donald] Trump’s presidency, and effectively end it," he opined in a podcast, War Room, hosted by Trump’s former chief political strategist Steve Bannon.

#WASHINGTON, June 16. #US President Donald Trump will hold bilateral meetings with Vladimir Zelensky, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada, a White House official told reporters on Sunday. His words were quoted by the White House press corps.

As the official specified, on the sidelines of the summit Trump "will hold bilateral meetings with Carney, Zelensky and Sheinbaum".

Trump earlier arrived in Canada. The G7 summit (the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, the United States, France and Japan) will be held from June 15 to 17 in the Canadian resort area of Kananaskis (Alberta).

#Britain’s MI6 spy agency gets its first female chief, Britain’s real-life spies have finally caught up with James Bond. MI6 has appointed its first female chief.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Sunday that Blaise Metreweli will be the next head of the U.K.’s foreign intelligence agency, and the first woman to hold the post since its founding in 1909. She is currently the MI6 director of technology and innovation — the real-world equivalent of Bond gadget-master Q.

A career intelligence officer, Metreweli, 47, steps from the shadows into the light as the only MI6 employee whose name is made public. She said “I am proud and honored to be asked to lead my Service.”

Starmer said the “historic appointment” comes at a time “when the work of our intelligence services has never been more vital.

“The United Kingdom is facing threats on an unprecedented scale – be it aggressors who send their spy ships to our waters or hackers whose sophisticated cyber plots seek to disrupt our public services,” he said.

Starmer made the announcement as he arrived in the Canadian province of Alberta for a Group of Seven leaders’ summit.

Metreweli takes over at MI6 as the agency faces growing challenges from states including China and Russia, whose use of cyber tools, espionage, and influence operations threatens global stability and British interests, even as it remains on alert against terrorist threats.

Metreweli is the first woman to get the top job, known as C – rather than M, the fictional MI6 chief of the 007 thrillers. M was played onscreen by Judi Dench in seven Bond movies starting in the 1990s.

She will take up her post in the fall, replacing Richard Moore, who has held the job for five years.

Britain’s two other main intelligence agencies have already shattered the spy world’s glass ceiling. MI5, the domestic security service, was led by Stella Rimington from 1992 to 1996 and Eliza Manningham-Buller between 2002 and 2007. Anne Keast-Butler became head of electronic and cyber-intelligence agency GCHQ in 2023.

Moore, an Oxford-educated former diplomat, fit the 007 mold like a Savile Row suit. But in recent years MI6 has worked to increase diversity, broadening its recruitment process from the traditional “tap on the shoulder” at an elite university. The agency’s website stresses its family-friendly flexible working policy and goal of recruiting “talented people from all backgrounds.”

Moore suggested he would like his successor to be a woman. He wrote on X in 2023 that he would “help forge women’s equality by working to ensure I’m the last C selected from an all-male shortlist.”

Like many things about MI6, also known as the Secret Intelligence Service, the process of choosing a new chief took place out of public view. It began with the country’s top civil servant writing to government departments in March asking them to put forward candidates. The job was open to applicants from other intelligence agencies, the civil service, the diplomatic service, the armed forces or the police.

In the end, MI6 opted for an internal candidate with a 25-year career in espionage, a degree in anthropology from Cambridge University — where she was on the women’s rowing team — and expertise in cutting-edge technology.

“At a time of global instability and emerging security threats, where technology is power and our adversaries are working ever closer together, Blaise will ensure the U.K. can tackle these challenges head on to keep Britain safe and secure at home and abroad,” said Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who oversees MI6.

#Israel has struck one of the buildings belonging to the Foreign Ministry, Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh has said.

"Israel deliberately and ruthlessly struck one of the buildings belonging to the Iranian Foreign Ministry. <...> Several civilians were injured, including a number of my colleagues," he wrote on his social media page.

#Trump says Israel-Iran will come to deal ‘soon’ and warns Tehran against retaliating against U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump rejected a plan presented by Israel to the U.S. to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.

The Israelis informed the Trump administration in recent days that they had developed a credible plan to kill Khamenei.

After being briefed on the plan, the White House made clear to Israeli officials that Trump was opposed to the Israelis making the move, according to the official who was not authorized to comment on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Trump administration is desperate to keep Israel’s military operation aimed at decapitating Iran’s nuclear program from exploding into an even more expansive conflict and saw the plan to kill Khamenei as a move that would enflame the conflict and potentially destabilize the region.

Asked about the plan during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not directly address whether the White House rejected the plan.

“But I can tell you, I think that we do what we need to do, we’ll do what we need to do. And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu spokesperson Omer Dostri later called reports about the Israeli plan to kill Khamenei “fake.”

Netanyahu in the Fox interview also said regime change “could certainly be the result” of the conflict “because the Iranian regime is very weak.”

Trump’s rejection of the proposal was first reported by Reuters.

Meanwhile, Trump on Sunday issued a stark warning to Iran against retaliating on U.S. targets in the Middle East while also predicting Israel and Iran would “soon” make a deal to end their escalating conflict.

Trump in an early morning social media posting said the United States “had nothing to do with the attack on Iran” as Israel and Iran traded missile attacks for the third straight day. Iran, however, has said that it would hold the U.S.--which has provided Israel with much of its deep arsenal of weaponry--for its backing of Israel.

“If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” Trump said.

Hours later Trump took to social media again to predict “Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal.”

The U.S. president said he has a track record for de-escalating conflicts, and that he would get Israel and Iran to cease hostilities “just like I got India and Pakistan to make” after the two countries’ recent cross-border confrontation.

India struck targets inside Pakistan after militants in April massacred 26 tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan has denied any links to the attackers. Following India’s strikes in Pakistan, the two sides exchanged heavy fire along their de facto borders, followed by missile and drone strikes into each other’s territories, mainly targeting military installations and airbases.

It was the most serious confrontation in decades between the countries. Trump on Sunday repeated his claim, disputed by India, that the two sides agreed to a ceasefire after he had offered to help both nations with trade if they agreed to de-escalate.

Trump also pointed to efforts by his administration during his first term to mediate disputes between Serbia and Kosovo and Egypt and Ethiopia.

“Likewise, we will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran!” Trump said. “Many calls and meetings now taking place. I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!”

Trump is set to travel later Sunday to Canada for Group of Seven leaders summit where the Mideast crisis will loom large over his talks with the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan and the European Union.

There’s a divide in Trump world about how far the president should go in backing Israel.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson are among the prominent backers of Trump who have argued voters backed Trump because he would not involve the nation in foreign conflicts.

GOP Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul praised Trump for having shown restraint and said he hoped the president’s “instincts will prevail.”

“So, I think it’s going to be very hard to come out of this and have a negotiated settlement,” Paul said in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I see more war and more carnage. And it’s not the U.S.’s job to be involved in this war.”

In an interview aired on CBS’ “Face the Nation” GOP South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said he preferred diplomatic efforts, but if diplomacy doesn’t work Trump should “go all in” on destroying Iran’s nuclear program.

“If that means providing bombs, provide bombs,” he said. “If that means flying with Israel, fly with Israel.”

Aamer Madhani, The Associated Press

Eight killed in latest shooting near Israeli and U.S.-supported aid site in Gaza. The war in Gaza is still raging, more than 20 months after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack ignited it. That attack also set off a chain of events that led to Israel’s surprise attack on Iran on Friday.

The witnesses said Israeli forces opened fire around dawn toward crowds of desperate Palestinians heading to two aid sites in Rafah. Experts and aid workers say Israel’s blockade and military campaign have caused widespread hunger and raised the risk of famine.

The shooting happened hundreds of metres (yards) away from the sites, which are operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a group that Israel and the United States hope will replace the UN-run system of aid distribution. The United Nations has rejected the new system, saying it violates humanitarian principles.

There have been near-daily shootings near the sites since they opened last month. Witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly fired on the crowds and health officials say scores have been killed. The military has acknowledged firing warning shots at what it says were suspects approaching its forces.

“There were wounded, dead, and martyrs,” Ahmed al-Masri told The Associated Press on Sunday as he returned from one of the sites empty-handed. “It’s a trap.”

Umm Hosni al-Najjar said she joined the crowd heading to the aid point in Rafah’s Tal al-Sultan neighborhood around 4:30 a.m. She said the shooting began as people were advancing to the site a few minutes after her arrival.

“There were many wounded and martyrs,” she said. “No one was able to evacuate them.”

The Nasser Hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis said it received eight bodies after the shooting.

The aid system rolled out last month has been marred by chaos and violence, while the UN system has struggled to deliver food because of Israeli restrictions and a breakdown of law and order, despite Israel loosening a total blockade it imposed from early March to mid-May.

Israel and the U.S. say Hamas has siphoned aid off of the UN-run system, while UN officials say there is no evidence of systematic diversion. The UN says the new system does not meet Gaza’s needs, allows Israel to control who gets aid and risks further mass displacement as people move closer to the sites.

Two are in the southernmost city of Rafah — now mostly inhabited — and all three are in Israeli military zones that are off limits to independent media.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says there has been no violence in or around the distribution points. It has warned people to stay on the designated routes and recently paused delivery to discuss safety measures with the military.

Hamas started the war with its attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostage. The militants still hold 53 hostages, fewer than half of them alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s military campaign has killed over 55,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It says women and children make up most of the dead, but doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90 per cent of its population, often multiple times. The vast majority rely on international aid because the offensive has destroyed nearly all of Gaza’s capacity to produce food.

Magdy reported from Cairo.

WASHINGTON, June 15. The United States has nothing to do with the latest attack of Israel against Iran, President Donald Trump said on his page in Truth Social.

"The US had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight," Trump said. "However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict," he stressed.

Any attack of Iran against the United States will have a response of the US Armed Forces with "full strength and might," the US leader added.

Israeli authorities have imposed strict censorship, blocking the dissemination of information about the aftermath of Iran’s attacks. However, footage captured by residents reveals widespread destruction in the port city of Haifa, with thick plumes of smoke rising from multiple locations and fires breaking out in several areas. Preliminary reports indicate at least one Zionist has been killed and three others wounded during the latest wave of strikes.

Iran’s first night of attacks, which began late Friday and continued into the early hours of Saturday, primarily targeted Tel Aviv and surrounding towns. According to a statement from the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), at least 150 military and spy sites were successfully struck by ballistic missiles.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, has declared that Iran’s Armed Forces will leave Israel "helpless." Military officials, replacing those assassinated by Israel this week, have vowed to "open the gates of hell" to the regime and continue the attacks for as long as necessary. The Pezeshkian administration has firmly aligned itself with the Leader and military officials’ stance.

#Israeli research institute struck in #Iranian missile attack - NYT

An Iranian missile attack damaged the prominent research center The Weizmann Institute for Science in Rehovot south of Tel Aviv on Saturday, the New York Times reported citing imagery it had obtained.

A fire occurred in at least one building containing laboratories, the newspaper added.