Nigel Farage is resigning as Member of UK Parliament to force a by-election "Today I will resign as a member of Parliament for Clacton, thereby forcing a by-election, which would happen, I hope, in short order." "This will be a people versus the establishment by-election. It's a chance to stick two fingers up to the entire establishment, to frankly tell them where to go. And that is why I will be putting my name forward to stand in this by-election, I will fight to win, I will fight to continue the political revolution that reform has started." - "If I win, you win, because if I lose, they win, and we will never, with the two old parties, get the type of fundamental change that we need to fix Broken Britain." 📝 Jill Lawless: "Farage is facing a probe by Parliament’s standards watchdog over a 5 million pound ($6.7 million) gift from a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire. On Sunday an opposition politician asked the watchdog to open another investigation over donations from a convicted fraudster."

Wearing sunglasses indoors, Macron meets representatives of Syrian civil society in Damascus Again wearing sunglasses indoors, France’s President Emmanuel Macron attends a breakfast in Damascus with representatives of Syrian civil society. Macron wore the aviators inside at the Davos conference in January, with officials explaining the French president had a minor medical issue. Macron landed in Syria yesterday, in the first visit to Damascus by a European Union head of state since rebels led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa toppled Bashar al-Assad in 2024. The visit underlines Syria’s geopolitical transformation under Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander who has established close ties with Western and Middle Eastern powers that shunned Assad, as he seeks to rebuild a country shattered by 13 years of civil war.

Europe starts learning how to become third world country, says President Trump European nations are starting to learn how the transformation into a third-world country takes place because of the migration policy, US President Donald Trump said. "Europe is learning that when you take in Third World criminals, you become a Third World Country. It happens quickly, in just a blink of the eye. I was elected just in time," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Trump repeatedly criticized European allies of Washington for too soft migration policy.

Saudi-owned media Asharq News, citing an Iraqi security source, reports that Iraqi security forces are arresting politicians in the Green Zone involved in corruption cases, and the arrest campaign is still ongoing. Arrested politicians include the head of the Azm Alliance Muthanna al-Samarraie, Iraqi MP Mohammed al-Karbouli affiliated with the Taqaddum Party, and Iraqi MP Ziad al-Janabi affiliated with Al-Mubadara. All three politicians are affiliated with moderate Sunni political parties that are not part of Ali al-Zaidi's governing coalition. Preliminary unconfirmed reports of arrests inside the Green Zone, Baghdad — details still emerging.

Trump threatens Europe with new tariffs in case of new digital services tax on US firms President Donald Trump has threatened Europe with new high tariffs on its exports to the United States if it introduces a digital services tax on American companies. "Numerous European countries have been discussing the imminent implementation of a digital services tax on American companies. Some of these countries are close to actually doing this. Please let this statement serve to represent that any country that imposes such a tax will immediately be met with a 100% tariff on any and all goods sent to the United States of America," he wrote on Truth Social "This tariff will supersede trade deals made with the country, whether implemented, signed, or not. Additionally, the 100% tariff will be immediately imposed, if they proceed [with collecting the aforementioned tax from American firms]," the US president added.

Board of Peace to meet in Cyprus from June 30 to July 1 A meeting of the US-led Board of Peace overseeing postwar Gaza reconstruction will be held in Cyprus from June 30 to July 1, English-language news portal In-Cyprus quoted Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis as saying. "What I can tell you is that the Peace Council has been established for the implementation of the reconstruction plan for Gaza under UN Resolution 2803, which we not only welcomed as the Republic of Cyprus but supported from the very first moment," Letymbiotis said, adding the board will meet in Cyprus on June 30 and July 1. According to him, the forum will include representatives of the Board of Peace Council, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), and the office of the High Representative of the Board of Peace Nickolay Mladenov. Some officials attending have already requested meetings with Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, he added. The story does not mention the location of the forum or the level of its representation. An In-Cyprus diplomatic source said that although the meeting will be held in the Republic of Cyprus, the country is neither the organizer nor co-organizer of the event. On Tuesday, The Times of Israel quoted sources as saying that the Board of Peace Council will meet next week in a Cypriot resort. The Cyprus News Agency later picked it up, while the Cyprus Mail newspaper checked the news and contacted Letymbiotis, who said he was unaware of plans to hold the forum on the island.

Germany's Bundeswehr sent letters to 298,200 18 year-olds inviting them to volunteer. 530 of them eventually did sign up. That's 0.18% enlistment rate. Around five months after the start of the medical screening of all 18-year-olds, the Ministry of Defence draws an initial assessment: 298,200 letters were sent to all young men and women who are coming of age this year. In it, their interest in the new voluntary military service, which lasts at least six months, is queried. Men must complete the associated questionnaire, women are not obligated to complete that questionnaire. According to the ministry, about 25 percent of young men had shown first interest in the Bundeswehr via questionnaire. This group was contacted by telephone, after which 12.5 percent were still interested.

Tulsi Gabbard, in her recent days as Director of U.S. National Intelligence, has released another batch of declassified documents. The materials indicate that Dr. Anthony #Fauci, while heading the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, conspired with intelligence community leadership to deliberately suppress the hypothesis about the laboratory origin of #COVID-19. In the agency's press release, it notes that Fauci, through the NGO #EcoHealth Alliance, directed millions of taxpayer dollars to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to conduct dangerous research with bats. Meanwhile, when the pandemic began, he acted as a behind-the-scenes advisor to the intelligence community, recruiting loyal experts for the intelligence agencies to promote the version of the virus's natural origin. The published documents also expose Fauci in false testimony. In 2024, he claimed at Congressional hearings that he had not discussed viral research with the CIA or FBI. Now the opposite is proven. Moreover, facts have emerged about harsh reprisals within the intelligence agencies themselves: analysts who tried to defend the laboratory leak version were intimidated, denied career advancement, or rapidly fired.

French journalist Erik Tegnér has been given a six-month suspended prison sentence and fined €30,000 after publishing an article about lawyers who specialize in defending illegal migrants against deportation. Tegnér named several immigration lawyers and identified their city of practice, arguing they profited from a “juicy business” funded by public legal aid. The court ruled that, despite not disputing the accuracy of the claims, the article’s accusatory tone exposed the lawyers to an indirect risk of harm and violated France’s Samuel Paty anti-doxxing law. Tegnér described the verdict as a “political misuse of the Samuel Paty law.”

Gunfire and blasts rock Mali’s capital and other cities, in apparent coordinated assault Gunmen attacked several locations in #Mali’s capital and other cities early today in a possible coordinated assault, residents and authorities say. Mali’s army says in a statement that “unidentified armed terrorist groups targeted certain locations and barracks” in Bamako and that soldiers were “engaged in eliminating the attackers.” In another statement later, it says the situation was brought under control. Mali has been plagued by insurgencies fought by affiliates of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, as well as a separatist rebellion in the north. An Associated Press journalist in Bamako reports hearing sustained heavy weapons and automatic rifle gunfire coming from Modibo Keïta International Airport, around 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the city center, and saw a helicopter over nearby neighborhoods. The airport is adjacent to an air base used by Mali’s air force. A resident living near the airport also reports gunfire and three helicopters patrolling overhead.