Israel has emptied four facilities within the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex that served as offices for the Islamic Waqf, in what a monitoring group has described as an escalating campaign against the Jordanian-backed body.
The Al-Quds International Institution, a Palestinian organisation that monitors developments in Jerusalem, said on Tuesday that Israeli authorities have used "manufactured security pretexts" to target the facilities.
According to the group, Israeli forces raided the sites in recent months, broke their locks and prevented the installation of replacements.
The facilities were then left open, while anyone attempting to enter them was expelled because they had been used for "activities that threaten security".
The four sites are the Dome of Imam al-Ghazali, located above the Bab al-Rahma prayer hall along the eastern wall of the complex; Dar al-Hadith al-Sharif in the northeastern section of Al-Aqsa; Qubbat Sulayman, an open-air domed shrine opposite King Faisal Gate; and Qubbat Musa, located near Bab al-Silsila (Chain Gate).
Israel 'emptying' Al-Aqsa facilities to undermine Waqf, watchdog warns
How a regional defence pact could deal the final blow to Israel's violent expansionism
The brief exchange of fire between Iran and Israel was a truer statement of the balance of power that now exists between these two countries than the many spurious claims by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about having “smashed”, “destroyed” or “obliterated” the armed forces of the Islamic Republic.
In firing up to 30 missiles towards Israel in retaliation against its renewed bombing of Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Iran broke the model that Israel had imposed on the two other ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza: namely that you cease, and we keep on firing.
Furthermore, it showed that it would target northern Israel to protect a third country, Lebanon, which is also something of a first.
In announcing that it would halt fire, Iran’s military command said that if Israel resumed its attacks anywhere, including southern Lebanon, “much more severe and crushing measures than before will follow”.
It has taken time for the Islamic Republic to respond to Israel’s campaigns on Gaza, Lebanon and itself as one war - which is what it is - but at last, it is being forced to do so.
Nithya Raman edges out Spencer Pratt to face Karen Bass in LA mayoral runoff
Nithya Raman, a progressive Los Angeles city council member, has advanced to the November runoff for LA mayor, edging out former reality TV villain Spencer Pratt for the chance to face incumbent mayor Karen Bass.
Pratt, who decided to run for mayor after his Pacific Palisades home burned down in the 2025 wildfires, held a lead over Raman for days. But as ballot processing from last week’s election continued, the city councillor pulled ahead.
Bass, who is seeking another term leading America’s second largest city,learned on 2 June’s primary election night she had secured enough votes to make it to the November election, but the race for second remained close for nearly a week.
Bass’s campaign released a statement on Monday night after hearing of Raman advancing. “A campaign against Nithya Raman, who allows encampments near schools and cuts the police force, is one Mayor Bass looks forward to winning,” said Douglas Herman, a strategist.
One killed and five wounded in shooting attack in central Israel
One person has been killed and five others wounded in a series of shooting attacks in central Israel, Israeli police and emergency services reported.
The shootings reportedly occurred on Sunday at three locations near the occupied West Bank city of Qalqilya, killing a 35-year-old man.
Magen David Adom, Israel's medical emergency service, said another man in his 40s had been taken to the hospital in a critical condition.
Medical officials said they had also treated two men injured at a petrol station near the town of Kochav Yair, one of them seriously. A man and a woman were also injured near Tzur Yitzhak, another settlement in central Israel.
"Large police forces remain at the scene, and searches are continuing," police said in an earlier statement on Sunday, urging the public to remain vigilant.
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocks the southern Philippines
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake centered at sea shook part of the southern Philippines early Monday, causing damage in a key coastal city, knocking down power and setting off 1-meter (3-foot) tsunami waves along nearby coasts, officials said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked people to immediately go to higher ground in Philippine areas vulnerable to a tsunami, and Indonesian and Malaysian authorities also issued warnings to their nearby coastal areas.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, and it was not clear if people were trapped or injured in the collapse of at least one small building in General Santos, a tuna-processing city of more than 700,000 people that is also a commercial hub in the south.
The strongest earthquake to hit the Philippines this year was was centered at sea about 13 kilometers (8 miles) southwest of General Santos and was caused by movement in the Cotabato Trench at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. It struck at 7:37 a.m., the institute's director, Teresito Bacolcol said.
Democrats Contend With Platner Allegations Ahead Of Fast Approaching Primary
Democrats this weekend offered mixed responses to recent allegations against Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, with some standing by his campaign while a handful voiced deeper concerns.
Their statements follow a New York Times story published last week that detailed accounts of “unsettling” behavior by Platner toward past romantic partners. In one instance, a former partner alleged that he had twisted her arm behind her back and shoved her into a room during an argument – an allegation he denied.
“There are some allegations in this piece that, I just want to be kind of unequivocal about, are simply not true. Anything alleging physicality, anything alleging that I knew what my tattoo was,” Platner said in an MS NOW interview last week.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a staunch supporter of Platner’s, said in a CBS interview on Sunday he believed the allegations that had been brought against Platner, calling the oyster farmer’s alleged conduct “shameful” and “ugly.” However, Khanna added that Platner had taken accountability and had “redemption,” and noted that he wouldn’t support the Marine Corps veteran if there was evidence of violence or sexual assault.
Trump cuts off interview with Welker: ‘I’ve had enough’
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President Trump abruptly ended his interview with NBC News’s Kristen Welker on Friday, after the two discussed his unfounded claim that the California gubernatorial primary was “rigged.”
During a lengthy interview in Wisconsin that aired Sunday on “Meet the Press,” Trump repeated his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and said “it’s happening again right now” in California.
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra (D) on Thursday advanced to November’s general election in the Golden State, according to Decision Desk HQ. With 73 percent of the vote in as of Sunday, Becerra leads Republican Steve Hilton by less than 1 percentage point.
Hilton is more than 4.7 percentage points ahead of Democrat Tom Steyer, but Decision Desk HQ is yet to call the race for the second candidate to advance.
The president said it’s been four days “and they aren’t even close” to coming up with the results, referring to California’s slow vote-counting process. “Do you know why they’re doing that? Because they’re cheating on the election,” Trump said.
6 injured after stabbings at NYC's Penn Station, fire department says
Six people were injured, and a suspect is in custody on June 7 after stabbings were reported at Penn Station in New York City, the city's fire department said.
At around 7 p.m. local time, fire crews and emergency medical services received a 911 call reporting that a person stabbed multiple people at Penn Station, the New York City Fire Department told USA TODAY. The fire department found one victim with a serious injury, two with moderate injuries, and three with minor injuries.
Five people were transported to Bellevue Hospital and one person was transported to Cornell Hospital, the fire department said in a statement.
The suspect was taken into custody, according to the fire department. The agency did not provide further details on the incident.
"Earlier this afternoon, Amtrak Police responded to a reported stabbing at New York Penn Station. The suspect has been apprehended and an investigation is underway," an Amtrak spokesperson said in a statement to USA TODAY.
Pentagon raises alarm over Israel’s ‘unhinged’ spying on US officials: Report
The Pentagon has raised Israel’s counterintelligence threat level to its highest category, amid growing alarm that Washington’s supposed closest Middle East ally is intensifying efforts to spy on senior US officials.
The warning, reported by NBC News and The New York Times on Saturday, exposes behind the scenes tensions in a relationship Washington often treats as untouchable.
The Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency recently issued the new assessment as tensions grow between the Trump administration and Israel over the Israeli-US war on Iran.
US officials told NBC that the DIA posted an internal message raising Israel’s threat level to “critical”.
The designation signals alarm inside the Pentagon that Israel is working to monitor top US officials and obtain information about internal Trump administration deliberations on wars across the Middle East.
The New York Times reported that US intelligence has focused on Israeli efforts to eavesdrop on senior officials, including Steve Witkoff, Trump’s top negotiator, Elbridge A Colby, the Pentagon’s top policy official, and Michael P DiMino IV, one of Colby’s main deputies.
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