Sheeran Gets RAILED as Demonstrations for Palestine Ramp-up Across the World
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Wednesday, September 16, 2026
No peace in Middle East without 2-state solution: UN-chief
from Middle East Monitor
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that lasting peace in the Middle East is impossible without a two-state solution for the Palestinians.
"In the context of upheaval across the Middle East, we must never forget the dramatic suffering of the Palestinian people -- both in Gaza and the West Bank," he said at a news conference ahead of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.
"The peace plan for Gaza must be fully implemented with unrestricted humanitarian aid," he said.
Turning to the occupied West Bank, Guterres said: “And the creeping annexation of the West Bank must stop.”
He stressed that a political resolution remains the only path forward. "There will be no peace in the Middle East without realizing the two-state solution," he said.
Responding to a question on a letter by Palestine's UN Envoy Riyad Mansour detailing Israeli officials' statements on "ethnic cleansing and forced expulsion," and whether Palestinians still see a real path to the two-state solution, Guterres said: “We are extremely worried with the situation that is taking place.”
Welcoming the efforts of High Representative for Gaza at the Board of Peace Nickolay Mladenov "to advance the two stages of the peace plan," Guterres said: “It is clear that Israel is not accepting the implementation of the peace plan as it is conceived now.”
Guterres also pointed to the continued Israeli airstrikes on Gaza "having serious threats to the civilian population," saying: "There is a creeping annexation with violence by the settlers, sometimes with the support of security forces" in the occupied West Bank.
He described the situation in the West Bank as "absolutely intolerable."
Ed Sheeran tour hit by walkouts over Macklemore's removal over Gaza stance
from Daily Sabah
Ed Sheeran's North and South American tour was thrown into turmoil Tuesday as four opening acts pulled out in solidarity with rapper Macklemore after he was dropped over pro-Palestinian remarks made onstage.
Hours after Sheeran posted on social media about Macklemore's ouster and attributed the decision to the tour's promoters, Irish acts Aaron Rowe and Beoga, the Danish band Lukas Graham, and Finneas posted on Instagram that they were leaving the tour.
Rowe and Lukas Graham would have been replacements for Macklemore on Sheeran’s remaining U.S. dates, while Beoga had been performing several songs - including some the Irish folk band co-wrote - with Sheeran around the middle of each set. Finneas, who is Billie Eilish’s brother and musical collaborator, was due to tour with Sheeran in South America later this year.
"Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” Finneas said on Instagram. "I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.”...
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Syrians take to the streets as empty Western pledges leave them starving
from Tehran Times
Demonstrations flared from Aleppo and Idlib to Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor after the regime of Ahmad "al-Jolani" al-Sharra announced an abrupt 40 percent price hike on diesel, along with steep increases on gasoline and cooking gas.
Protesters burned tires, blocked the strategic M5 highway linking Damascus to Aleppo, and intercepted crude oil tankers moving through eastern provinces.
Angry crowds demanded the immediate dismissal of Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir.
The ruling clique in Damascus cited global market volatility and maintenance at the Baniyas refinery. That explanation offered no comfort to a population enduring systemic collapse.
200 nights, one flag
from Tehran Times
On Kharg Island, the darkness settles over the humid waters of the Persian Gulf. In Shiraz, the lights of the squares come on beneath the evening sky. In Sanandaj, people make their way toward Azadi Square. In Birjand, families gather in the cold. In Tonekabon, on the Caspian coast, an elderly war veteran walks slowly toward the crowd.
And in Arak, beneath the lights of Martyrs Square, a woman sits behind a sewing machine.
Her name is Zahra Fattahi.
For almost 200 nights, she has brought the machine with her, repairing damaged Iranian flags and preparing them to be raised again.
That image — a woman, a sewing machine, a piece of torn fabric and a square filled with people — may say more about these nights than any official statement.
Two hundred nights have now passed since nightly gatherings began in cities across Iran following the outbreak of war. What started in the immediate aftermath of the conflict has, according to reports by Mehr News Agency correspondents, continued through heat, humidity, rain and winter cold.
The gatherings have been different from city to city. Some have centered on mourning. Others have included cultural programs, Quran recitations, music, children's activities, food and tea booths, speeches and family gatherings.
But beneath the differences is one recurring image: people returning to the same public spaces night after night...
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U.S. Makes, Israel Takes: The Real Story of U.S.-Israeli Military Cooperation
from Drop Site News
When Israel deployed its Iron Beam laser weapon for the first time last December, the announcement by leading Israeli defense firms Rafael and Elbit Systems was met with fawning coverage worldwide. The futuristic laser system, designed to shoot drones and rockets out of the sky, was celebrated as a demonstration of the Israeli weapons industry’s technological sophistication.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense described Iron Beam as “Israel’s first domestically developed laser interception system,” while touting the country as a pioneer in missile defense. The Arrow anti-ballistic missile system, another key example of Israel’s purportedly homegrown ingenuity, was heavily employed to defend from Iranian missile attacks during two recent wars.
That alleged ingenuity is at the center of a debate roiling Washington this month as Congress returns to debates about whether to create a new office in the Pentagon to coordinate U.S. and Israeli military research, testing, and industrial production, giving institutional architecture to a relationship that is already deeply intertwined on a de facto basis. The legislation, known as Section 219, was included in the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act, but remains contested in the Senate. Backers of the bill argue that tighter coordination with Israel should not be seen as a giveaway or cost to the United States, but rather is a boon to U.S. military capacity because the U.S. benefits more from the partnership than Israel. Arrow and Iron Beam are routinely held up as case studies of such innovation.
But the real story of how these weapons were developed is quite different. In fact, both weapons systems were developed and financed by the United States before being handed off to Israel by acts of Congress, according to government documents and interviews with key personnel involved in their development—despite warnings from U.S. intelligence agencies that transferring the tech to Israel effectively hands it over to U.S. adversaries such as China and Russia.
The pattern has long been cause for concern inside the intelligence community and among some in the Pentagon, but the mandates have come directly from Congress.
David Pyne, who worked as a civilian in the Pentagon office that oversaw development of the Arrow 2 program in the early 2000s, said it still bothered him that the American military put in so much work, and American taxpayers footed the bill, yet the U.S. couldn’t even fully benefit from the system. “They didn’t contribute a dime into the program, but the thing that pissed me off at the time, and obviously since, is that they would not share the final product,” said Pyne in relation to Israeli participation in the program...
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Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Tucker Interviews Finkelstein and Other News
Tucker Interviews Finkelstein and Other News
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Iranian Security Chief Says No Talks With US Until ‘Iran’s Conditions Are Met’
from AntiWar
Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Monday that there would be no talks between Tehran and Washington until “Iran’s conditions are met,” comments that came after President Trump claimed that Iran “badly” wants a deal.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social: “The failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly. I will determine whether or not the USA. will choose to engage – The concept of which we are open to. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The post reflected a change in Trump’s position, as he recently said he was no longer interested in negotiations with Iran, something Rezaei pointed out in his response to the US president...
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Macklemore removed from Ed Sheeran's US tour due to Palestine support
from Daily Sabah
U.S. rapper Macklemore, a staunch voice for people of Palestine, was removed on Monday from the remaining dates of Ed Sheeran’s U.S. tour after several venues allegedly objected to his participation.
Macklemore, who has repeatedly spoken out in support of Palestinians and called for a "free Palestine" during performances, had been scheduled to appear at eight of the 10 remaining shows on Sheeran’s U.S. leg of the Loop Tour.
Messina Touring Group, promoter of the U.S. tour, said in a statement to Rolling Stone that it had been notified by venues that they would not allow concerts featuring Macklemore, adding that his participation could have led to the cancellation of the tour and affected hundreds of thousands of fans.
"After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates," the promoter said.
The venues reportedly objecting to the rapper include Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida...
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