Russian officials have welcomed Warsaw’s decision to strip Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state honor. The decision came after Kiev named a military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a nationalist force implicated in massacres of Poles and Jews during World War II.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki announced the move on Friday, saying Kiev had crossed a red line. He argued that “historical truth is not and can never be a bargaining chip” and that remembering the victims was “the moral duty of the Polish state.” 

On June 11 and 12, I participated in the 2026 Global Human Rights Governance Forum in Beijing, alongside nearly 300 participants from 91 countries, including government officials, academics, experts, and a large number of Chinese leaders. I [Jean-Pierre PAGE] delivered the following address.

Droit au développement, droits de l’homme les réponses du socialisme aux caractéristiques chinoises.

Right to development, human rights: socialism's responses to Chinese characteristics.

BY Jean-Pierre PAGE

I would like to begin by quoting President Xi Jinping at the 2024 G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro: "Escaping poverty is not an end in itself, but the starting point of a new life, a new quest!"

The pro-establishment, Brussels-based publication Politico Europe, owned by Germany’s Axel Springer SE, has refused to publish an exclusive article written by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Lavrov’s article was initially slated for publication in the Brussels-based Politico Europe, but due to a “last-minute decision by the outlet’s editorial team,” the publication was canceled, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

A letter from afar by A. Lincoln

As received by David North

The following letter, signed “A. Lincoln” but without a return address or subject line, appeared in my email this morning. No sooner had I made a copy of the letter than it disappeared from my inbox. Despite its strange and unexplained origin, the signature demands that attention be given to the letter; and, for this reason, it is being made available to readers of the WSWS.

***

China has an important role to play in ensuring that artificial intelligence serves humanity rather than replacing it, RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan has said.

She made the remarks during a lengthy interview with Zhang Weiwei, a professor of international relations at Fudan University who hosts ‘China Now’ on Shanghai’s Dragon TV, which aired on Wednesday.

RT’s editor-in-chief expressed concern that rapidly developing artificial intelligence “is already changing people, and I fear that it will change and then replace humanity” at some point in the future.

One Nation says leader Pauline Hanson’s safety was compromised when activist group GetUp was able to unfurl a stunt banner behind her as she delivered her first-ever speech at the National Press Club in Canberra.

Hanson pushed on to outline plans to clamp down on Muslim migration, end multiculturalism and axe the climate change department.

Speaking after Wednesday’s event, Hanson’s chief of staff, James Ashby, said, “there are safety concerns around Pauline’s security”. He demanded the club impose a lifetime ban on the activist group, including the organisation’s media and campaigns lead, David Sharaz.

The club issued an apology to Hanson and said neither its staff nor its contractors had any involvement in the incident and that it was the work of third parties. Footage has been handed to the Australian Federal Police.

..Iran says an end to Israel’s hostilities in Lebanon is inseparable from the deal. But the Israelis are saying “our forces will remain in the country indefinitely.” Where is all this going to lead? Let’s welcome back to the program a friend of ours, the academic author and broadcaster, and long-time contributor to Iran’s Press TV, and he has traveled extensively in Iran, it’s always a pleasure to welcome back to the show our old pal Kevin Barrett. Kevin, how are you?

Richie Allen Interview: Iran Deal, Israel, Jewish Victimization, and Why the UK May Throw Me In Prison

Can I read aloud "Why I Support Hamas" at Hyde Park Speaker's Corner?

KEVIN BARRETT

Let’s give Donald Trump credit for one thing… He kept his word and lifted the US blockade on Iranian ships and Iran is going to town with its oil tankers moving in and out of the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz. The picture above shows ships — marked red and green — moving as of 22:55 hours Eastern time on 15 June 2026. 

The Straight of Hormuz is Open for Iranian Business… Oil is Moving and Iran is Getting Paid

by Larry C. Johnson

This does not mean that the MOU with Iran, which is supposed to be signed in Geneva on Friday, will hold, but it is a step in the direction of de-escalation. So the question we ought to ask is why did Donald Trump blink and accept the proposal that Iran proffered way back in April?

During a press conference at the G7 meeting in France US President Donald Trump criticized Israel’s way of waging war against Hizbullah.

Video via FOXnews.

Partial transcript:

I tell you what – Israel is fighting Hizbullah too long and too many people are being killed. And you don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you are looking for somebody. Because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses and not all are Hizbullah. That I can tell you.

New tax cuts to help with the cost of living
A new tax cut for every Australian worker
The Working Australians Tax Offset (WATO) provides an additional tax cut of up to $250 for working Australians on top of the tax cuts in the 2024–25 Budget and the two upcoming rounds announced in the 2025–26 Budget. This will benefit over 13 million Australian workers.

The WATO is a permanent, annual tax offset of up to $250 from the 2027–28 income year for all Australian workers. This increases the effective tax‑free threshold for Australian workers by nearly $1,800 to $19,985 (or up to $24,985 for workers eligible for the Low Income Tax Offset). Of the 13 million Australian workers who receive the WATO, 97 per cent are expected to receive the full $250 offset.

Residents of Lorne, on Victoria's scenic Great Ocean Road, have been locked in a battle of wits for years now.

They've been fighting skirmishes with a large flock of increasingly intelligent sulphur-crested cockatoos that love lifting the lids of the town's wheelie bins and spreading rubbish on the ground.

"When holiday-makers and Airbnbs, etc, leave on a Sunday, they put the bin out, overfill it, and the cockies just throw rubbish all over the road," says Allan Walls from the Lorne and District Men's Shed.

The birds have grown so dexterous that they can now lift the lids on bins that aren't overfilled, and they have shared that knowledge with other birds in their flock. 

Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom, President Emmanuel Macron of France, and Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany met on 7 June with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine to reiterate their unwavering support for Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s illegal invasion and next steps in negotiations to support a just and lasting peace. They underlined that Europe had an important role to play in any settlement, as a steadfast supporter of Ukraine. Leaders were clear that all efforts should be conducted in closest cooperation with Ukraine, wider European partners, and the US.

CRASS, BOMBASTIC, DEVIOUS, CLOWNING, PUSHY, IDIOTIC AND MANY OTHER UNFLATTERING EPITHETS DEFINE TRUMP — DONALD J TRUMP... DONALD IS THE RESULTING BOIL ON THE ARSE OF AMERICA AFTER YEARS OF UNDERLYING INFECTION... IT HAS THREATENED TO TAKE THE ENTIRE WORLD WITH ITS DISEASE....

BUT TRUMP CAME TO POWER AFTER A LONG LINE OF AMERICAN DECEIT AND DISASTROUS FOREIGN POLICY LED BY THE AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM OF THE 1990S... TO NAME A FEW CRAPPY OF THESE AMERICAN LEADERS, NIXON, BUSH SENIOR, CLINTON, BUSH, OBAMA, TRUMP, BIDEN, THEN BACK TO TRUMP....

Declining trust in government is helping fuel One Nation’s rise, and the failure to properly regulate lobbying has left powerful insiders in gambling, defence and fossil fuels with too much influence over public policy.

John Menadue

Declining trust in government and parliament are important reasons for the rise of One Nation. Some of that lack of trust is caused by the Albanese government.