Politics
Mango x Eckhaus Latta Is The Cool Girl Summer Collab, And It’s Going Fast
We hope you love the products we recommend! All of them were independently selected by our editors. Just so you know, HuffPost UK may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them. Oh, and FYI — prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.
The fashion high street fashion collabs have been dropping thick and fast over the last couple of years – Sandy Liang x GAP last year, Victoria Beckham x Gap and Cecilie Bahnsen x Uniqlo earlier this year.
Now, Mango has dropped the designer collab of the summer, with its Eckhaus Latta collection that dropped everything.
Having already spent an embarrassing amount of money on the collab, it’s safe to say I’m obsessed.
From bright red woven bags, to chunky bangles, foiled jeans, and breezy dresses, there’s something for everyone.
Whether you’re looking for a refresh to your work wardrobe, need new ‘going out’ clothes, or want a new jangly accessory to spice up your summer looks, I’ve rounded up my faves from the collection to shop now. But move quick, it’s selling out…
Politics
Scary Movie Reviews: Critics Slam ‘Dull’ And ‘Lazy’ Sequel
Horror is having a resurgence, with films like Obsession, Backrooms, Sinners and Weapons becoming some of the most talked about films of the last 12 months.
It’s no surprise, then, that the Scary Movie franchise has been rebooted for a sixth outing, this time taking shots at the likes of The Substance, Get Out and the latest instalments in the Scream series.
This time round, the comedy-horror follows Anna Faris’ Cindy, Marlon Wayans’ Shorty, Shawn Wayans’ Ray and Regina Hall’s Brenda as they’re targeted once again by a mysterious, masked killer.
It’s been 13 years since the last Scary Movie was in cinemas and 25 years since the Wayans brothers last appeared in the franchise, so anticipation was high among fans for the new iteration.
However, critics aren’t quite as hyped about the horror parody franchise’s return, calling it “exhausting”, “predictable” and “dull”.
Here are what the reviews are saying about the sixth Scary Movie…
“This ‘rebootiquel’, as one of the characters refers to it, needs fresh inspiration and not just a lazy retread of the same old meta contortions if it’s to have a life much beyond its opening weekend.”
“As ever, the film is really just an excuse to string together a bunch of cinematic in-jokes, meaning it lives or dies on the strength of its sketches. The result is a slow death that drags even at 96 minutes.”

“The new film, which steps right up to mock itself for being a ‘rebootiquel’, is as thick and layered with legacy characters, and also new characters, as the most convoluted straining-for-a-demographic-home-run Scream sequel.
“It’s jammed with spoof-genre history, but that makes it feel more exhausting than exhilarating. It’s a top-heavy satirical party that’s become so meta it’s meh.”
“It’s hard to see a world where young folk not brought up on the originals, who probably weren’t born when Scream came out, would have any interest in this old-fashioned format which isn’t funny, certainly isn’t scary (not that it tries to be) and feels about as current as a Carry On film.
“Instead it’s an unchallenging stinky old sweater of a movie, which might be deeply unfashionable and unappealing but reminds you of the days when you could smoke inside pubs and people used landlines.”
“For all the expected (if not all that pointed) mockery of legacy sequels, there is a certain comfort and cheer in seeing this cast back together again in pursuit of dumb laughs, even if the earlier films weren’t especially good either.
“Yet there are also increasing notes of sourness as Scary Movie goes on – a lack of generosity toward the younger generation that goes past playful ribbing and sometimes feels downright hostile to the very existence of anyone who dares follow them.”
“Scary Movie tradition is to refer to job-lots of other films in scenes which only barely qualify as send-ups. It’s also series tradition to be just behind the curve, so nods to Terrifier, Sinners, Get Out, Weapons, Longlegs, M3GAN, Candyman, The Substance and Nosferatu will be old news to audiences who’ve moved on to Backrooms, Obsession, and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein (the likely targets of a seventh instalment).”
“While new elevated Gen Z horrors like Obsession and Backrooms are pulling record box office, Scary Movie is determined to dumb the genre back down again: stoned blokes exclaiming ‘I’m so high!’; dated pronoun gags; a lazy reliance on sex toys and penis size to provide punchlines.”

“It’s expected to make some big box office bucks this weekend, but sadly this reboot, simply called once again Scary Movie, is surprisingly devoid of many laughs. Instead we get a flat-footed and predictable satire that looks like the Wayans just threw whatever tired ideas they had at the wall to see what still sticks.”
“Oh boy, is Scary Movie frantic. With no less than five screenwriters spitballing ideas at director Michael Tiddes, his film has absolutely no flow. It jars and bumps like a bucking bronco – sketch comedy at a hyperactive pace, tossing out clunkers and punchlines, just to see what sticks.”
“The irony here is how resolutely inoffensive Scary Movie actually is. What you think you’re going to get here is pretty much exactly what it is, only further eroded by its loose idea of a narrative arc. Even by parody movie standards, it falls prey to our age of meta humor, cramming in too many movie references where the reference itself is often the punchline.”
“Sucky or not, Scary Movie is still a broad comedy, and a lot can be forgiven if it’s funny. It’s frequently funny. Some of the jokes backfire, horribly, and others are so tired they’re pathetic, but one out of every four punchlines hits hard.
“The celebrity cameo in the pre-credits sketch is inspired, and whenever Scary Movie falls back on old-fashioned slapstick, the comedic timing and Looney Tunes physics are hilarious as hell. The old cast knows how to make bad jokes work, or at least how to get away with them, and the new cast is extremely game.
“If you want to gaggle about gay panic jokes and celebrity cameos – including an admittedly great one in the cold open that I won’t spoil – then the new Scary Movie lives up to its legacy. But it also sinks beneath it too often to give it a free pass.”
“In some ways, Scary Movie 6 reads less like a parody of real horror culture and more like a vague representation of what some Hollywood executives think a modern scary movie is.”
“In general, Scary Movie 2026’s joke success rate is unfortunately on the low side, feeling like maybe 3 or 4 out of every 10 jokes hit the mark.
“There are genuinely funny and clever gags here, to be sure, including surreal touches such as a moment involving a knife stabbing a poster and how the poster itself reacts. But there are also too many jokes that are whiffs or fall into the ‘hey, I remember when that happened in that other movie’ basket.”
Scary Movie is in cinemas now.
Politics
Will There Be More UK Heatwaves In 2026?
On 1 June, the official start of summer, the Met Office released its three-month outlook for the UK.
The meteorological service explained on its site that this outlook is not an exact prediction or a guarantee of what will happen in the season. Instead, they say, it’s about broader trends; you can’t say for sure whether something like a heatwave will happen based on this information.
Nonetheless, they added, the most “notable” part of their most recent outlook is the expected hotter-than-usual UK summer temperatures.
“It follows that there is an increased chance of heatwave conditions developing at times,” they said.
We have already had an unusually hot start to the year, with temperatures reaching a record-breaking 35.1°C in Kew Gardens this May.
The Met Office has previously said that hotter summers are becoming more likely in the UK in general.
When will the next heatwaves be?
This outlook doesn’t aim to calculate exact dates, nor does it say there definitely will be heatwaves.
But it did mention that higher pressure, linked to hotter weather, is expected in the middle of June after a rainy start to the month.
“Towards the end of June, low pressure may begin to have more of an influence, especially across the south, where heavy showers and thunderstorms become more probable. It may also become hot in parts of the south,” the Met Office shared.
Why has this year been so hot?
Even for the UK, 2026′s weather has been especially volatile. We went from record-breaking heatwaves to floods in a matter of days.
The Met Office’s Dr Emily Carlisle previously said this is part of a broader warming trend.
“This spring highlights both the natural variability of the UK’s weather and the longer-term warming we are observing. While conditions varied through the season, all three months of meteorological spring recorded mean temperatures within the UK’s top ten warmest on record,” she stated.
“While we expect fluctuations from year to year, this spring shows some of the changes we’re seeing in our weather patterns, with more extreme conditions becoming more frequent. The fact that nine of the ten warmest springs in England have occurred since 2007 illustrates this ongoing shift in the UK’s climate.”
The Met Office added that factors like the predicted 2026 El Niño can inform their three-month outlooks.
Politics
All 15 New Ryanair Routes From UK And EU Destinations
Though Ryanair recently cut flights across 19 airports, including those in the UK, Ireland, France, and Spain, they’ve also launched some brand-new routes for 2026.
But while Simple Flying reports the airline’s busiest bases include London Stansted, Dublin, Milan Bergamo, Brussels Charleroi, and Barcelona, none of the new routes are in those airports.
Instead, the 15 new routes, which were launched on 1 and 2 June respectively, include destinations like Poland’s Gdańsk and Albania’s Tirana.
The UK’s Manchester airport will get a brand-new Ryanair link to Spain’s Castellón, too.
Full list of 15 new Ryanair routes for summer 2026
Per The Daily Express, these include:
- Bologna – Castellón
- Forli – Cagliari
- Parma – Reggio Calabria
- Rimini – Cologne/Bonn
- Rimini – Catania
- Manchester – Castellón
- Gdańsk – Bucharest
- Gdańsk – Palermo
- Katowice – Aarhus
- Katowice – Lamezia Terme
- Tirana – Alghero
- Tirana – Genoa
- Tirana – Parma
- Tirana – Wroclaw
- Zadar – Cork.
Manchester fliers have a new route to an underrated Spanish destination
These changes mean passengers from Manchester Airport now have a direct Ryanair flight to Spain’s Castellón.
Lonely Planet wrote that while “you don’t hear a great deal about the province of Castellón, to the north of the Valencia region,” the region’s airport, which saw its first commercial flight in 2015, years after officially opening, made it more viable for visitors.
Ryanair was the first airline to fly to what was then dubbed a “ghost” airport, The Guardian reported in 2015.
Over a decade on, the carrier has added Manchester and Bologna connections to its existing routes at the Valencian base. They added an Essex route to the destination in April, too.
Airports aside, Castellón has often been lauded as a quieter Spanish location with fewer tourists but tonnes of local charm.
Stansted Airport described the area, located on the country’s East coast, as a hidden gem.
“Castellon de la Plana’s sleepy city streets hide many treasures for the discerning tourist. If you’re hunting for a holiday off the beaten track, away from the hustle and bustle of Barcelona or Madrid but still bursting with unique Spanish charm, there is nowhere better than Castellon de la Plana,” they wrote.
“It’s great for families too with loads of local attractions including nearby beaches, escape rooms and hot springs.”
Politics
Amazon Prime Day Is Coming, Here Are The Top Early Deals To Look Out For
We hope you love the products we recommend! All of them were independently selected by our editors. Just so you know, HuffPost UK may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them. Oh, and FYI — prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.
This is it… one of the best times of year is finally here. We love a sale, so aside from Black Friday and Boxing Day, we’re always eagerly waiting for the next Amazon Prime Day to roll around so we can stock up on our favourite essentials at a discount.
In 2026, Amazon is deciding to do things a little differently, and it’s moved its annual Prime Day Sale forward a few weeks – so it really is like Christmas has come early.
Although the sale doesn’t officially launch until 23rd June, some of the best brands out there have graced us by launching some early deals to get your hands on now.
That’s right, from today you can nab savings across beauty, tech, fashion, homes, and toys. Plus, some of our favourite brands are in on the fun, including Shark, Dyson, Samsung, Nothing, Russell Hobbs, adidas, Levi’s, LEGO, Garmin, and OATLY.
To make sure you’re prepared when the sale rolls around, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know to make the most of Amazon Prime Day, and some of the best early deals to shop now.
What is Amazon Prime Day?
Prime Day is Amazon’s annual sale, which sees deals across hundreds of brands and a whopping 35 product categories.
Spread over four days, the sales are intended for Amazon Prime members only, so you’ll need to make sure you sign up here if you haven’t already to take part.
When is Amazon Prime Day 2026?
Funny you should ask, because Amazon Prime Day has just been announced for 23rd to 26th June. Although the sale usually runs in July, Amazon clearly felt our desperation and moved it forward to the end of June as a treat to our wallets (oh, and to celebrate its 20th birthday).
Expect sales to launch early on 23rd June, and end late on 26th June, with huge savings across on thousands of products.
How do I take part in Amazon Prime Day?
Just like in previous years, you’ll need to be an Amazon Prime member to participate in the Prime Day sale.
You can create an account, and then you’ll be able to save early deals and keep and eye on them as they drop up to 40% off in savings when the sale launches on 23rd June.
This year, Amazon will be offering curated lists exclusively for Prime members, meaning you’ll get daily recommendations based on your previous purchases and you won’t miss if there are discounts on some of your favourite essentials. Thanks, Amazon.
Best early Amazon Prime Day deals to shop now
We can’t speak for you, but we simply can’t wait for the sales to begin. So to help you get your baskets prepared, we’ve rounded up some of the best early deals to shop now, or to keep an eye on ahead of the sale.
60% off
Want to ensure security for your home? You’ll no doubt know about Ring doorbells by now, but this one comes with whopping savings on not only the bell itself but a wifi extender, chime box, and nightlight, which all work to make sure you can keep an eye on your front door no matter where you are in the world.
Allergy season is deadly enough without worrying about pet hair all over your house. To make sure your house is completely pollen, dust, and hair-free, this cordless hoover from Shark has a HEPA filter that removes even the smallest particles of dust from the air. The charge lasts for 50 minutes, which is enough to do your whole house in one go, and it even has a handy floor light so you can see the spots you’ve missed, even of a late night manic clean (we’ve all been there). Don’t believe us? Our audience editor, Hannah, sings its praises for saving her from allergy season.
47% off
It’s smoothie season! So if you prefer to drink your greens, it’s time to upgrade to a blender that won’t leave you with clumps. Whether you’re making a gazpacho, frozen marg, or your favourite juice, this blender can handle up to two litres of liquid, and it’ll work with hot food come soup season, too. And, so you don’t risk nicking your fingers while you clean it, it comes with dishwasher-safe parts, too.
12% off
If you’re anything like me, being expected to choose between filter coffee and espresso is an impossible feat. To save you having to agonise, this Ninja machine allows you to do both: brew a whole pot at the start of the day or simply pop in a coffee pod for espresso in an instant. It has its own steam wand, too, so you can perfect your latte art in no time.
40% off
Who doesn’t want hair that makes them look like a million bucks? We’re big fans of everything Color Wow does, but this latest launch is designed to leave your hair looking shiny and smooth, like you’ve had a big blow out but without the heat. No matter your hair type, a spritz of this after your shower is enough to leave your hair frizz-free and glossy for days.
52% off
Tired of shaving every time your hair grows back? This at home hair laser will save you from shaving for up to two whole years after using it for just three months, but the good news is you’ll be able to see visible results after just one session. Unlike laser hair removal appointments that are spenny and require you go to back once your hair grows back, this device is a one-off cost, and you’ll have a 100 day money-back guarantee if you don’t like it.
All you need to do for painless hair removal is use the device for 10 minutes (because that’s somehow all it takes for a full-body session!) two times a month for three months to see lasting results. To take any doubts you might have out of the equation, sync the device up with the app, which will track your sessions and make sure you haven’t missed any areas.
Plus, the reviews speak for themselves, with one five-star reviewer saying: “This is a bit of a game changer for me as it’s so straightforward to use, and the app takes the guesswork out of it completely. If you’re a novice like me then you can’t go far wrong with this set up.”
56% off
No one wants cuts all over their face every time they shave. Luckily, Braun has created this razor that works on wet and dry skin, so you can get a precise and knick-free shave every time. With two settings, turbo and standard, you’ll be able to look sharp no matter how much of a time crunch you’re on. It even charges in five minutes so you won’t find yourself having to wait around for hours to make sure you can get your face presentable before a big moment.
25% off
Whether you’re working out at home or on a run in your local park, these headphones have all the noise cancellation you could want. Loaded with 30 hours of battery life, you don’t have to worry that they’ll run out of battery, and they’re sweat and water resistant to take all the heat you can give ’em while you work out. To make sure they sit perfectly in your ear, they come with four extra bud sizes, which means when you switch from transparency to noise cancellation mode, there’s nothing that could distract you from getting your sweat on.
12% off
PC crew, stand up! If you’re looking for an ultra-light laptop, look no further than this one from Samsung that comes in at under 2kg. Whether you’re coding, gaming, or making your latest reel, the AI chip on this laptop is designed to make your workflow completely seamless. It connects to other Galaxy devices in a second, and you can even use your Galaxy phone as your webcam. Plus, it has speedy charging that gets you to 33% in as little as 30 minutes, and the battery provides up to 19 hours of video runtime for endless fun on the go.
25% off
Time to block the world out – these noise-cancelling headphones are padded with the softest ear-moulding cushioning that makes sure they mould to your ears. Once both pads are firmly in place, Bose uses spacial audio that makes the sound personalised to your ears, and feels like it’s coming from inside your head. Plus, there noise cancellation is elite, and there are no sound leads, meaning you can shut the outside off and lock in to your own world.
39% off
Living your best analogue life? For a reading and note-taking experience with zero distractions, this Kindle has it all. As well as the regular functionality of a Kindle, it has a built-in notepad, so you can draw or write as you would on a pad (but keep it organised) or add your thoughts into the margins of books as you go.
12% off
Whether you’re trying to get a jog in or simply attempting to survive the morning commute, no one wants headphones that fall out every few seconds, so Shockz has created these specifically for premium sound and to make sure you don’t lose one of your precious belongings. Unlike other headphone models, these lightweight clip on buds won’t budge even an inch when you’re running or jumping.
30% off
In case you (somehow) missed this, most women can’t orgasm from penetration alone. But if there’s one sure fire way to get you over the finish line (and quick) it’s a rabbit vibrator: blended G-spot and clit stimulation that feels like, well, bliss. This one from Lovehoney is loaded with 10 vibration speeds, and comes with a sweet four inch shaft, making it ideal for beginners.
Politics
I have psoriasis and scientists THINK they might've found the cause
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Politics
Can You Finish The Rivals Quote? (With Season 2 Cast)
We gathered some iconic quotes from Jilly Cooper’s books and the Rivals series so far. Can Alex Hassell, Nafessa Williams, Bella Maclean, Katherine Parkinson, Danny Dyer, Emily Atack, Rufus Jones and Luke Pasqualino identify the missing word?
Politics
When Is Rivals Season 2 Back? Why The Disney+ Hit Is Facing A Major Break
This article contains spoilers for the most recent episode of Rivals.
The second season of Rivals has arguably been an even bigger hit than the first.
So far, critics are loving it – and fans are loving it even more thanks to the steamy affairs, swooning romances and dramatic feuds that have unfolded in the new episodes .
However, fans have now been left reeling at the news that Rivals is taking a mid-season break.
It had previously been announced that Disney+ would be splitting season two of the Jilly Cooper adaptation into two separate sex-episode halves, with Friday’s instalment the last to come before the show’s months-long hiatus.
As fans contemplate when they will next see David Tennant’s Tony, Danny Dyer’s Freddie and Alex Hassell’s Rupert Campbell-Black again, here’s what we know about the return of Rivals …
Why has Rivals been split into two parts?
Episode six of the second season of Rivals ended on a huge cliffhanger, with a tragic death in the Baddingham family and a reignited affair between Lizzie and Freddie.
As a result, we’re already itching to know exactly what’s going to happen next.
The show’s writer, Laura Wade, hinted to TechRadar that this cliffhanger was exactly why such a frustrating wait between episodes six and seven of Rivals was introduced.
Prepare yourself, as the writer teases that these shockers are just the tip of the iceberg for what’s to come.
“We’ve got some really huge story moments coming up later in the series and it’d be lovely for those bits of story to just have a moment to sink in with viewers, building up some anticipation,” she explained.

Laura added: “There’s a massive plot twist at the end of episode six. I think that’s when we break off for four or five months. But I think that will keep people thinking, talking and arguing about what’s going to happen next… in a very good way.”
The woman behind bringing our favourite characters to life explained that Rivals’ producers wanted to “drag out that enjoyment a little bit” and leave fans wanting more.
But Laura also has a more practical reason for why the show is having such a long hiatus
“Also, we’ve got the Fifa World Cup coming up, so we’re releasing the first half before the football,” she pointed out. “Get that out of the way, and then release the second half.”
When will Rivals season 2 episode 7 be released?
We know season two of Rivals consists of 12 episodes, but Disney+ has yet to release news on when we can watch the remaining six.
However, what we do know is that we can likely expect the remaining episodes to land after the World Cup, which finishes mid-July and in the Autumn period.
Rumours have suggested we could be waiting as long as October, with the writers telling Film Hounds they expect episode 12 to come in December.
Laura explained to Tech Radar that the first part of season two of Rival had “spring like stuff” and that the second half has “autumnal vibes”.
“On screen, it runs into Christmas, which allows us to sort of parcel it out for everybody to savour the story,” she said, hinting at the time period of part two of series two of Rivals.
Rivals is available to stream on Disney+ now.
Politics
Iran strikes Israel after Israel bomb’s Beirut’s Dahiyeh to kill peace talks
Iran has launched at least two and as many as five (so far) waves of drones and at least ten ballistic missiles against Israel. The strikes, described by Tehran as a “warning shot”, came in retaliation for Israel attacking Dahiyeh in southern Beirut. Iran had warned Israel that it would strike its north if Netanyahu launched attacks on Dahiyeh. Israel claimed to have shot down all the incoming barrage, but even UK state-corporate media have reported numerous successful strikes. The attack was the first direct Iranian retaliation against Israel in two months. Local footage also appears to show missiles reaching targets:
The diaper force claimed they had intercepted all missiles, but this POV shows impact of an Iranian missile on northern occupied Palestine! pic.twitter.com/1CEIdRcjia
— Marcus d’Osint
(@WarFrontIntel) June 7, 2026
The barrages were watched by Palestinians in Gaza, giving them a rare reprieve from daily Israeli war crimes:
Palestinians in Gaza get some respite from the genocide as Iranian missiles fly high in the sky in response to Israel bombing Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/SMmCnILz6X
— Paddystinian (@Paddystinian) June 7, 2026
Peace-talk killer
The wanted war criminal Netanyahu ordered the attack in an obvious attempt to provoke an Iranian response in the hopes of killing even the limping peace talks between Trump and Iran. Trump’s supposed peace deal was plainly ridiculous. Israel would have a free hand to destroy and murder in southern Lebanon but not bombing Beirut, in return for Lebanese resistance forces ceasing all defence. But even that was too much for the Tel Aviv warmonger and the ethno-supremacist fanatics holding him up.
Iran — More than they can chew
However, as on previous occasions the Israeli regime has almost certainly bitten off more than it can chew. Iran has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to destroy large areas of Israel if provoked. It has also repeatedly shown it can make US bases in the region untenable, destroy Arab vassal-states and keep the Hormuz Straight closed.
The scale of Iran’s response appears so far to be moderate. But it is already draining Israeli and US air defences that the imperialist powers are nowhere near replenishing. Netanyahu shows no sign of ceasing his attempted ‘scorched earth’ land theft until he is battered into doing so. And like any nazis, he and his faction are threatening mass reprisals against civilians for the successes of the regional resistance.
Featured image via Twitter
By Skwawkbox
Politics
Israel and the US are weaponising starvation in Lebanon
In the current negotiations over Lebanon’s borders, the United States does not sit at the table as an impartial broker of peace, but as the orchestrator of a calculated financial siege.
The Trump administration is utilising underhanded economic warfare, targeted banking blockades, and weaponising the global dollar system to deliberately starve the Lebanese state into a position of absolute geopolitical capitulation.
Lebanon — Weaponised interdependence
As formal diplomatic delegations gather under the polished chandeliers of international summit rooms to debate lines on a map, an ordinary Lebanese citizen stands in a dim Beirut neighbourhood, calculating whether their remaining cash can cover both a gallon of generator fuel and tomorrow’s bread.
Six years into an unprecedented financial collapse, the average Lebanese family does not experience geopolitics as an abstract chess match of border demilitarisation or sovereign decrees; they experience it as a crushing, daily struggle against acute inflation, a worthless currency, and a state that has systematically evaporated their life savings. It is precisely within this landscape of exhaustion and human despair that the true nature of modern diplomacy reveals itself.
This is not a failure of diplomatic mediation; it is the deliberate application of what political scientists call “weaponised interdependence” — the exploitation of a weaker state’s reliance on global financial networks to force geopolitical compliance.
This financial warfare translates into concrete reality through a dual-track strategy of surgical exclusion and conditional lifeline dependency, transforming the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) into an auxiliary wing of military command.
On the first track, Washington aggressively suffocates domestic liquidity by targeting Lebanon’s highly vulnerable, post-collapse cash-and-carry economy. By blacklisting government-licensed financial entities — such as the recent sanctions levelled against widespread exchange houses like Jood SARL — and threatening to sever the country from the global SWIFT banking network, the U.S. creates a profound chilling effect.
Because the Lebanese banking sector is effectively comatose, this threat of secondary sanctions forces surviving local financial agents into a state of structural hyper-compliance, blockading the nation from the inside out and cutting off access to the global dollar system unless Beirut adheres to American political dictates.
US finances the Lebanese Army
On the second track, the United States exercises direct leverage by financing the daily operations of the bankrupt state apparatus itself, weaponising Lebanon’s institutional paralysis at the negotiating table. Recognising that the severe depreciation of the Lebanese Lira had reduced a soldier’s monthly wage to a fraction of its original value, Washington stepped in with $230 million in massive “livelihood support” programs.
This funding directly bankrolls the salaries and cash stipends of over 70,000 Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and internal security personnel. Far from a gesture of pure “selflessness”, this direct dependency ensures that when the LAF is tasked with securing southern borders, its soldiers fuel their patrols and feed their families using money provided by the very “mediator” demanding their strategic compromise. This multi-million-dollar lifeline is explicitly tied to geopolitical benchmarks, heavily pressuring the Lebanese cabinet into adopting secret disarmament timelines and enforcing UN Resolution 1701 on Western terms.
By simultaneously choking the private financial sector and directly paying the state’s defenders, the United States forces Lebanon to enter high-stakes negotiations not as a sovereign peer, but as a financial dependent unable to separate its national defence doctrine from its immediate fiscal survival.
Financial blackmail
By withholding structural IMF packages and essential reconstruction funds, the U.S. ensures that every diplomatic demand — be it the surrender of territory or the granting of Israeli operational freedom — is framed as a necessary transaction for a loaf of bread or a pack of medicine. In this environment, the “negotiating table” is merely an ultimatum disguised as a choice: Lebanon must either trade its foundational security for a respite from manufactured poverty, or face total economic liquidation.
This financial extraction reaches its peak in the post-war reconstruction framework, where the U.S. and its Gulf allies have transformed humanitarian recovery into a tool of political blackmail. While basic emergency aid is permitted to trickle in to keep the country on high-stakes life support, the multi-billion-dollar funding required to rebuild shattered towns and vital civil infrastructure is being explicitly withheld behind a wall of geopolitical conditionalities.
Lebanon — the ultimatum
Lebanon is presented with a calculated ultimatum: it will receive no structural economic relief, no international sovereign loans, and no capital to resurrect its obliterated border-region economy unless it capitulates to sweeping security concessions that compromise its territory and disarm its defensive capabilities.
By weaponising the very devastation of the landscape, this strategy ensures that the physical rubble of Southern Lebanon remains a permanent economic monument of punishment, forcing a starved population to choose between the immediate necessity of a roof over their heads and the abstract principle of a compromised national sovereignty.
In conclusion, evaluating these critical diplomatic talks through the lens of traditional conflict resolution is a deliberate act of blindness. When a nation enters negotiations with its financial sector structurally blockaded and its national army dependent on its mediator’s payroll — just to feed its soldiers, the results will more than likely be dire.
By weaponising Lebanon’s engineered poverty and conditioning its post-war reconstruction on sweeping security concessions, the United States and Israel have fundamentally altered the landscape of modern diplomacy. They have demonstrated that a dominant superpower no longer needs to achieve total military victory on the battlefield to rewrite a country’s geography or displace its population; it merely needs to starve its institutions into submission.
If the international community continues to celebrate these predatory agreements as triumphs of peace, it will codify a dangerous global precedent: that true sovereignty is a luxury reserved for the affluent alone, and that for the broken and bankrupt, stability will always come at the price of capitulation.
Featured image via Marwan Tahtah/Getty Images
Politics
Active Grandparenting Could Slow Brain Ageing
Not all of our dementia risk is in our control. But The Lancet’s standing commission on dementia previously found that 45% of factors that can increase our likelihood of developing the condition are “potentially modifiable”.
This includes things like not smoking, exercising more often, and controlling high blood pressure.
But these might not be the only ways to lower our risk of cognitive decline, sometimes seen as a precursor to dementia.
According to research published in Psychology and Ageing, being an active grandparent might slow brain ageing.
“Grandparents who provide care for their grandchildren tend to show better cognitive functioning than those who do not”
This paper looked at 2,887 grandparents aged 50+ (their average age was 67) who took part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
Researchers asked participants to fill in questionnaires and take cognitive tests three times in the period from 2016-2022.
Questions centred on how active grandparents were in their grandchildren’s lives, including by watching them overnight, caring for them while ill, helping them with homework, playing with them, prepping meals for them, and more.
Generally, grandparents who provided childcare for their children’s children had better memory and verbal fluency results than those who didn’t. This association stood regardless of how often they cared for the kids or the type of care.
Grandmothers, but not grandfathers, who took care of their grandchildren saw less cognitive decline according to the study’s tests across the years than those who didn’t.
The paper read, “Grandparents who provide care for their grandchildren tend to show better cognitive functioning than those who do not. For grandmothers, these benefits also result in a slower cognitive decline later on.”
You don’t have to grandparent constantly to see benefits
The study stressed that providing childcare for grandkids at all, regardless of hours spent doing so, was linked to a lower risk of cognitive decline.
“What stood out most to us was that being a caregiving grandparent seemed to matter more for cognitive functioning than how often grandparents provided care or what exactly they did with their grandchildren,” study author and lead researcher Flavia Chereches told the American Psychological Association.
“More research is needed to replicate these findings, yet, if there are benefits associated with caregiving for grandparents, they might not depend on how often care is provided, or on the specific activities done with grandchildren, but rather on the broader experience of being involved with caregiving.”
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