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In a rare, major development related to the Israel-Hezbollah war, fresh Saturday Israeli airstrikes on Southern Lebanon on Saturday took out a group of Lebanese Army forces.

What's more is that several officers were reported killed: "Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon Saturday killed nine people including three members of the Lebanese military, the Lebanese army and state media said, days after the two sides reached a new ceasefire deal," The Associated Press reports.

"An airstrike on the road linking the city of Nabatiyeh with the town of Marjayoun occurred in the morning killing a brigadier general, a captain and another soldier, the army said without immediately releasing their names," the report continues.

"The continued, deliberate, and repeated Israeli aggression against Lebanon, its people and its army only strengthens our resolve, faith and determination," the Lebanese national forces said in its statement.

It accused Israel of thwarting all efforts "to reach a solution that would restore stability, establish a comprehensive ceasefire and lead to the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territories."

According to the BBC:

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has launched an investigation after confirming it attacked a vehicle carrying Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon on Saturday morning.

The Lebanese Army said two officers and a soldier were killed in the strike on a car, which it described as an "aggressive and barbaric raid". The IDF said the vehicle was "moving suspiciously towards forces" and gunfire had been reported in the area.

Currently Washington is applying immense pressure on the national government and army to move to 'disarm' Hezbollah; however, the Shia paramilitary group has long been the most well-armed and powerful faction in Lebanon, and is seen by most analysts as stronger than even the national army.

This is partly because the United States severely limits the kind of weaponry the Lebanese armed forces can possess, essentially sanctioning the army, on fears these weapons could be turned on Israel.

But if Lebanese officers are being killed under Israeli fire, the army is likely to feel even less incentive to move against Hezbollah. There's also serious political limitations - as Lebanon has long been a nation divided, and the end of the 20th century saw decades of internecine civil war and brutal infighting.

All of this is likely to make some of Lebanese President Joseph Aoun's statements to CNN this week deeply unpopular. He had blasted both Iran and Hezbollah for turning Lebanon into a 'bargaining chip' with the West. 

Lebanon’s Army confirms Israel has killed three army personnel on Saturday morning: two officers, with ranks of brigadier general and captain, and a soldier. https://t.co/ml8XllZqd5

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) June 6, 2026

Many Lebanese have criticized him for criticizing Hezbollah instead of heaping all the blame on the invading Israeli military.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has also responded, stating sarcastically in a post on X Saturday that given Aoun's comments, "one would think it’s Iran that has occupied a fifth of Lebanon, displaced a quarter of Lebanese and is bombing his country on daily basis."

"Had Lebanon been a bargaining chip for Iran, we’d have a deal long ago. Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President," Araghchi wrote in reference to Israel.

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

The Trump administration must restart processing claims of asylum, a federal judge ruled on June 5.

Officials must also resume adjudicating requests for immigration benefits such as work permits from nationals of 39 countries from which President Donald Trump has restricted travel, Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr., based in Rhode Island, said.

This is the same judge AFL exposed for failing to recuse from the Trump spending freeze case - despite previously leading a nonprofit that received $128M in federal funding.

The Department of Homeland Security and its U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) division, which implemented the challenged policies, said they did not agree with the ruling.

“The Left has been running the same gambit with so-called ‘animus’ claims since 2017. It is sabotage dressed in legal clothing,” James Percival, the Department of Homeland Security’s general counsel, told The Epoch Times via email.

“It goes like this: (1) the admin is racist, (2) therefore a policy I don’t like is motivated by race, (3) therefore it is invalid. They have used it on virtually every Trump era Department of Homeland Security policy.”

“These policies were wrong, plain and simple, and caused … profound fear and uncertainty for so many of our friends, neighbors, and coworkers,” Milagro Sique, CEO of Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island, one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

“Having the judicial process work as intended—by upholding the rule of law—gives us some reassurance that all is not lost and allows those who have been impacted to move forward with their lives in a meaningful way.”

The administration in late 2025 announced the policies in the wake of the shooting, allegedly by an Afghan national, of National Guard members near the White House. USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said at the time that asylum claims would not be processed “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”

A coalition of groups, including the Service Employees International Union and the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, filed a lawsuit over the policies in March. They said that the policies violated federal law because they went beyond the authority of USCIS, were arbitrary and capricious, and went against U.S. Constitutional protections.

Government lawyers said the policies fell within the authority Congress outlined in the Immigration and Naturalization Act.

McConnell said Friday in a 135-page decision that the policies “threw the lives of countless immigrants living in the United States into indeterminate legal limbo” solely because of where the immigrants were born.

He wrote that USCIS violated federal laws, in part because officials made decisions without adequate explanation.

“The agency has violated the very immigration laws that Congress has charged it with administering, as well as the administrative laws that govern the agency’s actions,” he said. “In enacting its latest immigration policies, USCIS: claims statutory and regulatory authority that it does not possess; makes decisions without the reasoned explanations that it must provide; acts without regard for the reliance interests of applicants that it must consider; and justifies its actions with pretextual concerns of ‘national security’ that mask anti-immigrant sentiments that it is forbidden from letting influence its decision-making. In legal terms that means USCIS’s actions are contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious.”

The ruling vacated the policies as illegal and set them aside, as well as two other USCIS policies.

One involved reviewing and reconsidering past decisions granting immigration benefits to any people from countries subject to Trump’s travel ban. The other featured amendments to the USCIS policy manual, requiring agency workers to take a person’s home country as a negative factor when deciding whether to grant requests for benefits.

Searching Facebook Marketplace in the AI era has revealed a strange new phenomenon: sellers are running product photos through chatbots or image generators to insert scantily clad women into listings.

This marketing ploy seemingly bets that thirst-trap imagery will boost clicks and improve the chances of selling whatever item is listed on the online marketplace.

"This dude on FB Marketplace has multiple listings for heavy Caterpillar industrial equipment superimposed with AI-generated female models. Must have industry-leading click-through rates," journalist Trung Phan wrote on X.

This dude on FB Marketplace has multiple listing for heavy Caterpillar industrial equipment superimposed with AI-generated female models. Must have industry-leading click through rates.

Absolutely crying rn. https://t.co/Mpx6QIdOtQ pic.twitter.com/EINbmxJO66

— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) May 28, 2026

Sure enough, the thirst-trap imagery appears to be working...

Oh trung I tried the same thing with my gym machinery, and im flooded with interest today LOL pic.twitter.com/a9E47WwYBy

— Simon Biscuits ? (@seempaq) May 28, 2026

Here's another example.

One Facebook Marketplace seller said the marketing ploy absolutely works.

The listings were dead until I updated the images LOL pic.twitter.com/GuhNFIthvU

— Simon Biscuits ? (@seempaq) May 28, 2026

This is a real-world example of how sellers are using AI to try to boost low click-through rates.

The military aviation and defense news blog The Aviationist has spent years tracking mysterious aircraft activity around U.S. restricted airspace. Its latest report highlights a thermal image that may reveal a previously unseen next-generation stealth fighter jet design featuring cranked-kite wings and canards near Area 51.

"Had to update this composite image with the latest mysterious aircraft. We have reported on all of them over the years, starting 12 years ago with the Amarillo and Wichita sightings, then the January 2026 image by Uncanny Expeditions, and now the most recent one by Project Fear," The Aviationist wrote on X.

Had to update this composite image with the latest mysterious aircraft. We have reported on all of them over the years, starting 12 years ago with the Amarillo and Wichita sightings, then the January 2026 image by Uncanny Expeditions, and now the most recent one by Project Fear.… pic.twitter.com/d7AeMwI6SO

— The Aviationist (@TheAviationist) June 5, 2026

The Aviationist cited a thermal image shared by the Project Fear YouTube channel earlier this week.

The Aviationist reached out to Project Fear for comment. Here's what they said:

Here's what I can say on it: This was an amazing capture! I met up with the team who recorded this to show them some potential spotting locations around the Area 51 perimeter after introducing them to the gear I often use for night sky monitoring – in this case thermal imaging cameras. We did not see anything particularly noteworthy that week, but a few days later, I get a call asking if I can take a look at something they'd captured on the thermal imager. As soon as they sent the footage over, I knew we were looking at something very interesting that has not been captured before.

Many theories are circulating on X about what exactly Project Fear captured on thermal imagery, including speculation that it could be tied to the U.S. Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program and the F-47 sixth-generation aircraft.

At the start of his second term, President Trump announced that the F-47 program would move ahead, with Boeing awarded a contract worth more than $20 billion.

Psyop? Certainly, someone wants to generate mystique around NGAD/F-47, reminding adversaries that U.S. black programs remain active. 

Via Middle East Eye

Members of Iran's World Cup 2026 administrative staff have not been given visas to enter the United States, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

According to US officials, while Iranian footballers have been granted visas for the tournament, which begins on Thursday in Mexico, some support staff are reportedly not being allowed to join the squad.

On Friday, a White House official told Reuters that the players had received their visas, after Iran's ambassador to Mexico, Abolfazl Pasandideh, said on Thursday that they had not.

Iran plays its first match on June 16 against New Zealand in Los Angeles, California. Its participation in the tournament has been the subject of much speculation after the US and Israel launched their war on Iran at the end of February.

Negotiations between the US and Iran are continuing, but both sides have continued to fire on enemy targets.

Iran's semi-official news agency Tasnim reported that the Iranian staff not granted visas include Mehdi Kharati, the executive director; Hedayat Mombini, the secretary general of the football federation; and Mohsen Motamedkia, media director.

Staff members without visas will travel to Mexico with the team while efforts to obtain the documents continue, Tasnim said.

Tehran negotiated a last-minute move of the team's base from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico, due to the visa issues and a growing feeling in Iran that the squad’s presence in the US should be kept to a minimum.

The team is scheduled to land in Tijuana on Sunday. After facing New Zealand, Iran will play Belgium in Los Angeles and Egypt in Seattle.

The US has never formally said it did not want the Iran team to stay on its territory, Pasandideh said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, however, told lawmakers on Tuesday that the US would not allow Iran to include in its delegation people linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Mehdi Taj, a former IRGC commander and now president of Iran's football federation, was denied entry for the tournament draw in Washington in December. 

"Iran's participation in the World Cup - even on the soil of what is seen as its enemy - shows that Iran seeks peace," Pasandideh said through a Spanish interpreter at the Iranian embassy in Mexico City.

Ferrari shot its load with the highly disappointing Luce EV...

Next up is American innovation, not Italian innovation: the Tesla Roadster.

?? Tesla Roadster vs. Ferrari Luce

Price - $250,000 vs. $640,000
Horsepower - 1,000+ vs. 1,035
0-60 MPH - 1.1s OR 1.9s vs. 2.4s
Top Speed - 250+ MPH vs. 194 MPH
Range - 620 miles vs. 280 miles https://t.co/uEgswwVLeD pic.twitter.com/XcP58ZRO6Z

— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2026

On Saturday, Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen told the crowd at the Tesla Takeover Europe event that the Roadster is coming "in a few weeks."

?? Tesla Chief Designer Franz Von Holzhausen, speaking to the crowd at Tesla Takeover Europe, said at the event that the Roadster is coming “in a few weeks,”

Multiple attendees have confirmed this pic.twitter.com/B1v6yb2Geq

— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 6, 2026

Absolutely perfect timing for the long-awaited EV supercar, considering the SpaceX IPO is next Friday and there are rumors that a SpaceX-Tesla merger could become a 2027 story.

BREAKING: ELON MUSK CONSIDERS MERGING $TSLA AND SPACEX AFTER IPO, per CNBC ??

It’s happening ! pic.twitter.com/BD7g4zDd1Z

— TheSonOfWalkley (@TheSonOfWalkley) May 26, 2026

On Friday, Ferrari's CEO was quoted in an interview saying, "We will not make fully autonomous cars, loud and clear. We want people to have fun, not the [computer] chips. We want to have a steering wheel and a man or a woman behind the steering wheel. Otherwise, why do you buy a Ferrari?"

Ferarri CEO in new interview: 'We will not make fully autonomous cars - loud and clear. We want the people to have fun, not the [computer] chips. We want to have a steering wheel and a man or a woman behind the steering wheel. Otherwise, why do you buy a Ferrari?"…

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 5, 2026

Perhaps the Ferrari CEO's negative sentiment toward fully autonomous cars stems from the belief that it simply can't build one that will compete with Tesla, which already has 10 billion miles of real-world driving data. 

Ferrari has already launched hybrid models that have been shunned by its customer base (read report): 

Yet did anyone tell the Ferrari CEO that AI driving mode can be switched off?

The Tesla Roadster is meant to be driven manually.

Just watch Franz show off its acceleration:

pic.twitter.com/5PjAuis1kl https://t.co/klwXeYlaOU

— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 5, 2026

A Tesla Roadster that could outperform Ferrari's Luce EV at a fraction of the cost is pure American innovation.

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of the Treasury issued a notice on Friday, announcing their plan to issue proposed regulation concerning taxation on high compensation paid by tax-exempt organizations to employees.

The notice relates to excessive compensation and excess parachute payments, the IRS said in a June 5 statement. Parachute payments are made to key employees when they are terminated or when the business undergoes a merger or acquisition. An excess parachute payment is any such payment that exceeds three times an employee’s average annual compensation for the most recent five years.

Section 4960 of the Internal Revenue Code imposes an excise tax on any nonprofit or tax-exempt organization paying an employee more than $1 million in remuneration in a tax year or an excess parachute payment, according to the notice.

The new rule changes tax applicability regarding excessive compensation.

Prior to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, taxes on such payments were applicable to a tax-exempt organization’s five highest-compensated employees for a tax year whose compensation exceeded $1 million.

But under the new rule, the excise tax is applicable to any employee whose compensation exceeds $1 million in a tax year beginning after Dec. 31, 2025. The requirement of being among the five-highest compensated employees has been eliminated.

The rule is also applicable to any former employee who was a top-five compensated employee exceeding $1 million for any tax year between Dec. 31, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2025.

There is no change to taxation on parachute payments. Such payments will continue attracting taxes as per existing rules.

The updates also provide certain exceptions regarding people offering volunteer services to tax-exempt organizations.

IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano said the latest rule “strengthens the accountability of tax-exempt organizations.” The regulation “broadens the scope of tax from a limited group of executives to potentially any highly compensated employee.”

The Treasury and the IRS are inviting public comments on the notice until Aug. 4.

The notice comes after the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) recently raised concerns about the implementation of the new regulations.

In a May 1 letter to IRS and Treasury officials, AICPA said there was a need for comprehensive guidance and transition relief given the changes made to the compensation rule.

“We respectfully urge Treasury and the IRS to prioritize the issuance of transition relief to address several immediate issues that could disrupt the operations of tax-exempt organizations,” the letter said.

“Absent timely transition relief, these issues may result in significant and unintended financial exposure for tax-exempt organizations and related entities subject to the section 4960 excise tax.”

Commenting on the latest IRS and Treasury notice, Kelsey Mayo, chief of retirement policy and regulatory affairs at the American Retirement Association (ARA), said that retirement plan professionals who work with tax-exempt employers must be aware of the notice, according to a June 5 statement from the National Association of Plan Advisors, a sister organization of the ARA.

With the changes in Section 4960, nonprofits may have to “think more carefully” regarding how they deliver benefits to their executives, Mayo said.

“Because benefits provided through a qualified retirement plan can reduce the compensation that counts toward the excise tax, advisors, TPAs, recordkeepers, and other plan professionals may have an opportunity to add value to their nonprofit clients by evaluating how their qualified plan design aligns with both their talent strategy and their excise tax exposure,” she said. TPA refers to third-party administrators who provide insurance services.