Global

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu persistently declares his ambition to "change the face of the Middle East". Yet, his repeated assertions seem to clash with the unfolding reality on the ground.

 Netanyahu's opportunistic relationship with language is now proving detrimental to his country. The Israeli leader undoubtedly grasps fundamental marketing principles, particularly the power of strong branding and consistent messaging. However, for any product to succeed over time, clever branding alone is insufficient; the product itself must live up to at least a minimum degree of expectation.

 Netanyahu's "product," however, has proven utterly defective, yet the 75-year-old Israeli Prime Minister stubbornly refuses to abandon his outdated marketing techniques.

 But what exactly is Netanyahu selling?

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's embarrassed and disgraced Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra resisted demands on June 25 that she resign, shrugging off warnings by politicians, analysts and the media of a possible military coup after she criticized a Royal Thai Army commander during a leaked phone call with Cambodia's de facto leader Hun Sen.

"Analysts said another coup would create more problems than it would solve. It would be a disaster for the country, which has still not fully recovered from the consequences of the previous coup in 2014," the conservative Bangkok Post warned in a June 20 editorial.

"Despite assurances from the army chief about protecting democracy, concerns are mounting over a possible military intervention," Bloomberg news reported on June 20.

Ms. Paetongtarn faces a no confidence vote in parliament on July 3, and a hearing at the Constitutional Court on July 8 inquiring into her leaked conversation with Hun Sen.

Either action could end her prime ministry.

On June 24, US President Donald Trump announced a truce between Israel and Iran following nearly two weeks of open warfare.

Israel began the war, launching a surprise offensive on June 13, with airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, missile installations, and senior military and scientific personnel, in addition to numerous civilian targets. 

In response, Iran launched a wave of ballistic missiles and drones deep into Israeli territory, triggering air raid sirens across Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Beersheba and numerous other locations, causing unprecedented destruction in the country. 

What began as a bilateral escalation quickly spiraled into something far more consequential: a direct confrontation between the United States and Iran.

On June 22, the United States Air Force and Navy carried out a full-scale assault on three Iranian nuclear sites—Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan—in a coordinated strike dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer. Seven B-2 bombers of the 509th Bomb Wing allegedly flew nonstop from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to deliver the strikes. 

BANGKOK, Thailand -- A deadly Emerald Triangle border feud between Thailand and Cambodia has worsened to include economic boycotts, frontier closures, disputed claims over Hindu temples north of Angkor Wat, and an embarrassing, trust-breaking leaked phone call between the two nations' leaders about Thailand's military.

Also at stake is Thailand's political stability and survival of its fragile, rival-packed coalition government which is denying perceptions of being obsequious and soft on Cambodia while the Royal Thai Army favors a strong response.

Claiming to defend their side of the frontier, Thai armed forces shot dead one Cambodian soldier on May 28 in jungle and scrubland known as the Emerald Triangle where eastern Thailand, northern Cambodia, and southern Laos meet.

The Thai-Cambodian border includes a no man's zone that is not officially demarcated, attracting human and wildlife traffickers, illegal loggers, smugglers, fugitives, and other criminals.