news

In case anyone is wondering, airstrikes in Yemen have been continuing for over 9 hours now, and I'm still providing updates here

Trump reposted this video on Truth Social about him crashing the stock market on purpose.

https://xcancel.com/unusual_whales/status/1908143516233998760

15D chess, folks!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62gj52qjjlo Buyers circle and rumours swirl as TikTok sale deadline looms

fucking 'journalists' I stg, not even a brief acknowledgement that their maybe a repeat of last time and that ByteDance may keep it

also

"TikTok without its algorithm is like Harry Potter without his wand - it's simply not as powerful," said Kelsey Chickering, principal analyst at Forrester Research.

Apparently Vangaurd is emailing all their customers trying to convince them not to sell

One big point amid all the headlines: I was texting with press secretary Karoline Leavitt during the event and she confirms that the 34 percent tariff on China is ON TOP of the previous 20 percent. So that means the rate on China will be 54 percent when these tariffs take effect.

https://x.com/EamonJavers/status/1907540655871521264

"Groceries, such an old fashioned term, but a beautiful term! It's a bag with different things in it"

They took data from here: https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c0004.html#2024

That's how you end up with Heard and McDonald Islands having 10% tariff

Heard and McDonald Islands 0.058879-0.013589=0.04529, its in millions so $58,000 in export and $13,000 in imports (but since base rate is 10%, it doesn't matter U.S. has a trade surplus). maybe someone bought some scientific equipment and brought it back?

Edit: turns out it was just misclassified

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/04/revealed-how-trump-tariffs-slugged-norfolk-island-and-uninhabited-heard-and-mcdonald-islands

Here's the sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AonIICZYCZJUulrhlAJQ6tt3WIqE-rQjBKhE26Buu94

Oh, look someone who strikes again.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces the country's military will seize large areas of land in the Gaza Strip and establish a new occupation zone called the Morag Corridor, potentially stretching from Rafah to Khan Younis.

Updated figures on US military movements to the Middle East region and the ongoing airlift operation. There has been a lot more cargo/transport aircraft, along with mid air refueling aircraft, that have made the trip since I last posted. A total of 85 transport/cargo aircraft, and 10 mid air refueling aircraft, have made trips over the last week to the ME region.

Glossary:

C-130 Hercules: small propeller driven transport aircraft, max cargo capacity of 42,000 lb (19,000 kg).

C-17 Globemaster III: Medium sized strategic airlift aircraft, max cargo capacity of 170,900 lb (77,519 kg).

C5-M Super Galaxy: Largest cargo aircraft in the USAF inventory, max cargo capacity of 281,000 lb (127,459 kg)

KC-46 Pegasus: mid air refueling aircraft, maximum amount of fuel available for transfer is 207,672 lb (94,198 kg).

KC-135 Stratotanker: mid air refueling aircraft, maximum amount of fuel available for transfer is 200,000 lb (90,719 kg)

A potential total of almost 15 million lbs (6.8 million kg) of cargo. A lot of the latest flights have been out of Fort Sill in the United States, home to the 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade, who operate, train, and perform schooling on the Patriot and THAAD air defence systems. Not mentioned in this graphic is a C-17 flight to Diego Garcia from Yokota Air Base in Japan, home to both US forces and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, who operate E-2C Air Early Warning aircraft, and Patriot PAC-2 and PAC 3 air defence systems.

According to Middle East Observer, Macron and President of Lebanon Joseph Aoun made a joint statement yesterday that Hezbollah were not responsible for the rockets fired from Lebanon and that Israel is breaching the ceasefire. I can't find any English sources, I'm assuming it's only in French right now (if true).

https://x.com/ME_Observer_/status/1907795746402746400

https://xcancel.com/ME_Observer_/status/1907795746402746400

The US deputy Middle East Envoy Morgan Ortagus arrived in Beirut today to basically tell Aoun to forcibly disarm Hezbollah or else. Lebanon was promised GCC money by the US in return for electing Aoun president and that money has failed to materialize entirely (shocker). Now they are saying Lebanon will only get the money if they "get tougher" on Hezbollah, and the UAE is specifically saying it won't give Lebanon money without normalization with Israe. Basically the US, Israel, and the Zionst Cooperation Council are trying to restart the Lebanese Civil War.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-warn-lebanon-tougher-hezbollah-unlock-gulf-cash-sources-say

Survivors of Alawite Massacres in Syria Share Unimaginable Trauma Experiences - Telesur English

Article

Alawite survivors of the massacres committed by transitional government forces in Syria have recounted their experiences of psychological trauma, described by psychiatrists as “unimaginable.” In an interview with The Cradle, a resident named Abu Mahmoud from rural Latakia shared harrowing details of how people were shot at and screamed at during the attacks.

Mahmoud witnessed the murder of his neighbors, heard the cries of children, and when he emerged from hiding, he found his village reduced to ashes, with only a few survivors and death lingering in the air. Residents of western coastal cities in Syria, such as Tartous and Latakia, continue to live in fear that forces led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) will once again pursue them. Another survivor, Umm Khaled, fled with her children to a nearby forest, walking for hours without food or water while gunfire echoed behind them. When she returned days later, she found her home burned down and the rest of her family buried under the rubble.

According to a psychiatrist identified as MA, survivors are suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and live in constant fear. The ongoing violence and instability have left deep psychological scars on those who endured these traumatic events.

NSA Director has been booted, think we can all take the day off?

LOL. The stock market is taking an absolute nosedive. I guess I should "short" something, or whatever.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2xey4m2ygo reform party member kicked out for calling Jimmy Savile a working class hero, and he looks just like you'd think

I’ve been critical of the English sign heuristic before, but good god a new Syrian flag with “FREEDOM” in all caps is so on the nose. This is from the funeral for those martyred resisting israel, doing what that flag’s government won’t.

https://t.me/warcabinet/12057

US airstrikes continue on Yemen for the 21st night in a row, with two airstrikes reported in Saada Governorate, around an area known to contain underground facilities, east of Saada city.

Two statements by the Yemeni Armed Forces earlier today:

No ballistic missiles at Israel, just a long range Sayyad one way attack drone, called 'Yaffa" for this operation. The Shark F360 drone is a mix of a quadcopter and winged drone, to allow for vertical takeoff and landing. It's a pretty small fully electric drone about 1.75m long, with a wingspan of 3.6m. Wonder how one got into Yemen in the first place. Mossad or CIA agents?

The B-2s are operating in Yemen now, and we have uncensored satellite imagery of weapons loading taking place on the B-2s. I've updated my post on it here, with the uncensored imagery.

Al Masirah TV twitter

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New banger from the armed wing of the PFLP

CW- dead Palestinians, adult and children

https://streamable.com/2bpkw7

I’d keep an eye out for another bad couple days for the stock market tomorrow and Thursday following Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement.

He’s flip flopped on some of the tariffs already, guess we’ll see if this really is ‘the big one’

If you believe the tiktok propagandists there are Uyghur separatists just out and about walking in the streets of Syria apparently that you can just walk up to. Pretty sure they're nato mercs and this is a new angle on anti China propaganda gearing up.

https://tankie.tube/w/t8QqU3RwyFbNMirmG7YVGw

A Storm In A Teacup: Danish Authorities Find Nothing Of Concern On "Russian Shadow Fleet" Ships

In January Danish regime-loyal media ran a series of scare stories about "dilapidated oil tankers" belonging to "Russia's shadow fleet", i.e. tankers with non-western insurance, being anchored in the busy Skagerrak strait to refuel and resupply. Locals were scared and the media warned of the ships being a huge environmental disaster just waiting to happen.

In response maritime authorities has been inspecting the ships. 19 ships has been inspected now and according to authorities they only found "minor violations but nothing out of the ordinary". Authorities saw no reason to take further steps in any of the cases.

2008 all over again?

What's up with Yanis? He's been having the weirdest takes on the LePen conviction

When Turkey's courts ban Erdogan's frontrunning Presidential opponent, the liberal mind rebels and rejects forthwith Erdogan's argument that the law is the law. When France's courts do they same, the liberal mind rejoices & parrots the law is the law. Mind-boggling hypocrisy!

https://bsky.app/profile/yanisvaroufakis.bsky.social/post/3lloeygmz222h

And

Varoufakis stressed that “I think Le Pen is a fascist, personally. I’d like to see her be destroyed politically.” At the same time, in his view, lawfare “has been disproportionately waged against the outer Right, because the Left has disappeared”. The Greek politician compared Le Pen’s treatment to the means used by the Democratic Party against Donald Trump, only “the French are doing it in a more obvious, less defensible way than the American Democrats.”

https://unherd.com/newsroom/yanis-varoufakis-marine-le-pen-election-ban-is-ludicrous/

Thinking that what the dems did wrong was not go hard enough on Trump seems laughable. They demonized him but also let him get away with doing a bunch of illegal shit. Is the lesson there not to demonize him? When has a fascist ever been defeated "politically"? He's saying it would somehow be better for the "left" in France if they let LePen get away with embezzlement.

What if Russia's conditions for rapprochement include the US sanctioning themselves and getting hundreds of thousands of their soldiers killed or injured (in Iran)?

Gotta even the score.

In a new book, top Biden aide describes ‘out of it’ president before Trump debate

“At his first meeting with Biden in Aspen Lodge, the president’s cabin,” Whipple writes, Klain “was startled. He’d never seen him so exhausted and out of it. Biden was unaware of what was happening in his own campaign. Halfway through the session, the president excused himself and went off to sit by the pool.

Corn Pop was a bad dude and he ran a bunch of bad boys, and I did... And back in those days -- you see, things have changed -- one of the things you had to use if you used Pomade in your hair -- you had to wearing a bathing cap. And so he was up on the board, wouldn't listen. And so I said, "Hey, Esther! Off the board or I'll come up and drag you off." Well, he came off, and he said, "I'll meet you outside." My car was mostly... These were all public housing behind you. My car, there was a gate out here. I parked my car outside the gate, and I... He said, "I'll be waiting for you." He was waiting for me with three guys and straight razors. Not a joke! There's a guy named Bill Wright, the only white guy, and he did all the pools. He was the mechanic, and I said, "What am I gonna do?" He said... There used to be a chain that went across the deep end, and he cut off a six-foot length of chain. He fold up, and he said, "You walk out with that chain and you walk to the car and say, 'You may cut me, Man, but I'm gonna wrap this chain around your head,'" and I walked up to my car! And they had (muttering)... In those days, you used top... Remember the straight razor? You'd bang 'em on the curb, get 'em rusty, put 'em in a rain barrel, gettin' 'em rusty. I said, "When I tell you to get off the board, you get off the board, and I'll kick out out again. But I shouldn't have called you Esther Williams. I apologize for that." You said, "You apologize to me?" I said, "I apologize for that. Not for throwing you out, but I apologize for what I said." He said, "Okay, "closed the straight razor, and my heart began to beat again.

Two new statements by the Yemeni Armed Forces, announcing the targeting of US Navy warships in the Red Sea with cruise missiles and drones, and shooting down a 17th MQ-9 Reaper drone, also over the Red Sea. That part didn't get translated to English though.

As usual before anyone gets their hopes up, this does not mean that the US Navy warships were hit, they were just targeted. Another MQ-9 down though.

Brigadier General Yaha Sare'e twitter

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i'm quite worried that neolib axis of eu/usa are not doing too good in the economy department and might decide that reason alone is enough to go to war to "wash away the sins" (iran for usa/ukraine for eu). euros are the most brainwashed people on the planet, followed by americans.

Which is why i support them going to war over greenland with each other. Frozen wastes give ample place for maneuvers without touching indigenous population.