Niger & Burkina Faso Just Changed Mali’s War Overnight

 

Niger and Burkina Faso launched airstrikes inside Mali as the Alliance of Sahel States deployed 15,000 troops — Africa's first self-organized regional military response, without Western permission.

Within hours of the April 25th western-backed terrorist attack, the AES unified force was activated. But this video goes deeper than the military response. 

Ibrahim Traoré revealed in an interview that Burkina Faso once went to war with borrowed weapons — guns they had to return afterward. That was three years ago. Today those same countries are launching joint air campaigns across a 2,000-kilometer front. And underneath all of it sits a uranium secret that explains why certain powers [particularly France] have every reason to want the AES to fail.

🔍 WHAT THIS VIDEO COVERS

→ How Niger and Burkina Faso launched airstrikes in Mali within hours of the April 25th attack
→ The AES unified joint force — scaled from 5,000 to 15,000 troops before the attack even happened
→ Ibrahim Traoré's revelation about borrowed weapons and Burkina Faso's military transformation
→ The Niger uranium story — €3.5 billion exported, €459 million returned — and what changed after the AES coups
→ Why Orano's operating income collapsed from $289 million to $13 million in one year
→ Two paths for the Sahel — and what Africa's response means for the entire continent  

How & when does it all end in West Asia?

• Congratulations to the Palestinian photographer Saher Alghorra who won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for his compelling photos from Gaza. This photo, taken on March 4, 2025, just before Israel violently broke a six-week ceasefire deal, is described as follows: “Tamer Hassan al-Shafei’s family sat down to break their daily Ramadan fast in the charred remains of their home, overlooking the ruins of Beit Lahia, in Gaza. The Islamic holy month, during which observant Muslims fast until sunset, fell during a fragile ceasefire in the war. It was a humble meal, not the usual Ramadan spread. Meat and other luxuries were out of reach because of the shortage of food entering Gaza. He, his wife and his children ate cheap basics — hummus and falafel — instead.”  
• An Iranian military source told Fars News Agency: The U.S. military’s claim that it targeted six Iranian fast boats is not true, and no IRGC combat vessels were hit. Hostile U.S. forces reportedly attacked two small boats carrying civilian cargo traveling from Khasab on the Omani coast toward the Iranian coast, firing on them, destroying the boats, and killing five civilian passengers.

• Quote from George Galloway: American Imperialism has to be decisively defeated, by somebody. Or there will NEVER be peace in the world….
• Kit Klarenberg writes: A stunning investigative report by Hebrew-language outlet Ynet has laid bare the embarrassing cataclysm not only of the US-Israeli war on Iran, but the Zionist entity’s effort throughout to end the Islamic Republic via covert and overt military and intelligence operations. Violent Mossad-orchestrated protests, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s murder, and an [ill-fated] Kurdish invasion were intended to produce regime change and “total victory” over Tehran. Yet, as Ynet concludes: “what started as a far-reaching Israeli move, rich in imagination, final in its solution, ends in heartache.”

• Yesterday's drone attack is, in fact, a small test for a potential full-scale war in the future. The Habshan–Fujairah pipeline, with a capacity of 1.5 million barrels /day, expandable to 1.8 million, is UAE’s last hope for bypassing the Strait of Hormuz and exporting oil and petroleum products. If the situation escalates into a full-scale infrastructure war, this pipeline, with Saudi Arabia’s Jubail–Yanbu pipeline, will likely be among Iran’s first & heavy attacks, which will likely put it out of operation. With Hormuz closed and Fujairah out of operation, the UAE will have no option to export its oil & other products. 

• Berlin authorities have announced that law enforcement will impose restrictions on Soviet and Russian symbols during the celebrations of WW2 Victory Day. They can’t accept the fact that it was the Soviet Union that predominately liberated Europe from fascism and inflicted a crushing defeat on Nazi Germany’s war machine. It makes sense given the fact that today the Germans are arming Nazis in Ukraine to wage a proxy war against Russia and assisting Israel in waging a modern Holocaust in Gaza. As the great Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov once said: “We liberated Europe from fascism, but they will never forgive us for it.”
• Lebanese Ministry of Health: 2,702 martyrs and 8,311 wounded in the Israeli aggression against Lebanon since March 2nd.
• In a dangerous new development, the Zionist occupation forces stormed the walls of Al-Aqsa Mosque while waving flags.  

• A group of House Democrats is urging the Trump administration to publicly acknowledge Israel’s undeclared nuclear weapons program, a move that would abandon decades of U.S. policy but confirm what has been an open secret among intelligence officials since the late 1960s. In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio obtained by The Washington Post, 30 lawmakers, led by Rep. Joaquin Castro (Texas), say Washington’s silence on the program is indefensible amid the war in Iran and the acute threat of military escalation. Avner Cohen, a leading historian on Israel’s nuclear program, said the letter breaks a taboo that has endured for more than half a century. “This is something that people did not dare do before,” said Cohen, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and author of the book “Israel and the Bomb.”  

• Trump has begged South Korea to join the war against Iran and asked China and ‘its allies’ to help.  Trump says he’s asked roughly a half-dozen other countries to send warships to reopen the  Strait of Hormuz. So far none has committed. Trump even indicated he would use his long-planned trip to China to pressure Beijing to help with a new coalition meant to get oil tanker traffic moving through the strait — a notion that his treasury secretary later downplayed.

• A senior Israeli military commander has admitted that the army is killing Palestinians at a rate “not seen since 1967” in the West Bank, as regime forces continue their aggressive campaign of raids, arrests, killings, and destruction across the occupied territory.

• Esmail Baqaei, spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, noted that over these 47 years, deep distrust and suspicion have accumulated with the U.S.: “You should not expect that within a short period of time, after an extraordinarily bloody war, in which....Iran, having fought two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, two exceptionally ruthless regimes, whose brutality we witnessed over the past two and a half years in the crimes of Gaza and Lebanon, would quickly reach a settlement [with us]”.

• Alastair Crooke: Trump today seems torn between the prospect of ‘heavy’ military escalation (advocated by the Israeli-First faction) in the hope of securing an Iranian capitulation, and an extended Hormuz blockade (albeit porous), advocated by Secretary Bessent, speaks to the notion of yet another ‘forever war’. Neither option is without profound consequences.

Black Hills: Native bodies on the line blocking Pe’Sla mining

On February 27, 2026, the U.S. Forest Service approved exploratory graphite drilling a half-mile from Pe' Sla the sacred center of the Black Hills in South Dakota using a procedural shortcut that bypassed full environmental review. This is what happened next.

Community members from the Oglala chapter of the International Indigenous Youth Council, NDN Collective, and allied organizations locked themselves to drilling equipment at two of the pads, halting operations. 

After I arrived at Pe’ Sla, driving Lakota ceremonial leader David Swallow towards the contested site, a Pennington County sheriff’s deputy was blockading the road. “The road is closed to local residents only due to safety concerns,” he said. Hmmm, whose safety are they concerned about?

Turned around, we then connected with other elders and community members looking to find another way in, who confirmed that drilling had been stopped. Law enforcement was on scene. And the machines were quiet.

Three federal lawsuits are now filed: NDN Collective, Black Hills Clean Water Alliance, and Earthworks filed April 2. Nine Sioux tribes (Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Lower Brule, Oglala, Santee, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, Spirit Lake, Standing Rock, and Yankton) filed April 29–30. Lakota Law, which helped lead the original 2012 campaign to purchase Pe' Sla, is preparing a distinct fourth legal action rooted in that history.

Pe' Sla is the heart of everything that is. We reclaimed it in 2012. We are not letting it go.

Take action: Tell U.S. Interior Department Secretary Burgum to suspend the Pe' Sla permit →

https://lakotalaw.org/pesla

Chase Iron Eyes
Executive Director
Lakota People’s Law Project

Sacred Defense Fund

Francesca Albanese has warned against “Israelization” of Europe

Sovereignista.com

UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, has warned against “Israelization” of Europe and criticized the continuation of ties by some European countries with Tel Aviv. 

➡️Addressing an event in Athens in solidarity with Palestinians, Albanese said that Israel is accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide before the two biggest international courts in the world, namely the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). ​

“Until the Israeli occupation of Palestine, which is in violation of international law, international court orders and UN Security Council resolutions, ends totally and unconditionally, UN member states must not aid or assist Israel in any possible way.” 

“Instead of cutting ties with this, European states have continued to trade to protect, to arm, to sell weapons, to buy spying tools from Israel, increasing the security grip in their societies, arresting them, arresting activists, arresting activists, and crushing fundamental freedoms. This is so there are. This is the Israelization of our societies.”   ​

➡️Referring to Israel’s interception of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla late Wednesday near the Greek island of Crete: 

“I’m sorry to say that, but the fact that the Greek authorities go hand-in-hand with the Israelis, in stopping a humanitarian mission, is wrong.” 

War restarts in Strait of Hormuz - Trump makes big threats

Blue Hill, Maine Silent Vigil group keeps focus on Gaza, and US aggression against Cuba, Lebanon, Venezuela and Iran.

• Ceasefire between Iran and US officially over. The US is running its KC-135 refueling planes over the Persian Gulf and UAE simultaneously. Air defenses in the UAE were activated again amid an incoming missile/drone attack from Iran.
• Netanyahu's trial session tomorrow has been canceled due to the escalation with Iran. This trial charade that has been going on for two years.
• "Congratulations to you; what have you left me alone with?" With these words, Lebanese woman Amal Issa bid farewell to her family in the town of Zrarieh. Having already lost her son as a martyr in 2024, the occupation forces targeted her home in southern Lebanon on Friday, claiming her husband, daughter, and second son as martyrs. 

• Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Tehran strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Damascus and the assassination of the Friday prayer leader of the Sayyida Zeinab Shrine, Farhan Hassan Al-Mansour. The terrorist attacks against religious sites and scholars in Syria and the region are part of the American-Israeli conspiracy to incite sedition and division in the countries of the region. It is essential that all parties be vigilant against these conspiracies and assume their responsibilities in resolutely confronting terrorism and extremism.
• Trump must choose between “an impossible military operation or a bad deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran.” The room for U.S. decision-making has narrowed.
• Donald Trump’s team added Nick Stewart, an Iran hawk from pro-Israel lobbying think tank FDD Action, to Iran nuclear negotiations. Stewart supports strong pressure tactics (sanctions + possible military force). The negotiation team includes JD Vance, Jared Kushner, and envoy Steve Witkoff. 

 

• China says it won’t comply with US sanctions against five firms targeted for purchasing Iranian oil. Beijing's ministry of commerce says it won’t recognize nor listen to US measures. 

• New maritime data shows that 81 Iranian or Iran-linked vessels have successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz despite Washington’s claim of a naval blockade on Iran.
• The Russian Africa Corps said its troops safely escorted a convoy of more than 800 fuel tanker trucks in Bamako, Mali, dismissing the JNIM claims of a blockade on the capital. 

• Kuwait oil exports hit zero amid Hormuz blockade. For the first time since the Gulf War, Kuwait exported zero barrels of crude oil in April due to the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, Tehran is scaling back domestic oil production to prevent storage facilities from reaching maximum capacity.
• According to Zelensky and Ukrainians, Russia is committing genocide. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you war-torn Kiev. Now please compare Gaza to Ukraine just below. 

• ExxonMobil and Chevron are resisting pressure from President Trump to increase oil output despite the global energy crisis triggered by the Iran war, according to Financial Times. Executives from both companies said they are sticking to existing strategies in key regions like the Permian Basin, emphasizing long-term profitability and cash flow over rapid production increases. They argue the disruption may be temporary and that output cannot be scaled up quickly. 

• Hackers leak 150,000 secret emails from US Iran envoy. The "Handala" cyber group breached the accounts of former US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley. The leak includes thousands of private communications allegedly detailing coordination between Malley's sanctions team and several Gulf Arab states.
• Martyrs of Minab school honored on Iran's teachers' day. 

• US troop withdrawal from Germany framed as punishment. Trump's decision to pull 5,000 troops from Germany is explicitly intended to penalize Berlin for refusing to assist in military operations against Iran. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned the move signals a "disastrous trend" toward NATO's collapse.
• Lebanese resistance forces (Hezbollah) shot down an Israeli Hermes 450 drone over Nabatieh and outlined five non-negotiable conditions for a ceasefire, including unconditional Israeli withdrawal. The Israeli security cabinet is scheduled to meet to discuss the faltering northern truce. The Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom reported: A senior source in the security establishment said that the Israeli army feels embarrassed by its inability to deal with the drone issue in southern Lebanon. Washington Post reports Hezbollah is a formidable opponent of Israel.

• The Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom reports: Over the past two days, the Israeli army decided to withdraw most of the bulldozers that had been responsible for destroying infrastructure in villages in southern Lebanon after they became targets of Hezbollah explosive drones.

• Cuba can now refine its own oil thanks to a breakthrough of the Hermanos Diaz oil refinery in the city of Santiago using thermoconversion technology developed by the Oil Research Center. Havana has 20 billion barrels of oil reserves, which is enough to power the whole country for many decades. Despite this, they were unable to refine it. But now they have developed their own sovereign technology that would allow them to refine their own domestic crude oil reserves and not have to rely on buying it from countries like Venezuela, Mexico, and Russia. The island has essentially become energy independent. And the greatest of all, with the introduction of this new method along with the supply of Russian energy, the power that the US has exerted over Cuba with the oil blockade has been significantly diminished.
• Russia replaces Iran as Syria's primary oil supplier.  Moscow has increased its oil deliveries to Damascus by 75%, reaching 60,000 barrels per day. The surge in Russian shipments is filling the energy deficit left by the withdrawal of Iranian supplies amid the ongoing regional conflict.
• Members of a Ukrainian 'recruitment gang' have been filmed apprehending a man at a kindergarten, unphased by the children witnessing the violent scene, as forced mobilization across the country continues to intensify amid its conflict with Russia. 

• Bloomberg: The US Air Force agreed to buy an undisclosed number of interceptor drones from a company backed by Trump’s sons deepening the military’s ties to defense contractors linked to the first family as the US war with Iran enters its third month. This is only one example of many where the Trump family is using the presidency to enrich themselves at the expense of the American suckers.
• Times of Israel: National Security Minister Ben Gvir was presented with a birthday cake by his wife featuring a large picture of a noose at his 50th birthday party. The noose is a reference to the controversial law mandating the death penalty for Palestinians prisoners, which has long been championed by Ben Gvir and his Otzma Yehudit party. 

• UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, has warned against “Israelization” of Europe and criticized the continuation of ties by some European countries with Tel Aviv. Addressing an event in Athens in solidarity with Palestinians, Albanese said that Israel is accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide before the two biggest international courts in the world, namely the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). “Until the Israeli occupation of Palestine, which is in violation of international law, international court orders and UN Security Council resolutions, ends totally and unconditionally, UN member states must not aid or assist Israel in any possible way. Instead of cutting ties European states have continued to trade, to protect, to arm, to sell weapons, to buy spying tools from Israel, increasing the security grip in their societies, arresting activists, and crushing fundamental freedoms. This is the Israelization of our societies.” 

• And as far as foreign policy goes, few rival the UAE in nastiness. They were deeply involved in the military coup in Egypt; supported a coup attempt in Turkiye; intervened in the civil war in Libya and subsequent divide and rule; acted side by side with the death cult in West Asia to divide Somalia; supported separatists in the civil war in Sudan; were extremely aggressive against Ansarallah and the Houthis in Yemen.
• Spirit Airlines shuts down after White House rescue deal falls through. All flights have been canceled the airline said. The collapse is now well underway. 

May Day protest videos

Man on bridge to end war$

Anti-war, anti-AI protester Guido Reichstadter scaled an arch of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge Friday afternoon in Washington DC, May Day.

Police officers and fire department attempted to talk him down as he climbed the slippery platform, abandoning his shoes and socks along the way.

Editor's note: As I got Guido on the phone, from on top of the bridge, Capitol Police approached and began speaking to him. One officer took my phone to speak with Guido. Ultimately, with Guido's permission, I gave the police his number so they could speak without my phone.

After the police finished speaking to him, I got Guido Reichstadter on the phone from the top of the bridge, in the process of setting up a tent.

"I'm planning to be up here a few days... at least," he tells News2Share.

He says he wants to "end the war in Iran, remove the Trump regime from power, and to compel an end to the extinction from artificial intelligence."

About seven hours into his protest, News2Share spoke to Guido Reichstadter by phone again from an adjacent roof-top.

He says he's still doing fine, despite some difficulties with his tent, but "the wind is not that strong" so he thinks it'll be fine to keep him warm.

"More people can witness this action, that's wonderful," he responded as News2Share pointed out that the bridge has been opened again to vehicular traffic.

Filmed by Ford Fischer 

May 2 protest in Lewiston, Maine (in the rain)

On Saturday ten hearty souls braved the cold and rain to gather in Lewiston, Maine for our monthly protest that we have been moving around the state since February 2022.

Lewiston is a former textile mill town from Maine's heyday. Now like most mill towns (usually along rivers) across the state they are either boarded up or renovated for low cost apartments, art studios, warehouses, restaurants and the like.

We prefer to go to busy intersections each month and standing by the Androscoggin River bridge was certainly a good spot.

Right next to where we set up is a huge veterans memorial park with an airplane, a tank, and 7,000 names of Maine soldiers who have died over the years in America's many foreign imperialist wars.

Not long after we arrived a man drove up and parked next to where I was standing. He ceremoniously announced he was the big cheese that runs the veterans memorial and that we could not have our protest there. He made sure to attempt to impress me by saying he is a veteran. I immediately told him I was a veteran as well from the Vietnam war era. I told him we were not moving from the 'public sidewalk'. He then insisted we had no right to be there again.

By this time he was getting under my skin so I told him that 'You vets always talk about how you went to war around the world in order to protect our freedoms back home. But now you want to take away our freedom to publicly protest.'

He had a young kid with him in the car and I next said that 'you are surely not showing this kid that you believe in democracy.' 

I knew his next step would be to call the city police and within a couple minutes after he drove away I noticed a Lewiston cop car pull up on the other side of the street to check us out. We were all on the sidewalk so the cop just moved on. About half an hour later another cop car made a pass but kept on going.

My guess is this man was some level of an officer while in the military who got used to ordering people around. You can usually sense these guys right away. But my 3 1/2 years in the Air Force during the war, stationed at Travis AFB in California which was an airlift base for the US war on Vietnam, gave me my fill of such men. 

When I went into the military in early 1971 the war was going strong and it was there that I made a transition from growing up as a Young Republican Club Vice-President in the conservative panhandle of Northwest Florida to the anti-imperialist that I am today. 

Protests against the war were regularly held outside the base gates at Travis. Also the 'GI Resistance movement' was active inside the base. My first roommate in the barracks was one of the organizers and often held meetings in our room at night. Both anti-war and anti-racist Black Panther GI's came to these meetings and were directly responsible for my change from a right-winger to a leftist.

The transport planes from Travis ferried troops and weapons to Vietnam and when they returned carried the body bags of dead GI's - lined up daily on the runway just across the street from my work place. 

My mantra when I left the Air Force in mid-1974 was that 'I don't have to salute officers anymore.' 

After an hour the ten of us walked over the bridge and had a late lunch together at a nice Irish pub. We discussed why we come to these protests and reviewed our upcoming monthly schedule which now includes the following. Join us if you can.

• Saturday, June 6 in Norway, Maine by the high school at 1:30 pm
• Saturday, July 11 in Brunswick for a protest of the Navy Blue Angels airshow at the former Navy base at 9:00 am
• Saturday, July 25 in Bangor (Time & place TBA)
• Saturday, August 1 in Lubec (next to the Canadian border) at 1:30 pm 

Help us demand that our so-called governments stop these damn insane genocidal war$ on the world!

Bruce

~ Photos by MB Sullivan

Sunday song

Irish report on Global Sumud Flotilla hijacking by Israel

The Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) has condemned the interception in international waters by the Israeli military of an aid flotilla bound for Gaza earlier this week. 

All but two of the 175 activists detained by Israeli forces, and taken to the Greek island of Crete, have now been released. 

It is understood the seven Irish people held have also been released.

This evening, Sligo GP Dr Margaret Connolly, sister of President Catherine Connolly, spoke to RTÉ News from the flotilla. 

Yussra Ebrahim: Confronting the Heat

Yussra Ebrahim, whose parents immigrated from Iraq, shares an anthology of poems and reflections she wrote over the course of the Palestinian genocide.

Yussra delivers her golden words at the Portsmouth, New Hampshire chapter of CreativeMornings on 17 de abril. 

Global citizens are fed up with their corrupt rulers

• Absolute bombshell on France 24 TV. Expert Jad Isaac confirms the Zionist regime has now seized 64% of Gaza under direct military occupation. He exposes their sinister plan to squeeze Palestinians into the smallest possible area to ethnically cleanse them. Where is the UN? Where is the World Court? Where are the voices from leaders of nations around the world?
• Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, has hinted at the possibility of renewed military action against Iran. Katz’s  warning suggests that the current ceasefire may not be a permanent solution to the standoff with Iran. Katz stated, “…it is possible that soon we will be required to act again to ensure the achievement of those goals.” At the same time, Israel’s Defense Ministry announced a significant military resupply surge primarily from the US. Two cargo ships docked in Ashdod and Haifa, and multiple transport aircraft arrived within 24 hours, carrying approximately 6,500 tons of military equipment, including thousands of air and ground munitions, military trucks, and combat vehicles.

• Most Americans now say the US made the wrong decision by using military force against Iran. A new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found that 61% of Americans believe the use of military force against Iran was a mistake, while fewer than 20% described the military campaign as successful. The findings place public opposition to the war near levels seen during some of the country's most unpopular modern conflicts, including the Iraq War in 2006 and the Vietnam War in the early 1970s. The poll comes as Americans are feeling the war not only as a foreign-policy crisis but also as a kitchen-table problem. Rising gas prices, inflation fears, and broader food and economic uncertainty have become central to public anxiety over the conflict. 

• During the Israeli raid on the Global Sumud aid flotilla, German activist Hüseyin Oral reports he was beaten and robbed by Israeli soldiers while in detention. He says the soldiers beat him and stole his money and ID.

• Meet 36-year old illegal settler Yonah Schreiber, the zionist extremist who brutally attacked a 48 year old French Catholic nun in Jerusalem. Jonah pushed her to the ground and kicked her while she was in pain from the fall. A fellow illegal settler observed and did nothing to help the nun. Israel only detained Jonah after the video of his grotesque crime went viral. They are doing their best to suppress this story online. Israeli zionists appear to hate Christians.

• Trump declares it is “treasonous” to say that he is not winning the war against Iran. Anyone with any basic sense of humanity believes it is treasonous that Trump is waging an unnecessary  war, blowing up school children, and funding genocide on behalf of Israel. He's blowing his dog whistle in order to divide US public opinion. 
• The US State Department has approved massive military sales to Middle Eastern allies: Qatar: $4.01 billion (Patriot defense) plus $992 million (APKWS); Kuwait: $2.5 billion (battle command system); Israel: $992 million (APKWS); UAE: $147 million (APKWS).
• A CNN investigation reveals that most of the US military bases surrounding Iran were damaged by Iranian raids. 

• Trump told his corporate press followers that he was briefed by CENTCOM Commander Gen. Bradley Cooper and one of the options presented was to ‘blast the hell out of Iran’ and ‘finish them forever’. The Pentagon is thinking of 'field testing' a still unproven hypersonic missile. War$ in West Asia are good for testing new weapons systems say the warmongers inside the military industrial complex.

• Activists chant for Gaza and raise Palestinian flags during a demonstration in Italy; Celebrating International Workers' Day. 

• Filipino workers and activists burned effigies of Trump, Netanyahu, and Marcos Jr. as a three-headed monster on May Day outside the U.S. Embassy in Manila.
• One in four American farmers has NO fertilizer secured for spring planting. No fertilizer. No crops. No food. Farm bankruptcies are up 46% in 2025. 160,000 farms closed since 2017. Less than half of all farmers will even turn a profit this year. They're not struggling. They're being wiped out. Maybe the World Economic Forum and Bill Gates will save us all by having us eat crickets.
• Meta is allowing sanctioned Israeli settler groups to monetize content while banning Palestinian accounts, including journalists. 

• Israel has been dropping white phosphorus bombs on civilian areas in South Lebanon in the middle of the night. Launched against non-combatants. Well over one million people have been driven from their homes by the zionist IDF. The US continues to arm the IDF - funded by US taxpayers. 
• US and Israel say Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. Everyone knows that Israel (with US assistance) is the global leader of terrorism these days. Why is it OK for Israel to have nuclear weapons? Iran has actually repeatedly stated they don't intend to build nukes. They just want a civilian nuclear power program for energy production and medical purposes. 

• The daughter of US Republican State Senator Jay Block (retired military) from New Mexico says, "Israel pays money to my father, and he spreads propaganda. I am deeply ashamed of this situation. I believe my father has sold his soul to the devil. I hope his career ends!" 
• The Trump administration has literally been begging private satellite companies to hide images of destroyed US bases surrounding Iran. The Pentagon is terrified the world will see how Iran has completely humiliated Hegseth's collapsing military operation. And what about four aircraft carriers and destroyers recently having had major fires on-board? No real explanations are ever given to the taxpayers. Was it sabotage?

• Epstein class update: When the Panama Papers came out it revealed how rich people around the world are part of an enormous criminal conspiracy to dodge taxes and hoard stolen wealth in offshore accounts. Literally nothing happened except the reporter Daphne Carvana Galizia who led the investigation was assassinated.
• New York Times: With uncharacteristic insightfulness the article (below) argues that the amalgamation of US 'tactical' victories in Iran did not lead to any strategic victory, and has somehow contradictorily left Iran in the stronger negotiating position. The reason is that the US has been exposed as woefully unprepared for modern warfare. America has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on ships and planes that might be good at defeating competitors’ ships and planes but ineffective against cheaper, mass-produced weapons. The American economy does not have the industrial capacity to produce enough of the weapons and equipment it needs. And the country has struggled to fix these problems because of a sclerotic government and a consolidated defense industry that resists change.

• Reuters: Saudi Arabia’s only legal liquor store, serving foreign diplomats and residents in the capital, Riyadh, is experiencing severe shortages due to supply problems stemming from the war in Iran. The shortages affect many types of beverages, including wine, beer, and tequila. According to the report, only “very expensive drinks or unknown brands” remain on the shelves.
• Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom – Yoav Limor: 'It is difficult to ignore the frustration within the Israeli army regarding the situation in Lebanon. What was supposed to be a strategic ambush that would bring Hezbollah to its knees has turned into a strategic ambush against Israel.'
• Tasnim – How did the closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupt Starlink satellite internet? The common perception is that SpaceX’s Starlink network, which includes more than 9,400 low-Earth-orbit satellites, is completely independent from ground infrastructure. However, an analysis published by the American outlet HSToday claimed that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz since March 2026 has paralyzed the supply chain for critical equipment used by the network. Helium, cooling gases, and specialized semiconductors, all of which transit through the strait, are now effectively blocked. Each Starlink ground station includes 1.4-meter antennas and equipment weighing several tons, which reach West Asia and Africa only by sea through the Strait of Hormuz. With the strait closed, no new equipment or spare parts are arriving. The report states that if undersea cables, which carry 97% of global internet traffic, were also cut it would create a 'no cables, no satellites' scenario. 

• Brigadier General Mohammad Jafar Asadi, Assistant for Inspection Affairs at Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, stated: 'The Iranian Armed Forces are in a state of full readiness. We are completely prepared for any new adventure or act of recklessness by the Americans.  The actions and statements of US officials are propaganda aimed first at lowering oil prices and secondly at escaping the predicament they have placed themselves in. The armed forces, the people, and the various political currents all recognize the necessity of preserving unity and cohesion.' 

the funnies

May 2: Remembering Odessa massacre

This video is by Regis Tremblay who joined Phil Wilayto and me in Odessa, Ukraine on May 2, 2016 for a remembrance event with the Mother's Committee of those killed at the Trades Union Hall in 2014 by Nazis.

International Solidarity with the People of Odessa!

On May 2, 2014, the people of Odessa, Ukraine, experienced the worst civil atrocity in Europe since World War II. Scores of people died when a fascist-led mob chased a group of progressive activists into the five-story House of Trade Unions in Kulikovo Square - and then set it on fire. Some died from the flames, some from smoke inhalation, some from gunshot wounds. Some leapt from the building, only to be beaten to death when they hit the ground. Dozens of cellphone videos posted on the Internet clearly show that this was a mass lynching. Just google “May 2, 2014, Odessa.”

But even though many of the attackers’ faces are clearly visible on the videos, to date not one of the perpetrators has been brought to justice - while victims who survived the fire were sent to jail, many without ever being charged with a crime.

See much more on the May 2 crime here

Bruce

France fears a united Africa

May Day international news round-up

• Irish activist Fra Hughes reports from Crete: Many illegally detained participants from the non-violent Global Sumud Flotilla savagely beaten. Broken noses, broken ribs, many needing hospitalization after being kidnapped by the zio baby killers. They beat them and stole their money. Please raise your voices and hit the streets. Two members illegally transported to the zio racist state. Demand our governments are not complicit in the deportation of their citizens from Greece who have committed no crime.

• Spain has summoned the Israeli regime's charge d'affaires and strongly condemned the interception and arrest of 175 Gaza-bound Sumud aid flotilla activists, including 30 Spanish citizens.
• The paperwork and legalities for passage through the Strait of Hormuz are being completed by Iran. One by one they are negotiating with countries for passage. ‘Indian ships can pass through Strait of Hormuz without restrictions’ says Iran’s Ambassador to India. ‘Passage of Indian ships has been completely secure, and this process will continue in the future’. Iran grants Russia exemption of all transit fees to cross the Strait of Hormuz. Insurance companies are beginning to insure ships and cargo for the passage.  

• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine told the Senate during hearings about Moscow's aid to Tehran. He refused to go into details, given the public nature of the hearing. “There are certainly certain actions there," Caine said. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, a Republican and Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, went even further. “There is no doubt that Vladimir Putin's Russia is taking serious actions to undermine our efforts to achieve success in Iran," he said.

• Iran's President says US naval blockade is an extension of military operations. "Continuation of this oppressive approach is intolerable."
• Footage published on Iranian channels with the description that Iranian security forces installed these inflatable rocket launchers throughout the country and reported them to Mossad-affiliated ‘Iran International’, under the guise of an ordinary citizen. Many flight sorties and missiles were wasted bombing these mockups. 

• Tehran Municipality says Iranians whose homes have been damaged are welcomed to stay at hotels until their homes are rebuilt. The municipality will cover all expenses. So far, 6,677 citizens have been accommodated in 45 hotels and accommodation complexes.
• Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico: We are under pressure from oil prices depending on how Trump sleeps. When he sleeps well, prices go down. When he doesn’t and makes some statement, oil automatically goes up. 

• A major fire aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins has disabled the ship, causing a full loss of power and propulsion in the Indo-Pacific region. 
• Major damage caused to the Ghandour hospital following the Israeli airstrike that targeted Nabatieh al-Fawqa, southern Lebanon. 
• CBS News (now a Zionist run TV network): U.S. officials say the Iran war has likely cost closer to $50 billion—about double the $25 billion publicly cited by the Pentagon. The lower figure excluded major expenses like destroyed equipment and damaged bases. Much of the added cost comes from replacing lost munitions and assets, including dozens of MQ-9 Reaper drones.

• Iran has unveiled a plan to counter the US military's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, activating a rail route to supply oil to Beijing.
• Israeli settler attacks nun outside a church in occupied Jerusalem, pushing and kicking her on the ground as another settler watches and does nothing. 

• Banksy unveiled a new sculpture in Waterloo Place, London. A suited man blinded by his own flag and walking off a platform, widely read as satire on blind patriotism. 

• Question: The US is playing Peru in the World Cup. Who do you cheer for? Pope Leo response: 'Probably Peru'. Boycott FIFA games in the US.

• CNN investigation says some of the US facilities in the region have become unusable after Iranian attacks during the war. At least 16 US bases in 8 countries were seriously damaged by Iranian attacks. The targeted sites include key radar, communications, and aircraft systems—high-value assets that are difficult and costly to replace. One congressional aide said assessments range from “fully destroyed” to “repairable but strategically vital.”

• Pakistani officials: We conveyed to Washington a revised Iranian response to the latest US conditions for ending the war. 

China building parallel satellite navigation system

The United States is trying to control what the world can see in the Iran conflict. But in doing so, it may have created an opening for China to step in—and take over from space.

As American companies like Maxar Technologies and Planet Labs restrict access to satellite data, Chinese firms are rapidly expanding their own capabilities. From high-frequency imaging constellations like Jilin-1 to navigation systems like BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, a parallel system is emerging—one that doesn’t rely on the United States.

This video breaks down:

• Why the U.S. is clamping down on open-source intelligence
• How China is filling the gap with satellite imagery
• The role of space-based intelligence in modern warfare
• And why control over information may matter more than control over the battlefield

Because this isn’t just about Iran.