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Foreign Affairs (News/Activism)

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  • FBI Offers $200K Reward for Former Air Force Agent Who Defected to Iran

    05/14/2026 8:48:43 PM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 13 replies
    Townhall ^ | 05/14/2026 | Scott McClallen
    The FBI is offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension and prosecution of Monica Witt, a former U.S. service member and counterintelligence agent.Witt was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia in February 2019 on charges of espionage, including transmitting national defense information to the government of Iran.Witt, a former active-duty U.S. Air Force intelligence specialist and special agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, served in the military between 1997 and 2008 before working as a U.S. government contractor until 2010. FBI Washington Field Office Announces $200,000 Reward for Information...
  • CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Raul Castro’s grandson in Havana, US and Cuban officials say

    05/14/2026 8:40:22 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 10 replies
    AP News ^ | May 14, 2026 | ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ and ERIC TUCKER
    HAVANA (AP) — CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials including Raúl Castro’s grandson during a high-level visit to the island Thursday, Cuban and U.S. officials said. Ratcliffe met with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas and the head of Cuban intelligence services, and discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability and security issues. A CIA official confirmed the meetings to the AP. Ratcliffe was there “to personally deliver President Donald Trump’s message that the United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes,’' the CIA official said....
  • Wait, China Is Gonna Buy Oil From WHERE?

    05/14/2026 8:38:50 PM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 7 replies
    PJ Media ^ | 05/14/2026 | Stephen Green
    "They're looking to explore Alaska" is the latest word on how Communist China might reduce its dependence on uncertain Persian Gulf oil imports, according to a Fox News report on Thursday. As you must know by now, President Donald Trump and his impressive entourage are in Beijing for a two-day summit with Chinese Communist Party boss Xi Jinping, which always makes for great TV. I grew up watching presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush meet with an accelerating array of Soviet party bosses, usually so that they could agree that neither side would build more nuclear missiles...
  • U.S. moving to indict Cuba's Raúl Castro, sources say

    05/14/2026 8:36:16 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 3 replies
    CBS News ^ | May 14, 2026 | Jennifer Jacobs, Sarah N. Lynch
    The U.S. is taking steps to indict Raúl Castro, the 94-year-old former president of Cuba and brother of Fidel, in connection with the downing of planes 30 years ago, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The potential indictment — which would need to be approved by a grand jury — is expected to focus on Cuba's deadly 1996 shootdown of planes operated by humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. The plan comes as the U.S. heaps pressure on the Cuban government. The Trump administration has threatened heavy tariffs on any country...
  • Iran Seizes Ship Loaded with Weapons, Steers It Toward Territorial Waters: Report

    05/14/2026 11:02:39 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 27 replies
    Western Journal ^ | May 14, 2026 | Jack Davis
    A new report revealed that Iran has seized a ship laden with weapons and is taking it back to Iran. The so-called “floating armory” was based in the Gulf of Oman, according to Vanguard, a maritime risk management company. The ship is “bound for Iranian territorial waters,” Britain’s Maritime Trade Operations group said, according to the BBC. The BBC said the Honduras-flagged Hui Chuan had told Vanguard it was operating as a floating armory, designed to store weapons that would be needed by security companies that protect ships from piracy. The BBC said the ship was last documented to be...
  • Golden Dome missile shield could top $1.2T, budget watchdog says

    05/14/2026 10:21:21 AM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 21 replies
    Seeking Alpha ^ | 05/14/2026
    A new estimate from the Congressional Budget Office suggests that the cost of building and maintaining the proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense system could reach roughly $1.2 trillion over two decades, far exceeding the $185 billion figure previously cited by Pentagon leadership. The ambitious program aims to significantly expand existing U.S. missile defense infrastructure. Plans include bolstering ground-based interceptors, upgrading sensor networks and enhancing command systems, while also introducing a major space-based component designed to identify, monitor and potentially intercept threats from orbit. This orbital layer would rely on a large network of satellites, including systems capable of engaging incoming...
  • Cuba says oil and diesel supplies have run dry under U.S. sanctions

    05/14/2026 10:15:31 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 18 replies
    CNBC ^ | May 14, 2026 | Chloe Taylor
    Key Points Cuban Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy told state media the island nation has run out of fuel oil and diesel. Protests broke out in Havana on Wednesday as blackouts in the capital continued. The Trump administration, which has effectively blocked oil shipments to Cuba since January, has offered assistance in exchange for political reform. =========================================================== Cuba has run out of oil and diesel, its energy minister said on Wednesday, as an ongoing U.S. blockade starves the island nation of fuel. “The sum of the different types of fuel: crude oil, fuel oil, of which we have...
  • Russia Pummels Kyiv After Putin Hints That War Could End Soon

    05/14/2026 4:02:57 AM PDT · by Cronos · 63 replies
    The New York Times ^ | May 14, 2026 | Siobhán O’Grady
    Russia pummeled Ukraine’s capital with hundreds of drones and missiles early Thursday, the latest in a string of deadly Russian strikes this week. The attacks suggested that President Vladimir V. Putin had little intention of de-escalating his war, after he declared recently that he believed it was “coming to a close.” Explosions shook Kyiv, the capital, over several hours Thursday morning as Ukrainian forces tried to intercept and shoot down the drones and missiles, some of which evaded overwhelmed air-defense systems. The attack included cruise and ballistic missiles that Moscow often stockpiles for mass bombardments. As the sun rose, rescue...
  • Russia says it's establishing 'full partnership' with Afghan Taliban

    05/14/2026 2:28:58 AM PDT · by Apparatchik · 42 replies
    Reuters via Yahoo ^ | 14 May 2026 | Reuters
    MOSCOW, May 14 (Reuters) - Russia is establishing a "full-fledged partnership" with Afghanistan's ruling Taliban and is encouraging ‌other countries in the region to expand cooperation ‌with Kabul, a senior Russian security official was quoted on Thursday ​as saying. Russia last year became the first country to formally recognise the Islamist Taliban government that seized power in August 2021 as U.S.-led forces staged a chaotic withdrawal ‌from Afghanistan after ⁠20 years of war. Interfax news agency quoted Russian official Sergei Shoigu as saying cooperation ⁠with Kabul was important for the security and development of the region. Shoigu, who is secretary...
  • Walz administration accused whistleblowers of being ‘racist’ against Somali fraudsters: Oversight report

    05/14/2026 12:55:21 AM PDT · by Olog-hai · 19 replies
    Washington Examiner ^ | May 13, 2026 3:54pm ET | Mia Cathell
    The Minnesota House fraud prevention and oversight committee released its final report following a two-year investigation into the state’s fraud crisis, concluding this week that Gov. Tim Walz’s (D-MN) administration allowed fraud to persist by protecting Somali fraudsters from state regulators out of concerns for cultural sensitivity, even accusing rank-and-file investigators of racially profiling suspected scammers. According to the committee’s 84-page report on “Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Minnesota,” adopted Wednesday, when government employees flagged suspicious billing patterns to their supervisors, officials in the Walz administration ignored, demoted, and retaliated against the whistleblowers, at times accusing them of being “xenophobic”...
  • Danish Prime Minister Fredriksen fails to form coalition, liberal takes over

    05/13/2026 10:36:54 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 16 replies
    EURACTIV with AFP ^ | May 9, 2026; Last updated: May 11, 2026 | Anupriya Datta
    After weeks of negotiations, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has failed to form a government... King Frederik X has now asked Liberal Party leader Troels Lund Poulsen to lead talks...Under the King's mandate, Poulsen is now expected to explore the formation of a government that excludes both the Social Democrats and the Moderates, signalling a major shift to the right in Denmark's political landscape.The move came after weeks of difficult coalition talks following Denmark's fragmented March snap election, which saw 12 parties enter parliament, with only three winning more than 10% of the vote.Although Frederiksen's Social Democrats recorded their weakest...
  • Zimbabwe to return land Mugabe seized from white farmers

    05/13/2026 9:56:40 PM PDT · by Cronos · 45 replies
    Msn ^ | 10th May 2026
    Zimbabwe will return dozens of foreign-owned farms seized more than two decades ago during a land reform drive, but is not reversing the contested policy, the agriculture minister said Friday. The land grab was launched by longtime ruler Robert Mugabe in 2000, with thousands of white farmers evicted, often violently, and their land redistributed to black Zimbabweans The government will return 67 farms covered by bilateral investment pacts "but which remained un-occupied" to the investors, Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka said in a statement. The investors are from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. More than 400 white farmers would be...
  • US-Greenland Deal: Is the US in talks with Denmark to open new bases in Greenland?

    05/13/2026 9:38:07 PM PDT · by Cronos · 13 replies
    The Sunday Guardian ^ | 13th May 2026 | Avichal chayan
    The United States of America is in active talks with Greenland and Denmark to expand its military presence in Greenland. US officials are seeking to open three new bases in the south of the territory, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark, as they work to resolve a diplomatic crisis sparked by President Donald Trump when he threatened to seize Greenland by force. Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, mentioned on Tuesday that increasing the U.S. military presence in the Arctic territory was ‌part of ongoing negotiations with Washington, as the United States’ desire to own or control the territory remains alive The...
  • Massive Ukraine aid package to get House vote after backdoor maneuver to buck GOP leadership

    05/13/2026 6:58:27 PM PDT · by MinorityRepublican · 11 replies
    New York Post ^ | May 13, 2026 | Ryan King
    The House will have to take up a major security package for war-torn Ukraine after enough Republicans joined Democrats to give the needed 218 signatures to force a vote. A vote is likely to come in the next few weeks on the package that would marshal $1.3 billion in security aid to Ukraine and allow the war-torn country to get up to $8 billion in additional loan support. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced the bill in the House last year, where it sat for months. It would also slap tighter sanctions...
  • Whistleblower Tells Congress the CIA Illegally Spied on White House Officials Investigating COVID Origins

    05/13/2026 7:44:55 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 7 replies
    Reason ^ | May 13, 2026 | Christian Britschgi
    CIA officer James Erdman told the Senate's Homeland Security Committee that his employer suppressed its own assessments that COVID likely came from a lab. The former head of the Trump administration's investigation into COVID-19's origins told Congress today that the CIA actively frustrated his work by withholding records, retaliating against agency personnel who cooperated with the investigation, and surveilling investigators' computer and phone usage and contact with whistleblowers. "These were Americans being spied upon illegally while executing duties directed by the president and under the director of National Intelligence," James Erdman III, a current CIA officer who led the Office...
  • Elon Musk just defended America better than every politician in Washington combined.

    05/13/2026 6:14:20 PM PDT · by SmokingJoe · 57 replies
    X ^ | 05/14/2026 | Dustin
    Elon Musk just defended America better than every politician in Washington combined. Musk: “After World War 2, the US could have basically taken over the world and any country. Like we got nukes, nobody else got nukes. We don’t even have to lose soldiers. Which country do you want?” One nation on earth held a weapon nobody else had. Total dominance. Zero competition. No risk of retaliation. Every empire in history that held that kind of advantage used it. Rome. The Mongols. The British. The Ottomans. They conquered until they collapsed. America had a bigger advantage than all of them...
  • Remains of Second Missing US Soldier Recovered in Morocco

    05/13/2026 5:59:55 PM PDT · by Red Badger · 24 replies
    Gateway Pundit ^ | May 13, 2026 | Cristina Laila
    The remains of the second missing US soldier who disappeared earlier this month during African Lion, a training exercise in Morocco, have been recovered. The second missing soldier was identified as Spc. Mariyah Symone Collington of Taveras, Florida. She was 19 years old. “Royal Moroccan Armed Forces transported the Soldier’s remains by a Moroccan helicopter to the morgue of Moulay El Hassan Military Hospital in Guelmim, Morocco,” the US Army statement said. Earlier this week, the remains of Lamont Key Jr., the other missing US soldier who disappeared earlier this month during African Lion, a training exercise in Morocco, were...
  • John Fetterman casts deciding vote against limiting Trump's war in Iran

    05/13/2026 5:45:06 PM PDT · by MinorityRepublican · 40 replies
    The Inquirer ^ | May 13 2026 | Sam Janesch
    U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., on Wednesday cast the deciding vote against the latest effort to limit President Donald Trump’s ability to attack Iran — the seventh such time he’s broken with his party since the war began but the first time that Republican deflections made his vote decisive. The war powers resolution failed 49 to 50 as the Pennsylvanian was the only Democrat to vote with Republicans who control the Senate. Three Republicans — U.S. Sens. Rand Paul, of Kentucky; Susan Collins, of Maine; and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska — voted with Democrats. The vote comes less than a...
  • Trump Goes to Beijing: What to Watch

    05/13/2026 4:10:30 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 14 replies
    The Diplomat ^ | May 12, 2026 | Marina Yue Zhang
    China’s belated confirmation of the visit reflects Beijing’s broader approach to Washington under Trump’s second administration: do not initiate, do not refuse, and do not compromise.U.S. President Donald Trump greets Chinese President Xi Jinping before a bilateral meeting at the Gimhae International Airport terminal in Busan, South Korea, Oct. 30, 2025. On May 11, Beijing announced that U.S. President Donald Trump would visit China from May 13 to 15 – just two days before his summit with President Xi Jinping was due to begin. Trump had publicly confirmed his visit dates back in March. For months, Beijing’s public response...
  • Netanyahu made secret visit to UAE to meet with country's president, Israel says

    05/13/2026 2:58:26 PM PDT · by McGruff · 6 replies
    CBS News ^ | May 13, 2026
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently made a secret visit to the United Arab Emirates, where he met with Mohammed bin Zayed, the country's president, sources told CBS News. Netanyahu's office acknowledged the trip, saying in a statement Wednesday that it "resulted in a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates." Sources told CBS News that the meeting occurred in late March. But hours later, the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the meeting took place, saying in a statement that the UAE's "relations with Israel are public and conducted within the framework of the well-known...