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Two container ships near the strait of Hormuz have ⁠sunk after being struck by missiles, amid the sharpest rise in Iranian attacks on shipping since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran. The increase in attacks suggests Iran is trying to fully close the strategic waterway in an attempt to frustrate Donald Trump’s efforts to bring down fuel prices before the US midterm elections on 3 November. The Trump administration has been attempting to deflect attention from the economic impact of the war on Iran by blaming Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries for increased fuel prices.

As President Donald Trump and his administration have ratcheted up pressure on Ukraine to stop striking Russian refineries, citing harm to American consumers, they have remained silent on recent Russian strikes on US businesses in Ukraine. Russia has escalated its attacks on facilities tied to American corporations – and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine writ large – over the past several months. According to Andy Hunder, the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, Russian missiles and drones have damaged facilities belonging to some of America’s most notable brands, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, McDonalds and Oreo. Although Russia has tried...

JoeLange@JoeLange·1hThe “Liddle” Ukrainian dictator is now experiencing the FO part of the equation.He thought he could just keep playing games.The GAME is over.Zelensky and the Iranian regime are the same.Both dictators who are still playing by the old rules.But the rules have completely changed.Zelensky still thinks he has “leverage.”He doesn’t know what “leverage” really is.He thought he could keep bombing Russian refineries after Trump told him to stop and he could gain leverage in the “negotiations.”But he’s completely misunderstanding what’s actually happening.There are no more “negotiations.”Trump gave Zelensky that opportunity over a year ago and he refused.It’s no longer a...

Diesel futures traded sharply higher Tuesday, as doubts mounted about the likely impacts of the Trump administration’s latest efforts to push prices down. U.S. diesel futures were up 5% by midday to their highest level in weeks. In Europe, diesel futures rose by about 3.8%, while gas futures spiked to levels not seen all year. A move higher in futures markets typically signals that prices will climb in the coming days. Already, the average nationwide price of diesel is up 70% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. The cost of unleaded gas has risen by more...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine received no early warning from its partners about a Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv in which five missiles hit civilian infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday in a post on X.Zelenskyy characterized the barrage on the capital as "particularly vile," and emphasized that receiving intelligence from Ukraine's partners on such ballistic missile attacks "helps save lives, and this is one of the most critical issues.""This is precisely what helps prevent people from being killed — when there is an early warning about ballistic missiles," he wrote. He did not apportion blame for the lack...

President Donald Trump’s Friday announcement that Russia will supply diesel fuel to the global market marked an apparent pivot from recent efforts to pressure Moscow to end the Ukraine war by targeting Russian energy exports. Trump claimed the move, unveiled with less than a month left in an affordability-focused midterm election, would swiftly bring down record-high diesel prices. But commentators and critics were quick to highlight contradictions between the new policy and prior efforts by the U.S. to clamp down on Russian oil sales. Those efforts most recently included the enactment of the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act...

President Donald Trump said Friday that Russia will supply millions of tons of diesel to the global market under a deal he struck with President Vladimir Putin. Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by 500,000 tons in November, and 1 million tons immediately thereafter, Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Moscow will then deliver another 3 million tons of diesel based on the condition of Russia’s refineries, Trump said. Diesel prices have surged around the world as Ukraine has pounded Russian refineries, forcing Moscow to ban diesel exports to the global market. Iran...

Russia has finalized preparations to provide a $1 billion loan to Iran, with the funds ready for transfer once Tehran provides bank account details, Iranian media reported Tuesday. Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency said the payment process had been finalized but disagreements among Iranian government bodies over how the money should be spent have delayed the transfer. The loan was first reported in June and was described as the first installment of a planned $20 billion Russian loan to Iran, according to Fars.

Andrei Klepach, the chief economist at Russian state development corporation VEB.RF, was reportedly fired on Aug. 16, a day after Russian media widely circulated his warnings that Russia was losing its economic and technological competition with the West. Russian independent media outlet The Bell reported Klepach’s dismissal on Aug. 16, citing two people familiar with the matter. The report came two days after The Moscow Times published excerpts from Klepach’s May remarks, which were subsequently picked up by other Russian media. Speaking at an event organized by the Moscow Exchange’s Nikitsky Club, Klepach reportedly said Russia would be unable to...

Russia’s Supreme Court on Monday barred the liberal Yabloko party from contesting September’s parliamentary elections, sidelining the only officially registered party that opposes Moscow’s war in Ukraine. More than four years after Russia launched its full-scale war, the decision highlights the authorities’ intolerance of anti-war views and further narrows the already limited space for dissent in Russian politics. “Excluding Yabloko from the election means refusing dialogue with people who ask questions that are uncomfortable for the authorities,” Nikolai Rybakov, the party’s leader, said, vowing to appeal the decision.

The Iranian government flat-out rejected President Trump’s claim that new negotiations were due to get underway later Monday, with officials stating that no talks were taking place or scheduled.Trump, 80, told reporters en route to Washington Sunday night that he had called off a planned “massive attack” on Iran at the request of US partners in the region — including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.“They thought that a deal is imminent,” said the president, later adding: “Now what we’re doing is talking to them [Iran], in the form of a ​negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon.” Iran Foreign...

Reporter: Did you post that picture of yourself depicted as Jesus Christ? Trump: It wasn't a depiction. I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor. And had to do with red cross as a red cross worker, which we support and only the fake news could come up with that one.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán conceded defeat Sunday in the country’s parliamentary election, calling the result "clear" and "painful" as partial vote counts showed a decisive win for opposition leader Péter Magyar.

Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution Tuesday aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, just hours before President Donald Trump’s deadline for Iran to cease threatening the key waterway.

A newly reported operation suggests Kyiv may have found another low-cost way to disrupt Russian forces away from the front line: heated insoles allegedly rigged with small explosive charges and sent through volunteer aid channels. According to Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi, operatives from Ukraine’s special services allegedly inserted explosive-filled heated insoles into shipments destined for Russian military units. The items were reportedly moved with the help of Russian volunteers and charitable foundations, allowing them to pass as ordinary humanitarian aid. That is what makes this sort of sabotage effective, Treston Wheat, chief geopolitical officer at Insight Forward, told me: it exploits...

The Great Russian Lockdown — Putin Turns His Country Into a Cage!

The sons of US President Donald Trump, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., have invested in the startup Powerus, which plans to acquire Ukrainian drone manufacturers. The company intends to license Ukrainian technologies to produce drones in the United States, according to The Wall Street Journal.

US Iran War Updates: Iran's IRGC struck a US-linked oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, setting it on fire. Multiple ships hit near Strait of Hormuz. IEA releases 400M barrels of oil as prices surge.

MOSCOW, March 6 (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday it would respond if Finland ​placed nuclear weapons on its territory, saying such a move would make the Nordic country more vulnerable. ‌The Kremlin reacted sharply after NATO member Finland said on Thursday it was planning to lift a longstanding ban on hosting such weapons, in a move that could open the door to placing them there during times of war. "This is a statement that leads to an escalation ​of tensions on the European continent," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "This statement adds to Finland's vulnerability, a ​vulnerability provoked...

Russia has been sharing intelligence with Iran on the location of US forces in the Middle East in an attempt to help Tehran fight back, according to a new report. The Kremlin has passed on the locations of American warships, aircrafts and other military assets ever since “Operation Epic Fury” kicked off a week ago, three sources told the Washington Post Friday. “It does seem like it’s a pretty comprehensive effort,” one official familiar with the intel told the outlet.