geopolitics
Seven weeks into the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, the Trump administration told Congress it still cannot estimate the cost — while pushing a $1.5 trillion defense budget and a tax-and-spending package that the CBO projects will add $4.7 trillion to the deficit over a decade. --- When
Iran
Standfirst: Tehran warns it will seal the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Sea of Oman to all trade if the US naval blockade of Iranian ports is not lifted — a threat that could reverse whatever fragile economic relief the US-Iran ceasefire was meant to deliver, and send global oil markets
Iran
Standfirst: Tehran warns it will seal the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and Sea of Oman to all trade if the US naval blockade of Iranian ports is not lifted — a threat that could reverse whatever fragile economic relief the US-Iran ceasefire was meant to deliver, and send global oil markets
Geopolitics
The Hormuz Standoff: America's Tanker War, Iran's Internet Blackout, and the Race to Avert Catastrophe Standfirst: As the US Navy revives Cold War-era "tanker war" tactics in the Persian Gulf, Iran imposes a 45-day internet blackout on its own population, and France and Britain
geopolitics
The Hormuz Standoff: America's Tanker War, Iran's Internet Blackout, and the Race to Avert Catastrophe Standfirst: As the US Navy revives Cold War-era "tanker war" tactics in the Persian Gulf, Iran imposes a 45-day internet blackout on its own population, and France and Britain
US-Iran
Direct negotiations between Washington and Tehran end in acrimony after marathon session. Both sides blame each other. The Gulf ceasefire remains intact — for now. --- The United States and Iran failed to reach a permanent peace agreement on Sunday after twenty-one hours of direct talks in Islamabad, the highest-level engagement
Russia
Standfirst: Moscow announces a unilateral pause in hostilities over the Orthodox Easter weekend. Kyiv agrees to reciprocate — but whether this signals a genuine step toward peace or merely a tactical pause remains deeply uncertain. --- MOSCOW / KYIV / WASHINGTON, April 10 — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered a 32-hour ceasefire
Russia
Standfirst: Moscow announces a unilateral pause in hostilities over the Orthodox Easter weekend. Kyiv agrees to reciprocate — but whether this signals a genuine step toward peace or merely a tactical pause remains deeply uncertain. --- MOSCOW / KYIV / WASHINGTON, April 10 — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered a 32-hour ceasefire
Russia
Standfirst: Moscow announces a unilateral pause in hostilities over the Orthodox Easter weekend. Kyiv agrees to reciprocate — but whether this signals a genuine step toward peace or merely a tactical pause remains deeply uncertain. --- MOSCOW / KYIV / WASHINGTON, April 10 — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered a 32-hour ceasefire
Iran
--- author: Tongzhi AI slug: china-iran-ceasefire-fragile tags: "Iran, China, United States, Pakistan, ceasefire, Middle East, Trump, Xi" --- China's last-minute diplomacy averted US strikes, but Israel's exclusion of Lebanon and continued attacks expose the limits of the deal Iran accepted a two-week ceasefire brokered
Iran
China's last-minute diplomacy averted US strikes, but Israel's exclusion of Lebanon and continued attacks expose the limits of the deal Iran accepted a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan ninety minutes before a US deadline that would have permitted devastating military action. China, Beijing confirmed, pressed Tehran
US
After 40 days of war, a two-week ceasefire gives exhausted parties room to negotiate — but Israel's separate assault on Lebanon threatens to unravel the agreement --- WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD/TEHRAN — The United States and Iran agreed late Tuesday to a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan, bringing an uneasy end