This Week in the World Affairs Brief

IRAN PLAYS HARD BALL WITH TRUMP

All of the press coverage about the shortage of US missile interceptors and long-range attack weapons has clearly hampered president Trump’s negotiating position with Iran. Iran, rather than take advantage of Trump’s unilateral ceasefire in order to gain some room to rebuild and recoup their losses, has decided to take full advantage of Trump’s military limitations and demand yet more concessions. To some extent, I can see Iran’s point of view. In prior negotiations, Trump has demanded “unconditional surrender” and that the Strait of Hormuz return to open shipping like before the war, without giving Iran anything, after having suffered the vast majority of damage and loss of life from the joint Israeli/American attack. According to “The Hormuz Letter on X,” “Trump has privately admitted defeat and told senior aides he is willing to end the Iran war without a nuclear deal if Iran fully reopens the Strait of Hormuz, a [partial] retreat from his initial ‘unconditional surrender’ demand, per WSJ... “Trump has been laying the groundwork to declare victory based solely on Hormuz reopening, walking away from his initial promises to ‘decimate’ Iran's nuclear program.” However, Iran has raised its price for reopening the Strait in the form of new demands, effectively turning what Trump hoped would be his exit into a full US surrender document.” Trump, of course, has rejected all of Iran’s demands so the stalemate continues, and economic hardship continues to loom. To receive a free, one-time sample of the Brief, along with option on how to subscribe, click on Request a sample on the left.

Also:
  • Colonel Macgregor’s Suspicious Claims
  • Trump’s Political Fallout
  • WNBA’s Hatred Toward “White Privilege”

Daily News

Comcast Turns Millions Of Routers Into Motion Sensors - The Same WiFi Signals Can ID You With 99.5% Accuracy

ZeroHedge

One limitation provides a reality check: the system works only after it has been trained on a person's radio signature. The 99.5 percent accuracy figure applies to re-identifying enrolled participants, not identifying a stranger cold. The attack succeeds when it can say 'the person recorded here is the person recorded earlier'. So this limitation disappears once anyone with sufficient reach starts collecting signatures at scale.

Disengagement: Trump Vows New Strategy To 'Strangle' Iran Over Time

ZeroHedge

No talks: Trump confirms US-Iran negotiations are off, vows to 'strangle them' over time. Hormuz attack: Tanker hit, injuring a crew member. Houthis escalate: Attacks shut Yemen’s Mokha port. Diplomacy stalled: Qatar says not mediating until Oman-Hormuz deal finalized. Iran hardens: Tehran says it maintains an offensive posture.

Moscow Swarmed By 600+ Ukrainian Drones In Massive Overnight Barrage

ZeroHedge

At least 180 of the drones were confirmed downed over the Moscow region alone - possibly more - with emergency crews responding to several crash sites, including at another Wildberries warehouse near Moscow. Authorities cited that at least three people were injured in the assault, including a 10-year old girl. Smoke has been seen rising over residential and construction areas in social media photographs.

Trump Doubles Down On Plans To Make Hormuz Strait A US Territory: "A Great Idea"

ZeroHedge

Trump repeats declaration that he'll make Strait of Hormuz a "US territory", calling it "a great idea". Iran goes "fully offensive": Tehran threatens escalation if diplomacy fails, after last week's military command reshuffle. MoU expires: Iran says the US-Iran agreement is effectively dead & "irrelevant". Trump threatens Oman: Trump warns "we'll bomb the s**t out of them." Backchannel denied: Tehran rejects Trump's claim of IRGC communications.

Trump Says US To 'Substantially Reduce' Military Drills With S.Korea, Cites 'Very Good Relationship' With Kim

ZeroHedge

President Trump revealed Sunday he has ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with longtime close ally South Korea, surprisingly mentioning his "very good relationship" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a motivating factor in the decision. Trump said in a Truth Social posts that exercises, due to start on Monday, are costly and "send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea, which he said "has been unthreatening and respectful" during his time in office.

What Happened When We Created a Snapchat Account for a 13-Year-Old

epoc

One study by the Heat Initiative found Snapchat recommended 739 “unsafe” videos—including 257 related to drugs and alcohol, and 244 with sexual content—to two 13-year-old avatar accounts across a 12-hour period. It also recommended 419 strangers as friends, including at least six sexual content creators and three people advertising drugs. Other questionable exposures included violence, criminal activity, disordered eating, self-harm, and suicide.

It Was DESTROYED In Just Days…

Modernity

In a matter of days, once-pristine beaches in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta have been reduced to open-air dumps and disease-ridden camps occupied by thousands of illegal migrants who refused to leave after the mass invasion from Morocco. Locals describe feces, urine, garbage, and makeshift shacks covering the sand. Contagious illnesses are spreading. Mass brawls with bladed weapons have broken out.

Woke 2.0 Will Be Worse

American Mind

Now here comes Woke 1 and Woke 2. “Woke 1 was crazy,” said U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, quoting an unnamed city councilman in a viral interview for ABC. The congresswoman sheepishly acknowledged that Americans did not like the way Woke 1 played out, while also implicitly announcing that there will soon be, or already is, a Woke 2. And it will be tame. Oh, so tame!

Ukraine Hits Key Russian Space Facility With Flamingo Cruise Missiles

ZeroHedge

Ukraine's long-range drone attacks have frequently targeted military bases and oil refinery and energy sites of late, and more recently warehouses of major Russian online retailer Wildberries - but on Saturday a new target has been added: space facilities. Ukrainian forces have touted that they've struck the Progress Rocket and Space Center in Russia's Samara region. The facility focuses on the manufacturing and operation of space launch vehicles.

Somali Piracy Surges Amid Hormuz Blockade

Oil Price.com

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has forced hundreds of commercial ships onto longer routes around Africa, and Somali pirates are moving quickly to exploit the sudden increase in traffic off the continent’s eastern coast. Oil tankers MT Honour 25, MT Eureka and MT Asana were hijacked in the Gulf of Aden and off Puntland between April and July 2026, the largest attacks by Somali pirates in years. The Iran war has now delivered these groups more targets, spread across thousands of miles of ocean, while diverting naval resources to the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.

Socialism: A System Where The Government Uses Your Money To Solve Everyone Else’s Problems

Michael Snyder

They are coming for your money, and they have a ton of momentum right now. Democratic Socialists are winning election after election by promising free stuff, but of course free stuff is never actually free. Somewhere along the way, someone has to pay for it. If you find yourself protectively reaching for your wallet as you read this, I don’t blame you one bit. Socialism is a system where the government uses your money to solve everyone else’s problems. Unfortunately, it is also a system that is becoming increasingly popular among our young adults.

Anatomy Of A Con: Trump and Witholding Patriot Missiles from Ukraine

Phillips O'Brian

Dozens of Patriot interceptors, (as well as thousands of 155mm rounds, 100+ Hellfires, 250+ GMLRS, plus Stingers, AIMs and grenade launchers) were halted on their way to Ukraine. Note the timing just before Trump goes to great lengths to say how much he knows Ukraine needs Patriots. This kind of cat and mouse game with the administration tormenting Ukraine over Patriots continues for the entire year. And then Trump’s War with Iran breaks out and Patriot deliveries practically stop. For all of 2026, according to Zelensky, deliveries of Patriots to Ukraine were running at a paltry one-third level of the reduced flow of 2025.

View More