ZeroHedge News

Kremlin: "We Are Not Neutral. We Support Iran."

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 17:25:00 +0000

Kremlin: "We Are Not Neutral. We Support Iran."

Russia says it stands with its ally Iran, at a moment Washington officials are outraged at reports that Moscow is supporting Tehran with targeting intelligence related to US bases and Pentagon assets in the region amid Operation Epic Fury. That allegation was first reported by The Washington Post days ago.

President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the Kremlin had announced late Friday, amid the escalating US-Israeli attacks on Iran. In the call Putin expressed "deep condolences" over the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, members of his family, other senior political and military officials, as well as the civilian victims. Putin, it must be remembered, has been hosted in Tehran on several occasions and has been photographed in friendly conversations with the slain Khamenei over the years.

The Kremlin indicated further Putin reaffirmed Russia's position that there must be an immediate halt to the conflict, and that diplomacy must prevail over use of military force. He said he's in contact with leaders of countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as the crisis unfolds, countries which have come under Iranian missiles and drones over the past week of war.

Pezeshkian for his part thanked Russia for what he described as solidarity with the Iranian people and briefed Putin on developments in the current phase of the conflict, the Kremlin said.

Meanwhile, Russian diplomats are sending a clear signal on which side of the global divide they stand concerning the rapid events of the Iran war:

"We are not neutral. We support Iran."

This was the response with Russia's Ambassador to the United Kingdom was asked if Moscow is neutral regarding the Iran war...

Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom:

"We are not neutral. We support Iran.

We take the current situation very badly and we do not understand the Western logic that consists of holding Iran responsible for everything."
pic.twitter.com/0mtIJFJkZf
— ADAM (@AdameMedia) March 8, 2026

Still, Russia and China are not expected to get deeply or directly involved, and may be more content to wait and see if Washington gets sucked into a new Vietnam or Iraq-style quagmire.

The question of Iranian oil exports to China still looms large, however, and there have been reports that Beijing could be mulling some kind of military escort operation for its tankers in the Strait of Hormuz - but this reporting appears speculation at this moment, and could be premature.

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/08/2026 - 13:25

Scientists Train Lab-Grown Human Brain Cells To Play Doom

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 16:50:00 +0000

Scientists Train Lab-Grown Human Brain Cells To Play Doom

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

In a development that sounds like a Black Mirror script, Australian biotech firm Cortical Labs has taught clusters of human brain cells – grown in a lab – to interact with the iconic video game Doom.

With roots in earlier work that had these “mini-brains” mastering Pong, the leap to Doom signals rapid progress in biological computing. Critics worry this tech, backed by agendas that prioritize efficiency over ethics, might pave the way for dytopian nightmare scenarios where values of self-reliance and human dignity fall by the wayside.

The breakthrough involves roughly 800,000 to one million living human neurons clustered in a petri dish, forming what the company calls “mini-brains.” These cells, stimulated by electrical signals from a computer, learn to respond in ways that control actions in the game.

Engineers at Cortical Labs translated Doom’s digital environment into patterns the neurons could process. The cells’ firing patterns then dictate moves like shooting or navigating.

“So we showed that biological neurons could play the game Pong,” Cortical Labs chief scientific officer Brett Kagan explained in a video announcement. “This was a massive milestone because it demonstrated adaptive, real-time, goal-directed learning.”

Building on that 2022 achievement, the team tackled a tougher challenge. “Doom was much more complex,” Kagan added. “It’s 3D. It has enemies. It needs to explore, its an environment, and it’s hard.”

🚨Nobody wants to hear this but it needs to be said.

> Scientists put human brain cells in a petri dish. No body. Just neurons on a chip.

> It learned to play DOOM in under a week.

> 800,000 neurons figured out how to navigate, shoot, and survive a video game without ever… https://t.co/RRsC0MwE1k
— Tuki (@TukiFromKL) March 7, 2026

The system, dubbed the CL1 biological computer, allows remote interaction with these living neurons via an online platform. For now, the cells perform like novices, but the learning curve is evident.

“If the neurons fire in a specific pattern, the Doom guy shoots,” said Cortical Labs chief technology officer David Hogan. “If they fire in another pattern, he moves right.”

Back in 2022, Cortical Labs grabbed headlines with their Pong-playing neurons, proving biological systems could adapt in real time. Now four years later, the same tech has evolved to handle Doom’s demands, with reports confirming around 200,000 neurons fused with silicon chips enabling gameplay.

Other sources highlight the CL1 as a “code deployable biological computer,” shipped since last year, blending human cells with traditional computing. Developers access it remotely, hinting at scalable applications.

Yet, as this tech matures, questions arise. Proponents tout potential for AI or robotics, but skeptics see echoes of transhumanist fantasies peddled by global elites at forums like Davos.

Imagine neural networks powering drones or surveillance tools – a dream for deep state operatives, a nightmare for privacy advocates.

Cortical Labs insists the neurons are learning basics, far from expert level. But the trajectory is clear: from petri dish games to real-world control systems.

As biological computing gains traction, it’s crucial to demand transparency. Who funds these labs? What safeguards prevent misuse in areas like military AI or population control?

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/08/2026 - 12:50

Biden Tells Majority Black Crowd: 'I'm A Hell Of A Lot Smarter Than Most Of You'

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 15:40:00 +0000

Biden Tells Majority Black Crowd: 'I'm A Hell Of A Lot Smarter Than Most Of You'

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

Former President Joe Biden made a rare public appearance Friday and drew criticism over what some observers described as a racially insensitive remark.

Speaking at the funeral of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, Biden told attendees — including prominent civil rights figures and other notable guests — “I’m a hell of a lot smarter than most of you.”

Biden made the comment during a roughly 20-minute speech honoring Jackson while recounting a story about his childhood and how he was mocked for having a stutter.

“I, as a kid, was a relatively good athlete and pretty good student, but I stuttered — to talk like that,” Biden said, while mimicking his childhood stutter.

The crowd responded with laughter.

“Now, if I told you all earlier, when I was a kid, I had a cleft palate or club foot, none of you would have laughed,” Biden continued.

“But it’s okay to laugh at stuttering. I’m not being critical of you, but think about it. It’s the one place where people think you’re stupid. Oh, really? I’m a hell of a lot smarter than most of you.”

Biden then added, “All kidding aside, it makes you feel really small. It makes you feel really small.”

On X, some conservative critics pointed out that Biden made the remark while speaking at the funeral of a civil rights leader before a crowd that included several well-known black leaders and public figures.

Among those in attendance were former President Barack Obama, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Other notable black figures present included filmmaker and actor Tyler Perry, leftist activist Cornel West, NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas and singer Jennifer Hudson.

Several other political figures also attended the funeral, including former President Bill Clinton, twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Notably, Gavin Newsom also came under fire last week after telling a crowd in Atlanta — a predominantly black city — that he was “just like you” because he had received a below-average SAT score.

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/08/2026 - 11:40

Two Radicals Arrested After Targeting Anti-Islam NYC Protest With Shrapnel-Packed Devices

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 15:05:00 +0000

Two Radicals Arrested After Targeting Anti-Islam NYC Protest With Shrapnel-Packed Devices

An NYPD spokeswoman said two counterprotesters, identified as 18-year-old Amir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Nick, threw improvised devices at demonstrators participating in a "Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City" protest. Both suspects were arrested shortly after the incident.

BREAKING: NYPD ID'S both suspects after attempted bomb attack on outside Gracie Mansion.

Device is Jar wrapped in black tape with NUTS BOLT AND SCREWES and fuse inside.

Video shows second suspect pass bomb along to another,
second suspect being arrested by the NYPD outside… pic.twitter.com/7AITGeggwc
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) March 7, 2026

“Let’s import 30,000,000 million more mongrel Muslims from the 3rd world” 😳😳

These poor NYPD officers also had their lives flash before their eyes!!!! pic.twitter.com/srH1qpngVw
— Jake Lang - January 6 Political Prisoner 🇺🇸 (@JakeLang) March 7, 2026

"Then, at approximately 12:38 p.m., a counterprotester identified as 18-year-old Amir Balat lit and threw an ignited device toward the protest area. It landed in the crosswalk at East 87th Street and East End Avenue. Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke as it traveled through the air. It struck a barrier a few feet from police officers and extinguished itself," NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference on Saturday evening.

🅱️ BREAKING: Two identified suspects, 18-year-old Amir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Nick, allegedly threw a shrapnel-packed explosive device while shouting "Allahu Akbar" at Jake Lang's anti-Muslim protest outside Gracie Mansion, but the bomb failed to detonate. pic.twitter.com/NSwf481fLD
— Bella (@stockbella) March 8, 2026

Tisch said Balat targeted right-wing activist Jake Lang with "devices smaller than a football, which appeared to be jars wrapped in black tape containing nuts, bolts, and screws, along with a hobby fuse that could be lit."

NYPD says two suspects — Amir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Nick, 19 — were identified after two improvised devices were thrown during a protest outside Gracie Mansion, the NYC mayor’s official residence, in Manhattan.

One device contained nails and bolts but failed to detonate. No… pic.twitter.com/DuVZ2mZ22F
— Olga Nesterova (@onestpress) March 8, 2026

She continued, "At this time, we do not yet know whether these were functional improvised explosive devices or hoax devices. The bomb squad is analyzing them further."

MUSLIMS IN NYC TRIED TO ASSASSINATE ME WITH A FUCKING NAIL BOMB!!!!!! 😳😳😳

Zoom in and look at all the NAILS, SCREWS, BOLTS!!!

We need TOTAL REMIGRATION NOW!! pic.twitter.com/D9tEFOCoME
— Jake Lang - January 6 Political Prisoner 🇺🇸 (@JakeLang) March 7, 2026

Far-left Mayor Zohran Mamdani blasted the protest as "despicable and Islamophobic," but there was no condemnation of the two suspects who threw a shrapnel-packed explosive device while shouting "Allahu Abar."

The Atlantic was forced to come to this realization last fall.

And now we know why.

"There seems to be much confusion about yesterday's event where two Muslim teenagers yelled "Allahu Akbar" and threw bombs at right wing protesters in front of Zohran Mamdani's Gracie Mansion. Had these bombs detonated, it would have clearly fit the textbook definition of Islamic terrorism. Unfortunately, the majority of NYC politicians and journalists are so far-left that they cannot acknowledge such facts, so the reporting either focuses on the right-wing extremist protest, leaves out that the bomb-throwing Muslim men yelled "Allahu Akbar," or twists the story into a complete lie that right-wing protesters brought a bomb to Gracie Mansion because Islamophobia," an NGO researcher with focus in the NYC ecosystem told us.

This is the face of open borders.
This is the face of terrorism.
This is the face of radical Islam in America.
This is what Joe Biden did to our country.

Radical Islam is not compatible with Western Civilization. pic.twitter.com/8WvPjwDAFS
— J (@JayTC53) March 8, 2026

Let's recall that one week ago, a nationalized citizen with a "Property of Allah" shirt opened fire at an Austin, Texas bar, killing 3 and wounding 14 others.

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/08/2026 - 11:05

Former Members Of Alleged Texas Antifa Cell Shed Light On Ideology During Trial

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 14:30:00 +0000

Former Members Of Alleged Texas Antifa Cell Shed Light On Ideology During Trial

Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times,

Individuals identified as North Texas Antifa members testified in a landmark domestic terrorism case that social justice and anti-government ideology influenced their involvement with the group.

The trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas follows President Donald Trump’s executive order on Sept. 22, 2025, designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.

The Fort Worth trial completed its second week in what is expected to be a three-week trial.

Members of Antifa, short for “anti-fascist,” have not faced terrorism-related charges until now, although they have been involved in organized protests across the country that have at times turned violent.

In the landmark case, the government alleges that an Antifa cell launched a coordinated attack against the Prairieland Detention Center housing illegal immigrants outside Dallas on July 4, 2025.

The prosecution claims Benjamin Song ambushed law enforcement at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility outside Dallas, firing 11 shots at police and detention officers, wounding one officer in the neck.

‘Charismatic’ Leader

Two cooperating government witnesses, Lynette Sharp and Seth Sikes, both pleaded guilty to one count of providing material support to terrorists and testified against Song.

Sharp alleged Song admitted to shooting someone when she helped him evade law enforcement after the officer was shot.

Likewise, Sikes alleged that Song said, “Get to the rifles,” and testified he heard gunshots coming from behind him where Song was and turned to see a muzzle flash.

Sharp met Song in 2022, and Sikes met him in 2024 while Song was teaching martial arts at a Fort Worth community center.

Both witnesses testified that they became friends with the defendants.

“I love them,” Sharp said on the stand, after wiping tears.

Sikes testified he and others trusted Song, whom he described as a “very charismatic person” that people would follow.

Cameron Arnold (also known as Autumn Hill), Zachary Evetts, Bradford Morris (also known as Meagan Morris), Maricela Rueda, and Song face the most serious charges of attempted murder, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and providing material support to terrorists.

Other defendants facing lesser charges include Savanna Batten, Elizabeth Soto, Ines Soto, and Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada.

All have pleaded not guilty.

Protest Culture

Sharp and Sikes said group members considered themselves victims of society or those who wanted to protect “marginalized” people.

This ideology led them to become caught up in protest culture, offering a rare glimpse into the inner workings of protestors known as Antifa.

Antifa is modeled after a group that worked as the violent arm of the Communist Party in Germany in the 1930s. Some symbols from the original group are still used by the movement today, such as the logo and the raised-fist salute.

Song, who received an “other than honorable” discharge from the Army, recruited Sharp and Sikes to train with the Socialist Rifle Association (SRA), often described as a left-wing alternative to counter the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Sharp and Sikes said they learned gun safety and practiced marksmanship. Various defendants in the Antifa case frequently trained with AR-style weapons, they said.

They described practicing shooting together at an outdoor range in Ferris, Texas, before the July 2025 ICE protest, targeting images depicting the Ku Klux Klan.

Sharp labeled herself an anti-fascist.

Under cross-examination, she argued that socialism wasn’t anti-American. Instead, she described it as the belief that some people can be wealthy, but no one should be poor. She distinguished it from communism, in which no one could be wealthy.

She painted anarchy as a benign political ideology where the community took care of itself in the absence of a formal government.

Sharp and Sikes described themselves as gay rights supporters who slowly developed a relationship with Song, also known as “Champaign.”

They discussed wearing black bloc, which is all-black clothing, to protests, including face coverings that hide their identities.

Sharp testified that ideological beliefs related to LGBT and minority rights, along with opposition to ICE, fostered friendships among the defendants.

Some participants formed an “affinity group” that she said was organized by Song. She said group members would watch tactical YouTube videos on clearing a building occupied by adversaries.

Sikes, who comes from a military family, testified he attended a Dallas No Kings protest against Trump’s immigration policies with Song. Sikes testified that he and the other defendants thought ICE was too aggressive and strongly disagreed with their tactics.

He said Song was “not entirely friendly to police.”

Sikes told the jury he was uncomfortable with Song’s belief that showing up to demonstrations with assault-style rifles could intimidate police and make them back off.

Sikes described his political beliefs as left-wing, aligning more closely with socialism, while noting that others identified more with anarchists. Other beliefs in the group included democratic socialism, anarchy, and communism.

He referred to Antifa as an umbrella term encompassing various left-wing groups, and that they referred to themselves as Antifa in a “tongue in cheek” fashion.

According to Sharp, the group believed that society was breaking down and that the federal government would eventually fail.

Karaoke and Anti-Capitalism

Group members began inviting Sharp to the “big gay house” where transgender defendants Morris and Hill lived with others.

They would hold karaoke nights and recite poetry on Thursday nights, Sharp said.

Sharp testified that she and other defendants attended Emma Goldman Book Club monthly meetings to discuss articles, book excerpts, and self-published materials known as zines, with an anti-capitalist perspective.

Goldman, the book club’s namesake, was a Russian-born Jew and revolutionary who advanced an anti-capitalist, anarchist ideology in the United States in the early 1900s until she was deported.

At the discussions, minorities and women were given deference when speaking, because white people already “took up too much space,” according to Sharp.

She described herself as anti-fascist, but denied being an Antifa member despite signing a plea deal with the government, which characterized anti-fascists as Antifa.

The group also discussed anarchy during their time together, she testified.

“Some people believed that was a solution,” she said. “Some people didn’t.”

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/08/2026 - 10:30

New Iran Supreme Leader Chosen, But Identity Concealed, As US-Israeli Strikes Obliterate Tehran's Energy Resources

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 13:55:00 +0000

New Iran Supreme Leader Chosen, But Identity Concealed, As US-Israeli Strikes Obliterate Tehran's Energy Resources

Iran officially announced Sunday that it has chosen its next supreme leader, though the identity of the successor remains under wraps for now, given that already the Assembly of Experts had last week paused the selection process amid the ongoing heavy US-Israeli bombing campaign. The other big concern is that the next Ayatollah of the Islamic Republic will have big target on his back while under the bombs.

According to Iran's ISNA news agency, the Assembly of Experts reached their decision following emergency deliberations triggered by the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening hours of the war which kicked off early on February 28. "The most suitable candidate, approved by the majority of the Assembly of Experts, has been determined," Mohsen Heydari, a member of the body, declared Sunday.

Stillframe of video after overnight strike & fire at oil depot in Tehran, via NYT/@Vahid

Fars News further cited another member, Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri, who confirmed that "a firm opinion reflecting the majority view has been reached" - but again, the name has not yet been publicly disclosed.

Israeli officials have made clear they will strike any figure chosen to replace Khamenei, raising the prospect that Iran's new supreme leader could face assassination almost immediately after going public and assuming power. But presumably there are command bunkers hidden deep underground, and all across the country.

Saturday and overnight saw the war expanding into a new phase, with US and Israeli forces now hitting Iranian oil depots and refining facilities in Tehran for the first time - also what's said to be fuel storage for the country's armed forces, which has sent thick clouds of black smoke all over the densely-packed city of Tehran, which is comparable in size and population to New York City.

Oil-soaked rain even came down, and massive oil depot fires have burned through the night into Sunday...

JUST IN 🇮🇷🇺🇸: The fires in Tehran keep burning into the morning after last night's airstrikes on the oil depots.

Teh air quaility is usually bad in tehran but this is making it much worse. Pray for the people that have to breathe this air. https://t.co/bjWup2DYN6 pic.twitter.com/4OsHeM2TT5
— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) March 8, 2026

Currently there are reports that the US is contemplating seizing control of Iran's largest oil export terminal on Kharg Island. Per regional reports:

A senior US official vowed to take control of Iran's oil on Friday as the devastating regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran neared its second week.

"What we want to do is to get such massive oil reserves in Iran out of the hands of terrorists," White House advisor Jarrod Agen said in an interview with Fox Business.

Iranian officials are also warning of environmental fallout from the expanding attacks on energy infrastructure. Foad Izadi, a professor at the University of Tehran, claimed in an interview with Al Jazeera that the strikes were timed deliberately ahead of rainfall.

The future of the vital Kharg Island looms large as China is still getting (some of) its oil.

PHOTO OF THE DAY: China is still getting (some of) its oil.

Nine days into the war, Iran continues loading oil supertankers from Kharg Island.

Tehran has sent some of them across the Strait of Hormuz into the high seas wihthout any problem.

Photo @CopernicusEU March 7th 2026 pic.twitter.com/uzSkzntOOB
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) March 8, 2026

"And I think they have done it purposely. They wanted to hit these oil facilities so they could create this huge smoke, and with all this contaminated rain, it looks like black ink," he said.

He warned that runoff from damaged facilities could contaminate drinking water supplies in and around Tehran. "So people are going to get sick if these types of attacks continue, and we don’t have any signs that Trump and Netanyahu are stopping their war against Iran," Izadi said. "So I think we are facing a serious environmental disaster."

March 8, 2026 - Tehran at sunrise today. But the sun is hidden behind a sky filled with smoke. After a night of intensive strikes on oil facilities, thick black clouds now hang over the city, turning morning into something that feels like night. pic.twitter.com/7MghBnWRRw
— RKOT (@RKOTOfficial) March 8, 2026

Iran's retaliation across the region continues, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) having taken a far harder line as the conflict slides, warning regional governments that Tehran will continue striking if US or Israeli forces operate from bases on their soil - strikes which appear to have continued - though the extent of damage on US bases appears to currently be censored by the Pentagon and some compliant entities like foremost commercial satellite imaging company Planet Labs.

Gulf states including Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates reported new missile and drone activity, despite Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian having earlier 'apologized' for strikes hitting neighboring countries and pledging to halt attacks if their territory is not used for operations against Iran. But there's evidence that the IRGC and military apparatus is overriding any potential 'olive branch' offered to the Gulf or US. Israel too appears to still be getting hit by Iranian missiles and drones, and also Hezbollah rockets on the north.

An interesting live coverage moment on NBC News...

Notable contrast between some drooling American "expert" talking about installing a “pragmatic” leader in Tehran and Tehran delivering a missile to its target in Tel Aviv.

Our elites manifestly do not understand this country we're at war with.pic.twitter.com/1SqJ1I1JoL
— Andrew Day (@AKDay89) March 8, 2026

For example, as we reported previously an Iranian drone strike caused material damage to a desalination plant in Bahrain, according to the country’s interior ministry. The incident follows Iranian accusations that US forces bombed a freshwater desalination facility on Qeshm Island days earlier, which Tehran described as setting a "precedent".

On the question of finding a diplomatic solution, the sides don't appear to be talking, and in fresh comments Trump brushed off threats from Iran's top security leadership, saying, "I couldn’t care less" while signaling that the pace and scale of attacks are only set to continue. This as Pentagon billion-dollar radar systems appear to be getting degraded quick:

Spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces: we targeted and destroyed 4 radars of the U.S. THAAD system in the past hours.

Currently, even some among Iran's 'professional opposition' in exile in places like London and the United States have expressed horror and concern at the images of whole portions of Tehran on fire, with black oil-infused smoke and rain inundating the capital and sprawling civilian neighborhoods.

Told Wolf Blitzer on @cnn that many Iranian-Americans were happy to see Khamenei killed, but they are turning against the war as it is becoming clear that the country is being destroyed and that hopes that this would lead to a quick collapse of the theocracy are being dashed. pic.twitter.com/0R4SpEI4bu
— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) March 7, 2026

Over in Lebanon, which can be viewed as a second Israeli front, the whole country has been pulled deeper into the fighting as Beirut and countryside regions get bombed. An Israeli airstrike on a hotel in Beirut reportedly killed at least four people over the weekend, after hundreds have already been killed, and IDF troops have also suffered some casualties.

European powers are increasingly reacting to the widening war, with French President Emmanuel Macron scheduled to travel to Cyprus after Iranian-made drones struck the island earlier in the week. Paris has already deployed the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the Mediterranean along with a frigate and additional air defense units. But it's anything but clear the degree to which a country like France - which has sought to distance itself politically from Trump's Operation Epic Fury - will directly support operations. Instead, like Italy, it looks to just be bolstering anti-air defenses of allies.

Macron is meeting wtih Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to demonstrate "solidarity” and coordinate steps to "strengthen security around Cyprus and in the eastern Mediterranean," according to the Elysee Palace.

Trump talks of changing the map of Iran, which goes even beyond regime change... hints at dismantling the nation:

Trump now openly speaks about end to Iran's territorial integrity.

Combined with bombings of national infrastructure tonight, many Iranians will perceive targeting of Iran as a nation-state with a military capability.

That could quickly shift sentiments inside Iran. https://t.co/iWhF74s0C8
— Mohammad Ali Shabani (@mashabani) March 7, 2026

Criticism of the US-Israeli campaign is emerging from other parts of Europe as well, with Switzerland's defense minister Martin Pfister said the strikes violate international law, while Spain has similarly condemned the bombings as reckless and illegal.

Iran is meanwhile likely looking to impose steep enough pain and a big cost on the attacking powers in order to ensure they never so easily make the decision to bomb the country again. A fresh statement in Tasnim news agency cites the IRGC boasting of new strikes on Tel Aviv and Beersheba, as well as the Muwaffaq al-Salti airbase in Jordan - which it described as "the largest and most active offensive base of the American aggressor fighter jets."

"The volume and depth of the attacks of the Iranian armed forces on the enemy will expand in the coming hours and days," the IRGC statement said.

Parts of Tel Aviv increasingly looking like Gaza:

اسرائیل اور اس کے دفاع پر مامور اعلانیہ اور غیر اعلانیہ اتحادیوں پر ایرانی میزائلوں کی 24کھیپیں برسانے کے بعد تل ابیب اب تک ابیب نہ رہا، غزہ بن گیا pic.twitter.com/NUYoJhQD8k
— Shahid Hussain (@ShahidHussainJM) March 7, 2026

At this point, a full week in, the death toll has surpassed that of last June's 12 day war. According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 1,205 civilians have been killed in Iran since the US and Israel began their attacks, including 194 children. The HRANA has highlighted child deaths despite largely being seen as a Washington-friendly NGO and what might be called part of the anti-Tehran activist opposition, and based in Fairfax, Virginia.

Across the region over 1400 have been killed, including mounting casualties in Israel. As for the Pentagon it has not released a fresh US troop casualty update in several days - and official American servicemembers killed stands at six. There are Sunday reports of two more people killed in Kuwait, also as Saudi Arabia says its air defenses are active in intercepting inbound projectiles.

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/08/2026 - 09:55

It Begins: Iranian Drone Strikes Bahrain Desalination Plant As Worst-Case Scenario Unfolds

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 13:45:00 +0000

It Begins: Iranian Drone Strikes Bahrain Desalination Plant As Worst-Case Scenario Unfolds

Update (Sunday):

From data centers in the Gulf area to water desalination plants, the worst-case scenario is now unfolding in the Middle East conflict, with no boundaries regarding civilian infrastructure.

We warned earlier last week, after correctly predicting that data centers would be targeted, that water desalination plants would be next (see the previous update).

Al Jazeera reports that after Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi claimed the US targeted a water desalination plant in Iran, an IRGC kamikaze drone then targeted a desalination plant in Bahrain.

Bahrain says an Iranian strike damaged a desalination plant, marking a new phase of the conflict targeting water infrastructure.

Gulf countries rely heavily on desalination.

Qatar nearly 100%, Kuwait and Bahrain ~90%, Oman 86%, Saudi Arabia 70%.

The strike came after… pic.twitter.com/XgEJ0M6YR3
— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 8, 2026

Al Jazeera also outlined the importance of water desalination plants to the Gulf region:

GCC states hold about 60% of global desalination capacity and produce around 40% of the world's desalinated water through more than 400 plants.
Most GCC countries rely heavily on desalination: 90% of Kuwait's drinking water, 86% in Oman, 70% in Saudi Arabia, and 42% in the UAE.
Saudi Arabia is the world's largest producer, with capacity projected to reach 8.5 million cubic meters per day by 2025 after $80 billion in investments.

Bahrain's Ministry of Interior wrote on X, "The Iranian aggression randomly bombs civilian targets and causes material damage to a water desalination plant following an attack by a drone."

* * *

First we warned that data centers would become drone targets, and then IRGC strikes hit Amazon AWS and Microsoft-linked AI infrastructure across the Gulf. Next, we flagged water desalination plants as another target. Now, with reports that a desalination facility in Iran has been struck, it is increasingly clear that this conflict has no boundaries when it comes to civilian infrastructure.

On Saturday morning, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi took to X and claimed that U.S. military forces had "committed a blatant and desperate crime by attacking a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island."

"Water supply in 30 villages has been impacted. Attacking Iran's infrastructure is a dangerous move with grave consequences. The U.S. set this precedent, not Iran," Araghchi said.

The U.S. committed a blatant and desperate crime by attacking a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island. Water supply in 30 villages has been impacted.

Attacking Iran's infrastructure is a dangerous move with grave consequences. The U.S. set this precedent, not Iran.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 7, 2026

Shortly after Araghchi's post, a Community Note attached to his tweet read, "There is currently no independent confirmation from international media or monitoring organizations that the U.S. attacked a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island."

Whether confirmed or not, the worst-case scenario for the conflict is one in which freshwater desalination plants are targeted, either intentionally or by accident.

This risk was first raised earlier last week by Bloomberg commodities analyst Javier Blas, who said, "A lot of attention about 'soft targets' like hotels and airports. And about oil/gas facilities. But please keep an eye on what may prove the most strategic asset for Persian Gulf countries: water desalination plants."

US-IRAN WAR: A lot of attention about "soft targets" like hotels and airports. And about oil / gas facilities.

But please keep an eye on what may prove the most strategic asset for Persian Gulf countries: water desalination plants.
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) March 2, 2026

Desalination plants are critical infrastructure for many Gulf states because almost all of the region's freshwater comes from either desalinating seawater or pumping from deep aquifers. Dependence on these plants is especially high: 90% in Kuwait, 86% in Oman, 70% in Saudi Arabia, and 42% in the UAE comes from desalination.

IRGC targeting of the data centers is another way of Tehran telling Gulf states aligned with the U.S. that the regime can turn off their AI data centers. Let's just hope the IRGC does not become enraged enough and begin signaling to Gulf states that it can turn off the region's water. That would be a worst-case scenario and spark humanitarian emergencies for millions of people.

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/08/2026 - 09:45

The Bretton Whoops

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 13:20:00 +0000

The Bretton Whoops

Authored by 'No1' via Gold and Geopolitics substack,

The bombs make headlines. The economic unraveling happening quietly underneath them don’t. So before we get back to the daily carnage, let's talk about money. It used to be funny, in a rich man's world.

The world didn’t wake up one morning and decide to distrust the dollar. It was a process. Gradually, then suddenly, as these things tend to go.

It started with Venezuela. In 2019, Caracas asked the Bank of England to return its own gold - 31 tonnes, sitting in a vault in London, belonging to the Venezuelan central bank. The Bank of England said no. The justification was creative: London had decided to recognise a man who had never won an election as Venezuela’s “legitimate” president, so it couldn’t very well hand $2 billion in gold to the actual government. Problem solved. Maduro was a dictator, everyone agreed he was terrible, and so the consensus was essentially: who cares.

Everyone filed it under “rogue state gets what it deserves” and moved on.

Then Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and $300 billion in Russian sovereign reserves got frozen overnight. Again, the justification was airtight, the villain was obvious, and the Western financial world applauded itself. What nobody wanted to discuss was the precedent. Assets held in Western financial institutions were no longer safe if the political winds shifted against you. That was new. That was genuinely new. And every central bank and sovereign wealth fund on earth noticed, even if they did say nothing publicly.

Then Trump came back. Tariffs on allies. Threats to annex Greenland. The implicit message that the post-war security architecture was now a negotiable service rather than a commitment. The dollar’s reserve currency status had always rested on two pillars: the dominance of the US economy, and the reliability of the US government as a custodian of the system. One of those pillars was now being kicked.

By the time the Iran war started, the trust account was already badly overdrawn.

The petrodollar was a simple deal. The Gulf states price their oil in dollars, recycle the surplus into US Treasuries, and in exchange get American military protection. Clean, elegant, and - for fifty years - it actually worked. The US got permanent demand for its currency and its debt. The Gulf got security guarantees backed by the most powerful military on earth.

Five decades of procurement scandals and DEI hires later, someone called the bluff.

US bases across the Gulf - Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE - were always sold as the physical expression of the guarantee. The muscle that backed the paper. They were protection. Except now those bases are targets. The countries hosting them are getting hit precisely because they host them. What once was “US military presence as shield” has collapsed and became “US military presence as a bullseye”.

Medvedev put it with the particular relish of someone who has been waiting years to say it:

You can dismiss Medvedev on most things. On this one, his timing is sublime.

I already cover the daily physical damage to Gulf infrastructure in my Iran series, so I won’t repeat it here. The point here aren’t the bombs. The point is what the bombs have made obvious: the protection America sold the GCC was a liability dressed up as an asset.

And increasingly it seems that the Gulf states are discussing pulling their investment commitments from the US. Not done yet. Discussing. They are not floating the possibility quietly in private rooms - they are saying it out loud, which means the market already knows which direction they’re heading.

Capital won’t wait for a formal declaration. It will already leave in advance, quietly, and then when the announcement comes, everyone will pretend to be surprised…

This is the engine that kept the whole fiat USD thing running: Gulf sells oil → receives dollars → buys Treasuries → US borrowing costs stay manageable → repeat. For decades. And what keeps that loop turning isn’t economics. It’s trust. The belief that Washington is a reliable partner, that dollar-denominated assets are safe, and that the security umbrella is real.

But the trust was already shredded before the first bomb fell on Iran.

The US Treasury market is in a bit of a pickle. I believe the technical term is “clusterfuck”.

About $9.2 trillion in US Treasuries rolled over in fiscal 2025 - roughly a third of all outstanding federal debt - and the 2026 refinancing wave is already building. Annual interest payments on the federal debt have crossed $1 trillion for the first time. The Treasury is buying back its own debt in tranches to keep the market from seizing up. But the 10-year yield keeps moving higher regardless.

The petrodollar recycling loop was one of the structural forces keeping Treasury auctions clearing. When Gulf sovereigns stop buying - or start selling - somebody else has to absorb that supply. At higher rates. Which makes the interest burden worse. Which makes the deficit worse. Which requires more issuance. The spiral is not complicated.

And underneath all of this sits a deeper shift that doesn’t get enough attention. The world is migrating from a currency-based monetary order to a collateral-based one. For decades, Treasuries were the global safe asset - the thing you held when you didn’t know what else to hold. That status is eroding. What’s replacing it, are commodities. Physical stuff™. Things you can actually use. Which is - not coincidentally - exactly what the GCC is sitting on, and exactly what the US has just demonstrated it cannot protect.

Gold and silver hit record after record last year for the same reason. Not inflation. Not rate expectations. Something older and simpler: people are looking for a store of value that doesn’t require trusting a government that has made itself unpredictable.

Meanwhile, private credit is starting to make interesting noises.

source

Blue Owl gated its retail private credit fund in February after redemption requests doubled through 2025. Today, BlackRock announced its $26 billion private credit fund is limiting withdrawals too [-4% at the open]. The same BlackRock that just wrote a private loan to zero - a loan marked at par three months ago. The second time it’s done that.

Rubric Capital - a Point72 spinout - sent a letter to its own LPs this week calling private credit a fraudulent bubble and accusing players of “Enron-like accounting” to hide the rot.

Whether Gulf sovereign wealth funds are behind any of this is speculation. What isn’t speculation is the pattern. Capital that was deployed into US private markets on the assumption of political stability and reliable returns is trying to get out. “Canary in the coal mine” is how one analyst described the Blue Owl situation. The canary is dead. It has ceased to be. It is an ex-canary. And BlackRock just joined the funeral.

Nobody told the AI crowd. The Mag7 have committed $600 billion in AI capex for 2026 alone - an amount so large it requires its own stable financial universe to make sense. Cheap dollars. Stable long-term rates. A Treasury market with reliable buyers. As I wrote in “The Trillion Dollar Oops” (link), it’s a beautiful circular system: Big Tech borrows cheaply, buys GPUs, GPU makers reinvest in Big Tech, everyone marks up each other’s valuations, and round it goes. The whole thing runs on the assumption that the dollar system stays intact.

It’s currently on fire.

Capital is already rotating out - emerging markets have dramatically outperformed the S&P since January 2025, and it’s accelerating. The AI capex cycle and the capital flight cycle are running in opposite directions.

Something has to give. Burning refineries don't care about your capex commitments.

The entire purpose of US power projection in the Middle East - the bases, the carrier groups, the security guarantees - was always to protect the dollar system. To keep the oil flowing in dollars, the recycling loop turning. Not out of the goodness of its heart. It allowed the US to run deficits indefinitely, export inflation to the rest of the world, and borrow at rates no other debtor could ever dream of.

Whether Washington chose this war or simply couldn’t say no when Israel saw its chance and leapt - that’s still an open question. What isn’t open is the result. The Gulf states are under attack because they host US bases.

Either way, the GCC is finding out what "ally" means in practice.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/08/2026 - 09:20

Shocking Number Of Gen Z'ers Are Bringing Mommy & Daddy To Job Interviews

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 12:45:00 +0000

Shocking Number Of Gen Z'ers Are Bringing Mommy & Daddy To Job Interviews

If you thought Gen Z arriving was the long-awaited antidote to the famously coddled Millennials, you might want to rethink that theory.

A new survey from career site Zety polled 1,000 Gen Z workers and found that a whopping 44% of these young workers had Mom or Dad help write or edit their resumes, while 20% admitted that a parent had joined them during a job interview (15% in-person, 5% virtually).

“Some in Gen Z feel having parental involvement when looking and applying for jobs is important, and I would certainly advocate for taking advice from parents and other mentors who have experience gaining employment,” a financial literacy instructor at the University of Tennessee at Martin said in an interview with Newsweek. “However, there are limits to this engagement, and they almost always end poorly for the applicant.”

If you thought those figures were grim, the hand-holding extends even after the job offer letter arrives. Roughly 28% of Gen Z professionals admitted that parents assisted with pay or benefits negotiations, and 32% cited parents as their main influence for career choices.

“There’s a lingering distrust between workers and corporations. While it’s not widespread, some Gen Z candidates are leaning on their parents for interview support - presentation, tone, even responses,” 9i Capital Group CEO Kevin Thompson told Newsweek. “A lot of that comes down to inexperience with professional settings and discomfort with contract language and expectations.”

The trend has rightfully drawn scorn from critics, including "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary, who warned that any candidate arriving with a parental escort would be shown the door immediately.

"First question I'd have to the son or daughter, I'd say, 'Do you want me to hire your mother or you? What's she doing here?'" O'Leary told Fox Business. "That resume goes right into the garbage in one of my operations." He recounted a recent virtual interview where the phenomenon played out in real time.

"It happened to me on a Zoom call, and I just said, this isn't going to work... Your mom is not gonna be part of this discussion,” the businessman added. "It means you can't do this on your own. It's a horrific signal,"

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/08/2026 - 08:45

Azerbaijan's "Multi-Vector Alignment" Poses A Serious Challenge To Russia

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 12:10:00 +0000

Azerbaijan's "Multi-Vector Alignment" Poses A Serious Challenge To Russia

Authored by Andrew Korybko,

The “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” is poised to become a military-logistics corridor for expanding NATO influence along Russia’s southern periphery and could thus force Putin into the zero-sum dilemma of accepting this or authorizing military action in an attempt to preempt it.

Valdai Club Programme Director Timofei Bordachev recently published an insightful piece asking whether former Soviet Republics are moving “Towards Genuine Multi-Vector Alignment?” This is described as “systematic efforts to create and maintain, insofar as possible, balanced and mutually beneficial relations with different global centres of power and regional actors, without obvious orientation towards any single bloc, and relying on tactical maneuvering to ensure security and achieve core development goals.”

He claims that “The fact that this habit began to take shape (among the post-Soviet states) through opposition to traditional Russian influence could be regarded as an ‘inevitable evil’ which, in essence, could not inflict truly fundamental damage on Russia…Today, however, the management of multi-vector alignment may confront Russia’s neighbours—and, one step further, Russia itself—with new challenges.” These include US coercion and “a readiness to significantly enhance one’s status in regional affairs.”

Bordachev didn’t name any of the post-Soviet states other than Russia in his article, but the argument can be made that his concerns are most relevant with respect to Azerbaijan.

Its decision to replace Russian mediation with Armenia with American mediation, agree last August to the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP) which replaces Russia’s envisaged regional corridor and role therein, and the outcome of Vance’s recent trip there collectively pose a serious challenge to Russia.

All of these moves are framed by Azerbaijan as part of what Bordachev describes as the “multi-vector alignment” policy, which is factually correct. It’s also true what he wrote about how “signalling one’s own foreign-policy autonomy and the capacity to make decisions based on national interests as shaped by domestic political development” is “by no means objectionable”. The problem therefore rests in this policy’s practical implementation by Azerbaijan in the current geostrategic context of the New Cold War.

Trump 2.0 is tightening the West’s encirclement of Russia in an attempt to coerce Putin into concessions in Ukraine that would leave unfulfilled the maximalist national security goals of the special operation. That was the purpose of Vance’s trip to the South Caucasus as was explained here. Azerbaijan now functions as a launchpad for expanding US economic, political, and inevitably, military influence across the South Caucasus, the Caspian Sea, and Central Asia, which is Russia’s entire southern periphery.

Nearby Kazakhstan, which announced in December that it plans to produce NATO-standard shells, might soon be emboldened to more openly defy Russia in Azerbaijani-inspired ways that challenge its security interests even more seriously under the pretext of implementing its own “multi-vector alignment” policy. This risks replicating the NATO-Russian security dilemma that ultimately led to the special operation when it became unmanageable, except this time along two southern fronts at once, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

Azerbaijan’s “multi-vector alignment” policy and consequent “readiness to significantly enhance [its] status in regional affairs”, albeit at the expense of Russia’s security interests, is responsible for setting this scenario into motion. TRIPP is poised to become a military-logistics corridor for expanding NATO influence along Russia’s entire southern periphery so Putin might therefore soon be forced into the zero-sum dilemma of accepting this encirclement or authorizing military action in an attempt to preempt it.

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/08/2026 - 08:10

BBC Slips In 'Mistranslated' Propaganda To Radically Alter Hegseth Speech On Iran

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 11:35:00 +0000

BBC Slips In 'Mistranslated' Propaganda To Radically Alter Hegseth Speech On Iran

The BBC has been caught yet again manipulating comments from the Trump administration to radically alter their meaning.

During a March 2 press conference about the war in Iran, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that the United States is bringing death to the same regime that chanted "death to America."

BBC Persia, however, substituted the word 'people' for 'regime' - fundamentally changing Hegseth's meaning to sound like America was targeting all Iranians vs. the regime.

"It turns out the regime who chanted 'death to America and death to Israel was gifted death from America and death from Israel," is what Hegseth actually said.

The BBC translated the word "regime" as "mardom," the Persian word for "people." It later issued a correction.

The BBC "mistakenly" altered a speech by Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth on the war in Iran, making him appear to say the United States was targeting the Iranian "people".

This comes only a handful of months since they did the same to President Trump.

Defund the BBC! pic.twitter.com/iezrIh5vFX
— Tommy Robinson 🇬🇧 (@TRobinsonNewEra) March 7, 2026

While we're sure Israel and America will kill plenty of non-regime Iranians by the time this is done, mainstream media like the BBC isn't doing anything for its reputation by shaping narratives.

The Trump administration has argued that that Tehran's leadership, not regular Iranians, pose a direct threat to American national security because they've been chanting "death to America" (for the past 50 years), which justified Trump reneging on his repeated campaign promises not to start new wars.

The error drew condemnation from Iranians online, who accused the BBC of conflating ordinary civilians with the brutality of the regime and altering the meaning of Mr Hegseth’s speech. Others disagreed, saying the translation was acceptable.

The US president has called on the Iranian people to rise up and overthrow the leadership. On Monday, Mr Hegseth repeated that call, urging civilians to “take advantage of this incredible opportunity”. -Telegraph

According to Iran expert Thamar Eilam-Gindin of Haifa University, the BBC had "fundamentally altered the meaning" of Hegseth's words.

"By mistranslating the English word ‘regime’ into the Persian word ‘mardom’ —meaning ‘people’—the BBC’s Persian service fundamentally altered the meaning of the US secretary of defence’s speech, making it appear as though he were attacking all Iranians rather than the Islamic Republic," Eilam-Gindin told the Telegraph.

"Among members of the Iranian diaspora in the West, with whom I am in regular contact, this incident reinforces what they perceive as a long-standing pro-regime editorial line at BBC Persian."

Explaining their actions, the BBC said "This mistranslated word was a mistake, as a result of human error, during the live simultaneous translation of a speech. We issued a correction to Persian audiences on air and on social media."

Mistranslation is a very generous way to describe something that looks deliberate.
— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) March 6, 2026

That said, perhaps Hegseth should choose his words a tad more carefully (the last 20 seconds or so):

As requested 😉 pic.twitter.com/ngk1DX2SaB
— Mr. Gerald Wayne (@geraldwayne) March 7, 2026

The 'mistranslation' echoes the BBC's deceptive editing of Trump's January 6, 2021 speech to falsely portray him as inciting violence at the Capitol, which earned them a $10 billion lawsuit.

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/08/2026 - 07:35

UK Government Brands Union Flag A 'Tool Of Hate' In Leaked 'Social Cohesion' Strategy

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 11:00:00 +0000

UK Government Brands Union Flag A 'Tool Of Hate' In Leaked 'Social Cohesion' Strategy

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

A leaked draft of the UK Government’s new ‘social cohesion’ strategy has sparked outrage by labeling the flying of English, Scottish, and Union Jack flags as potential “tools of hate.”

The document claims these national symbols were sometimes used last summer to “exclude or intimidate,” adding that the “extreme right has tried to turn symbols of pride into tools of hate.”

The 47-page draft, leaked to the Spectator magazine, also highlights how antisemitism has become “normalised in many corners of society” from schools and universities to workplaces and the NHS.

Flying a Union Jack flag is branded a 'tool of hate' in Government's leaked 'social cohesion' strategy https://t.co/NePt9iDMJk
— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) March 7, 2026

Under the proposals, titled Protecting What Matters, some £800 million over 10 years would be allocated to 40 areas where social cohesion is “under pressure.”

The strategy is set for a cross-Government rollout next week, but critics are already slamming it as divisive.

Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice blasted the draft, telling the Sun: “Absurdly, this says our national flag is a tool of hate used to intimidate. The whole paper is a divisive nonsense that should be consigned to the bin.”

The leak ties directly into ongoing controversies over national flags, as detailed in our previous coverage where English councils admitted spending tens of thousands to remove “unauthorised” English and Union Jack flags from lampposts.

As we highlighted, leftist activist Pablo O’Hana was caught on video removing flags from a bridge in Manchester, telling a man who placed them: “that’s not what our country is.”

Freedom of Information requests revealed councils spent at least £70,000 on flag removals, with O’Hana suggesting the true cost is far higher as many incorporate it into existing budgets.

Medway Council alone spent nearly £11,600 removing over 700 flags, with Labour councillor Alex Paterson calling it “money well spent” to counter “far-right agitators.”

Paterson added that clearing the streets of British and English flags was essential to “make the community feel safe again,” claiming: “I think at this stage the world is divided into people who know exactly why these flags were put up and those who are still pretending they don’t know why they were put up.”

The flag campaign, known as ‘Operation Raise The Colours,’ emerged amid unrest over sexual offences allegedly committed by illegal immigrants housed in taxpayer-funded hotels.

This grassroots effort, coordinated via a Facebook page with offers of transport and equipment like ladders, saw patriotic activists vowing to keep flags flying despite council interventions.

The Prime Minister previously supported the right to fly St George’s flags, but the leaked documents appear to associate them with far-right protests and immigration tensions.

The strategy also proposes a “special representative” to “champion efforts across the UK to tackle hostility and hatred directed at Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim.”

🔴 An “anti-Muslim hostility tsar” is to be created as part of Labour’s new social cohesion strategy to be unveiled next week

A leaked draft of the strategy cites Islamist extremism as the biggest threat to community cohesion

Find out more ⬇️https://t.co/PVO0VL3C72 pic.twitter.com/znWMqZSPqr
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) March 7, 2026

A new definition of Islamophobia is also expected, with guidance on anti-Muslim hatred.

The Government is expected to announce a new anti-Muslim hostility tsar on Monday as part of a social cohesion plan.

"It is the Muslim vote that continues to preoccupy our bizarre Prime Minister."@TVKev pic.twitter.com/G1VtiCCwNE
— Talk (@TalkTV) March 6, 2026

Critics warn this could become a backdoor “blasphemy law” stifling free speech, though the Government insists it protects against unacceptable treatment.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson declined to address the leak: “We do not comment on leaks.”

This leaked strategy exposes a government more focused on policing national pride than securing borders or protecting native culture. As flags continue to rise, the pushback against globalist erosion of British identity only intensifies—proving that true cohesion comes from shared heritage, not forced suppression.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/08/2026 - 07:00

A 'War Of The Oil Refineries' Opens As Israel Bombs Key Tehran Sites, After Which Haifa Refinery Targeted

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 09:25:00 +0000

A 'War Of The Oil Refineries' Opens As Israel Bombs Key Tehran Sites, After Which Haifa Refinery Targeted

Update(1425): Is a tit-for-tat oil depot war opening? This could be the next phase of escalation, already in progress.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has struck Israel's Haifa refinery, framing the attack as direct retaliation for fresh Israeli strikes on energy infrastructure inside Iran.

The war of the oil refineries: Iran says it targeted tonight a refinery in Israel after an attack on its own refinery in Tehran.

The regional energy infrastructure is getting pulled deeper and deeper into the conflict in a rapid escalation. https://t.co/92R4c3ofy6
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) March 7, 2026

Iranian media alleged that US and Israeli warplanes started the tit-for-tat by hitting an oil depot in southern Tehran. The semi-official Fars News Agency reported the storage site was among the latest targets in the ongoing major bombing campaign across the country.

If Iranian energy infrastructure is now being hit, all gloves can be expected to come off shortly. https://t.co/rYPp8oG7Z8
— Mohammad Ali Shabani (@mashabani) March 7, 2026

Meanwhile, Tehran itself is again under heavy assault, with reports that a major Tehran refinery has been hit.

Massive fireballs above Tehran:

TEHRAN ENGULFED IN MUSHROOM CLOUD AFTER ISRAEL BOMBS ‘OIL INFRASTRUCTURE’

IRAN STRIKES BACK AT HAIFA REFINERY — IRIB pic.twitter.com/g5aClMHLqi
— RT (@RT_com) March 7, 2026

* * *

Update(1310ET): Are we witnessing an olive branch from Tehran? That's assuming that President Pezeshkian and the Foreign Ministery are even in charge - also as the IRGC is clearly running this war, and may have already even issued orders for autonomy/division of action among the various military command chains. Here's the message that Iran's Foreign Ministry put out moments ago:

President Pezeshkian expressed openness to de-escalation within our region-provided that our neighbors' airspace, territory, and waters are not used to attack the Iranian People. Gesture to our neighbors was almost immediately killed by President Trump.

Saturday has clearly seen a continuation of Iranian drone and missile attacks on Gulf countries, including a direct drone hit on Dubai international airport Saturday morning.

And into Saturday evening in Iran (local):

The war of the oil refineries: Iran says it targeted tonight a refinery in Israel after an attack on its own refinery in Tehran.

The regional energy infrastructure is getting pulled deeper and deeper into the conflict in a rapid escalation. https://t.co/92R4c3ofy6
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) March 7, 2026

So de-escalation does not in fact seem to be happening, also as there are reports of a third US supercarrier en route to the region, possibly to relieve the long-deployed USS Gerald R. Ford carrier. Here is the Iranian Foreign Minister's statement.

President Pezeshkian expressed openness to de-escalation within our region-provided that our neighbors' airspace, territory, and waters are not used to attack the Iranian People. Gesture to our neighbors was almost immediately killed by President Trump.

My statement: pic.twitter.com/tnyCWTTqaj
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 7, 2026

Below is the latest on the potential third carrier deployment, which would be a first since Bush's Iraq war (having three carriers in the Mideast theatre), per FOX and open source reporting:

The U.S. Navy is preparing to deploy a third carrier strike group to the Middle East near Iran in the coming weeks, according to a report by Fox News, with the USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) and her Carrier Strike Group having now completing their Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX), expected to depart from Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia sometime before the end of March for a regularly scheduled deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet Area-of-Responsibility. However, due to the ongoing hostilities with Iran, it is not known if she will relieve the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), who entered the Red Sea on Thursday and has been deployed now for nearly 11-months, or if she will arrive to further reinforce the U.S. Navy in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Iran state media says a new Supreme Leader could be chosen within the next 24 hours, as no doubt the various reformist vs. hardline factions are jostling - likely with the more conservative candidates to win out.

* * *

As the US-Israeli war on Iran grinds into its second week, having completed a full week of what's largely been escalation alongside no real efforts at talks, the rhetoric on all sides is still expanding just as fast as the missile exchanges. Iran continues to get bombed very intensely, while several overnight ballistic missile and drone waves hit Israel.

The biggest development is that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran will never capitulate, pushing back after Donald Trump demanded Iran’s "unconditional surrender". But unexpectedly Pezeshkian has apologized to Gulf countries for coming under attack.

But strangely, in something which suggests how little in control Pezeshkian actually is (as more likely the IRGC is running the show, also as the Council of Experts delays choosing a Khamenei successor), Iran has continued launching drones and missiles toward Israel and targets across the Gulf - again, even as officials insist Tehran has no intention of attacking neighboring states unless attacks originate from their territory.

Trump, however, is already declaring victory while promising even more escalation. Posting on Truth Social, the president warned that "today Iran will be hit very hard" while saying that new targets could soon be added. "Under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran’s bad behavior, are areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting up until this moment in time," Trump wrote.

He also claimed Tehran had effectively backed down in the region, saying Pezeshkian had "surrendered" to neighboring countries and "promised that it will not shoot at them anymore." According to Trump, "This promise was only made because of the relentless U.S. and Israeli attack."

And yet...

Iranian drone hits Dubai international airport on Saturday morning, briefly suspending operations. Emirates has resumed flights on a limited schedule.pic.twitter.com/RIGj29Lrps
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) March 7, 2026

The president went further, declaring:

Iran is no longer the 'Bully of the Middle East,' they are, instead, ‘THE LOSER OF THE MIDDLE EAST,’ and will be for many decades until they surrender or, more likely, completely collapse! Today Iran will be hit very hard!

On the ground, the 'second front' of the conflict is widening: Israeli air and ground raids on the Lebanese town of Nabi Chit in the eastern Bekaa Valley reportedly killed at least 41 people, as fighting with Hezbollah intensifies. Beirut has also been getting bombed from the air, with whole buildings leveled.

Meanwhile Saudi Arabia says it newly intercepted two ballistic missiles headed toward Prince Sultan Air Base and drones targeting the Shaybah oilfield.

Rare close-up Tel Aviv strike footage, with Iron Dome clearly struggling and failing in this instance:

The iron dome in Tel Aviv getting smelted by Iranian ordinance . pic.twitter.com/YlUs5Ej9Cc
— Akunjee 🖋 (@mohammedakunjee) March 6, 2026

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is warning the region could quickly spiral further, freshly announcing that all US and Israeli bases and interests will be treated as "primary targets" if attacks on Iran continue. This does not feel very 'de-escalationy' at all, or a country that is actually 'apologizing' to its Gulf neighbors.

Tehran is also busy issuing internal warnings to its population as the war expands, warning firmly against any anti-government protests while the country is under attack. Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence accused what it called "American-Zionist mercenaries" of photographing missile impact sites and sending footage to "terrorist satellite networks" abroad, warning citizens that assisting foreign media or intelligence operations will be treated as a national security offense.

Over in Israel, there's also a similarly heavy military censorship campaign and apparent attempt to conceal the true extent of damage after a week of war. Israeli media on Saturday morning reported the eighth missile launch since midnight, but with the projectile reportedly intercepted.

Strike on Tehran this week, AFP/Getty Images

In the Gulf, the IRGC claimed responsibility for striking another tanker on Saturday. According to Sepah News, "An oil tanker with the trade name Louise P with the flag of the Marshall Islands, one of the assets of the terrorist America, was hit by a drone in the middle of the Persian Gulf.” And quickly after, reports of a second, via Bloomberg:

Another bulk carrier signaled it was Chinese-owned as it sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf that’s been effectively closed for a week due to multiple attacks in the area.

The Liberia-flagged Sino Ocean broadcast its destination signal as “CHINA OWNER_ALL CREW” as it traversed the chokepoint. The vessel exited the strait Saturday, according to ship-tracking data, after picking up its cargo from the United Arab Emirates’ Mina Saqr port on March 5.

Meanwhile, the almost daily changing White House talking points on the war - whether related to justification or moving goalposts and objectives - appears to be running up against the realism consensus of the intelligence community.

A classified US National Intelligence Council assessment reportedly concluded that even a large-scale assault on Iran would be unlikely to topple the Islamic Republic. According to The Washington Post the report was completed roughly a week before the war began, and it outlined succession scenarios if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei were killed, concluding institutional mechanisms would likely keep the system intact and that opposition groups were "unlikely" to seize power.

There continues to be speculation and back-and-forth over the true depth of Iran's ballistic missile capability: running low or just getting started? It's impossible for outside observers to know for sure...

As I predicted 4 days ago Iran is playing chess. It would soak up all interceptors and then roll out its newer missiles. Well it did that yesterday in wave 22. Wave 22 began with a barrage of Khorramshahr 4, Kheibar, and Fattah missiles. Not a single country could stop them.… pic.twitter.com/UqXthU1iOD
— Habibullah Khan (@Huk06) March 7, 2026

Back in the US, there is a somber moment as the bodies of six American service members killed in the conflict are scheduled to arrive at Dover Air Force Base for a dignified transfer ceremony, which both Trump and Vice President JD Vance are attending.

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/08/2026 - 05:25

Is Putin About To Deal His Long-Awaited Deathblow To The EU Economy

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 04:35:00 +0000

Is Putin About To Deal His Long-Awaited Deathblow To The EU Economy

Authored by Andrew Korybko,

He just ordered that some of Russia’s LNG exports to the EU be redirected to Asia, and if the EU doesn’t coerce Zelensky into giving him giving him more of what he wants in Ukraine, then there’d be no reason for him to not cut off Russia’s exports to them entirely for catalyzing a full-blown crisis.

The EU agreed late last year to end Russian LNG imports by 31 December 2026 and pipeline gas imports by 30 September 2027, with the possibility of extending the deadline till 31 October 2027 in case storage levels are below their required filling levels. This was done because “The US Weaponized Russophobic Paranoia & Energy Geopolitics To Capture Control Of Europe”, ergo why it encouraged this decision so as to then monopolize the bloc’s energy market in tandem with its Qatari ally, another LNG superpower.

Everything changed with the Third Gulf War, which began with joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran and has since seen Iran retaliate against all of the Gulf Kingdoms on the basis that the US infrastructure on their territories is being used in attacks against the Islamic Republic. The Strait of Hormuz is now effectively closed and the Gulf Kingdoms are scaling back energy production due to nearly reaching their storage capacity. Importantly, Qatar is also shutting down its gas liquefication, which will take weeks to restart.

It’s for these reasons that an energy crisis is expected which might surpass the one during COVID and even the 1973 Arab oil embargo in terms of its global disruption. With Gulf oil and gas pretty much out of the picture for now, the only realistic recourse for stabilizing the market is to return Russian resources thereto, which contextualizes why the US just temporarily waived sanctions on India’s purchase of Russian oil. The EU might also ramp up its gas imports from Russia ahead of its self-imposed deadlines.

With the impending global energy crisis in mind, Putin announced last week that he ordered his government to look into the possibility of redirecting European energy exports to Asia since they’re more profitable and won’t soon stop importing Russian energy completely like the EU will. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak then confirmed shortly thereafter that the decision was just made to redirect some (keyword) LNG exports from Europe to friendly countries such as India and China.

The scenario of Russia cutting off gas exports to the EU before the EU cuts off its gas imports from Russia is still on the table, but Putin seems more interested in leveraging this possibility in furtherance of his strategic goals than eschewing such an opportunity just to punish his Western adversaries. To that end, Novak’s confirmation that he decided to redirect some LNG exports from Europe to Asia can be seen as proof of Putin’s intent, but he’s also signaling interest in reconsidering if certain conditions are met.

These are the fulfilment of his goals in Ukraine: Russia’s control over the entirety of the disputed regions, Ukraine’s demilitarization and denazification, the restoration of its constitutional neutrality, and no foreign troops there after the conflict ends. He also wants to begin negotiations on reforming the European security architecture so that it’s less threatening to Russia and is suspected of wanting Zelensky not to run in Ukraine’s next elections. Not all might be achieved, but some likely will, though.

It’s at this moment when the EU is facing an economic crisis caused by the Third Gulf War taking the region’s energy exports offline that the bloc must decide whether it will coerce Zelensky to give Putin at least some of what he wants in exchange for him not redirecting LNG exports from them to Asia. The US might help them with this too so as to maintain the purchasing power of one of its largest markets. If they fail to do so, however, then Putin might finally deal a long-awaited deathblow to the EU economy.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/07/2026 - 23:35

US Intelligence Community Assessed That Massive US Attack 'Unlikely' To Oust Iranian Regime: WaPo

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 04:00:00 +0000

US Intelligence Community Assessed That Massive US Attack 'Unlikely' To Oust Iranian Regime: WaPo

Even a massive military assault on Iran is unlikely to topple the Islamic Republic of Iran and its state system, according to a classified assessment produced by the US intelligence community shortly before the US and Israel launched their current 'shock and awe-style' military campaign on Tehran. The Washington Post first reported it, perhaps based on some kind of leak or briefing by an anonymous intelligence official, and calls it—

a sobering assessment as the Trump administration raises the specter of an extended military campaign that officials say has "only just begun."

File image: Tulsi Gabbard is the United States Director of National Intelligence

The report, compiled by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) roughly a week before the war began, concluded that Iran's political system is structured to survive even major leadership losses, The Washington Post reports. However, this should really come as no surprise to anyone awake and observant throughout the past two plus decades of America's 'nation building' efforts in the Middle East, from Afghanistan to Iraq to Libya.

Already, Israel and the US have touted that 'all' of Iran's top leadership has been decimated, and yet clearly the governing system and its military - led specially by the elite IRGC - is not only in control but is still fighting back.

According to the assessment, Tehran has long prepared for such contingencies - and likely there's an emergency plan now in place in the wake of Ayatollah's Khamenei's death.

Intelligence officials say Iran long ago established clear succession protocols designed to maintain continuity of power even if senior leaders are killed. In other words, the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would likely trigger an internal transition process rather than cause the system to collapse - again, something which should be the obvious scenario.

The intelligence report also poured cold water on the idea that Iran's opposition could quickly fill any power vacuum. US intelligence analysts assessed that the country's fragmented opposition movements remain too divided to seize control, regardless of whether Washington pursued limited strikes against leadership targets or a broader assault on state institutions.

Equally unlikely, according to current and former US officials familiar with the analysis, is the prospect of a spontaneous nationwide uprising. We could speculate that this possibility may have had a chance of some degree of success within the opening one or two days of the mass US-Israel bombing campaign, but it clearly didn't materialize.

Welcome to U.S. elite foreign policy discourse, where you have to stroke your chin and muse thoughtfully about whether it's a good thing to trigger state collapse and civil war in a nation of 90 million that didn't pose an imminent threat. https://t.co/EWCLpZrIwF
— Marcus Stanley (@MarcusMStanley) March 7, 2026

On this prospect WaPo quotes Brookings:

“There’s no other force within Iran that can confront the remaining power that the regime has,” Suzanne Maloney, an Iran scholar and vice president of the Brookings Institution, told The Post. “Even if they’re not able to project that power very effectively against their neighbors, they can certainly dominate inside the country.”

The National Intelligence Council synthesizes the analytical work of all 18 US intelligence agencies, and produces classified estimates meant to guide policymakers on major geopolitical risks.

Much of the American public, raised on Hollywood movies, tends to have an overblown and inaccurate understanding of US intelligence agencies like the CIA. While the CIA certainly has a very powerful and secretive covert, operations side (and an even tinier Ground Branch) - the bulk of its personnel and overseers/top officials are analysts. So there is an overt side and a covert side, with the analyst side tasked with providing the IC and White House with a 'realistic' picture of the world, ideally devoid of policy or ideology. Their job is also often to 'game out' all worst possible scenarios, given a certain course of action.

The report says the prospect of Iran’s fragmented opposition taking control of the country is “unlikely,” raising doubts about Trump’s declared plan to “clean out” Iran’s leadership structure and install a ruler of his choosing pic.twitter.com/YaHwgoWB9d
— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) March 7, 2026

Meanwhile, the White House has not said whether Trump was briefed on the assessment before approving the operation. But likely such an assessment would have made it into the CIA's daily briefing for the president, also given reports from last week that the Pentagon also tried to inject some realism in terms of the 'unknowns' once Tehran is attacked.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/07/2026 - 23:00

Explosion Hits US Embassy In Oslo

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 03:25:00 +0000

Explosion Hits US Embassy In Oslo

An explosion struck the US Embassy in Oslo, Norway Sunday morning, causing minor damage to the facility and no reported injuries.

The blast, which struck around 1:00 a.m. local time, occurred at the entry to the consular section, according to police spokesperson Mikael Dellemyr in a statement to public broadcaster NRK.

"We've determined that an explosion hit the American embassy," he said.

BREAKING: Officials say explosion was at the consular entrance to the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway. - NRK pic.twitter.com/BmUfmefCYA
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 8, 2026

Police separately said that they don't have any idea what caused the blast or who was involved.

"The police are in a dialogue with the embassy and there are no reports of ⁠any injured persons," they said in a statement.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/07/2026 - 22:25

China Sidesteps Solar Targets In New Five-Year Plan

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 02:50:00 +0000

China Sidesteps Solar Targets In New Five-Year Plan

China’s latest five-year plan avoids setting ambitious solar targets, signaling rising challenges for the sector after years of explosive growth, according to Bloomberg.

Released during the annual National People’s Congress, the plan does not include a goal for solar installations by 2030. That omission contrasts with clearer commitments elsewhere in the energy mix, including plans to double offshore wind capacity and expand nuclear and pumped-hydro power. Solar receives relatively little attention overall, while policymakers instead emphasize broader transition initiatives such as zero-carbon industrial parks.

The shift follows a record surge in solar development. China’s solar power generation surpassed wind for the first time last year, driven by a flood of inexpensive panels that helped make solar one of the country’s most competitive energy sources.

Yet the rapid expansion is beginning to strain the power system. As solar’s share of the electricity mix rises, grid pressure has increased, leading to more curtailment and weaker returns for developers.

Bloomberg writes that China now faces a different set of challenges for both its power network and industrial economy.

“As renewables reach higher shares in the power mix, the focus naturally shifts toward system integration,” said Muyi Yang, a senior energy analyst at Ember. That means more attention on grid expansion, system flexibility, energy storage and other ways to balance intermittent power, including pumped hydro. Expanding clean power across industry also demands deeper structural changes, since existing systems were largely built around fossil fuels. “That’s where you start to see more explicit policy attention and new initiatives emerging like the zero-carbon industrial park initiative,” Yang said.

Meanwhile, market conditions in the solar supply chain remain weak. According to the China Silicon Industry Association, polysilicon prices in China dropped between 6.2% and 12.9% in the week through Wednesday as demand stayed soft after the Lunar New Year holiday and inventories remained elevated. Wafer prices also slipped between 2.5% and 2.9%, while module prices held steady at 0.71–0.75 yuan per watt and cell prices remained unchanged at 0.41–0.45 yuan per watt.

Grid utilization data also points to mounting strain. Solar power use edged down to 94.3% in January from 94.4% a year earlier and 94.6% in December, according to the National New Energy Consumption Monitoring and Early Warning Center.

At the same time, policymakers are beginning to address the sector’s next phase of development. China plans to strengthen its capacity to recycle aging solar modules, setting a target to process 250,000 tons by 2027 as large volumes of older equipment approach retirement. At the National People’s Congress, Zhong Baoshen, chairman and president of LONGi Green Energy Technology, also proposed creating a financing supervision system for the solar industry and restricting funding for companies that fail to meet regulatory requirements.

Forecasts referenced by the China Photovoltaic Industry Association suggest the sector’s breakneck expansion may slow by 2026 as grid constraints and weaker economics begin to bite.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/07/2026 - 21:50

Israeli Finance Minister's Son Wounded In Hezbollah Rocket Attack

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 02:15:00 +0000

Israeli Finance Minister's Son Wounded In Hezbollah Rocket Attack

Via The Cradle

At least eight Israeli soldiers were injured by Hezbollah rockets near the border with southern Lebanon on Friday, including the son of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, according to Israeli media. The Lebanese resistance targeted Israeli troop gatherings on Friday. A rocket struck a group of soldiers, wounding eight, five of whom are in serious condition, according to Israel’s military.

The Givati Brigade soldiers were transported to the hospital for treatment. Smotrich’s office released a statement saying his son was among the wounded troops. The attack comes a day after Smotrich vowed that Israel would make Beirut "look like Khan Yunis."

AFP/Getty Images

Hezbollah drone and rocket attacks on Israeli positions have been ongoing, including soldiers inside Lebanon and forces across the border.

"The Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance targeted a position where soldiers of the Israeli enemy army were entrenched in the Blat al-Mustaqbal area in southern Lebanon with a guided missile… and achieved a direct hit," Hezbollah announced early Friday evening.

It also announced drone attacks on Kiryat Shmona, a rocket attack on a base in Safad, and around a dozen other operations.

Israel has started a ground invasion of Lebanon after the pro-Tehran resistance reopened the front, following the beginning of the war of aggression against Iran.

Occupation troops have crossed the border into the country, while other forces are positioned in locations that the Israeli army occupied inside Lebanon after the ceasefire deal in 2024.

Since the ground war began, Hebrew media have reported several "difficult security incidents" which are under heavy censorship.

An Israeli army officer was wounded by Hezbollah resistance fighters on March 5, the Israeli military announced in an official statement.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's son was sent off to the northern front with Hezbollah and a day after was wounded:

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's son lasted one day in Lebanon before getting injured, according to Israeli media. pic.twitter.com/mifpnHiLiu
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) March 6, 2026

The battles coincided with continued indiscriminate bombing by Israel across south Lebanon, the east, and the capital, Beirut. Over 200 Lebanese have been killed by Israel since March 2.

According to a report by Al Jadeed TV, France has proposed an initiative for an end to the war in Lebanon in exchange for "a full surrender of Hezbollah."

Hezbollah is "rejecting that any party negotiates on its behalf over ending the war, stressing that when the negotiations course matures, it will be the first negotiator, seeing as it considers the previous agreement to be unideal."

The Israeli army has attacked southern Lebanon almost every day since the November 2024 so-called ceasefire, killing hundreds of people. Hezbollah or possibly other groups began to launch sporadic missiles into northern Israel soon after the start of the Iran war this week.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/07/2026 - 21:15

New York Millionaire's Club Says They're Happy Paying Higher Taxes Under Mamdani

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 01:45:00 +0000

New York Millionaire's Club Says They're Happy Paying Higher Taxes Under Mamdani

Sigh. It's all so exhausting. Not all of New York’s wealthiest residents are sounding alarms over Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to raise taxes on high earners. In fact, a small group of millionaires says the backlash is a bit over the top, according to Bloomberg.

Members of the Patriotic Millionaires — including filmmaker Abigail Disney, granddaughter of Roy O. Disney of The Walt Disney Company — argue the rich can easily afford to contribute more if it helps fund things like schools, transit and child care.

“I’ve gotten tax cut after tax cut after tax cut. And I never needed any of them,” Disney said, backing Mamdani’s proposed 2-percentage-point income-tax surcharge on millionaires. “All these things have fallen out from under the middle class — an education system that works, public transportation, infrastructure, health care.”

Bloomberg writes that the mayor has floated several ways to boost city revenue, including higher income taxes for people earning more than $1 million and an increase in the top corporate tax rate. Critics, including hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, say the approach risks driving wealthy residents and companies to lower-tax states like Florida or Texas — a concern echoed by Kathy Hochul and business groups.

Supporters counter that the idea of a billionaire stampede out of Manhattan is exaggerated. “I’m certainly not going to move because of higher taxes. That’s ridiculous,” said Morris Pearl, a former executive at BlackRock. “I live where I want to live, and so do most rich people.”

New York isn’t short on potential taxpayers. Nearly 35,000 city residents earned at least $1 million in 2023, and the top 1% already generate roughly two-fifths of the city’s income-tax revenue, according to the New York City Independent Budget Office. For some wealthy advocates, that just proves the point: the people with the deepest pockets can afford to keep the city running.

Pearl also notes how easily the ultra-wealthy can sidestep income taxes altogether. “When you’re already rich, you don’t need income,” he said. “If you don’t have income, you don’t pay income taxes.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/07/2026 - 20:45

Turkey Mulls F-16 Deployment To Turkish-Occupied Cyprus Amid Iran War Tensions

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:45:00 +0000

Turkey Mulls F-16 Deployment To Turkish-Occupied Cyprus Amid Iran War Tensions

As the Iran war unfolds and has shown signs of becoming a regional conflict, one interesting question is what Turkey's role will be - given it is both a NATO member possessing a large military and an avowed regional enemy and rival to Israel for influence.

A Turkish defense ministry source has been cited in national media to say the country is mulling deployment of F-16 fighter jets to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

Occupied northern Cyprus, Shutterstock/Middle East Forum

Earlier this week a British military base hosted in EU member Cyprus (on the southern side of the island) came under attack by Iranian-made drones.

This has resulted in some European military assets being moved to Cyprus, including additional British forces. But now it appears Turkey wants to make a show of doing the name for Turkish-claimed Cypriot territory.

Turkey's Daily Sabah points out, however, that "TRNC has been incensed by Greek Cypriot's growing military cooperation with its Western partners after the United Kingdom has allowed the U.S. to use its military base in the south of the divided island.

Citing the military source, the same Turkish outlet said, "The TRNC leadership has held a series of security meetings in response to the crisis, he added, focusing on crisis management, coordination with Türkiye and the preparedness of civil defense mechanisms."

As for Turkey's long occupation of northern Cyprus, no one else in the world recognizes its legitimacy except for Ankara. Cyprus receives backing from its EU partners, but this doesn't go much beyond verbal censure of Turkey.

The Turkish armed forces has for years had at least 30,000 soldiers stationed on Cyprus and growing, the northern part of which it has illegally occupied since 1974.

It remains something that Greek Cypriots cannot forgive or forget, and it continues to shape a deep and lasting distrust of Britain. https://t.co/Id30iJpP4V
— elena antoniou (@elenaantoniou3) March 7, 2026

At the moment, President Erdogan has reportedly reached out to the UK's Starmer, urging for Britain to do more diplomacy to immediately bring the Iran-US-Israel war to halt.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/07/2026 - 19:45

PJM Market Monitor Opposes Maryland Coal Plant Sale To Data Center Company

Tyler Durden — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:15:00 +0000

PJM Market Monitor Opposes Maryland Coal Plant Sale To Data Center Company

By Ethan Howland of UtilityDive

The PJM Interconnection’s market monitor on Wednesday urged federal regulators to reject an application from GenOn to sell a 216-MW power plant in Maryland to TeraWulf over concerns the data center developer would remove the resource from PJM’s market.

Taking the four Morgantown generating units out of the PJM market would run counter to “principles” issued by the National Energy Dominance Council and the PJM governors that call for new data centers to provide new generation, Monitoring Analytics, the market monitor, said in a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The proposed deal between TeraWulf and GenOn would also shift risks and costs to PJM customers and would be inconsistent with the public interest, according to Monitoring Analytics.

Boats are docked at the Aqualand Marina as emissions spew out of a stack at the Morgantown Generating Station on June 29, 2015, in Newburg, Md. The PJM Interconnection’s market monitor on March 4, 2026, urged federal regulators to reject an application from GenOn to sell the power plant to TeraWulf. Mark Wilson via Getty Images

The Trump administration and others have been pressing for data center companies to pay for their own power supply and energy infrastructure needs. President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued a “ratepayer pledge” — signed by Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI — that states that the companies will acquire new generation to meet their data center needs.

“Where possible, these companies will also add more capacity that serves the broader public by increasing supply,” the pledge states.

In its filing at FERC, Monitoring Analytics said the Morgantown power plant is in a constrained zone in PJM that needs existing generation to be retained and new generation to be built.

FERC should reject the proposed deal and require GenOn to refile its application to clarify that the Morgantown units would continue supplying the PJM market, according to the market monitor.

“TeraWulf should be required to commit to not removing the Morgantown Units from the PJM market to serve data center load,” Monitoring Analytics said.

TeraWulf, however, plans to be a net generator for Maryland, according to company officials.

TeraWulf intends to build its project in two phases, each with about 500 MW of gas-fired generation, 250 MW of battery storage and 500 MW of data center load, Paul Prager, TeraWulf chairman and CEO, said during a Feb. 26 earnings call.

“The site is being engineered to operate as a net generator to the state,” Prager said. “We are not just consuming capacity. We are adding it in constrained markets.”

TeraWulf intends to use the planned battery storage at the Morgantown site to shave peak load in a benefit to the PJM grid, Nazar Khan, TeraWulf chief technology officer, said.

Potentially, the project’s first phase could come online in late 2028, according to Prager.

The Morgantown power plant site includes four generating units totaling about 1,260 MW that were shuttered in 2022.

TeraWulf posted a $661.4 million loss in 2025, up from a $72.4 million loss the year before while its revenue increased to $168.5 million from $140.1 million in the same period, according to its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Since 2022, TeraWulf has mainly funded its operations by selling bitcoin and issuing debt and equity, the company said.

Besides the Morgantown project, TeraWulf has data center projects in Kentucky, New York and Texas, according to a Feb. 26 investor presentation.

Other parties protesting the Morgantown deal at FERC include Public Citizen and area residents. FERC should direct TeraWulf to describe its plans for the Morgantown site, including how it intends to remediate coal-related pollution there, according to Public Citizen.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/07/2026 - 19:15

Are Vessels Starting To Identify As "Chinese" To Transit Hormuz Chokepoint

Tyler Durden — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 23:45:00 +0000

Are Vessels Starting To Identify As "Chinese" To Transit Hormuz Chokepoint

A second China-linked bulk carrier broadcasted "CHINA OWNER_ALL CREW" while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday morning in an effort to reduce the risk of an IRGC drone or missile attack. We were the first to highlight this tactic late Wednesday night and believe it will only become more widespread within the commercial shipping community.

The Liberia-flagged Sino Ocean broadcasted "CHINA OWNER_ALL CREW" as it transited the narrowest stretch of the world's most critical maritime energy chokepoint early this morning.

The first instance of a bulk carrier broadcasting "CHINA OWNER" occurred last Wednesday night when the Iron Maiden changed its destination signal while transiting the waterway, hugging the Omani coastline.

There was an earlier report from New Delhi Television that said, "Iran has said it will allow only Chinese vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as an expression of gratitude for Beijing's stance toward Tehran since the war in the Middle East began."

Meanwhile, dozens of bulk carriers and oil and gas tankers are trapped in the Persian Gulf as the Hormuz chokepoint remains disrupted due to insurers canceling coverage for the region because of IRGC drone attack risks. This has choked off energy supplies to major customers in Asia and Europe (read about the incoming energy shock).

The Trump administration has been working on a plan to unclog the maritime chokepoint with a $20 billion reinsurance program backed by the US government and has even floated the idea of possible military escorts, though no clear operational plan has been announced yet.

X account "Zhao DaShuai," which Western MSM say is linked to the Chinese military, said, "It seems Chinese ships will have a monopoly on the Strait of Hormuz trade route. Looks like another case of Do Nothing and Win for China."

It seems Chinese ships will have a monopoly on the Strait of Hormuz trade route.

Looks like another case of Do Nothing and Win for China. pic.twitter.com/ozTdvHY8DZ
— Zhao DaShuai 东北进修🇨🇳 (@zhao_dashuai) March 7, 2026

Another?

China-owned Bulk Carrier "KSL Hengyang" transited strait of Hormuz. https://t.co/wDpdMDIqiU pic.twitter.com/t4J3ugwgYd
— MenchOsint (@MenchOsint) March 7, 2026

We suspect the next big thing for ships in the region is to start identifying as Chinese.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/07/2026 - 18:45

Venezuela's Gas Potential Could Overshadow Its Famous Oil Reserves

Tyler Durden — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 23:15:00 +0000

Venezuela's Gas Potential Could Overshadow Its Famous Oil Reserves

Authored by Felicity Bradstock via OilPrice.com,

While attention is often on Venezuela's vast oil reserves, many experts believe that exploiting its natural gas fields, which were previously neglected, presents a more immediate opportunity for economic success.
Developing Venezuela's gas industry will likely require an energy partnership with neighboring Trinidad and Tobago, as the island nation possesses the necessary infrastructure for processing and exporting the fuel that Venezuela lacks.
Major international companies like Shell and BP are pursuing key Venezuelan gas projects, such as the Dragon and Cocuina fields, a move facilitated by greater leniency on U.S. sanctions.

Following the United States intervention in Venezuela on 3rd January, which brought an end to President Nicolás Maduro’s 13-year dictatorship, all eyes have been on the South American country’s oil industry. Once one of the world’s biggest oil producers, output has waned in recent years. However, with U.S. President Trump setting his sights on Venezuelan crude, many are speculating just how quickly its resources can be tapped. While the focus is on Venezuela’s potential as an oil power, others think that more immediate success may be seen in the exploitation of its gas fields.

Venezuela is home to the largest oil reserves in the world, with an estimated 300 billion barrels. However, years of underinvestment and mismanagement have led to a significant reduction in output. The recent U.S. intervention in the South American country has drawn new investor interest in its energy market, as President Trump vows to rapidly redevelop Venezuela’s long-neglected oil resources.

On 13th February, the White House published a press release that stated, “The Trump Administration is rapidly implementing President Trump’s vision to reopen and develop Venezuela’s oil industry for the shared benefit of the American and Venezuelan people. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, the United States has already issued several general licenses at record speed for oil and gas companies?to make unprecedented investments in Venezuela’s energy infrastructure.”

The statement went on to say, “Venezuela holds tremendous economic potential, but years of instability, corruption, and economic mismanagement have limited the nation’s growth and prosperity. These general licenses invite American and other aligned companies to?play a constructive role in supporting economic recovery?and responsible investment.”

While the world eyes Venezuela’s untapped oil, some believe that there may be greater mid-term potential in exploiting its natural gas reserves. Most of Venezuela’s gas is trapped deep beneath the seafloor. While these reserves were first discovered several decades ago, ago, off the country’s eastern coast, along the border with Trinidad and Tobago, the Venezuelan government left them largely untouched as it focused its attention on oil production.

Several oil majors, such as Shell, have previously approached Venezuela for a stake in its gas business, even when interest in the country’s oil industry was waning due to geopolitical instability and U.S. sanctions. For years, U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s government and its state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, have restricted the development of its gas industry. In addition, developing its natural gas industry would require cooperation with neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago.

Trinidad and Tobago already has the necessary infrastructure to transport fuel onshore and export it, which Venezuela does not. If the two countries established an energy partnership, Trinidad’s pre-existing infrastructure could help Venezuela to develop its gas industry more rapidly. However, the two powers, which are separated by language (Spanish and English), have had a strained relationship in recent years. Trinidad and Tobago has generally sided with the United States when it comes to Maduro’s presidency and the decision to impose sanctions on Venezuelan energy.

Venezuela’s biggest natural gas prospect is the giant Dragon oil field, as it is the closest to being developed. The Venezuelan government previously conducted exploration activities in the field but was unable to retrieve the gas buried there due to a lack of funding to continue exploration. These efforts were further undermined by the sinking of an exploration rig in 2010.

In 2023, the Venezuelan government made a deal with Shell, allowing the foreign firm to explore the Dragon field. The plan was to construct a short pipeline between Dragon and Shell’s existing infrastructure on the island of Trinidad, rather than to start from scratch in Venezuela.

If Shell develops Dragon, the field is expected to generate around $500 million a year in revenue, based on current natural gas prices, of which at least 45 percent is expected to go to Venezuela in the form of taxes and royalties. “These are opportunities that could potentially be activated within months, with potentially a few billion dollars of investments and production in the next couple of years,” Shell’s CEO, Wael Sawan, told CNBC.

U.S. Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, said that developing a regional natural gas collaboration could be “a real potential win-win for Trinidad and Tobago, a win for the global L.N.G. market, a win for Venezuela.”

Meanwhile, BP is pursuing another Venezuelan gas project, a field known as Cocuina, which greater leniency on U.S. sanctions may make possible. In late February, the U.S. Treasury Department appeared to give oil and gas firms greater leeway to negotiate with Venezuela and operate in the South American country. “They are splicing together an environment that allows the existing players to operate,” said Rachel Ziemba, an adjunct senior fellow at the Centre for a New American Security.

While President Trump is eyeing long-term oil industry development in Venezuela, some international oil majors may be more interested in the South American country’s natural gas potential. Developing the resource will likely require collaboration with neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago, and could lead to the development of a new regional Latin America-Caribbean energy hub.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/07/2026 - 18:15

Kalshi, Polymarket Eye $20B Valuations In Potential Fundraising: WSJ

Tyler Durden — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 22:15:00 +0000

Kalshi, Polymarket Eye $20B Valuations In Potential Fundraising: WSJ

Authored by Amin Haqshanas via CoinTelegraph.com,

Prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket are reportedly exploring new fundraising rounds that could value the companies at around $20 billion each, roughly double their most recent valuations.

Both platforms have held preliminary discussions with potential investors about raising fresh capital at the elevated valuation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The report noted that the negotiations remain at an early stage and may not result in deals or secure the targeted valuation.

Kalshi currently operates in the United States and offers markets allowing users to wager on outcomes tied to sports, politics, the economy and cultural events. The company was last valued at about $11 billion in December when it raised $1 billion from investors including Paradigm and Sequoia Capital.

Founded in 2018 by Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, Kalshi received approval from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2020 to operate as a regulated exchange for event-based markets. The platform has since expanded rapidly and recently surpassed a $1 billion revenue run rate, with some estimates placing the figure closer to $1.5 billion.

Polymarket plans US launch later this year

Polymarket, launched in 2020 by Shayne Coplan, remains inaccessible to US users without a virtual private network but plans to introduce a regulated domestic version of its platform later this year. The company was valued at roughly $9 billion in October after Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, agreed to invest up to $2 billion.

Both platforms have drawn attention from lawmakers and regulators. As Cointelegraph reported, US Democratic lawmakers are drafting legislation to regulate prediction markets after suspiciously timed bets on the timing of US and Israeli strikes on Iran raised insider-trading concerns.

Senator Chris Murphy alleged that individuals close to the White House may have used advance knowledge of the attack to place bets, noting that several Polymarket accounts reportedly made about $1 million by wagering just hours before explosions were reported in Tehran.

Polymarket faces insider trading suspicions

Polymarket has faced multiple insider trading allegations after several traders placed unusually well-timed bets on major events. A small group of crypto wallets recently made more than $1.2 million betting on a market tied to an onchain investigation into DeFi platform Axiom shortly before blockchain investigator ZachXBT published claims about insider trading linked to the project.

In a separate incident last month, another Polymarket account reportedly earned about $400,000 after placing a large wager on the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro shortly before the news became public, further raising questions about whether some traders had advance information.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/07/2026 - 17:15

GLP-1 Feud Ends: NOVO, HIMS Join Forces (Again) To Sell Obesity Drugs

Tyler Durden — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 21:45:00 +0000

GLP-1 Feud Ends: NOVO, HIMS Join Forces (Again) To Sell Obesity Drugs

The epic, months-long GLP-1 feud between Novo Nordisk and telehealth firm Hims & Hers Health appears to be coming to a surprising end, with both companies reportedly set to announce, as soon as Monday, a new partnership that would allow the Danish drugmaker to sell Wegovy through HIMS' platform.

Bloomberg published the report late Friday, stating:

Novo Nordisk A/S plans to sell its weight-loss drugs on Hims & Hers Health Inc.'s platform, according to a person familiar with the matter...

...

Novo and Hims plan to announce a new partnership as soon as Monday, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The two companies had a similar agreement last year, but Novo abruptly scrapped it after Hims refused to stop marketing and selling copycat medications.

The move is very surprising because NOVO sued HIMS just last month over a copycat Wegovy pill and patent infringement tied to Ozempic and Wegovy. Even the head of the FDA recently stated that telehealth firms were put on notice about copycat GLP-1s.

"There is no other way to describe the Hims news as both a surprise and an unabashed positive for Hims' stock," Leerink Partners analyst Michael Cherny wrote in a note to clients.

NOVO ADRs rose 2% in after-hours trading on Friday following the report, while HIMS shares surged nearly 40%. The new partnership would effectively end the GLP-1 feud between the two companies.

"We get the rationale for Novo here," Cherny added. "The company has been looking to add as many partners as it can to drive market reach, including other digital pharmacies and CVS."

The rationale for why the feud ended will likely be explained by NOVO executives and/or HIMS executives on Monday morning, if the Bloomberg report is correct. It's clear that the feud's end was likely tied to the terrible year-to-date performance of both companies (data below as of close on Friday).

NOVO's willingness to partner with HIMS (again) comes as its new GLP-1 pill has yet to help it gain the momentum to acquire enough new market share to reverse the stock plunge amid a highly competitive obesity space. Additionally, the new CEO is under pressure from investors to reverse the multi-year stock plunge and to offer hope amid a recently dismal outlook for the year.

Also this week, Novo's biggest bull, Goldman analyst James Quigley, downgraded the stock from "Buy" to "Hold." Quigley's full note can be viewed here and is available to pro subs. How long until Quigley reverses this call?

With the feud now apparently over, here is our past reporting:

We noted on X:

And Round trip

Novo and Hims End Feud, Will Sell Obesity Drugs Together
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 7, 2026

It's worth noting that HIMS' float is 39.65% short, or 81 million shares.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/07/2026 - 16:45