Mélenchon has committed to it, France will leave NATO if he wins.

"If I am President, France will leave NATO. NATO serves only one purpose: to place us under the tutelage of the United States."

https://tankie.tube/w/sC4kPCWgnWsrtEjCEAyfct

https://xcancel.com/MenchOsint/status/2051645775071826142

Hegseth: Soon we will hand responsibility of strait to the world

Sounds more like an admission of failure. "We ignited a fire, failed to extinguish it, now good luck guys"

And we're back to the cursed megathread, nice seeing you nerds again after a lil break.

May Allah guide Iran's strikes

Mélenchon from La France Insoumise (left populist/socdem/demsoc) had an interview where they discussed his party foreign policy positions here is a quick recap:

• They are opposing the "israelo"-american war against Iran and would like to organize a diplomatic front against it, but are criticizing the Iranian government and hope they would change over time (w/o intervention)
• He said "Israel" are the most dangerous country currently in west asia.
• He said that under his doctrine the french UN troops would not retreat but oppose "Israel" if they were to push and invade Lebanon as it is their mission as an "opposition force" with a UN mandate. He said he would also alert all countries and militias that if french soldier part of FINUL would be attacked (like it recently happened), the french army would retaliate against the aggressors.
• They want to get out of NATO as soon as possible as they deem it a tool of US domination and their goal is to have an independant France
• They recognize Taiwan as part of China. They would not intervene if there was a conflict between China and Taiwan as "it is their business" and they want to reinforce cooperation with China as they share common goals (stability etc.). They also want closer partnerships with China (and India as well) in space notably rather than continuing with the "western space station".
• They want to reestablish discussion with Russia to find common ground as for them Russia is part of Europe and relationship should be more friendly (although he laments them being capitalist and said Europe was safer during the USSR than currently). They refuse to wage a war against them as they don't want a nuclear holocaust (France and Russia being 2 nuclear powers). He denounces Ukraine invasion but reminds the interviewer that Russia had 3 red lines for NATO expansions, Ukraine being one of them. He wants to discuss a real end to the war and referendums in the Donbass and other russian speaking regions so that they can choose whether they want to leave Ukraine or not (reminding that the western part of Ukraine did "bad things" to their russian speaking population in the east". He said as a direct quote "I do not want to bomb Russia and I want to remind people that they lost 20millions of their citizens [for the liberation of Europe from Nazism]"
• He criticized the colonial mentality of the current french governement towards Algeria and wants to improve the relationship as he thinks diplomacy on equal footing is the only way forward.
• He wants to create a pact of countries that border the mediterranean sea to establish a joint management of the common water body (Climate change, sea pollution, how to handle water for fires etc.)
• Complained about Macron neo-colonialism speeches and actions in Africa and wants to mend the relationships between France and these African nations and treat them as equal partners. (As Mélenchon was a big supporter of Mitterrand back in the 70-80s, I'm suspicious of France and him in regards to the african continent, even moreso seeing how France treat their defacto colonies they still possess around the globe)

I would highly encourage you to watch the full interview with the auto-translated subtitles as I think it gives a really good picture of what their Foreign Policy vision is, although I am not completely aligned with all his positions I find them good enough and I think the world would be a far better place if these were implemented. I hope they will be able to seize power in 2027 and do what they say they are gonna do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1AzW4zhwrc

Edit: Forgot to share this gem from a few years ago where a rapper did a freestyle with Mélenchon as the subject lmao https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SYuP98Delw

Thanks to a ban on Soviet iconography in Germany, the display of any Soviet flags on Liberation day had to be censored

80% of U.S. hoteliers in 11 World Cup host cities say bookings are tracking below original forecasts, with some describing the tournament as a “non-event,” according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association

https://x.com/unusual_whales/status/2052154188436513048

turns out turists dont want to get dissappeared by ice who could have known?

Guardian update - Rubio says the US is working to get ships through the strait of Hormuz as a “favour to the world because we’re the only ones that can”. He says ships that are currently stranded are holding goods that are essential for the people of other countries, including fuel, fertiliser and humanitarian aid.

"It’s their ships that are stranded. Not ours."

He adds that the US is stepping up because “we’re the only ones that can project power in that part of the world”.

Trump: "I could with one swipe of the pen say, 'Let's have no employment,' and I'll hire a million people or two million people and we'll have absolutely no employment."

Iran's Fars news agency says two missiles hit a US warship in the Strait of Hormuz

If they were actually hit and the US just pretends like this didn't happen, that would be very funny. Maybe we get one angry Trump post?

Edit;

Fars: According to the Army Public Relations, a few hours ago, United States destroyers, by turning off their radars in the Arabian Sea, intended to approach the Strait of Hormuz, but immediately after turning their radars back on, they were detected and faced a radio warning from the Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran about the dangers of violating the ceasefire.

The brave soldiers of the army, after the American destroyers ignored the warning, explicitly stated in a renewed warning that any attempt to enter the Strait of Hormuz would be considered a violation of the ceasefire and would be met with a response from the naval forces.

At this stage, following the American Zionist destroyers' disregard for the initial warning, the Navy fired warning shots of cruise missiles, rockets, and combat drones near the enemy's invading vessels to issue a warning; the responsibility and dangerous consequences of such actions will be felt by the hostile enemy.

https://xcancel.com/bonzerbarry/status/2053431762689069418

Ynet: Protecting themselves with fishing nets, with the help of donations: "There is no answer to FPV drones”.

The forces are using “fishing nets," which H. claims they obtained independently. "The goal of the 'fishing nets' that we use is actually to distance the drone's impact, so that if it hits me - I won't be killed, but 'only' injured," he said. "Instead of the army being able to provide us with them - the NCOs are raising funds to buy us some. They post a link to a story they publish, and ask citizens for money so that we can buy life-saving equipment." "Hezbollah's combat doctrine is to shoot at us once and then send another drone that targets the rescue force.

oh, a double-tap strike? the same shit the IDF has been doing for years (except, you know, the second tap here still being on military forces, and not on civilian paramedics)? yeah, how does it feel to be on the receiving end now, fuckers?

This adds to the concern, especially for those who rush to treat the wounded and may also be harmed." "This is a life threatening situation and we are helpless against it, we are facing open skies," said H., expressing frustration.

of, "expressing frustration", huh

"As fighters, we do not understand how it is possible that the IDF manages to achieve the capabilities of intercepting outside the atmosphere, and in the end, facing explosive drones from Ali Express, the army does not provide a response. The fighters lose limbs in the best case and their lives in the worst case." He also criticized the government's conduct: "It continues to engage in evasion instead of finding solutions for those who show up time and time again."

https://xcancel.com/STANISKRAPIVNIK/status/2051210626152759751

The Sunday Times today devotes an entire spread to the sensational story in Ukraine about how a fighter named Nazar Daletsky returned home to Lviv from Russian captivity, only to be buried there with someone else's remains being handed over to his mother. The story, of course, is touching and revealing. The British newspaper admits that Ukrainian morgues are overwhelmed and unable to cope with the influx of corpses from the front, and many bodies are still lying in refrigerated trucks on railway tracks near Kyiv and Odessa. But for some reason, the Times does not ask the question: how could this happen if, according to Zelensky and official British propaganda, the losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are supposedly minimal? Similarly, the Times does not explain to readers why the chevron of the Ukrainian fighter who returned from captivity features the eagle of the Nazi Third Reich. After all, they would have to explain to readers that "Nazism in Ukraine is a fabrication of Russian propaganda"!

https://xcancel.com/SU_57R/status/2050681792949342292

🇷🇺🇺🇦 13 former servicemen (and woman) of Ukraine's 67th mechanized brigade posted a video describing their desertion from the unit. They claim that "criminal orders" were given by brigade commanders and higher ups. It's not uncommon to see deserters, but now entire group sized elements are leaving, that's completely different.

https://xcancel.com/Forbes/status/2051726930727342528   https://archive.ph/dIYxL

Nearly 80% of U.S. hoteliers in 11 World Cup host cities say bookings are tracking below original forecasts, with some describing the tournament as a “non-event,” according to an American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) survey of members released Monday.

The long awaited Iranian response to the US response came a few hours ago.

An Iranian official to Al Jazeera: Tehran's response to the American proposal came in a realistic and positive form. Our response focuses on ending the war in the entire region, especially in Lebanon, and settling disputes with Washington. Our response focuses on the need for a clear and guaranteed mechanism for lifting all forms of sanctions. Our response is based on the country's supreme interests and the outcomes of our consultations with regional countries. The choice is now in Washington's hands, and its commitment to political realism will be crucial.

Trump is already raging on Truth Social, looks like the response was the same list of negotiating positions that Iran has been making since the start.

https://xcancel.com/MatthewPHoh/status/2052443632771228098   https://archive.ph/wHfpM

Huge story from WaPo (gift link) on Iran’s resilience to US blockade:

• 3-4 months before “severe” pain hits
• Iran could hold out much longer
• “radical” nature of new regime means higher pain tolerance vs. old regime
• Iran likely to ship oil overland in smaller amounts

U.S. official: “you see similar regimes lasting years under sustained embargoes and airpower-only wars.” Trump absolutely cannot run his blockade experiment another 3-4 months while Hormuz remains closed. It would throw the global economy into a deep recession and still might fail. There are no nuclear or ballistic missile concessions from Iran that are worth tanking the global economy and the U.S. economy along with it.

The latest leak from US military and intelligence institutions rebuts the Fox News crowd and shows an American military and intelligence establishment desperate to prevent an American return to war against Iran. In the last two weeks, we’ve seen leaks to NY Times, CNN, NBC News and now WaPo juxtaposing US munitions inventories, especially air defense missiles, against Iranian inventories, and the degree of damage done to the US military by Iran. Now, this report, which includes strengthening the understanding of Iran’s missile and drone dominance, explains how Iran’s economy has greater capacity and endurance than the Trump administration and its proxies state. Most of us understand what WaPo doesn’t say: the US economy, American public, and the US political system don’t share Iran’s capacity or endurance. I have never seen such a deliberate and coordinated effort by CIA, Pentagon and others to keep the US out of war in defiance of their political bosses. Bravo Zulu to those who are doing these leaks and their commanders who are directing them to do so.

really funny that the deep state is reduced to meekly leaking stuff to media and going "won't SOMEBODY stop this disastrous war!". guess they don't have it in them to just dome a guy when he gets out of line anymore

https://xcancel.com/bonzerbarry/status/2052012380700221627

WAPO: Iran has hit far more U.S. military assets than reported, satellite images show. Iranian airstrikes have damaged or destroyed at least 228 structures or pieces of equipment at U.S. military sites across the Middle East since the war began, hitting hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft and key radar, communications and air defense equipment, according to a Washington Post analysis of satellite imagery. The amount of destruction is far larger than what has been publicly acknowledged by the U.S. government or previously reported.

Experts who reviewed The Post’s analysis said the damage at the sites suggested that the U.S. military had underestimated Iran’s targeting abilities, not adapted sufficiently to modern drone warfare and left some bases under-protected.

“The Iranian attacks were precise. There are no random craters indicating misses,” said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the CSIS and a retired Marine Corps colonel, who reviewed the Iranian images at The Post’s request. “The Iranians have deliberately targeted accommodation buildings across multiple sites with the intent to inflict mass casualties,” said William Goodhind, an investigator with the open-access research project Contested Ground who reviewed the imagery. “It is not just equipment, fuel storage and air base infrastructure under fire, but also soft targets, such as gyms, food halls and accommodation.” The Post also found that the attacks hit a satellite communications site at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Patriot missile defense equipment at Riffa and Isa air bases in Bahrain and Ali al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait, a satellite dish at the Naval Support Activity Bahrain — which serves as the headquarters of the U.S. 5th Fleet — a power plant at Camp Buehring in Kuwait and five fuel storage bladder sites across three bases.

https://xcancel.com/realremovedno/status/2052016587037663251

"underestimated targeting abilities"

Brother all it requires is clicking http://maps.google.com/ and checking the coordinates how the fuck could you possibly underestimate it

But Kennedy also spoke specifically about his vision for Black children. After making the false claim that "every Black kid is now just standard put on Adderall, SSRIs, benzos, which are known to induce violence" Kennedy offered what he described as a solution.

"Those kids are going to have a chance to go somewhere and get reparented and live in a community," he said.

https://www.npr.org/2026/04/29/nx-s1-5798733/rfk-jr-addiction-treatment-centers

https://xcancel.com/EventsUkraine/status/2051657213031403867

Remember the Flamingo missiles, so hyped up by the western press last year? Last week, the Ukrainian press revealed how many have been launched over the past year: 23. And how many hit their targets: 2. But the company received 1 billion euros in German funding in 2025. This company is secretly run by Zelensky's old friend Timur Mindich, now in Israel

https://archive.ph/SF3n6 (not the full article, it's Substack so the archiver can't get around the paywall)

https://xcancel.com/ripplebrain/status/2051679534659826131

Hegseth says "the ceasefire is not over" and that "it holds"

So we can safely presume that Iran is now entitled to hit the UAE as much as it wants without it being considered a ceasefire violation?

Hezbollah hit an iron dome launcher, then blew up the occupiers who came to repair it

https://t.me/mmirleb/15959

https://t.me/HezbollahMirror/15650

The Cradle: Iranian hacker group reveals names of hundreds of US naval officers deployed to West Asia

Handala also leaked thousands of texts and emails of the former US envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, citing his role in imposing sanctions on Iran

The list can be download here.

Pentagon claims they hit 6 Iranian missile speedboats this morning, ending the ceasefire. This would explain renewed Iranian attacks on the UAE. The Fujairah oil terminal is still on fire.

The IRGC announces that any attack against Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels will be met with a response against U.S. bases / proxies in the region and ships.

Nationwide USA Gas Prices: 5/6

Gasoline up 5 cent today. Diesel up 2

Gas is less than 50 cents from its all time high, diesel only 14 cents away

This is the ninth day in a row of a new wartime high

https://www.newsweek.com/hantavirus-outbreak-sparks-outcry-canary-islands-leader-before-ship-arrives-tenerife-spain-11917553

A French person who had not set foot on the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius has fallen ill with the infection after taking a flight with a passenger, it was reported Wednesday.

Something possibly happening.

BBC is reporting Trump announced an intention to begin escorting trapped ships/sailors out of the straits this morning for "humanitarian reasons", calling it "Project Freedom". BBC also reporting that the Iranians radioed them to turn back.

Fars is now reporting that the IRGC fired two missiles at a US warship. Reuters is reporting that Fars has reported it - BBC asking CENTCOM for comment and so on.

Either way it seems like both sides are rhetorically playing chicken daring each other to make the first move this morning.

https://xcancel.com/MerruX/status/2051434312558350702

US has atleast 20 tankers in the Air in the middle east going towards the Gulf for Iran. It cost about 15k per hour in just fuel cost alone for 1 tanker. Most of these flights are 12-13 hours. That 4 million in fuel alone for these tankers. Not including other jets they are supporting. Its 8 million a day to run this. Assuming 2 jets each. Thats 24m in jet fuel.

you know what we should do in the midst of a historic fuel supply crisis? that's right, burn a ton of fuel flying planes back-and-forth! I am a genius

NYT update - Asked about President Trump’s social media post announcing that he was pausing the U.S. mission to escort commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command referred questions to the White House.

Using every opportunity (including assassination attempts) to promote the WH ballroom has been really effective. Some are calling it the best PR job in history.

Guardian update - Iran does not have “kamikaze dolphins”, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said, but he would not “confirm or deny” whether America does. He was asked about reports of the marine mammals being deployed as weapons by Tehran amid the ongoing Gulf crisis.

The Virginia Supreme Court blocked redistricting approved by a statewide vote. Meanwhile Republican states just do it with a legislative vote and move on.

Democrats just love losing. I’m sure they will follow the orders of the court here.

Venezuela sent a shipment of humanitarian aid to Cuba today.

• Twitter

Pastor leads wild dedication ceremony for Trump’s giant gold statue at his own golf course

ChatGPT remind me, what is the connection between the "golden calf" and the end-times/antichrist in Christian lore/mythology?

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi commented on the state of his country's missile arsenal:

Elsewhere in his remarks, Araghchi dismissed media reports citing a US official as saying that Iran retains “about 75% of its prewar inventories of mobile launchers and about 70% of its prewar stockpiles of missiles.”

“The CIA is wrong. Our missile inventory and launcher capacity are not at 75% compare to February 28. The correct figure is 120%.”

“As for our readiness to defend our people 1,000%,” he underscored.

https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/05/08/768269/Iranians-never-bow-to-pressure--Foreign-Minister-Araghchi

https://xcancel.com/bonzerbarry/status/2050992726032986381

Hezbollah publishes their fourth FPV video of the day showing a strike on some sort of mobile C2/comm system at an occupation army artillery base in Bayada.

Channel 14: Due to the threat of explosive drones: The Prime Minister is now convening an urgent security discussion. Netanyahu will convene a special security discussion tonight (Sunday) with the participation of the top brass of the defense establishment, to discuss the escalation in the use of explosive drones and ways to deal with the threat of "fiber optic drones."

you've had YEARS of the Ukraine war to discuss this! the "escalation" ALREADY HAPPENED, you just sat by and did nothing because, uh??? I guess you're so fucking racist and overconfident you just couldn't conceptualize your enemy using the incredibly sophisticated technology of, uh, A FUCKING CABLE?

These drones, connected to the operator by a thin and light cable, allow Hezbollah to carry out precise attacks without an electronic signature that can be identified or disrupted. The discussion comes against the backdrop of the understanding that this is a weapon that neutralizes the IDF's technological advantage in the field of electronic warfare.

Iran has rejected dismantling its nuclear facilities in any future talks with the US, sources tell the Wall Street Journal

https://xcancel.com/Seamus_Malek/status/2050685417192615972

Fascinating footage released by the IRGC of a class at the org's staff college in the 90s, where future IRGC leader Hossein Salami teaches a course on asymmetric warfare, teaching officers how to drag out a war with the US by driving up economic costs and political turmoil.

IRGC Commander-in-Chief Hossein Salami was assassinated by Israel in the opening strikes of the 2025 war. Fars News notes that the current Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, is a graduate of Salami's class.

https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2050685339967086594/vid/avc1/552x420/jhsfYybtqpLuH68N.mp4?tag=27

https://xcancel.com/philippilk/status/2051150040366739679   https://archive.ph/nW08q

If you are starting to worry about the looming energy crisis but then think “oh no the authorities have a plan that they’ll announce soon” I hate to tell you but they have no plan whatsoever. Everyone is just looking the other way as the energy markets start to collapse. 🙈

stripping the copper out of the walls, actually just taking apart the entire house and selling it brick-by-brick

"Whirlpool has paid a dividend through 10 U.S. recessions and every global crisis since the 1950s. But the American manufacturer’s cash crunch has gotten so severe that it is suspending that payment until further notice," per WSJ

Trump says that Iran agreed to his demands but forgot they agreed.

It looks like the flow of oil tankers through Hormuz is literally zero at the moment, excluding any Iranian tankers that aren't logged here. I am also including the official Goldman Sachs prediction (pic 2) for fun!

New Hezbollah FPV footage

Auto-translated:

This video is a challenge advertisement from Hezbollah.

A Hezbollah-affiliated FPV drone attacks an Israeli drone control system, and what draws even more attention is that it was protected by an anti-drone defense system, but it failed to repel the attack.

Hezbollah mocks the Israeli army.

Honestly crazy to see how quickly Hezbollah is getting better with these FPV drones, and how clueless the IDF still seems to be. That was some really impressive handling in the video.

Guardian Update - Donald Trump’s abrupt U-turn on his plan to help ships through the strait of Hormuz came after [Saudi Arabia] suspended the US military’s ability to use its bases and airspace to carry out the operation, NBC News is quoting two US officials as saying. They said Trump’s announcement of “Project Freedom” via social media on Sunday surprised Gulf allies and angered the leadership of Saudi Arabia, the report said.

In response the kingdom informed the US it would not allow the US military to fly aircraft from Prince Sultan airbase south-east of Riyadh or fly through Saudi airspace to support the effort, the officials said. The NBC report continued:

A call between Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not resolve the issue, the two US officials said, forcing the president to pause Project Freedom in order to restore US military access to the critical airspace. Other close Gulf allies were also caught off guard; the president spoke with leaders in Qatar after the effort had already begun.

NBC quoted a White House official as saying in a statement when asked about some Gulf state leaders being caught off guard by Trump’s announcement of Project Freedom: “Regional allies were notified in advance.”

IRGC defines new maritime control zone in Strait of Hormuz

Tehran reportedly gave Washington one month to end the Hormuz blockade and all regional wars before nuclear talks could begin