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US troops warned against using dating apps amid 'psychological influence' campaign
The U.S. Navy has sounded the alarm in an urgent warning for sailors and their families to secure their social media as the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran has prompted an increase in online threats, according to reports on Monday.In an unclassified memo, Secretary John Phelan told Navy personnel that “adversary cyber actors” were looking to “psychologically influence” service members, potentially using their family members to coerce them into opening potentially malicious links and files, The Hill reported.“In response to Operation EPIC FURY, adversary cyber actors are conducting a social engineering campaign actively targeting Department of the Navy (DON) personnel and their families via spear phishing and social media contacts,” according to the memo from April 17. Sailors were urged to scrub their personal information on Google and other search engines, and turn off location tracking, microphone and camera on their cellphones. Service members were also warned to "beware of dating or other apps that encourage or require the use/sharing of personal information" and be careful of any potential strangers who contact them. Officials also recommended sailors change their account settings on social media to the "highest level" of privacy.
Trump promises 'lots of bombs' if Iran doesn't negotiate by Tuesday
President Donald Trump warned that Iran would be on the receiving end of "lots of bombs" if the country's leaders did not negotiate with the U.S. before a ceasefire ends on Tuesday.In a Monday interview, PBS asked Trump about what would happen if the ceasefire with Iran expired on Tuesday."Then lots of bombs start going off," the president insisted. Trump admitted he "didn't know" whether Iran would attend talks in Pakistan."If they're not there, that's fine too," he said. The president was also asked about Jared Kushner's conflicts of interest after the son-in-law was included in the negotiating team. Kushner has business ties to the Middle East."He's purely negotiating for the fact that they're not going to have a nuclear weapon," Trump remarked. "Whether you have business or not, everybody knows that's the right thing. He's a very good negotiator.""We're not negotiating anything other than the fact that they will not have a nuclear weapon. And that's pretty basic when you get right down to it," he added. "He doesn't participate with Saudi now, as you know. He's taken… He doesn't do that. He has a business, but he doesn't participate now."
Pakistan seeks to raise its global standing in push for Middle East peace
Islamabad has seized chance to act as mediator in Iran war and hopes to reap diplomatic and economic benefitsAs Pakistan works frantically to narrow differences between Iran and the US in its newfound role as global peacemaker, it is also seeking to recast its diplomatic standing and attract business.Pakistani officials, mediating between an unpredictable US president and hardliners in Tehran, were on Monday trying to coax both sides to put the conditions in place for a second round of talks in Islamabad this week, including easing the standoff in the strait of Hormuz. Pakistan was optimistic that the meeting would happen, viewing objections voiced by the Iranian side and Donald Trump’s threats as posturing for domestic audiences. Continue reading...
Charlize Theron joins chorus of disapproval over Timothée Chalamet’s ballet comments
The former ballet dancer said Chalamet’s comments were ‘reckless’ in an interview with the New York Times in which she also discussed her violent childhoodActor and former ballet dancer Charlize Theron has joined the chorus of disapproval aimed at Timothée Chalamet over his remarks that appeared to disrespect performers of ballet and opera.In an interview with the New York Times, Theron said: “Oh, boy, I hope I run into him one day,” adding: “That was a very reckless comment on two art forms that we need to lift up constantly because, yes, they do have a hard time. But in 10 years, AI is going to be able to do Timothée’s job, but it will not be able to replace a person on a stage dancing live.” Continue reading...
Trump hit with unusually blunt statement from priest in president's own backyard
The Catholic Church is not done with Donald Trump. Just as the president appeared to dial back his attacks on Pope Leo XIV, the Bishop of Palm Beach — whose diocese includes Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate — issued a scathing public scolding of Trump's "disrespectful and violent attacks" on the pontiff.According to The Daily Beast, Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez, installed in his post by Pope Leo in December, issued an unusually blunt statement on Sunday that frames Trump's conduct as a constitutional violation."The Diocese of Palm Beach stands firm with our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, and strongly rejects the disrespectful and violent attacks that Donald J. Trump has directed against the Holy Father," the bishop wrote.The bishop went further, asserting that Trump's attacks on the Pope violate constitutional protections. "These attacks also constitute a grave violation of the religious freedom enshrined in the Constitution of the United States and, as such, harm the rights of the American Catholic faithful.""Please pray for the safety of the Holy Father," the statement concluded — a warning that carries particular weight coming from a bishop overseeing the area where Trump maintains his primary residence.The feud began with Trump's original attack on the Pope for criticizing his unprovoked Iran war. Vice President JD Vance then escalated things by admonishing the pontiff to stick to matters of "morality" — effectively telling the Pope to stay out of geopolitical affairs.The bishop's intervention carries added symbolic weight given his personal history. Rodríguez previously served in the Catholic church diocese in Queens, New York — roughly seven miles from where Trump was raised — making this a rebuke from a spiritual leader with geographic ties to the president's own background.
Myanmar military regime widens sanitary towel ban, claiming rebels use them for first aid
Activists say clamp down on period products to target insurgents is gender-based violence and violates rightsMyanmar’s military regime is expanding its ban on the distribution of period products, claiming they are being used to treat wounded resistance fighters, according to local activists.The south-east Asian country has been locked in civil war since 2021, when the military usurped the democratic government and launched a violent crackdown on dissidents. Artillery fire, the burning of townships and arbitrary arrests have become common in the years since then. Continue reading...
CNN host parses Trump's strange slip-up in Iran statement: 'Maybe a Freudian slip'
President Donald Trump proclaimed the Strait of Hormuz has been re-opened, but that's not exactly how he put it.The 79-year-old president notified Americans that Iran would begin to allow "full passage" in what he inaccurately identified as "the Strait of Iran," the narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that has been closed to most commercial shipping traffic since Trump authorized a joint U.S.-Israel military operation."Now, I don't know if it was a typo or maybe a Freudian slip," said CNN's John Berman. "But if you step back, the reason I'm asking it this way, because if you step back, you know, a mile here and look at this last seven weeks, there are those who suggest one of the impacts your long term might be that Iran does have now full control of that strait, that it has become the Strait of Iran. What do you think of that?"Retired admiral James Stavridis agreed the president's announcement was confusing, and he tried to make sense of that statement and subsequent posts Trump made explaining the current situation. "Well, at least he didn't say it's the 'Strait of Trump,'" Stavridis said, echoing an idea the president has publicly discussed. "But, let's face it, you're exactly right that the concern is, hey, if we allow Iran to kind of open and close the switch and decide whether it's open or not, are we willing sovereignty over to them? That's why I am encouraged by the second posting he made, which is that the blockade remains in effect. That's sort of your stopper in a hand of bridge, if you will. So I think probably your point, not the most elegant language in the first post, second post, we're still on top of this. We're watching it, but before we get off this conversation and I know we're just on the hour, it is good news. It is a step by Iran that could help close the big deal, the negotiation, perhaps as soon as this weekend.""There's a humanitarian side to this, but there's also a big strategic play here," he added. "Let's hope both sides are indicating they've come a little bit closer as a result of this statement." - YouTube youtu.be
Trump rails against 'useless' allies offering help: 'I told them to stay away'
President Donald Trump lashed out at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Friday after reports suggested his administration and Tehran have reached a deal to fully re-open the Strait of Hormuz, claiming that NATO allies had offered help, which he immediately rejected.“Now that the Hormuz Strait situation is over, I received a call from NATO asking if we would need some help,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “I TOLD THEM TO STAY AWAY, UNLESS THEY JUST WANT TO LOAD UP THEIR SHIPS WITH OIL. They were useless when needed, a Paper Tiger!”The Strait of Hormuz – a critical shipping waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil trade flows – was opened Friday to all commercial ships for the remainder of the ongoing two-week ceasefire tentatively agreed to by Washington and Tehran. The Trump administration is reportedly considering unfreezing $20 billion in Iranian funds, a consideration that drew sharp criticism from critics.
White House shifting Iran war blame to ally after 'retreating': Politico
President Donald Trump's administration has attempted to shift the consequences of the Iran war to an ally, a report has found. Trump's team caused a fallout in Bahrain, which has undermined support for the United States. But internal documents shared by Politico show the admin has tried to pin the blame for the fallout on the United Kingdom. Nahal Toosi wrote, "Bahrain’s government is facing questions about whether the U.S. abandoned it to fend for itself against Iranian drones and missiles."Bahrain and the U.S. are stalwart allies, and the Middle Eastern country hosts an American military base that serves as headquarters for the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet."But the Iran war has led to public perceptions that the U.S. abandoned Bahrain to focus on protecting Israel instead, according to the cable from the Bahraini capital, Manama."Internal documents added to this pressure on the United States's relationship with Bahrain. Toosi added, "Still, the cable also notes that such Bahraini neglect to mention the U.S. may have partly stemmed from a 'desire to protect and maintain the operational security of U.S. personnel and materiel.'"While the cable never directly says the embassy itself failed on messaging, it points out that the British Embassy’s highly active social media presence 'created a distorted perception of the scale of British assistance and an impression that the U.K. was stepping up where the United States was retreating.'"Trump has been outspoken about the lack of support received by NATO countries, including the UK, over the war in Iran. British officials cited concerns about the legality of the unilateral military action and the lack of clear congressional approval for the conflict. The UK's position reflects growing international skepticism about the war's justification and strategic objectives. Trump's response included threats to reconsider U.S. security commitments to the UK and NATO, warning that countries failing to support American military actions would face consequences. The dispute has exposed deep rifts between Trump and traditional Western allies over military intervention and international law.The UK's refusal signals that Trump's Iran war has further alienated America from longstanding partners, leaving the administration with diminished international coalition-building capacity for future military operations.
Veteran diplomats stick a knife in Kushner and Witkoff negotiations: 'They get an F'
Donald Trump's Iran negotiations are collapsing under the weight of incompetence with Middle East experts openly dismissing the negotiating team of Manhattan real estate developers Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, saying they're completely out of their depth on one of the world's most complex geopolitical stages.According to interviews with Time, diplomats are unanimous in their assessment: the team lacks the fundamental understanding necessary to navigate Middle East complexities."Iran and the U.S. under [Trump son-in-law] Kushner and Witkoff? Failure. They get an F in diplomacy," observed former U.S. State Department Middle East negotiator Aaron David Miller.Their track record speaks for itself, Miller explained as he pointed to Kushner and Witkoff's failed Russia-Ukraine negotiations and their stalled efforts between Israel and Hamas as evidence of unrelenting incompetence. "While even the most experienced negotiators would face steep challenges in such conflicts, Kushner and Witkoff failed to convey to either side the sense of urgency that a desirable deal was within reach—an essential condition for pushing negotiations forward.""You accept the notion that a successful negotiation, if you have urgency, is based on finding some balance of interest between the parties. If you want out of this, I think they're going to have to come up with something that allows the Iranians to say they won something," he elaborated. Former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey David Satterfield outlined what actual competent negotiations require, telling Time, "Not only does the U.S. need to make clear what its goals were, and to know internally where it was prepared to concede, and where it was not prepared to concede, where the line would be held, the red lines, but to have a realistic sense of what the other side was bringing with it."A grasp of nuclear diplomacy also brings a whole new level of complexity.Former senior State Department official Robert Einhorn warned that "the negotiator at the table has to think about how the domestic audiences will affect the outcome. And I think the negotiator on a nuclear issue is more constrained by his or her government bureaucracy and by public opinion."The deepest problem is systemic: Trump surrounds himself with yes-men incapable of honest counsel, which Miller identified as Trump's fatal flaw in personnel selection:"There is a discussion in which the president's advisors talk truth to power and basically say to him…'You've got the ultimate control. But if you're going to do this, this is exactly what is likely to happen. And in my judgment…if you do this, you might fail.'"But such candor requires advisers willing to risk consequences. "Trump had four secretaries of defense in his first term. He had six national security advisors [during his two terms]. They know what happens if they embarrass the president or they become a problem."
Trump claims to have solved '10th war' as he announces purported peace deal
President Donald Trump claimed credit for a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.The 79-year-old president had announced that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would hold direct talks Thursday, which Lebanese officials later denied, but Trump claimed on Truth Social that he had spoke to both leaders and helped broker a ceasefire."I just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel," Trump posted. "These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST.""On Tuesday, the two Countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, D.C., with our Great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio," Trump added. "I have directed Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, together with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Razin' Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE. It has been my Honor to solve 9 Wars across the World, and this will be my 10th, so let's, GET IT DONE! President DONALD J. TRUMP."Rubio hosted the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the U.S. for an in-person meeting Wednesday, marking the first high-level engagement between the Middle Eastern nations since 1993.Aoun told Rubio in a call that same day that he would not speak to Netanyahu until a ceasefire was in place, according to the Lebanese media outlet LBCI.
Strategic partner blows up Trump's claim about peace talks coming after 34 years
Lebanese officials directly contradicted President Donald Trump's breezy suggestion that its leader would speak with Israeli leadership.The 79-year-old president announced on Truth Social that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun would speak Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying they were "trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon. It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years," but Lebanese officials told Reuters that would not happen anytime soon."Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun will NOT hold a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the near future, three Lebanese officials told Reuters on Thursday, after U.S. President Donald Trump said leaders of both countries would speak," reported Reuters correspondent Hümeyra Pamuk.Two of the Lebanese officials said their embassy in Washington had notified the Trump administration before a call between Aoun and Secretary of State Marco Rubio that their president would speak to Netanyahu, according to Middle East Eye.
