LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) - Iran's use of a swarm of small, fast boats to seize two container ships near the Strait of Hormuz could undermine suggestions U.S. forces have ​disabled its naval threat and reveals the challenges facing reopening one of the world's most important oil export routes.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday acknowledged that ‌while Iran’s conventional navy had been largely destroyed, its "fast-attack ships" had not been considered much of a threat.

He said any such vessels coming near a U.S. blockade set up outside the strait would be "immediately ELIMINATED" using the "same system of kill" deployed in the Caribbean and Pacific where U.S. air strikes have hit suspected drug boats and killed at least 110 people.

Those boats were not attacking large, unarmed commercial ships, however, ​nor nearly as heavily armed, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards packing heavy machineguns, rocket launchers and, in some cases, anti-ship missiles.

Speedboat attacks now form part of a "layered system ​of threats," alongside "shore-based missiles, drones, mines and electronic interference to create uncertainty and slow decision-making," Greek maritime security company Diaplous told Reuters. Iran ⁠was estimated to have hundreds, if not thousands, of these boats before the war, often hidden in coastal tunnels, naval bases or among civilian vessels, according to maritime security specialists.

Some 100 ​or more may have been destroyed since the Iran war began of February 28, said Corey Ranslem, chief executive of maritime security group Dryad Global.

DUBAI/WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - Israel and Lebanon extended their ceasefire for three weeks at a meeting at the White House brokered by President Donald Trump, ​who said he was prepared to wait for "the best deal" to end his conflict with Iran.

Fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has ‌been one of a number of sticking points to resolving the wider eight-week regional conflict, along with Iran's nuclear ambitions and control of the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said he was in no rush to reach a peace agreement and wanted it to be "everlasting," while continuing to assert that the U.S. had a clear upper hand in the naval stand-off in the Strait.

A day after ​Iran flaunted its tightened grip over the key shipping corridor, Trump dismissed the threat posed by Iran's "little wise-guy ships" and said he believed Tehran was ​hamstrung from making a deal because its leadership was in turmoil. On Thursday, he said the U.S. Navy has orders to "shoot and ⁠kill" Iranian boats laying mines in the strait and the U.S. could knock out in a day any refurbishing of weapons that Iran may have made during ​a ceasefire in place since April 8.

But navigation in the passage remained effectively blocked, and the Iranian capture of two huge cargo ships was a reminder that the ​U.S. struggles to keep control of the strait and Tehran continued to cause trouble for oil markets and pose major strains to the global economy. The U.S. has maintained a blockade

Archive: [ https://archive.is/sJowG ]

Assaults on military recruiters almost tripled to 341 last year compared with 2024, and more than 100 have been recorded so far this year, the Interfax-Ukraine news service reported earlier this month, citing police data. Some attacks involved knives, leading to serious injuries and at least one fatality, according to public reports.

Ukraine must rely on conscription and appeals to patriotism to bolster its forces of about 900,000 against Russia’s full-scale invasion. Under martial law, all men aged between 25 and 60 are eligible for military service in Ukraine if they receive a draft notice, unless they have an exemption. But official data show that about 2 million are being sought by police due to violations of conscription rules.

A document I obtained through a freedom of information request illustrates that more than two years after the Gaza genocide began, the Israel lobby is still writing the script which key Brussels officials follow.

Hélène Le Gal, head of the Middle East division in the EU’s diplomatic service, appears particularly willing to have the script written for her.

The document shows that Le Gal has agreed to be a host of a “strategic dialogue” organized jointly by the diplomatic service and the pro-Israel group called the European Leadership Network (Elnet). Scheduled for 12-13 May, the event will feature “30 high-level policy and opinion makers – 15 from the EU and 15 from Israel,” says the invitation for the event.

Le Gal agreed that the invitation could be issued in her name, just requesting “tiny tweaks,” according to email messages exchanged between Elnet and her colleagues at the diplomatic service.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45982891

The government has big plans for Mark Zuckerberg’s pervert glasses!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45982891

The government has big plans for Mark Zuckerberg’s pervert glasses!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46332476

April 21, 2026

For weeks, Israel bombarded Bint Jbeil and Khiam, repeatedly attempting to encircle the southern Lebanese towns. Yet neither fully fell to Israel’s invading military.

The survival of these Hezbollah redoubts, which have long carried symbolic and strategic weight, exposed the limits of what Israeli firepower is able to achieve in south Lebanon, and the strategic power the terrain holds for its defenders.

Three sources close to Hezbollah, including one intimately familiar with the battles in the south, described to Middle East Eye how Israel was unable to dislodge the Lebanese armed movement.

They say the Israeli military advance did not just run aground in the face of fierce armed resistance.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46328873

[translated from TRABAJADORES, publication of Cuba's union federation]

April 18, 2026

Such an event had never occurred: the mercenaries defeated at Playa Girón were the first prisoners in the world to dialogue with the head of a government they had tried to overthrow.

It happened on April 26, 1961 and the scene of the unusual meeting was the Sports City of Havana. The photos were also unusual: they showed the invaders free of chains or any other ties and very close to Fidel.

The Commander in Chief fought a battle of ideas with these individuals that covered the most diverse topics.

This is how the then Prime Minister expressed it: "I am here an adversary who has brought television here for you to speak and for you to say what you think ... the people of Cuba must know why that blood was spilled and what purposes were hidden behind that struggle."

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46331141

The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ushered in a new form of collective leadership in the country, with more power for the Revolutionary Guards.
April 23, 2026

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son, is an elusive figure who has not been seen and whose voice has not been heard since he was appointed in March. Instead, a battle-hardened collective of commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and those aligned with them are the key decision makers on matters of security, war and diplomacy.

“Mojtaba is managing the country as though he is the director of the board,” said Abdolreza Davari, a politician who served as senior adviser to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he was president and knows Mr. Khamenei.

Fuck the US regime and its fascist leader

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46327468

Duration - 2:59
[a video about Cuba from the news collective Belly Of The Beast]

Musa Alves, a New Orleans designer, and Carolina Leyva, a Cuban-American med student in Havana, built a direct aid network for Cuba. They donate solar panels, medicine and food directly to Cubans amid an economic crisis exacerbated by U.S. sanctions

April 22, 2026
[this is fucking outrageous, even for Israel.]

Prominent Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil was killed on Wednesday in what appeared to be a targeted attack by the Israeli military in the town of Tyre in southern Lebanon. Her employer, Al-Akhbar, confirmed the death of their correspondent Wednesday evening.

The Red Cross was eventually able to return to the area after which Khalil was pronounced dead.

“The repeated strikes on the same location, the targeting of an area where journalists were sheltering, and the obstruction of medical and humanitarian access constitute a grave breach of international humanitarian law,” CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah said in a statement.

Jeremy Scahill
April 22, 2026

The future of U.S.-Iran negotiations remains in doubt after President Donald Trump and Tehran’s leaders staked out opposing positions on the Strait of Hormuz. “Diplomacy is a tool to secure national interests and security,” said Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, in a briefing in Tehran on Wednesday. “Whenever we conclude that the necessary and logical grounds for using this tool to realize national interests and consolidate the achievements of the Iranian nation in thwarting the enemies from reaching their evil goals are prepared, we will act.”

On Tuesday night, a senior Iranian official told Drop Site that Iran would move forward with a second round of talks in Islamabad only if Trump extended the ceasefire and ended the U.S. naval blockade. “The Pakistani side indicated that they expect Trump to lift the naval blockade of Iran,” the official said. “If that happens, and the ceasefire is extended, a new round of talks will be held on Thursday.”