Summary

• Equity Futures Tumble, Oil Surges On Fresh Middle East Strikes 
• US forces carried out airstrikes on an Iranian military site and imposed new sanctions to prevent Tehran from profiting from vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. In response, Iran targeted the American airbase from which the attack originated, according to a Tasnim report, which cited the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Kuwait also said it’s responding to hostile missile and drone threats
• New US strikes in Iran reported, after Iranian drone intercepts in Hormuz area.
• Trump red line (PBS): “No, no, not at all. Not sanctions relief, no” – unless Iran gives up its enriched uranium. “Iran negotiating on fumes,” Trump says in cabinet meeting.
• White House rejects ‘complete fabrication’ of Iranian TV reporting on MOU and draft deal status.
• IRGC keeping up the rhetoric: warns that Iran would “turn the area from Chabahar to Mahshahr into a graveyard for aggressors” if the ceasefire collapses.
• CENTCOM: “Clearly the Iranians are trying to hedge their bets here and put more pressure on the US.”
• Iranian president: “The main battleground today is the economic war.“
• Tabriz International Airport in northwestern Iran– which sustained heavy damage from airstrikes during the peak of the aerial bombings – is officially operational again, bringing restored airports to 20 reopened.

Equity Futures Tumble, Oil Surges On Fresh Middle East Strikes

Stocks and bonds fell while oil surged after fresh attacks in the Middle East returned amid conflicting signals from the US and Iran on a deal to end the war.  The MSCI All Country World Index, the broadest measure of global equities, retreated from a record high and dropped 0.4%. A gauge of Asian shares slumped 1.7%. Futures for the S&P 500 slumped 0.5%, and the Nasdaq 100 retreated 0.8%, while contracts for European stocks also pointed to a weaker open. Brent surged to $98 while WTI also traded almost $3 higher above $92 on the news.

The escalation started after US forces carried out airstrikes on an Iranian military site and imposed new sanctions to prevent Tehran from profiting from vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

In response, Iran targeted the American airbase from which the attack originated, according to a Tasnim report, which cited the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

Adding to the tensions, Kuwait said it was responding to hostile missile and drone threats. The nation’s army said in a social media post that “any explosions that may be heard are the result of air defense systems intercepting hostile targets.”

An American official described the attacks as defensive, saying the US intends to maintain the ceasefire that began last month. The official said US Central Command forces had shot down a quartet of one-way Iranian attack drones that were fired at a commercial ship and also struck another Iranian drone-launching unit in Bandar Abbas, near the strait.

The dollar strengthened for a third consecutive day, while gold fell 1.5% to below $4,400 an ounce. Treasuries dropped as higher oil prices stoked inflation concerns, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year climbing four basis points to about 4.53%. 

Earlier, the US Treasury said it took action against Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority, accusing it of launching a new attempt “to monetize its campaign of state-sponsored terror by extorting vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”

*  *  *

Fresh US Strikes on Iran amid Deal Stalemate

There are reports of new late night/early morning (local time) military strikes by the US over Iran. The US military carried out new strikes inside Iran after intercepting multiple Iranian drones, according to Reuters. An American official said the targeted Iranian military site was assessed to pose a threat to both American forces and commercial shipping operating near the Strait of Hormuz.

Reuters further reported that the intercepted drones had been launched from Iran, marking another escalation in tensions as Washington moves to counter perceived threats to regional maritime traffic and its military presence.

Just prior to this confirmation, CNN described mystery explosions along Iran’s coast:

Three explosions were heard to the east of Bandar Abbas, a strategic Iranian port city and naval base near the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported in the early hours of Thursday.

The blasts were reported at around 1:30 a.m. local time and caused the air defense systems of Bandar Abbas to be briefly activated, according to Fars, a media outlet with links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

This suggests things could return to full-blown military conflict once again, though the rhetoric from either side has been restrained, and at times even optimistic that a final deal could still be achieved.

More from Trump Cabinet Meeting

The president has said that under a framework deal, the Straight of Hormuz would open immediately; however, the Iranians are now insisting the IRGC has control of the vital oil transit waterway. Below is a short round-up of some of the more interesting latest statements from Trump, during a televised cabinet meeting at the White House.

• TRUMP: STRAIT OF HORMUZ WILL BE OPEN TO EVERYBODY
• TRUMP: WE’LL WATCH OVER STRAIT OF HORMUZ
• TRUMP: OMAN WILL BEHAVE OR WE’LL HAVE TO BLOW THEM UP
• TRUMP ON IRAN: WHEN THEY BEHAVE WE’LL LET THEM HAVE THEIR MONEY

Trump Red Line

President Trump has reasserted his ‘red line’ for negotiations, centered on enriched uranium and the nuclear issue:

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran would not get sanctions relief in exchange for giving up their highly enriched uranium. His comments come as the United States and Iran try to strike a deal to end the conflict that has engulfed the Middle East for the last three months.

“No, no, not at all. Not sanctions relief, no,” Trump told PBS News during a short phone call when asked if the current deal would mean that Iran would give up their highly enriched uranium in exchange for sanctions relief.

Trump also in a televised Wednesday afternoon cabinet meeting said Iran is “intent on a deal” but that “Iran is negotiating on fumes.“

White House Rejects ‘Complete Fabrication’ Of Iran TV MOU Contents

The Trump administration has denied the morning Iranian state media reports on the contents of a current ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ (MOU) – which curiously had left out any reference whatsoever to the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium…

• WHITE HOUSE: NOBODY SHOULD BELIEVE IRAN STATE MEDIA REPORTING
• WHITE HOUSE CALLS REPORTED IRAN MOU A ‘COMPLETE FABRICATION’

An official underscored that it is a “complete fabrication” – and so it seems we are yet again back at square one, as Tehran has also said it is only engaged in ‘indirect’ contact with Washington at this point. There are further reports in US media that the Pentagon has drawn up a new target list, and has acknowledged that the Iranians have been able to better hide their missile launch sites. 

Also emerging are ambiguous reports of some kind of potential explosion incident at a petrochemical complex at Asaluyeh, in Iran’s Bushehr province.

US side denounces Iranian state media reporting on current MOU draft and status:

This report from Iranian controlled media is not true and the MOU they “released” is a complete fabrication. Nobody should believe what Iranian state media is putting out. FACTS MATTER. https://t.co/agpTnBSgKu

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 27, 2026

Oil Dumps on MOU Headlines

As for the status of talks, the below headlines present the latest (and noticeably absent is the enriched uranium question, or release of Iranian funds). Bloomberg summarizes: “An unofficial draft of a US-Iran interim peace deal says maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz can return to normal within a month of the agreement being finalized, according to Iranian state television.
It’s unclear how recent the draft, reported by IRIB News, is or whether the US has agreed to the terms.”

• Iran’s state TV says it has a draft of the initial unofficial framework for MOU with US
• According to draft MOU US military forces will withdraw from vicinity of Iran and lift naval blockade
• Iran’s state TV says in return, Iran has committed to restoring the number of commercial transit ships through Hormuz Strait to pre-war levels within one month
• Iran’s state TV says military vessels are not included in this draft agreement
• Iran’s state TV: A final agreement will be approved as a binding UN Security Council resolution if reached in 60 days.
• The Islamabad memorandum framework is still in progress, stating no action will be taken by Iran without “tangible verification.”
• If a final deal is reached within 60 days, this agreement will be approved in the form of a binding UN Security Council resolution.
• The management and route of ship traffic through Strait of Hormuz will be handled by Iran in cooperation with Oman.

Oil dumping on the headlines:

As usual, there remains a basis for skepticism:

White House (more or less) denies accuracy of reported draft MOU with Iran.

We all should be far more skeptical of any alleged deal details disclosed. https://t.co/Umrpm3iKE6

— Caitlin Doornbos (@CaitlinDoornbos) May 27, 2026

Iran Vows ‘Graveyard For Aggressors’ amid ‘Indirect’ US Contacts

Tehran is keeping the war rhetoric cranked to a maximum, but is also conceding that a return to full-scale war with the United States and Israel is ‘unlikely’ at this stage. The Islamic Republic says at this moment only ‘indirect’ contact with Washington is happening, as cited in Bloomberg.

The IRGC is seeking to dismantle any assumption that Iran is entering peace talks from a position of tactical submission. Speaking to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, Mohammad Akbarzadeh – the political deputy of the IRGC Navy – warned that any resumption of US kinetic activity would result in catastrophic casualties for Western forces.

Akbarzadeh touted that the armed forces remain at a level of total readiness, threatening that Iran would “turn the area from Chabahar to Mahshahr into a graveyard for aggressors” if the ceasefire collapses. “Our fighters today carry in their chests the urge for hand-to-hand battle with the enemy,” Akbarzadeh declared, writing off the prospect of a renewed Western assault due to what he assessed as the “weakness” of the American-led coalition.

Pentagon: Iran ‘Hedging its Bets’ in Hormuz Strait

The Pentagon has acknowledged that Iran is ‘hedging its bets’ amid Hormuz tensions:

Former CENTCOM Commander Gen. Joseph Votel said Iran’s reported effort to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz suggests Tehran is “hedging its bets” and attempting to ramp up pressure on the U.S. amid ongoing negotiations.

“Clearly the Iranians are trying to hedge their bets here and put more pressure on the U.S., and what we saw here was CENTCOM detecting that and then taking military action to address it very, very quickly,” Votel said during a Tuesday appearance on Fox News’ “America Reports.”

Iranian source to DropSite:

“If the U.S. cannot give the money that belongs to Iran back to Iran, and the U.S. cannot put a leash on Netanyahu and stop him from going on a rampage in Lebanon, then it shows that this conflict has not ended,” Izadi says. “This is a test for Iran to see what’s going on with the other side.”

🎥 NEW: Jeremy Scahill reported this morning that Iranian officials say the U.S. has accepted Iran’s red lines in the latest revisions to the ceasefire declaration, but is asking for time to “manage domestic public opinion” before formally announcing acceptance of the interim… pic.twitter.com/Pmovw5sEKk

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) May 27, 2026

Enriched Uranium Not on the Agenda

And all the while Iranian leaders have continued to make clear they will not bow to the central Trump administration demand of transferring Iran’s highly enriched uranium out of the country – though there were prior unconfirmed reports that China could be an acceptable destination for some Iranian officials.

Speaking from the sidelines of an international security conference in Moscow, Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, bluntly told Fars news agency: “This issue is not on the agenda of the negotiations.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in fresh remarks is signaling that the conflict has simply migrated from an air and sea war to the global financial system.

Pezeshkian: Main Battleground Now the Economic War

Meeting with the Tehran Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Pezeshkian urged a structural overhaul of the country’s domestic market, calling for an immediate expansion of the private sector to act as an economic shield.

“The main battleground today is the economic war,” Pezeshkian stated, according to Tasnim. “We believe the more capable, agile, and active the private sector is, the stronger the country’s economic foundation will become, and the greater our national power will be in the face of external pressures and threats.”

Pezeshkian framed the Western shift toward sanctions and capital starvation as an admission of military failure by Washington and its Israeli ally. “After failing to achieve its objectives on the military front, the enemy has focused on damaging the country’s economic resilience and disrupting the livelihoods of the people,” the president added.

Indeed this is obviously what the US naval blockade on Iranian ports aims to accomplish, which Washington continuing to bet on some kind of mass anti-regime uprising, which has yet to materialize since the start of Operation Epic Fury.

20 Damaged Airports Across Country Reopened

To demonstrate its resolve and resiliency even while Washington tries to keep the economic chokehold on, Iranian civic workers continue to rebuild logistical infrastructure at rapid pace.

As the latest example, on Wednesday the Civil Aviation Organization announced that Tabriz International Airport in northwestern Iran- which sustained heavy damage from airstrikes during the peak of the aerial bombings – is officially operational again.

“The gateway to northwest Iran”…

According to public broadcaster IRIB, domestic technical teams managed to bypass supply chain bottlenecks to restore the facility to full service. “Tabriz Airport, which was attacked during the recent war, has now been restored to activity by Iranian specialists and will reopen on Wednesday,” a spokesperson confirmed.

Tabriz joins a growing list of critical transit hubs rushing to normalize operations, according to Al Jazeera, while state media reports state that the total number of reopened airports across the country has now reached 20. 

In what may be the most bizarre story of the week, if not all of 2026, the NYTimes reports that a senior CIA official was arrested last week after investigators found hundreds of gold bars worth over $40 million stashed in his Virginia residence, a non-fiat fortune that he apparently brought home from work, according to court papers.

The CIA official, David Rush, is being held in jail while he awaits a detention hearing in the coming days on charges of stealing public money by filling out fraudulent time sheets. But, as the NYT admits, the charging documents filed in Alexandria, Va., still leave a lot unanswered about his recent conduct.

The only formal charge lodged against Rush is that he inflated his academic credentials and obtained military leave pay worth tens of thousands of dollars. The authorities say he falsely claimed to be a member of the Navy Reserve when he was discharged.

In a 2009 application for a government position for which he was subsequently hired, Rush allegedly lied about obtaining a bachelor’s degree from Clemson University and a master’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, according to the affidavit. The investigation revealed that Rush never attended or obtained a degree from either institution, according to the affidavit. 

The court papers describe Rush as a “former senior executive service-level employee at a United States government agency.” According to NYT sources, he until very recently held a senior position at the CIA.

In a joint statement, the CIA and FBI said the arrest occurred on May 19, after the agency alerted the bureau.

“After a C.I.A. internal investigation identified potential violations of the law, C.I.A. Director John Ratcliffe referred the information to the F.B.I. for a law enforcement investigation,” the statement said.

From last November to March, the court papers say, Rush asked for, and received, “a significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses.”

When the CIA conducted a review of where the gold and currency were stashed, the agency was “unable to locate the gold bars or significant amounts of the foreign currency,” according to court papers.

On May 18, FBI agents searched Rush’s home and found “approximately 303 gold bars, each of which weighed approximately one kilogram,” according to an affidavit. Based on the price of gold, the affidavit said, the estimated value of the gold exceeded $40 million. Investigators also seized nearly three dozen luxury watches, many of them Rolexes.

The affidavit also claims that Rush lied about his military credentials while applying to enter the senior executive service level ranks and committed “timecard fraud” regarding military leave. He allegedly claimed 744 hours of military leave, resulting in $77,000 in compensation, since being honorably discharged from the Navy in 2015, according to the affidavit.

The biggest question of all remains unanswered: the court papers do not indicate why Rush appears to have kept so much gold, and $2 million in U.S. currency, not to mention 35 Rolexes in his home, or what work project would have required him to amass such wealth.

Below is the full charging affidavit from the criminal case (1:2026mj00177 USA vs Rush, Virginia Eastern Court).

David Rush Affidavit by Zerohedge

Authored by Iain Davis via Off-Guardian.org,

BRICS-based multipolarity will save us from The Technocratic Dark State by making the rollout of an oppressive global surveillance state much better.

This will be the result of “improving global governance.”

At least, that is according to the BRICS Outcome Document published by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs after the latest riveting meeting of BRICS foreign ministers.

Centralised global dictatorship will be a happier, fluffier kind of new world order tyranny under the BRICS’ multipolar model because it will be “more just, equitable, agile, effective, efficient, responsive, representative, legitimate, democratic and accountable.” Fantastic news, doubtless welcomed by those Hrvoje Morić refers to as the “Multipolaristas.”

Though the BRICS’ document reads like the worst kind of globalese dross imaginable, it is important to remember that the BRICS are offering us the promise of a “beautiful multi-polar world order defined by win-win cooperation.” Presumably, this is because humanity must have some sort of centralised, oligarch-led global dictatorship enslaving it for any of us to have a chance to “win.”

By all means, feel free to wade through the BRICS’ turgid propaganda (link above), but hopefully I’ve saved you the time.

The quotes I’m about to share really were collectively published by the BRICS foreign ministers—I haven’t made it up, though you may wish I had.

The BRICS are going to strengthen “multipolarity” by upholding the “Purposes and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations (UN) in their entirety.” The entire purpose the UN Charter is to centralise global political authority, primarily in the hands of the UN Security Council, over all nation states.

The brainchild of oligarchs, the UN is a public-private partnership where national governments are reduced to mere enabling partners whose task it is to enable multinational corporations to get whatever they want. Apparently, the imminent multipolar global dictatorship will be nicer when the BRICS “play a greater role” in telling everyone else what to do through the UN Security Council. Sounds enticing, I have to say.

The BRICS are fully committed to global technocracy—sorry, I mean sustainable development—but are a bit worried that “current global challenges are complex and interlinked” and that this globally interlinked complexity might “impede economic growth and sustainable development.”

The solution to this is, of course, to recognise the “contemporary realities of the multipolar world” and push ahead with more “equitable global governance.” This must be true because that’s exactly what the World Economic Forum wants, and who could argue with the WEF? Certainly not the BRICS’ foreign ministers, that’s for sure.

The BRICS ministers are also fretting about “peace and security.” Seeing as Iran is a BRICS member state that was just attacked by the US and Israeli governments for no immediately apparent reason, you might think that this war crime would be resoundingly condemned by our multipolar BRICS saviours. However, as recently reported by Edward Slavsquat, internal BRICS politics meant actually speaking out against warmongering tyrants was a bit tricky. So the BRICS delegates decided not to mention Iran by name to avoid any embarrassment.

Instead, the foreign ministers “expressed deep concern on the recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region” and noted the “differing views among some members.”

Though there was no specific mention of the attack on Iran—for diplomatic reasons you understand—Cuba, Syria, Sudan, and Lebanon all got honourable mentions. The BRICS foreign ministers emphasised the need for “peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue,” “UN peacekeeping missions,” and “post-conflict reconstruction and development”—like in Gaza, for example.

With regard to genocide in Gaza, collectively, the BRICS ministers expressed their “grave concern.” Though they stressed that some BRICS member states “had reservation” about Palestinian statehood.

Fiercely opposing genocide slightly, The BRICS politicians “called for the implementation of the relevant UNGA and UNSC Resolutions.” This, they observed, includes UNSC 2803 which welcomes and endorses both the 29th September 2025 “Comprehensive Plan” for peace in Gaza and the subsequent 13th October “Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity.” This is the UN resolutions the Trump administration is using to turn Gaza’s child graveyard into a deregulated Special Economic Zone playground for multinationals and billionaires.

Supporting the technocratic “post-conflict reconstruction” of Gaza, the BRICS foreign ministers ultimately settled on trotting out the same platitudes that every other government—other than Israeli government—trots out. BRICS ministers advocated a return to a “State of Palestine within the internationally recognized 1967 borders.” Well, kind of, at any rate.

Yeah! That’s sticking it to ‘em.

BRICS foreign ministers meeting 2026. Source: https://diplomacybeyond.com/brics-foreign-ministers-meeting-2026/

The UN’s dystopian “Pact for the Future,” including its “Global Digital Compact and the Declaration of Future Generations,” shouldn’t just ruin the lives of people living in developed nations.

No, no, according to the BRICS, populations in “Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDCs), as well as Least Developed Countries (LDCs), especially from Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean” must also be walled up inside the digital Panopticon. What’s the point of global governance unless everyone is controlled by it?

This, of course, is why the transnational capitalist oligarch crowd invented multipolarity in the first place. But I digress.

Like the US, Israeli, and UK governments—and just like all the other EU, Five Eyes, and Commonwealth member states—the BRICS governments are equally agreed that “Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)” are the key drivers for “socio-economic growth.”

Therefore, the global “digital transformation” must surge ahead. Again, the WEF and its partners—such as the UN—must be cock-a-hoop that the BRICS enthusiastically endorse the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

The BRICS are offering beautiful multipolarity, not the awful authoritarian technological control grid currently being served up by ugly Western governments and their corporate sponsors. So the snappy Schwabian acronym “4IR” is not in the BRICS’ lexicon. The 4IR is called “Industry 4.0,” lest there be any confusion.

In BRICS globalese, the entirely separate and distinct “Industry 4.0” digital transformation necessitates establishing a vibrant technology company “start-up ecosystem.” This is also completely different from the Silicon Valley oligarchs’ Dark Enlightenment inspired accelerationism because reasons.

You can tell it’s not the same because “digital public infrastructure, leveraging emerging technologies” will “aim at accelerating innovation-led economic growth,” you see.

It’s important to understand that BRICS-led multipolarity has arrived to save us all from the insidious schemes of the transnational capitalist oligarchs. It is not simply the next logical and long-planned step on the path toward the envisaged “new world order.” And anyway, even if it is, many Multipolaristas say that the Rhodes/Milner “new world order” model doesn’t mean anything, other than serving as a general term for global governance. . . . Oh, and that global governance is necessary.

Multipolarity is regional not global.

The multipolar world order is about delivering fairness and healthy regional competition, promoting peace, and stimulating innovation and better international trade relations. Multipolarity is good, and anyone who says otherwise is merely shilling for “Western Empire” and is probably a conspiracy theorist who thinks they’re all in it together.

The BRICS governments say the “ICT environment” they are building will be “interoperable.” The multipolar Industry 4.0 digital transformation will be “more inclusive, accessible, sustainable and interoperable” than the 4IR digital gulag on offer from the Western Empire. This is because, say the BRICS foreign ministers, their digital Panopticon will be based upon “globally interoperable common rules and standards.”

Globally interoperable rules and standards? Interoperable with what?

IBM—reportedly the largest industrial research organisation in the world—stresses why “interoperability,” especially between ICT systems, matters:

Interoperability is made possible by using common standards that define how data is formatted and exchanged between systems. [. . .] Interoperability is important because it optimizes data sharing between separate information systems, which helps prevent data silos, [. . .] so disconnected datasets can be easily accessed to achieve a common objective.

“Globally interoperable” means global, not regional.

You can call it “multipolar” if you want, but exerting global governance over that unified, interoperable digital system, to achieve “common objectives,” is the centralised control of a global system. In a world where everything, from the information we share, to the management of global supply chains and the control of the international financial and monetary system is digital and interoperable, all “multipolarity” suggests is global dictatorship.

Multipolarity is a sales gimmick. The Multipolaristas have created a fake dialectic, seemingly on behalf of transnational capitalist oligarchs. They suggest that one model of global dictatorship is better than another. They’re inviting people the world over to embrace their own enslavement within a global, digital surveillance state. They are seriously arguing that multipolar dictatorship is preferable. But then, the Multipolaristas would say that I’m just a Western imperialist analysing everything from my western perspective, guilty of binary thinking and failing to see the potential beauty of multipolar win-win cooperation.

Highlighting where I have gone so awry, the BRICS foreign ministers add that “strengthening digital financial security” is essential for better multipolar global governance. This can be achieved by enhancing “cross-border cooperation among customs authorities, financial intelligence units, law enforcement agencies, tax authorities and supervisory bodies.” To this end, the BRICS governments are ready to step up and take “leadership of the IMF and the WB [World Bank].”

Luckily, the multipolar world order will “enhance the legitimacy of the World Bank Group, as a better, bigger, and more effective development finance institution.” So that’s an end to global debt trap diplomacy, apart from expanding it and centralising control over it even further.

The BRICS governments are particularly looking forward to deepening their “cooperation in global health initiatives, including within the World Health Organization (WHO).” The BRICS seem quite keen on the “WHO Pandemic Agreement” and hope the “BRICS R&D Vaccine Center” can contribute effectively to the next global public-private pandemic.

It comes as a relief, then, that all of this oppressive, global technocratic tyranny will “ensure the promotion and protection of democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.” This is because, unlike Western governments that peddle exactly the same propagandist crap, the multipolar BRICS-led new world order places “humanity and people at the centre.” This leaves humanity—notably led by the Multipolaristas at the moment—the freedom to big-up the multipolar new world order. Or, as the BRICS foreign ministers put it, “people to people contacts” can amplify “the voice for greater BRICS representation in global governance.”

There are a few people around the world who aren’t yet entirely convinced that the beautiful multipolar world order is that attractive. Indeed, some go so far as to publicly question why we need any kind of oligarch-led world order at all. Fear not! The BRICS governments can stamp that nonsense out.

Worried that “promoting BRICS cooperation” might face some opposition, the BRICS ministers say that “the challenges stemming from and within the digital realm” can be overcome. By adopting “a comprehensive, balanced, and objective approach” to information “security,” and by deploying “globally interoperable common rules and standards,” BRICS governments are confident they can tackle the scourge of whatever they determine to be “misinformation, hate-speech, [and] disinformation.”

Phew, better global censorship at last! Perhaps the beautiful multipolar new world order is alluring after all.

What do you reckon?

In a development that South Korea, Japan and the United States are likely to find deeply alarming, North Korea launched AI-guided cruise missiles in a test that analysts have described as the first of its kind for the sanctioned country.

The launch and test was overseen by Kim Jong-un early this week, and it was presented as part of his new military modernization and preparedness initiative which has been greatly hyped by Pyongyang over the last several years.

North Korea’s goal is “to build the most modern and powerful artillery force which no one can match,” Kim said according to state Korea Central News Agency (KCNA).

The army, he warned, should possess enough “destructive power” to make survival “impossible” for any enemy it strikes, the KCNA report continued.

The tactical missile utilizes “AI terminal guidance function” – which allows artificial intelligence to guide the missile during its final stage, until it reaches its target.

Pyongyang has never before acknowledged using AI in its missile systems, which Monday’s successful test marks a milestone. Kim further hailed that tests were a “clear signal of upgrading of our military force” and expressed “great satisfaction” at the exercises.

Additionally, “The tests in particular confirmed the combat readiness of cruise missiles that will be deployed at artillery units near the border with ​South Korea equipped with precision navigation and AI-guided control that can strike targets at 100 km (62 miles),” Kim ​said.

According to some analysis of the launch featured by Reuters:

“It’s about using ​AI when recognising the ​target and guiding the ⁠missile,” said Yang Uk, a military expert at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. The North has previously said it had used AI technology in its drones.

Hong ​Min at the Korea Institute for National Unification said the North’s claim likely ​involves an upgraded ⁠version of an existing digital guidance system combined with automatic target recognition technology, although the degree of its sophistication is impossible to verify from the report.

Pyongyang has also of late been touting modernization of the military’s nuclear forces. It continues to expand its nuclear and missile capabilities, including plans to deploy new long-range artillery systems near the border with South Korea.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s government has said it remains committed to its policy of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula and will review the implications of the changes. But it has frequently hosted US military drills, which the north naturally sees as a serious threat to its national security.

Within a day after unleashing a devastating flurry of Monday airstrikes on Lebanon, Israeli ground forces have aggressively expanded the theater of operations inside Lebanon, violating a status quo by sending IDF ground troops across the “Yellow Line” which was established at the inception of the ceasefire.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday that Israel is “intensifying operations” in Lebanon by taking strategic positions deeper into the country with a wave of offensives north of the Litani River.

Officially, Tel Aviv is justifying the deep territorial grab as a “defensive” counter-measure against persistent Hezbollah drone strikes on occupation forces as well as communities in northern Israel.

“We are intensifying our operations in Lebanon. The IDF is operating with significant forces on the ground and taking control of strategically dominant positions. We are reinforcing the security buffer zone in order to protect the communities of northern Israel,” Netanyahu has said in a fresh video released by his office.

“At the same time, we are carrying out a major national effort to advance creative and innovative solutions against explosive drones,” he added, following a meeting with Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir in Tel Aviv.

The ground offensive comes as hawkish Israeli cabinet members openly lobby for a substantial escalation of the war and permanent occupations deeper into sovereign Lebanese territory.

The high-ranking command structure apparently operates under the assumption that it can successfully force a 12 km buffer zone between Hezbollah and the Blue Line border (the 75-mile demarcation line established by the United Nations in June 2000).

Local Israeli media outlets are already questioning the strategic utility of the entire operation, pointing out that Hezbollah’s tactical drone fleet is widely believed to possess an operational range in excess of 30 km.

Hezbollah has been having success especially with fiber-optic cable drones which are not to susceptible to jamming, hacking, or other electronic warfare interception measures.

All of these developments mean that the Washington-mediated ceasefire is effectively dead, and as Hezbollah’s asymmetric warfare is likely to ramp up in response.

The last couple days have also seen whole communities in Shia strongholds of south Beirut flee suburbs which are likely to be targeted in new IDF airstrikes – as has been the pattern of the last several years.

These developments could negatively impact US-Iran efforts to hammer out a final peace deal, which has been grinding on slowly, though it appears that potential return to full-scale regional war is unlikely, for now.

U.S. authorities say they stopped a major cocaine shipment allegedly tied to a Mexican cartel after an oil tanker traveling from Ecuador was intercepted near Southern California, according to KTLA5. 

Roughly 227 kilograms — about 500 pounds — of cocaine were discovered aboard the Aquatravesia, a Liberian-flagged tanker owned by a Greek company, according to federal prosecutors. Investigators believe the drugs were meant to be transferred to cartel operatives waiting off the Mexican coast.

KTLA writes that the vessel had sailed from Ecuador earlier this month and was en route to the United States when investigators received intelligence that cocaine was being smuggled onboard.

Federal prosecutors charged Ceasar Tubay Gelacio Jr., a 43-year-old crew member from the Philippines, with importing a controlled substance. Authorities allege he obtained the narcotics in Ecuador and intended to move them during the ship’s voyage north.

According to court records, crew members eventually found hidden packages in the tanker’s garbage compartment. After questioning workers aboard the ship, the captain allegedly concluded Gelacio was connected to the drugs and secured the packages in another locked area.

Investigators say the captain was warned that armed boats linked to a Mexican cartel would attempt to meet the tanker roughly 80 nautical miles off Mexico during the night of May 14 and the following morning. Authorities also said backup crews were expected to intercept the vessel in Mexican waters if the original transfer failed.

The captain later reported hearing radio communications he believed came from cartel members trying to reach the ship before a potential boarding attempt.

U.S. officials directed the tanker to continue toward the Los Angeles-Long Beach port area, where federal agents boarded the vessel after it anchored offshore and seized the cocaine.

Gelacio was arrested Thursday and appeared in federal court the following day. Prosecutors said he faces at least 10 years in prison if convicted, with a possible maximum sentence of life.

Officials emphasized the case remains an allegation, and Gelacio is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against communications app Discord, alleging that the platform allows child predators to exploit children while falsely claiming child safety to parents.

“Discord presents itself to the world as a platform built on community, connection, and safety. It is not,” the lawsuit, filed on May 22 in the District Court of Collin County, Texas, said.

“Behind the safety pages and transparency pages, Discord built and maintains one of the internet’s most efficient hunting grounds for manipulation, grooming, and predatory behavior towards children. Discord did so knowingly, deliberately, and profitably.”

The design choices implemented on the communications platform make it easy for bad actors to locate vulnerable users, build trust quickly, and operate away from public view, the complaint said.

According to a Discord webpage, safety is at the “core of everything” the company does.

In another post, the company claims safety considerations are “fully integrated into our design process.” Discord also says that it has a “zero-tolerance policy” against individuals who engage in sexual grooming or exploitation of minors.

Such promises made to consumers, parents, and regulators were false, the lawsuit alleges.

Discord makes safety an “opt-in rather than default,” the complaint states.

“It chose to leave private servers invisible. It chose to staff its most critical safety function with unpaid volunteers. It chose to expire violations after 90 days. It chose to bury the block button. Discord chose profits and growth over the safety of children,” it states.

A 45-year-old can create a Discord account as a 13-year-old, and the platform has no reliable mechanism to detect or prevent such actions, according to the lawsuit.

While Discord allows channels to be age-restricted if a moderator wishes, this protection depends entirely on the self-reported birthdate entered when a user creates an account. The platform basically created an age-verification system “that a child can defeat in seconds,” the complaint said.

The lawsuit highlights multiple cases of minors being harmed by predators on Discord, including a 13-year-old boy who committed suicide in 2022 after being targeted by the 764 extremist network on the platform.

In another case, a 15-year-old boy committed suicide after he was groomed by a predator on Discord and Roblox to send sexually explicit images and videos, according to the lawsuit.

The complaint noted that Discord has made it into the “Dirty Dozen” list set up by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation for five straight years.

“Sexual abusers return to Discord again and again, thanks to this company’s reputation for lax rule enforcement and dangerous design,” the center said. “Even registered sex offenders have been charged for targeting kids on Discord.”

The lawsuit asks the court to declare Discord’s actions as “unlawful, deceptive, misleading, and unfair” and order the company to implement age verification requirements.

In an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, a Discord spokesperson said the lawsuit’s “characterization of Discord does not reflect the platform we have built or the investments we have made in user safety.”

According to the spokesperson, unlike social media platforms, Discord does not have any algorithmic feeds, infinite scroll, or public “likes” that push content to mass audiences.

“Our safety systems combine advanced technology and human-led investigations, alongside user reports to help identify accounts or spaces engaged in harmful activity, including sharing exploitative and child sexual abuse materials,” the spokesperson said.

“We provide teen users and their parents and guardians with important privacy and safety tools, including Teen Safety Assist and our Family Center. We look forward to collaborating with policymakers in working toward a safer online experience for all users on Discord and across the internet.”

Age Assurance Rollout

On Feb. 9, Discord announced it planned to roll out teen safety features globally to ensure a “safer and more inclusive experience” for users aged 13 and older.

This involves an “age assurance process” in which users must submit identification or agree to use facial age estimation technology. However, only in a minority of cases will age assurance be required, according to Discord.

As part of the update, users will have “teen-appropriate experience, with updated communication settings, restricted access to age-gated spaces, and content filtering that preserves the privacy and meaningful connections that define Discord,” the company said.

The updates were scheduled to take effect in March. But on Feb. 24, Discord said that the rollout had been extended to the second half of this year.

Meanwhile, Discord was one of the companies targeted by a recent letter from Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson, who asked the platform to comply with the Take It Down Act by May 19.

The Act requires platforms to set up a process that enables individuals, including children, to request the removal of intimate photos or videos shared without their consent. Platforms must make it easy for victims to submit such removal requests.

The FTC warned that it would “vigorously” enforce the Act, with each violation potentially resulting in civil penalties of $53,088.