Summary: 

• US-Iran peace talks have broken down over Iran’s commitment to no nuclear weapons, Vance said “it’s bad news for Iran, much more than for the US.“

• CENTCOM confirms two mine-sweepers are clearing the Strait, Iran claims it turned the warships back.

• President Trump announces start of “clearing out the Strait” as a favor to the rest of the world.

• Peace talks in Pakistan begin in indirect format, led by Vance and on Iran side – Ghalibaf, Arachchi – expected to continue tomorrow

• Saturday sees more Israeli strikes on Lebanon, with Hezbollah supporting Pakistan talks but rejecting ‘separate deal’ directly with Israel.

• Trump on talks and potential bigger future attacks on Iran: “You don’t need a backup plan” as Iran’s “military is defeated”.

*  *  *

VP Vance Departs Pakistan After Failing To Read Deal With Iran

Talks between the United States and Iran ended early Sunday without a peace agreement after Tehran refused to accept key US demands, including commitments on its nuclear program, US officials said.

US Vice President JD Vance said the 21-hour negotiations concluded without a breakthrough, despite good-faith efforts by Washington.

 “We have not reached an agreement, and I think it’s bad news for Iran, much more than for the US,” Vance said

🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 Vance: “We have not reached an agreement, and I think it’s bad news for Iran, much more than for the US”

This appears to be the predictable result of dispatching a negotiating team composed primarily of two pro-Israel assets (Kushner + Witkoff) and a novelist (Hillbilly… pic.twitter.com/6h72t46aEV

— MCDC25 (@25_mcdc) April 12, 2026

“But the simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon,” Vance said, adding that the proposal presented was the administration’s “final and best offer.”

Vice President JD Vance gives an update in Pakistan:

“The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon.” pic.twitter.com/il4THN5DwV

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 12, 2026

The talks marked the third round of direct, face-to-face negotiations between the two sides, taking place days after a fragile two-week ceasefire was announced in the conflict that has entered its seventh week.

Iran has no plans for a new round of talks with the US, Fars news agency reports, citing a source close to the negotiating team.

“The American team was looking for an excuse to leave the negotiating table,” it adds. 

The only market showing any notable impact is crypto with BTC retracing some of the post-ceasefire gains…

The odds of a peace deal by the end of the two-week ceasefire just plunged…

Talks Continue, Hormuz Remains Key Point of Contention

Iranian media are striking a cautiously optimistic tone on the progress of the talks.

They say there was progress on implementation of the ceasefire in Lebanon, technical negotiations that went beyond generalities and now an exchange of texts that would put any progress in writing. 

To be sure, the US side has been much quieter, and sticking points may come into focus once they’re in black and white.

Teams of experts joined the main negotiators after about an hour, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

Those technical discussions in Islamabad focused on the Strait of Hormuz, a potential ceasefire extension and phased sanctions relief. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency says, citing its reporter at the venue.

“The issue of the Strait of Hormuz is one of the points facing serious disagreement”, adding that the US delegation “hindered progress” during the text-exchange stage with “its usual excessive demands”

Talks have reportedly mostly avoided the core issues that the Trump administration said drove it to war, according to a US official and a Pakistani official familiar with the matter.

Those issues include Iran’s support for armed proxies, and the nuclear and missile programs that were at the heart of Trump’s stated reasons for attacking Iran beginning Feb. 28.

“We have goodwill, but we do not have trust,” Ghalibaf told reporters after arriving in Islamabad, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.

“In the upcoming negotiations, if the American side is prepared for a genuine agreement and to grant the rights of the Iranian nation, they will see readiness for an agreement from us as well.”

Tasnim said that Tehran’s 71-member delegation also included the Islamic Republic’s central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati.

Also on the agenda will be the fate of Iran’s uranium stockpile and missile production, as well as US sanctions against the Islamic Republic and broader military presence in the Middle East. Many of those issues were the same ones the two sides failed to resolve in February negotiations before the war began.

Iran’s deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi says Tehran has entered negotiations from a position of strength, arguing that the war on Iran had failed to deliver decisive strategic gains for the US.

Trump – as we detailed below – made it clear he sees Iran ‘holding no cards’.

US Starts Clearing Mines In Strait of Hormuz

Seemingly confirming President Trump’s earlier comments on “clearing out the Strait”, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that two U.S. missile destroyers started clearing mines in the Strait of Hormuz on April 11 as peace talks kicked off between Washington and the Iranian regime

“Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce,” CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said in a statement Saturday.

The American ships included the USS Frank E. Peterson (DDG 121) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112).

CENTCOM revealed that the mission on Saturday is part of a broader goal to make the crucial waterway, located on the southwest coast of Iran, clear of sea mines laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Saturday’s confirmation about the mine clearing came hours after a United States government vessel was spotted entering the Strait of Hormuz, according to the ship-tracking intelligence platform Marinetraffic.com.

It’s not clear if this was related to CENTCOM’s mine-clearing mission.

Trump Announces Start Of “Clearing Out” The Strait As A “Favor” To RoW

Earlier reports appears to have been confirmed as three US officials have stated to The Wall Street Journal that two U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, marking the first transit of American warships through the waterway since the war began six weeks ago.

President Trump took to social media to explain what was going on. But first, he clarified a few things to the ‘fake news media’…

The Fake News Media has lost total credibility, not that they had any to begin with. Because of their massive Trump Derangement Syndrome (Sometimes referred to as TDS!), they love saying that Iran is “winning” when, in fact, everyone knows that they are LOSING, and LOSING BIG!

Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti Aircraft apparatus is nonexistent, Radar is dead, their Missile and Drone Factories have been largely obliterated along with the Missiles and Drones themselves and, most importantly, their longtime “Leaders” are no longer with us, praise be to Allah!

The only thing they have going is the threat that a ship may “bunk” into one of their sea mines which, by the way, all 28 of their mine dropper boats are also lying at the bottom of the sea.

Having got all that off his chest, he then confirmed the operation to open the Strait:

We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others.

Incredibly, they don’t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves.

Very interestingly, however, empty Oil carrying ships from many Nations are all heading to the United States of America to LOAD UP with Oil.

Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP

But he wasn’t done with that. A few minutes later he followed with a shorter pithier version of the same narrative:

The Fake News Media is CRAZY, or just plain CORRUPT!

The United States has completely destroyed Iran’s Military, including their entire Navy and Air Force, and everything else. Their Leadership is DEAD!

The Strait of Hormuz will soon be open, and the empty ships are rushing to the United States to “load up.”

But, if you listen to the Fake News, we’re losing!

Iran explicitly informed the Pakistani mediator during talks that if the vessel continued its movement it would be targeted within 30 minutes and the Iran-US negotiations would be damaged.

However, no issues were reported during the ships transit of the Strait, and the move was described as a freedom-of-navigation mission.

The (successful) timing of this action – as talks begin in Islamabad – is certainly a show of strength amid the delicate negotiations.

Several US Warships Cross Hormuz Strait: Axios

Just as indirect talks kick off in Islamabad, a shocking and surprise development is being reported by Axios’ Barak Ravid, though this is not confirmed:

🚨🇺🇸🚢Several U.S. navy ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, U.S. official says
🚨🇺🇸🚢The move was not coordinated with Iran. It’s the first time this happens since the beginning of the war

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) April 11, 2026

If accurate, are we witnessing Trump suddenly pile on more leverage before negotiations even get off the ground? It seems like the Iranians would have noticed several US Navy warships passing. Either they held off attack for the sake of pursuing peace, or this was truly done ‘stealthily’ and Iranian capabilities are degraded to the point they may have ‘missed’ it. Or is this an attempt to muddy the negotiations? Sabotage? Ravid after all has long stood accused of pushing an Israeli agenda in his reporting.

Talks Begin with Indirect Format Mediated by Pakistanis

By Saturday afternoon (local), the highest-level US-Iran-related talks since the 1979 Islamic Revolution have kicked off in Islamabad. Vice President JD Vance met Pakistan’s Shehbaz Sharif just ahead of the negotiations, and also senior Iranian officials were greeted by Sharif and other Pakistani leaders. Iran’s delegation is led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The engagement by each side has begun indirectly.

Pakistan has made clear it is working to facilitate direct negotiations between the US and Iran to fully bring to an end the six-week war in the Middle East. Sharif hailed both sides’ commitment to engaging constructively, and “expressed the hope that these talks would serve as a stepping stone toward durable peace in the region,” his office stated in a news release.

“Vance was joined for the bilateral meeting by special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner,” CNN reviews. “Sharif was joined by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sen. Mohammad Ishaq Dar, along with Interior Minister Sen. Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi, according to a news release from the Pakistani prime minister’s office. There was no press coverage of the meeting.”

CNN also has this interesting detail on just how many officials have traveled with the Iranian side: “Iran’s delegation in Islamabad is made up of 71 people, including negotiators, experts, media representatives and security, Tasnim reported.” According to some of the latest:

Tehran reportedly set 2 main conditions. The issue of frozen funds being already accepted by Washington. Despite no strikes on Beirut, attacks in southern Lebanon are ongoing and are now part of the negotiations.

Below: Ghalibaf (Speaker of Parliament) – Araghchi (Foreign Minister) – Ahmadian (Secretary of the Defense Council) – Hemmati (Central Bank Governor)

Lebanon Fighting Has Not Stopped But Rare Diplomatic Contact Made

Fighting has not fully stopped in Lebanon, raising the possibility of derailing the Pakistan talks, after Tehran had earlier in the week threatened that it could pull out if Israel keeps ups its attacks. On Saturday, Lebanon’s Health Ministry raised the death toll from the Israeli surprise Wednesday strikes to 357, and suggested the figure could rise amid several days of search and recovery operations.

But one rare bright spot in terms of diplomatic contact, as international reports say the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States held a phone call in the first direct contact reported between the two countries, ahead of ceasefire talks scheduled in Washington for next week.

Meanwhile, Iran confirmed it is coordinating with Lebanon to ensure ceasefire commitments are upheld across all fronts, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on state TV from Islamabad, where senior US and Iranian officials are holding talks to end the six-week war. At the same time, Lebanese officials close to Hezbollah told Reuters the group supports the Pakistan dialogue and considers it the appropriate path, rejecting a separate round of talks planned in Washington next week.

Iranian delegation in Pakistan seeks to present ‘unity’ of government/military leadership and coordination:

I told @nytimes that the size and composition of Iran’s delegation shows “that they have not come to stonewall,” but are there with full authority and seriousness to reach a deal with the United States. Such a large delegation of experts would only be deployed if negotiations…

— Vali Nasr (@vali_nasr) April 11, 2026

Israeli airstrikes have continued on a sporadic basis: “Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reports that an Israeli air attack on the town of Kfar Sir in the Nabatieh district has killed four people, including a paramedic, and injured four,” writes Al Jazeera Saturday. “Another Israeli attack on the town of Zefta, also in the Nabatieh district, killed three people, including a member of the Lebanese Civil Defense, and wounded two.” There’s been an additional third attack on Toul and Nabatieh, killing three and injuring several more.

Trump: ‘No Backup Plan’ Needed Since Iran’s Military ‘Defeated’

“You don’t need a backup plan,” Trump told reporters Friday when asked about possible next steps of Pakistan talks fail, according to a report by The Hill as he departed Washington en route to Florida. “The military is defeated.”

“Their military is gone. We’ve degraded just about everything,” Trump added. These words suggest he sees the Pakistan peace process as a serious offramp. However, as we and others have reported, there’s an ongoing Pentagon build-up in the region. This has kicked off speculation that a bigger US attack could be around the corner, at that the Islamabad summit is cover for ongoing military preparations.

NEW: US officials tell the WSJ that jets have recently arrived in the Middle East, and 1,500 to 2,000 troops from the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne could arrive in the coming days, as well as thousands of sailors and Marines.

The USS George H.W. Bush carrier strike group and 11th… pic.twitter.com/dXxG9q28N5

— Faytuks Network (@FaytuksNetwork) April 10, 2026

And yet, the reality is that Iran remains in control of the Strait of Hormuz, with only a tiny trickle of ‘vetted and approved’ vessels making it through, and reportedly paying hefty toll fees to Tehran, which Trump has warned against. Iran in Pakistan is asking for sanctions to be lifted. If the US grants this, Iran will be in a better position than went the war started, which will be tantamount to gains made through the fight.

In what should not at all be a surprise to anyone who has been awake and observant over the past 20+ years of America’s military interventions in the Middle East, the Israeli Army and intelligence officials have concluded that Iran’s news leadership is more extreme than the previous one.

The IDF delivered a closed-door intelligence briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Thursday, which involved presenting this finding, according to The Times of Israel.

Iran’s new leadership consists of members of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) which are now frequently described as far more ideologically rigid than the former political leadership – a development which was entirely predictable.

The slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba has not been seen in public since the US-Israeli attacks began, but he is also said to be hardline than his father. And of course, this current crop of leaders have either lost family or been wounded in the strikes – giving them more incentive to take a rigid stance against Washington.

Still, NeoCon warmongers have been at times repeating old Iraq war, Bush era talking points of “they will greet us as liberators”. 

This certainly didn’t happen in either Iraq or Afghanistan, and in the latter country the Taliban is now in complete control despite a more than two-decade long US coalition occupation and quagmire. America’s ‘nation-building’ only produced a failed state followed by greater Taliban ascendancy and control.

In many cases, the very same officials advocating for regime change in Iran were on board with all the foreign policy failures of the past, also including Syrian and Libya.

The Trump administration itself in the opening days of the bombing campaign acted as if suddenly masses of people would rise up and overthrow the Islamic Republic and its long-standing institutions.

Yet the government has not fallen, and still President Trump has lately claimed that Iran’s losses of dozens of senior civilian and military leaders is tantamount to “regime change”. This has not changed facts on the ground.

As @RonPaul has said for more than a decade, if Americans knew there is a peaceful option to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, they would take it.

Today’s YouGov poll shows 60% of Americans oppose military intervention in Iran. https://t.co/9GOvsYpvZm pic.twitter.com/obzs35Qxfk

— Liam McCollum (@MLiamMcCollum) June 17, 2025

Vice President JD Vance traveled Friday to Pakistan for high-level talks with Iranian officials, and reports say that some 70 Iranians are traveling with the Tehran team to present a ‘unified front’. Talks are expected into Sunday, and they entered with contrasting demands which appear very far apart.

Via The Cradle

A Pakistani military force arrived at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Air Base on Saturday, as part of a strategic defense pact between the two countries, the kingdom’s defense ministry has announced.

The Pakistani force includes air force fighter jets and support aircraft. It was sent to Saudi Arabia to “enhance joint military cooperation, raise operational readiness, and support security and stability in the region,” the ministry’s statement said.

The military deployment arrived following five weeks of US-Israeli attacks on Iran, and as ceasefire talks take place in Islamabad.

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a strategic defense agreement last year involving joint deployments, intelligence sharing, and coordinated responses to regional threats.

The pact commits both states to treat any attack on one as an attack on both, allowing the Gulf kingdom to benefit from the protection afforded by Pakistan’s nuclear weapons arsenal.

In January, Pakistani F-16 fighter aircraft participated in a multinational air combat exercise in Saudi Arabia. The Spears of Victory-2026 exercise also involved military forces from France, Italy, Greece, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, the UK, and the US.

Riyadh and Islamabad have a history of close military cooperation dating back to the 1960’s. During the 1991 Gulf War, Pakistan sent troops to defend the Saudi kingdom from a possible Iraqi invasion. In return, Pakistan has benefited from Saudi financial and military support.

On Saturday, Turkish media reported that Saudi Arabia and Qatar will provide Pakistan with $5 billion in financial assistance to help shore up Islamabad’s dwindling foreign currency reserves, which currently stand at about $16.4 billion.

The development comes as the UAE is requiring Pakistan to repay a $3.5 billion debt by the end of the month. Pakistan’s reserves have come under additional pressure recently, thanks to rising costs for imported fuel resulting from the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The $5 billion payment was announced following a meeting between Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Jadaan and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday night in Islamabad.

Things might be going kinetic in the backlash against data centers and AI. 

On Friday, a 20-year-old suspect set on burning down OpenAI headquarters was charged and arrested following a predawn Molotov cocktail attack on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s house in the Russian Hill neighborhood of San Francisco.

Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama, 20, from Texas, was arrested and booked into County Jail hours after the incident. He faces multiple felony charges including attempted murder, arson, making criminal threats, and two counts each of possession or manufacture of an incendiary device and possession of a destructive device. He is being held without bail.

“Thankfully it bounced off the house and no one got hurt,” Altman wrote in a blog post. 

According to police and OpenAI, the attack unfolded around 3:40–3:45 a.m. on April 10 when Moreno-Gama allegedly hurled a flaming bottle at the metal gate of Altman’s home at 855 Chestnut Street in the Russian Hill neighborhood. The device ignited a small fire that was quickly extinguished by on-site security, causing only minor damage and no injuries; it reportedly bounced off the house. The suspect then fled to OpenAI’s Mission Bay headquarters, where he allegedly threatened to burn down the building. Officers recognized him from surveillance footage of the residence attack and took him into custody without further incident.

OpenAI issued a brief statement confirming the events and thanking SFPD for the rapid response, noting that security had been stepped up at company offices.

Hours later, Altman published a strikingly personal blog post that has generated almost as much discussion as the attack itself. Read Altman’s full post here. In it, he shared a rare family photo with his husband Oliver Mulherin and their child, writing: “Here is a photo of my family. I love them more than anything. Images have power, I hope… Normally we try to be pretty private, but in this case I am sharing a photo in the hopes that it might dissuade the next person from throwing a Molotov cocktail at our house.”

Altman described himself as “awake in the middle of the night and pissed,” admitted he had underestimated “the power of words and narratives,” and linked the moment to broader anxiety about AI, including a recent critical profile. The post mixes personal apologies and reflections on past conflicts (including the Elon Musk trial and OpenAI board drama), a dramatic Lord of the Rings “ring of power” metaphor for the AGI race, and a call to “de-escalate the rhetoric and tactics and try to have fewer explosions in fewer homes, figuratively and literally.” 

The timing and tone of Altman’s response appear to underscore a deeper reality now playing out across the country: financially strained American households are increasingly pushing back against the infrastructure demands of the AI industry. New data this week shows residential electricity prices surging in key regions, driven in large part by the explosive growth of data centers needed to train and run large language models. Communities from Virginia to Georgia to the Midwest have mounted growing resistance – through zoning fights, moratoriums, and public hearings – over electricity costs, water consumption, land use, and limited local economic benefits, marking what one analysis described as a sharp escalation in Americans starting to revolt against data centers.

In response to the pressure, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI this week signed a Trump-administration-brokered “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” committing the companies to fully fund their own new power generation, transmission upgrades, and grid improvements so that ordinary ratepayers are not left footing the bill. The move follows an emergency intervention directing the nation’s largest grid operator to hold a special auction shifting billions in costs away from households.

This backlash is fueled not only by soaring electricity costs but also by deep-seated fears that AI and large language models will trigger widespread job displacement. Many Americans, particularly recent graduates and white-collar workers, worry that rapid automation of cognitive and knowledge-based work will leave large segments of the labor force behind. Are we on the cusp of a new luddite revolution?

Close enough https://t.co/reP3n5kJpR pic.twitter.com/PrH03ydD8A

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 10, 2026

Wanna read something scary? Stanford software engineering grads aren’t finding work…

“Stanford computer science graduates are struggling to find entry-level jobs” with the most prominent tech brands, according to the university’s Jan Liphardt, an associate professor in bioengineering.

While the rapidly advancing coding capabilities of generative AI have made experienced engineers more productive, they have also hobbled the job prospects of early-career software engineers.

Stanford students describe a suddenly skewed job market, where just a small slice of graduates — those considered “cracked engineers” who already have thick resumes building products and doing research — are getting the few good jobs, leaving everyone else to fight for scraps.

“There’s definitely a very dreary mood on campus,” said a recent computer science graduate who asked not to be named so they could speak freely. “People [who are] job hunting are very stressed out, and it’s very hard for them to actually secure jobs.”

The shake-up is being felt across California colleges, including UC Berkeley, USC and others. The job search has been even tougher for those with less prestigious degrees. –LA Times 

While the vast majority of this pushback remains peaceful and policy-focused, the Molotov incident may be the first kinetic action in the luddite revolution. Altman himself seemed to nod to that anxiety in his post, acknowledging that “the fear and anxiety about AI is justified” and calling for societal resilience, economic transition support, and democratization so that “power cannot be too concentrated.”

Authored by Bojan Stojkovski via Interesting Engineering,

The BYD Great Tang full-size SUV is now reaching dealerships across China ahead of its planned April presale debut at the Beijing Auto Show. Early dealer data shows at least four configurations are being prepared for the market, spanning rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive setups with varying performance and range ratings. 

In its most capable form, the SUV is expected to deliver up to around 590 miles of driving range, positioning it as a long-distance option in the segment. As the production version of the Dynasty-D concept, the Great Tang sits at the top of BYD’s SUV lineup, both in size and technology. [ZH: The range claim comes from the Chinese CLTC test cycle, which tends to be a bit optimistic]

It measures more than 17.4 feet in length and rides on a 123-inch wheelbase, making it the brand’s largest crossover to date. The model is designed with a three-row, seven-seat configuration, targeting family-oriented buyers seeking space, efficiency, and extended electric range.

3.9-second acceleration and extended-range capability

The all-electric BYD Great Tang uses the company’s second-generation Blade Battery architecture and is designed to support high-power fast charging for reduced downtime on long trips. In its rear-wheel-drive configuration, the SUV delivers up to approximately 590 miles of CLTC range from a 130.15 kWh battery pack, placing it among the longest-range electric SUVs currently announced in China, CarNewsChina reports.

Performance is significantly higher in the dual-motor all-wheel-drive variant, which produces up to 585 kW and can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in about 3.9 seconds. This added performance comes with a trade-off in efficiency, with range reduced to around 528 miles CLTC, though it still remains competitive within the long-range EV SUV segment.

In addition to the fully electric lineup, BYD will also introduce plug-in hybrid versions of the Great Tang built on its DM-i and DM-p powertrain systems. The DM-i variant pairs a 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with a 200 kW electric motor, delivering up to approximately 213 miles of CLTC electric-only range, positioning it for efficiency-focused driving and daily commuting.

The DM-p configuration steps up output significantly, using a dual-motor setup that produces a combined 400 kW. This version is tuned for stronger acceleration and more dynamic driving characteristics, while still retaining the flexibility of a hybrid system that blends combustion and electric power for extended range capability.

Aiming for upper mid-market SUV space amid strong competition

The Great Tang is being strategically positioned within BYD’s broader SUV portfolio to avoid internal overlap with its premium Denza lineup while still targeting the upper tier of the mainstream market. This placement suggests a focus on balancing scale, technology, and accessibility within the rapidly expanding full-size SUV segment.

In the competitive landscape, the model is expected to go head-to-head with rivals such as the Geely Galaxy M9, a large plug-in hybrid SUV that has already demonstrated strong early market traction with more than 11,000 deliveries in just the first two months of the year. 

The segment is becoming increasingly crowded, with demand driven by families and long-distance users seeking a mix of electric efficiency and extended range flexibility.

Authored by Micah Zimmerman via Bitcoin Magazine.coim

A new research proposal claims it can make Bitcoin transactions resistant to quantum attacks without changing the network’s core rules, a goal that has drawn attention as concerns grow over future cryptographic risks.

In a paper published on April 9, Avihu Levy of StarkWare outlined “Quantum-Safe Bitcoin Transactions Without Softforks,” introducing a scheme called Quantum Safe Bitcoin, or QSB. The design aims to protect transactions from threats posed by quantum computers while remaining compatible with the existing Bitcoin protocol.

The proposal targets a known vulnerability in Bitcoin’s current design. Standard transactions rely on ECDSA signatures over the secp256k1 curve. In theory, a sufficiently powerful quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm could potentially break this system by solving discrete logarithms, which would allow attackers to forge signatures and spend funds.

QSB replaces reliance on elliptic curve security with hash-based assumptions. Instead of trusting ECDSA, the scheme uses it as a verification mechanism while shifting security to hash pre-image resistance. This approach draws from earlier work known as Binohash, which embeds one-time signature schemes into Bitcoin Script.

JUST IN: Bitcoin developer Avihu Levy introduces “Quantum-Safe Bitcoin Transactions Without Softforks” 👀 pic.twitter.com/enghEoOq10

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) April 9, 2026

At the core of QSB is a “hash-to-signature” puzzle.

The system hashes a transaction-derived public key using RIPEMD-160 and treats the output as a candidate ECDSA signature. Only a small fraction of random hashes meet the strict formatting rules required for valid signatures, creating a proof-of-work condition. The paper estimates the probability of success at about one in ~70.4 trillion attempts.

Bitcoin resistant to quantum attacks

Because the puzzle depends on hash properties rather than elliptic curve hardness, it remains resistant to Shor’s algorithm. A quantum attacker would gain only a quadratic speedup from Grover’s algorithm, leaving meaningful security margins. The paper estimates about 118-bit second pre-image resistance under a Shor threat model.

The construction works within Bitcoin’s existing scripting limits, including a cap of 201 opcodes and a maximum script size of 10,000 bytes. It uses legacy script structures and avoids any need for consensus changes or soft forks, a feature that may appeal to developers wary of protocol fragmentation.

The transaction process unfolds in three stages, the proposal claims.

• First, a “pinning” phase searches for transaction parameters that produce a valid hash-to-signature output, binding the transaction to a fixed structure.

• Next, two digest rounds select subsets of embedded signatures to generate additional proofs tied to the transaction hash.

• Finally, the transaction is assembled with all required preimages and verification data.

The design introduces tradeoffs. QSB transactions exceed standard relay policy limits, which means they would not propagate across the network under default settings. Instead, they would require direct submission to miners through services such as Slipstream. The scripts also consume significant space and computational resources.

Despite these constraints, the cost of generating a valid transaction appears within reach. The paper estimates total compute expenses between $75 and $150 using cloud GPUs, with the workload scaling across parallel hardware. Early testing reports successful puzzle solutions after several hours using multiple GPUs.

The project remains incomplete. While the paper and script generation tools are finished, parts of the pipeline, including full transaction assembly and broadcast, have not been demonstrated on-chain.

Still, the proposal adds to a growing body of research exploring how Bitcoin could adapt to a future with quantum computing. By avoiding protocol changes, QSB presents one path that relies on existing rules rather than consensus upgrades, a direction that may shape further debate on long-term network security.

[ZH: Brain fogged over? QSB makes the hard math puzzle at the heart of Bitcoin… harder…]

March brought the biggest fuel price shock Americans have experienced on record, or at least according to AAA data going back to the early 2000s.

A fuel price shock changes consumer behavior, especially for low-income households, by forcing folks to drive less, combine trips, cancel discretionary travel, or shift to carpooling and public transit.

For those who have the financial flexibility to do so, a fuel price shock may push some consumers toward smaller cars, hybrids, and EVs and away from large SUVs and trucks, because fuel economy suddenly matters much more.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a $4-per-gallon national average for gasoline, a politically sensitive level, is the threshold at which some consumers are beginning to think about EVs again.

Online car-shopping platforms such as Cars.com and Edmunds have reported a modest uptick in EV interest among users on their platforms in recent weeks. 

Edmunds pointed out that interest in EVs on its website has returned to where it was before federal tax incentives expired late last year.

“In the short term, a lot of Americans, and this has nothing to do with regulations, are coming back to EVs because of the cost of ownership,” Hyundai Motor Chief Executive José Muñoz told the WSJ. “Basically, the fuel costs are making them change their decision.”

Muñoz said that EVs are finding a place in the driveways of households in states like California because it makes economic sense to commute to work during the week in EVs rather than gasoline-powered cars. 

He said the thinking in some households is: “I have one car from Monday to Friday, another car for the weekend.”

We must point out that far-left states like California suffer from state-killing climate policies and terrible energy policies that are crushing households on the pocketbook level. 

Data from Cox Automotive shows that EV sales jumped 12% in the first quarter as a flood of off-lease EVs swamped the market, pushing prices lower and making them more affordable.

Edmunds data show that EVs accounted for roughly 6.2% of new-car sales in March, up from 6% in February, but this is noticeably down from September, when EVs accounted for 11.5% of sales. Higher EV sales last year were mostly driven by consumers seeing that federal tax credits were expiring at the end of the year, think of it as demand pulled forward.

Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, said the surge in gasoline and diesel prices at the pump during the six-week U.S.-Iran conflict led to “an uptick in consideration” of EVs. She said driving habits are hard to change, considering Americans enjoy the luxury of large SUVs and trucks.

Meanwhile, Chinese EV exports soared 140% in March, driven by surging demand outside the US amid Gulf-related energy shocks. 

Authored by Rick Moran via PJMedia.com,

What is MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+? It might be a new, super-strong password. Maybe it’s a Gen-Whatever code-like thing that’s sweeping the internet, like “6-7” or something.

If only it could be that mundane.

In fact, MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ is an all-inclusive, all-encompassing, balls-to-the-wall, slam bang, wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am acronym for the totality of the gender bending, sexually “unique” population of Canada. 

For the record, as Jim Treacher helpfully points out, it stands for “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and “additional identities (“+”).

The excitement was started by a Canadian New Democratic Party member of parliament, Leah Gazan, who complained that not enough money was being spent to “deal with the ongoing genocide of MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+.”

NDP MP Leah Gazan condemns Budget 2026 for cutting $7B from Indigenous Services Canada and Crown Indigenous relations.

“They provided $0 to deal with the ongoing genocide of MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+,” she said.

“Rates of violence are increasing, and the PM is turning a blind eye.” pic.twitter.com/G0QfVjNpNB

— Juno News (@junonewscom) April 8, 2026

Budgeting for each and every identity, preference, and fantasy spirit in the MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ community would blow up the Canadian budget. 

I fondly recall when sexual preference identities were simple: LGB and maybe T, XYZ, believe you me. It was easy. It was a simpler time then. We didn’t have to worry about offending someone by using the wrong pronoun. We didn’t have to worry about making some poor, disturbed “T” or “Q” explode in tears from being misgendered.  

It would be so much easier (and we’d be less likely to offend) if the MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ “community” would just walk around with name tags identifying which gender they are, what their sexual identity is, and most importantly, what pronouns they prefer to be referred to.

Yes, that’s a joke. No Nazi “Star of David” references, please.

Not that I’d use them. But since misgendering is going to be an Olympic sport in 2030, it would be helpful to know who we should insult. 

Treacher tried and failed to keep a straight face in reporting on this phenomenon.

Okay, for real, this is a serious topic. You don’t want to see women kidnapped and murdered.

Not most women, anyway. I mean, there are names that come to mind…

But no. Nobody should go through that.

Mostly.

And of course, since that’s such a long acronym and that woman just rattled it off like it’s a normal thing to say, people are having some fun with it today. “Got my new password!” That sort of thing.

There’s a British comedian named Damian Slash who has perfected a sort of straight-faced satire of… liberal excesses, let’s put it that way. Here he is explaining why MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ is no joke.

MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ is not a joke pic.twitter.com/VMLFVvMPCn

— Damien Slash (@damienslash) April 9, 2026

The internet being the internet, there was a slanderous fake news take on this story that claimed Canada was updating its LGBTQ+ acronym to MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+.

Pink News, whose goal is to “empower generations to embrace and shape the future – making the world a gayer place,” says that simply isn’t true.

“She [Gazan] used MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ as a catch-all term,” says Pink News. 

“Catch-all?” Really? That’s a pretty wide net to use as a “catch-all.” 

“Various social media sites began reporting that Canada has now officially updated the LGBTQ+ acronym to MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+, which isn’t the case,” we’re informed by Pink News.

 It’s impossible to parody leftists who are blissfully unaware of their own stupidity.

Okay, so why is this so annoying? Why does this bug me so much? Why is liberalism so irritating?

Because that’s what’s going on here. It’s not about making fun of people who are in trouble. It’s not about making fun of these women.

It’s about not just being able to say that. That these women are in trouble. They need help. Just say that they’re missing women. They’re possibly murdered. Just say that.

But that’s not inclusive.

Precisely. If this really were about saving lives, they wouldn’t use code that’s impossible to say with a straight face or highfalutin “all-inclusive” descriptions of what these people’s preferences are when it comes to who they love or prefer to sleep with.

It’s pretentious bull. And they do their cause no good by employing acronyms solely to be “inclusive” while failing to see it as the problem.

As expected, Israel says it is preparing to keep waging war against Iran – even as the US and Tehran are engaged in high level talks in Pakistan. Clearly Tel Aviv has a dim view of the potential outcome in the Islamabad summit.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a fresh statement Saturday vowed he will continue fighting Iran and its allies, in a post that also took a swipe at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Israel under my leadership will continue to fight Iran’s terror regime and its proxies, unlike Erdogan who accommodates them and massacred his own Kurdish citizens.

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) April 11, 2026

“Israel under my leadership will continue to fight Iran’s terror regime and its proxies,” Netanyahu wrote on X. He then turned to blasting Erdogan for “accommodating” Iran and being responsible for “massacres” of Kurdish citizens.

Ever since the Gaza war began well over two years ago, Turkey and Israel have been locked in a bitter war of words which at times included sanctions and a regional trade war.

Erdogan has frequently accused Israeli leaders of genocide and of seeking to take over the whole Middle East. In Syria, Turkish and Israeli warplanes have even come close to engaging in conflict. The two remain the most influential and powerful countries in the Near East region. In many ways they are direct rivals in the region.

It remains unclear whether Netanyahu is saying that he will keep attacking Iran no matter the outcome of ceasefire talks. Elsewhere the Israelis have said they are indeed willing to uphold a potential Trump deal, and certainly Washington would pressure them to do so in the event a final truce is agreed to.

But at the same time, Netanyahu has long sworn that he’ll never tolerate a nuclear armed Iran. For this reason, Israel’s stance remains a big wild card pending the outcome of talks. 

Watch Netanyahu’s full statement below:

🚨🇮🇱🇮🇷 Netanyahu:

“The campaign against Iran is not over. We still have more to do.”pic.twitter.com/z2H5HrRMf9 https://t.co/XicpeMHLMj

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 11, 2026

Israel could potentially sabotage any ceasefire deal out of Pakistan. For example it could keep attacking Iran, or also Lebanon. This week’s major attacks in Lebanon have threatened to derail the Islamabad process before it even began.

Hezbollah has said it will respect any US-Iran deal, but has also been lobbing rockets into northern Israel. Israel’s position is that any Lebanon deal be separated out from Islamabad.

* * *

Authored by Sylvia Xu via The Epoch Times,

Texas is expected to pay $708 million more by 2027 to the federal government in penalties for erroneous distributions from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The state officials released the cost in a presentation to the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services on April 8.

The state payment error rate was estimated to be nearly 9 percent in fiscal year 2025, totaling $627 million in erroneous payments.

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Texas will need to share an additional food stamps program cost of $708 million, 10 percent of the state’s total program benefits, based on its error rate, beginning October 2027.

Currently, the federal government fully funds the food stamps program, while states only need to pay half of the administrative expenses.

In fiscal year 2024, Texas received nearly $7 billion in federal funding and paid roughly $470 million for administrative costs.

Starting in October 2026, the states will need to share the administration costs at a rate of 75 percent. By 2027, Texas is expected to pay about $826 million more after adding in administrative fees of $117 million.

To avoid that result, Texas needs to bring its error rate down to 6 percent before the fiscal year ends this September.

In Texas, more than 3.2 million residents benefit from the food stamps program as of December 2025, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

A family of four can receive a maximum of $994 per month on a Lone Star Card, which can be used like a debit card at any store that accepts SNAP.

Starting on April 1, SNAP recipients cannot buy candy or sweetened drinks in Texas with their Lone Star Cards.

Improper Payments

The federal government allocated nearly $100 billion to the food stamps program in fiscal year 2024; however, roughly $11 billion of that total was attributed to improper disbursement.

The food stamp error rate doesn’t come from fraud by people receiving the benefits, but from states making mistakes in determining who gets benefits and how much they receive.

Mistakes arise when beneficiaries forget to report changes in income or circumstances, or when government offices commit errors during case processing, according to the Texas Health and Human Services.

Food stamp errors accounted for 7 percent of the approximately $162 billion in improper payments recorded across 68 federal programs in fiscal year 2024, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Since fiscal year 2003, cumulative federal improper payments have amounted to an estimated $2.8 trillion. The actual amount of improper payments may be significantly higher, according to the report.