The ramp up in Saudi Arabia’s Hormuz-bypassing East-West pipeline has been nothing short of remarkable.

Two days after we reported that flow through the pipeline which crosses Saudi Arabia east to west for oil flows (hence the name) and is also known as the Abqaiq-Yanbu pipeline for nat gas flows had doubled from roughly 1.5 million before the war, today Bloomberg updates on the latest flow numbers and it now appears that the crucial East-West pipeline is pumping oil at its full capacity of 7 million barrels a day. 

Crude exports via Yanbu have now reached about 5 million barrels a day and the kingdom is also exporting 700,000 to 900,000 barrels a day of refined products, according to the Bloomberg source familiar with the Saudi oil industry. Of the 7 million barrels a day that go through the pipeline, 2 million are destined for Saudi refineries. 

This remarkable achievement, which many experts predicted would take weeks longer to achieve, is the culmination of the kingdom’s longstanding contingency plan for keeping its oil flowing after the effective closure of their main export route. Meanwhile, the Red Sea next to the Saudi port terminal of Yanbu is becoming a bit of a tanker parking lot as flotillas of tankers patiently await to collect the oil, providing an important lifeline for global supply.

As reported previously, Saudi Arabia has been preparing for decades for the worst-case scenario of Hormuz closing. It put its contingency plan to work within hours of the first US and Israeli strikes on Iran, and has been ramping up east-west shipments ever since. Running the breadth of the Arabian Peninsula from the massive oil fields in the east of the country to the industrial port city of Yanbu, the pipeline is more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) long. It’s a by-product of a previous conflict – the 1980s Iran-Iraq war – which saw attacks on ships in the Strait, but nothing like the unprecedented near-closure the current conflict has caused.

Despite the record flow, the Yanbu route still only partly offsets the hit to supply from shutting Hormuz, through which about 15 million barrels a day of crude shipments passed before the war. But the bypass is one reason oil prices haven’t reached the crisis-level highs of previous supply shocks. 

However, with Yemen’s Houthis now saying they are entering the war, the concern for oil markets will be that the Red Sea becomes a new front in the conflict. While the Houthis have not given any indication they would attack tankers going through the Red Sea and Bab El-Mandeb strait, they have previously threatened shipping in the area with drones and missiles.

UAE’s Fujairah Nears Capacity

It’s not just Saudi Arabia that has been ramping up its options to bypass the Strait: the United Arab Emirates has also maxed out oil exports from a vital port that lies outside the Strait of Hormuz, after some of the biggest crude loading infrastructure resumed operations following Iranian drone strikes earlier this month.

The largest crude operations by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) in Fujairah are picking up after they had halted March 14. The port in the UAE’s east coast has a critical role as an outlet for oil bypassing the all-but shut Hormuz waterway, making it among the energy sites most frequently targeted by Tehran. After Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu, it’s the biggest exit point for Persian Gulf crude circumventing the maritime chokepoint.

As Bloomberg reports, the return of much of Adnoc’s operations helped push up crude loading to about 1.9 million barrels a day over the March 20-24 period. That’s up 57% from the average flows of about 1.21 million barrels a day over the past year, as the UAE pushes to get more cargoes out through the route with Hormuz still mostly blocked.

The latest crude oil export figures suggest a 252-mile (406-kilometer) Adnoc-owned pipeline – linking Habshan, the collection point for Abu Dhabi’s onshore fields, to the port – is operating close to its capacity.

The uptick compares with an average of 1.48 million barrels a day for the month through March 24. More recent exports still need to be verified as electronic jamming is widely blocking the transmission of satellite signals that allow tracking in the region.

Fujairah’s proximity to Iran – it’s about 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Hormuz, nestled in the shadow of the Al Hajar mountains – makes it more vulnerable than Yanbu. Over the past four weeks, Tehran has attacked Fujairah at least seven times, destroying storage tanks and causing fires in a petrochemicals complex.

Besides crude oil, Fujairah also has large fuel-loading operations. Part of that system is still out of commission, after a key manifold was damaged in a strike more than three weeks ago. Most fuel is currently being loaded via an older section of the port, which connects directly to the ship berths without going via the manifold, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Refineries, including one run by a unit of Vitol Group, are still halted.

Fujairah — which became a refueling port for tankers during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, before the construction of storage tanks at the turn of the century — exported its first crude in 2012.

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“It took foresight to build a pipeline that bypasses the strait and was an effort to reduce dependence on a single chokepoint,” said Ben Cahill, director for energy markets and policy at the University of Texas at Austin’s center for energy. “At this point, every barrel matters.”

Still, Iranian attacks have deterred some shippers from calling at Fujairah, while loading systems and storage tanks — especially at the port’s product terminals — have been damaged.  More importantly, those initial strikes damaged systems in the port, known as the Matrix Manifolds, which manage the flow of oil from each of the tank farms. Refined products are pumped through a complex web of piping arriving at a single point where the flows are then directed to any of more than a dozen ship berths.

A tank farm run by companies including Royal Vopak of the Netherlands and Dubai’s Emirates National Oil Co. halted loadings when the initial strikes crippled the manifolds, according to the people who asked not to be identified discussing operational issues. Loading from the Vopak Horizon terminal restarted late this week, according to a March 26 report from Inchchape Shipping Services.

Now Fujairah is working to restore full export capacity for refined products from a vast network of storage tanks that can store up to 70 million barrels. Fujairah has also developed into one of the top three ports for bunker fuel — the propellant used by ships — although the effective closure of Hormuz has curbed demand.

According to Bloomberg, traders took a net 404,000 barrels of fuel out of Fujairah’s tanks in the week through March 23, representing a 2.8% decline in stocks, according to data from the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone and compiled by Platts, a unit of S&P Global Inc. While some terminal operators are trying to empty their tanks to reduce fire risks, others have been reluctant to load for fear that would make them a target, according to people familiar with the operations.

Finally, taking a look at the Hormuz closure, which remains Iran’s only remaining Trump card and which Tehran has now played, increasingly more ships are now crossing: in addition to China and India, traditionally the biggest export clients of gulf oil, Japan has also reportedly reached a deal with Iran to be allowed passage. This morning, Thailand Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said his country had negotiated an agreement with Iran to allow the safe passage of Thai oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

Anutin said the agreement would ease some concerns about Thailand’s oil supply. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs said this week it had successfully secured the passage through the strait of a tanker owned by the Bangchak Corporation, a Thai energy conglomerate. Earlier this month Iran said its forces fired on a Thai-flagged cargo ship, Mayuree Naree, which caught fire north of Oman after being hit by an unknown projectile. Three crew members went missing and another 20 were rescued.

Also on Saturday morning, ship tracking services reported that two LPG tankers and two bulk carriers exited the Gulf, with all four ships following a northern route that passes through the narrow gap between the two Iranian islands of Larak and Qeshm which many speculate the US will seek to take over with a marine invasion due to their critical importance in halting strait traffic.

Two LPG tankers and two bulk carriers exited the Gulf on Saturday morning. All four ships followed a northerly route that passes through a narrow gap between the two Iranian islands of Larak and Qeshm: BBG pic.twitter.com/wuNzRxLvFJ

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 28, 2026

Authored by Sylvia Xu via The Epoch Times,

One in 31 U.S. children has an autism diagnosis. Among Minnesota’s Somali community, that number jumps to one in 12.

That discrepancy made headlines last fall when the Department of Justice charged a Somali woman with netting millions in fraudulent autism services.

Now, state and federal investigators are putting autism spending in the spotlight.

The September 2025 federal indictment alleged that a therapy center—run by 28-year-old Asha Farhan Hassan—recruited Somali children for an autism services program that was then reimbursed by Medicaid.

The White House pointed to the indictment on March 16 in an executive order announcing the creation of a federal task force to eliminate fraud.

“The staggering fraud and waste in Minnesota alone is a case in point,”  the order reads.

“There is also strong reason to believe that similar problems exist in other States, including California, Illinois, New York, Maine, and Colorado.”

Nationwide, Medicaid spending for autism therapy services increased by over 200 percent between 2018 and 2024—nearly four times the rate of overall Medicaid spending. In some states, the increase was much higher.

The surge is linked to what Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called an autism epidemic, including “an alarming escalation in case severity, and increasingly stark disparities across racial and ethnic groups.”

However, investigators say the rise in spending can’t be explained by the increase in diagnoses or escalation in severity alone.

Meanwhile, a series of federal audits has drawn attention to four states where auditors found millions in “improper” or incorrectly billed payments for Medicaid-funded autism services.

Here is a look at states that have uncovered higher-than-usual Medicaid spending for autism services.

Minnesota

Since 2018, Minnesota has spent more than $18 billion on 14 Medicaid programs considered “high risk” for fraud, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said in December.

More than $9 billion of that money went to fraud, Thompson estimated, announcing another autism related indictment.

The state’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program, which treats children under 21 with autism spectrum disorder, is under particular scrutiny.

It’s the coverage framework for services like applied behavior analysis, a major part of the program.

Applied behavior analysis is a widely used behavior therapy, primarily used with children who have been diagnosed with autism or other developmental disorders. It can include teaching children to follow directions or practicing communication or social skills. Registered behavior technicians usually administer the therapy, supervised by more highly trained behavior analysts.

On March 17, Minnesota released the results of its own audit investigating allegations of kickbacks in the state’s autism services program.

For over 30 years, the report said, the state’s definition of “fraud” has not included kickbacks.

“While DHS could have acted at any time to revise its rules, it has permitted the error to stand since 1995, limiting its authority to address kickbacks,” the report said.

Meanwhile, the cost of the state’s autism early intervention service increased nearly 1,600 percent from 2019 to 2024, according to a March report from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Enrollment ballooned by more than 620 percent during those years.

A state-commissioned report from United Health Group’s Optum division found Minnesota could have saved more than $1 billion in autism early intervention costs between January 2022 and October 2025, if officials had clarified ambiguous policies. An addendum to the January report revised that number to $703 million.

An investigation revealed patterns of claims that didn’t match clear policies or procedures.

“If the pre-payment system being developed now had been in place at the time, these items would have been flagged for further review and payments paused, until additional investigation was completed,” John Connolly, deputy human services commissioner and state Medicaid director, said in February.

“This is not a measure of fraud, waste and abuse, but it shows us where we need to do more work to understand why these claims are raising red flags,” Connolly said in a statement.

Nebraska

Nebraska’s Medicaid spending for applied behavior analysis increased notably over a similar time period. It grew by 1,700 percent from 2020 to 2024, according to a report last fall from the state’s Health and Human Services department.

The number of companies providing applied behavior analysis services nearly quadrupled, growing from 10 to 38 over the four years.

The number of behavior analysts and technicians billing for autism services in the Cornhusker State rose by 761 percent from 2019 to 2024—higher than Minnesota’s rate of growth in that area, which was 646 percent, according to a December report from Trilliant Health, a health care analytics company.

The payment rates in Nebraska were the highest in the nation, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

“We found that Nebraska’s rates for these services have been significantly higher, some more than twice as high, as those of other state Medicaid programs,” said Drew Gonshorowski, Medicaid and long-term care division director for the department.

A behavior technician in Nebraska earned $36.11 per 15-minute unit in 2024. That’s slightly more than $144 an hour, and 130 percent higher than the national average.

Behavior technicians typically undergo 40 hours of training and must have a minimum of a high school diploma.

In August 2025, the state agency reduced Medicaid payment for a behavior technician by 48 percent, bringing the rate from $36.11 to $18.70 per 15-minute unit, or $74.80 per hour.

North Carolina

In North Carolina, spending on autism therapy is projected to exceed $1 billion over the next two years.

Medicaid spending on applied behavior analysis in the state grew by 347 percent from 2022 to 2025, North Carolina Medicaid deputy secretary Melanie Bush reported in a joint legislative oversight committee meeting March 10.

“Nothing here can answer the question of where that growth rate is coming from,” state Sen. Ralph Hise said during the meeting.

Spending growth was concentrated among a small number of providers and far outpaced growth in new provider enrollment, according to a report from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Utilization growth also increased faster than the autism diagnoses, the report said.

While total Medicaid enrollees receiving applied behavior analysis services grew by 249 percent over the four years, the number of 15-minute service increments increased even more, by 305 percent.

“Utilization growth far outpaces increases in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis,” the report said, adding that it’s “unlikely that this level of growth can be explained by increased access alone.”

Massachusetts

MassHealth, the Medicaid and children’s health insurance program for Massachusetts, overpaid autism service providers $17.3 million in 2024, according to an audit report from the state’s Office of the Inspector General.

The state’s spending on autism services rose 36 percent between 2021 and 2023, according to the 2024 report.

State rules require that a licensed applied behavior analyst provide at least one hour of supervision for every 10 hours of therapy given by a technician.

Nearly $16.8 million was overpaid because the therapy provided was over that ratio and should not have been billed, the audit found.

Further, from 2018 to 2022, behavior technician roles in the state grew at twice the pace of licensed supervisor positions, at 129 percent and 52 percent, respectively.

When applied behavior analysis is not properly supervised, it undermines the quality of care for vulnerable children and results in the waste of public funds, the audit concluded.

Federal Audits

At the federal level, the HHS Office of Inspector General is investigating services and billing patterns for Medicaid applied behavior analysis services provided to children with autism.

The audits, which began in 2022, have been completed for four states: Colorado, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Maine. Three other audits remain in progress.

The federal agency estimated nearly $200 million in improper payments and more than $400 million in potential improper payments for these states.

The completed audits found payments that were improper or potentially improper in 100 percent of reviewed claims. That was often due to inadequate records, such as missing progress notes, lack of supervision logs, or billing issues.

However, the audits also uncovered problems that could affect the quality and safety of care, such as criminal convictions for weapons offenses, assault or driving under the influence.

French anti-terrorism authorities thwarted an attempted attack early Saturday morning when police arrested a suspect as he tried to ignite an explosive device directly in front of the Bank of America headquarters in Paris. 

The incident unfolded around 3:25-3:30 a.m. when officers from the Paris police’s BAC (Brigade Anti-Criminalité) unit, already on heightened patrol near the building due to prior threats, spotted the individual attempting to set fire to the device with a lighter. The device consisted of a 5-liter transparent jerrycan filled with an unidentified flammable liquid (reportedly a hydrocarbon such as gasoline) attached to a mortar-style tube or large firecracker containing approximately 650 grams of explosive powder. No detonation occurred, and there were no injuries or damage.

A second individual, believed to have been acting as a lookout, fled the scene on foot. The arrested suspect, a 17-year-old minor born in Senegal and residing in a Paris suburb, was taken into custody. During initial questioning, he reportedly claimed he had been dropped off at the location by a driver and was recruited via the social media app Snapchat for a payment of €600 to carry out the act.

According to Le Monde, France’s Parquet National Antiterroriste (PNAT), the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office, immediately opened a formal investigation. The probe is being conducted in flagrante delicto on charges including:

• Attempted degradation by fire or dangerous means in connection with a terrorist undertaking
• Manufacturing, possession, and transport of an incendiary or explosive device in a terrorist context
• Participation in a terrorist criminal association

The Paris judicial police’s anti-terrorism section and France’s domestic intelligence agency, the DGSI, are leading the inquiry alongside judicial police units. The device was secured and sent for analysis by the Paris police prefecture’s central laboratory.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez praised the officers’ swift action on social media, stating: “Bravo to the rapid intervention of a Paris prefecture crew that allowed thwarting a violent action of a terrorist nature this night in Paris. Vigilance remains more than ever at a high level.”

Bravo à l’intervention rapide d’un équipage de la préfecture de police qui a permis de déjouer une action violente à caractère terroriste cette nuit à Paris

L’enquête se poursuit, sous l’autorité du PNAT et a été confiée à Direction de de la police judiciaire de la préfecture… https://t.co/w20kAYqpjq

— Laurent Nuñez (@NunezLaurent) March 28, 2026

A spokeswoman for Bank of America confirmed the company was “aware of the situation” and is cooperating with French authorities. The building had reportedly been under increased surveillance due to previous threats, including a recent video from a pro-Iran group that singled out the bank as a target linked to “Zionist and Israeli interests.”

This foiled plot occurs against a backdrop of heightened terrorist threat levels in France and Europe, with authorities maintaining elevated vigilance amid ongoing international tensions. The investigation continues, with efforts focused on identifying any broader network or accomplices. No further arrests have been reported as of Saturday afternoon.

The suspect remains in police custody, and authorities have not yet released additional details about his background or possible motives. Updates are expected as the probe advances.

On Friday Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that Bushehr nuclear power plant was struck by US-Israeli attacks for the third time since the start of the war.

At the same time, the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom has confirmed that the situation continues to deteriorate; however, there’s as yet been no damage to the operating reactor and no release of radiation reported. It was the third strike in just ten days.

The Kremlin has newly accused Washington and Israel of putting the whole region in danger, and further of harming the cause of nuclear non-proliferation globally.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has issued a fresh statement: “The drama of the situation is aggravated by the fact that countries attacking peaceful nuclear facilities in Iran are effectively undermining the NPT, the IAEA’s verification mechanisms, nuclear and physical security conventions, as well as the agency’s relevant regulations,” according to the ministry’s website.

“Carefully crafted and internationally agreed solutions are not taken seriously by these states and can be discarded at any moment in favor of their selfish interests and geopolitical considerations,” the spokeswoman added.

Zakharova further communicated that atrocities in Iran must cease, and nuclear sites must be safeguarded, referencing the latest attacks in the past days on the complex in Khondab, the factory in Ardakan, and the strikes near the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

“The aggressors continue to raise the stakes in their war in the Middle East, ignoring all associated risks, including the danger of widespread radioactive contamination,” Zakharova said.

She further chastised UN and international bodies for not stepping up to loudly condemn the US-Israeli operation.

Russia has a direct interest in Iran’s nuclear sites, given hundreds of Russian experts and technicians have long helped operate them, and support the Islamic Republic’s domestic nuclear power generation for its electricity needs. Reuters reported this week:

Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom ​evacuated a further ‌163 of its staff from Iran’s Bushehr nuclear ​power plant on ​Wednesday, the state-run RIA ⁠news agency reported.

It ​cited Rosatom chief Alexei ​Likhachev as saying about 300 of the company’s staff ​remained at Bushehr, ​but more would be leaving.

Some 500 to 1,000 Russian staff are there during normal operations, and presumably many more are at other sites throughout the country. Russia helped construct many of these very complexes many years ago.

*  *  *

Submitted by Michael Kern of OilPrice.com,

The war in the Middle East has upended shipping fuel markets with prices of marine fuels skyrocketing and regions running low on supply, pushing some traders to forgo cargo and ship additional fuel volumes to key bunkering ports outside the Middle East.

The price of fuel oil has surged this month as the stalled tanker traffic at the Strait of Hormuz is tightening supplies of the fuel in Asia, the key bunkering hub for fuel oil used in ships.

The Middle East is a major global supplier of fuel oil, especially of high-sulfur fuel oil (HSFO). But the Iran war has all but halted traffic via the Strait of Hormuz, stranding supplies for Asia and its key bunkering hub of Singapore.

Yet, stocks in Singapore have increased this month as shipping owners and operators have refrained from buying the too expensive fuel. These, however, could soon start to deplete, fast, because vessels are becoming desperate to refuel, according to a Financial Times analysis.

One trader told the publication that their firm had to forgo cargo in order to deliver additional fuel volumes between major ports, mostly between the United States and Singapore.

With the Middle East’s key bunkering port of Fujairah mostly offline by the end of March due to Iranian attacks earlier this month, the marine fuel market is in chaos.

Shipping giant Maersk warned in its latest Middle East advisory this week that “To preserve network stability, we have undertaken significant redistribution of fuels to offset shortages in the Middle East, and are securing alternative sources from different locations, suppliers, and at increased premiums.”

Maersk also introduced as of March 25 an Emergency Bunker Surcharge (EBS), “in response to notable fluctuations in fuel supply and the additional costs of distribution.”

Maersk’s chief commercial officer Karsten Kildahl said earlier this month that “There is currently sufficient fuel globally, but it is unevenly distributed. As a result, we are making changes to our fuel supply chain and begin moving fuel to ensure our vessels can continue to bunker where needed – and protect the flow of trade.”

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

UK iPhone and iPad owners updating to the latest iOS 26.4 are now confronted with a stark choice: verify you are an adult by providing a credit card or scanning your ID, or accept automatic web content filters that restrict access.

The message users see states clearly: “UK law requires you to confirm you are an adult to change content restrictions.”

Those who do not confirm their age – or are found to be underage – have web content filters turned on automatically. 

🚨NEWS: UK iPhone users must now prove their age or lose full internet access

“It is absolutely outrageous that, overnight, Apple has put a chokehold on Britons’ freedom to search the internet, access information and use apps unless they provide sensitive ID documents.

This… pic.twitter.com/GNuCsihcDD

— Big Brother Watch (@BigBrotherWatch) March 25, 2026

The government appointed communications watchdog Ofcom welcomed the development, calling it “a real win for children and families” and noting the UK would be “one of the first countries in the world to receive such restrictions on their devices.”

Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, hit back hard. In the organisation’s statement she said Apple had put a “chokehold on Britons’ freedom to search the internet, access information and use apps unless they provide sensitive ID documents.”

She continued: “This means 35 million Brits who have paid hundreds or even thousands of pounds for Apple tech suddenly now have a child’s device unless they comply with invasive demands for personal information that go far beyond what UK law requires.”

“Apple has crossed the Rubicon with this software update which is more like ransomware, holding customers hostage to ID demands that are invasive, exclusionary and unnecessary,” Carlo added.

She further urged, “Children’s online safety is vital but requires better parental controls and thoughtful tech responsibility – not sweeping, draconian, shock demands by foreign companies for all of our IDs and credit cards.”

This is digital ID enforcement by the back door. The same government apparatus that has already advanced newborn baby digital IDs, mandatory digital ID schemes and biometric tracking is now outsourcing age verification to tech giants at the device level – creating the perfect infrastructure for ongoing surveillance and control.

We have previously outlined that broader Orwellian mandatory digital ID and biometric push by the British government, which has claimed that the mandatory ID, based on the UK One Login system, will help to stop “illegal” immigrants from crossing the channel by denying them access to work.

This also ties into the WHO-Gates blueprint for global digital ID, AI-driven surveillance and lifelong vaccine tracking:

Social Media Ban For Under-16s: The Age Verification Trojan Horse

The Apple rollout coincides with government moves toward banning social media for under-16s, including trials on 300 teens that test disabling apps, overnight blocks or strict one-hour limits.

Hundreds of teenagers to undergo social media ban, time limits or overnight curfews in Government trial to see effects on sleep and schoolwork https://t.co/cia7XF2Ndx

— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) March 24, 2026

Critics see this as the gradual normalisation of universal age verification. Once demanding ID to use your own phone becomes routine, expanding that system to every platform and service is a small step.

Beyond blocking illegal or sexually explicit material, the deeper question remains: why should the State have the authority to decide what our kids can and can’t access? In a free society, that responsibility belongs to parents – not to bureaucrats in Westminster or executives in Cupertino acting as their enforcers.

The Real Indoctrination Happening Inside British Schools

While ministers lecture about protecting children online, the same system is busy shaping young minds through official channels.

The Green Party has pushed to teach children a “moral obligation” to accept mass immigration:

Government guidance urges schools to report “anti-Muslim hostility” in an Orwellian snitch culture:

Counter-terror police ran adverts warning teenagers that sharing “funny content” could amount to terrorism:

A government-funded video game literally labels kids as potential terrorists for questioning mass migration:

The pattern is clear. Restrict open access to the internet while pumping state-approved ideology into schools. Challenge the narrative and you risk being flagged. Want unfiltered information for your children? First hand over your documents.

Britain is rapidly sliding toward a surveillance society where every search, every post and every opinion can be monitored, filtered and scored.

Freedom is not preserved by surrendering control to “safety” pretexts. It is defended by rejecting the machinery of permanent oversight before it locks in place for good.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Summary

• Houthis enter the war: Houthis launch their first missile barrage on Israel since Operation Epic Fury. Red Sea shipping could once again be under direct threat.

• Serious US casualties in Saudi base assault: Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base in a Friday attack that wounded at least 15 troops: AP. Late-night strike targeted Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (for third time of war).

• Gulf states under sustained fire, casualties mount: Six wounded in missile strike on Abu Dhabi; Bahrain intercepts waves of missiles and drones near the United States Fifth Fleet base; Kuwait reports damage to Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port and Shuwaikh Port.

• US expending billions on Operation Epic Fury: “Battle damage and replacement of losses over the first three weeks of the war likely costs roughly $1.4 billion to $2.9 billion”: WSJ. 

*  *  *

Houthis Enter the War

The Houthis have finally entered the war, greatly raising the stakes on what’s becoming a multi-front engagement, given Israel and Hezbollah have already been locked in a ground war in Lebanon. Overnight saw the Houthis send a barrage of missiles on Israel, which is the first such strike since the US began its Operation Epic Fury.

Military spokesman for the Houthis, Brigadier-General Yahya Saree, announced the attack on Saturday on the group’s Al Masirah satellite television, Al Jazeera has confirmed. Strikes “will continue until the declared objectives are achieved… and until the aggression against all fronts of the resistance ceases,” Saree said, confirming the Iran-aligned Yemeni group’s entry into the war on Tehran’s side.

The Israeli side confirmed the assault out of Yemen, saying that it intercepted one missile. This spells more bad news for global shipping through the other important regional energy and goods transit waterway, the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the Red Sea. It will also make it even harder for Washington to try and wind down the conflict amid efforts to find an acceptable offramp. Interestingly, the Houthis are justifying their actions not just based on the US-Israel attack on Iran, but on assaults on populations in the broader region:

The group said the attack with a barrage of missiles came after continued targeting of infrastructure in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories, adding that their operations would continue until the “aggression” on all fronts ends.

Now Israelis will face aerial threats from Iranians, Hezbollah, Houthis, and Iraqi Shia paramilitaries…

Several people are lightly injured after an Iranian ballistic missile struck the Jerusalem-area town of Eshtaol, first responders say.

The missile, which is assessed to have carried a conventional warhead of several hundred kilograms of explosives, caused extensive damage to… pic.twitter.com/gn5xwZEjiP

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 28, 2026

At Least 15 Americans Wounded in Major Strikes on Saudi Base

The most significant overnight development saw major Iranian cross-Gulf attacks emerge. This is a serious escalation despite the White House having approached Tehran with a 15-point peace plan, delivered via Pakistan. The Iranians have clearly rejected it for now, and have instead launched a serious assault on Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia Friday.

The Wall Street Journal details that “Twelve American troops–up from 10 previously reported–were wounded in an Iranian attack on the Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia Friday, according to multiple U.S. and Arab officials.”

The AP in follow up issued higher figures: “Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base in a Friday attack that wounded at least 15 troops, including five seriously, according to the sources who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. U.S. officials initially reported that at least 10 U.S. troops were injured, including two seriously wounded.”

This is a very big deal. The E-3s were rushed in as replacements for the radars. Clearly, the Iranians know what they are looking for. https://t.co/MYZ6cGtP0G

— Policy Tensor (@policytensor) March 28, 2026

“The injured troops were inside a building on the base that was struck in the attack, the officials said,” the report continues. “The attack also damaged multiple U.S. refueling aircraft. At least one missile struck the base, as well as several unmanned aerial vehicles, according to two of the officials.” This marks the second significant strike on the same base. The aircraft hit was a KC-135 air refueling aircraft, which reportedly caught fire.

The mass casualty incident has raised ongoing questions of troop exposure and Pentagon preparedness for Iran’s response:

I have a question. Did the Pentagon look at Operation Spiderweb that destroyed a big chunk of Russian strategic aviation last year, and decide: nah, we’re good, we can just park our planes in the open within enemy reach because if we believe we have nothing to learn from these… https://t.co/LWK97USX8r

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) March 28, 2026

Fresh Attacks on Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait

Iran’s missile war has continued expanding deeper into the Gulf, with the casualty count climbing in Abu Dhabi after an early Saturday strike. The Abu Dhabi Media Office confirms casualties (injuries, but no fatalities reported) have risen to six after a Saturday morning ballistic missile attack.

Elsewhere, in Bahrain, home to the United States Fifth Fleet, authorities reported air defenses have engaged almost nonstop over the past 24 hours, responding to 20 missiles and 23 drones.

Post raises question over future of Iran’s nuclear program, with one Iranian proclaiming “The war will boost Iranian science and technology.”

This is a building in Iran university of science and technology (IUST) that was targeted today in Tehran. This university -one of the leading engineering universities of Iran- is where I got my BSc and MSc degree in engineering years ago.
This aggression is all about Iran… pic.twitter.com/qXPo9JmZna

— Sarbaz Roohulla Rezvi (@SarbazRezvi) March 28, 2026

Kuwait has also taken fresh hits, with the ports of Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port and Shuwaikh Port sustaining damage amid combined drone and missile attacks, according to the Defense Ministry. Kuwaiti forces say they have also engaged four ballistic missiles, one cruise missile, and seven drones in the same window – in yet another sign the tempo is only accelerating.

Bushehr Nuclear Plant Hit for Third Time

Late-night strike targets Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, marking the third hit in 10 days as pressure mounts on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure – and as especially Israel seeks to obliterate it as fast as possible. Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization of Iran claims the attack caused no material damage, no casualties, as well as zero technical disruption at the facility.

And the International Atomic Energy Agency says it was notified by Tehran following the strike, underscoring continued monitoring even as attacks edge closer to sensitive nuclear sites. President Trump has meanwhile said that thousands of targets inside remain on the Pentagon’s list.

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Research linked here

Authored by J.B. Shurk via American Thinker,

What’s in a name?  These days…not much.

The European Union does not include Ukraine; nevertheless and notwithstanding the objections of E.U. members Hungary and Slovakia…

…the European supra-state insists on paying the salaries of Ukraine’s government bureaucracy while that nation’s martial-law-holdover-president, Volodymyr Zelensky, fights to maintain control over a breakaway region that has rejected Ukrainian rule since the 2014 coup d’état of Ukraine’s then-president, Viktor Yanukovych.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization does not include Ukraine; nevertheless and notwithstanding the objections of NATO members Hungary and Slovakia…

….the American-led military alliance insists on sending money and weapons to the Kyiv regime warring with the Russian Federation over territories whose people overwhelmingly identify as Russian.  Former Dutch prime minister and current secretary general of NATO, Mark Rutte, has stated on multiple occasions that the military alliance would continue to help defend non-NATO-member Ukraine.  

According to Ukraine’s newly appointed, thirty-something-year-old defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine has over two million draft dodgers and a quarter of a million active-duty troops who have gone AWOL.  

So NATO is protecting a non-NATO country whose men refuse to fight.  

NATO is assisting a Kyiv dictatorship that depends almost entirely upon conscription (including the violent “busification” of “recruits” after draft officers break into vehicles and homes with drawn weapons).

While the E.U. and NATO fight Russian authoritarianism by protecting Ukrainian authoritarianism, both institutions have remained relatively quiet as member states sustain actual attacks.  Seven months after Russia moved to annex the Russophone regions of Ukraine, the Nord Stream pipelines transporting natural gas from Russia to Germany were sabotaged and made inoperable.  German, Dutch, and French energy companies own interests in the pipelines.  Subsequent German investigations have identified a dozen Ukrainian suspects, including members of a Kyiv diving school where military personnel train.  Several independent journalists have concluded that Ukraine’s military carried out the underwater demolition of the Nord Stream pipelines.

If Ukraine’s government was, in fact, responsible for the destruction of the pipelines, then Ukraine (a non-NATO member) destroyed property belonging to NATO members.  Ukraine’s alleged act of sabotage cut off Russia’s inexpensive natural gas from most of Europe.  (Prior to the war, Russia supplied 45% of the E.U.’s natural gas imports.)  So the destruction of the pipelines has raised the cost of energy (and the price of finished goods transported within the Union) for European citizens.  NATO continues to protect a nation that may have directly attacked members of the military alliance.

Similarly, Ukraine has caused an international incident with regard to the European-Russian Druzhba (which means, “friendship”) Pipeline that was jointly constructed to transport Russian oil to Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Germany, and the Czech Republic.  Last year, Ukraine’s military bombed several pumping stations servicing the pipeline.  This year, Ukraine’s government claims that Russia attacked the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba Pipeline (a claim the Russian Federation denies), effectively halting all deliveries of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia.  As both nations are almost entirely dependent upon this oil supply, the pipeline’s inoperability has created a major energy crisis for citizens of Hungary and Slovakia.  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico blame Ukraine for the oil shutdown.  Ukraine’s president/dictator Zelensky says he has no intention of repairing the pipeline.  After Hungary and Slovakia blocked additional sanctions on the Russian Federation and a ninety-billion-euro gift (a loan that never needs to be repaid) for Ukraine’s regime, Ukraine’s military destroyed another critical transit node of the Druzhba Pipeline in Russia.

President/Dictator Zelensky also made a little news two weeks ago when he directly threatened Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán’s life: “We hope that in the European Union, one person will not block the ninety billion [euros].  Otherwise, we will give this person’s address to the armed forces, to our guys, let them call him and talk to him in their own language.”  Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó condemned Kyiv’s thuggish “culture”: “This is the man Brussels admires and the country they want to fast-track into the European Union….No one can blackmail us just because we refuse to pay the price of Ukraine’s war and refuse to accept higher energy prices because of Ukraine.”  Prime Minister Orbán took the Ukrainian threat on his life in stride, saying: “There will be no deals, no compromise.  We will break the Ukrainian oil blockade by force.  Hungary’s energy will soon flow again through the Friendship pipeline.”

Orbán followed up by very publicly intercepting part of Zelensky’s alleged money-laundering operation running through Hungary.  Foreign Minister Szijjártó revealed that Hungary had already confiscated Ukrainian “mafia” funds that included tens of millions of U.S. dollars, tens of millions of euros, and a few million dollars in gold bars.  In addition, the foreign minister has alleged that several billion dollars worth of currency and gold have been transported through Hungary to Ukraine in the last two months.  A former Ukrainian general who once oversaw Zelensky’s intelligence service and secret police was detained in Hungary in connection to the suspected money laundering.  An angry Zelensky again threatened to send Ukraine’s “special military operators” to Prime Minister Orbán’s home.

In response to Zelensky’s increasingly belligerent behavior, Prime Minister Fico urged the European Commission to distance itself from Zelensky’s “outrageous blackmailing statements.”  The best that the Commission could do was a short statement from its deputy chief spokesperson, Olof Gill, in which the Eurocrat clinically observed: “Specifically in relation to the comments made by President Zelensky, we are very clear as the European Commission that that type of language is not acceptable.  There must not be threats against EU member states.”  At the same time, E.U. leaders pledged to provide for Ukraine’s budgetary needs for at least the next two years.

Ukraine is effectively waging an economic/energy war against Hungary and Slovakia.  Hungary and Slovakia are members of the E.U. and NATO.  Ukraine is a member of neither.  Nevertheless, the E.U. and NATO continue to take Ukraine’s side.  It is as if “unions” and “alliances” mean nothing.

In fact, the E.U. is not hiding its disdain for Hungary’s Orbán.  Brussels has made it very clear that it prefers Péter Magyar’s Tisza Party to oust Orbán’s Fidesz Party in Hungary’s upcoming parliamentary elections.  The European Commission has activated its Rapid Response System to “combat potential Russian online disinformation campaigns” in Hungary.  The E.U.’s handpicked “fact checkers” will use the powers of the new Digital Services Act to decide when online public debate qualifies as “disinformation” that must be censored.

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee recently concluded that the E.U.’s Rapid Response System almost exclusively targets so-called “right-wing” and “populist” political candidates.  The European Commission has extended its online censorship campaign to one week after Hungary’s elections, allowing Eurocrats to monitor and censor public conversations concerning the election’s legitimacy.  While E.U.-funded NGOs work to oust Prime Minister Orbán, E.U.-funded censors will be in a position to label allegations of European election meddling as nothing more than “Russian talking points.”

Just as in Romania, Moldova, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, the E.U. will use its army of paid “influencers” and propagandists posing as “journalists” to manipulate the outcome of Hungary’s elections.  

To “save democracy,” Brussels’s Eurocrats believe that they are entitled to choose each nation’s leaders.  

They don’t want Orbán because Hungary’s current prime minister continues to block the E.U.’s funding for Ukraine.  

Brussels would do anything for martial-law-holdover-president/dictator Zelensky and non-E.U. Ukraine.  

But allowing the citizens of E.U.-member Hungary to vote for their own national interests?  That simply won’t do.

Via Gun Owners of America,

The current Department of Justice is choosing to continue enforcing an unconstitutional legal theory being weaponized against gun owners by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

According to a recent statement in GOA’s Texas et al. v. ATF case, DOJ claims that ATF “continue[s] to enforce the NFA’s and the GCA’s regulation of short-barreled rifles against some brace-equipped pistols, even though the Rule has been universally vacated.”

For those who are unfamiliar, in 2022 the Biden Administration issued an executive order instructing the Department of Justice to ban pistol braces, a popular firearm accessory designed to allow shooters with disabilities to “brace” their firearms against their forearm.

The Biden DOJ used this rule to effectively outlaw firearms equipped with stabilizing braces, by regulating them as short-barreled firearms under the National Firearms Act. This move turned the law-abiding owners of upwards of 40 million pistol braces  into felons practically overnight, unless they destroyed their firearm or registered it with the federal government.

GOA and other pro-gun groups challenged this pistol brace rule in multiple courts across the country, culminating with a total elimination of the rule in court.

With this victory, pistol braces were once again viable options for shooters, and owners of pistol-braced firearms were no longer in danger of becoming felons…or so they thought.

Unfortunately, it seems as though the current Justice Department is looking to pick up right where Biden’s DOJ left off.  And so ATF appears to be still enforcing the very same legal theories about braces, as confirmed by their statement in GOA’s pistol brace case.

This development is extremely concerning for GOA and millions of gun owners nationwide who own pistol brace-equipped firearms.

In addition, the continued possibility of felony NFA charges against at least some gun owners with braced pistols stands in stark contrast to President Trump’s repeated campaign promises to gun owners:

“I will eliminate the Biden ATFs ridiculous pistol brace rule, which orders law-abiding citizens to register or surrender guns with stabilizing braces.”

– President Trump on April 14th, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana

“[President Biden] imposed the so-called pistol brace rule which orders law-abiding citizens to register or surrender guns with certain equipment. You know that many of you are forced to do it. … All of those Biden disasters get ripped up and torn out my first week but maybe my first day in office okay, okay maybe my first.”

– President Trump on Feb. 9th, 2024 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

The disconnect between President Trump’s campaign promises and the Department of Justice’s recent threat to owners of firearms with pistol braces justifiably has led to a great deal of confusion and concern.

Over the past week, GOA brought this matter to the attention of multiple senior DOJ officials and expressed our members’ concerns.  Unfortunately, we were given no indication that ATF intends to reverse course.

To gun owners and the firearm industry, we urge caution. ATF and DOJ apparently intend to continue targeting at least some braced pistols.  But it is currently unclear which braced pistols the ATF believes are illegal short-barreled rifles.  In fact, ATF told one of our colleagues that it will not issue any classification letter classifying firearms with braces—unless it is in a criminal case.  This means that all pistol braced firearms—and their owners—are in jeopardy. 

To the Trump Administration, we request a swift re-affirmation of the President’s intention to end the Biden Pistol Brace Ban, and affirmation of the legality of all pistols equipped with stabilizing braces – once and for all. It’s 2026, and the National Firearms Act no longer even imposes a tax on short-barreled firearms. There is no reason for bureaucrats at ATF to fret over barrel length, or the ability of a firearm to be shouldered. DOJ must follow President Trump’s executive order and protect our Second Amendment rights!

Even as the Department of Justice fights us in court, we continue to seek a permanent injunction against ATF’s enforcement of its legal theories regulating braced pistols as short-barreled firearms. And we continue to challenge the dubious regulation of short-barreled firearms under the guise of a non-existent $0 tax. We will not give up until the NFA is eliminated, and our rights are fully protected and restored.

[ZH] If you agree with GOA and their efforts, consider joining or contributing

Over the course of the last decade, the great social debate has mostly revolved around the issue of “merit vs equity”, or equality of opportunity vs equality of outcome.  For anyone with common sense it’s clear that “equity” is a non-starter; a system which skews accomplishment and hands success to unqualified people based solely on their ethnicity, gender or sexual identity.  The experiment has been disastrous for western civilization so far.

Women in general and black women in particular were initially sought out by companies to fill DEI quotas that should not have existed in the first place.  These quotas were instituted because governments and NGO’s created the demand for them by offering numerous subsidies, tax breaks and special credit access.  Corporations that met the DEI requirements would then have a financial edge on the competition, so everyone had to participate to avoid being surpassed by the other guy.   

One interesting side effect has been the encouragement of cultural delusion among certain demographics.  The idea that minorities are somehow being “held back” by “white supremacy” and that they are at the same time far more accomplished than their oppressors is self perpetuating.  One of the most common arguments heard in defense of the woke era was that “black women are the most educated and successful group” in America today. 

This claim, of course, relied heavily on DEI in college admissions and DEI in corporate hiring.  Black women were by far the biggest beneficiaries of DEI practices.  Furthermore, the explosion in women’s wages and minority wages was thanks to a unique but brief employment market built on easy venture capital.  This created an explosion in tech jobs, marketing jobs, HR and diversity positions, not to mention an avalanche of web media jobs promoting progressive ideologies.

On top of all this, government hiring accelerated dramatically under the Biden Administration, and a lot of these jobs went to women and minorities in order promote equity quotas. 

This all changed in 2025 with the virtual death of DEI, triggered by the Trump Administration crackdown through DOGE cuts and the advancement of civil suits against companies engaged in anti-white hiring practices.  Almost immediately black women were most affected by the change.

Over 300,000 black women faced layoffs last year, with the trend continuing into 2026 and some estimates at around 500,000 total job losses.  Currently, the unemployment rate for black women is 7.1%, far above the national average of 4.4%.  Black female employees represented 12% of all federal employees in 2024 (double their share of the population in the national labor force), but they were also 33% of federal layoffs in 2025-2026. 

The first response of progressives is to cry “racism” over these numbers, but they’re not asking the question that really needs to be asked:  Did these women truly qualify for the jobs they were hired for?  Or, were they hired to make a political virtue statement and to collect subsidies?  If they were highly competent and well trained, then one would think companies and government agencies would keep them regardless of extra cash or tax breaks. 

Their value as workers should be enough.  Another potential cause of these layoffs beyond the end of DEI is the prospect that black liberal women are notoriously difficult to work with.  Companies tolerated them because there were financial benefits to having them on staff, but now those benefits are drying up.

The exodus of black women from the workforce has become a conundrum for the political left and the cope is flowing.  The media is running stories regularly on the “return of black women” through burgeoning communities and online support groups.  The discussion is often centered on the way in which black women can “regain their seat at the table”.  The problem is, the dynamic that gave them so much access in the woke years no longer exists and it’s probably never coming back.

Beyond the collapse of DEI programs there is the looming specter of AI.  Artificial Intelligence was initially heralded as an Apocalypse for low wage workers in entry level positions.  However, the real demographic under threat is women in corporate environments. 

Of the 6.1 million workers whose jobs are the most likely to be disrupted by AI and least likely to adapt, 86% are women, a recent Brookings analysis has found.  Labor markets most populated by women in air conditioned offices across the nation – secretaries, receptionists, payroll clerks, customer service representatives, middle management, marketing, online journalism, education, even HR and communications – are all under threat from AI. 

As easily as black women were elevated to six-figure incomes and the upper-middle class lifestyle, they are now on the verge of losing it all.  The sad thing is, DEI built an environment in which every minority in a high level position became suspect.  While there are certainly minority employees who are highly skilled and deserve the jobs they have, the decade of DEI has put them in a state of constant suspicion.  Today, no one knows who was hired based on merit, and who was hired because of their skin color.