Qatari Embassy Damaged In Russian Drone Strike, Doha Shrugs
We earlier detailed yet another massive overnight Russian strike on Ukraine – including on the capital and the Western city of Lviv, the latter which was hit with a nuclear-capable hypersonic ballistic missile.
More details have emerged Friday as emergency crews assess the damage in Kiev. Notably the Embassy of Qatar in Kyiv appears to have been directly hit, likely by a drone, or else possibly from missile debris.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha was the first to announce and confirm that the embassy suffered damage, though without casualties to diplomatic staff or personnel.
Sybiha blasted the Russian attack as a “clear violation of the Vienna Convention” and said Moscow’s “brutality” is without bounds, and offered the Zelensky government’s full support for Qatar.
Alongside this, Sybiha once again called on NATO to urgently step up support:
“Such a strike close to EU and NATO border is a grave threat to the security on the European continent and a test for the transatlantic community,” Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said on X.
“It is absurd that Russia attempts to justify this strike with the fake ‘Putin residence attack’ that never happened,” he added.
“Putin uses an IRBM near EU and NATO border in response to his own hallucinations – this is truly a global threat. And it demands global responses.”
As for the Qatari embassy, President Zelensky said on Telegram Friday, “In addition to our civilian infrastructure and energy facilities, a building of the Embassy of Qatar was damaged last night by a Russian drone.”
This after hundreds of drones and missiles pummeled the country overnight, leaving at least four dead.
More interesting has been Qatar’s incredibly meek and muted reaction, a sign that it doesn’t want to damage its important and delicate relations with Moscow. It has long sought to present itself as ‘mediator’ between the warring sides as well.
“The State of Qatar expressed today deep regret over the damage sustained by its embassy building in Ukraine as a result of the shelling of the capital Kyiv last night, affirming that no diplomats or embassy staff were harmed,” per Qatari media.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed in a statement today the importance of sparing embassies, diplomatic missions, headquarters of international organization and civilian facilities from the repercussions of crises, and to protect its members in line with international law,” it added.
This quite muted response quickly transitioned to calling for peace in Ukraine, offering to mediate efforts and international diplomatic action to resolve the conflict peacefully. Clearly Qatar is more concerned with not causing Russia any offensive whatsoever at this delicate moment.
“. . .the Minnesota protests look less like a local eruption and more like the latest deployment of an international revolutionary machine.”
– Insurrection Barbie on “X”
Chrump, Chrump Chrump… He’s come to occupy the Left’s minds like an infestation of weevils chawing away the ligaments of civilized society.
But, of course, the whole wicked, Cluster-B, anomie-driven, insurrectionist extravaganza is a made-for-video production bought and paid for by a tiny coterie of super-wealthy megalomaniacs untouched by consequence — George and Alex Soros (The Open Society Foundations), Shanghai-based American Neville Roy Singham (Codepink and more), Reid Hoffman (funder of Trump prosecutions and more), Lauren Powell Jobs (The Atlantic and the Emerson Collective), Hansjorg Wyss (Berger Action Fund), Bill Gates (of course). . . .
Their main client in all this mischief is the Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party’s chief motivation, its raison d’être going on at least ten years now, has been to hide its multifarious crimes, its vast racketeering operations now garishly on display in the state of Minnesota, where the grift just went too far and was done right in America’s face.
Who can possibly fail to see how it works? Import a bunch of people from a foreign land. . . enable them to set up a vast network of social services frauds. . . organize them for ballot harvesting and election fraud. . . and kick-back bundles of money to Democratic Party politicians. If anybody notices, yell “racist!” Sound the klaxon to turn out a thousand LARPing protesters on the Soros payroll. Provide them with signs, banners, black-bloc outfits, cartoon costumes, pride flags, umbrellas, snacks, bullhorns, pallets of bricks, and hope that some of them get hurt so you can manufacture the next martyr.
The crescendo of this long-running seditious treason was the wide open border during the four-year fake presidency of “Joe Biden,” including the colossal coordinated scam of funding who-knows-how-many NGOs with additional US taxpayer money, funneled through the UN, to process, transport, and outfit with social security numbers and debit cards X-millions of alien mutts, professional terrorists, gang-bangers, mental patients, and actual soldiers from faraway lands, and sprinkle them into every cranny of the republic to queer the next election and otherwise cause as much disruption as possible to the everyday life of actual US citizens.
They flooded the country with millions dependent on the Democratic Party’s largess — your tax dollars — and now they are doing everything possible to prevent the removal of this riffraff back to their countries of origin. Starting a civil war over it, in fact, because that’s what it’s come to. The federal agents tasked with the removal operation are apparenty not allowed to defend themselves when the LARPing street cadres attack them. There have been 66 car attacks against ICE officers since January, 2025. State and local officials in Minneapolis have behaved so dishonestly that federal investigators kicked them off what is now a federal case in the matter of “ICE-tracker” Renee Nicole Good, shot dead at the scene in her car. Minnesota will not be permitted to turn ICE agent Jonathan Ross into another Derek Chauvin. That sort of hustle is over.
What you can now discern in the winter darkness through fog of tear gas is that the Democratic Party will choose to destroy the country rather than face the consequences of its long-running crimes. Everybody knows now that the sort of social services grifts uncovered in Minnesota, with the kickbacks to Democratic politicians, have been going on all over America. The president has ordered an “all-of-government” effort to find the fraud and prosecute it, and you can assume the effort will tend to concentrate on the very states and cities where the Democratic Party dominates. Expect election fraud to bubble up in this cauldron. The evidence of a stolen 2020 election is finally emerging and converging with the larger illegal immigrant story.
It’s also clear now, that the NGO racket associated with all that is going to be dismantled — the money-stream from the likes of Soros & friends. They are going to get RICOed, their assets could be seized, and the public will learn a whole lot more about the damage they have done to the country. The Left’s NGOs not only support the on-the-ground street action, they also provide thousands of “executive” jobs and salaries to the Maoist nose-rings and transy-boys churned out of the higher ed diploma mills who are otherwise unemployable in any real economy with their race-and-gender studies diplomas.
The Democratic Party apparently realizes that the latest round of scandals and crimes might be its last rodeo. After a day of hearings this week, featuring several Minnesota politicos who testified about sketchy goings-on in the state, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FLA) launched criminal referrals against Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and MN Attorney General Keith Ellison. That’s apart from whatever the DOJ has already been working on, and it is probably the beginning of a nation-wide web of prosecutions moving toward the midterm election that will drag in many other big dawgs of the party, including 2028 front-runner Gavin Newsom. The suicide of the Democratic Party has gone live, Donald Trump assisting.
Attorneys general in five states filed a lawsuit on Jan. 8 seeking to block the Trump administration from freezing $10 billion in federal funds for child care and family assistance programs.
The move came just two days after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said it was withholding the funds for California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York, pending further review of state-administered programs due to concerns “about widespread fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars.”
The freeze applies to $2.4 billion in Child Care and Development Fund, $7.35 billion in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families fund, and $869 million under the Social Services Block Grant, the agency said on Jan. 6.
HHS said its Administration for Children and Families has identified concerns indicating the benefits “may have been improperly provided to individuals who are not eligible under federal law.”
In their lawsuit, the states alleged that HHS exceeded its authority by withholding congressionally approved funds, arguing that the agency failed to provide a “legitimate justification” for the funding freeze or evidence to support its fraud claims.
The states further argued that the freeze was intended to pressure them into turning over documents related to the use of funding for the affected programs within two weeks, including “personally identifying information of millions of their residents.” They said that it was “an impossible timeline.”
The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief to prevent the government from withholding the funds and a court declaration that the freeze is unconstitutional.
“Once again, the most vulnerable families in our communities are bearing the brunt of this administration’s campaign of chaos and retribution,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading the coalition in pursuing legal action against HHS, said in a statement.
“As New Yorkers struggle with the rising cost of living, I will not allow this administration to play political games with the resources families need to help make ends meet.”
The Epoch Times reached out to the HHS for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Prior to the funding freeze on the plaintiffs’ programs, HHS halted federal funding for child care programs in Minnesota amid an ongoing probe into allegations that the state had funneled funds to fraudulent daycares.
Deputy Health Secretary Jim O’Neill stated on Dec. 31 that he had asked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to provide a comprehensive audit of child care centers in Minnesota, covering records of attendance, licenses, complaints, investigations, and inspections.
Walz has defended his administration’s handling of fraud in state programs. The governor announced on Jan. 5 that he would not run for a third term in a bid to focus on resolving the issues.
“You Don’t Want This Smoke”: Philly Sheriff, DA Threaten To Arrest ‘Fake Law Enforcement’ ICE Officers
Philadelphia’s top law enforcement officials have drawn a red line with the Trump administration after an ICE agent killed an activist protester this week during in Minneapolis.
In a Thursday press conference, Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner slammed President Donald Trump as the ‘criminal-in-chief,’ and vowed to prosecute any federal officers who commit crimes in the city.
Krasner said that widely circulated footage of the Minneapolis shooting of Renee Nicole Good showed that the ICE officer’s actions were unlawful and violated law enforcement protocols.
“Silence will not protect us from people who trade in violence to achieve their fascist goals. Our voices will,” Krasner said. “The law must apply to everyone, and therefore we have to use our voices to call out people who commit terrible crimes or justify them. We have to use our voices to remind people that it’s not just a question of what you can get away with. It’s a question of right and wrong.”
PHILLY DA Larry Krasner warns ICE agents in wake of the Minneapolis shooting: “If any law enforcement agent, any ICE agent is gonna come to Philly to commit crimes, then you can get the F out of here.”
Krasner dismissed the idea that the ICE officer fired his weapon in self-defense, saying “Blocking streets is something protesters, suffragettes have done forever. It’s an incredibly minor offense.
“There is no justification whatsoever in the law for shooting to death someone who is leaving having blocked the street, if that’s even what she did. No justification whatsoever under the Constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court, president or the law for doing that.”
Sheriff Rochelle Bilal echoed Krasner’s comments, calling ICE agents “fake law enforcement,”and saying she is “with the DA” when it comes to prosecuting federal agents that commit crimes in the city.
“…law enforcement professionals – real ones, not the fake, made-up ICE, probably Trump’s new army to attack citizens in the United States. Did you hear what I said? No law enforcement professional wears a mask. None. None.”
“Those that come into our communities wearing masks to commit crime – and thank God for our District Attorney Larry Krasner, who says he’s gonna lock them up. And I’m saying now, we are not going to whisk you away for them to hide your identity. Because when you do it here, you’re getting arrested.”
“You don’t want this smoke,” she concluded.
🔥🚨 BREAKING: Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal calls ICE agents “fake law enforcement,” and says she will ARREST them for enforcing federal immigration law.
It’s worse than that. More chaotic. It’s blue CITIES. Governors like Walz are really govs of the cities. Because mostly the state is red. The blue cities are the confederates here and that makes the whole situation a lot more complicated
Rio Tinto And Glencore In Talks To Form World’s Largest Mining Company With $200 Billion Valuation
Are we on the cusp of an M&A boom in metals and commodities, with prices continuing to soar? Or are deals just easier to get through under a new administration?
Regardless, Rio Tinto and Glencore have reopened merger talks that could create the world’s largest mining company, with a combined valuation exceeding $200 billion — more than a year after earlier negotiations collapsed, according to Yahoo.
The companies confirmed Thursday that they are discussing various deal structures, including an all-share takeover covering part or all of Glencore’s business. The market reacted swiftly: Glencore shares jumped about 10% in London, while Rio slipped more than 2%.
If completed, the transaction would eclipse any previous mining merger and create a giant capable of rivaling BHP. Copper is the central prize. With prices recently surging above $13,000 a ton amid supply disruptions and tariff fears, mining executives increasingly see copper as the industry’s most strategic asset. “It makes a lot of sense,” said Ben Cleary of Tribeca Investment Partners. “It’s the one big deliverable mining deal out there.”
Yahoo writes that for Rio, absorbing Glencore would sharply expand copper output and provide access to prized assets such as Chile’s Collahuasi mine. The move would also help reduce dependence on iron ore as China’s construction boom fades.
Although analysts have questioned whether Rio would accept Glencore’s large coal business, people familiar with the talks say Rio is now open to keeping it — at least initially — and could divest later. No final structure has been agreed.
The renewed talks follow major changes at both firms. Rio has a new chief executive, Simon Trott, who has emphasized cost discipline and simplification, while Glencore has highlighted plans to nearly double copper production over the next decade. In private, Glencore CEO Gary Nagle has described a tie-up with Rio as the most logical deal in the sector.
“This is Simon’s first test as CEO and I would expect his disciplined approach to be carried through to M&A,” said John Ayoub of Wilson Asset Management.
The discussions come amid a broader wave of consolidation after Anglo American’s deal for Teck Resources and earlier takeover interest from BHP. Under UK rules, Rio must decide by Feb. 5 whether to proceed or step back for six months.
Micro Greenland Lender Whipsaws As Trump Headlines Ignite Investor Frenzy
Shares of a Nuuk-based commercial bank, founded in 1967 to serve Greenland’s private and corporate customers, have surged sharply as investors speculate that President Trump’s “Donroe Doctrine” to secure the Western Hemisphere could ultimately involve acquiring Greenland.
The 42% rally in Bank of Greenland shares this year, which has since retraced roughly 20% of those gains, has been entirely headline-driven, linked to the Trump administration’s efforts to acquire the mineral-rich, strategically located territory in North America, rather than by fundamentals.
Per Hansen, an investment economist at Nordnet Bank AB, said investors were piling into Bank of Greenland shares on the OMX Copenhagen Mid Cap Index, whose market capitalization stands at around 1.91 billion kroner ($298 million).
“Greenland could see massive investment,” Hansen said. “I do not know, and investors do not know, what will happen, but it might happen. More investment means more business buzz.”
In other words, investors are buying Bank of Greenland shares first and asking questions later.
Overnight, Reuters reported that the Trump administration has considered sending lump-sum payments of up to $100,000 to Greenlanders in exchange for a vote to secede from Denmark and join the United States.
Trump has cited several reasons for acquiring Greenland, including its mineral wealth for military applications and the need for the Western Hemisphere to fall under Washington’s geopolitical influence.
Hmm.
The simple diplomatic solution is Barron Trump marries Princess Isabella of Denmark and Greenland is given to America as dowry payment pic.twitter.com/fhs3b6IDZG
The Bank of Greenland stock frenzy also follows recent U.S. regime-change operations in Venezuela that removed socialist leader Nicolás Maduro roughly a week ago, reinforcing perceptions of a more interventionist U.S. posture in the Western Hemisphere aimed at pushing China and Russia out of the region and dismantling socialist and Marxist regimes seen as plundering the wealth of nations.
Iran’s Food Shelves Emptying Out, ATMs Offline, Two Days Into Iran’s Internet Blackout
Update(1335ET): Iran is two days into a total internet blackout, which has not only impacted news footage from the ground getting out of the country, but the ability of ATMs to function (already there is a full Wikipedia page). Rumors have begun that people are trying to access their bank savings (despite the collapsing currency crisis) at shuttered locations, but one clear trend is that supermarket shelves are being emptied, amid unpredictable circumstances as protests spread, some locales witnessing fires, vandalism, and severe violence. BBC’s live blog coverage highlights the following trends, amid an information fog and the Ayatollah blaming a US and Israeli hidden hand:
The cutting off of the internet in Iran has led to a near-total blackout of news about the unrest sweeping across the country.
Only a few videos have been posted today from Zahedan in the east of the country, showing protesters facing off against security forces, with the sound of gunfire in the background. Another from Mashhad, the second biggest city in Iran shows a burnt out government building.
One person who has been able to send a message to the BBC says he is in Shiraz, in southern Iran, where he reports a run on supermarkets by residents trying to stock up on food and other essentials, expecting worse days to come.
The shutdown of the internet has meant that ATMs are not working, and there is no way to access cash to pay for purchases in shops where debit cards cannot be used due to the lack of internet.
Cigs are apparently still in good supply…
* * *
Iran’s supreme leader has just taken to X where he for the first time explicitly called out the United States for instigating ongoing unrest in the Islamic Republic, where raging economic protests have taken root in more that one hundred cities and towns – with in some instances rioters torching buildings and cars.
“Today like the past, the US is wrong in its calculations about Iran,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wrote. Importantly he added context to this assertion in a Friday speech – his first since protests began in a Tehran market 13 days ago – that authorities will “not back down” as Tehran officials have charged that the unrest has a foreign hand behind it.
The Ayatollah denounced the protesters as “vandals” and “saboteurs” and called out their alleged foreign agendas, amid increased images of city sectors burning, ongoing clashes with police, and reports of some limited exchanges of gunfire.
Protesters are now “ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy… because he said he would come to their aid” – in reference to President Trump, after the US leader has warned at least twice that there could be American military intervention if Iran starts killing protesters.
Trump also claimed in a FOX interview, but without citing specific intel or any evidence that the Ayatollah is “looking to go somewhere. It’s getting very bad.” The claim is based on anonymously sourced reports that he could flee to Moscow if things got bad enough.
The US President has said that if the Iranian govt. does such-and-such, I’ll take the side of the rioters. The rioters have put their hopes in him. If he’s so capable, he should manage his own country.
However, given the nature of Iran’s brand of Shia revolutionary Islam, it remains highly unlikely that the country’s Supreme Leader and top Shia cleric would simply or hastily just flee (perhaps would face ‘martyrdom’ first?) – especially during the opening phase of such unrest, given also the country has weathered similar ones over several years prior, including the so-called ‘anti-hijab protests’.
By some international accounts, these current protests have yet to reach the size of the 2022 large-scale demonstrations, but that could change at any moment at this rate.
Buildings have been set on fire and national flags ripped in half as huge crowds of anti-government protesters marched through Iran’s capital and cities across the country. The protests mark the largest wave of unrest in three years, fueled by deepening economic distress —… pic.twitter.com/zQi03D36Dt
Thursday saw an escalation as the internet was cut throughout almost the entirety of the country, as much more images emerged of largely peaceful demonstrations quickly turning violent in some areas:
There were violent clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces in several locations in Iran on Wednesday, as a wave of unrest sparked by the country’s economic crisis continued for an 11th day.
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards, said two policemen were shot and killed by armed individuals in the south-western town of Lordegan.
Videos posted on social media showed a tense stand-off between protesters and security forces, with the sound of gunfire in the background. In footage from several other areas, security forces appear to fire guns and tear gas towards crowds of protesters, some of whom are throwing stones.
Like with Syria of the last decade of the anti-Assad insurgency, information out of Iran can be hard to assess and interpret, given almost no international reporters or observers are on the ground. This means that professional activist networks and NGOs outside the country can dominate the narrative, cheerleading the spiraling crisis from afar.
🚨🇺🇸🇮🇷 U.S. INTELLIGENCE SAID IRAN PROTESTS WEREN’T STRONG ENOUGH TO THREATEN REGIME. NOW THEY’RE REASSESSING
U.S. intelligence assessed Iran protests lacked “sufficient energy” to challenge regime stability, officials told Axios.
To be expected, Israel is also cheering this on, and had even last week issued brazen statements – including that Mossad stands ‘with’ the protesters and is even helping them (a statement full of the usual ambiguity and psychological warfare). Former CIA Director Mike Pompeo has stated the same.
Below is an example of some of the worst and most simplistic propaganda which has no basis in any presentable evidence, and by ‘anon’ sources which don’t tend to have any understanding of the internal dynamics of the country and people:
BREAKING | Discussions have taken place inside Iran which would result in Supreme Leader Khamenei leaving Iran in exchange for keeping the Iranian regime in place (The Economist).
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has reportedly attempted to secure visas via a…
According to one such ‘anti-Iran media’ source and agency, “The 42 documented fatalities include 29 protesters, eight security personnel and five children or adolescents, figures released on Thursday by the US-based rights group HRANA showed.”
Russian state media sources have alternately been highlighting the ample evidence of rioting and crowds attacking police, in some locales:
‘Down with Israel’ — chants in Iran’s city of Ilam at funeral ceremony of police officer killed by RIOTERS
The clear admission from even Western mainstream reports that some eight or at least several among the security forces have been killed seems a full-on admission that this is sliding into more than just economic protests by common people. Will Tehran be targeted by the external ‘powers that be’ for regime change next after Maduro? Will the protests be hijacked and fully driven by nefarious actors and enemy intel? …The next proxy war for the fate of the Persian heartland?
Trump Cancels 2nd Wave Of Strikes On ‘Cooperative’ Venezuela – Political Prisoners Freed
The post-Maduro Venezuelan government has begun releasing political prisoners as a gesture of ‘good will’ to the United States, signaling that the new Delcy Rodriguez government is ready to play nice with Trump. There are reasons to believe that this former Maduro number two (as his vice president) had cooperated with the CIA to hand the longtime Venezuelan president and socialist strongman over to invading American forces during last Friday night’s raid.
President Trump said early Friday that he had cancelled a “previously expected” second wave of attacks on the Latin American country as Caracas is now cooperating with the US. It must be recalled that soon after the attack which ousted Maduro and brought him into US custody, Trump had warned, “We are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so. He added: “We actually assumed that a second wave would be necessary, but now it’s probably not.” Presumably this meant cartel targets, but this brings up the question: where are all the ‘narco-terrorists’ and did they magically disappear now that Maduro was taken out?
In a Friday Truth Social post, the president emphasized the White House and new Caracas authorities are “working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure.”
“Because of this cooperation, I have cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks, which looks like it will not be needed, however, all ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes,” he added.
Trump confirmed that the government is busy “releasing large numbers of political prisoners as a sign of ‘Seeking Peace,'” adding, “This is a very important and smart gesture.” Local news footage also appeared to verify this – a longtime demand of Washington and its allies in Europe.
AFP reports: Venezuela begins releasing a “large number” of political prisoners, including several foreigners, in an apparent concession to the United States after its ouster of ruler Nicolas Maduro
Venezuela begins releasing a “large number” of political prisoners, including several foreigners, in an apparent concession to the United States after its ouster of ruler Nicolas Madurohttps://t.co/EWfcPTLkzqpic.twitter.com/LZtPaZRgA1
The head of the country’s National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, announced the release of a “significant number” of political prisoners, which is being taken to mean by outside observers that this is most, if not all, political prisoners which the US has demanded the release of.
One prominent name among those reportedly freed is the following:
Rocío San Miguel, a vocal critic of Maduro and a defense expert, was the first prisoner confirmed to be freed. Her family told the New York Times that she was taken to the Spanish embassy in Caracas.
Arrested in 2024, she was accused of being involved in a plot to kill the then-president and faced charges of treason, conspiracy and terrorism. Her arrest shocked human rights activists and, because her whereabouts were unknown, was labelled as potential “enforced disappearance” by the UN Human Rights Office.
As for Trump’s claim that he has called off a ‘second strike’ – there’s as yet no real evidence that the Pentagon was actually preparing such a new offensive, but heavy US assets are certainly still in the region and in regional waters. Trump could be bluffing on this, and very likely is, in order to keep Caracas on edge and cooperative.
Ayatollah Breaks Silence: Blames US For Instigating “Vandals & Saboteurs” As Cities Burn
Iran’s supreme leader has just taken to X where he for the first time explicitly called out the United States for instigating ongoing unrest in the Islamic Republic, where raging economic protests have taken root in more that one hundred cities and towns – with in some instances rioters torching buildings and cars.
“Today like the past, the US is wrong in its calculations about Iran,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wrote. Importantly he added context to this assertion in a Friday speech – his first since protests began in a Tehran market 13 days ago – that authorities will “not back down” as Tehran officials have charged that the unrest has a foreign hand behind it.
The Ayatollah denounced the protesters as “vandals” and “saboteurs” and called out their alleged foreign agendas, amid increased images of city sectors burning, ongoing clashes with police, and reports of some limited exchanges of gunfire.
Protesters are now “ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy… because he said he would come to their aid” – in reference to President Trump, after the US leader has warned at least twice that there could be American military intervention if Iran starts killing protesters.
Trump also claimed in a FOX interview, but without citing specific intel or any evidence that the Ayatollah is “looking to go somewhere. It’s getting very bad.” The claim is based on anonymously sourced reports that he could flee to Moscow if things got bad enough.
The US President has said that if the Iranian govt. does such-and-such, I’ll take the side of the rioters. The rioters have put their hopes in him. If he’s so capable, he should manage his own country.
However, given the nature of Iran’s brand of Shia revolutionary Islam, it remains highly unlikely that the country’s Supreme Leader and top Shia cleric would simply or hastily just flee (perhaps would face ‘martyrdom’ first?) – especially during the opening phase of such unrest, given also the country has weathered similar ones over several years prior, including the so-called ‘anti-hijab protests’.
By some international accounts, these current protests have yet to reach the size of the 2022 large-scale demonstrations, but that could change at any moment at this rate.
Buildings have been set on fire and national flags ripped in half as huge crowds of anti-government protesters marched through Iran’s capital and cities across the country. The protests mark the largest wave of unrest in three years, fueled by deepening economic distress —… pic.twitter.com/zQi03D36Dt
Thursday saw an escalation as the internet was cut throughout almost the entirety of the country, as much more images emerged of largely peaceful demonstrations quickly turning violent in some areas:
There were violent clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces in several locations in Iran on Wednesday, as a wave of unrest sparked by the country’s economic crisis continued for an 11th day.
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards, said two policemen were shot and killed by armed individuals in the south-western town of Lordegan.
Videos posted on social media showed a tense stand-off between protesters and security forces, with the sound of gunfire in the background. In footage from several other areas, security forces appear to fire guns and tear gas towards crowds of protesters, some of whom are throwing stones.
Like with Syria of the last decade of the anti-Assad insurgency, information out of Iran can be hard to assess and interpret, given almost no international reporters or observers are on the ground. This means that professional activist networks and NGOs outside the country can dominate the narrative, cheerleading the spiraling crisis from afar.
🚨🇺🇸🇮🇷 U.S. INTELLIGENCE SAID IRAN PROTESTS WEREN’T STRONG ENOUGH TO THREATEN REGIME. NOW THEY’RE REASSESSING
U.S. intelligence assessed Iran protests lacked “sufficient energy” to challenge regime stability, officials told Axios.
To be expected, Israel is also cheering this on, and had even last week issued brazen statements – including that Mossad stands ‘with’ the protesters and is even helping them (a statement full of the usual ambiguity and psychological warfare). Former CIA Director Mike Pompeo has stated the same.
Below is an example of some of the worst and most simplistic propaganda which has no basis in any presentable evidence, and by ‘anon’ sources which don’t tend to have any understanding of the internal dynamics of the country and people:
BREAKING | Discussions have taken place inside Iran which would result in Supreme Leader Khamenei leaving Iran in exchange for keeping the Iranian regime in place (The Economist).
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has reportedly attempted to secure visas via a…
According to one such ‘anti-Iran media’ source and agency, “The 42 documented fatalities include 29 protesters, eight security personnel and five children or adolescents, figures released on Thursday by the US-based rights group HRANA showed.”
Russian state media sources have alternately been highlighting the ample evidence of rioting and crowds attacking police, in some locales:
‘Down with Israel’ — chants in Iran’s city of Ilam at funeral ceremony of police officer killed by RIOTERS
The clear admission from even Western mainstream reports that some eight or at least several among the security forces have been killed seems a full-on admission that this is sliding into more than just economic protests by common people. Will Tehran be targeted by the external ‘powers that be’ for regime change next after Maduro? Will the protests be hijacked and fully driven by nefarious actors and enemy intel? …The next proxy war for the fate of the Persian heartland?
GM Cuts EV Exposure After Policy Shift, Takes $6B Charge
Imagine all of the malinvestment that took place in autos, on EVs, thank to the government distorting markets and forcing EV adoption when genuine demand may not have been robust. Now, we’re seeing the consequences of returning to a freer market.
General Motors will record a $6 billion charge after scaling back several electric-vehicle projects, reflecting both weaker demand and the impact of new federal policies under President Donald Trump, according to Reuters.
Most of the charge — $4.2 billion in cash — stems from terminating contracts and compensating suppliers that had prepared for higher EV production. GM said the charge will appear as a special item in its fourth-quarter earnings. Additional costs are expected in 2026 but will be smaller than the current year’s EV-related charges.
Despite the pullback, the company said its U.S. lineup of about a dozen EVs remains intact: “We plan to continue to make these models available to consumers.”
GM’s announcement follows Ford’s much larger move in December, when it revealed a $19.5 billion writedown after canceling several EV programs. Ford CEO Jim Farley said at the time: “When the market really changed over the last couple of months, that was really the impetus for us to make the call.”
Automakers across the industry began retreating from aggressive EV expansion last summer after a sweeping Trump tax and spending package and the elimination on September 30 of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, which triggered a sharp drop in sales. GM’s EV deliveries fell 43% in the fourth quarter, after customers had rushed purchases before the credit expired.
Reuters writes that while GM once pledged to phase out gasoline vehicles by 2035, analysts have since lowered long-term EV forecasts. GM CEO Mary Barra has said the company will adjust based on customer demand.
The company has already slowed EV operations: halting battery production at two joint-venture plants, cutting shifts at its Detroit EV factory, and repurposing a planned Michigan EV facility to build gas-powered pickups and the Cadillac Escalade. GM also disclosed a separate $1.1 billion charge tied to restructuring its China joint venture.
Some analysts question GM’s heavy focus on fully electric vehicles. CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson warned: “GM’s lack of hybrid exposure could partially reverse recent market share gains,” citing surging hybrid demand.
Industrywide, EV sales growth has slowed dramatically. Research firm Omdia reported U.S. EV sales rose just 1.2% in 2025, and Edmunds projects EVs will represent about 6% of U.S. vehicle sales in 2026, down from 7.4% last year.
