Türkiye and Armenia held a meeting today in Kars to move forward with reopening the Kars–Gyumri railway.

Both sides stressed the importance of launching the line soon to improve regional transport and connectivity as part of their normalization process.

Israeli soldier shows Beit Hanoun, Gaza totally destroyed.

Not a single house in the town remains standing.

Prof. John Mearsheimer

The Iranians are not going to give up control of the strait… that’s their leverage. They’d be crazy to give up control of the strait.

We’ve basically lost this war.

You’re going to end up making concessions to the Iranians.

Prof. John Mearsheimer on Iran:

They’re negotiating with Netanyahu’s puppets. They don’t want to deal with those two.

They see Kushner as essentially an Israeli proxy, and Witkoff—not only as a Zionist—but also as someone who has demonstrated massive incompetence in negotiations with both the Iranians and the Russians.

Prof. John Mearsheimer on Iran:

Israelis may use nuclear weapons against Iran to deal with nuclear problem.

The future here is bleak.

Israeli Minister Amichai Chikli says Israel is establishing a new “border line” with Lebanon:

Even during this so-called ceasefire, the IDF continues destroying infrastructure and effectively stabilizing the new border line of the State of Israel.

Israeli Minister Amichai Chikli:

We have a very significant challenge with the younger generation, and these conspiracy theories coming from Megyn Kelly — who, unfortunately, used to be a voice very supportive of the State of Israel — or from Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carlson and others — these voices are causing serious damage to the future generation of, yes, the Republican Party.

And this creates, looking ahead — even if currently there is a significant majority for Trump — because the younger generation is highly exposed to social media, podcasts, discourse on Twitter, and all these things — this definitely creates a strategic problem for the State of Israel.

Israeli Minister Amichai Chikli:

We had an embargo led by the Biden administration.

Bombs for our airplanes could not be delivered.

And this all changed after Trump came into power.

We are so thankful for the bravery of Trump and his team — Vance, Rubio, and Hegseth — this is a tremendous administration.

19-year-old Israeli soldier Idan Fox was killed in southern Lebanon in a Hezbollah drone attack.

He had not yet received his high school diploma before his death.

Israel’s Education Minister visited his family and personally handed the diploma to his parents.

Israeli Minister Amichai Chikli:

If your God is commanding to massacre and rape innocent women, to massacre children in front of their parents, then we’re not speaking about religion.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has ordered major American chip equipment firms to halt certain shipments to China’s Hua Hong Semiconductor over concerns it could produce advanced AI chips.

The move is part of efforts to limit China’s semiconductor progress and could cost U.S. companies billions.

Source: Reuters

CENTCOM:

Earlier today in the Arabian Sea, U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit boarded M/V Blue Star III, a commercial ship suspected of attempting to transit to Iran in violation of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.

U.S. forces released the vessel after conducting a search and confirming the ship’s voyage would not include an Iranian port call.

The State Department is reportedly finalizing a redesign of U.S. passports that could include an image of Trump.

The proposal is tied to celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary and may involve a limited run of 25,000 passports.

Draft designs reportedly place Trump’s portrait and signature inside the passport, replacing traditional imagery.

Experts say this would be unprecedented, as modern passports do not feature sitting presidents or heads of state.

The plan is still awaiting final approval, and official statements have not confirmed whether Trump’s image will be included.

Source: The Bulwark

Jon Stewart: Who’s the worst country right now?

Annalena Baerbock: The worst are those who deny dignity from other human beings.

Trump attacks Merz:

The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!

If Iran had a Nuclear Weapon, the whole World would be held hostage. I am doing something with Iran, right now, that other Nations, or Presidents, should have done long ago.

No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise!

Trump:

No wonder Germany is doing so poorly, both Economically, and otherwise!

Gas prices in the U.S. rose to about $4.18 per gallon—the highest since 2022—amid stalled U.S.–Iran talks.

Oil prices have surged (up over 40% since February) due to tensions around the Strait of Hormuz.

Source: NYT

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Donald Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 34%, the lowest of his current term.

The drop is driven by public dissatisfaction with rising living costs and the U.S. conflict with Iran.

NEW: U.S. intelligence agencies are assessing how Iran might respond if Trump declares victory and scales back the ongoing war.

Early assessments suggest Iran could see a U.S. withdrawal as a win.

Source: Reuters

Iran has used the ceasefire to recover and redeploy weapons—like launchers, drones, and munitions—that were previously buried by U.S. and Israeli strikes.

Source: Reuters

Acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Julie Davis is expected to step down soon, reportedly over disagreements with Trump on declining U.S. support for Ukraine.

Source: FT