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El Salvador delayed in complying with IMF agreement - Prensa Latina

MoA on ukraine v Russia via the latest article by the only useful analyst with RUSI. Certified brainworm free. Most of this MoA is a frankly well deserved victory lap of correctly calling the war. The most notable part is the analysis of casualties, which is obviously subject to all the fog of war and propaganda. This guy estimates that ukraine has lost 5-6x the number of troops as Russia

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/05/an-immediate-peace-is-the-best-one-ukraine-can-get.html#more

The New York Times has released a detailed report on why Trump prematurely ended the bombing campaign on Yemen. The article states the following:

After 30 days of strikes, Trump wanted a status report on Yemen. The status report concluded that the U.S. had failed to achieve air superiority, that drones were being shot down at an unprecedented rate, and that the U.S. had spent over a Billion dollars in the first month alone.

Omani officials told Steve Witkoff that the U.S. would be offered a way out of the campaign, but only if Trump agreed to direct talks with Yemen that did not include Israel, to which the President agreed. Saudi Arabia provided the U.S. with a list of 12 Houthi officials to assassinate, in order to 'cripple' the Yemeni movement. None were killed.

Several F-16 and F-35 jets were almost shot down by Houthi air defenses, marking a significant threat to American lives and elevating worries about a possible future confrontation with Iran. The U.S. used many advanced precision ammunitions, including bunker busters, but it had very little effect on Houthi infrastructure.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth tried to convince Saudi Arabia and the UAE to sponsor a renewed ground offensive in Yemen, but they declined.

• Telegram

Martyrs and injured after a zionist airstrike on Nasser Medical Complex in central Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

One of the martyrs is journalist Hassan Islayeh who was receiving treatment for injuries sustained from a previous attack.

https://t.me/QudsNen/163896

Many people are rightfully angry about Trump’s assault on public institutions, but I believe the endgame is far more sinister than “fascists are dumb and fell for the DEI bullshit so they sabotage their own country”.

One question I’ve seen some people raising is: why don’t the bourgeois elites do something about it? Why let Trump ravage cut off billions of university fundings and cleaving off many government agencies that serve actual purposes, to the detriment of even the bourgeois class itself?

Well, if you follow the trajectory to its endpoint, it all makes sense. The bourgeois class is poised to reap the ultimate benefits of Trump’s misbehavior.

Many people can see the goal of ultimately privatizing these government agencies, but this is not just a mindlessly forced privatization of public institutions. Instead, it is to foment a new narrative about the perils of nationalization.

As people are becoming increasingly critical about billionaires and private capital owning large chunks of the economy, left wing narrative on nationalization has gained traction in recent years, at least in reasserting control on critical sectors.

In my opinion, Trump has correctly demonstrated the true unfettered authority of the federal government. Yes, the executive branch can really do all that and get away with it, in spite of what the Democrats tell you about the complex rules and Republican obstructionism. The federal government is so powerful that it can literally tax away all the wealth of the billionaire class and get away with it. Not even Harvard backed by multi-billion private capital can possibly fight the authority with the power of the purse. The government can end homelessness and give free universal healthcare in a moment’s notice.

These would have infinitely improved the lives of the people and curbed the political and economic influence of the wealthy elites. But.. there is a BUT:

What if the government use its authority for nefarious purposes, like Trump is doing right now?

“What, you want universities to be funded by the government? Have you seen what Trump has done? Do you want billions of funding to be abruptly cut off just because right wingers are scared of DEI? That’s why you need FREE MARKET! No matter your ideology, there will be someone willing to finance your institutions. Free market is DIVERSITY! Nationalization is authoritarianism where absolute power will absolutely corrupt!”

I think when Trump’s shenanigans finally end, a new wave of criticisms against the excess power of the federal government would emerge. This will lead to further decentralization of its authority, and pave the way towards mass privatization with consent manufactured.

I haven’t seen people from the left talking about this and I think that if the left is serious, they have to start conceiving of counter-narratives, or else they’ll just be caught off guard by this new phase of capitalism, once again. Remember when the American left completely failed to achieve any concession on healthcare during Covid because they were so afraid of being seen as touting right wing conspiracy theories? Same principles here.

NYT: Why Trump Suddenly Declared Victory Over the Houthi Militia

Several American F-16s and an F-35 fighter jet were nearly struck by Houthi air defenses, making real the possibility of American casualties, multiple U.S. officials said.

A reminder that even the best stealth technology doesn't magically make planes undetectable.

Though perhaps the carrier's F-35 wasn't in the best condition.

PKK are reportedly disarming and disbanding

https://apnews.com/article/turkey-kurdish-militants-disarm-9f4347a04cba48ceb509d2e82023a19e

Ahah trump at a press conference was like: what was I going to do? Not accept a free plane? We love free stuff.

Lmao

https://archive.is/b032X

Reports that JNIM terrorists have taken over Djibo a town of 60k population in Burkina Faso. Image is inside government building with Traore's portrait on the wall.

Quite a few videos of fighting with french shouting on Telegram coming out

US Dollar appreciated a bit but not anywhere enough to offset much of the impact of the tariffs, still down around 6% from the Trump election pre-inaugration peak.

Some combat footage for today.

A Russian Iskander-M missile strike destroyed a US-built “HIMARS” launcher near the Sumy oblast settlement of Nagornovka: https://s5.cdnstatic.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/himarslauncher.mp4

Russian drone operators continue repelling Kiev regime attacks along the Kursk/Sumy border: https://news-pravda.com/world/2025/05/10/1315379.html

Russian FPV drone operators destroyed more US-built “Bradley” infantry fighting vehicles, M113 armored personnel carriers, and a German-built “Marder” infantry fighting vehicle that recently tried attacking Dzerzhinsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic: https://s5.cdnstatic.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/fpv.mp4?_=3

Another collection of recent Russian FPV drone strikes near the Dnepropetrovsk oblast border: https://odysee.com/@Support4Z:b/%F0%9F%93%BD%EF%B8%8F-A-%F0%9F%87%AC%F0%9F%87%A7-%F0%9F%87%AB%F0%9F%87%B7,---Russian-FPV-drones-operating:e

Not strictly news, but the BBC have released some utterly stomach-churning details of the British SAS' activities in Afghanistan.

https://archive.is/DGCYO

It is seriously upsetting, grim stuff, so be warned before going in.

Both sides have declared victory, which is completely expected given their mutual political parties and nationalist histories. It's a little harder to say which side has actually won, as both sides seem to have managed to shoot down aircraft and hit military bases

The only evidence so far is of Indian aircraft being shot down, haven't seen any evidence of Pakistani aircraft being shot down.

As far as a technical breakdown, on the first engagement, Pakistan shot down four Indian aircraft (2x Rafale, 1x Su-30MKI, 1x MiG 29) using their Chinese HQ-9 air defence system and J-10C fighter aircraft with no losses, while India achieved a few stand-off strikes on "terrorist targets". Overall I think Pakistan won that engagement, India hit a very limited amount of targets at a very high cost. In hindsight this makes sense, Pakistan has more AWACS aircraft and fighter aircraft with AESA radars. See first, shoot first. However, Indian aircraft should have never been in a position to be shot down, given that they were carrying out stand off strikes, this suggests an poorly planned or ill disciplined approach.

During the second engagement, India hit a large amount of military targets in Pakistan with standoff counterforce strikes, and Pakistan responded with their own counterforce stand off strikes. The engagement was quite disproportionate, with India hitting substantially more targets than Pakistan. In hindsight this makes sense, as the Indian Air Force has substantially better and more diverse stand off strike options: subsonic stealth cruise missiles in Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG, supersonic cruise missiles in BrahMos/P-800 Oniks and Air Launched Ballistic Missiles (ALBM) in Rudram-II and ROCKS. The Pakistani Air Force's conventional stand off capability is quite limited by comparison, with only the CM-400AKG ALBM as an option, the Raad subsonic stealth cruise missiles are nuclear only, leading to Pakistan relying a lot on their rocket troops with the Fatah 1 GMLRS and Fatah-2 Short Range Ballistic Missiles. India also has superior air defence compared to Pakistan, in the S-400 vs the HQ-9. Despite exaggerated claims by both sides, neither side lost aircraft or high level air defence systems in this engagement, but the air defences on both sides also failed to intercept quite a few of these stand off weapons, even if India's air defence faired better. (Pakistan managed to intercept 1 SCALP-EG and 1-2 BrahMos). Pakistan lost a few radars seperate of their air defence systems. Overall India won this second engagement, hitting a lot more targets than Pakistan, and learning their lessons from the previous engagement with no losses in aircraft, as expected from a stand off strike mission.

This conflict is a good example of what multipolarity will truly entail. Countries that have been previously limited in their nationalist ambitions by American pressure will now take opportunities to revolt, sometimes against America itself, and sometimes against other countries in their regional neighbourhood.

The USA still brokered the ceasefire after receiving concerning intelligence, reportedly around potential Indian strikes on Pakistani nuclear forces. The US still very much acted as the "world police".

Ceasefire After 4 Days: Inside Story Of How India-Pakistan Reached Agreement-NDTV

Shortly after the [Indian] strikes, Indian intelligence agencies detected high alert messages flashing across Pakistani defence networks indicating a belief that India might next target Pakistan's nuclear command and control infrastructure.

Strategic installations in Rawalpindi, including offices linked to Pakistan's Strategic Plans Division, reportedly heightened security protocols. It was at this juncture that Pakistan reached out to the United States for urgent intervention.

According to government sources, US officials had already been in contact with both sides in anticipation of escalating tensions. But the alert around strategic assets led Washington to step in more decisively.

At least one explosion took place near a known Pakistani nuclear forces facility, so it doesn't appear to have been a bluff, even if the source of this above information is NDTV.

Chat, is this true?
https://xcancel.com/timand2037/status/1921438500794290279#m

Unconfirmed Report. Chinese intelligence report 🇨🇳 on the ouster of Syrian President 🇸🇾 Bashar al-Assad (and the dismantling of Syria).

● A report published by Chinese intelligence reveals controversial details regarding the change of power in Syria to Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani.

● The report confirms that what happened was the result of internal betrayal by senior Syrian army officials, bribed with Qatari money, who played a key role in implementing a complex international and regional plan.

● According to the report, on the night Aleppo fell, officers of the Syrian army's central command committed a serious crime of treason by isolating Iranian consultant commander Bur Hashmi (aka "Hajj Hashim") in a conference room.

● After isolating the Iranian commander, these officers directly contacted the Israeli Mossad, paving the way for the Free Sham Front to advance and occupy the city in just 45 minutes without any resistance.

● The spread of betrayal.

This betrayal was not limited to Aleppo; other Syrian cities were similarly surrendered. Syrian officials also sent false coordinates to Hezbollah, which trapped it and led to the destruction of a convoy of 100 vehicles belonging to Hezbollah following Israeli strikes.

● Concurrent with this event, the US Air Force targeted Iraqi Popular Militia forces near the Syrian border, in coordination with Israeli operations.

● Deceiving Bashar al-Assad.

• Despite Iranian warnings, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad remained unaware of the extent of the betrayal within his army. He was receiving false reports from his close agents, who kept him isolated and ignorant of the situation on the ground.

• As losses mounted, President Assad began to doubt the loyalty of his superiors. According to the report, the final plan was to hand him over directly to the Al-Nusrah Front (the mock Liberation Authority). Aware of the imminent danger, President Bashar al-Assad sought direct assistance from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

• The report indicates that this operation was planned and executed in coordination with several international intelligence agencies: the British intelligence service (MI6) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, the Israeli Mossad 🇮🇱, and the CIA🇺🇸, under the direct supervision of Turkish President 🇹🇷 Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

● The coming days could reveal more details about this complex process, which combined internal betrayals and international collusion to reshape the Syrian landscape according to the agendas of major regional powers, the Chinese report indicates.