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US and Iran ‘perhaps have the makings of a deal’
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That’s the word from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The message from Vice President Vance was similar, saying the two nations are “very close” to a memorandum of understanding. Barak Ravid at Axios: Vice President JD Vance said Thursday the U.S. and Iran are “very close” to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would extend the ceasefire by 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and launch talks on limiting Tehran’s nuclear program. The signing of the MOU would be the most significant diplomatic breakthrough since the war started, but a final agreement that tackles President Trump’s nuclear demands would still require further intensive negotiations. U.S. and Iranian negotiators have reached an agreement on a 60-day MOU, but Trump has yet to give his final approval, Axios reported earlier Thursday. The American negotiators briefed Trump on the details of the final deal, but he did not immediately sign off. “The president relayed to the mediators that he wants a couple of days to think about it,” a U.S. official said ( Axios). Wall Street Journal: “We perhaps have the makings of a deal here,” Bessent said from the White House, noting both sides have been swapping proposals. “Everything depends on what the president wants to do, and President Trump is not going to make a bad deal” ( Wall Street Journal). Bessent’s comments came as he hosted the White House press briefing Beege Welborn took a look: Nothing fazes the man ( Hot Air).
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Kuwait Targeted by Missile and Drone Attack From Iran
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More aggressive behavior from a regime supposedly on the edge of a deal. Trey Yingst: An exchange of fire overnight after Iran launched drones toward a commercial vessel attempting to pass through the strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM says at least five one-way attack drones were spotted and then shot down in this area. A U.S. strike was then conducted against a control station near the city of Bandar Abbas that was about to launch another drone. In response, the Iranians launched a drone and ballistic missile attack against Kuwait targeting a U.S. base there, according to Iran’s IRGC. The Kuwaitis confirmed an attack on their territory that triggered sirens and alerts. CENTCOM released a statement saying, “US central command and regional partners remain vigilant and measured as we continue to defend our forces and interests from unjustified Iranian aggression” ( Yingst).
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US Continues Maximum Pressure Campaign on Iran’s Shadow Oil Economy; ‘all options on the table at once’
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The latest from our State Department: The United States is taking coordinated action to sever the Iranian regime’s access to the revenue streams that fuel its regional aggression and global terrorism. The Department of State is sanctioning numerous entities, individuals, and vessels that form the backbone of Iran’s illicit oil economy, directly targeting the financial lifelines of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s military apparatus. As part of this action, State is designating eight entities and identifying eight vessels as blocked property for their transportation of Iranian petroleum, or petrochemical products, and also designating three entities and an individual in connection with trade in Iranian-origin petrochemical products. Concurrently, the Department of the Treasury is sanctioning key players in an oil sales network that has moved tens of millions of barrels of Iranian oil worth billions of dollars ( State). Behnam Ben Taleblu of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies: More proof Trump is pursuing all options on the table at once. In addition to talking while shooting, he is also sanctioning ( Taleblu).
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Trump Administration Accelerating the Squeeze on Cuba
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The administration is keeping the pressure within the economic sphere, but the grip from those sanctions is tightening. Axios: The Trump administration is bracing for the potential collapse of Cuba’s totalitarian government as early as this summer, and has war-gamed new military response plans in case the island descends into chaos, U.S. officials tell Axios. President Trump hasn’t authorized an invasion and prefers a peaceful transition to a free Cuba, so the administration will keep pushing economic sanctions to try to strangle the regime in Havana in a slow-motion constriction. “The best way to describe it is ‘accelerationism,’ ” one senior administration official said, referring to the philosophy of hastening societal collapse. “But we don’t want to kill off the regime just yet. There’s a method to this. It’s in stages.” This methodical squeezing of Cuba’s communist regime is also designed to buy time for Trump — who’s now engrossed in peace talks with Iran — to eventually focus on Cuba and decide how to bring about change there ( Axios).
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Acting AG Todd Blanche: Indictment of Raul Castro is Not ‘for show’
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The Justice Department seems to have every intention of bringing the aging communist to face charges here. Acting AG Todd Blanche: For Mr. Castro, like anybody that’s indicted outside this country, which we do all the time, the goal of the indictment isn’t just the paper it’s printed on, it’s to bring the person charged into this country in a court of law and have them face justice. And how we do that, I mean, Maduro is an extreme example that happened on January 1st, but how we do that normally is extradition. It’s working with our international partners. And so: I said this the day of the indictment when we unsealed the indictment, but we didn’t do this for a show indictment. We did this because we really need Castro here to face charges. He was indicted again by a grand jury in Miami and that’s where he should be tried and we’re going to do everything we can to get him here ( Daugherty).
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Cuba Hosting Chinese and Russia Intelligence Operatives
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This makes clear why the administration is so serious about what’s happening on the impoverished nation. Fox News: Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently acknowledged that Cuba hosts Russian and Chinese intelligence presence near Florida, while Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., warned the facilities pose “a big threat” to nearby military operations. “They’re 90 miles from our coast. They’re friends with our enemies,” Scott told Fox News Digital. “It’s a big threat.… It’s a very significant risk to us.” … “I’m not going to comment on military matters or national security threats directly linked to the United States with specificity,” Rubio told reporters on May 21. “Here’s what I can tell you. Cuba not only has weapons that they’ve acquired from Russia and China over the years, but they also host Russian and Chinese intelligence presence in their country not far from where we’re standing right now” ( Fox News). Wall Street Journal: Cuba has been “a staging ground for America’s adversaries for decades,” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said Wednesday on Fox News. “It is the last outpost of Communism. It is the last outpost of the Cold War” ( Wall Street Journal). Florida Sen. Rick Scott: I’m glad @POTUS and @SecRubio re taking the threat Cuba poses seriously, and for their indictment of Raul Castro. We cannot let our guard down ( Scott).
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Canada Passes 100,000 Mark of Lives Lost to Euthanasia
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Canada passed their Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) act in 2016. Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition: In April 2026, Canada surpassed 100,000 reported euthanasia deaths since legalization in June 2016. Canada doesn’t need to further expand euthanasia to people who are mentally ill but rather Canada needs to completely review its euthanasia killing program. I have published more than one thousands articles on Canada’s euthanasia law, a law that lacks effective oversight, a law that employs vague terminology, and a law that provides complete legal protection for doctors and nurse practitioners who are willing to kill people, even in cases that are completely egregious. On May 5, I presented to the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying, which is the parliamentary committee examining the extension of euthanasia to mental illness alone in Canada. Think about that – Euthanasia for the sole underlying condition of a mental illness ( EPC). New York Post: As of 2024, total MAID deaths reached 76,475 citizens, nearly twice the 42,042 of Canadians who died in battle during World War II, according to the Canadian War Museum. New York recently adopted its own version of the controversial program, the Medical Aid in Dying Act — which religious leaders have called a “societal failing” ( New York Post).
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Ontario Doctor Assesses Patient Outside Tim Hortons Restaurant; Drives Him to End His Life
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National Post: A London, Ont., doctor who assessed a patient with inflammatory bowel disease and a history of mental health issues for MAID outside a Tim Hortons location and later personally drove the man to the place his life was ended has agreed to a minimum six months’ supervision. In another case, Dr. James MacLean failed to administer one of three drugs used in assisted deaths — one that paralyzes the body’s muscles, including the muscles involved in breathing. The patient resumed spontaneously breathing again after initially being pronounced dead, and after MacLean had already left the home…. “What is striking is not only the seriousness of the concerns identified in these cases, but the limited regulatory response,” said Dr. Ramona Coelho, a family physician and former member of the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario’s MAID death review committee ( National Post). Ed Morrissey: The reasons are obvious: the more patients that Canadian doctors like MacLean can funnel into MAID, the more cost savings they can get from their single-payer healthcare system. We warned about this repeatedly when Canada began to adopt MAID; the combination of government-controlled health care and assisted suicide set up economic incentives that rewarded disposal of patients rather than chronic care. At some point, systems respond to these incentives, and Canada reached that point years ago. It’s gotten so bad that death practitioners are now dealing it out in fast-food parking lots for chronic diarrhea and cramps, and can’t even be bothered to stick around before removing someone else from the healthcare risk pool. This is what they call humane treatment in Canada, and if progressives have their way, the US will be next ( Hot Air).
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Justice Barrett Targeted in ‘Swatting’ Incident
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Yet another threat to a conservative justice. National Review: Police in Fairfax County, Va., responded to a “swatting” attempt at the home of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Wednesday evening, authorities have confirmed to National Review. “Yesterday evening at approximately 9:02 p.m., officers responded to a swatting call at the residence of U.S. Supreme Court Justice in Fairfax County,” county police said in a statement to NR. Swatting refers to the practice of making false emergency calls to draw a heavy police response ( National Review). David Manney at PJ Media: Call it what it is. Swatting isn’t some childish prank from a basement coward with too much internet access and too little conscience. It’s a deliberate attempt to send armed officers into a tense scene built on lies. The caller doesn’t need to pull a trigger; he only needs to sow enough confusion, fear, and urgency for someone else to do it ( PJ Media). Audio of the police response: ( Leyden).
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Peter Thiel Now Living in Argentina
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Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, friend of Elon Musk and one the few who saw Trump’s rise—and advocated for him—in 2015, has bought a home and is currently living in Buenos Aires. You don’t need to say he’s “moved there” as—given his wealth—it is an alternate home. Thiel, in particular, wanted to get out of California. New York Times: Over the past two months, Mr. Thiel has met with the country’s president, Javier Milei, and his ministers; purchased a mansion in one of Buenos Aires’ most exclusive neighborhoods; and hosted a dinner with local economists where he discussed the Antichrist, one of his favorite conversation topics, according to Argentine officials and people familiar with Mr. Thiel’s activities…. His new roots in Argentina are partly motivated by his concerns about the direction of the United States, the people familiar with his thinking say, particularly California, where an initiative on November’s ballot could lead to a significant tax on billionaires. Argentina, a nation relatively insulated from potential conflicts in the Northern Hemisphere, also fits as a potential escape hatch from other risks that Mr. Thiel has publicly warned about — nuclear war and runaway artificial intelligence ( New York Times).
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