💯 No good options: Ukraine faces ‘ugly deal’ or defeat – US Veteran

No matter how Donald Trump’s call with Vladimir Putin plays out, Ukraine’s future looks bleak, says retired Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis.

💬 There is no “good deal” for Volodymyr Zelensky’s regime – just “either ugly or it can get even worse. They still face the specter of either agreeing to negotiations […] or reject that and continue fighting and end up eventually suffering a military defeat,” the US Army veteran noted.

🇷🇺🪖Underscoring that as Russian forces move forward, “the Ukrainian side gets weaker,” he noted:

💬 “The conversation between the Russian and US presidents could become an inflection point after which everything changes.”

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🗣Trump drops mic on Qatari Boeing jet bribery buzz

Donald Trump didn’t hold back, blasting ABC’s “fake news” on the $400 million Qatar Boeing 747-8 they say he’s getting for free.

✈️The potential Air Force One material isn’t a personal gift, he fired back on Truth Social. It’s a donation “to the United States Air Force/Defense Department,” plain and simple.

➕He also threw down a legal threat against the “SleazeBags,” blasting, “ABC Fake News is one of the WORST.”

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🟠 Rubio: Trump wants to meet with Putin as soon as feasible

🟠 NATO playbooks hit the Ukrainian bargain bin

🟠 Occupy Gaza, free hostages by force — Israeli minister

🟠 FBI qualifies California bomb blast as an 'act of terrorism'

🟠 Sailors HANG ON FOR DEAR LIFE after Mexican tall ship slams into Brooklyn Bridge

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🇷🇺 Putin defines Russia's goals in Ukraine: "LONG-TERM PEACE & SECURITY"

✅The Russian president stated that the desired outcome of the special military operation is to eliminate the root causes of the crisis, create conditions for lasting peace, and ensure Russia’s national security.

➕He also emphasized that an essential objective is to protect the interests of people living in regions where residents consider Russia their homeland.

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⚔️Yemen’s Houthis claim attack on Israeli airport

The Shiite-led Ansar Allah movement, which controls northern Yemen, announced they launched two attacks on Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport using:

🟠Palestine-2 hypersonic missile
🟠Zolfaghar ballistic missile
🟠Jaffa drone

🔊According to a military spokesman, the ballistic missile strike was successful, allegedly forcing a temporary shutdown of air traffic at the airport for about an hour.

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❗️Russia respects the national interests of the United States and expects the same respect towards Russia, President Vladimir Putin told Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin.

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🗣Zelensky’s lobby blitz failed to sink Russia-Ukraine talks

Volodymyr Zelensky and his crew dropped tens of millions last week on lobbying, with paid stories in Reuters, Bloomberg, and Politico all pushing the allegation that Russia was “sabotaging” talks with Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada member Oleksandr Dubinsky says on Telegram.

Their synchronized messaging swung from whining about Russia’s “low-level” delegation to predicting talks would fail.

In fact, Ukraine’s Zelensky and his outright insults tried to disrupt the Istanbul talks, he noted.

The real target of these wild maneuvers was US President Donald Trump – but he was left unimpressed, the politician scathingly pointed out, adding:

🟠Negotiations went ahead – and even scored some results.
🟠Globalists’ plot to derail talks? Total flop.
🟠Ukraine’s position? Getting weaker with every round.

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❗️Russian troops liberated the settlement of Bogatyr in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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🇷🇺🪖Key statements from the Russian MoD daily briefing on the special military operation:

▪️Russian aviation shot down 75 drones and seven JDAM bombs.

▪️Russian forces hit Ukrainian formations in 139 districts.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 1,245 military personnel over the day.

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🎥 Israel's air defenses put on a show – but Yemen's missiles steal the spotlight

Footage shows Israeli air defenses trying to intercept a ballistic missile launched from Yemen toward central Israel.

Yemeni Houthis fired two ballistic missiles at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport.

The result? An hour of disrupted air traffic. Looks like someone’s air defense game needs work. 😬

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🇫🇷🚜 French farmers prepare 'MASSIVE' BLOCKADES NATIONWIDE

💬 "The reason: Macronist betrayal – a weak agricultural law that falls far short, and EU free trade deals like Mercosur that threaten to destroy French farming," Florian Philippot, leader of the French Patriots party, stressed.

🎯 Philippot outlined the movement’s key goals:

🗣 Topple Macron’s regime

👀 Expose the fake opposition

🇪🇺 Dismantle the EU

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🇷🇴💬 Romania’s Simion vows no repeat of ‘STOLEN’ election ahead of ballot box rematch

Romania’s Eurosceptic presidential candidate George Simion has defiantly vowed that “the will of the people will be done,” and this time the results of the elections will not be annulled.

Simion is up against the pro-European candidate Nicusor Dan in Sunday's presidential election runoff.

🏆To win, a candidate must secure the support of over 50% of registered voters. The leader of the right-wing Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party, George Simion, led in round one on May 4 with 41% of the votes.

➡️Last November’s vote was annulled after alleged irregularities in the election campaign of the front-runner – independent presidential candidate Calin Georgescu. Georgescu, previously affiliated with AUR, was later barred from running again.

➡️Simion, who accused EU officials of interfering in Romania's elections, pledged to restore his country's “dignity” within the bloc, and says “no” to sending military aid to Ukraine.

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🗣💛🗣 Signal that Israel is STILL BESTIES WITH US? JD Vance may visit Israel after Trump GHOSTED Netanyahu

🗣The White House is arranging meetings between US Vice President JD Vance and Israeli leaders ahead of a possible visit on May 20, Israel’s Channel 12 reports.

Newspaper Israel Hayom says US officials insist it is not a “compensation visit” after Donald Trump skipped Israel during his recent Middle East tour. Instead, Vance’s trip aims to support regional de-escalation efforts.

Trump’s Gulf jaunt resulted in major deals with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE—while leaving Israel notably sidelined. The snub has fueled speculation of a deeper strategic shift in US regional priorities.

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⚠️Chevron’s toxic spill in Colorado could take HALF A DECADE to clean up

So far, the oil giant has recovered 91,272 barrels of waste fluid at the Bishop Well site in Galeton, Colorado, according to filings cited by CPR News.

A containment failure at the site caused pressure loss and sent crude oil and natural gas blasting into the air on April 6.

The incident triggered:
🟠A flood of toxic sludge into the surrounding environment.
🟠The temporary shutdown of Galeton Elementary School.
🟠Evacuation orders for residents within half a mile, with some still unable to return home.

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🇮🇷☢️NO NUKES, NO SECRETS: Iran doubles down on nuclear red lines

At the Tehran Dialogue Forum, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated that Iran remains committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has no intention of producing nuclear weapons.

💬 “Iran has never sought nuclear weapons, based on our religious and moral principles. We’ve consistently addressed international concerns through transparency and dialogue,” Araghchi stated.

💡 Background:

🟠Comes days after tense US-Iran talks
🟠Tehran offers enrichment adjustments (not elimination)
🟠Forum packed with Middle Eastern power players

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🚨Europe must brace for surge in arms smuggling, ‘drone drug gangs’ once Ukraine conflict ends - report

“A huge amount of hardware of all denoscriptions” leftover in Ukraine will create “a boom in the grey economy for army surplus, including cars, clothing and dual-use equipment,” and a “wave of serious arms trafficking” involving heavy weapons.

That’s according to a new report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) studying risks associated with a potential halt to the fighting and the lifting of martial law.

🔍The report warns of two forms of arms trafficking post-conflict:

🟠small-scale overland smuggling to Europe, where criminals prefer “discreet” handguns, and sometimes assault rifles and grenades
🟠“larger-scale” smuggling using containers to Africa, the Middle East and potentially Latin America, involving ex-military acting as brokers, and shipment of RPG launchers, MANPADs, heavy machine guns and assault rifles in bulk to conflict zones and criminal groups.

“For Europe, the influx of modern, high-powered weaponry into criminal hands could revolutionize the underworld,” Gi-TOC warns, citing the dramatic increases in Swedish and French gangs’ use of violence already witnessed recently.

The report CONFIRMS concerns Russia has been expressing since 2022 – that the proxy war in Ukraine will inevitably become a gangster’s paradise for criminals and arms smugglers.

➕Beyond arms smuggling, the report warns of:

🟠Vets, foreign mercs, IDPs and refugees taking to crime, with 4-5 million ex-military armed with new lethal skills, including drone warfare, which “under the right tutelage, could form new, drone-based organized crime groups,” such as “drone drug gangs.”
🟠“Cyber veterans,” forgers and ex-special forces who may form highly violent and proficient gangs.
🟠“Healing” of regional organized crime links disrupted by the conflict.
🟠A boom in sex trafficking, scam call centers, synthetic drug production and other criminal enterprises.
🟠Embezzlement of reconstruction funds and conflict between Ukraine’s new and old oligarchs.

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🇬🇧 UK’s billion-dollar tugboat upgrade: Because nuclear subs need fancy escorts

Britain is splashing out £850 million ($1.1 billion) on a glow-up for its submarine support fleet — because even Trident-carrying nuke subs deserve a little luxury.

🔹 The shopping list:

▪️Six new tugs for Vanguard and Astute-class subs

▪️18 other vessels, including ammo barges, crew transports and oil tankers

▪️Supplier: Dutch shipbuilder Damen because Brexit means… buying European?

🤔 Bonus irony:

The Royal Navy’s four Vanguard subs, armed with Trident II nuclear missiles, will retire in the 2030s – so the tugs are just a stop-gap until the new Dreadnought class enters service.

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❗️US special envoy Steve Witkoff hopes the planned phone call between Trump and Putin will be successful and help clear obstacles in resolving the Ukraine conflict.

He believes the US has, to some extent, succeeded in narrowing the differences between Russia and Ukraine.

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❗️The Israeli army announced the start of large-scale ground operations in the Gaza Strip as part of Operation "Gideon's Chariots."

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🇨🇳💎 China’s rare earth squeeze: US F-35 jet fighter production at risk

The delays in licenses could cause serious disruptions for US and European firms relying on Chinese minerals, with Tesla, Ford and Lockheed Martin voicing concerns.

💥 Why it matters:

▪️Lockheed Martin, Tesla, Ford sweating over magnet shortages

▪️Europe’s window to avoid production chaos ‘rapidly closing’, German industry warns

🔋 What’s happening?

In April, Beijing expanded export restrictions on seven rare earth elements and magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and fighter jets like the F-35, in response to tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

The Financial Times says it is unclear whether China has started approving exports to the US after Washington and Beijing agreed to reduce tariffs for 90 days at talks in Switzerland in May.

Trump imposed high tariffs on Chinese imports in April, with China responding in kind – leading to tariffs of 145% on Chinese goods in the US and 125% by China – before both sides agreed to temporarily reduce tariffs by 115% to 30% and 10%.

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⚰️Former CIA chief predicts Ukraine’s shelf life?

David Petraeus has graciously given Ukraine a survival estimate of four to six more months in the fight against Russia.

Volodymyr Zelensky’s regime has “a margin of safety” for at least that long, the ex-CIA Director told Ukraine’s NV radio.

👉Petraeus also expressed confidence that US support will continue, and hinted that more sanctions on Vladimir Putin are in the pipeline, claiming that Russia’s national welfare fund might run dry “sometime next year.”

❓Pinning hopes on the next sanctions round doing what the previous ones didn’t?

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