🛢 US oil reserve empty: perfect time to pick a fight with nation that can cut world’s main energy artery

The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is at its lowest ebb in 40 years, containing 396.7M barrels of crude after Biden depleted it and Trump failed to top it up.

Enter the Israel-Iran crisis, and the potential closure of the Hormuz Strait if the US joins in, which analysts fear could trap 20% of daily global oil consumption in the Gulf, spiking crude prices to $150 a barrel, and leaving the world with a 17M+ bpd shortfall.

💥 Crushing repercussions

🔸 Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill provides for the purchase of just 17.5M barrels for the SPR (assuming prices of about $75 a barrel). At double that, the SPR couldn’t afford to buy even half-a-day’s-worth of US consumption (averaging 20M), or about two weeks without Gulf imports (600K per day).

🔸 If the strait were closed, Trump’s dreams of reindustrialization powered by cheap energy could turn into a nightmare of spiking inflation, shrinking growth and stagflation mirroring the kind triggered by the 1970s Arab oil embargo.

🔸 Europe’s already battered, import-dependent economy would be crushed, possibly slipping into depression.

🔸 China has built up a 1.18-billion-barrel crude reserve, leaving it in far better shape to weather a crisis.

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Hell in the sky: Hot air balloon ignites mid-air in Brazil

At least 8 people are confirmed dead after a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed in Praia Grande, Santa Catarina, on Saturday. Governor Jorginho Mello reports that two survivors have been found, while rescue teams continue searching for others. Preliminary reports indicate that there were 22 people on board.

Video footage shows the balloon engulfed in flames before deflating and plummeting to the ground.

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🚨 Wave 19 of Operation True Promise-3 has begun – Iranian state TV

Iran’s IRGC announced that a large number of suicide and attack drones have been launched toward strategic targets across Israel as part of the 19th wave of Operation True Promise-3.

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🚨 Israel wants war NOW – but Trump team is split – reports

Israel is getting impatient. According to Reuters, top Israeli officials told the Trump administration they won’t wait two more weeks to strike Iran's nuclear facilities. Tel Aviv wants immediate action — with or without Washington.

In a “tense” call with US officials, Netanyahu reportedly demanded urgent strikes on Iran’s Fordow facility — a heavily fortified underground site that only America’s 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs could allegedly destroy.

But not everyone on Team Trump is on board. VP JD Vance reportedly pushed back, warning that Israel could drag the US into another disastrous war. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was also on the call, Reuters noted, as Trump himself still teeters between diplomacy and escalation.

Meanwhile, B-2 bombers are quietly heading to Guam — a move that might hint at U.S. plans.

One source put it bluntly: “I don’t see them waiting much longer,” the report said.

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🇦🇲💰Armenian businessman’s arrest linked to socio-economic turmoil plaguing Armenia - journalist

Samvel Karapetyan’s arrest on trumped up charges of incitement to overthrow the government following his defense Armenia’s Apostolic Church is a sign of the country’s deteriorating socio-economic situation, Lebanese-Armenian journalist Sevak Akopyan told RT Arabic.

Karapetyan’s arrest comes against the backdrop of Armenia’s difficult labor situation, from the lack of labor unions to the fact that the state, which controls employees in the government sector, lacks the ability to influence the broader business sector, Akopyan, the editor-in-chief of the Lebanese daily Zartonk, explained.

The businessman’s arrest amid his defense of the church - the last remaining national institution in Armenia, is another consideration behind Prime Minister Pashinyan’s decision to act against him, Akopyan said, noting that it gives Pashinyan an opportunity to nationalize Karapetyan’s electricity company.

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🗣 Trump gave Israel a heads-up before bombing Iran – Axios

An Israeli official told Axios that Tel Aviv was notified in advance by the Trump administration about the US strikes on Iran.

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🚨 US used B-2 bombers to strike Fordow – reports

According to The New York Times, “a number of American B-2 bombers were used to hit Fordo,” carrying 30,000-pound “bunker-buster” munitions into the fortified site.

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🚨 Fordow was attacked by enemy airstrikes – Tasnim

A spokesman for the Qom Provincial Crisis Management Headquarters CONFIRMED to Tasnim that hours ago, after Qom’s air defenses were activated and hostile targets were identified, part of the Fordow nuclear site was struck by enemy airstrikes.

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🤡 ‘The world is now a safer place’ – Israel’s former defense minister Yoav Gallant

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🗣 ‘The site had been evacuated a long time ago’ – senior adviser to Iran’s Parliament speaker

Mehdi Mohammadi, a top adviser to Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf, revealed on social media that Iran had expected strikes on Fordow for several nights, The New York Times reported.

💬 “The site had been evacuated a long time ago and the damages are not irreversible,” he wrote, stressing Iran’s confidence in the face of attacks. “You cannot bomb knowledge,” Mohammadi added.

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