WATCH NAVAL BLOCKADES

“Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell is suspending his campaign for California governor. A former staff member says a lawmaker sexually assaulted her. At least three other women accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct. He denies wrongdoing.”

“The San Francisco Chronicle first reported that all six trustees were terminated last week. Lisa Petrie is a spokesperson for the trust. She says the park will continue to operate normally. Trump signed an executive order last year cutting any federal funding to the trust, but Petrie says it has been self sufficient since 2013.”

“As well I suggested that the UK should join the European Union on the same day as Ukraine. You take UK, Norway, Turkey, and Ukraine, you're adding an awful lot of heft to any military alliance at a time when the Americans do appear to be leaving us to it. It adds an awful lot of heft to any military alliance.”

“President Xi Jinping's four propositions on safeguarding and promoting peace and stability in the Middle East... is underlining to the rest of the world that at a time when America appears to be so unreliable and unpredictable, China is operating according to what he's setting out as a group of principles that they stick to.”

“Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed, and I think someone has to stand up and say, there's a better way to do this. The trip, however, comes amid escalating tensions with the White House over the war in Iran criticized by Pope Leo.”

“Global oil prices are now rising. Global economies are already feeling the shock because, in effect, what this means is that vessels that were not favoured by Iran, previously were very reluctant to go through the Straits, but vessels with an Iranian stamp could go through. Most of them were going through freely. The US has now stopped that second category of vessels.”

“This is classic Trump. I've got to ceasefire, I'm going to send JD Vance, and it's all going to be done. And they give up because Iran didn't fold on day one. They started a process, they decided it's not gone exactly according to plan on day one, therefore we blow up the process.”

“I was looking at a recent model. Capital economics predicts that Qatar's economy will contract by 13% this year, that UAE's may contract by 8%. To put that in context, under normal growth conditions, that would be seven years it would need to get back the growth.”

“This morning, Zelenskyy, there's a post that we read, Zelenskyy, for the first time in the war, an enemy position was captured entirely by ground robotic systems and drones without any infantry. A robot entered the most dangerous zones instead of a soldier and took the positions.”

“What's beginning to happen here is an America which doesn't even pay lip service to global norms. In fact, celebrates outrageously chaotically defying them. The US isn't Israel; it's not a small state with no peer competitors in the Middle East. It is the architect of the entire global order and it faces with China a peer competitor.”

“12:43 AM, most Americans are asleep now. He announces the blockade of Hormuz. 2:35 AM, he's maybe just had a little doze or he's had a hamburger or something. 2:35 AM, he posts an article about Joe Biden. He is not sleeping, he is pretending to be Jesus, he is posting all night, he is not well.”

“The US Navy has a substantial presence in the region, and president Trump says it won't take long for The US to, quote, clean out the strait. Still, the blockade comes with risks. Iran is believed to have placed mines in the waterway. Also, Iran says that if any of its ports are attacked, it will respond by attacking ports belonging to Arab Gulf countries.”

“That's incredible. This gives hope to our generation that we can actually make change, and democracy is not dead. Orban was closely allied with president Trump, Russia's Vladimir Putin, and other rulers critics have characterized as hard line or authoritarian.”