Cuba Is Negotiating Deal With US, Trump Says

American Journalist Shelly Kittleson Kidnapped In Baghdad American freelance journalist Shelly Kittleson, who reports primarily on Middle Eastern and Afghan affairs, was kidnapped in Baghdad earlier today. She has written for outlets including Al-Monitor, Foreign Policy, BBC News, Politico, and others. Alex Plitsas, a CNN national security analyst and former senior Pentagon official under former President Barack Obama, confirmed on X that Kittleson was "abducted and may have been taken hostage in Baghdad by Kataib Hezbollah." 🚨🚨🚨 I can confirm that my friend Shelly Kittleson was abducted and may have taken hostage...

"Hubris Generally Precedes Clusterf**k": Does It Smell Like Victory? Authored by James Howard Kunstler, The message seems to be something like the USA isn’t messing around with all those strike forces in the waters around Iran. The Islamic Republic suddenly looks like Rock-and-Hard-Place-Land. Everybody and his uncle are trying to figure out the calculus in play, World War Three or a happy ending? You’re seeing the most significant US military build-up over there in memory. Smells a little bit like first Gulf War, 1991 — minus all those allies we roped in then. Mr. Trump (via...

Fill 'er Up: Record Armada Of Tankers Bound For US Gulf To Load Oil An unusually large number of crude oil tankers on the open seas has the American Gulf coast as a destination as the ships are redirected to load cargoes bound for markets around the world already experiencing shortages. As Alton Wallace writes at The Center Square, second-term Republican President Donald Trump said Saturday on social media that “massive numbers” of “completely empty” oil tankers are en route to the United States to purchase American energy. “Foreign buyers are voting with their ships: American energy means stability, strength,...