Those Big, Beautiful Bonds

The US Has Restarted Jungle Warfare In Panama After 25 Years For the first time in roughly 25 years, the US has restarted jungle warfare training in Panama, signaling a broader return of American military activity in Latin America, according to a new Bloomberg feature. At a rainforest training center near Colón, US troops practice survival techniques, patrol operations, casualty evacuations, and combat drills with Panamanian forces. The environment is intentionally unforgiving—thick jungle, venomous snakes, relentless insects—and soldiers often depend on machetes to move through dense terrain. One Panamanian instructor mocked...

Trump Says Iran War To End 'Soon' As 'Practically Nothing Left' To Target  Top headlines of conflict  Trump says the war with Iran will end soon, as there is 'practically nothing left to target."  Yet U.S. and Israeli officials plan at least two more weeks of strikes U.S. forces destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels in the Strait of Hormuz Iran's drone production has been significantly degraded. The IEA is preparing its largest-ever emergency crude oil release to counter surging Brent and WTI prices. Casualty estimates: over 1,200 killed in Iran from U.S./Israeli strikes (plus civilian...

Rubio: Diplomacy Will Be Rendered 'Impossible' If Iran Enacts Hormuz Toll System Iran has been seeking to significantly expand the area around the Strait of Hormuz over which it claims military control by this week advancing the newly-created government agency of the "Persian Gulf Strait Authority". The agency quickly published a map proclaiming "Iranian armed forces oversight" across more than 22,000 sq km (8,800 sq miles) of the Hormuz waterway. Now, all transit through the strait "requires coordination with and authorization from the Persian Gulf Strait Authority" - the new entity announced. Of...