Per the Financial Times, Trump threatened to halt weapons supplies for Ukraine unless European countries agreed to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.
If accurate, that would amount to linking support for Ukraine to European backing for a separate U.S. pressure campaign in the Gulf.
Well, this sounds fucking insane
Thank you. ❤️
An old postcard showing a British flag and a hand making the V sign with the words: Operation Desert Storm. Victory Kuwait 1991.
35 years ago my father sent me this postcard from Kuwait. He describes seeing the “Kuwait oil fires cloud”.
Today, on the 21st anniversary of his death, it feels like history has come around again.
Among the many things I miss are the heated political debates we would’ve had in times like these.
Another demonstration of UAE's benevolence. As many as 70 British nationals have been arrested for sharing photos of Iranian strike damage.
Given UK FCDO's record of complete failure/refusal to engage with UAE on detained/tortured Brits, I wouldn't be holding out hope.
inews.co.uk/news/world/f...
Unsealed lawsuit reveals Yemeni MP Anssaf Mayo is suing 2x American military veterans and an Israeli-Hungarian, accusing them of carrying out political assassinations in Yemen on behalf of the UAE. The attempt on Mayo's life was documented by Buzzfeed News and BBC.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/w...
Talking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland this morning about the Houthi escalation in the war on the Middle East.
www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...
Houthis have launched their first missile at Israel since the war started.
It’s not a breach of the May 2025 ceasefire agreed between the Houthis and U.S. but it is a reminder that they can re-engage in the Red Sea if and when they want to. A reminder that should help hasten efforts to end this war.
“The frivolity of sport effectively taking place in a war zone generates an inevitable dissonance. When people are dying, and the world’s economic outlook is so uncertain, the spectacle of so much effort and money going into something so comparatively trivial can be unsettling.”
“Those privately pressing Trump to strike Iran included Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and some conservative commentators…The News Corp founder communicated with Trump several times as he urged the president to take on Tehran”
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
At the risk of sounding like a broken record…
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/ce...
A year on and here we are again
A good time to highlight this again
“The underlying rationale of protecting international trade and commerce is not a justification under international law for the use of force.” - Dr Ioannis Kalpouzos, professor at Harvard Law School and specialist in the law of war
observer.co.uk/news/interna...
Phil Miller, the best doorstepper out there.
Let's not forget. The U.S. has form for lying about using Tomahawk missiles, especially when they kill lots of children.
This was 2009 under the Obama administration. 41 civilians killed including 21 children. The lie and coverup went on for years.
A reminder from 10 months ago, the last time Britain and Starmer signed up to a deadly Trump bombing campaign. A 53 day-long air war that resulted in more than 700 civilian casualties, a number the US and Israel has already surpassed inside a week.
And with such action comes consequence.
bsky.app/profile/ship...
I hate to say I told you so...
19 February: "UK has not given US permission to use RAF bases for Iran strikes"
1 March: "Keir Starmer gives United States permission to use UK bases to strike Iranian targets"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
4️⃣ Most worryingly, it was clear in Trump’s bombing of Yemen that the threshold for civilian harm was reduced.
At least 238 civilians were killed including 24 children in 342 US strikes. A further 467 civilians were injured including 31 children
trump-yemen.airwars.org/operation-ro...
ENDS (for now)
3️⃣ Britain’s base at Diego Garcia was previously used by the US to deploy B-2 Spirit stealth bombers for multiple bombing runs into Yemen in 2025. It’s therefore unwise to rule that out on this occasion, no matter what the British govt says.
More on that 👇
us16.campaign-archive.com?u=1912a1b11c...
2️⃣ Today Starmer talked about British “defensive operations” in the region. MoD said similar when I asked about RAF refuelling US fighter jets during bombing of Yemen. It was done “to aid the self defence” of the US. Britain went on to carry out its own strike.
www.declassifieduk.org/how-starmer-...
A few thoughts to throw in at this stage, going on recent history (2025) of a Trump air war.
1️⃣ Trump is unlikely to stick at this for the long and can/will declare victory when there is none. (see his 52 day-long bombing of Yemen that ended as quickly as it started and in so called “victory”)
Several major oil companies and trading houses have suspended oil and fuel shipments through the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing U.S.–Iran conflict, according to four trading sources.- Reuters
Almost a quarter of the 129 journalists and media workers killed in 2025 were Yemenis.
On 10 September 2025, in a single Israeli strike that deliberately targeted media outlets in Sana'a, 31 journalists and media workers were killed.
As one Yemeni friend in Aden put it recently:
“We’ve gone from being 50% occupied (by the UAE) to 100% occupied (by Saudi Arabia). Occupied always.”
- the latter being a reference to previously being “occupied” by the north since 1994.
Aden tonight.
Saudi Arabia may have made the STC leadership announce its dissolution while being strong-armed, but that Saudi forced abandonment hasn’t transferred to the streets of Aden. Their attempt to erase the STC from behind a microphone in Riyadh is backfiring.
Footage purportedly from tonight in Aden outside the Maashiq Presidential Palace compound. Reports of injuries.
*⚠️warning: sounds of heavy gunfire in this video⚠️*
Alarming video footage coming out of Aden tonight. Heavy gunfire directed at pro-STC protesters in front of the presidential palace.
