Politics
Asia eyeballs coal amid snowballing energy crisis
Trump’s illegal war against Iran is gripping Asia. Major disruptions to oil and gas and the resulting fuel shortages are acutely felt by India’s economy. This is especially true in terms of energy security and supply.
Asia feels the sting
The impact of what is unambiguously regarded as a ‘war of choice’ has reverberated beyond the Middle East. Since initial strikes on Iran were launched in late February, vessels have not been able to pass freely through the Strait of Hormuz. This crucial waterway has global significance for Asia, serving as the gateway for 20% of global Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and 25% of seaborne oil.
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have invoked emergency measures and sought alternative suppliers. Meanwhile, China has secured its energy needs by stockpiling reserves. It has also maintained access to Iranian and Russian oil despite US sanctions. Some of these, get this, have been paused to relieve the global energy market.
Evan Feigenbaum, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said in an interview that while China is unhappy about the situation in the Middle East, given its interest in regional stability, China was not unique in having these concerns. Moreover, the evolving situation is of deep importance for Asia.
He added that other Asian countries, like Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, are even more vulnerable to energy market, supply chain disruptions. The US has also complicated energy security for countries like India through tariffs and sanctions, he said.
Feigenbaum said:
If you look at China’s neighbors, for example, Japan is even more dependent than China is on Middle East oil and gas. Taiwan is quite dependent, but without Japan’s level of reserves. Korea’s been playing around with price caps, and has less than two weeks of reserve. Vietnam is rationing jet fuel. They’re talking about work from home. Thailand has petrol controls. Pakistan and Bangladesh are closing schools
West is complacent so far
Eric Nutall told Bloomberg that we are facing the worst energy crisis of our lifetime. He forecasts that the oil disruption from war with Iran is projected to be worse than during the COVID pandemic, as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, affecting the continent of Asia’s energy strategies significantly.
West has really yet to feel the true impact. When you read stories about product hoarding, you read about operators of gas stations being shot dead because they ran out of product in India and was unable to fill up cars. You hear about fishing boats in the East not being able to fill up because the economics of going out and fishing just don’t make any sense. We see the world through a western lens and yet this is a global crisis.
Coal to the rescue
Since no coal goes through the Strait of Hormuz, Asian countries, as reported by Financial Times are:
opening the tap on coal generation to help offset rising gas prices and supply risk.
Reports suggest that Japan will allow more coal-fired plants in capacity auctions. Meanwhile, South Korea is considering moving away from coal power, a move which could reshape energy usage patterns in Asia altogether.
India’s prime minister Modi said that adequate coal stocks were available amid rising summer demand in Parliament last week.
He added that:
Another major challenge of the war is that the summer season is beginning in India. In the coming days, with rising temperatures, the demand for electricity will increase. Currently, adequate coal stocks are available at all power plants across the country.
Modi is far from an innocent bystander. He is a member of the US-Israel alliance. Despite his proximity to Netanyahu, India has remained a ‘fence sitter.’ Furthermore, Modi refrains from openly condemning either side.
Still, the imperial boomerang unleashed by Trump’s latest war is felt beyond the Middle East, reaching even the world’s fastest-growing major economy—India—and emerging markets in Southeast Asia. It’s a scorched-earth policy by alternative means.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
This Aphrodisiac Easter Egg From Lovehoney Will Get You Humping Like Bunnies
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Forget everything you think you know about chocolate. We’re not mad at it as it is, but Lovehoney has a new release that proves we should all be expecting a lot more from our choccy treats.
While the most pleasure you’ve got from a chocolate egg thus far might have been giving in to that moreish flavour, this Easter Lovehoney has a new love egg out, and it’s not (exactly) what you think.
Not just a delicious treat to snack on (in fact, Lovehoney advises only eating half per day), this egg is packed with the natural aphrodisiac Liboost to please your downstairs, too.
Made from Damiana extract, Liboost supposedly improves blood flow to your pleasure spots, whose effects you’ll be grateful for by the time you get to the ‘surprise’ portion.
Spoiler alert: it’s a bullet vibrator, loaded with three vibration speeds and seven patterns. Thanks to its hard plastic exterior, the tiny toy packs quite a punch and is the exact size you’d want from a toy to slip between you and a partner during sex. (Warning: you’ll need to remember to buy a AAA battery as it’s not included, boo.)
Considering the weather is not yet aware of the fact it’s spring (rude), we expect you’ll be spending more time than expected indoors over the next few weeks. But if the weather isn’t heating up outside, at least you can generate some in bed because, let us tell you: the combination of the chocolate and vibrator is spicy AF.
So much so that one reviewer said this “is most definitely THE egg to buy this Easter”.
But, if there’s one thing we’ve learned from the cinema we’ve seen lately (Wuthering Heights and Pillion, looking at you), it’s that things can always get spicier.
So of course, Lovehoney has also created an Easter sex toy collection, too. Packed inside an egg-shaped container, this includes a rabbit (for obvious reasons), penis stroker, vibrating cock ring, fluffy butt plug, and tickler.
Finally, a way to celebrate Easter if you’re not into chocolate!
All we’ll say is: this is the sign you’ve been looking for to plan a date night for the long weekend – get cracking.
Politics
Bosnia and Herzegovina appear to catch spy at training
In an incident that has sparked considerable controversy before one of the most sensitive World Cup playoff matches, the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team found itself at the center of a “spying suspicion” after a mysterious individual was spotted filming their training session from a restricted area. This prompted the coaching staff to intervene immediately and raise questions about the motives behind the incident.
These developments come just before their highly anticipated match against Italy in the European playoff for the 2026 World Cup. The match is pivotal for both teams in the race to secure a place in the tournament, especially for Italy, who are striving to avoid missing the World Cup for the third consecutive time. This adds a competitive dimension and extra pressure to the encounter, both on and off the pitch.
Bosnia and Herzegovina spying scandal
Bosnian security detaining an Italian soldier for filming Edin Dzeko and his team-mates during a closed session, according to SportSports.ba.
The man stayed beyond the 15 minutes open to media, then was caught recording on his phone after the gates were shut. He is an Italian Eufor soldier based at Butmir, next to the national team’s training centre.
The source added that the coaching staff acted swiftly upon discovering the incident, removing the individual from the training area amidst heightened security within the camp.
The matter didn’t remain local, quickly reaching European media. Cadena SER radio confirmed that the Bosnian Football Federation had filed an official complaint with the EUFOR mission, a move reflecting the seriousness with which the incident was being treated.
Meanwhile, Goal.com, citing defense sources, reported that the individual in question is an Italian soldier serving with EUFOR deployed in the country, while also confirming that there is no evidence of his involvement in any organized espionage activity.
AS newspaper indicated that the filming continued for several minutes before being discovered, which increased suspicions within the Bosnian camp, especially with the upcoming match.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
Green Party calls for suspension of senior Israel diplomat
The Green Party has demanded that the UK government suspend Israel’s senior diplomat in the UK. It follows the Israeli parliament’s legalising of the death penalty for Palestinians accused of “terrorism”.
Green Party’s Mothin Ali: execution law “unconscionable”
Reporting for the Canary, Maddison Wheeldon wrote:
Fascist Israel minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has pushed through a law in the Knesset which will authorise the death penalty – by hanging – of Palestinians. Specifically, this law will apply by default to Palestinians who have been tried in military court and found guilty of committing a fatal attack.
62 Israeli officials voted for the fatal bill, with 47 voting against.
Green Party deputy leader Mothin Ali has now said:
These military courts are conducted without proper legal representation or juries. This is unconscionable – the government must immediately suspend Israel’s UK [chargé d’affaires].
The chargé d’affaires is the senior diplomat at the Israeli embassy. Israel has had no ambassador to the UK since Tzipi Hotovely left in September 2025. As Middle East Eye reported, Tzachi Braverman is the recently appointed Israeli ambassador to the UK. However, he is currently not in his role. Braverman is unable to leave Israel after being questioned by police on suspicion of obstructing an investigation into the leak of a classified military document.
Braverman is Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff.
An apartheid state
Green Party deputy leader Ali continued:
Introducing the death penalty into Israel’s civil legal system, in a way that rights groups say will de facto only apply to Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, will result in Palestinians being killed without a fair trial.
Palestinian citizens of Israel already lack certain rights granted to Jewish citizens, and their second-class status was made explicit with the passing of the 2018 Jewish Nation-State Law.
It’s time for the Labour government to stand for truth: Israel is an apartheid state which is conducting a genocide in Gaza. Just like apartheid South Africa, it must be treated as a pariah state until the genocide is stopped, apartheid is ended, and Palestinians are granted the same rights as Israelis.
He also called for the UK to stop selling weapons and weapon components to Israel:
The government must make clear that it will not continue to sell any military weapons or weapons components to Israel. The Green Party calls for Britain to impose sanctions on Israel, as most of the world community did to South Africa, when it was also operating an apartheid state.
Featured image via The Canary
Politics
Is Cuba next for Trump?
On Monday 30 March, Al Jazeera published an exclusive interview with US secretary of state Marco Rubio. Predictably, the Trump crony used the opportunity to deny US responsibility for the humanitarian crisis in Cuba, stating that America had done “nothing punitive.”
Of course, this is an outright lie and utterly unconnected to basic, observable fact. But then, this shameless display of propagandising has long been the order for the Republican administration.
Stranglehold
As the Canary previously reported, Trump’s second administration has massively tightened the longstanding US stranglehold on Cuba. On top of the decades-long US embargo, Trump issued an executive order in January threatening any country which sends oil to the island.
His escalating campaign of terror has brought the island’s health system to its knees, putting thousands of lives at risk. On 25 March, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that:
Reports show that Cuban hospitals have been struggling to maintain emergency and intensive care services.
Thousands of surgeries have been postponed during the last month, and people needing care, from cancer patients to pregnant women preparing for delivery, have been put at risk due to lack of power to operate medical equipment and cold chain storage for vaccines.
Similarly, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that Cuba has suffered three total grid collapses over the last month:
leaving over 10 million people without electricity after three consecutive months without diesel, fuel oil, gasoline, jet fuel or liquefied petroleum gas.
‘I could do anything I want with it’
Worse still, Trump has indicated that he intends an outright attack on Cuba. On 16 March, he voiced plans to “take” Cuba, along with the chilling statement:
I think I could do anything I want with it.
Similarly, on 29 March, in a self-aggrandizing rant on his recent illegal attacks on Venezuela, the president stated:
Cuba’s next, by the way, but pretend I didn’t say that, please.
Cue Marco Rubio, who is himself the child of Cuban immigrants. The US state secretary has been vocal in his hatred for the communist government in Cuba and its president Miguel Diaz-Canel.
In his March 30 interview with Al Jazeera, Rubio argued that the US was blameless for the crisis in Cuba:
We’ve done nothing punitive against the Cuban regime. They claim we have, but we haven’t. The only thing that’s changed for the Cuban regime is they’re not getting free Venezuelan oil anymore. They’re not getting subsidies anymore. That’s the only thing that’s changed.
As a reminder, Venezuela isn’t shipping oil to Cuba because of the threat of US retaliation.
Likewise, Rubio also denied reports from Cuban officials and the UN that the blackouts on the island are getting worse:
These blackouts that are occurring that I see people reporting have nothing to do with us. They were having blackouts last year. They’re having blackouts because they have equipment from the 1950s in their grid that they’ve never maintained and never upgraded because they’re incompetent.
Cuba does indeed experience frequent blackouts. However, that situation has been made far worse by the fascist US administration blocking fuel from reaching the island.
Brazen lies
Instead, Rubio tried to blame the dire situation on Cuba’s leadership, issuing one of his frequent calls for a change in government:
We’ve tried to explain it to anyone who will listen. Their system doesn’t work, their system of economics. It’s completely dysfunctional. It’s just not a real system, and you can’t change it unless you change the government.
The US state secretary is blatantly trying to manufacture cover for a US attack on Cuba, as if America bothers with finding a reason to wage its wars anymore.
Trump has prevented almost all fuel from reaching the communist nation. As a consequence, it has experienced increasing, life-threatening power outages. And Rubio wants us to believe that this is Cuba’s fault?
The Trump administration is lying — openly, brazenly, without a care for the fact that the whole world can see what they’re doing, plain as day.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
Starmer’s centre has collapsed, and the left was right all along
As of now, just 21% of the British people think Keir “he’s playing a blinder” Starmer is doing well as Prime Minister.
The 70% of us that say he is doing badly — also known as the vast majority — isn’t just a dip, but a crater.
YouGov’s latest tracker puts his net favourability around -48. That’s the kind of rating that is usually reserved for politicians caught in flagrante with an expenses scandal or, in Liz Truss’s case, the iceberg lettuce that outlasted her premiership.
This isn’t some right-wing hit job. These are the cold, hard numbers staring back at a man who once promised “change” the way a dodgy salesman promises a revolutionary vacuum cleaner that turns out to be last year’s pile of shite with a fresh lick of paint.
None of this is particularly surprising – it was just so depressingly predictable.
Starmer’s descent was oh-so predictable
Starmer was elected in 2024 on a platform so fucking vague it could have meant socialism-lite, neoliberalism, or a particularly enthusiastic neighbourhood watch scheme.
Keir Starmer chose the path of least resistance, managerial centrism, served with a side order of ruthless purges of anyone to his left.
This has resulted in a government that has alienated its own base faster than you can say “rules-based international order”, while failing poor and working-class people that it claims to champion.
Look at the last few days alone for the perfect example of why Keir Starmer simply doesn’t get it.
While households brace for yet another surge in energy bills courtesy of the escalating Israel-US illegal war on Iran, Keir Starmer jetted off to Finland for a military summit of the Joint Expeditionary Force.
I’m sure the Starmer-friendly media will call this something like “admirable statesmanship”, but the optics? Chef’s kiss of disaster.
Chaos
Back at home, pensioners and families are staring down higher fuel costs, a cost-of-living that refuses to die, and the grim realisation that Keir Starmer’s New Year’s pledge to bring down living expenses has aged about as well as a pint of full fat milk left out on the hottest day of the year.
This has become so very typical of the Labour Party under Keir Starmer’s leadership. When the people need bread, Labour offers us foreign policy briefings and hope nobody notices the difference.
The Iran-related energy shock is hammering precisely the red wall and working class communities Labour was supposed to protect — the same voters who dragged themselves to the polls in 2024 out of sheer exhaustion with Tory chaos.
Fuel duty rises loom again in September. Winter fuel payments remain rationed like wartime luxuries. And instead of the bold left-wing measures we needed — a proper windfall tax on energy giants that actually bites, serious public investment in renewables that creates unionised jobs, or rent controls to stop tenants being fleeced for every last penny – we get the usual centrist technocratic tinkering.
Starmer’s remaining cheerleaders will trot out the usual excuses about global headwinds, wars, energy shocks, and an Inherited mess, some of which is completely valid because the world is in a particularly sorry state right now.
A left government was and is needed
But I would argue this is exactly why a genuinely left government was needed. A progressive administration would have seized this moment for structural reform by taking energy into full public ownership to shield bill-payers, launching a real Green New Deal that builds hope instead of just targets, and pursuing a foreign policy grounded in diplomacy, peace, and justice rather than automatic alignment with whatever the Washington predator Trump dreams up next.
Instead, we get the politics of the “national interest” that mysteriously always aligns with the City, defence contractors, and endless summits abroad while domestic pain festers.
It’s centrism as performance art — all sensible suits with zero soul.
During the leadership years and early government, the left warned that purging socialist traditions, scrapping or watering down public ownership pledges, and triangulating on welfare and immigration would end in tears.
We were dismissed as unrealistic, divisive, trots, dogs, rabble, and – that favourite insult – “unelectable”. Yet here we are, a Labour government barely 18 months old, polling like it’s already on its deathbed.
The deeper tragedy is what this means for the millions of us who actually need radical change.
Starmer must go. The left was right all along.
Britain in 2026 still grapples with stagnating wages, a crumbling NHS and council services, and a housing crisis that makes Victorian slums look like aspirational living.
Only unashamedly bold, structural solutions can fix these deep-rooted failures. Starmer’s cautious centrism was sold as the safe, adult alternative. In practice, it’s delivered paralysis, broken promises, and the slowest political suicide in recent memory.
You see, the problem isn’t merely that Starmer is deeply unpopular. The problem is that the politics he embodies were never going to inspire the working-class voters Labour exists to serve.
We wanted transformation. We got tweaks.
For Labour to try and miraculously survive, it needs to rediscover what it actually stands for – or step aside for someone that does.
The shocking numbers really don’t lie. Keir Starmer’s centrist politics has failed spectacularly. The left was right all along.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
Hegseth, his broker, and a shady defence deal
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth’s broker tried to invest in a defence fund weeks ahead of the US-Israeli attack on Iran. The Financial Times (FT) said three sources have corroborated this claim, which the Pentagon denies.
On 31 March, the FT reported the following.
Hegseth’s broker at Morgan Stanley contacted BlackRock in February about making a multimillion-dollar investment in the asset manager’s Defense Industrials Active ETF, the people said, shortly before the US launched military action against Tehran.
The inquiry on behalf of the high-profile potential client was flagged internally at BlackRock, according to the people familiar with the matter. BlackRock, Morgan Stanley and the Pentagon declined to comment.
Hegseth is a key architect of America’s illegal attack on Iran.
Initial, unprovoked offensive strikes on Iran were launched by the US and Israel on 28 February. Iran was offering concessions in negotiations at the time. The Pentagon has since stated there was no imminent threat from Iran. And the UN’s atomic watchdog, the IAEA, has said there is no evidence Iran was developing a nuclear weapon.
So far the Iranian government remains functional. The main US and Israeli achievement so far appears to be creating a global energy crisis after Iran predictably closed the vital oil channel in straits of Hormuz.
The FT said the purchase did not go ahead in the end:
The investment discussed by Hegseth’s broker did not ultimately go ahead as the fund, which launched in May last year, was not yet available for Morgan Stanley clients to buy.
Making a killing
The inquiry about buying into the fund was flagged because it was related to a “high-profile potential client.”
The FT explained the perverse nature of such funds, and their links to global arms giants—profiting from death.
According to BlackRock, the $3.2bn equity fund, which carries the ticker IDEF, pursues “growth opportunities by investing in companies that may benefit from increased government spending on defense and security amid geopolitical fragmentation and economic competition”.
The newspaper also reported:
Its largest holdings include defence conglomerates RTX, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, which count the US Department of Defense as their biggest customers, as well as data integration specialist Palantir.
The legendary US Marine Corps General turned war resister and whistleblower Smedley Butler (dubbed the Fighting Quaker) once said that war is a racket. That was in 1935, after Butler had tried to head off a fascist coup in the US. Then 91 years later, the fascists are in power, and, if these reports are true, they’re still looking to make a killing off the killing — at the expense of the people of Iran.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
Polanski pledges education overhaul and union support
On 31 March, Green leader Zack Polanski gave a landmark speech on education reform to the National Education Union’s annual conference in Brighton.
His stated ambitions were wide-ranging, including massive uplifts to education spending, resisting the forced transfer of our school system to an academy model, and abolishing the Ofsted inspection system.
The speech also marks another stage in Polanski’s fulfilment of a left-wing promise — he’s speaking and listening to our trade unions.
Green-union alliance
In an interview with the Times, on the same day, Polanski stated that he’s actively courting the unions Labour has let down. He said:
When I became Green party leader I said I wasn’t here to be disappointed by Labour – I’m here to replace them. And a crucial part of that is connecting with the organised labour movement.
Historically, most trade unions have been very strongly linked to the Labour party but that link is starting to break as it becomes clear the Labour party is no longer the party of working people.
Since becoming leader I’ve had lots of really fruitful conversations with key union figures, and it’s clear that many people in trade unions are feeling really let down by this Labour government and are ready to work more closely with the Green party.
As part of that move, Polanski addressed the National Education Union today—making him the first Green leader to do so. Standing before the attendees of the NEU’s annual conference, he spoke of education being:
pushed to the brink by the toxic twin pressures of ideologically-driven reorganisation, and an unforgivable squeeze in budgets.
‘Chronically underfunded’
Likewise, he recognised schools’ need for a “serious cash injection” — funded, of course, by a wealth tax:
The UK currently invests approximately just 4.1% of GDP in education, below the OECD average of just under 5%. That puts us significantly behind top-performing countries like Iceland, investing 5.6%, and Norway at 6.2%.
This section of his speech, in particular, drew a standing ovation from the crowd—and little wonder. This aligns directly with the NEU’s criticisms of Labour’s education strategy, which has consistently tried to force schools to do more with less.
In fact, at the same conference, NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede stated that:
Our nation’s schools have been chronically underfunded for more than a decade. Today, 74 per cent of schools have less funding than in 2010. The consequences of this are clear for all to see — larger class sizes, burned out teachers leaving the profession, and buildings literally falling apart.
Children with SEND have been failed for too long by a system buckling under the strain of a lack of resources. This cannot be resolved by cutting corners or small cost saving measures. Reforms to SEND provision need to be funded properly – including to pay for additional staff – if they are going to be successful.
‘We need to end the Ofsted era’
Beyond the underfunding of the education sector, Polanski also set his sights on the “fail, toxic” institution of Ofsted:
We need to end the Ofsted era entirely and move towards a genuinely collaborative model. One that connects teachers on the frontline with local experts – specialists in pedagogy, child development and social care – we must make sure teachers have the support and guidance they need to meet the needs of their pupils.
This mirrors the NEU’s own ‘Abolish Ofsted’ campaign. In particular, the union has criticised the government’s reforms for increasing inspection pressures and workloads for staff.
Likewise, the union also cited the psychological toll of Ofsted inspections for already-overworked staff. They cited the example of Ruth Perry, the headteacher who took her own life after an inspector rated her school as ‘inadequate’ in 2023.
Resisting academisation
In his speech, Polanski then moved on to the issue of the ‘academisation’ of schools, calling academies:
Another failed model pushed on to teachers and children by previous governments’ ideological drive to marketise our children’s education. And the results have been stark: a fragmented system with poor accountability, allowing academy CEOs to be paid enormous salaries while pay and conditions for their staff worsen.
Research into the impact of academisation on learning has found no positive impact on the attainment and progress of pupils in multi-academy trusts, compared to other schools. And in fact, in larger multi-academy trusts, particularly secondary schools, the results were worse.
Again, this is directly in line with calls from the NEU itself. In particular, the union highlighted the high level of dissatisfaction among teachers at Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs).
Using a Freedom of Information request, the NEU found shocking levels of turnover at MAT schools:
-
Last academic year, large MATs saw 1 in 5 teachers leave their jobs and more than 1 in 9 teachers leave the teaching profession entirely. This compares poorly with local-authority maintained schools, where over the same period 1 in 7 teachers left their jobs and 1 in 11 teachers left the teaching profession.
-
Among large MATs — defined as those containing at least 21 schools – the rate of leaving the profession has remained consistently higher than in other governance structures over the past 10 years.
-
Free schools and academies have higher rates of teachers leaving the profession than local-authority maintained primary, secondary, and special schools.
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Among large MATs, several had retention rates of 75 per cent or lower at the end of the 2022-23 school year, meaning that at least a quarter of staff left schools in those MATs.
‘Zack speaks more for schools’
Given the fact that the Greens are clearly listening to and learning from the NEU’s research, it’s unsurprising that Polanski’s speech was so well received.
In fact, general secretary Kebede indicated something of a sea-change within his union. Whilst he acknowledged that over 60% of NEU members voted for Labour in 2024, he stated that:
I think our membership feels that Zack speaks more for schools and education than Labour do at the moment.
If the other unions can be brought on-side with the same effect, this bodes very well for the future of the Green Party.
Hell, in spite of their many (many) differences, even the Mail is getting on board:
Fair play from the Mail.
I said what I said. pic.twitter.com/xRWnob353P
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) March 31, 2026
Featured image via National Education Union
Politics
US embassies instructed to use X for “strategic” messaging
Nazi-saluting billionaire Elon Musk’s X app will be pivotal in a new wave of pro-US propaganda spread through American embassies. A cable sent to embassies around the world encourages staff to use X for psychological influence operations.
Commenting on the directive, a report by the Guardian, which has seen the document (signed by secretary of state Marco Rubio), states it instructs:
embassies and consulates [to] work alongside the US military’s psychological operations unit to address the problem of rampant disinformation.
This likely means substituting foreign propaganda with American disinformation.
The Guardian’s Washington correspondent, Joseph Gedeon, also noted that the cable:
endorses Elon Musk’s X as an “innovative” tool to help do it …[and]… lays out a sweeping set of instructions for how embassy staff should push back against what it describes as coordinated foreign efforts to undermine American interests abroad.
The news comes as the US is getting spanked daily by Iranian memes and AI videos.
The message highlights five areas where US propaganda will focus:
countering hostile messaging, expanding access to information, exposing adversary behavior, elevating local voices who support American interests, and promoting what it calls “telling America’s story”.
The US will recruit Influencers, academics and community leaders in target countries And also develop an approach designed:
to make American-funded narratives feel locally organic rather than centrally directed.
This already sounds very convincing…
A direct threat to US interests?
The cable also states that ‘enemy’ campaigns seek to:
shift blame to the United States, sow division among allies, promote alternative worldviews antithetical to America’s interests, and even undermine American economic interests and political freedoms
The paper warned that:
Using digital platforms, state-controlled media, and influence operations, they pose a direct threat to US national security and fuel hostility toward American interests.
The cable also instructs embassies to work with:
“the Department of War’s Psychological Operations” – the military unit more commonly known as Miso, or Military Information Support Operations, formerly Psyop, which is part of the Pentagon.
The US State Department told the Guardian that Sarah Rogers, the new under-secretary for diplomacy, had made countering foreign propaganda a priority. A spokesperson reminded the Guardian that leftwing groups were being framed as linked to foreign powers and targeted for US influence operations:
The state department also noted that Rogers had already drawn attention for a separate report to Congress identifying Code Pink and several other leftwing activist organizations as vectors of Chinese influence operations inside the United States.
The fact this information is now in the public domain may disappoint situational analysts who love to refer to everything as a PSYOP.
Presumably this particular guessing game is much less fun when the US publicly announces its running PSYOPs. Hate that for you, lads.
Though maybe—just maybe— the announcement is itself a PSYOP…*plays X Files music.*
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
Three UN peacekeepers killed by Israel in a single week
Israel has murdered two more UN peacekeepers in Southern Lebanon, according to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). This marks the latest lethal attack against UN forces, leaving at least three dead this week.
In a statement on social media, UNIFIL said:
Two UNIFIL peacekeepers were tragically killed in south Lebanon today, when an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan. A third peacekeeper was severely injured, and a fourth was also hurt.
This is the second fatal incident in the last 24 hours. We reiterate that no one should ever have to die serving the cause of peace.
We extend our sincerest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of those brave peacekeepers who gave their lives in service of peace.
Since Israel began its bombardment and subsequent invasion of Lebanon, more than 1,000 people have been murdered and more than a million are internally displaced. Over 120 of those deaths are children, highlighting, as we’ve long reported, that Israel does not distinguish between civilians or combatants.
Furthermore, the UN recently recently warned that 370,000 more children could be displaced by the illegal Israeli invasion.
Given that the occupational power is unfazed by the idea of murdering peacekeepers, supposedly protected under international law, the fate of Lebanon’s children hangs in the balance.
The UN has condemned the deaths of three Indonesian peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, who were killed in two separate incidents, including a vehicle explosion.
They are the latest UN casualties since Israel expanded its ground invasion. pic.twitter.com/gwqjTZaLLW
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 30, 2026
UNIFIL says “the violence must end”
Israel renewed its bombardment and subsequent ground invasion of Lebanon after attacking Iran in late February. Under the pretext of Hezbollah’s links to Iran, Israeli Occupational Forces (IOF) intend to continue their landgrabs as part of their push towards their “Greater Israel.”
However, once again, it appears Israel is doing little to disguise its sinister motives, murdering UN peacekeepers in their alleged “war on terror.”
UNIFIL has been on the record condemning the IOF’s flagrant violations of international law:
We reiterate the urgent need for all actors to uphold their obligations under international law and to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property at all times, including avoiding any actions that may put peacekeepers in danger.
Deliberate attacks on peacekeepers are grave violations of international humanitarian law and of Security Council Resolution 1701, and may constitute war crimes.
Pointing out what Western leaders are desperate to ignore, they have also said:
The human cost of this conflict is far too high. The violence, as we have said before, must end.
This fatal attack followed the murder of another peacekeeper on Sunday near the southern Lebanese village of Aadshit al-Qusayr. UNIFIL states that it’s not clear where the projectile originated from but is investigating the matter.
UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said early Monday that one of its peacekeepers was killed and another critically injured after a projectile exploded Sunday night at one of its positions in southern Lebanon https://t.co/FjqQSwPM54 pic.twitter.com/KvxAHKcTaJ
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) March 30, 2026
One of the peacekeepers who was killed is an Indonesian national, as was confirmed by his country foreign affairs ministry. They also reported that three more of their citizens were wounded in an attack described as “indirect artillery fire.”
The Government of the Republic of Indonesia expresses its deepest condolences following the death of one Indonesian peacekeeper and the injury of three others serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), after indirect artillery fire in the vicinity of the…
— MoFA Indonesia (@Kemlu_RI) March 30, 2026
Every murder is intentional
Israel has demonstrated its capacity to carry out targeted strikes in Iran and Lebanon. This makes the repeated killing of civilians, peacekeepers, and journalists all the more revealing, underscoring the intent behind how the state conducts its military operations.
Basically, if you’re Arab, you’re fair game.
Our own Jamal Awar wrote recently about three Lebanese journalists murdered by IOF bombs in a double-tap strike:
Journalists Ali Shuaib (Al-Manar) and Fatima Ftouni (Al-Mayadeen), along with Fatima’s brother, camera operator Mohamad Ftouni, join a long list of Lebanese journalists killed by Israel. An Israeli warplane fired five missiles at their car, travelling in the countryside next to the city of Jezzine, around 30 km north of the border with occupied Palestine. The last two missiles were fired at 2 civilians, one of them from the Lebanese Civil Defence, who were trying to save the targeted journalists.
If those war crimes tell us anything, it is that:
- Israel intentionally targets journalists everywhere they can
- Journalism is as important as taking up arms on the path of resisting colonialism
It is clear that the same logic applies to anyone resisting Zionist colonisers, including UN peacekeeping forces. After all, in Israel’s mind, if there are no witnesses then there can be no crime.
This UN official has had enough of this:
Yesterday, Israel deliberately killed a UN Indonesian peacekeeper and wounded others in Lebanon.
Israel cannot continue to be treated as a full member of the UN.
Attacking UN peacekeepers is an abomination which was in the past perpetrated by terrorists, but never by members of…
— Mohamad Safa (@mhdksafa) March 30, 2026
It is long past time since Israel should have been rejected by the international community. The fact that the Zionist entity is still welcome shows the complicity of the world order in genocide.
Featured image via the Canary
Politics
Help us to finally end fox hunting for good
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs launched a public consultation on Thursday 26 March 2026 to finally ban trail hunting. This move aims to close legal loopholes which have allowed the illegal persecution of wildlife under a smokescreen for over 20 fucking years.
No more loopholes
The Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) welcomed this consultation, but warns that any new law must be watertight. Hunters have used loopholes, such as following trails during hunting as a cover for illegal activity. Huntsman claim to lay false trails to follow. Yet most of the time, this is a lie. Whilst claiming to follow a person-laid scent, the hunt usually just use this to hunt real foxes. And I have seen it with my own eyes. Men on quadbikes claim to lay the trail behind them, a barefaced fucking lie. The diesel fumes would cover these within an instant if it was true.

A press spokesperson for the HSA stated that using trail hunting as a smokescreen is part of the ‘illegal persecution of wildlife’. They emphasised that the public must help ensure the updated act has no further exemptions ripe for exploitation.
The police (who strangely never appear on scene when actual illegal hunting occurs) have also raised concerns about the current law. Matt Longman, the national police lead for fox hunting, has previously stated that illegal activity is frequently disguised using trail hunting methods. This consultation will explore how to prevent animal-based scents from being used as an excuse for the hounds to ‘accidentally’ find and rip apart a live fox.
The HSA needs our help
Public opinion both in the city and in the country, remains firmly against these blood-thirsty sports. Just a few weeks ago the HSA filmed a pack of hounds shredding a fox in someone’s garden. There was damage to a fence, as well as trespassing from the local hunt who didn’t have permission to be on the property. By the way, trail hunting often leads to such trespasses and chaos as seen here. But, desperate to hide their poor, fuzzy victim, they entered anyway and manhandled a sab in the process.
81% of people living in rural areas are sick to death of this entitled bullshit from the hunt. They are sick of their property being damaged, of hounds running rampant and causing accidents. On top of this, a whopping 85% of the population believes fox hunting should remain illegal. Remember, tell your parents/nana that Nigel Farage is a big fan of the hunt, kids! Yet, on the other hand, the hunt claims that hunting is a necessary part of country life—bullshit.
It is nothing but an excuse for these inbred wankers to get out their weird bloodlust, with trail hunting used as a justification for continuing their cruel activities.
The HSA has used direct action for the last 60 years. They have come away with broken bones, knife wounds and so much more over those years, just to save animals from pointless deaths. And they are now urging supporters to engage with the legal process. In short, they need our help to get over this last hurdle and end fox hunting once and for all. The organisation plans to release guidance to help people complete the consultation before 18 June 2026. This follows a petition signed by over 100,000 people asking for a total ban, further highlighting the public’s opposition to trail hunting.
A better world for wildlife
This consultation is a part of a wider shift towards stronger protections for wildlife in the UK. Along with the hunting of trails being banned, the government is looking to end the use of snares and puppy smuggling. How the hell that wasn’t already a thing is beyond me. For activist, this could be the end of a 20-year fight to save lives.
The question is, does the government have the balls to end fox hunting once and for all? Will it uphold the will of the majority? Or will it fold to the will of a bunch of arseholes on horseback?
Please help us, and have your say here.
Featured image via Unsplash/the Canary
By Antifabot
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