Russia China Meet Plan Expel US Mideast; Trump Blockade Fails; EU Panics As Russia Brings Asset Case
Topic 1871

Ships sail through Hormuz. Graham lectures Pope. EU Ursula solves complex energy crisis
Topic 2027

Why the U.S.-Iran War Has No Offramp w/ Jeffrey Sachs

The Duran: Episode 961
France's Marine Le Pen Acquitted in Case Over Violating Hate Speech Laws
https://sputniknews.com/europe/202105041082797685-frances-marine-le-pen-acquitted-in-case-over-violating-hate-speech-laws/

The US and Iran remain locked in conflict, the US continues its 'counter blockade', the Strait of Hormuz is now firmly shut, and there is no diplomatic resolution in sight. Meanwhile the Russians and the Chinese are coordinating and there are the first threats of action coming from China.

The war in Ukraine continues, Konstantinovka will soon fall, and Budanov is predicting disaster.

Trump is again floating the possibility of the US quitting NATO.

All the signs around the world are pointing to a deepening recession, except that the financial markets remain apparently oblivious. The behaviour of the markets in this crisis is so extraordinary that I know that more and more people (and I spoke with a friend of mine who is a banker over the weekend) think that it can only be explained by active government/central bank intervention.

And of course there was Orban's defeat in Hungary.

So a huge amount to discuss.....

Looking forward to engaging with all of you today,.

A record number of ships are passing through the strait of Hormuz now, 17 vessels within the past 24 hours. It appears that the statistics are a bit off / skewed though (a higher number was reported earlier) and for reasons known only to the combatants and vessel captains. See the monitor link:
https://hormuzstraitmonitor.com/

As for the US blockade of Iran-bound ships, that allegation appears to be bullshit for now. The US blockade -- beside being effectively unenforceable -- has met with Saudi complaints at a high level. And most of US blockade news is from Centcom which is evidently operating along lying lines more so even than Kiev's output of lies, by comparison.

"Unnamed Sources" I can't vouch for fully, have said that Israel was told to back off from attacking Iran and Lebanon. Rumor has it that both the Saudi's and UAE have pressured Israel. However a source has said that the IDF took big casualties and damage when attempting to take a key strategic town in South Lebanon....