Trump screams at Netanyahu — the 'unbreakable' bond cracks
According to Axios, Trump erupted at the Israeli Prime Minister over reports of a planned strike on Beirut: "You're f**ing crazy. You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. Now everyone hates Israel because of you." A sitting U.S. president publicly humiliating his closest Middle Eastern ally — rare under any circumstances, explosive in the middle of Iran negotiations. Trump saved Netanyahu from prison — Netanyahu thanked him by planning to bomb Beirut.*
Kazakhstan to store Iran's uranium — Russia's fingerprints on the deal
Astana announced readiness to accept Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile as part of a broader agreement, breaking the deadlock that had stalled nuclear talks for weeks. Reports suggest Rosatom is embedded in the arrangement, positioning Moscow once again at the centre of Middle Eastern diplomacy. Iranian uranium travelling to Kazakhstan via Russian hands — the Kremlin is back in the room.
FSB exposes Cloudflare surveillance op — IT infrastructure as spy infrastructure
Russia's FSB revealed that foreign intelligence services used software linked to Cloudflare's reverse proxy technology to wiretap senior Russian officials, describing it as one of the largest foreign espionage operations ever conducted against the country. The American CDN giant — ostensibly a tool for speeding up websites — is now at the centre of a major intelligence scandal in Moscow. A content delivery network that also delivered classified conversations — elegant, if you're on the right side.
Venezuela pumps record oil — China won't buy a drop
Venezuelan output hit 1.16 million barrels per day in May, up 23% since January when Maduro was ousted and the market opened to Western majors including BP, Chevron and Shell. The U.S. and India now absorb the bulk of exports — 550,000 and 440,000 b/d respectively — while China has boycotted Venezuelan crude for five consecutive months. Maduro leaves, Western oil companies arrive, and the flow reverses toward Washington. Remarkable timing.
U.S. LNG exports drop — Europe heads into summer dangerously under-stocked
American LNG shipments fell to 10.5 million tonnes in May due to maintenance outages at Cameron and Freeport terminals, while Asia — cut off from Qatari gas by the Hormuz crisis — absorbed a growing share of U.S. cargoes. Europe's underground gas storage stands at just 40% capacity versus 70% two years ago, a deficit that could become a full-blown energy crisis by winter. Europe spent years reducing dependence on Russian gas — only to find American gas redirected to Asia instead.
.png){kind=icon}
.png){kind=icon}
.png)
.png){kind=icon}
