Podcasts about Arabian Sea

A version of this essay has been published by Open Magazine at https://openthemagazine.com/world/india-will-collapse-without-digital-sovereignty-and-pax-indica-lessons-from-hormuzBy now it is clear that the Iran War (or West Asia War) has been a disaster to all concerned, including the principals as well as assorted passersby. The massive amounts spent by the US (at last count $25 billion) are at least articulated; the bill for the enormous infrastructural and human suffering inflicted on Gulf states, in the theater of war, must be greater, by definition.The collateral damages suffered by the rest of the world from the cessation of trade through the Straits of Hormuz will presumably run into the trillions of dollars. As one of the worst affected, India, which imports 90% of its hydrocarbons from the Gulf, not to mention other essential items such as urea (for fertilizer), sulfuric acid, helium, etc., is on track to take a massive hit. As an article in The Economic Times said, “India must brace for broad-based economic shock”.Indian exports of up to $50 billion are also affected, especially agricultural products including perishable foodstuffs, but also gems and jewellery, electronics, textiles and garments. Some of this can be diverted via Oman and the UAE's Fujairah port, but much of it passes through the Straits of Hormuz and is potentially blocked and/or stranded at sea.The Hormuz closure is a body blow to India's economy. What can and will India do about it? The Indian State has a habit of rising to the challenge only when there is a crisis, while vegetating otherwise. The 1991 economic crisis is a case in point; the sanctions following “The Buddha is smiling”, and the denial of cryogenic rocket engines and supercomputers are other examples where the nation rallied. So were covid vaccines. Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention.Turning a threat into an opportunityIf I were to be an optimist, I could say that the current crisis is actually an opportunity. In fact, a major opportunity. My reading of the Iran War is that it is President Trump's strategic tit-for-tat against China for denying him rare earths and cutting off soybean purchases. In return Trump decided to deny China access to oil by closing access to Venezuela and Iran. Whether this will work, or whether the G2 condominium (read ‘surrender') will prevail, is unclear.But that is, in a sense, background noise that needs to be managed. India needs to focus on its own issues, of which I see several as critical, and the solution in general is to become Atmanirbhar, self-reliant, and from that, to create an Anti-Fragile nation:* National security/defense* Food security* Energy security* Digital security/narrative control* Trade securityThe first three do not need an explanation: they are obvious. Internal and external security are pre-requisites for any successful society. If India's hard-won food security can be threatened by external threats, then there needs to be some deep introspection. Energy security means diversification, both of hydrocarbon sources, and of types of energy, including renewables, nuclear, biomass, coal-based, and so on.Malign narratives and digital sovereigntyNarrative control is something that the Indian State has failed at so far; it is laughably easy to create hate speech against Indians and India (as has been demonstrated freely by any number of players, starting from the MAGA crowd, to Audrey Truschke to a”Cockroach Janata Party” and some nitwit Norwegian journalist in just the last fortnight) and there are no consequences to the culprits. It's enough to make me pine for Lee Kuan Yew's aggressive legal battles against the media.It's one thing if it were only a problem with foreigners, but with the massive spread of social media, and in particular generativeAI, it is becoming a serious domestic issue. Since India is an avid consumer of social media, and because generativeAI is trained on things like Wikipedia, X, Whatsapp and Google content, biased and motivated material becomes ensconced as The Truth. I have written about narrative warfare and manufacturing consent.This used to be a one-way tsunami of (mis)-information by legacy media, but now there is also the opposite: the wholesale and free vacuuming-up of Indian data (whatever happened to “data is the new oil”?). The “Great Firewall of China” both kept out foreign BIg Tech applications and prevented their plundering Chinese data: is that the way to go?Manufactured narratives are intended for regime change: all the color revolutions today are hatched with massive bot-farms funded by some combination of Deep State, CCP, ISI, Qatar etc. (for example the alleged Gen-Z uprisings that rocked Nepal, drove Sheikh Hasina out of Bangladesh). Thus muzzling malign narratives, and ensuring data security, are imperative.Even Singapore is not immune: it had to block anti-India narratives that likely originated from Chinese sources.A particularly striking example of narrative warfare is the virtual hate speech inducted into Wikipedia by deeply prejudiced anonymous editors. Ashley Rindsberg, who exposed the mighty New York Times' biases in his book The Gray Lady Winked, provides many examples of this.Of note to Indians and Hindus is his recent substack titled “Wikipedia's India War” where he identifies just four editors as having created most of the content condemning the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) in ‘Wikivoice', i.e. the allegedly neutral perspective of Wikipedia. They are, on the contrary, shown to be highly one-sided.As Rindsberg mentions, Wikipedia being central to generativeAI, the damage is baked into the world-view of all AI applications. Truly Orwellian. Says Rindsberg: “four… anonymous accounts can have an enormous impact on what millions of people believe to be the truth.” “Over four years (2021-2025), editors systematically erased HAF's identity as an American civil rights group, transforming its Wikipedia page into a heavily curated dossier of accusations.”Trade, and how the Spice Route was far superior to the Silk RoadFinally, something that is becoming increasingly important: ensuring freedom of trade. This is more than just freedom of navigation, although I find it instructive that Emperor Rajendra Chola sent a huge fleet 1,001 years ago simply to open up the Straits of Malacca. India can make an active attempt to regain primacy in Indian Ocean trade, the whole Pax indica idea.Here is another example of the power of narrative: we have been led to believe that the Silk Road to China was some major highway of commerce between ancient Rome and ancient China, but it was a term coined only in 1877 by the German Ferdinand von Richthofen. There was no highway. A large caravan might take six months, and with 500 camels traversing treacherous deserts and braving bandits, it might carry a maximum of 100 tons. That is puny.In comparison, on the Spice Route, a single stitched ship from Muziris could carry 400 tons of ivory, pepper, silk, tigers and elephants; and the historian Strabo around 1 CE talks about fleets of 250 ships going from Alexandria to India on a six-week monsoon-powered journey. That is 100,000 tons of merchandise. No wonder Pliny the Elder complained that Rome's treasuries were being emptied of gold by India.Simple question: where are hoards of ancient Roman coins found in Asia? Answer: not along the Silk Road. The hoards are in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.Today, it is possible for India to aspire to port-led development of trade, especially with the major ports at Trivandrum (Vizhinjam), Maharashtra (Vadhavan), and Great Nicobar (Galathea Bay). The underlying ‘software' of India's millennia-old trade competency was a ‘multi-protocol switch' as I pointed out, and today's India Stack can replicate that. Then there is the need for a blue-water navy: muscle to provide security on the Hormuz to Malacca sea-lanes.So there is a vision. How can India get there? This is where policy matters, as I discussed with policy expert Anuj Gupta. Policy, especially industrial policy, has had a bad reputation in certain circles because it was deemed to violate the virginal purity of classical capitalism. However, in a recent U-turn, even the World Bank admitted that industrial policy may not be all that bad, after all: the success of Japan, the Asian Tigers, and China can't be ignored.That leads to the question of why policy in India has produced mediocre outcomes, what is different now, and where the best use of policy might be.Industrial Policy: What went wrong in the past?There are many problems here. To begin with, the Soviet model, which Nehruvians swore by, was, in hindsight, a dead end. Second, there is the problem of governance: post-Independence bureaucrats have awkwardly borne the legacy of imperial hauteur and the needs of a developing society. Third, until recently, the bare necessities (food, electricity, road access) were not available to many citizens, and GDP growth was not their priority.There is also the culture of jugaad: of clever ways in which you overcome constraints through frugal improvisation and seat-of-the-pants making-do. This is fine for one-off things (e.g. converting a tractor trailer into a makeshift transport vehicle because your truck broke down), but it does not make for efficient and replicable industrial products. As The Economic Times said recently, it is time to junk jugaad. Quality has to become ingrained in people's minds.The issue of governance is significant: the bureaucracy and the judiciary have both under-performed, politicians, as everywhere, have been venal. It is said that China's growth can be attributed to the fact that its babus are engineers, and therefore with engineering ruthlessness move in straight lines. The US' babus are lawyers, and India's are humanities graduates. Well, engineers are not very good at second-order effects (eg. China's lurch from one-child policy to demographic collapse), but a little bit of ruthlessness is probably good.What is going reasonably well?There are a few modest success stories: for example, in electronics manufacturing or assembly. The PLIs (and DLIs) have produced the desired effort, with clusters of excellence where global suppliers have also set up shop (as they did earlier for the automobile industry in, say, Sriperumpudur). The fact that a lot of iPhones in the US are now imported from India is laudable, even though it may be derided as “screwdriver jobs”. That's where one starts the move up the value chain.The current semiconductor policy is a big hope, especially after the landmark agreement by the Dutch firm ASML with Tata Electronics in Dholera, Gujarat. Given that ASML has a near-monopoly position in Deep Ultraviolet Lithography (DUV) this is a major boost to India's chip ambitions. My recent conversation with AMD CTO Suraj Rengarajan went into India's chances to realize its ambitions.A recent announcement from Trivandrum-based fabless startup NetraSemi (a recipient of DLI) of the commercial availability of its edge AI chips is a landmark.Next is the newly announced plan for energy security revolving around both coal gasification and intensive offshore exploration. These fall squarely into the Atmanirbhar category: India simply cannot afford to have its energy held hostage by distant nations. It also needs distinctly Indian innovation.The Samudra Manthan initiative is also showing some promise. At least one out of three deep-water wells in the Andaman Sea (SriVijaya Puram-3) are reported to be showing the availability of natural gas, although it will take 5-10 years for this to be commercially available.What should the future look like for India's Industrial Policies?This of course is the hard question. Here is my personal perspective, and I accept that reasonable people may disagree. I think three areas need to be focused on, and will pay large dividends.* Drones and swarming software* Social media and AI stack* Maritime Trade and Blue-Water NavyI admit that these are not the only worthwhile industrial policies. Another is for copper, which would reverse the catastrophic effects of the closure of the Sterlite plant in Thoothukkudi, as the metal is an increasingly important component in electronics, data centers, etc., and far from being self-sufficient earlier, India now imports 50% of its needs. Another area of interest in quantum computing.There are also failures from which the right lessons need to be learned. The policy for EV batteries has apparently failed: according to Swarajya magazine, India has not been able to escape from near-total dependence on imported Chinese batteries.Drone swarmsI wrote recently that drones may well herald a step-change in warfare. For the moment, though, they are searching for their niche in offensive/defensive warfare. Drone hardware is already a well-trodden path with Chinese and other nations dominating it, although with IdeaForge, Paras, Garuda, IoTechworld Avigation etc., India is also making progress there. And India is indeed buying the hardware, $2 billion-worth, according to the Economic Times.But I believe the real game is in drone swarms. AI-based control software (similar to HiveMind) that would allow an entire swarm to act autonomously, just like a murmuration of starlings, would be the gold standard to aim for. Such a self-managing swarm would be virtually impossible to defend against, and I think India should put in place a PLI to support it, leveraging software capability in the country.Of course, drones are not just for military purposes, but also for commercial uses including things like logistics and agricultural use, such as precision delivery of fertilizer and pesticide to crops (as Garuda demonstrates). An Indian initiative that supports both drone hardware, and especially drone software, would be a potential winner.Digital Sovereignty: Social media and AI stackThere is a raging battle over which part of the AI stack India needs to invest in. As an old Unix hand, I believe the foundational model is not where the differentiation is. In analogy with Linux (the open-source Unix variant that was popularized by Linus Torvalds and an army of volunteers), there is little value in re-writing the operating system, but one can differentiate by building on top of it, or by judiciously choosing certain modules of it.Besides, the cost of building an entirely new foundational model would be astronomical and would consume the entire budget of IndiaAI Mission.Thus, my personal opinion is that the foundational model (especially when, it is believed, there are more or less open-source models available for free, e.g. Llama, DeepSeek) is not where India should expend its precious R&D resources, but on the layers of the stack above it. It is the data that matters, as Larry Ellison apparently suggests too.But there is the interesting counter-example of Sarvam AI which is producing its own sovereign model: multi-lingual and presumably otherwise tuned to Indian needs. The question is whether this can survive when hundreds of billions worth of capital investment are going to the US Big Tech companies and their Chinese rivals. The sad history of Koo, a Twitter rival, comes to mind. So does Arattai, a Whatsapp rival, whose popularity has waned. .A well-thought-through industrial policy on generativeAI is therefore essential. The status quo ante is unsustainable; given the fact that Sarvam has also found it difficult to raise funds in the US, it is worth pondering whether a China-style massive subsidy is the answer. And where should it go, into foundational models or into the layers of the stack above it? The answer is “both”, but with priority to the latter.Here is where I would prioritize investments, in order:* Vertical applications in specific domains: e.g. defense, healthcare, agriculture, governance (particularly in the judiciary and in ease of doing business in the bureaucracy)* Fine-tuning and customization: for the needs of the Indian context, e.g. multi-linguality under Bhashini* Compute infrastructure: GPUs, sovereign and protected indian datasets* Sovereign Small-Language Models such as Sarvam AIAs mentioned above, at the moment India's data is being sucked up for free by US Big Tech. In addition, there is the real danger that Indic Knowledge Systems will be mined and digested, as has happened to yoga, pranayama, etc., which have been given Western analogs and nomenclature, as in Pilates, ‘coherent breathing' etc.These two problems are connected, and both need to be tackled in parallel. Social media is being weaponized against India, and this is magnified by the legacy media in a positive feedback loop. Three examples: one was the rage against Adani based on the dubious research of Hindenburg, which then went under; the second is Bloomberg's reckless accusation about gold reserves being sold by the RBI, which they were forced to retract, but social media and Wikipedia will remember it; the third is the meteoric (media) rise of the Cockroach Janata Party.Trade using major ports, Digital Public Infrastructure and a blue water navyUsing trade for competitive advantage is an age-old tactic. The trade tiffs between the US and China are examples of this: we are witnessing war by other means. Many nations are getting into this act, and India does have some advantages, partly based on geography. Maritime trade is likely to continue to be the key, which makes naval chokepoints the big story, but not the only story to watch out for.The major aspects of maritime trade include infrastructure, the digital “multi-protocol switch”, and security. On the one hand, India is developing not only major container ports, and the road/rail links to get to them, and the industrial goods to ship out through them, but also a serious shipbuilding industry, which was one of India's historical strengths. Then it used to be stitched wooden ships (teak beams lashed together with coconut rope). Now it's modern steel ships.There are the big, efficient new ports, which can now turn ships around with Singapore-like efficiency; the proposed third aircraft carrier group which will make it possible to patrol the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal at the time; the Air-Independent Propulsion diesel submarines and nuclear submarines that can monitor (and if necessary, deny) narrow straits; the sale of supersonic Brahmos cruise missiles to the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia (and Cyprus) that create ship-denial zones: all this is muscle.And the final piece, the ‘software' for trade, the “multi-protocol switch”. This last is complicated. Its value is underestimated by many. But this is what enables friction-less transactions between various unrelated parties. The India Stack and the Digital Public Infrastructure can be utilized to provide such a facility. But it is complex enough to need significant study as to what is possible, and how to roll it out.Second-order effectsIn closing, it is worth considering some of what the (unintended) consequences of these proposals may be. Let us note that the G2 has no interest in allowing India to grow and make it a G3. They will do everything in their power to kneecap India, by all means possible.There is also a certain derision for India in some circles. Here is a generic western opinion on why China got rich, and India didn't. Well, the author doesn't consider the second-order effects of the wholesale destruction of Chinese civilization: that is a tradeoff Indians may not prefer for themselves. We all know how China's well-intentioned One Child Policy turned into demographic collapse within a few years. Besides, as The Economist asks, “China is innovative. Its economy is a mess. Which will win out?”This is why I think planning for these second-order effects is important. We tend to ignore them because they seem counterintuitive or unlikely, but Nassim Taleb has sensitized us to how low-probability Black Swan events can have grave consequences.As an example, attempting digital sovereignty may have unwelcome side-effects: Big Tech have the first-mover advantage and network effects and there are increasing returns to scale. They will surely make it hard for a new player to break in. Besides, the large investments in data centers and GCCs that they are making in India would make it very difficult for them to be ejected with a “Great Indian Firewall”.Even taxing their capture of Indian data will be complicated; not to mention that they have demonstrated that they can happily violate copyright laws with no consequence; therefore they will find ways to chew up and spit out Indian Knowledge Systems, and essentially re-colonize India. Digital colonialism is not a threat, it is a reality today, and it is a consequence of the relatively open Indian system.In addition, there is a malign group, the “barbarians within” as Arnold Toynbee once put it, who are ready to sacrifice Indian sovereignty for a pittance.Given all this, it will be very difficult to put in place serious measures to gain digital independence; and the narrative-peddling is likely to gain further momentum: just consider the caste allegations that have haunted BAPS in the US (despite the cases being dismissed by the US DoJ), the Cisco Systems case where, again, the case was dismissed, but the narrative continues, and the persistent efforts in various US states to turn caste into a weapon to bludgeon Indians.Another sensitive issue is that of the multi-protocol switch for trade. While from an Indian point of view, it eases trade and harks back to a Golden Age of Indic maritime commerce, but that will be viewed elsewhere very differently, for instance by the US as an attempt to de-dollarize. The US has jealousy guarded – with very good reasons that we will not go into here – the dollar's reserve currency status.We have also seen what happened to those who attempt to hurt the dollar's primacy: in 1985, the Plaza Accord devalued the dollar, and that was a body blow to Japan's economy, which has not recovered its mojo to this day. Later, Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi both had ideas about replacing the petro-dollar with, respectively, the Euro and a new pan-African gold-backed currency. We know what happened to them.If the India Stack multi-protocol switch is perceived as an alternative to the US dollar, there may be grave consequences. Therefore, it should be conceived and deployed only as an adjunct to it and to the almighty SWIFT settlement system.ConclusionIndia is at a crossroads now. Even though the Hormuz closure is a serious problem, if it plays its cards right, adversity can be turned into opportunity across a variety of perspectives. The key is Atmanirbhar, self-reliance. If India can now implement a crash program of industrial policy, and at the same time overcome an ingrained Third-World tendency to cut corners, it can finally break free of the years of underperformance, what I called the Nehruvian Penalty in 2004.It is possible, but there are caveats: unforeseen consequences. Hic sunt dracones. Here be dragons. Be afraid. Be very afraid.3700 words, 7 June 2026This is episode 192 of the Shadow Warrior podcast. Here is a companion AI-generated slideshow. (Note that the borders of India are not necessarily depicted correctly here, because it is generated by an AI, notebookLM.google.com) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com/subscribe

Fluent Fiction - Hindi: Capturing Dreams: A Sunset of Friendship and Freedom Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/hi/episode/2026-06-06-22-34-02-hi Story Transcript:Hi: समुद्र की लहरें सपनों की तरह किनारे से टकरा रही थीं।En: The waves of the sea were crashing against the shore like dreams.Hi: मुंबई की मशहूर मरीन ड्राइव पर गर्मियों की शाम सजी हुई थी।En: The famous Marine Drive of Mumbai was adorned on a summer evening.Hi: शहर की हलचल, समुद्री हवा में एक नई गति सी मिल रही थी।En: The hustle and bustle of the city seemed to gain a new pace in the sea breeze.Hi: इस खूबसूरत शाम के बीच में, अरुण कैमरा लिए अपने विचारों में खोया था।En: Amidst this beautiful evening, Arun was lost in his thoughts with a camera in hand.Hi: वह एक आर्किटेक्ट था, पर उसे कभी-कभी लगता था कि उसकी असली आज़ादी कैमरे के लेंस के पीछे छुपी हुई थी।En: He was an architect, but sometimes felt that his true freedom lay hidden behind the camera lens.Hi: अरुण की बगल में खड़ी प्रिय यह सब समझती थी।En: Standing next to Arun, Priya understood all this.Hi: वह कला की दुनिया से गहराई में जुड़ी हुई थी।En: She was deeply connected to the world of art.Hi: उनका दोस्त विनय, जो उन्हीं के साथ कंपनी में काम करता था, जीवन के प्रति एक व्यावहारिक दृष्टिकोण रखता था।En: Their friend Vinay, who worked with them at the same company, had a practical perspective on life.Hi: इस शाम का खास कारण था अरुण का इच्छा, वह खास पल कैद करने का - जब सूरज अरबी समुद्र में धीरे-धीरे डूबे और उसका प्रतिबिंब अरुण के जीवन में एक नया आकार ले।En: The special reason for this evening was Arun's desire to capture the special moment when the sun slowly set in the Arabian Sea and its reflection took on a new shape in Arun's life.Hi: लेकिन तभी, अचानक, अरुण को अपनी सांसों में अजीब सी घुटन महसूस होने लगी।En: But suddenly, Arun began to feel a strange suffocation in his breath.Hi: अस्थमा का दौरा उसे जकड़ने लगा।En: An asthma attack started gripping him.Hi: उसकी आँखों के सामने हल्का अँधेरा छाने लगा और एक पल के लिए उसके हाथ से कैमरा गिरते-गिरते बचा।En: A light darkness began to cloud his eyes, and his camera almost slipped from his hands for a moment.Hi: प्रिय ने तुरंत अरुण की समस्या को भांप लिया।En: Priya immediately sensed Arun's problem.Hi: उसने बिना देरी किए उसका इनहेलर पकड़ा और उसे आराम करने का सुझाव दिया।En: Without delay, she handed him his inhaler and suggested he relax.Hi: विनय भी पास आ गया, उसने अरुण के कंधे पर हाथ रखा और कहा, "हम यहां हैं दोस्त, इसे संभालो।En: Vinay also came over, placed a hand on Arun's shoulder, and said, "We're here, friend, take control."Hi: "अरुण का मन विचलित हो रहा था, क्या वह उस पल को खो देगा?En: Arun's mind was unsettled—would he lose that moment?Hi: लेकिन प्रिय और विनय के सहयोग से उसने धीरे-धीरे साँसें सामान्य कीं।En: But with the support of Priya and Vinay, he slowly steadied his breathing.Hi: अब सूरज लगभग क्षितिज के समीप था।En: The sun was now almost at the horizon.Hi: अरुण ने कैमरा उठाया, और उस सुनहरी रोशनी में वह क्षण कैद कर लिया।En: Arun picked up the camera and captured the moment in that golden light.Hi: उस शाम अरुण ने फोटो तो खींच ही लिया, लेकिन साथ ही उसे यह भी समझ में आया कि असली आज़ादी कभी-कभी अपने दोस्तों के सहारे मिलती है, न कि अकेले उड़ान भरने में।En: That evening, Arun not only took the photo but also realized that true freedom sometimes comes with the support of friends, not by flying solo.Hi: इस अहसास ने उसके जीवन में एक नई दिशा दी।En: This realization gave a new direction to his life.Hi: मरीन ड्राइव की उस शाम ने उसे यह सिखाया कि मंज़िल तक पहुँचने के लिए, कभी-कभी दूसरों का साथ ज़रूरी होता है।En: That evening on Marine Drive taught him that to reach the destination, sometimes the support of others is necessary.Hi: दोस्तों के सहारे उसने उस पूरी शाम का भरपूर आनंद लिया।En: With the help of friends, he fully enjoyed the entire evening. Vocabulary Words:crashing: टकरा रही थींadorned: सजी हुई थीhustle: हलचलbustle: हलचलpace: गतिamidst: बीच मेंlens: लेंसsuffocation: घुटनgripping: जकड़नेcloud: अँधेराwaver: विचलितunsettled: विचलितrealization: अहसासdestination: मंज़िलreflection: प्रतिबिंबsensed: भांप लियाsuggested: सुझाव दियाpractical: व्यावहारिकperspective: दृष्टिकोणcapture: कैदhorizon: क्षितिजsupport: सहारेasthma: अस्थमाsteered: संभालाcherish: आनंद लियाfreedom: आज़ादीbreeze: हवाsteady: सामान्यart: कलाdirection: दिशा

Three months into the Iran war, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have largely been absent, depriving Iran of an opportunity to increase further pressure on Saudi Arabia, global energy markets, and international trade. The Houthis could have bolstered Iranian leverage by disrupting shipping in the narrow Bab al-Mandab waterway, which connects the Suez Canal with the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Some ten per cent of global trade passes through the strategic waterway. The disruption would have come on top of Iran's throttling of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz through which 20 per cent of the world's oil flowed before the war and the US naval blockade of Iranian ports. It would also have threatened Saudi Arabia's efforts to enhance existing and develop alternative export routes that circumvent the Strait of Hormuz by directing oil and trade to the kingdom's Red Sea coast. The Houthis have good reason to hold their fire and limit their support for Iran to statements and the symbolic firing of a few missiles in the direction of Israel in the first month of the war.

The following podcast was recorded as a solo episode by me, Andrew, about a month ago. It was released as a video on Rumble and is available here, if you'd prefer to watch: https://rumble.com/v78jslg-i-hope-im-wrong-about-iran.html The 2005 article from Scott Horton I mention is available here: https://original.antiwar.com/scott/2005/08/05/whos-behind-the-coming-war-with-iran/ “Access to Saudi oil and the Arabian Sea could... The post I Hope I'm Wrong About Iran appeared first on sounding board.

Fluent Fiction - Hindi: Dreams, Reality, and Tea: A Morning at Marine Drive Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/hi/episode/2026-05-01-07-38-19-hi Story Transcript:Hi: मुंबई का एक खुशनुमा सुबह थी।En: It was a pleasant morning in Mumbai.Hi: बसंत की हल्की ठंडी हवा समुद्र के किनारे बह रही थी।En: A light, cool breeze of spring was blowing by the sea.Hi: मरीन ड्राइव के चाय की एक छोटी सी दुकान पर तीन दोस्त बैठे थे।En: Three friends were sitting at a small tea shop on Marine Drive.Hi: पास में अरब सागर की लहरें किनारे से टकरा रही थीं।En: Nearby, the waves of the Arabian Sea were crashing against the shore.Hi: ऐसे में जीवन की हलचल में भी एक अजीब सुकून का एहसास हो रहा था।En: Amidst the hustle and bustle of life, there was a strange feeling of tranquility.Hi: आरव, रिया, और कबीर – तीनों दोस्तों में गर्मागर्म बहस छिड़ी हुई थी।En: Aarav, Riya, and Kabir – a heated debate was on between the three friends.Hi: आरव, जो हमेशा तर्कसंगत और व्यावहारिक दृष्टिकोण रखता था, चाहता था कि रिया उसके नजरिए को समझे।En: Aarav, who always had a logical and practical approach, wanted Riya to understand his point of view.Hi: "देखो रिया, तुम्हारे सपने बहुत अच्छे हैं, लेकिन हमें वास्तविकता को भी समझना होगा।" आरव बोला, उसकी आवाज में चिंता स्पष्ट थी।En: "Look Riya, your dreams are great, but we have to understand the reality too," Aarav said, his concern evident in his voice.Hi: रिया, अपने सपनों को लेकर हमेशा उत्साहित रहती थी। वह हंसते हुए बोली, "चिंता मत करो आरव।En: Riya, who always remained enthusiastic about her dreams, laughed and said, "Don't worry, Aarav.Hi: सपने ही जीवन को रंगीन बनाते हैं। अगर मैं जोखिम नहीं उठाऊंगी, तो क्या जीवन जीना इतना मजेदार होगा?"En: It's the dreams that make life colorful. If I don't take risks, will living be as fun?"Hi: कबीर, जो हमेशा दोनों पक्षों को समझने की कोशिश करता था, अपनी करारी चाय की चुस्की लेते हुए बोला, "दोनों की अपनी-अपनी जगह सही हो सकती है।En: Kabir, who always tried to understand both sides, said, sipping his strong tea, "Both have their own place.Hi: शायद हमें बीच का रास्ता ढूंढना चाहिए।"En: Maybe we should find a middle path."Hi: चर्चा धीरे-धीरे गहराती जा रही थी। तभी, वहां एक सड़क कलाकार आया।En: The discussion was gradually deepening when a street performer arrived there.Hi: उसने अपने करतब दिखाने शुरू किए, लहराते हुए रस्सी पर चलते हुए सभी को चौंका दिया।En: He started showing his tricks, walking on a swinging rope, astounding everyone.Hi: सबकी निगाहें उसी पर जम गईं।En: All eyes turned to him.Hi: आरव को कसमसा कर सोचने पर मजबूर कर दिया - एक ऐसा व्यक्ति, जिसने अपनी कला का जोखिम उठाया और दर्शकों के दिल पर छाप छोड़ दी।En: It forced Aarav to think – a person who took the risk for his art and left an impression on the hearts of the audience.Hi: उस पल, आरव के मन में एक नई सोच जागी।En: At that moment, a new thought arose in Aarav's mind.Hi: उसने अपनी सख्तियों को कुछ समय के लिए छोड़कर रिया की तरफ देखा।En: He decided to let go of his rigidity for a while and looked at Riya.Hi: "शायद सपने भी अपनी जगह पर सही हैं," उसने स्वीकार करने के भाव से कहा।En: "Maybe dreams are right in their own way," he said with a sense of acceptance.Hi: रिया ने मुस्कराते हुए आरव की तरफ देखा। "और मैं समझती हूँ कि कभी-कभी हमें हकीकत का भी सामना करना चाहिए," रिया ने अपनी स्वीकृति दी।En: Riya looked at Aarav and smiled. "And I understand that sometimes we have to face reality too," Riya accepted her understanding.Hi: कबीर, जो इस समय बस शांति से साक्षी बना था, मुस्कराते हुए कहता है, "देखो, हर बहस का एक अंत होता ही है।"En: Kabir, who was now simply a peaceful witness, smiled and said, "See, every debate indeed has an end."Hi: उसने चाय का प्याला उठाते हुए वही संतुलन देख लिया, जिसे वह ढूंढ रहा था।En: Lifting his tea cup, he saw the balance he was looking for.Hi: समुद्र किनारे की हवा ने जैसे तीनों दोस्तों के मन को तरोताजा कर दिया।En: The breeze by the sea seemed to refresh the minds of the three friends.Hi: आरव ने अब अनिश्चितता को भी स्वीकार करने का मन बना लिया, जब कि रिया ने अपने सपनों के साथ थोड़ी प्रैक्टिकल दृष्टि भी जोड़ ली थी।En: Aarav had now decided to accept uncertainty, whereas Riya added a bit of practical perspective to her dreams.Hi: सभी ने अपने रास्ते खुश होकर आगे बढ़ने का फैसला किया, हाथ में एक गर्म चाय का प्याला और दिल में दोस्ती की गर्माहट।En: They all decided to move forward happily on their paths, with a warm cup of tea in hand and the warmth of friendship in their hearts. Vocabulary Words:pleasant: खुशनुमाbreeze: हवाcrashing: टकरा रही थींamidst: बीच मेंstrange: अजीबtranquility: सुकूनheated: गर्मागर्मdebate: बहसlogical: तर्कसंगतapproach: दृष्टिकोणconcern: चिंताevident: स्पष्टenthusiastic: उत्साहितrisks: जोखिमsipping: चुस्की लेतेgradually: धीरे-धीरेdeepening: गहरातीperformer: कलाकारastounding: चौंका दियाaudience: दर्शकोंimpression: छापrigidity: सख्तियोंacceptance: स्वीकृतिwitness: साक्षीrefresh: तरोताजाuncertainty: अनिश्चितताwarmth: गर्माहटpractical: व्यावहारिकperspective: दृष्टिbalance: संतुलन

The US and Iran still have not reached a deal to end the war, but one winner is already clear: China. This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Gabriel Dunatov, engineered by David Tatasciore, and hosted by Noel King. US forces patrol the Arabian Sea near the Strait of Hormuz. Handout Photo by the US Navy via Getty Images. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. New Vox members get $20 off their membership right now. Transcript at ⁠vox.com/today-explained-podcast.⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join us for an unforgettable Heartland Experience trip: https://israelguys.link/israel-trip-86excg1mz  President Trump just issued a post on Truth Social saying "Iran has informed us they are in a state of collapse." And when you look at the evidence emerging from Iran, that post could almost seem like an understatement.  Iran is facing an existential crisis with how to handle their oil, the economic strain is also exacting a huge toll on China, and new intelligence is indicating the people of Iran may be preparing to take to the streets yet again.  Sign up for The Israel Guys Show Notes: https://theisraelguys.com/subscribe/ Join our Members Group! https://israelguys.link/donate-86ex929h6  Follow The Israel Guys on X: https://x.com/theisraelguys Join our Telegram channel: https://t.me/theisraelguys Source Notes:  Iran's security council warns of economic collapse and potential protests https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-894370 Iranian embassies abroad recruiting fighters willing to "sacrifice their lives" https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-894453 Trump claims Iran is in a "state of collapse" https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116482569681977454 New peace proposal while internal Iranian issues complicate negotiations https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-894477 Iran using improvised storage and transport methods for oil https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-894461 China's economy shows strain from the war https://www.jpost.com/international/article-894436 Iran highlights vulnerability of undersea internet cables in the Strait of Hormuz https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-894478 Iran's internal divisions and blockade pressures https://jewishbreakingnews.com/analysis-irans-irgc-is-sabotaging-its-own-ceasefire-and-the-generals-holding-the-phones-have-no-incentive-to-stop/ Challenges of Shutting down oil wells https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-05-28/shutting-down-oil-wells-a-risky-and-expensive-option/#:~:text=An%20oil%20field%20is%20a,injecting%20chemicals%20into%20the%20well. Trump preparing for a prolonged blockade https://www.timesofisrael.com/keeping-talks-with-us-sputtering-along-iran-may-be-looking-for-time-not-a-deal/ U.S. Marines seizing vessel in the Arabian Sea https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2049171777926877463?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2049171777926877463%7Ctwgr%5Ea78e85e2af503cf3c2853795c0ac19a573521eee%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.israelnationalnews.com%2Fnews%2F426234 #Israelnews #Hezbollah #Lebanon #Iranwar #Trump #Bibi #Americannews #Ceasefire #Trump  

Three aircraft carriers in the Arabian Sea for the first time since March 2003 suggests another 'shock and awe' campaign is being considered. The 'ceasefire' between the US and Iran is holding, but for how much longer? Trump talks up his 'blockade of their blockade', but it's clear what is suffering most from Iranian defiance - Trump's reputation and American 'prestige', which the Americans are itching to salvage. Meanwhile an armed nutcase attempted to barge his way into the annual White...

For review:1. US President Donald Trump canceled a trip to Islamabad by two envoys to meet Iran war mediator Pakistan on Saturday after Iran's foreign minister flew out of the Pakistani capital following talks, dealing a new setback to peace prospects.Presidnet Trump said in a social media post that he had called off the planned visit by his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, citing what he said was tremendous confusion in the Iranian leadership.2. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the IDF to go after Hezbollah targets “with force” on Saturday, as the terror group and the Israeli military continued to trade fire in northern Israel and southern Lebanon, despite the extension of the tenuous ceasefire between the warring sides by several more weeks.3. East Coast carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is now operating in the Middle East after a sailing around the southern tip of Africa, U.S. Central Command announced on Thursday. Bush's entrance into CENTCOM marks the first time three carriers have been in the Middle East since the height of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) has been operating in the Arabian Sea since January while USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) has been operating in the Red Sea since last week, USNI News reported.4. North Korea recently launched five short range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) armed with cluster munitions against an island target in the Sea of Japan for the second time this month, further trialing the warhead's capabilities, state media reported Monday.5. USAF plans to more than double its F-15EX Eagle II fleet to 267 aircraft, up from the previously planned 129, as part of the fiscal 2027 budget request rolled out this week. The revised plan calls for 24 additional Eagle IIs next year at a cost of roughly $3 billion, according to the service's fiscal 2027 budget request.6. The Pentagon's Munitions Acceleration Council (MAC) is homing in on 14 legacy and “emerging” munitions as part of its ambitious plan to ramp up the production and ink a series of multi-year deals, according to fiscal 2027 budget documents.The Legacy Weapons: ·        Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors·        Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) interceptors ·        Standard Missile-3 IIA ·        SM-6·        SM-3 Block IB·        Tomahawk Land Attack Missile ·        Joint Advanced Tactical Missile  ·        Low-Cost Cruise Missile ·        Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile ·        Maritime Strike Tomahawk ·        Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range·        Long Range Anti-Ship MissileEmerging Capabilities: ·        Low-Cost Hypersonic Strike Weapon ·        Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) Increment 1 7. US Army has unveiled plans for the future of its ground vehicle fleet, as well as what it refers to as its biggest modernization priority: Next Generation Command & Control (NGC2). The newly released budget documents reveal, that the service is looking to procure over 100 XM30 vehicles in the coming years, provide hundreds of millions of dollars for the Mobile Tactical Cannon (MTC) program, and invest almost $4 billion across consolidated NGC2 budget lines.

Hour 3 of the Bob Rose Show, on the deadline for peace talks before a ceasefire ends, as the US ramps up pressure on Iran's shipping of oil to China. The latest capture of a tanker headed through the Arabian Sea. Will talks take place, and what's at stake for Iran. Plus, all of Tuesday morning's biggest news stories for 4-21-26

For review:1. American forces seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship after it tried to bypass a U.S. naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman, President Trump said Sunday.“Guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) intercepted M/V Touska as it transited the north Arabian Sea at 17 knots en route to Bandar Abbas, Iran. American forces issued multiple warnings and informed the Iranian-flagged vessel it was in violation of the U.S. blockade,” the US Central Command says in a statement. 2. Vice President JD Vance will lead a U.S. delegation for another round of talks with Iran in Islamabad before the ceasefire is scheduled to end on Tuesday night, two U.S. officials tell Axios.US President Donald Trump said Sunday that talks with Iran on extending the ceasefire would resume on Tuesday, while the Islamic Republic indicated it was not planning to send a delegation and was pessimistic about the prospects of the talks.3. Iran swiftly reversed course on reopening the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, reimposing restrictions on the critical waterway after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iran-linked shipping.4. The Israeli military on Saturday confirmed carrying out several strikes in southern Lebanon over the previous day against Hezbollah operatives who “violated the ceasefire understandings,” in the first such action since the truce took effect at midnight between Thursday and Friday.5. French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said Hezbollah was responsible for the death of a French soldier in an attack on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, while the UN Interim Force in Lebanon blamed “non-state actors,” code for the Iran-backed terror group.6. Australia has outlined plans to boost its defense spending to three percent of its Gross Domestic Product in the coming years, while reaffirming that the US remains its closest ally and principal strategic partner.7. Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) is now operating in U.S. Central Command, two defense officials confirmed to USNI News on Friday.Ford joins the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group already in CENTCOM. The move to the Red Sea comes as a third carrier strike group is approaching U.S. Central Command. USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) is transiting around the southern tip of Africa, heading to the Middle East, USNI News reported last week.8. If the US Army gets its way, it will not be buying additional M109A7 Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) howitzers next year as it looks at alternative options to fill the gap.  

The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has begun and we now have a clearer picture of how it's going to work. It doesn't just cover the strait itself. It runs along the entire Iranian coastline, out through the Gulf of Oman, which the strait feeds into, and then further again into the Arabian Sea. At least two ships have already been turned back. One of them, unsurprisingly, was headed for China. Now here's the key point. If - and it is a very big if - the United States can successfully keep oil tankers away from Iran, the impact could be fast and severe. We're talking 10 to 20 days. Iran can apparently store only around 13 days' worth of oil production. Once those tanks are full, they're forced to start shutting oil wells. And that's something they really don't want to do. Shutting down an oil well can permanently damage its production capacity. There's no guarantee you ever get it back to where it was. Restarting wells is expensive, risky and slow. Beyond that, there's the wider economic hit. Around 90 percent of Iran's oil exports go through Hormuz - and they've continued exporting despite the war. In fact, they've been earning more, not less. Iran has no real alternative route. So if exports stop, so does the cash. No oil money means no imports, the currency falls, inflation explodes and you start seeing cascading economic problems very quickly. The oil production damage is pretty much a slam dunk. The bigger debate is how fast the broader economy feels it. Because there's a counter‑argument here: Iran may already have as much as 160 million barrels of oil floating at sea. If that's right, China keeps getting its oil, Iran keeps getting paid, and this can drag on through to mid-July. And that's the worst-case scenario for the rest of us. Because then this isn't a short, sharp shock - it's a long siege. And that hurts globally. Even the small amount of Iranian oil that's been leaking onto the market in the past six weeks has been helping to keep prices down. The Economist is calling this a big gamble and that's exactly what it is. This has the potential to cripple Iran quickly - or to strangle the world economy very slowly. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For review:1.  The U.S. proposed that Iran accept a 20-year moratorium on uranium enrichment during talks over the weekend, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge..  The Iranians countered with a shorter "single digit" period, according to the sources.2.  US Aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) is operating off the coast of Namibia, as it sails around the African continent and is set to join a growing naval force in the Arabian Sea amid a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, USNI News has learned. 3.  The US military on Monday detailed the boundaries of its Strait of Hormuz blockade, saying it would extend east to the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea, while ship-tracking data showed two ships turned around in the strait as the blockade went into effect. The blockade began at 10 a.m. US Eastern Time on Monday. 4.  Responding to the US blockade announcement, Iran said the move was illegal and “amounts to piracy,” and threatened a “forceful response” to any renewed military action amid a fragile 14-day ceasefire that was reached last week. 5.  France and Britain will co-host a summit this week to discuss a “coordinated, independent, multinational plan” to safeguard shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday. 6.  All three major Hebrew TV networks reported that the IDF is gearing up for renewed conflict with Iran after the ceasefire talks between the United States and the Islamic Republic collapsed, in what appeared to be a coordinated leak by defense officials on Sunday. 7.   The Israeli military has nearly completed the capture of the Hezbollah stronghold of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, killing more than 100 members of the terror group in the area in the process, the Israel Defense Forces said Monday. 8. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Monday urged Lebanon to cancel a planned meeting with Israel in Washington the following day, reiterating his group's rejection of direct negotiations with its sworn enemy. 9.  Israeli PM Netanyahu castigated Europe on Monday, as Israel ushered in Holocaust Remembrance Day in a pre-recorded ceremony, amid ongoing hostilities with Iran and the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon. 10.  European allies must wean themselves off an “addiction” to US defense capabilities and step up regional military planning and rearmament, Swedish defense minister Jonson told Breaking Defense in an exclusive interview. 

Military sources say a British nuclear-powered Royal Navy submarine has arrived in the Arabian Sea. It is capable of launching cruise missile attacks on Iran.

On March 17, 2026, the U.S.S. Tripoli is steaming at (I presume) flank speed (an exclusively American naval term, signifying above full speed) from Japan to the Arabian Sea. 2,500 Marines man this assault ship, with 35 vertical take-off F35s and a bunch of tilt-rotor Ospreys on board this semi-aircraft carrier. In another chapter in the U.S. Marine story, are these 2,500 Marines in their vertical take-off Ospreys about to write more glorious history “from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli”? I think so. My crystal ball says that they will be storming the Strait of Hormuz and securing it. Along with the seizure of Kharg Island, that will seal the final doom of the mad-dog mullahs and their tyranny over the Persian people and their terrorism over the whole world….including, as President Trump correctly judged…..us!

The Iran war just got real. Radell Lewis breaks down the mounting U.S. casualties, the cruise missile strike on a girls' elementary school that the administration lied about, and why 2,500 Marines are now headed to the Arabian Sea. Oil just surged past $120 a barrel, the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed, and analysts are warning this conflict could trigger a full recession. Meanwhile, Anthropic refused to let the Pentagon use its AI for autonomous weapons and mass surveillance, so the administration blacklisted them and OpenAI rushed in to fill the gap, prompting a top executive resignation and a wave of ChatGPT uninstalls. The SAVE Act threatens to disenfranchise 21 million voters with proof of citizenship requirements that will hit rural Republicans just as hard as urban Democrats, and Trump wants anti trans provisions and a mail ballot ban attached before he signs anything else into law. Plus, ISIS inspired terror plots in New York City and Michigan show the domestic threat is escalating alongside the foreign one. In the Research on a Dime segment, Radell dives deep into the presidential pardon system, its origins in English royal mercy, Alexander Hamilton and George Mason's debate at the Constitutional Convention, and why the founders' safeguards have completely failed in the Trump era. Also featured: the good news the media ignores, from avalanche rescues powered by Find My iPhone to human brain cells playing Doom and MIT engineers growing artificial liver tissue. Topics covered: U.S. Iran war escalation, Tomahawk cruise missile school strike, Strait of Hormuz oil crisis, Brent crude price surge, AI Pentagon contracts, Anthropic lawsuit, OpenAI military deal, ChatGPT controversy, SAVE Act voter ID requirements, mail in ballot ban, filibuster politics, presidential pardon power, self pardon debate, constitutional amendment proposals, ISIS domestic terror plot, sleeper cell warnings, Iran war economic impact, renewable energy transition, pro human AI declaration, NVIDIA chip export rules Purple Political Breakdown: Political Solutions Without Political Bias Host: Radell Lewis New episodes daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and the Alive Podcast Network app.Standard Resource Links & RecommendationsThe following organizations and platforms represent valuable resources for balanced political discourse and democratic participation: PODCAST NETWORKCheck Out the Podcast Website: www.purplepoliticalbreakdown.comALIVE Podcast Network - Check out the ALIVE Network where you can catch a lot of great podcasts like my own, led by amazing Black voices. 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March, 14 2026, 7 AM; The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad was struck by a missile according to Iraqi security forces Saturday morning, after U.S. forces bombed targets on Iran's Kharg Island, home to the primary terminal that handles that country's oil exports. Meanwhile, MS NOW has learned the military plans to send 5K troops and several additional ships to the Arabian Sea, a day after the U.S. military confirmed six U.S. service members were killed when a refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq. Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth addressed the tragedy nearly 9 minutes into his press briefing yesterday after first scolding the media. Terry Moran and Toluse Olorunnipa join The Weekend to discuss the latest with the war in Iran. For more, follow us on social media: Bluesky: @theweekendmsnow.bsky.social Instagram: @theweekendmsnow TikTok: @theweekendmsnow To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On Thursday's Washington Times Front Page: Hundreds of ships are idling in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman because they are unwilling to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without naval escorts or insurance coverage, the Pentagon is pouring billions of dollars into new technologies that can survive and excel in extreme cold, and more.

In this episode, Dale and Christophe break down the U.S. Navy's role in Operation Epic Fury — the massive American military campaign launched against Iran on February 28, 2026. From the decades of tension that set the stage, to the opening Tomahawk salvo, the systematic destruction of the Iranian Navy, and the debut of revolutionary new drone technology, this episode covers the full naval picture of one of the most significant military operations in a generation.Note: Everything discussed in this episode reflects what has been publicly reported as of early March 2026. Details may be updated or corrected as more information becomes available. Some cost figures are modeled estimates from think tanks, not confirmed Pentagon data. Operational details — including submarine deployments, munitions counts, and targeting specifics — reflect only what officials have chosen to disclose publicly.The episode opens with the 45-year history of U.S.-Iran tensions that made Operation Epic Fury inevitable — from the 1979 hostage crisis, to the IRGC's systematic harassment of commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, to the 2019 tanker attacks, to Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025, when the U.S. struck Iran's nuclear facilities using B-2 stealth bombers and submarine-launched Tomahawks.From there, Dale and Christophe walk through the full naval order of battle assembled for Epic Fury — the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike groups, fourteen Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, three littoral combat ships, and an undisclosed number of submarines operating across the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the eastern Mediterranean — and explain why the geographic positioning of each asset was as strategic as the assets themselves.The episode then dives into the opening Tomahawk campaign, the systematic destruction of the Iranian Navy — including the first sinking of an enemy vessel by U.S. torpedo since World War II — and Iran's massive retaliatory barrage of 500+ ballistic missiles and 2,000+ drones in the first four days of the war. Dale and Christoph examine how the Navy's Aegis missile defense systems held the line, and why the sustainability of interceptor stockpiles is one of the most pressing strategic questions hanging over the operation.The second half of the episode covers the combat debut of LUCAS — the $35,000 drone reverse-engineered from Iran's own Shahed-136 — and the critical but largely invisible role of the EA-18G Growler in clearing the electronic path over Iranian airspace. The episode closes with a hard look at the economics of the operation, the shift to Phase 2 targeting Iran's missile production industrial base, and what Operation Epic Fury reveals about the future of American sea power — including the vulnerabilities it has exposed along the way.Email us at usnavyhistorypodcast@gmail.com, find us on X at @USNHistoryPod, and join the conversation on our Discord server — https://discord.gg/bJ9Q5vXE. If you enjoyed this episode, tell a friend. It really helps.Fair winds and following seas.

Since the U.S. and Israel first struck Iran on Saturday, energy prices have been on the rise. Oil prices are up around 13 per cent, and LNG – liquefied natural gas – is up around 75 per cent. 20 per cent of the world's oil and LNG pass through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, a passageway between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea that is effectively being blocked by Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Eric Reguly is The Globe and Mail's European Bureau Chief. He joins the show to talk about the role energy plays in the war in Iran, and how the reverberations are being felt far beyond the Middle East. Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Is the U.S. government preparing to go to war with Iran? Leading up to talks set to happen towards the end of the week in Geneva, the Trump administration has also threatened Iran with war, saying the country has “10 to 15 days” as of February 20th to agree to a deal - putting Trump's one-sided deadline somewhere in the first week of March.In apparent preparation for military strikes, massive amounts of military equipment have been sent to the region, including dispatching the USS Gerald R Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, to the Arabian Sea near the Persian Gulf. At least 120 aircraft, including F-35 stealth strike fighters and F/A 18-E Super Hornets, have been sent to the region with the Ford, in addition to E-3 Sentry AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) used for command & control operations as well as surveillance. The Ford will be joining the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is already off the coast of Oman.As we come up on the 23rd anniversary of the 2003 US war on Iraq as well as the 15th anniversary of the US-led NATO invasion of Libya, we'll look back at what led up to them, the lessons learned from the anti-war movement of the period, and how we can stop the next war:Stand for self-determination and against imperialist aggressionThe primary responsibility of those in the US is to oppose their government's actionsDon't fall into the trap of tailing the Democrats, the graveyard of social movements.Support the show

India Detains Iranian Ships in Arabian Sea | Trump Deflated by SC | Bangla Reset Start? | Aadi Achint

News of a potential choreographed change at the top of the ECB has pushed Europe's Stoxx 600 to another record close. Wall Street also closed in the green even though FOMC minutes signal a rate cut pause in the near term. We are live at the A.I. Impact summit in New Delhi where we hear from Microsoft CEO Brad Smith. He tells CNBC that U.S. and European tech companies should be wary of increased Chinese competition within the A.I. sector. Continued tensions in the Arabian Sea over potential U.S. naval intervention in Iran, pushing crude prices more than 4 per cent higher in yesterday's session. Swiss food giant Nestlé beats Q4 sales expectations and has unveiled plans to streamline its product portfolio. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

//The Wire//2300Z February 17, 2026////ROUTINE////BLUF: MASS SHOOTING REPORTED IN RHODE ISLAND. IRANIAN FORCES CONTINUE NAVAL DRILLS AS AMERICAN FORCES BEGIN MASS MOVEMENT INTO MIDDLE EAST.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events-Caribbean: American forces continue airstrikes on narco vessels, with three fastboats sunk overnight in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. Two strikes were carried out in the Pacific, and the third in the Caribbean. A total of 11x EKIA were reported as a result of the strikes.Middle East: This morning Iranian forces continued naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz. These drills, dubbed the "Smart Control of the Strait of Hormuz" exercise by the IRGC-N, has involved various show-of-force targeting drills involving various naval platforms. These exercises involved the brief closure of a section of the Strait for a few hours today, as live-fire drills were conducted throughout the day.Europe: This morning, the mass movement of US military aircraft was observed throughout the continent as American forces begin the surge of forces into the Middle East. Overnight, multiple flights of F-16's, F-22's, F-15's and F-35's were all observed maneuvering toward the region, totaling several dozen aircraft. Command and Control aircraft were observed staging as well, alongside several Airborne Early Warning platforms.-HomeFront-Rhode Island: Yesterday afternoon a mass shooting was reported at a skating rink in Pawtucket as one assailant began firing in the stands at a high school hockey game. The shooter has been identified as Robert Dorgan, who was targeting his ex-wife and children during the attack. Concerning casualties, two fatalities have been reported, along with multiple wounded.Analyst Comment: This appears to be a domestic incident, in which a transgender individual murdered his family in the middle of a crowded venue. Based on the shooter's social media pages, this individual was very obviously mentally ill and had made threats openly for some time, including one post which directly threatened violence one day before the shooting.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: So far, the mass mobilization of equipment to CENTCOM looks like the Real McCoy, once again. As of this afternoon, this is the largest migration of military aircraft into CENTCOM in many years, and differs from the last time the US struck Iranian facilities in that fighter aircraft are moving into theater much moreso than the previous one-and-done, single-sortie mission that was Operation MIDNIGHT HAMMER. Of course, moving aircraft is comparatively cheap when it comes to the manipulation that these actions provide, which in this case is very obviously intended to pressure the Iranians into accepting whatever deal is put before them. This afternoon Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi departed Geneva, with the past two weeks of talks more or less being a stalemate. As must always be noted, the forces that are being staged right now can always turn around and go home without a shot being fired. However, even taking this into account (and adding in the wider geopolitical context), it's very likely that cratering Iranian facilities is on the menu once more.Probably the best form of warning for the Iranians is the minor detail that the main aircraft carrier in the region (the USS *ABRAHAM LINCOLN*) has not transited the Strait of Hormuz. This foreboding detail is likely due to long-standing doctrine; any serious actions taken in Iran will require more maneuverability (and range) than the Gulf can provide. As a result, a common rule of thumb has been that the United States holding position in the Arabian Sea (without transiting the Strait) is an indicator that the US is serious. If the US just wanted to posture, the Navy would have sailed through the Strait just to flex on the Iranians brown-water navy, and since a CSG

//The Wire//2300Z February 13, 2026////ROUTINE////BLUF: PENTAGON REDEPLOYS FORD CSG TO MIDDLE EAST. ARSON ATTACK TARGETING ALLEGED POTENTIAL ICE FACILITY REPORTED IN KANSAS CITY. STABBING ATTACK STRIKES PARIS.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events-France: This evening a stabbing attack was reported in Paris, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Arc de Triomphe. One of the soldiers in the Honor Guard was wounded during the attack, as the assailant attempted to target the crowd participating in the daily flame lighting ceremony. Armed police shot the attacker several times, ending the attack.Analyst Comment: Local French sources claim that is not the first time that this individual has stabbed a police officer. The assailant has been identified as Brahim Bahrir, a 47 year old male who was at the center of a different terror attack, in which he stabbed two police officers in an identical manner back in 2012. He was released from prison for this attack some time ago, with today's terrorism attempt being the second major stabbing attack he has committed.Middle East: Following PM Netanyahu's departure last night, the White House announced the repositioning of the USS *GERALD FORD* CSG from the Caribbean to the Middle East.Analyst Comment: The *FORD* has already been deployed for about 8 months, so either she's getting an extension or she'll pull in to Norfolk for refit/resupply before heading to the Arabian Sea. Either way, it will take about two weeks for this repositioning to take place, at the absolute earliest.Caribbean: Yesterday a collision was reported between two US Navy vessels conducting resupply at sea. The USS *TRUXTON* (DDG 103) collided with the USNS *SUPPLY* (T-AOE-6) while attempting to carry out Underway Replenishment (UNREP) operations on Wednesday. Two sailors were injured as a result of the collision, both of which are in stable condition.-HomeFront-Missouri: An arson attack was captured on film yesterday afternoon, which involved a woman deliberately setting fire to a commercial structure that was reportedly on the books to be sold to the federal government for the creation of an ICE detention facility. The fire was put out by the fire department, and the assailant remains at large.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: Regarding the Kansas City arson attack, a lot of unsubstantiated information is circulating. And as luck would have it, a news van happened to be set up on scene, with a camera pointed at the attack site, perfectly framed to capture the arson attack...before it began. This same news affiliate is the same source that claims that the attack was a success, and that the company is no longer planning to sell the warehouse to ICE, due to the acts of the terrorist.It is true that the federal government is trying to contract out empty warehouses around the US to serve as detention facilities, but it's not clear as to if this exact facility was/is included in these efforts. At present, it's just as likely that this abandoned warehouse was selected on a whim via unsubstantiated rumors, and probably circulated among the Kansas City Rapid Response chat groups. These far-left cells tend to take the tiniest bit of information and run with it, without any verification whatsoever.This case is a good example of how truth does not actually matter to far-left activist groups, and unsubstantiated rumors in a group chat can get somebody killed. From a risk-management perspective, when there is no criteria for selecting targets in warfare, no one is safe. This is what makes these groups so dangerous; deadly and horrific attacks can be conducted on random buildings (or random people), with no warning at all. And just like in Minneapolis, these groups know that they can't actually win an engagement against ICE, so they go after the soft-targets in a city, targe

In recent weeks, the United States has built up its military presence in the Middle East while conducting negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group arrived in the Arabian Sea on January 26, bringing an additional 5,700 U.S. troops to the region. On Wednesday, the Pentagon reportedly told a second aircraft carrier group to prepare for deployment, while President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss diplomatic and potential military strategy. Meanwhile, U.S. and Iranian officials met for indirect talks in Oman on Friday, February 6, for the first negotiations between the countries since the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025.Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠, our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today's “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Take the survey: Do you think U.S. military intervention in Iran is likely? Let us know.Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by: Will Kaback and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

U.S. forces shot down an Iranian drone as it approached an American aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. Idrees Ali of Reuters joins to discuss the incident, as Iranian and U.S. leaders in the region prepare to meet. Interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez hosted the U.S.’s top diplomat in the country this week to review the Trump administration’s roadmap for the oil industry and stabilization. The Wall Street Journal’s Ian Lovett explains the game of wait and see that Rodríguez appears to be playing with Trump. Data suggests that immigration authorities are increasingly detaining children. The Washington Post’s María Luisa Paúl dissects the numbers, and explains how the recent apprehension and detention of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos became a flashpoint. Plus, lawmakers passed a spending package to end the partial government shutdown, Renee Good’s brothers testified before Congress about her death, and how fans helped a figure skater bring some unique music to the Winter Olympics. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.

As frustrations mount on day three of the search for Nancy Guthrie, Trevor Ault has the latest on the race to find "Today" host Savannah Guthrie's mother; Martha Raddatz reports on the U.S. fighter jet that shot down an Iranian drone after it started to approach the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea; after The Walt Disney Company named Josh D'Amaro as the next CEO, David Muir sits down for an exclusive interview with D'Amaro and Bob Iger, the current chief executive, to discuss the future of Disney; and more on tonight's broadcast of World News Tonight with David Muir. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

America's navy shot down an Iranian drone that it said “aggressively approached” the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft-carrier in the Arabian Sea, with “unclear intent”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The shooting at Rainier Beach High School has rekindled the debate about bringing school resource officers back on campus. Senator Maria Cantwell has come out of the woodwork to yell at the DOJ about pressuring Washington to hand over its voter registration data. The Left is pretending that voter ID laws are controversial, but the numbers say otherwise. A convicted sex offender was arrested after being released from McNeil Island. The US military shot down an Iranian drone in the Arabian Sea. // Big Local: Pierce County Jail made some very questionable hires to fill it’s staffing crisis. Pierce County is raising Seahawks flags on county buildings. // You Pick the Topic: Women are injecting fat from dead people to improve their appearance.

The Rickey Smiley Morning Show dives into a charged news cycle, beginning with the U.S. military shooting down an Iranian Shahed‑139 drone that “aggressively” approached the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea — an incident that heightened already‑tense U.S.–Iran relations and occurred just hours before Iranian forces harassed a U.S.–flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. In entertainment news, renewed industry chatter suggests that Wendy Williams may return to television in 2026 following a major legal victory that could soon release her from her mental‑health conservatorship, prompting serious behind‑the‑scenes talks with her former production partner, Debmar‑Mercury. The show also explores the emotional revelations of Reshona Landfair — formerly the Jane Doe at the center of R. Kelly’s infamous underage tape — who has stepped into the public eye to reclaim her identity and recount decades of silence, manipulation, and trauma as detailed in her new memoir Who’s Watching Shorty?. Closing out the lineup, the team breaks down President Trump’s latest Oval Office controversy after he publicly scolded CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins for “not smiling” while she questioned him about Epstein survivors — an exchange that drew swift defense from journalists and renewed scrutiny of his treatment of the press. Website: https://www.urban1podcasts.com/rickey-smiley-morning-show See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world. Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode. An Israel Defense Forces reservist officer was seriously wounded by gunfire from Palestinian operatives in the northern Gaza Strip overnight Wednesday. The IDF responded with a series of strikes on Gaza that Palestinian media said killed at least 20 people. Horovitz weighs in on the move to Phase 2 of the Trump-brokered ceasefire -- without the demilitarization of Hamas. We also learn of the Palestinian Authority's current involvement in the Rafah Border Crossing and a kerfuffle over a logo that may indicate that ties between the PA and the council of Gazans set to rule the Strip may be tighter than anticipated. A US Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was approaching the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday, in an incident that, Horovitz suggests, shows Iran's confidence level ahead of nuclear talks set for Friday. We hear about Israel's four conditions for a "good" deal with Iran as US President Donald Trump appears to prefer dimplomacy -- for now. And finally, Israel's dairy farmers are protesting today in Jerusalem as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's "reforms" seek to disband the centralized coordination mechanism that has characterized the dairy industry since the state’s founding. Hear why more dairy imports may not be the right answer. Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: Reservist seriously wounded in north Gaza ambush; 20 said killed as IDF strikes back 12 people let into Gaza from Egypt, of 42 who tried, on day 1 of Rafah opening – report 3 women returning to Gaza through Rafah say IDF bound, interrogated, threatened them Gaza technocratic committee replaces its logo with the PA’s; Israel fumes US downs Iranian drone flying toward aircraft carrier; PM to Witkoff: Iran can’t be trusted Shoppers face empty milk shelves as dairy farmers ramp up fight against proposed reform Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Podwaves. IMAGE: The northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, February 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Wednesday, February 4th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark Colombian president denies divinity of Jesus Christ Christians across Colombia recoiled at recent remarks made by President Gustavo Petro. The nation's leader denied that Jesus is Christ, describing Him instead as a “man of light, of truth and a revolutionary.” This public attack on Biblical truth comes as Christians continue to face persecution and physical attacks in the country.  Criminal organizations have killed at least 10 pastors in Colombia over the last year. Sadly, the government provides little protection for church leaders. Psalm 2:11-12 warns rulers, “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.” U.S. forces shoot down Iranian drone over Arabian Sea A U.S. fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone as it approached a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea on February 3rd, the U.S. Central Command has announced, reports The Epoch Times. The incident comes at a moment of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran. President Donald Trump recently ordered naval forces to the Middle East and has threatened military strikes on Iran if it does not agree to new limits on its nuclear development. The U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, said the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was operating about 500 miles from Iran's southern coast on Tuesday, when U.S. forces spotted what they identified as an Iranian Shahed-139 drone. When the Iranian drone “unnecessarily maneuvered toward” the aircraft carrier, the U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces issued de-escalatory instructions, but the drone continued on its path toward the aircraft carrier. That's when an F-35C Lighting II stealth fighter jet, assigned to the aircraft carrier, intervened and shot down the drone. Thankfully, no American service members were harmed during the incident, and no U.S. equipment was damaged. Conservative candidate wins presidency of Costa Rica Meanwhile in Central America, conservative candidate Laura Fernández Delgado won Costa Rica's presidential election on Sunday. She gave thanks to God following the election victory.  Life News reports that Fernández emphasized moral values and the protection of unborn babies during her campaign. She stated, “Defending the lives of Costa Ricans who have not yet been born is an obligation of the State. Abortion is nothing more than murder and, therefore, penalties must be toughened.” Christian groups looking to overturn homosexual marriage In the United States, a coalition of conservative groups launched a campaign last month to overturn Obergefell.  The infamous Supreme Court ruling from 2015 legalized faux homosexual marriage.  The campaign, known as the Greater Than movement, calls for protecting children from being put in the middle of such unbiblical relations.  Listen to comments from Dr. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  MOHLER: “Marriage is actually the most basic institution of human civilization. You redefine marriage, you have just destroyed the house. You can put together a new house and claim it's the same. Children will know the difference. It harms children in virtually every way imaginable.” De-transitioner awarded $2 million The Epoch Times reports a New York jury found a psychologist and plastic surgeon liable for malpractice in a transgender case last week.  The doctors supported and performed a double mastectomy on a 16-year-old girl who claimed to be a boy. Fox Varian is 22 now and no longer pretends to be a boy. She was awarded two million dollars in the case. Varian is the first de-transitioner to win such a malpractice lawsuit.  Nearly 30 more de-transitioner lawsuits are in process across America. Trump stands with pharmacies for not carrying Abortion Kill Pills The Trump administration is protecting pharmacies from having to carry abortion kill pills. Under the Biden administration, the Department of Health and Human Services required pharmacies serving Medicare or Medicaid patients to carry abortion drugs. The department rescinded that mandate last week. This is part of the government's policy to “end the forced use of Federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion.”  Red states are growing and blue states are shrinking The U.S. Census Bureau released its latest Population and Housing Unit Estimates last week. Red states, like Texas, are growing, while blue states, like California, are shrinking.  Based on this, the American Redistricting Project released its 2030 Apportionment Forecast of how these demographic trends will affect Congress. Texas and Florida could gain a combined eight congressional seats. Meanwhile, California and New York could lose six seats. 83% of U.S. adults believe in God; 25% attend weekly religious service Pew Research released new analysis of Americans' religious beliefs and practices. The analysis shared the data as if the U.S. population were scaled down to 100 people.  In that case, 83 people would believe in God or a universal spirit. Fifty-two would believe in Heaven and Hell. Forty-four would pray daily. Thirty-eight would say religion is very important in their lives. And only 25 would say they attend religious services at least weekly.  Romans 11:5 reminds us, “Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” U.S. life expectancy rose to 79 And finally, U.S. life expectancy rose to a record 79 years in 2024. This according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Life expectancy at birth for women rose to 81, and for men it rose to 76. Meanwhile, the age-adjusted death rate decreased nearly four percent from 2023. The increased life expectancy comes after improvements following the COVID-19 pandemic as well as declines in overdose deaths.  Close And that's The Worldview on this Wednesday, February 4th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

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The Education Department's workers union is pushing back after more than 100 technology-related employees lost their collective bargaining protections last month under an executive order citing national security and cybersecurity risks tied to their roles. About 120 employees in the agency's Office of the Chief Information Officer and Federal Student Aid's Office of the Chief Technology Officer were told late last month they no longer had union protections due to the nature of their positions, according to AFGE Local 252, which represents Education Department employees. The notification came nearly nine months after President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending collective bargaining rights for labor unions at various federal agencies. The order included some agencies in their entirety, along with some positions across the government that have a determined “primary function” involving intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work. While the CTO and OCIO employees work with technology that could have cybersecurity ties, AFGE Local 252 argues this does not involve intelligence work that would warrant such a ban. “The Department of Education does not engage in any intelligence, counter-intelligence, investigative, or national security work,” AFGE 252 President Rachel Gittleman told FedScoop in an interview, suggesting the move is “just a way to strip labor rights of our federal workforce.” The FSA CTO office specifically does “work on technology” and products, but not information resources management, as the order states, Gittleman explained. FSA employees primarily focus on the office's website, income-driven repayment applications, FAFSA, and public service loan forgiveness applications. An American stealth fighter jet shot down an Iranian one-way attack drone in the Arabian Sea Tuesday after it “aggressively approached” a U.S. aircraft carrier “with unclear intent,” according to a statement from U.S. Central Command. Just hours after the shootdown, two Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ships accompanied by another unmanned aerial system — this one an Iranian Mohajer drone — approached a U.S.-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, threatening to board and seize the vessel, the statement from Centcom spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said. The dual incidents could spell increased tensions between Washington and Tehran after President Donald Trump threatened military action against Iran over its deadly suppression of protests last month and amid broader nuclear negotiations that could begin this week. The jet, an F-35C Lightning II, launched from the USS Abraham Lincoln, which was transiting the Arabian Sea roughly 500 miles from Iran's southern coast, Centcom said. The Centcom statement did not identify the unit the jet belongs to, but Marine Fighter Attack Squadron-314, the Black Knights, were photographed by the military operating off the Lincoln several days ago. The long-range Iranian drone — a Shahed-139 UAS known for its use in the Russia-Ukraine war and being reverse-engineered into a U.S. military one-way attack drone — “continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by U.S. forces operating in international waters,” the command said. The F-35C shot it down “in self-defense” and to protect the Lincoln and her crew, according to the statement, which said that no service members were harmed and no American equipment was damaged. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

On Wednesday's Washington Times Front Page: The House narrowly approved a spending package that ends a four-day partial government shutdown, a U.S. fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that "aggressively approached" an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, and more.

Help Persecuted Christians TODAY: https://csi-usa.org/ Christian Solidarity International On today's Quick Start podcast: NEWS: U.S. fighter jets shoot down an Iranian drone after it aggressively approaches the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, sending a clear warning as tensions with Tehran continue to rise. FOCUS STORY: A popular pastor sparks conversation online by breaking down key theological differences between Christianity and Islam, including views on God, Jesus, and salvation. MAIN THING: He survived 505 days held hostage in Hamas tunnels after the October 7 terror attacks. Now, Nova Music Festival survivor Omer Wenkert is sharing his story—and helping fuel Israel's long road to healing. LAST THING: “There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.” — 1 Timothy 2:5 PRAY WITH US! Faithwire.substack.com SHOW LINKS Faith in Culture: https://cbn.com/news/faith-culture Heaven Meets Earth PODCAST: https://cbn.com/lp/heaven-meets-earth NEWSMAKERS POD: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/newsmakers/id1724061454 Navigating Trump 2.0: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/navigating-trump-2-0/id1691121630

Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.On today's podcast:1) The partial US government shutdown ended late Tuesday after President Trump signed into law a funding deal he negotiated with Senate Democrats, overcoming opposition from both ends of the political spectrum amid a standoff over his administration’s immigration crackdown. Trump applauded the funding package as “a great victory for the American people” and stressed that the legislation continues to fund deportation flights, which have provoked backlash from Democrats. Still, a more limited funding lapse looms within days since the Department of Homeland Security is only funded through Feb. 13 while Trump negotiates with Democrats over their demands for new restraints on immigration enforcement agents. The rest of the government is funded through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year.2) Iran has asked the US to move diplomatic talks originally planned for Turkey to Oman and to limit the agenda to the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, according to people familiar with the matter. President Trump reiterated that the US and Iran are maintaining talks, even after an earlier skirmish in the Arabian Sea spooked oil markets amid heightened tensions between the two countries. “We are negotiating with them right now” and “they’d like to do something,” Trump told reporters at the White House Tuesday. Earlier Tuesday, a US F-35C warplane shot down a drone in self-defense as the unmanned aircraft “aggressively approached” the USS Abraham Lincoln with “unclear intent,” US Central Command said in a statement. CentCom said no American service members were harmed and no US equipment was damaged.3) Former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, will appear before a House committee investigating their ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein on Feb. 26 and 27, the panel confirmed Tuesday. A full House vote had been planned this week to hold the Clintons in criminal contempt if they continued to defy subpoenas in its inquiry into Epstein and his activities. The Clintons “have agreed to appear for transcribed, filmed depositions to face questioning as part of the investigation related to Jeffrey Epstein’s and Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes,” the committee said in a statement posted on its website.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

APAC stocks were ultimately mixed as the region partially shrugged off the downbeat handover from Wall Street.NVIDIA (NVDA) AI chip sales to China are reportedly stalled by a US security review, and Chinese customers are, meanwhile, not placing H200 chip orders.US House voted (217-214) to pass the USD 1.2tln spending package to fund the government, which was sent to US President Trump, who then signed the bill to end a partial government shutdown, as expected.US President Trump said they are still negotiating with Iran and that there is more than one meeting with Iran; US military shot down an Iranian surveillance drone that approached a US Navy aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.European equity futures indicate a softer cash market open with Euro Stoxx 50 futures down 0.1% after the cash market finished with losses of 0.2% on Tuesday.Looking ahead, highlights include Global Final Composite/Services PMIs (Jan), EZ Flash HICP (Jan), Italian CPI Prelim. (Jan), US ADP (Jan), ISM Services (Jan), Riksbank Minutes (Jan), Treasury Refunding Announcement, NBP Policy Announcement, Comments from Fed's Cook, Supply from Germany & US, Earnings from Alphabet, Arm, Qualcomm, ELF, Snap, Uber, Eli Lilly, AbbVie, CME & Bunge.Read the full report covering Equities, Forex, Fixed Income, Commodites and more on Newsquawk

In our news wrap Tuesday, the U.S. military says it shot down an Iranian drone in the Arabian Sea, more Palestinians gathered at the Rafah crossing on day two of its reopening, Russia renewed its attacks on Ukrainian energy targets, Trump said he's seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard University, and Disney named Josh D'Amaro as its new CEO. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Tuesday, February 3, 2026 In this episode: Trump signed the roughly $1.2 trillion spending package into law, ending the three-day partial federal government shutdown; the U.S. military shot down an Iranian drone after it “aggressively approached” the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea and wouldn't turn away; a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status for more than 350,000 Haitians; Tulsi Gabbard told Congress that Trump asked her to show up while the FBI searched Fulton County, Georgia's election office; Congress still hasn't received a whistleblower complaint filed last May accusing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard of wrongdoing; and 62% of Americans said ICE officers had gone too far, up from 58% in a poll conducted just before Alex Pretti was shot and killed in Minneapolis. Read more: Day 1841: "More questions than answers." Newsletter: Get the daily edition of WTFJHT in your inbox Feedback? Let me know what you think AI Policy: My AI policy

Hour 1 Segment 1 Tony starts another edition of the show talking about a Minneapolis teachers union chief admitting elected officials are in anti-ICE Signal chats. Hour 1 Segment 2 Tony talks about reports of a possible divorce from LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Hour 1 Segment 3 Tony talks about reports of the U.S. shooting down an Iranian drone approaching an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. Tony also talks about Chuck Schumer saying the Save Act is nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0, and how most people in both parties believe there should be voter ID. Hour 1 Segment 4 Tony wraps up the first hour of the show talking about the worst headline of the day: women chasing the perfect body are pumping ‘ethically sourced’ cadaver fat into boobs and butts. Hour 2 Segment 1 Tony starts the second hour of the show talking about more high schools across the country walking out in protest of ICE. Hour 2 Segment 2 Tony talks about the latest hearings on ending the partial government shutdown from Rosa DeLauro. Hour 2 Segment 3 Tony talks more about the latest reports of the U.S. shooting down an Iranian drone approaching an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. Tony also talks about a Chicago nurse suggesting ICE agents bleed out and calling on nurses to target them. Hour 2 Segment 4 Tony wraps up the second hour of the show talking about the latest on the Save Act and on voter ID. Hour 3 Segment 1 Tony starts the final hour of the show talking about Speaker Mike Johnson urging for the safety of ICE agents. Hour 3 Segment 2 Tony talks about Tulsi Gabbard getting hit with a mysterious whistleblower complaint. Hour 3 Segment 3 Tony talks about Panama blocking a Chinese-linked company from operating ports at either end of the canal. Hour 3 Segment 4 Tony wraps up another edition of the show talking about how Democrats are worried about the 2030 census and are pushing against voter ID. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tony talks more about the latest reports of the U.S. shooting down an Iranian drone approaching an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. Tony also talks about a Chicago nurse suggesting ICE agents bleed out and calling on nurses to target them. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 2 Segment 1 Tony starts the second hour of the show talking about more high schools across the country walking out in protest of ICE. Hour 2 Segment 2 Tony talks about the latest hearings on ending the partial government shutdown from Rosa DeLauro. Hour 2 Segment 3 Tony talks more about the latest reports of the U.S. shooting down an Iranian drone approaching an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. Tony also talks about a Chicago nurse suggesting ICE agents bleed out and calling on nurses to target them. Hour 2 Segment 4 Tony wraps up the second hour of the show talking about the latest on the Save Act and on voter ID. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tony talks about reports of the U.S. shooting down an Iranian drone approaching an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. Tony also talks about Chuck Schumer saying the Save Act is nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0, and how most people in both parties believe there should be voter ID. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 1 Segment 1 Tony starts another edition of the show talking about a Minneapolis teachers union chief admitting elected officials are in anti-ICE Signal chats. Hour 1 Segment 2 Tony talks about reports of a possible divorce from LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Hour 1 Segment 3 Tony talks about reports of the U.S. shooting down an Iranian drone approaching an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. Tony also talks about Chuck Schumer saying the Save Act is nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0, and how most people in both parties believe there should be voter ID. Hour 1 Segment 4 Tony wraps up the first hour of the show talking about the worst headline of the day: women chasing the perfect body are pumping ‘ethically sourced’ cadaver fat into boobs and butts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In our news wrap Tuesday, the U.S. military says it shot down an Iranian drone in the Arabian Sea, more Palestinians gathered at the Rafah crossing on day two of its reopening, Russia renewed its attacks on Ukrainian energy targets, Trump said he's seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard University, and Disney named Josh D'Amaro as its new CEO. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Amazon, UPS lead new wave of mass layoffs in 2026 / US strike on Iran appears imminent as aircraft carrier task force arrives in Arabian Sea and Trump makes new threats

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world. Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode. Following Iran's foreign minister's direct threat against the US, Fabian reports on the buildup of potential US offensive and defensive firepower in the region, including an aircraft carrier and fighter jet squadrons. As the IDF continues its nearly daily strikes against Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon, Fabian discusses Israel's tacit agreement with the US that allows it to act against anything it considers an immediate threat, and the Lebanese government's ongoing efforts to disarm Hezbollah. The IDF reported a 27% rise in settler violence in the West Bank in 2025, says Fabian, who breaks down elements of the report, including the rise in the severity of the settler attacks alongside the decrease in Palestinian terrorism, attributed to the army's sustained offensive activity against terror cells. Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: US Central Command announces arrival of F-15 squadron in Mideast amid tensions with Iran IDF: Settler violence rose by 27% in 2025, severe attacks spiked by over 50% IDF targets Hezbollah tunnels, rocket launch sites in Lebanon Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Podwaves. IMAGE: In this Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019, photo made available by U.S. Navy, a helicopter lifts off of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln as it transits the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln sent to the Mideast in May over tensions with Iran transited the narrow Strait of Hormuz for the first time on Tuesday. The ship previously had been in the Arabian Sea outside of the Persian Gulf. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Stephanie Contreras/U.S. Navy via AP)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sri Lanka has long sat astride the monsoon winds between the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea – a small island at the centre of a very big story. For over a thousand years, Muslim pilgrims, merchants, scholars, and soldiers have passed through “Lanka” or “Sarandib”, leaving traces in Arabic, Tamil, Persian, Malay, Ottoman Turkish, Urdu, Dhivehi, and Sinhala. Serendipitous Translations: A Sourcebook on Sri Lanka in the Islamic Indian Ocean (University of Texas Press, 2026) brings together many of those voices for the first time in English. From medieval travellers marvelling at Adam's Peak to modern novelists and newspaper editors wrestling with reform, nationalism, and civil conflict. Dr. Nile Green holds the Ibn Khaldun Endowed Chair in World History at UCLA. A former Guggenheim Fellow, he is the celebrated author of ten monographs and the editor of seven books and several journal issues, with a particular focus on Islam and the Indian Ocean world. He also hosts the excellent podcast Akbar's Chamber: Experts Talk Islam. Dr. Ahmed AlMaazmi is Assistant Professor of History at the United Arab Emirates University. His research explores the intersections of empire, occult sciences, slavery, law, environmental infrastructures, and material culture in the Arabian Peninsula and the wider Indian Ocean world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network