Monday, July 7, 2025

Oil Closes At Session High As Houthi Rebels Hit Second Greek Vessel In Red Sea


Oil Closes At Session High As Houthi Rebels Hit Second Greek Vessel In Red Sea
Charles Kennedy



A Greek-operated bulk carrier was attacked in the Red Sea on Monday in the second Houthi strike on commercial shipping in less than 24 hours, stoking fears of a renewed escalation in one of the world’s most critical oil transit corridors, Arab and Israel media report.

The Eternity C, a Liberia-flagged vessel managed by Athens-based Cosmoship, was hit off Yemen’s Hodeidah coast using a combination of sea drones, rocket-propelled grenades, and small arms. Two seafarers were seriously injured and two more are missing, according to shipping intelligence sources cited by media. The vessel was reportedly en route to Iran with a cargo of steel.

The attack follows Sunday’s strike on the Magic Seas, another Greek-managed bulk carrier. Houthi militants claim the Magic Seas has sunk. That vessel was hit southwest of Hodeidah and its crew abandoned ship before rescue. Both ships are Liberia-flagged, and neither was carrying Israeli cargo, according to tracking data.

Shortly after the second attack, on Monday at 3:31 p.m. ET, Brent crude was trading up 2.08% at $69.72, near session high, while WTI was trading up 2.39% at $68.09; both ignored the weekend's bigger than expected OPEC+ output increase.

Insurance premiums for vessels crossing the Bab el-Mandeb strait have already increased, with underwriters signaling more exclusions are likely in coming days.

The renewed Red Sea volatility comes as Axios reports that Israeli officials believe Donald Trump would authorize pre-emptive military action against Iran’s nuclear program if he returns to office. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to raise the issue during a closed-door dinner with Trump this week. Tehran has restarted centrifuge operations at key enrichment sites, setting off fresh alarm in Tel Aviv.




Iran’s terrorist regime is wounded, not dead —watch it carefully


Iran’s terrorist regime is wounded, not dead —watch it carefully
Majid Rafizadeh


Thanks to the courageous and unapologetic leadership of US President Donald J. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, severe and long-overdue blows were dealt to the Iranian regime.

The United States and Israel reminded the world that tyranny can be confronted. Now comes the more difficult and longer-term task: making sure Iran’s regime does not rise again.

That means crippling sanctions, backed by military readiness. That means exposing and dismantling Iran’s war machine, propaganda machine and foreign influence operations in Europe, America and Latin America, and preferably the regime itself.

Iran is still a revolutionary Islamist state that sees the US as the great Satan, sees Israel as a cancer, and believes that its divine mission is to conquer and export its Islamist revolution to the West.

While much of the world stood idly by, terrified of “escalation” and “provoking” Iran, the US and Israel stepped up and did what everyone else lacked the resolve to do.

They hit Iran where it hurts: inside its nuclear weapons program, military infrastructure, and missile development and storage sites.

For that, Trump and Netanyahu must be commended without hesitation. They deserve the Nobel Peace Prize for ridding the world of a serious threat. These two nations together showed what happens when tyrants are held to account.

Now, as the dust settles and a shaky ceasefire has been declared, we are faced with a chilling reality: the Iranian regime has not been defeated. It is wounded, not dead.

Despite being hit harder than at any time in its history, the Islamic Republic of Iran seems not to have changed its plans. On the contrary, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is still in power, surrounded by sycophants and ideologues who feed his delusions of divine purpose.

If you listened to what Khamenei said after the ceasefire, you would not think he just survived a military onslaught. You would think he had won.

He stood at the podium and declared that Iran had handed the United States a “severe slap in the face.” He bragged about delivering justice to Israel and attacks on American bases in the Gulf.

Khamenei’s declaration was that of a theocrat who thinks that Trump’s Western talk of “you often get more with HONEY than you do with VINEGAR” is laughable, pathetic and that of a “loser.”

In Khamenei’s view, if Trump were not weak or stupid or both, Trump would have killed him. Khamenei no doubt believes that Allah is on his side; that Allah, not Trump, saved him; and that his regime is therefore invincible.

Khamenei seems to be signaling that his regime has no intention of retreating. “You have the watches but we have the time,” goes the saying.

Trump, possibly expecting perhaps a small nod of gratitude, stated that he had deliberately spared Khamenei’s life and that Khamenei should thank him. Khamenei had been on the brink of being eliminated, Trump related, but the United States and Israel had held back.

Anyone who knows this part of the world understands that Khamenei will not thank Trump. Khamenei clearly does not see Trump’s reprieve as mercy. Khamenei doubtless sees his survival as a confirmation that Allah protected him, and that it is infidel America that is worthy of contempt and being eliminated.

Khamenei may well double down on his anti-Amercanism, anti-Israelism and his determination to have nuclear weapons.

He may be more likely than ever to launch new plots against Americans abroad, to target dissidents and diplomats, to arm proxies, to funnel weapons into Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen and Iraq, and to sponsor assassinations — just as he has always done.

The Iranian regime has a long history of attacking and killing Americans, starting with having kidnapped the members of the US embassy and held them for more than a year.

A regime already obsessed with regional hegemony, nuclear weapons and the destruction of Israel and America might now pursue these goals with renewed urgency.

This brings us to another alarming issue: Iran’s nuclear program is still not dismantled or destroyed.

The most recent intelligence and IAEA reports confirm that Iran has stockpiled more than 400 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60% — alarmingly close to weapons-grade level of 90%. More alarmingly, we do not know where the uranium stockpile is located.

There is also the possibility that other countries might be eager to sell Iran nuclear components — for “peaceful purposes,” of course. Iran surely welcome trade, but not as a new policy of peace, just as a way to finance the old policy. The regime that has always been refreshingly open about its intent.

Iran has lied for years — to the world, the UN, and the IAEA. It has built secret nuclear sites, hidden equipment, and played cat-and-mouse games with diplomats.

The world cannot afford humor a regime committed to “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” and wait for a change of heart that is not likely to be forthcoming.

There appears to be a dangerous tendency in the West — especially among liberal elites and international bureaucrats — to celebrate ceasefires as solutions.

A ceasefire with a regime such as Iran is not a solution or “peace.” It is a pause, a breathing space, to regroup, re-arm and resume plotting.

Every time the West gives Iran room, the regime will use the opportunity once again to expand its terror network, tighten its domestic control, and move closer to nuclear weapons capability.


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Trump prepares to ditch two-state solution


Trump prepares to ditch two-state solution


President Trump seems set to ditch the creation of a Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan (two-state solution) when he meets Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the White House this week.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce has declined to confirm that the Trump administration supports a “two-state solution” – adding: 

“President Trump is realistic about the current state of affairs. Clearly, Gaza is an uninhabitable place. It needs to be rebuilt with the help of Arab partners.”

Bruce was summarising what Trump himself had stated on 4 February:

“The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out. Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area. Do a real job. Do something different. Just can't go back. If you go back, it's going to end up the same way it has for a hundred years."

Any return to the two-state solution - including Gaza - proposed by Trump in his 2020 Deal of the Century (maps below) - is dead and buried after warfare involving the United States, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Gaza, Hamas and Hezbollah for the last 640 days.

The Biden-endorsed two-state solution – surreptitiously  slipped into United Nations Security Council Resolution 2735 drafted by the Biden administration - is also headed for the diplomatic graveyard after being adopted 14-0 on 10 June 2024 by the Security Council:

“Reiterat[ing] its unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-State solution where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, consistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions, and in this regard stresses the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority;”

Yet a solution is desperately needed right now to end more than 100 years of unresolved conflict between Arabs and Jews that each group is unhappy with - but each group can live with.

Both groups have been made painfully aware that Iran is prepared to unleash its long-range ballistic missiles to indiscriminately kill and wound both Arab and Jewish civilians and demolish their properties and that Iran is determined to continue doing so with those missiles fitted with nuclear warheads. 


One solution has remained untested since 1967  – the division of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) between Israel and Jordan – the two successor states to the 1922 League of Nations Mandate - already between them exercising sovereignty in 95% of former Palestine.


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Death To The IDF? The Disturbing New Normal


Death To The IDF? The Disturbing New Normal
PNW STAFF



Once reliably pro-Israel, the Democratic Party has undergone a dramatic reversal on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--and no demographic reflects that more than those under 50. In 2017, Democrats generally sympathized with Israel by a 13-point margin. Today, they lean toward the Palestinians by 43 points--a staggering 56-point swing in just eight years.

Among younger Democrats aged 18 to 49, the transformation is even more extreme: from a 14-point tilt in favor of Israel in 2017 to a 57-point preference for Palestinians now. That's a 71-point swing--arguably one of the most dramatic ideological shifts in recent political memory.

This seismic change helps explain the success of progressive candidates like Zohran Mamdani in New York's recent Democratic primary. His unapologetically anti-Israel stance would have been politically unthinkable a decade ago. Today, it wins elections.


Tracing the Shift: How Minds Were Changed

What catalyzed this rapid transformation?

1. News Coverage and Emotional Narratives
Graphic images from Gaza and stories of Palestinian suffering are now front and center in mainstream and digital media. In the age of high-speed, emotionally charged reporting, the most heart-wrenching narrative often wins. Younger Americans, constantly connected to their phones, have been immersed in a one-sided stream of content that focuses almost exclusively on the humanitarian fallout of Israeli military action, while often omitting the context of terrorism, rocket fire, or security dilemmas faced by Israel.

2. Music Festivals & Concerts Go Political
In a shocking example of how pop culture and political sentiment collide, a major UK music festival saw crowds chanting "Death to the IDF," led by a punk-rap duo. The performance, broadcast to thousands, ignited controversy. Yet it also underscored the extent to which anti-Israel sentiment has been normalized among younger generations. This wasn't a fringe political protest--it was the main stage of a global cultural event and was set to come to the US for a tour before the band's visa were cancelled.


Even more mainstream bands like Imagine Dragons have echoed the Palestinian narrative at their concerns among other popular bands. During their May performance in Milan (part of the Loom tour), lead singer Dan Reynolds dramatically embraced a Palestinian flag that was thrown onto the stage. He held it aloft, draped it around his shoulders, and even kissed it--earning thunderous applause from the audience. The moment quickly went viral across TikTok, X, and Instagram.


3. A Left-Leaning Political Chorus
Politicians like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and others have not just criticized Israeli policy--they've helped reframe the entire debate around human rights and social justice. Their platforms, amplified by passionate followers and progressive media, have cultivated an environment where support for Israel is seen as complicity in oppression. This reframing is particularly effective among younger voters who see the world through the lens of intersectionality and systemic power imbalances.

4. Social Media and Algorithmic Influence
Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and X have flooded users with content portraying Palestinians as victims and Israel as the aggressor. Algorithms favor emotionally intense posts, often lacking nuance. Once a user engages with even one piece of pro-Palestinian content, they are inundated with similar material. Meanwhile, opposing viewpoints--especially pro-Israel content--are often labeled, flagged, or shadowbanned. The result is an online echo chamber that radicalizes by repetition.




Policy Realignments Are Coming: As younger Democrats become a dominant force within the party, we can expect less enthusiasm for traditional U.S. support of Israel. Aid packages may come with conditions. UN votes may tilt further toward Palestinian causes. Even military cooperation could face restrictions.

Electoral Tensions Will Rise: In states with large Arab-American and Muslim populations, progressive anti-Israel rhetoric may boost turnout. But the party risks alienating Jewish voters and moderates who still value the U.S.-Israel alliance. The Democrats may soon find themselves pulled apart by competing coalitions.

Internal Struggles Ahead: The split between establishment Democrats and progressives is growing. Disagreements over foreign policy, free speech, and accusations of antisemitism are intensifying. What was once a foreign policy discussion is now a cultural and moral battlefield within the party itself.

Long-Term Implications: If Democrats return to power, a major transformation in U.S. policy toward Israel is likely. Future administrations may prioritize Palestinian statehood, freeze weapons transfers, or radically change America's role in brokering peace. The sacred alliance that has defined U.S.-Israel relations for decades could face its most severe test yet.

The cultural institutions that shape public opinion--media, music, academia, and social media--are largely aligned against Israel. Politicians are responding accordingly. If this trend continues, the Democratic Party may evolve into a fundamentally different political force on the global stage--one that no longer sees Israel as a partner, but as a problem.





EU Digital ID Wallet Trials Near End Amid Privacy Concerns


EU Digital ID Wallet Trials Near End Amid Privacy Concerns



Potential, one of the consortia selected to trial the EU’s planned Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet, is preparing to conclude its work by September 2025.

The group, which came together in 2023, has played a role in laying the foundation for a system that privacy advocates warn could dramatically expand the surveillance and data collection capabilities of both governments and private companies.

The EU’s original target of launching the wallet in 2024 has already shifted, with the current deadline now pushed back to 2026.

Over the course of its mandate, Potential coordinated with 155 organizations across 19 countries, drawing in major corporations including Idemia, Thales, Amadeus, and Namirial.

Together, they developed six proposed uses for the digital wallet, covering activities such as opening a bank account, registering SIM or eSIM cards, accessing government services, using a mobile driving license, applying a Qualified eSignature, and presenting electronic prescriptions.

Each of these use cases, while framed as a convenience for citizens, raises questions about how personal data will be stored, shared, and protected in this new ecosystem.

A series of large-scale tests have already been conducted. The first remote trials began in May 2024. February 2025 saw cross-border testing in Warsaw, where 15 national wallets and 20 services exchanged data in peer-to-peer mode.

Ukraine also participated in testing whether its digital documents could integrate with EU systems. In May, interoperability checks in Vilnius involved 1,300 tests across 34 public and private entities, further entrenching private sector involvement in digital identity infrastructure.

Potential has outlined several ways people could be asked to prove their identity, whether through in-person checks using QR codes or NFC, supervised or unsupervised interactions at offices or kiosks, or remote logins across multiple devices.

Each method introduces new points of vulnerability where privacy could be compromised if robust safeguards are not in place.

As the EU moves closer to rolling out the EUDI Wallet, there is growing concern among privacy defenders that the push for digital identity is racing ahead and bringing about a digital checkpoint society.