John Powers

Retired. Soft left centrist grandad tofu-eating wokeratus.

[NEXTA @nexta_tv]

⚡️ Budapest has reached an agreement with Kyiv on the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine.

This opens the way for Ukraine’s EU accession. Hungary will no longer block it.

[Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss]

"Over the past six months, during small-team missions to test the technology, images from commercial satellites operated by Colorado-based Vantor have improved the speed and precision of Ukraine’s drone attacks. The rapid delivery to soldiers of geospatial intelligence has shortened by as much as 90% the time it takes to locate and strike Russian assets, according to the technology providers and people involved in the missions." https://t.co/BYlpPXBmY9

[John Powers @clerenlas]

@Berezino5 @BBCBreaking Leaks on the Russian side …

[John Powers @clerenlas]

@imprisonedinuk @BBCBreaking The leaks are on the Russian side, so they are responsible for fixing them.

[Kate from Kharkiv @BohuslavskaKate]

The "land corridor" to occupied Crimea is turning into a graveyard of russian armor and supply vehicles.

​Russia's key supply route is turning into a "kill zone" thanks to Ukrainian drones. R-280 highway is littered with burnt-out military hardware. Logistics lockdown works!💪

[John Powers @clerenlas]

@MartinSLewis Cheese and onion sabotage!

[John Powers @clerenlas]

@Acyn On a point of fact: the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, unlike his father, is not an ayatollah, which is a religious rank, not a political position.

[XSovietNews 🇺🇦 @XSovietNews]

Queuing for petrol in Yalta, occupied Crimea.

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

Open Letter to the President of the Russian Federation: https://t.co/mEvYqYiqus

[Natalka @NatalkaKyiv]

‼️This is hysterical!!!
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Popular Russian Z-blogger Zergulio responded to Kirill Dmitriev’s announcement that Russia and the US are moving ahead with plans to build a tunnel between the two countries:

“I asked “Alexa” how to get to Chukotka:

‘You can only reach Chukotka by air — there are no railways in the region, and sea routes are difficult and only available during certain periods.

The main option is a flight to Ugolny Airport, located in the settlement of Ugolnye Kopi near Anadyr. The only direct flights to Chukotka are operated by the airline “Rossiya”.

A flight from Moscow to Ugolny Airport takes about 9 hours. In summer, flights operate 2–3 times a week; in winter, their frequency decreases.

Ugolny Airport is located on one side of the Anadyr Estuary, while Anadyr is on the other. The water distance is about 7–10 km. The method of crossing depends on the season:

• In summer, the passenger ship “Kamchatka” operates; private boats or barges can also be used.

• In winter, when the estuary freezes, an ice road is used.

• In the transitional seasons, hovercraft or helicopters may be used.’

And then, apparently, you just walk into the tunnel. Can someone explain to me, idiot that I am, what it’s even for?”

[The Lincoln Project @ProjectLincoln]

The Trump administration has been telling you they had screwworm under control for months. Now, it's here.

What happened? Trump and DOGE slashed funding for screwworm monitoring programs.

And the entire GOP let them. Thank them for today's new hell they unleashed on you.

[John Powers @clerenlas]

@HQNewsNow Does she mean that your beef all is coming from South America anyway, thanks to Trump.

[John Powers @clerenlas]

@Mike_Eckel Hahahahahahahahaha gulp hahahahahahahaha

[The New Statesman @NewStatesman]

A group of members have split from Your Party, citing frustration with Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and accusing the party of having “squandered the enormous promise of 800,000 signups last summer.”

In an opening statement, the new group said its members had “lost patience” with Your Party and Corbyn, and accused the party of showing “only contempt” for its grassroots supporters. Your Party’s first electoral test came in May, when the party supported several independent groups in the local elections. The party also stood 20 candidates in 17 wards but none were elected.
@meganekenyon

https://t.co/RVqt03tZdw

[John Powers @clerenlas]

@rubytubee @HQNewsNow No, just you.

[The Bell @thebell_io]

💰Moscow suddenly needs tens of billions more to fund the war. Why?

Moscow’s spending on the war in 2026 could turn out much higher than planned in the current budget.

Finance ministry estimated an extra 2 trillion rubles ($28 billion) would be directed towards the military and security services, with the extra outlays surging to 4 trillion rubles ($56 billion) in a worst-case scenario, according to a letter sent by Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, seen by the Financial Times. A source close to the government confirmed The Bell the authenticity of the letter.

It is unclear why the Finance Ministry decided to find this money now. The fact that the letter was sent before the war in Iran clearly shows this is not a reaction to higher oil prices.

One possible explanation could be increased spending on compensation for injured soldiers and to the families of deceased servicemen. And for the first time the spending changes will not be submitted to parliament for approval as an amendment to the budget law. This is another significant move away from transparency in Russia’s wartime economic machine

But where will Russia get these billions? The easiest way to cover the hole in the budget is to borrow more. But the problem is that the market may not be ready to absorb such an increase in state debt. Russia’s long-term fixed-coupon government bonds (OFZs) are already selling poorly. To attract enough buyers for its planned larger issuances, the finance ministry would have to accept higher yields, making new debt more expensive to service

[Hamidreza Azizi @HamidRezaAz]

Tasnim News Agency - affiliated with the IRGC - reports that #Iran's negotiating team is suspending the exchange of texts and messages with the US through mediator Pakistan, citing ongoing Israeli military operations in #Lebanon.

Tehran's stated ground is that Lebanon was a precondition for any ceasefire arrangement, and that arrangement has now been violated. Iranian negotiators say talks will not resume until Israeli operations Lebanon stop and Israeli forces withdraw from occupied Lebanese territory.

The announcement also carries a threat: full closure of the Strait of Hormuz - after some incremental ease of transit over the past couple of weeks - and "activation of the Bab al-Mandab front" as punitive measures against Israel and its allies.

This comes days after reports of a tentative US-Iran MOU to extend the ceasefire 60 days and launch nuclear talks. That was the cautious optimism of last week, but this is what followed it.

What this suggests is that the U.S. - and likely Israel - have consistently underestimated how structurally central Lebanon is to Tehran's position. The assumption appears to have been that enough pressure on Iran would render its Lebanon commitments rhetorical. That calculation looks wrong.

Lebanon matters to Iran both strategically and ideologically, and the pressure from the Islamic Republic's own support base to act - not just signal - on Lebanon has been building. Accepting a deal while Israel continues operations there would carry serious domestic costs. That's not a detail Tehran can paper over.

[Saint Javelin @saintjavelin]

Turns out bombing your neighbours isn’t a sustainable economic model.

Russia’s $3 trillion, commodity-dependent economy slowed sharply to about 1% growth last year from 4.9% in 2024, and shrank by 0.2% in the ‌first quarter of 2026, which officials blamed on high interest rates, Western sanctions and a strong rouble.

Growth is now forecast at a modest 0.4% this year.

Putin has ordered officials to look for ways to restore growth in the Russian economy, but businesses say the best way to achieve this is to end the war against Ukraine.

[John Powers @clerenlas]

@IlvesToomas I think you’ll find the tweet is satire.

[John Powers @clerenlas]

😁

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

BARTIROMO: What are you going to do about your perception? The Wall Street Journal describes you as 'scandal plagued'

PAXTON: The reality is they could say the same thing about Donald Trump