At 5:45 p.m. ET today, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempted surprise attack on U.S. forces based in the Middle East. All Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted. U.S. forces remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness.
🇦🇺 18-year-old Jongkuch Mach stands 7’6” (229 cm).
Born in Australia to South Sudanese parents.
Taller than any current NBA player.
He can touch the rim without jumping, moves surprisingly well, and just led the Adidas Eurocamp in blocks with 3 per game.
U.S. colleges are chasing him hard while he decides between staying in Australia or heading to America.
This kid is already turning heads worldwide.
Source: NBL, Basketball Australia, @mrwtffacts / Writer: Sol
BREAKING: Trump has cancelled plans to sharply escalate the war on Iran over concerns that Iranian attacks could dangerously drain the Pentagon's already diminished stockpile of Patriot antimissile interceptors and other air defense munitions in the Middle East close to zero, per NYT.
The Pentagon has used more than 1,200 Patriot interceptors in the war at more than $4M each, with cheap Iranian drones and ballistic missiles depleting the US inventory. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine privately cautioned that resuming major combat operations would fully deplete interceptors available to US Central Command.
A senior US official adds that continued strikes have had "the opposite effect of what is intended, keeping Iran cohesive and allowing Iranian leaders to focus attention on an external threat."
The release of the abducted victims in Oyo State should make every Nigerian pause and reflect. They regained their freedom without the horrific abuse that so often accompanies kidnappings, and that did not happen by chance.
What many may not appreciate is that the Nigerian state is increasingly learning to negotiate from a position of strength rather than weakness. In the case of Oyo, instead of allowing kidnappers to dictate the terms, our security architecture used the kidnappers tactics against them by taking their families and loved ones into confinement, therefore applying pressure where it hurts most. Kidnappers must know that whatever they do to innocent Nigerians will be meted out to their families and loved ones in return.
This is precisely why I have repeatedly said that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s appointment of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu as National Security Adviser is one of the finest decisions of this administration. His approach is strategic, unconventional and focused on making kidnapping an increasingly costly enterprise for those who engage in it.
The day every kidnapper understands that crime will bring overwhelming consequences, not only for the perpetrators themselves but for their families, is the day kidnapping will begin to lose its appeal. Deterrence, backed by intelligence and the full weight of the law, is how nations win this fight.
And note, a big beautiful prison will be built for kidnappers and their families!
Elon Musk explains how data centers in Space could help the US compete with China in AI
“Given that Chinese AI companies are doing as well as they are with a relatively small amount of compute, it seems that if they had a lot of compute, there’s a good chance they would be the leaders. The constraints on AI are essentially electricity and AI chips. China is very strong in digital AI, and it has far more electricity than the United States. In fact, China already has more electricity than the United States, Europe and India combined. The US government can prevent US companies from using Chinese models, but it can’t stop the rest of the world from using them. That won’t stop China from becoming the leader in AI. Digital intelligence comes down to how much AI compute, how many chips and how much electricity you have. The current constraint is electricity outside China. In China, the constraint is chips. China is also closer than most people realize to solving the lithography problem, which would enable it to make AI chips in very large volumes. Once we address the power constraint with AI data centers in space, the constraint will once again be chips outside China.”
Asimov’s Foundation series was a major influence on me.
That and the fall of Rome, from which Foundation takes inspiration, is what convinced me that we need to extend consciousness beyond Earth to avoid a potentially infinite dark age.
In Scotland to support/cover the Team Nigeria at the Commonwealth Games. 🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬
This is my 2nd Commonwealth Games from Birmingham 2022.
#PoojaInGlasgow
BREAKING: Bahrain and Kuwait warplanes secretly struck Iran early this month in their first-ever direct military retaliation against Iran, hitting drone and missile storage depots and other military sites, per WSJ.
The UAE provided direct intelligence on the targets and defensive air cover for the strikes.
Iran is likely to significantly escalate against the 3 countries in the coming weeks.