Michael Kuenne

Journalist reporting on global events.
Real-time. Fact-based. Verified.

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

Something striking about today's European statements on the US-Iran deal.

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

https://t.co/atV4ZG4gmQ

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

Different extremes disagree on almost everything, until it comes to Israel.

The far left, the far right, and Islamist movements increasingly end up speaking the same language: conspiracy, collective blame, and the delegitimization of the Jewish state.

I published my latest op-ed:

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

@HenMazzig You called it out because that is exactly what needs to be called out.

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

Don't tell me about fake bookings and exhausted staff. When a person reaches for 'no Jews allowed', that sentence didn't come from nowhere. Words don't type themselves, a thought happened first. We end up talking about the hotel's feelings instead of what that sentence means in Germany in 2026.

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

For decades, Berlin and several other NATO capitals underinvested in defense while relying heavily on American security guarantees. That structural imbalance gave Washington real leverage in alliance politics, and it is dishonest to pretend otherwise.

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran’s reported “tolling system” in the Strait of Hormuz is “unlawful,” “illegal,” and “unsustainable for the world,” insisting the strategic waterway is “going to be open, one way or the other.” Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), international straits are generally governed by transit passage rules, which maritime law experts widely interpret as prohibiting coastal states from imposing unilateral transit fees on foreign vessels.

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

@Volker_Beck @inesschwerdtner @jan_vanaken @EhlingJanis @dieLinke https://t.co/2fCRjBYHkr

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

@b4l4g4n @dieLinke Don't miss his Instagram Story Highlights featuring 'Boom Boom Tel Aviv.'

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

@b4l4g4n @dieLinke Don't miss his Instagram Story Highlights featuring 'Boom Boom Tel Aviv.'

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

Read my op-ed on the Iranian kill list in Berlin: https://t.co/TuyInQmumn

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

Yesterday I wrote about alleged Iranian operatives mapping Jewish targets in Berlin. Today the New York Post broke the story of an IRGC-trained terrorist with a blueprint of Ivanka Trump's Florida home. This is one regime, one terror apparatus, operating across continents with zero fear of consequences.

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

What we’re watching in Cuba is the final act of a 67-year socialist disaster playing out in real time.
This is the predictable collapse of a brutal, corrupt system that has delivered nothing worth the cost, nothing that justifies the poverty, repression, and exile it has imposed on the Cuban people since 1959. For the first time in decades, the Trump administration is treating Cuba as what it has always been: a hostile authoritarian state with deep ties to America’s adversaries. That matters. This regime only speaks one language, and Washington is finally speaking it fluently. The Cuban people deserve better than 67 years of darkness. With sustained American pressure and real support for those willing to reform, they may finally get it.

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

This is serious enough that the WHO is coordinating international monitoring, contact tracing, and follow-up for exposed individuals, but based on current public-health assessments, it is not considered a reason for the general public to change daily life, broadly avoid travel, or treat this like the beginning of another Covid-style event.

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

I've seen two kinds of reactions to the MV Hondius hantavirus situation lately. One side says it's nothing and people should stop talking about it. The other treats it like the beginning of another Covid-era global event. Right now, neither interpretation is supported by the facts.

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

The trans-Atlantic rift isn’t about troop numbers. For years, policymakers in Washington, across both parties, have questioned why Europe, despite its economic weight, continues to rely on the United States for high-end defense capabilities.

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

Australia's Farmers Are Running Out of Time

Urea prices have doubled in the past year, now exceeding AU$1,400 per tonne, levels not seen relative to crop prices since records began in 2003. Yet the crops those farmers grow haven't risen in price to match. They're being squeezed from both ends with no relief in sight.

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

Oil crossed $123 a barrel, briefly hitting $125.

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

The Japanese yen just broke past 160 to the dollar. Japan faces increasing policy pressure.

Bond yields on 10-year JGBs climbed to 2.5%, a level not seen since 1997.

The Bank of Japan has been hinting at possible rate hikes to tackle inflation, but with the yen sliding and global uncertainty piling up, there's no clean path forward.

The Nikkei dropped around 800 points today as well. Worth keeping an eye on how Japanese authorities respond.

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

Germany: Industry insiders are warning that by mid-to-late May, airlines could start parking jets because they simply won't have enough jet fuel to keep them flying.

[Michael Kuenne @michaelkuenne]

A deadly train crash just outside Jakarta, Indonesia has claimed 14 lives and left 84 others injured. Indonesian President Prabowo visited a local hospital and acknowledged that large parts of the country's rail network are poorly maintained. Jakarta is the most populous city on the planet, so the crash has also disrupted train service across the city.