National security

Tesla China CEO Says Shanghai Gigafactory Is "Golden Key" To Optimus Robot Production

Tesla's China president was quoted by local media on Tuesday as saying the Shanghai Gigafactory could eventually play a major role in mass-producing humanoid robots. The comment comes after Tesla said earlier this year that it would pivot away from producing Model S and X vehicles at its California factory and convert the vehicle production lines to Optimus robot production.

The Shanghai Morning Post quoted Allan Wang Hao, a senior executive at Tesla China, who said the Shanghai Gigafactory could provide a "golden key" to mass-producing the Optimus robot.

"Like other Tesla factories, Giga Shanghai can shoulder important responsibilities in manufacturing all new products, including robots, to make our contributions to the company," Hao said. "We are highly confident in welcoming the arrival of a new era of robots."

Giga Shanghai is Tesla's largest factory. In 2025, it produced 851,000 EVs, more than half of Tesla's global output, and in the first quarter of 2026, the factory accounted for about 60% of worldwide deliveries.

SCMP noted, "It was the first time a Tesla executive publicly mentioned the potential use of the Shanghai factory for building humanoid robots."

Earlier this year, Elon Musk told investors on an earnings call that the company would stop making new Model S and Model X vehicles in the second quarter.

"It's part of our overall shift to an autonomous future," Musk said, adding that the Model S and X production lines in Fremont, California, will be converted to making Optimus.

Musk recently stated on X, "Custom orders of the Tesla Model S & X have come to an end. All that's left are some in inventory."

The latest Polymarket odds for when Tesla will release the humanoid robot for consumers stand at just 6% by June 30 and 16% by the end of the year.

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/tesla-china-ceo-says-shanghai-gigafactory-golden-key-optimus-robot-production

IRAN ISSUES ULTIMATUM – ‘Either Iran’s rights are recognized, including our control over the Hormuz Strait, or there will be a return to war.’ NO extension of the ceasefire. Tehran refuses to let this pause become preparation time for US ground. JD Vance: The peace deal is not there but it’s there and not there

“Either Iran’s rights are recognised, including our control over the Hormuz Strait, or there will be a return to war.”

➡️ NO extension of the ceasefire.

➡️ Tehran refuses to let this pause become preparation time for US ground attacks.

➡️ The message is simple and final: meet the demands or watch the conflict roar back to life.

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced something is happening and negotiations with Iran could Re-start within 48 Hours. Rational people see this as pure manipulation of Markets; and the nitwits in the markets seem to actually believe it!

Trump makes this announcement on a Tuesday. The 48 Hours covers Wednesday and Thursday.

By Friday, maybe negotiations start, maybe they don’t., but in the meantime, MARKETS hold-the-line thinking “all will be well” when that’s simply not the case.

The people I spoke with today about this told me they see this as PURE MARKET MANIPULATION. They’re gob-smacked that the so-called “experts” in the markets, are so gullible, so blind to reality, so utterly stupid, they can’t even see they’re being grossly manipulated.

https://citizenwatchreport.com/breaking-iran-issues-ultimatum-either-irans-rights-are-recognized-including-our-control-over-the-hormuz-strait-or-there-will-be-a-return-to-war-no-extension-of-the-ceasefire-tehran/

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Takes Firmer Stance With Trump Administration

The Mexican government on Tuesday protested the number of its citizens who have died in U.S. custody as President Claudia Sheinbaum pushes back against U.S. President Donald Trump ’s policies on multiple fronts.

The progressive Mexican leader has walked a careful line with Trump for more than a year, addressing provocations with a measured tone and meeting U.S. requests to crack down on criminal cartels more so than her predecessors, in an effort to offset threats of tariffs and U.S. military action against the gangs.

But in the wake of mounting deaths of Mexican citizens in custody of immigration officials and the Trump administration’s decision to impose an energy blockade on Cuba – a key Mexican ally – Sheinbaum has taken a harder line.

“We’ve seen the president raise her tone,” said Palmira Tapia, an analyst for Mexico’s Center for Economic Research and Teaching. “There’s been a shift, and we’ve seen Sheinbaum be more vocal than before.”

Deaths in ICE custody

Sheinbaum's latest rebuke came on Tuesday, a day after 49-year-old Mexican citizen Alejandro Cabrera Clemente died in a detention center in Louisiana of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE, the fifteenth death of a Mexican citizen in U.S. custody in little over a year.

Mexico's government quickly called the deaths “unacceptable” and the ICE detention centers "incompatible with human rights standards and the protection of life.”

The next morning, during a press briefing Sheinbaum added that she requested investigations into the deaths of the 15 migrants, but hasn't received a response and instructed Mexican consuls to visit detention centers daily.

“We are going to defend Mexicans at every level,” Sheinbaum said, adding that “there are many Mexicans whose only crime is not having papers.”

Her government already said it would file a legal brief supporting a lawsuit by detainees over poor conditions in detention centers and would raise the detainee deaths with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. On Tuesday, she added that her government was also considering appealing to the United Nations.

The moves by Sheinbaum's government come on top of mounting disapproval in the U.S. of Trump's immigration enforcement. About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say Trump has “gone too far” in sending federal immigration agents into American cities, according to a February AP-NORC poll.

“Growing dissatisfaction around ICE activities in the United States creates a more comfortable platform for members of the Mexican government to raise concerns about the fate of Mexican citizens,” said Carin Zissis, Washington interim director of the Council of the Americas.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2026/04/14/mexican-president-claudia-sheinbaum-takes-firmer-stance-trump-administration.html

Hezbollah Chief Torches 'Futile' Israel Talks, Urges Lebanon Walkout As Rubio Hypes 'Historic Opportunity'

The Israel-Lebanon peace talks which have kicked off at the State Dept. in Washington D.C. on Tuesday are unprecedented and historic, and yet they remain largely symbolic and will unlikely lead to much in terms of ending the conflict with Hezbollah. That's of course because Hezbollah is not actually represented, only Lebanese government officials - who hold no power or sway over what is the single most well-armed paramilitary group in the country.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Monday demanded that Lebanon cancel the US-hosted meeting with Israel, reaffirming the Iran-aligned group’s rejection of direct negotiations with its sworn enemy.

"We reject negotiations with the usurping Israeli entity… We call for a historic and heroic stance by canceling this negotiating meeting," Qassem stated. He blasted the talks as "futile".

Hezbollah has sent thousands of rockets into Israel, both in support of Hamas during the two-year Gaza war, and more recently as the US war on Iran kicked off.

Israel has in turn obliterated parts of Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley - launching a brutal airstrike campaign, as if to punish the whole country. Earlier in the Gaza war Hezbollah leadership was decimated.

As for the Lebanese government, it first wants to secure a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war via these formal talks with Lebanon itself. The US and Israel in turn are hoping to pressure all of Lebanese society into disarming and dismantling Hezbollah.

For now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep up the fight against Hezbollah, saying Saturday that "we want the dismantling of Hezbollah’s weapons, and we want a real peace agreement that will last for generations.'

The Lebanon crisis holds the potential to impact the outcome of delicate on and off again peace talks between Tehran and Washington.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is currently overseeing the talks. Upon welcoming the rival ambassadors Tuesday he declared, "This is a historic opportunity. We understand we're working against decades of history and the complexities that have led us to this unique moment and the opportunity here."

"The hope today is that we can outline a framework upon which a current and lasting peace can be developed," he added. Here's how he framed the situation:

"The Lebanese people are victims of Hezbollah. The Lebanese people are victims of Iranian aggression." Rubio stated. "This is a process, not an event."

https://twitter.com/i/status/2044105150961213845

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/hezbollah-chief-torches-futile-israel-talks-urges-lebanon-walkout-rubio-hypes-historic