1 hour ago

Iran war helps narrow Australia’s budget deficit

Australia is expected to post a smaller-than-anticipated budget deficit on Tuesday, with higher commodity prices linked to the Iran conflict boosting government revenues.

Rising prices for energy and raw materials have strengthened Australia’s export earnings and tax intake, providing a financial windfall for the government ahead of the budget release.

The government is also attempting to advance politically sensitive reforms while balancing concerns over cost-of-living pressures and the broader economic impact of prolonged instability in the Middle East.

1 hour ago

Iran slams proposed UNSC move on Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi has accused the United States and its regional allies of attempting to shift attention away from what Tehran describes as unlawful military action and blockade measures against Iran by pushing for a new UN Security Council draft on the Strait of Hormuz.

“Freedom of navigation is a respected legal principle,” Gharibabadi wrote on X, “but it cannot be interpreted selectively, politically, and separately from the UN Charter.” (It seems they think only Iran can violate the Freedom on Navigation.Hey assholes what are you doing to stop killing your own people?PS PDJT doesn’t care what the UN says. You guys telling the UN to back your terrorism, and demanding it to be your mouthpiece doesn’t make you smart. You guys cannot make up shit. You’ll should be arrested for terrorism WW. They really all sound like little children whining and demanding that get their way by threatening everyone. I’m glad Trump has not bombed all of you out this world, but watch yourself)

He warned that any Security Council text addressing the Strait of Hormuz without referring to “aggression, blockade, threat of force and Iran’s legitimate rights to defend its security and vital interests” would be “incomplete, biased, political and doomed to fail.” (Terrorists complaining they are being harmed by doing their terrorist things. They are fucking nuts.)

2 hours ago

Iraq denies reports of secret Israeli base in the country

The Iraqi armed forces on Monday denied reports of unauthorized foreign military installations in the deserts of Karbala and Najaf, rejecting claims of a covert military presence linked to the Israel-Iran conflict.

In a statement posted on X, the military said rumors surrounding a secret base stemmed from a clash on March 5 involving Iraqi security forces and what it described as “unidentified, unlicensed detachments.”

The military said inspections carried out byIraq’s Joint Operations Command since then had confirmed that “no unauthorised bases or forces have been present” in the area.

Baghdad also warned it would pursue legal action against individuals or outlets spreading what itcalled “misleading information” and “malicious rumors” that undermine Iraq’s sovereignty and damage the reputation of its security institutions.

The statement came days after the Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had established a secret military base in the Iraqi desert to support air strikes against Iran.

2 hours ago

As Iran’s economy sinks, hardliners turn to conspiracy

As prices continue to soar across Iran,hardline clerics and pro-government figures are increasingly attempting to shift blame away from the stateeven as economic pressure deepens for ordinary citizens.

In Mashhad, firebrand Friday prayer leader Ahmad Alamolhoda claimed that “US Army infantry is responsible for rising prices.” He later said the remark was metaphorical. KEK

Earlier in the week, Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of the hardline daily Kayhan, wrote that“rising prices and hoarding are the products of the enemy’s infiltration in the government.” KEK

While Iran’s armed forces were “working miracles,” he argued, the economy had been left undefended, allowing enemies to undermine battlefield gains.

Read the full article here. (They can never tell the truth, that the truth is they are ruining their own country and killing citizens. Even countries that are Allie’s to them, don’t even believe that shit.)

https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202605087268

Zelensky’s alleged cocaine use ‘an open secret’ – former spokeswoman

Yuliya Mendelclaims her former boss wanted Goebbels-style propaganda in Ukraine

Published 12 May, 2026 03:01

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s alleged drug use is “an open secret,”his former spokeswoman, Yuliya Mendel, has claimed on The Tucker Carlson Show.

Allegations of drug use first surfaced during the 2019 presidential election campaign, in which Zelensky defeated incumbent Petro Poroshenko. Zelensky, a former comedy actor,dismissed the claims as slander at the time, and both candidates publicly underwent tests for alcohol and drugs.

Mendel worked for Zelensky between 2019 and 2021 and has since become highly critical of her former boss. In an interview released on Monday, Carlson askedwhether Zelensky used drugs, to which Mendel replied: “This is an open secret.”

“The thing is thatI’ve never seen him taking drugs. However, (while) writing my book, I met a lot of people who confirmed that they saw him taking drugs in different clubs. Only one saw him taking drugs in 2021,” she alleged. Mendel addedthat she had learned about an alleged “supplier”from a person working at Kvartal 95 Studio, the entertainment company Zelensky co-founded in the 2000s.

All these people are talking about cocaine, yes,” Mendel said. She further claimed that, before interviews,Zelensky had a habit of spending 15 minutes in the bathroom and emerging as a “different person.”

Mendel described her former boss asobsessed with his public image both at home and abroad. She claimed that at one point Zelensky told her:“I need Goebbels propaganda, I need thousands of talking heads,” referring to Adolf Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels.

Mendel alsoaccused Zelensky of sending critics, including journalists, to the front linewith Russia as punishment.

Political opponents, including Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko,have frequently accused Zelensky of abuse of power. Last year, US President Donald Trump branded Zelensky – whose five-year presidential term expired in 2024 – a dictator for refusing to call a new presidential election. Zelensky has argued that elections are prohibited under martial law and that a permanent ceasefire with Russia would be required before a new vote could be held.

https://www.rt.com/russia/639876-zelensky-drug-use-claims-secret/

Once Russia and Ukraine settle this war, I’m sure there will be many international Police to come and pick him up.

‘Zelensky thrives on war – why would he end it?’ Former press secretary exposes Ukraine’s posturing

Yuliya Mendel accused her former boss of seeking to prolong the conflictwith Russia to “get more money”

Published 11 May, 2026 23:41

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is using the conflict with Russia to enrich himself and his associates, his former spokeswoman, Yuliya Mendel, has claimed in an interview with Tucker Carlson.

Mendel served as Zelensky’s press secretary from 2019 to 2021. Her allegationscame as Andrey Yermak, Zelensky’s former influential chief of staff, was named a suspect in a money laundering case involving an elite development project. Zelensky’s longtime former business partner, Timur Mindich, fled the country last year to avoid arrest in connection with another major corruption scandal involving energy-sector kickbacks and implicating several top officials.

In an episode of The Tucker Carlson Show released on Monday, Mendel describedher former boss as a “dictator” who had grown “detached from reality” and employed “thousands of talking heads” to craft a favorable image both at home and abroad.

“He is one of the biggest obstacles to peace today,” Mendel said, accusing Zelensky of being “behind many schemes of money laundering” that have rocked Ukraine in recent years.

“There are a lot of people in his government who want peace. (Zelensky) is going to come up with any condition, he is going to change his positions all the time just to prolong this war and to get more money,” Mendel said, arguing thatending the conflict would amount to “political suicide” for Zelensky.

When Carlson suggested that Ukraine would not defeat Russia in a war of attrition, Mendel replied:“I think it’s obvious to Zelensky too. But he thrives on this war. Why would he end it?”

Mendel claimed that Ukraine came close twice to reaching a deal with Russia in 2022, but was pressured by the US and the UK to continue the conflict. While the Kremlin has also accused the West of helping derail the peace talks in Istanbul four years ago, Zelensky later denied the allegation.

Zelensky, whose five-year presidential term expired in 2024, has refused to call elections, citing martial law. The move has been criticized by both US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mendel, citing an unnamed insider, claimedthat secret polls commissioned by the Ukrainian government showed Zelensky would be “unelectable” if he chose to run again.

(https://www.rt.com/about-us/press-releases/zelensky-prolong-thrives-war/

He’s stolen so much money from Ukraine and western countries, I bet there are many agencies waiting for his arrest and many more.

Nearly $22 billion secretly shipped to Ukraine – Austrian politician

Euroskeptic FPO leader Christian Hafeneckerhas called on Vienna’s money laundering watchdog to investigate

Published 11 May, 2026 16:50

A right-wing Austrian politician hasdemanded that the country’s Finance Ministry explain how nearly $22 billion in cash and gold was shipped to Ukraine from Austria since 2022 without triggering concerns about money launderingor regulatory oversight.

In a statement published on Sunday, Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) Secretary General Christian Hafeneckercalled out what he described as Vienna’s “two-class justice system” for overlooking massive payments to Kiev, while keeping a tight hold on taxpayers’ purse strings.

“We’re not talking about play money here:1,030 registered cash and gold shipments, around €12 billion ($14 billion) plus $7.75 billion, physically transported over 1,300 kilometers into the war zone,” Hafenecker said.

“And the responsible finance minister simply tells me… ‘We know nothing, we’re not investigating anything, we haven’t collected any information.’ That’s not an answer, that’s dereliction of duty,” he added.

By comparison, Austrian money laundering rules require a private citizen withdrawing as little as €12,000 from an inherited account to prove the origin of the funds, and any person crossing the EU’s external border with more than €10,000 in cash must declare it, Hafenecker said. “This is a two-class justice system in finance.”

The politiciandemanded full disclosure on all cash shipments from Austria to Ukraine since the escalation of the conflict, a full audit by the country’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority, and a report by the Austrian Money Laundering Reporting Office in parliament.

Earlier this year, the EuroskepticFPO party demanded that Vienna cut all financial aid to Ukraine, denouncing the country as a corrupt “bottomless pit,” following a wave ofhigh-level embezzlement scandals in Kiev.

Major probes by Ukraine’s Western-backed anti-graft agencieshave implicated senior officials in Vladimir Zelensky’s government since last year. Two ministers and the Ukrainian leader’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, stepped down following the massive scandal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has slammed the current leadership in Kiev, calling it a “criminal gang” sitting on “golden potties,” and interested far more in personal enrichment than in the fate of ordinary Ukrainians.

https://www.rt.com/news/639864-22-billion-shipped-ukraine-austria/

Former Zelensky chief of staff faces new criminal case

Andrey Yermak is suspected of participating in a money laundering scheme worth $10 million, Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies have said

Published 11 May, 2026 19:34

Andrey Yermak, a former influential chief of staff to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, has beennamed a suspect in a new criminal case, according to a statement posted on Telegram by the country’s Western-backed anti-corruption agencies.

The former official is accused of being part of a criminal group that laundered 460 million hryvnias($10 million)through an elite residential construction project.

Often described as the grey cardinal behind Zelensky, Yermak was forced out in November 2025 after the anti-corruption agencies raided his properties as part of a high-profile corruption probe.The investigation was focused on a $100 million graft schemelinked to Zelensky’s inner circle and his former business partner and close associate, Timur Mindich.

Yermak himself denied ties to corruption at the time and claimed he stepped down to avoid “creating problems” for Zelensky.

The former chief of staff nowstands accused of violating Article 209 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code, which covers“money laundering and legalization of ill-gotten gains.” Earlier on Monday, the Ukrainian media reported that Yermak was subjected to some “investigative procedures” by the Ukrainian National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).

According to a video published by the anti-corruption agencies on YouTube, the criminal groupmight have also involved the former national unity minister, Aleksey Chernyshov,who headed the community and territorial development ministry at the time the group was active. Chernyshov’s wife was allegedly a co-owner of the construction company used in the scheme.

In December, the Ukrainian media reported that Yermak had retained influence following his resignation and was talking to Zelensky daily by phone and meeting him most evenings at his residence despite holding no formal government position.

The news comes amid another corruption scandal. Last month, Ukrainskaya Pravda released what it called leaked transcripts from surveillance recordings of Mindich and his business partners, as well as Ukrainian government officials. The files that have since become known as ‘Mindich tapes’ included a conversation Mindich had with a woman identified as Natalia, who reportedly oversaw a luxury construction project for him and Yermak. The leaks are yet to be officially verified.

In a brief statement to journalists on Monday evening, Yermak denied any involvement in the Dinastia (Dynasty) development project outside Kiev. He also denied being featured in conversations involving Mindich that were recorded by law enforcement.

Read RT's curated coverage of the ongoing investigations into allegations of corruption and graft by Zelensky's inner circle here.

(If they investigate they will find bank accounts all over the world, filled with stolen money.)

https://www.rt.com/russia/639869-zelenskys-former-chief-of-staff-criminal/

Why hasn’t anyone been arrested and in jail for stealing billions?

Salty Cracker

@SaltyCracker9

America first MTG just fled America.

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1:46 PM · May 11, 2026

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41.7K

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Excellent!

https://x.com/SaltyCracker9/status/2053894606753079403?s=20

David M. McIntosh

@DavidMMcintosh

Virginia Democrats misspelled "Virginia" and "Senator" in their motion to delay the VA Supreme Court's ruling on gerrymandering today.

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10:17 PM · May 8, 2026

1.2M

https://x.com/DavidMMcintosh/status/2052936016147681675?s=20

Illiterate goons