Diplomacy Goes Dark: Trump Tightens the Noose on Iran — and the Gulf Braces for Blowback
Direct U.S.–Iran contact has collapsed, US base in Qatar "shifts posture," and Trump’s 25% “Iran trade” tariff threat drags China - and the global economy - into the line of fire.
Direct contact between senior officials from the United States and Iran has broken down as tensions soar over possible military strikes. Communication lines between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff have been suspended, an unnamed senior official told Reuters news agency. The news report comes amid US President Donald Trump’s intensifying threats to intervene militarily as Iran clamps down after two weeks of deadly demonstrations. Tehran has vowed it would retaliate against US military bases in the Middle East if it is attacked. Meanwhile, some personnel have been advised to leave the US military’s Al Udeid airbase in Qatar by Wednesday evening, three unnamed diplomats tell Reuters news agency. The news report comes amid increasing warnings from the United States that it could intervene militarily to protect protesters in Iran. Al Udeid is the Middle East’s largest US base, housing about 10,000 American troops. “It’s a posture change and not an ordered evacuation,” one of the diplomats told Reuters, adding that he is not aware of any specific reason for the move.
Moscow will continue working with Iran despite threats of attacks and tariffs from the United States, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says.
Asked about US pressure on Iran, Lavrov said Russia will implement bilateral agreements, adding no external power can alter the nature of ties between the two countries. Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Lavrov said US actions are contributing to the fragmentation of the global order and damaging Washington’s credibility. “Our American colleagues look unreliable when they act in this way,” Lavrov said - AJE
Donald Trump’s latest threat to impose 25% tariffs on countries trading with Iran risks reigniting a U.S.-China trade war. China remains Iran’s largest trading partner, which means any serious attempt to penalize commercial ties with Tehran quickly becomes a direct test of the US–China relationship and the fragile equilibrium that has only recently begun to re-emerge after years of trade conflict. Agriculture would feel the impact first. American soybean exports to China never fully recovered from earlier trade battles, and US farmers learned how quickly access to foreign markets disappears when politics enters supply chains. The implications, however, extend well beyond soybeans. Technology, energy, manufacturing and logistics all depend on predictable trade flows and stable policy frameworks - Asia Times
China announced on Wednesday the world’s largest trade surplus ever, even adjusting for inflation, as a tsunami of exports flooded markets around the world last year. China’s surplus, the value of goods and services it sold abroad versus its imports, reached $1.19 trillion, an increase of 20 percent from 2024, according to data released by the country’s General Administration of Customs. The number had already exceeded $1 trillion through November. The country’s surplus is still widening: for December alone, China’s surplus reached $114.14 billion, propelled by surging exports to the European Union, Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. It was the third-highest monthly surplus on record, trailing only January and June last year. The enormous trade surplus for the full year came despite efforts by President Trump to use tariffs to contain China’s factories. The tariffs reduced China’s trade surplus with the United States by 22 percent last year. But Chinese factories increased sales to other regions, in many cases bypassing American tariffs by shipping goods to the United States through Southeast Asia and elsewhere - NYT
At least 32 people have been killed and 66 others injured after a construction crane fell onto a moving train in north-eastern Thailand. The crane derailed the train and crushed some of its carriages, one of which caught fire. A one-year-old and an 85-year-old are among those injured, with seven people in critical condition, according to authorities. Officials say some 171 passengers had been onboard the train when the accident occurred at around 09:00 local time (02:00 GMT). The State Railway of Thailand has launched an investigation into the incident and announced that it is taking legal action against the construction company responsible for the crane. Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited said it expressed regret and it would provide compensation and relief to the families of those who died or were injured. The train had been travelling from Bangkok to the north-eastern Ubon Ratchathani province when the accident occurred, carrying mostly students and workers travelling for school and work in other districts. Local outlet The Nation reported that the incident occurred while the crane was lifting a large concrete section which dropped on to the train, causing several coaches to derail - BBC
The U.S. is expected on Wednesday to announce the administration that will run war-ravaged Gaza, four Palestinian sources said. Israel and Hamas in October signed off on Donald Trump’s 20-point plan which says that a technocratic Palestinian body overseen by an international “Board of Peace” is meant to govern Gaza for a transitional period (it represents Phase 2 of the Gaza truce agreement). It is not to include Hamas representation. The 14-member Palestinian body will be headed by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority who had been in charge of developing industrial zones, the Palestinian sources said. Other members tapped by Nickolay Mladenov, the former UN Middle East envoy who is expected to represent the Board of Peace on the ground, include people from the private sector and NGOS- Al Arabiya
The European Commission has formally unveiled a 90-billion-euro ($105 million) loan for Ukraine, intended to cover a large part of Kyiv’s financing needs for the next two years. The move comes on January after EU leaders in December opted for a loan backed by the EU budget instead of a much-publicized “reparation loan” using frozen Russian assets in the bloc as a collateral. Last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that Ukraine would need around 135 billion euros ($158.3 billion) in financing for 2026 and 2027, with Kyiv already facing a budget shortfall of 71.7 billion euros as early as this spring. The EU has committed to covering a large share of that gap, particularly as the United States has signaled it will scale back financial support for the war-torn country. Of the 90 billion euros, 30 billion ($35 billion) should go to budgetary support, conditional upon rule-of-law reforms and anti-corruption measures. Sixty billion euros ($70 billion) will go to military spending - RFE/RL
Former Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko was charged with offering bribes to lawmakers following an investigation and a raid by the country’s anti-corruption bodies, authorities revealed on Wednesday. Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) reportedly raided the offices of a political party on Tuesday evening. It was later reported that the searches took place at the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party headquarters, which is led by Tymoshenko. Tymoshenko confirmed the news of the raid on Wednesday morning and rejected all allegations against her, calling them “absurd.” NABU and SAPO issued a statement saying that they have notified “the leader of one of the factions in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of their suspicion that she offered unlawful benefits to members of the Ukrainian parliament.”- Euronews
Odesa opposition MP Oleksiy Goncharenko blasted the Zelensky administration in parliament on Wednesday, demanding clear timelines for when widespread outages of electricity, heating and water will end. He called on Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko to appear before lawmakers and brief the country on the government’s response. Meanwhile, Ukrainians - especially in Kyiv - flooded social media with accounts of freezing apartments and sporadic access to water and light, saying official outage schedules are unreliable and make daily life impossible to plan. Goncharenko also alleged that figures linked to a $100-million corruption scheme involving funds meant to protect power plants are “sitting on warm beaches” while ordinary Ukrainians shiver in the dark.
Uganda cut access to the internet nationwide ahead of Thursday’s elections, in which President Yoweri Museveni is widely expected to extend his four-decade rule. Internet shutdowns are used by many African governments to limit the flow of information and suppress protests, with more than 190 shutdowns occurring across 41 African countries between 2016 and last year. Ugandan authorities implemented an internet blackout ahead of the 2021 election, which was marred by pre-election violence and rights abuses, according to observers. Violence also spiked following a crackdown on opposition parties in the lead up to this year’s vote. Bobi Wine, Museveni’s main challenger, denounced the latest move as the acts of a “criminal regime” and called on voters to use Bitchat, an encrypted messaging app developed by X founder Jack Dorsey, to bypass the restrictions - Semafor
The 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico is now just 150 days away. The tournament begins on Thursday, June 11 and it starts with a pair of big games. The first of them involves one of the co-hosts as Mexico host South Africa in Group A at the world-famous Estadio Azteca, the seventh-biggest football stadium on the planet in terms of capacity (87,523). However there are many criticizing the extortionate ticket prices: Olympique de Marseille and USMNT winger Timothy Weah has said he is “disappointed” at the steep prices already seen, describing the tournament as out of reach for regular soccer fans. “It is too expensive,” Weah, 25, told French outlet Le Dauphiné. “Football should still be enjoyed by everyone. It is the most popular sport. This World Cup will be good, but it will be more of a show. “I am just a bit disappointed by the ticket prices. Lots of real fans will miss matches.” - NYT
At the same time that demand for tickets to the 2026 World Cup has surged, there are multiple claims on social media that nearly 17,000 tickets were canceled by fans who purchased them out of fear of repression by ICE. To be clear, there is no data confirming that 17,000 tickets were canceled at once, either by FIFA or by any other trustworthy source.
A far-right Republican running for governor of Florida has proposed a 50 percent “sin tax” on the income of OnlyFans models. James Fishback, 31, outlined the proposal in a Monday interview with extreme right-wing YouTube channel NXR Studios. “If you are an OnlyFans model and you reside in Florida, get ready to pay 50 percent of your income to the state. It is called a sin tax because it’s a sin,” said Fishback, who is aligned with the far-right “groyper” movement and counts Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carlson as supporters. “If you are a so-called OnlyFans creator in Florida, you are going to pay 50 percent to the state on whatever you so-called earn via that online degeneracy platform,” he added. On X, he specifically called out OnlyFans model Sophie Rain as a target of his proposal. Rain went viral in October for claiming she made $83 million on the platform despite never posting nude content. Fishback, the CEO of investment firm Azoria Partners, announced his run for governor in November 2025, despite having no political experience. He previously pitched himself to President Donald Trump’s circle to Novemberernors, saying he was a fierce supporter of the president and would be his “bulldog,” sources told ABC News. He was passed over for the job and began taking shots at Trump after the president endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds over him in the gubernatorial race. He trails Donalds in the GOP primary by 70 points among voters aware that Trump endorsed his rival - The Daily Beast
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