curated news excerpts & citations
Matthew C. Klein: Russia’s Iran War Windfall in Perspective
At current prices, the Russian government’s energy-related tax revenues are probably running about 3x the monthly average from December 2025-February 2026. If those prices hold for the rest of the year, total oil and gas tax receipts would be worth about $180 billion in 2026, up from $101 billion in 2025.
If Russian export prices rise further from here—which seems likely given the world’s growing desperation for oil, gas, and refined products that are not affected by the Iranian government’s growing realization that it controls all traffic through the Strait of Hormuz—then the Russian government could find itself with a windfall worth hundreds of billions of dollars. (Unless of course its own export volumes are constrained by Ukrainian attacks.) Russia is also poised to benefit from its position as a major exporter of fertilizers now that Middle Eastern exports are no longer available.
Marc Bennetts @ Times of London: Why Putin is the real winner of the Iran war
Without firing a shot, Russia has emerged as a victor after the conflict created splits between Nato members and his ties with Iran strengthened
Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – April 9, 2026
The ceasefire President Donald J. Trump announced Tuesday night fell apart almost immediately. …
Although Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claims the U.S. has had a “historic and overwhelming victory” that achieved “every single objective,” David S. Cloud of the Wall Street Journal wrote yesterday that Iran saw the ceasefire as a “triumph” because it had survived a 38-day barrage from the United States and Israel and because it had gained control over the Strait of Hormuz, inflicting deep damage on the U.S. economy. Iran claimed the U.S. had suffered “an undeniable, historic, and crushing defeat.” Iran’s new leadership is even more anti-Western than the previous leadership, killed in the early days of the U.S.-Israeli strikes.
Yesterday the president posted his own interpretation of the terms of the agreement, but they were aspirational and asked for Iran to agree to terms that were less advantageous for the U.S. than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that President Barack Obama negotiated in 2015 and Trump tore up in 2018.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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Eliana Silver @ Daily Mail: Iran’s ‘pay up or get blown up’ threat: Map ‘shows heavily mined Strait of Hormuz’ as Tehran ‘demands $1m crypto tolls’ and oil prices surge
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard may have put sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz during the war, a chart published by semi-official news agencies in the country on Thursday suggested.
Tehran has also begun demanding massive cryptocurrency fees from passing ships as oil prices skyrocket during the fragile first days of a two-week ceasefire.
Charts dated from February 28 until April 9 were published by news agencies ISNA and Tasnim on Thursday, showing a large circle marked ‘danger zone’ in Farsi over the Traffic Separation Scheme.
(Eliana Silver @ Daily Mail more…)
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María Teresita Armstrong-Matta @ RawStory: Military lawyers allegedly ready to revolt over Hegseth’s target list
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Cristina Stassis @ Military Times: Automatic registration for US military draft-eligible men to begin in December
Automatic registration into the U.S. military draft pool for eligible men is slated to begin in December, following efforts from lawmakers and the selective service agency to streamline the previous self-registration process.
(Cristina Stassis @ Military Times more…)
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Brian Allen: The Pentagon Summoned the Pope’s Ambassador and Told Him to Pick a Side
Troy Matthews @ MeidasTouchNews: Pope Cancels Visit to the U.S. After Pentagon Threatens Vatican
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Paul Wiseman @ AP: US economy grew a sluggish 0.5% in fourth quarter, government says, downgrading previous estimate
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Dan Gearino @ Inside Climate News: Unpacking Trump’s Use of Emergency Powers to Prop Up Coal
A World War II-era policy is stopping old coal plants from closing, despite high costs and the wishes of their owners.
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NY Times: Coming Home May Be the Most Dangerous Part of Artemis II
After a successful flight around the moon, the astronauts are relying on a flawed heat shield to protect them as they re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.
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Joe Patrice @ Above the Law: Trump Sends DOJ After NFL To Avenge His Own Public Humiliation In The 80s
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Brian Allen: The First Lady Called a Press Conference About Epstein. Her Husband Says He Didn’t Know.
She took no questions.
Robert Reich: Why did Melania hold a news conference today, denying any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein?
Some theories
NY Times: Melania Trump Says She Was Not Associated With Jeffrey Epstein
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Decoding Fox News: Fox News Took Its Viewers on a Journey into Trump Delusion
A condensed overview of 15 hours of Fox News for the week ending 4/5/26
Al Jazeera Death toll and injuries live tracker
ICE Accountability Project
ICE deaths 2026 – They deserve remembrance and justice.
- March 16: Royer Perez-Jimenez
- March 14: Naseer Paktiawil
- February 25: Nurul Amin Shah Alam
April 1 – Jennifer Peltz and Jake Offenhartz @ AP: Death of a refugee left at a Buffalo doughnut shop by Border Patrol is ruled a homicide - January 24: Alex Pretti
- January 14: Heber Sanchaz Dominguez
- January 14: Victor Manuel Diaz
- January 9: Parady La
- January 7: Renée Good
- January 6: Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz
- January 5: Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres
- January 3: Geraldo Lunas Campos
- December 31, 2025: Keith Porter
Suffering Under President Obama
NACDL Criminal Case Tracker
Texas Tribune: A Walk for Peace: photos of Fort Worth monks’ journey to Washington
Walk for Peace – Dhammacetiya – The Ancient Sacred Buddhist Scripture Stupas
Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience
NPR: January 6, 2021: A visual archive
Accountability Initiative ICE List
GriftMatrix
Trump Action Tracker
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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