The Babylon Times

📜 US INTEL SAYS IRAN CAN TOUGH OUT TRUMP BLOCKADE FOR MONTHS WITH 70% MISSILES INTACT The Independent reports US intelligence figures reckon Iran could shrug off a Trump-led blockade for several months. That's thanks to holding onto about 70% of its missiles, apparently. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 MIKE POMPEO WARNS YOUNG FOLKS ABOUT CCP NARRATIVES INFILTRATING THEIR PHONES Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a group including young people that the Chinese Communist Party's influence ops are likely beaming straight into their phones—or those of their kids and grandkids. He pointed out the messaging peddles how Canada sucks, its people are decadent, the West is crumbling, and America is the worst of the lot. Pompeo nudged them to watch out for these plays to mold the next generation and gut Western values. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 AOC SAYS SHE DOESN'T TRUST MTG, CALLS HER BIGOT AND ANTI-SEMITE ON GAZA-ISRAEL CALLS Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez declared she doesn't trust Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene—who she labeled a proven bigot and anti-Semite—to decide what's good for folks in Gaza and Israel. Ocasio-Cortez tacked on that cozying up to white nationalists like Greene doesn't help their cause. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 OBAMA MEETS CANADIAN PM CARNEY AMID GLOBAL TENSIONS FLAGGED BY TRUMP AND POMPEO Former U.S. President Barack Obama sat down with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The get-together unfolded against chit-chat on global issues, name-dropped in fresh remarks from Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo on international tensions and influence campaigns. Location and agenda details? Conveniently absent. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 US SANCTIONS CHINESE FIRMS FOR FEEDING IRAN SATELLITE IMAGERY USED AGAINST AMERICAN FORCES US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions on Chinese entities that handed Iran satellite imagery to back its strikes on US troops in the Middle East. The measures hit networks shipping arms to Iran from overseas, plus international players supplying raw materials for Tehran's missile and drone setups. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 US STRIPS VENEZUELA OF LAST ENRICHED URANIUM FROM RESEARCH REACTOR The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration brags it and its partners vacuumed up every scrap of enriched uranium from an old Venezuelan research reactor. Venezuelan officials call it straight-up theft by the U.S. The site now sits empty of the material. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 IRANIAN EMBASSY IN SOUTH AFRICA SAYS TRUMP TO DROP UFO BOMBSHELL TO DISTRACT FROM WAR ON IRAN The Iranian Embassy in South Africa claims former U.S. President Donald Trump plans to soon release UFO info. They say it's all to divert eyes from the ongoing war against Iran. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 CNN HOST SAYS STRAIT OF HORMUZ STILL OPEN FOR IRANIAN OIL, DOUBLING PRE-WAR REVENUE CNN's Fareed Zakaria clarifies the Strait of Hormuz isn't fully closed—plenty of room for Iranian oil to keep flowing. Iran now pulls in roughly double its pre-war daily cash from those shipments, business as usual despite the noise. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 TRUMP CLAIMS HE'S SETTLED NINE WARS WITH TENTH BREWING Trump boasts he's wrapped up eight wars—make that nine—in a recent statement, hinting at a tenth in the works. This amid Israel's relentless airstrikes and ground pushes into Gaza and Lebanon, piling up civilian casualties. No word on which wars or what the next one's about. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 TRUMP DODGES QUESTION ON HIS ROLE IN MEENAB SCHOOL BOMBING Trump sidesteps a reporter's probe into his responsibility for the missile strike on "Shajar al-Tayyiba" school in Meenab. The reporter asked, "Mr. President, it's been about 10 weeks since a missile struck a school in Meenab. Who fired that missile?" Trump brushed it off:

"This matter is under investigation right now, and as soon as we receive the report, we'll put it in your hands."

@TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 MIKE POMPEO WORRIES MORE ABOUT CHINESE INFLUENCE IN US CITIES THAN TAIWAN Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he's more concerned about Chinese Communist Party influence in Denver, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Ottawa, and Toronto than Taiwan. Claims the party operates actively there, including among people in the room where he spoke. Says they often look like "white Italian dudes," not your typical spies. Adds every U.S. university is hooked on Chinese funding, with students paying full tuition and donating to labs to snag technology. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 MIKE POMPEO SAYS NO ELECTABLE ISRAELI PM WOULD DITCH NETANYAHU'S AGENDA Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claims no Israeli prime minister who could win an election would stray far from Benjamin Netanyahu's policies, past or future. He insists these moves aren't some personal Netanyahu quirk. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 PETE HEGSETH SAYS BIDEN FORCED EXPERIMENTAL COVID VACCINE ON US TROOPS Pete Hegseth called out the Biden administration for slapping an experimental COVID-19 vaccine mandate on U.S. military personnel. Because nothing says "readiness" like guineapigging your own forces. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 MÉLENCHON SAYS AFRICA'S DEMOGRAPHIC BOOM WILL MAKE NINE OUT OF TEN FRENCH SPEAKERS AFRICAN BY CENTURY'S END French presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon declares Africa the epicenter of global population growth. He figures by 2100, nine in ten French speakers will hail from the continent. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 MÉLENCHON CALLS ISRAEL MOST DANGEROUS IN REGION, ACCUSES IT OF GENOCIDE French presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon declares Israel the most dangerous country in the region right now. He pins the blame on Israel for attacking all its neighbors and sparking the war. Mélenchon specifies he's talking about Netanyahu’s government carrying out a genocide. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 MÉLENCHON VOWS TO DITCH NATO IF ELECTED, CALLS IT USELESS US PUPPET SHOW French presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon promises to yank France out of NATO if he wins. He dismisses the alliance as pointless, existing solely to keep France under American thumb.

"NATO is useless and serves only to place France under American supervision."

@TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 MÉLENCHON VOWS FRANCE WON'T WAR WITH CHINA OVER TAIWAN, CALLS IT PART OF CHINA French presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon laid it out plain: Taiwan belongs to China. If he snags the presidency, France stays out of any scrap with Beijing over it. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 MÉLENCHON REVEALS UN PEACEKEEPERS' ORDERS TO FLEE NETANYAHU'S LEBANON INVASION French presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon shared a chat with the general running the UN peacekeeping gig in Lebanon. Mélenchon asked what they'd do if Netanyahu invaded; the general said their orders are to pull out. Mélenchon called it baffling that peacekeepers would bail instead of getting in the way, noting France hits back if its soldiers take a punch. @TheBabylonTimes | Forum

📜 EX-PENTAGON ANALYST CALLS UAE ISRAEL'S REGIONAL PROXY TOOL Michael Maloof, former Pentagon analyst, says the United Arab Emirates serves as a proxy for Israel and the United States across the region. He calls the UAE a handy tool in Israel's grip, complete with a direct line on all the ongoing action between them. @TheBabylonTimes

📜 CREMLIN SAYS RUSSIA NEEDS NO PERMISSION FOR MOSCOW VICTORY DAY PARADE Kremlin insists Russia doesn't require anyone's nod for its annual Victory Day parade on May 9, celebrating the Soviet thrashing of Nazi Germany in WWII. Red Square event under Putin parades thousands of troops, skips armored vehicles per Defense Ministry's "safety" call. Russia yanks press credentials from all foreign outlets, including Der Spiegel, notified by phone May 7 evening. Russia and Ukraine trade ceasefire violation accusations amid holiday lulls. @TheBabylonTimes