Socialism_Is_The_Alternative

Snip:

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has announced a major strategic expansion of Iran’s defensive perimeter in the Strait of Hormuz, warning that it will not allow any violation of the country’s territorial waters or national interests.

Rear Admiral Mohammad Akbarzadeh, the political deputy of the IRGC Navy, said on Tuesday that Iran has fundamentally redefined the operational boundaries of the strategic waterway.

[...]

What Iran considers the scope of the strait has been expanded, stretching from the coasts of Jask and Sirik to beyond the Greater Tunb Island, redefined as a strategic zone, he explained.

“It has expanded from a width of 20 to 30 miles in the past to over 200 to 300 miles, that is, 500 kilometers, from Jask and Sirik to beyond Qeshm Island and Greater Tunb. This is a complete crescent.”

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On Saturday, Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío denounced the effort to normalize the threat of military aggression against Cuba by the United States as part of a coldly calculated communications strategy. He warned that this strategy is part of a crime and those who participate in it will be complicit in the bloodbath.

Previously, the Cuban diplomat responded to statements by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who, without any evidence, accused the Havana administration of wasting resources and neglecting social priorities.

Fernández de Cossío pointed out that the objective of these statements is to justify the collective punishment currently being waged against the Cuban people and the possibility of military aggression.

In response to this narrative, the Deputy Foreign Minister detailed the guidelines for state investment, emphasizing that, even under U.S. blockade, Cuba has focused its investment efforts on maintaining the national electricity system, with a significant boost to renewable energy, the modernization of telecommunications, and the expansion of internet access.

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Public broadcasters from Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia announced on 11 May that they will not air this week’s Eurovision Song Contest in protest of Israel’s participation.

“For the next 10 days, instead of the Eurovision circus, the national television program will be colored by the thematic program series ‘Voices of Palestine,’” Slovenian broadcaster RTV said.

Featured documentaries and films will include Gaza Twins, Come Back to Me, No Other Land, The Voice of Hind Rajab, and The Teacher.

Ireland’s RTE will air a comedy show instead, while Spain will broadcast a special musical program during the contest, which begins on Tuesday in Vienna.

Snip:

The cost of the US military operation against Iran continues to grow and has already exceeded $77 billion by the 71st day of the operation, according to the Iran War Cost Tracker portal.

The resource updates data in real time and calculates the funds needed to maintain personnel, ships deployed to the region, and other related expenses. The calculation methodology is based on a Pentagon report to Congress, which stated that the first six days cost $11.3 billion, with costs expected to reach $1 billion per day thereafter.

In late April, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer Jules Hurst told lawmakers at a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee that US costs of the conflict with Iran were approximately $25 billion. However, the very next day, US media cited informed sources as saying that the stated amount did not include the cost of restoring American military facilities and replacing damaged equipment. According to media reports, the actual costs were almost twice as high.

Snip:

The Israeli army ordered its troops to kill any males they encountered in Gaza, including the unarmed and the elderly, during the genocide of Palestinians that began in 2023, according to a 7 May investigative report aired on Israel’s Channel 13.

“A man, no matter what age, don’t play games with it; kill immediately,” one soldier said he was told by his commanders. “They even told us that if it’s a woman or a child, use your judgment, because things happen,” he added, speaking anonymously.

His testimony was given to Iris Haim, the mother of an Israeli soldier taken captive by Hamas on 7 October 2023.

Yotam Haim was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza after approaching their positions during an attempt to escape alongside two other captives in December 2023.

Snip:

The Israeli army's chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, has recommended General Barak Hiram for the post of military secretary to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ynet reported on 7 May.

Hiram is a controversial candidate due to his actions on 7 October 2023, when he ordered tanks to open fire on a house in Kibbutz Beeri where Hamas fighters were holding Israeli captives.

The attack killed 13 of the 15 Israeli civilians inside the house, including 12-year-old Liel Hetzroni and her brother Yanai.

Yasmin Porat, one of the two Israelis who survived the incident, stayed with Liel and the other captives for several hours in the house. She states they were guarded by the Palestinian fighters who treated them "humanely" and whose “objective was to kidnap us to Gaza. Not to murder us.”