Jaunajā IR – Kādreiz Pēteris Vasks darbos atspoguļoja cīņu starp labo un ļauno, bet tagad viņam svarīgi vairot gaismu un runāt par ticību, cerību un mīlestību. Pirms savas 80. jubilejas komponists atklāja, kā tapuši viņa mīļākie skaņdarbi. 🔗 ir.lv/zurnaals/830/

❗️The U.S. has extended the license for operations involving Russian oil. The U.S. Department of the Treasury has extended a license allowing transactions involving Russian oil and petroleum products that were loaded onto vessels before April 17. Such transactions are now permitted until May 16.

Šonedēļ "Šķiltavā" "Ir" kolēģi Alise Markāne, @aivarsozolins.bsky.social un @raudseps.bsky.social diskutē par politisko turbulenci ap "airBaltic" un Siliņas sēdēšanu VIP zonā. Viņi apskata arī Latvijas orbānistu centienus atmazgāties. 🔗 open.spotify.com/episode/3iPy...

⚡️ Swedish king Carl Gustaf visits Ukraine, meets Zelensky Carl XVI Gustaf, king of Sweden, and Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard arrived in the Ukrainian city of Lviv on April 17. This is the Swedish king's first visit to Ukraine during Russia's full-scale invasion.

Lasiet @aivarsozolins.bsky.social komentāru! 🔗 ir.lv/politika/bak...

Jaunajā "Ārskatā" Latvijas vēstnieks ANO Gints Jegermanis un "Ir" komentētājs @aivarsozolins.bsky.social vērtē kara Irānā līdzšinējos rezultātus. Viņi pievēršas arī Zelenska sekmīgajai vizītei Sīrijā un Taivānas opozīcijas līderes vizītei Pekinā. 🔗 open.spotify.com/episode/5nv4... #SIF_MAF2025

Peter Magyar's landslide victory in Hungary inspires: 1. Even an incumbent kleptocrat of 16 years with control of nearly all media & state institutions can be beaten. 2. What is needed is a strong political leader who credibly stands for democracy, a united opposition & a free internet. /1

💥🇭🇺With 95% of votes counted, Hungary’s map shows the opposition Tisza party crushing Fidesz 94–12 in constituencies. Péter Magyar has secured a 2/3 majority, asked President Tamás Sulyok and other Orbán loyalists to resign immediately, and announced his first visit to Warsaw.

Hungarians showing how to win big in an unfair election: organize AND protest AND vote AND demand profound change.

Perhaps Magyar's most important promise, and the one that certainly resonates with voters: "never again a country without consequences!" The crowd chants: "To prison! To prison!" [with the corrupt officials of the outgoing government]

Let's celebrate by remembering this masterpiece by Gatis Rozenfelds.

💥Russian intelligence services are more deeply embedded in the Russian embassy in Hungary than in Belgium, where NATO’s headquarters and several EU institutions are based.

"Ironically enough, Crimea held a referendum to join Russia."

"Ir" 16. jubilejas "Šķiltavā" pie mikrofoniem sēdās @nellijal.bsky.social, @jemberga.bsky.social un @aivarsozolins.bsky.social, lai apspriestu jaunākos partiju reitingus. Viņi diskutēja arī par likmēm, kas liktas uz Ungārijas parlamenta vēlēšanām. 🔗 open.spotify.com/episode/6Bc5...

Lasiet @aivarsozolins.bsky.social komentāru! 🔗 ir.lv/politika/ves...

the best TACO Tuesday yet

Acting AG Todd Blanche: "I love working for President Trump. It's the greatest honor of a lifetime. And if President Trump chooses to nominate somebody else and asks me to go do something else, I'll say, 'Thank you very much, I love you, sir.'"

If Trump does give an order to attack civilian targets that have no military value as a means of collectively punishing the Iranian people - and make good his threat to begin a genocide - Marco Rubio should resign and the military must refuse the order. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

OTD in 1949 Soviets issued orders for deportations from Moldova to begin. Over 30,000 people were forcibly moved, after we had "liberated them from fascism" in Great Patriotic War. Imagine this kind of thing happening today. Oh. Wait. My bad.

Jaunajā “Ārskatā” “Ir” komentētāji @raudseps.bsky.social un @aivarsozolins.bsky.social spriež par Zelenska veiksmīgo vizīti Persijas līča valstīs, ASV lēmumu ļaut Krievijai piegādāt naftu Kubai un Trampa satraucošo runu. 🔗 open.spotify.com/episode/0TYX... #SIF_MAF2025

The Stoltenberg Buffer Zone Hoax: Anatomy of a Disinformation Operation Against the Baltic States berzins.substack.com/p/the-stolte...

There is *a lot* going in that post. "Praise be to Allah"? "Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell"? #25thamendment truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT...

Jaunajā IR — Nesenie uzbrukumi Krievijas ostām Baltijā ir apliecinājums Ukrainas dronu tehnoloģiju attīstībai, kas tagad liek Krievijai sajust karu dziļi tās iekšienē. Kā triecieni pa ostām vājina Krieviju, bet rada riskus Baltijā? 🔗 ir.lv/zurnaals/828/

OTD in 2023 Finland joined NATO, triggering 5th stage of Kremlin grief 1 “NATO is aggressive alliance” 2 “This crosses critical red line” 3 “The West will face terrible consequences” 4 "We remind you Russia is nuclear power" 5 “This is entirely meaningless & changes nothing”

The Putinisation of America. The Dear Leader is fed information that will please him by talentless minions promoted for their loyalty who fear the truth will see them purged.

Wonder if the two Americans that Iran shot down thought of Donald's opinions on pilots who get captured as they floated in their parachutes.

‼️ On Thursday,April 2,a consortium of media outlets from several countries exposed a Russian propaganda campaign in Argentina This campaign was carried out by a Russian operational group known as"Company,"initially linked to the Wagner Group&later controlled by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service

Pār robežu lido droni, ietekmīgi cilvēki vēlas Rīgu pārvērst par Dubaiju, un pieņemas spēkā politiķu vēlme pirms vēlēšanām aplaimot iedzīvotājus ar labumiem. Par šiem jautājumiem "Šķiltavā" diskutē kolēģi Baiba Litvina, Pauls Raudseps un Aivars Ozoliņš. 🔗 open.spotify.com/episode/6nXu...

Tom Nichols: “His address did not come across as a wartime speech but instead was a disjointed series of complaints, brags, and exaggerations (along with a few outright lies) delivered by a man who looked and sounded tired.” @radiofreetom.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Lasiet @aivarsozolins.bsky.social komentāru! 🔗 ir.lv/politika/lie...

Emotionally unstable and cognitively impaired president

President Trump has said he is strongly considering pulling the US out of NATO - The Telegraph "Oh yes, I would say [it's] beyond reconsideration. I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way."

Who learned from Ukraine's "Operation Spiderweb"? Iran: Yes. United States: No.

In this 8th Debunk of the Day, we’ll discuss complaints about US financing of NATO, in particular how the US allegedly pays for European defense, leading to calls for a US withdrawal from the Alliance — which would only make it easier for Putin to invade more countries. 1/7

Mind-boggling story by @anneapplebaum.bsky.social on the surreal fever-dream that is the Hungarian election campaign. A dystopian laboratory of far-right brainwashing. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Ahead of Hungary’s 12 April elections, the Orbán regime has been engaged in widespread voter intimidation, targeting rural constituencies with bribery, coercion, and even illegal drugs, as polls show the ruling Fidesz party trailing. 1/

Above: President Trump: "I always like to hang around with losers, actually, because it makes me feel better." Below: I thought of the meeting in Anchorage immediately.

Treating war as a video game not only degrades trustworthiness of information from the government, it’s morally wrong because it trivializes the risks our forces are experiencing.

Viktor Orban is waging cognitive warfare on a scale no one else has tried before. "Emotions are high because the stakes are high. If he succeeds, he will once again blaze a path that others will follow. And if he loses, an era comes to an end." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Russia uses its figure skating platform to normalize pro-war rhetoric and systematically whitewash its war crimes. 🧵 1/10 ⬇️

‼️ Slovak police investigate treason case against PM Fico over halt to electricity supplies to Ukraine

The FBI confirmed hackers targeted the personal emails of Director Kash Patel. This is hours after an Iranian government-linked hacking group posted documents and images online, claiming to have stolen them from Patel.

The decision of who "deserves" to be a citizen and who doesn't comes down to this one man? Is that really the MAGA position now?

Igauņi bija pirmie, kuri ļāva iedzīvotājiem izņemt 2. pensiju līmenī iemaksāto naudu. Sarunā ar @raudseps.bsky.social igauņu pētniece Heidi Reinsone atklāj, kāpēc šis solis ir populistisks piedāvājums īslaicīgi uzdzīvot un pēc tam kārt zobus vadzī. 🔗 ir.lv/politika/iga...

Exclusive: U.S. can only confirm about a third of Iran's missile arsenal destroyed, sources say reut.rs/4s1hMTD

Monstrous racist. Still astounds me, even after more than ten years of relentless repetition. Just the worst person imaginable to be president.

Jaunajā "Šķiltavā" "Ir" kolēģi Māra Miķelsone, @raudseps.bsky.social un @aivarsozolins.bsky.social analizē, kāpēc atgriežamies pie balsu skaitīšanas ar rokām. Viņi runā arī par bīstamo 2. pensiju līmeņa šūpošanu un deportācijām, kuras nedrīkstam aizmirst. 🔗 open.spotify.com/episode/4k2v...

Lasiet @aivarsozolins.bsky.social komentāru! 🔗 ir.lv/politika/ar-...

OTD 77 years ago Soviet Union deported 90000+ people from occupied Baltic States My grandmother was in final year of high school about to graduate in couple of months and go to university when she was put in a cattle train and deported more than 4000 km to Siberia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operati...

Decolonize Russia.