Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, Apr 20, 2026 @thestudyofwar.bsky.social #ISW Key Takeaways ⤵️ 2. Russian forces continue to struggle to defend Russian infrastructure against repeated Ukrainian strikes. understandingwar.org/research/rus...

#Iran Update Special Report, Apr 20, 2026 @thestudyofwar.bsky.social #ISW Key Takeaways ⤵️ 3. US and Iranian delegations will reportedly meet in Islamabad, Pakistan, for a second round of talks… US and Iranian demands appear to have largely stayed the same… understandingwar.org/research/mid...

Mexico's Sheinbaum Demands Explanation After U.S. Officials Die Assisting in Operation in Chihuahua @pbsnews.org www.pbs.org/newshour/wor...

#Iran Talks on Shaky Footing After US Ship Seizure, Oil Prices Jump @washingtonpost.com Iranian officials have threatened to forgo negotiations even as US representatives plan to arrive in Pakistan for the meeting and a ceasefire is set to expire Wednesday. 😬 www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

from the annals of getting high on your own supply (gift link) www.theverge.com/tldr/915176/...

Breaking: Tehran Rejects Talks Under Threat; Trump Says Blockade Stays @aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblo...

Breaking: JD Vance’s Departure to Islamabad Delayed @aljazeera.com #Iran aje.news/0v16yj?updat...

It’s high time for a grown-up conversation which acknowledges that the drug laws — by funneling untold riches to violent criminals — are more harmful than the drugs themselves.

Breaking: Tehran Rejects Talks Under Threat; Trump Says Blockade Stays @aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblo...

Iraq Reopens Rabia Border Crossing to Boost Fuel Oil Exports via #Syria @reuters.com 👍 www.reuters.com/world/middle...

The Collapse Is Real – #Lebanon Ceasefire Marks a Historic Strategic Defeat | Middle East Online After failing to secure victory through overwhelming violence, Israel is increasingly relying on coercive diplomacy to impose political outcomes. 🤬 middle-east-online.com/en/collapse-...

Israel: You cease, I fire! 🤬 — Six Injured in Israeli Airstrike on Southern #Lebanon | Qatar News Agency The death toll from the Israeli aggression against Lebanon has risen to 2,387 dead, in addition to 7,602 wounded. qna.org.qa/en/news/news...

Israel Entrenches Hold on South #Lebanon; US to Host Talks on Thurs @reuters.com 🤬 • Israel tells residents to stay away from dozens of villages • Lebanese official reports destruction in 39 villages in south • Desecration of a crucifix by Israeli soldier condemned www.reuters.com/world/middle...

European Union Hosts Palestinian Peace Conference as It Seeks Greater Role in Middle East @pbsnews.org #Gaza 👏 More than 60 nations sent representatives to Brussels for talks with Palestinian representatives on stability, security and long-term peace. ☑️ www.pbs.org/newshour/wor...

Six Months Into #Gaza Ceasefire, Phase Two of Trump's 'Peace Plan' Remains in Limbo @lemonde.fr 🤬 The Israeli army has tightened its grip on the enclave and killed more than 750 Palestinians over the past six months. Humanitarian aid continues to fall short of needs … www.lemonde.fr/en/internati...

2 Gazans Killed by Israeli Fire as Death Toll Tops 72,500, Health Ministry Says @anadoluajansicom.bsky.social #Gaza 🤬 • Total wounded rises to more than 172,000 amid continued Israeli ceasefire violations • 777 Palestinians have been killed and 2,193 injured since the ceasefire began. 1/3

Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Sets Dangerous Precent for Iran War @theintercept.com Israel has now reaped the fruits of unilaterally declaring Lebanon outside of the Iranian ceasefire … and has now made permanently ending the war, as Iran has desired, a much more difficult prospect. 🤬

#Hamas Officials Say Talks With Israel on #Gaza Ceasefire's Second Stage at a Deadlock @haaretzcom.bsky.social 🤔 Senior Hamas officials said no progress was made in talks with Israel on implementing the second phase of a Gaza cease-fire, after meetings in Cairo … www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

Don’t Look Now, but Ukraine Is on a Roll – the Power Vertical #Ukraine has just had a string of good news, good luck, and good moves. www.powervertical.org/2026/04/16/d... 1/2

I offer a modest suggestion for the US-Iran talks: An “open for open” formula, under which both sides end their blockades of the strait, could offer a way out of the negotiating stalemate evident this weekend. bit.ly/4dZga9v

If only it were that simple, but it's not: • Netanyahu is chafing at the bit, and • the Lebanon ceasefire is untenable, • not to mention Gaza. • Trump needs a nuclear win that beats Obama. • Then there are the Iranian missiles and proxies. • None of this can really be kicked down the road.

President Trump said today he'll use a Cold War-era national security law to try and bolster domestic production of motor fuels and electricity.

Panic that won't do much (if any) good: 🤭 — Trump Invokes Cold War Law [DPA] to Boost Energy Supply for Fossil Fuel @axios.com What we're watching: It's not immediately clear how the memos may spur additional projects or supplies. www.axios.com/2026/04/20/t...

Trump Says Iran Truce Extension Unlikely, #Hormuz Stays Shut @bloomberg.com 🙄 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Largest U.S. Study Finds Teen Cannabis Use Linked to Slower Cognitive Development @ucsdhealth.bsky.social 😬 Study of more than 11,000 teens finds cannabis use tied to slower gains in memory, focus and thinking speed as well as worse memory over time during key years of brain development

US Military Strike on Alleged Drug Boat Kills 3 in Caribbean Sea @apnews.com 🤬 The U.S. military said it launched another strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea, killing three people Sunday. 🙄 apnews.com/video/us-mil...

Gaza reconstruction to cost more than $70bn, officials say ft.trib.al/y66pSYO

If by "customers" you actually mean *consumers*, then yes, consumers are unlikely to see refunds except in relatively rare cases and will likely continue to pay higher prices for some time to come. — Trump Tariff Refunds Begin but Consumers Likely to Miss Out www.bbc.com/news/article...

⚡️ The European Union is set to greenlight a massive €90 billion funding package for Ukraine this Wednesday. united24media.com/latest-news/...

New Intercept Briefing, @akelalacy.bsky.social speaks to @mattduss.bsky.social about how Dems can use unpopularity of the war to push an anti-war agenda. Time and time again voters demonstrate they don't want a "foreign policy establishment that is addicted to militarism, that is addicted to war."

Stupid❗ — Kash Patel Sues the Atlantic for $250 Million Over Alcohol Abuse Claims @cnbc.com 🤭 “We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit,” the magazine said in a statement. ☑️ www.cnbc.com/2026/04/20/k...

US Importers Can Begin Seeking Refunds for Nullified #Tariffs on Monday @apnews.com ☑️ To receive refunds, importers have to register for CPB’s electronic payment system. As of Apr 14, 56,497 importers had completed registration and were eligible for refunds totaling $127 billion, including interest

Too little, too late, lame excuse 💩 — Starmer Apologizes for Mandelson Appointment Amid Vetting Fury @bloomberg.com Starmer also said he’d followed the standard process in naming Mandelson to the post *before* he had been vetted. 💩 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

#Iran Says No Talks With US for Now, Casting Doubt Over Pakistan Efforts @aljazeera.com [Oops!] Iran has said it will not be sending negotiators to Pakistan for talks with the US, amid rising tensions, as the ceasefire deadline approaches. www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/...

DOJ Removes Top Prosecutor Who Questioned Case Against Former CIA Director John Brennan @ms.now 💩 Maria Medetis Long told her superiors there was not sufficient basis to charge Brennan, who played a key role in the finding that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump win.

Today's news roundup: -Prosecutor withdraws from Trump team’s investigation of Ex-CIA chief -Trump extends sanctions exemption on some Russian oil as high gas prices persist -Hamas officials say group is ready to hand over some weapons: NYT 👇 www.justsecurity.org/136669/early...

Improvidently Granted: The Sleeper Supreme Court Case Affecting the Rights of 12.8 Million Green Card Holders By Nancy Morawetz, Prof and Director of the Crimmigration Clinic at NYU School of Law www.justsecurity.org/136712/supre... #SCOTUS Case of Blanche v. Lau: Oral arguments on Wednesday

A Primer on Just War Theory and the Iran War Assessing the Trump Administration's Response to the Catholic Church By @mikeschmitt.bsky.social www.justsecurity.org/136692/just-...

What role can lawyers play in ensuring that the norms underpinning the rules-based international order are not abandoned? David Matyas on today's "struggle of memory against forgetting": www.justsecurity.org/136633/inter...

• U.S.-Israel-Iran War • Sudan War • Series: Syria in Transition • FISA Section 702 • Tech Governance • Trump Executive Actions • U.S. Military • U.S. Boat Strikes • Foreign Investment • Presidential Records • Hungary • Mexico / Enforced Disappearances • Azerbaijan / Civil Society

I really preferred it when the West armed Ukraine and then restricted how they defended themselves.

Bulgaria's Kremlin-Friendly Ex-President Set for Landslide Election Win 😬@reuters.com • Radev's party on 44%, far ahead of rivals • Radev opposes military aid to Ukraine • Result could bring shift in Bulgaria's foreign policy • Problems include cost of living, economic, population crises

FT Exclusive: Stockholm’s military intelligence head said Moscow is systematically manipulating data to fool Ukraine’s western allies into believing its economy has withstood the strain of its lavish war spending and western sanctions. ft.trib.al/uloekqX

“Writing the United States off as a friend might once have been a sign of doom for Ukraine,” Phillips Payson O’Brien argues. “It isn’t anymore”:

@phillipspobrien.bsky.social Zelenskyy has NOT given up on Trump or US. He still needs US: 1. Intelligence 2. Munitions thru PURL 3. Sanctions on Russia (oil suspended but others remain) 4. Support for weapons (e.g., F-16) 5. Export‑control authority (ITAR) 6. Financial and macro‑stability support

#Hamas Officials Say Group Is Ready to Hand Over Some Weapons @nytimes.com 🤔 Asked whether the committee would also be able to confiscate weapons belonging to Hamas’s military wing, the two officials did not provide a clear answer. 😜 www.nytimes.com/2026/04/19/w...

Gas Prices May Not Drop Below $3 Until 2027, Trump Energy Chief Wright Says @axios.com [Oops!] Why it matters: The Iran war has driven up what had been fairly low U.S. gas prices, a spike that could hurt Republicans in the midterm elections. ☑️ www.axios.com/2026/04/19/g...

#Putin Finally Admits Russia's Economy Is in Trouble and Grasps for Answers @fortune.com ☑️ Russian President Vladimir Putin made his concerns about the economy public as he vented frustration at aides and demanded they come up with solutions. [Stop the war!] fortune.com/2026/04/18/r...