US President Donald Trump has boasted that Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto leader, is “kissing my ass” and must “be nice” to the US.

Trump made the remarks on Friday at the Saudi sovereign wealth fund’s annual forum in Miami, amid the US-Israeli war against Iran, which sparked retaliation in which Saudi facilities were targeted.

During his address, Trump reminisced about his ties with 90-year-old Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. “I… love the king of Saudi Arabia. What a man he is. When I was there, we bonded,” he said, recalling that the king once grabbed his arm to get up.

A fully automated news site with no journalists shows how easily AI can mimic credibility – and how exposed Australia is to manipulation.

_The Daily Perspective_ is a month old and looks professional and sleek. Its team of journalists uploads articles every few minutes.

They come from culturally diverse backgrounds that reflect their expertise – pretty rare in our local media landscape.

In the first hours of his second term, President Trump signed executive orders re-withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate agreement, rolling back incentives for electric vehicles, pausing approvals for wind farms in federal waters, and declaring a “national energy emergency” to expedite drilling and open up more land and sea for drilling.

Trump Is Accidentally Making a Great Case for the Green New Deal

Trump and his billionaire oligarchs are standing between us and a cleaner, more equal world. 

The German federal government is defending the planned Monday reception of Syria’s transitional president Ahmed al‑Scharaa. “It is important to stay in contact with the Syrian regime” government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius told the dts news agency on Friday.

Kornelius added that the idea of the Chancellor meeting al‑Scharaa for lunch is not an extraordinary honor but simply a matter of courtesy, and he explicitly rejects the claim that al‑Scharaa is a war criminal.

Something is happening in the United States. It’s not just the rise of a tyrannical, anti-democratic, narcissist President. It’s a people’s movement in response. It is the rise of a nationwide resistance, led by skilled truth-tellers who defy the tsunami of post-truth bilge and document the death toll and other obscenities.

Catriona Jackson

This isn’t a story about a single strike or a sudden decision.
It’s a story about pressure reaching a breaking point — and a system finally snapping.

You’re not about to watch Iran step back because it wants to.

You’re about to watch it happen because the strategic, economic, and military pressure became unsustainable — the same way it always does before a forced retreat.

Right now, something inside Tehran’s power structure has shifted. Not publicly. Not clearly. But structurally.

In this video, Money & Empires breaks down why Iran is being pushed into a retreat position, how pressure builds across military, economic, and geopolitical fronts, and why these moments of sudden reversal follow patterns we’ve seen before — almost frame for frame.

This isn’t speculation.
It’s historical precedent, pressure mechanics, and strategic positioning.

US President Donald Trump’s signature is set to appear on US paper currency starting this summer, the Treasury Department said on Thursday.

It will mark the first time a sitting US president’s signature has appeared on legal tender.

The Treasury said the redesign is intended to mark America’s upcoming 250th anniversary. Trump’s signature is expected to replace that of the US treasurer, altering a long-standing convention, while the Treasury secretary’s signature will remain and no new imagery will be added.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move is appropriate for the Semiquincentennial, calling it a way to recognize the achievements of both the country and President Trump. He said the first $100 bills bearing Trump’s signature alongside his own will be printed in June, with other denominations to follow in subsequent months.

And space-time became clear

Light didn’t travel anywhere near

But waved like water of the sea

Stationary in time like a planted tree

To the breeze swaying the high wood

Ticking time unmoved still stood

The old man unbowed in a grown

knowing his pain was his own

The tears of loss never dry again

Tears of someone else’s pain

Limbs torn away by bombs

Babies barely out of wombs

Children shot for being there

Playing with dust through the air

Prayers to god left unanswered

But to fanatics and lunatics

He's who the carnage ordered

To fight their invented evil tricks

And space-time became clear

Light didn’t travel anywhere near

But waved like the water of the sea

Stationary in time like a planted tree

To the breeze swaying the high wood

Australia was among dozens of countries that abstained on a United Nations General Assembly resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade the “gravest crime against humanity”, a landmark measure adopted despite divisions among Western nations.

The resolution passed with 123 votes in favour, three against — the United States, Israel and Argentina — and 52 abstentions, according to official voting records .

Australia joined a group of abstaining countries that included the United Kingdom and several European Union members.

Proposed by Ghana and backed by African and Caribbean states, the measure seeks formal global recognition of the scale and enduring impact of the enslavement and trafficking of Africans, and calls for reparatory justice as a step toward addressing historical injustices.

I wrote previously that I expected Donald Trump to order US ground forces to commence an attack on Iran, perhaps as early as Friday night in Tehran. Looks like that is on hold. Apart from weather problems in the Persian Gulf, Trump has apparently decided he needs to deploy an additional 10,000 troops to support the alleged ground operation.

Postponing Armageddon

by Larry C. Johnson

This does not mean that it is a guaranteed delay because, as in the past, Trump is notorious for saying one thing and then doing the opposite.

Both the US-Israel tandem and Iran have offered religious reasoning for hostilities in the Gulf to go on, painting the conflict as an existential standoff. RT’s Oumaima Ichchar looks into the arguments the warring sides have been providing, which appear to go well beyond geopolitics.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth hosted his first monthly Christian worship service at the Pentagon since the beginning of the war, openly praying for violence. 

“Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation. Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy,” Hegseth said, effectively portraying the US as a Christian nation seeking to crush its foes.

Saudi Arabia joined Israel in lobbying the US to launch strikes against Iran.

Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, argued in favour of an attack during multiple phone calls with Donald Trump in the past month, sources told the Washington Post.

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia poured more than $100 billion into the most ambitious aviation transformation in modern history. The Kingdom ordered 182 aircraft for its new airline, broke ground on a $30 billion mega-airport, and set a target of 330 million passengers by 2030. For those navigating Saudi visa requirements and transport options, the war has rewritten the rulebook.

Can Saudi Arabia’s $100 Billion Aviation Bet Survive the Iran War?

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth quoted the Bible — specifically the Old Testament — on Tuesday during remarks on the progress of the war against Iran, leaving some to express concerns about Christian nationalism and his potentially executing a holy or religious war.

Noting that he had just returned from Dover Air Force Base to accept the dignified transfer of another service member killed in the Iran war, Hegseth said, “I’ll close with Scripture, drawing strength from Psalm 144.”

“Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle,” he said. “He is my loving God and my fortress. My stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge. May the Lord grant unyielding strength and refuge to our warriors. Unbreakable protection to them in our homeland. And total victory over those who seek to harm them. Amen.”