🇺🇸🇨🇺⚡️ — President Trump:

We may stop by Cuba after we’re finished with Iran.

🇺🇸 🇮🇷 🍔 "We can't let a country blackmail or extort the world."

President Donald Trump responded to media questions about Iran, Pope Leo, and the economy during a news conference outside of the White House with a DoorDash worker.

📎 NEWSMAX

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️ — Trump administration officials are discussing a possible second in-person meeting with Iran before the ceasefire expires, though plans remain preliminary and uncertain, CNN reports.

➡️ They are considering potential dates and locations, including Geneva and Islamabad, as talks continue with regional mediators, with Turkey also working to bridge differences.

➡️ Officials say they want to be ready to act quickly if progress is made and remain hopeful a diplomatic solution is possible, potentially extending the ceasefire to allow more time for negotiations.

📢 🛢 💵 Oil Prices Will Soon Converge to Reflect Crisis, IEA Chief Says

Oil prices don’t yet reflect the severity of the unprecedented supply crisis caused by the Iran war, but they soon will, the head of the International Energy Agency said.

About 13 million barrels a day of oil supply have been shuttered by the conflict and the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council.

More than 80 energy facilities have been damaged during the hostilities, and a recovery could take as long as two years, he warned.

📎 Bloomberg

—🇹🇷 Turkey emerges as second global power in foreign bases

➡️ Turkey has become the country with the second highest number of overseas military bases in the world after the United States, with 133 foreign bases compared to 887 for Washington, surpassing traditional powers like the United Kingdom (117), Russia (29) and India (20).

➡️ In Africa, Ankara has built a dense network of strategic installations in Somalia, Libya and Chad, consolidating itself as a key security actor that challenges the influence of France, Russia and Gulf states while expanding its military, economic and political footprint.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

🛢 🇮🇶 📉 Iraq's Oil Ministry says that Iraqi oil exports in March declined to 1.95 billion, a 71% decline from February. Iraq has now decreased crude oil production by around 61% according to OPEC

Iraq saw the largest reduction in oil output among OPEC members, with an average of 1.6 million barrels per day in March, down from 4.15 million barrels per day in February, according to a study conducted by Reuters.

In March, OPEC’s crude oil production decreased by 7.3 million barrels per day, bringing the total output to 21.57 million. This decline was mainly due to reduced production from Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

Oil production from major oil fields in southern Iraq decreased by roughly 80 percent, to approximately 800,000 barrels per day.

https://www.iraqinews.com/iraq/iraq-experiences-opecs-largest-fall-in-oil-output/

📎 Faytuks Network

🇺🇸🇧🇷⚡️ — Former Brazilian intelligence chief Alexandre Ramagem has been arrested by ICE for being in the U.S. illegally after fleeing Brazil in September following his conviction for plotting a coup alongside former President Jair Bolsonaro.

👨‍💻 🇺🇸 📊 The gap between Wall Street and Main Street has never been bigger:

US consumer sentiment is down to 47.6 points, the lowest level in history.

At the same time, the S&P 500 is trading just 3% from its all-time high.

Since the 2020 pandemic, consumer sentiment has fallen -50%.

During the same period, the S&P 500 has rallied +205%.

This comes as inflation, rising housing costs, and a weakening job market are increasingly squeezing the average American household.

Meanwhile, 87% of all equities are held by the wealthiest 10% of households.

Asset owners are the biggest winners in this economy.

📎 KobeissiLetter

🇺🇸❌🇮🇷- The USS Boxer (LHD-4), is currently in the western Pacific near Guam, en route to Western Asia as part of Operation Epic Fury while carrying ~2,500 Marines from the 11th MEU, it departed San Diego in mid-March.

➡️ It provides amphibious assault capabilities, including F-35B's, MV-22 Ospreys, helicopters, landing craft and Marine forces for ground operations.

➡️ It's expected arrival in CENTCOM waters is late April, most likely between April 23rd–28th. This will significantly help U.S. expeditionary power alongside the already deployed USS Tripoli (LHA-7).

@GeoPWatch

🐣 🇵🇭 🇺🇸 The Philippines rewrote the fertility playbook. TFR has fallen from 4.1 in 1993 to under 1.7 today. That’s US-level fertility at a fraction of the income. Even more striking: at US 1910 income levels, America had 3.5 children per woman. The Philippines has less than half. Fertility collapse is now universal.

Source:
https://psa.gov.ph/content/fertility-steadily-declines-results-key-indicators-2025-national-demographic-and-health

📎 Simon Kuestenmacher

🐣 🇺🇸 📊 Non-Hispanic White Libs have a TFR of 0.51

White non-Hispanic women, ages 25-35. Mean children by ideology.

1980s: Con 1.35 vs Lib 1.10.
2020s: Con 1.43 vs Lib 0.51 (p = 0.00000000310).
d=0.74.

📎 Charlie Smirkley

🔋 🇨🇳 🚗 China's dominance in the global EV battery market is unprecedented:

Chinese battery makers now control a record 70.4% of global EV battery installed capacity.

The percentage has surged +20 points over the last 4 years.

Over the same period, South Korean producers have seen their combined percentage cut in half to just 15.3%.

In 2025, 6 of the top 10 global battery manufacturers were Chinese, with their combined percentage rising +4 points.

China's largest EV battery maker, CATL, alone makes up 39.2% of the global market, surpassing the combined market share of South Korea and Japan.

China is leading the EV battery race more than ever.

📎 KobeissiLetter