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News Roundup for March 10, 2026
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News from the Middle East

lenaitch said:
Putin has no such constraints.
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Yet he and all his lackeys maintained the level of speech discipline for years after they started their so-called SMO. In the Orwellian world that they've created, calling things by their name is strictly forbidden. The mental gymnastics and doublethink are required to talk about everything. The newspeak is amazing:
Economic decline = negative growth
Explosions = claps (i.e. we heard some clapping in Moscow today)
Smoke from burning ammo depots = fogging
Drones hitting targets = falling debris
Ukraine sank your flagship = our cruiser obtained negative buoyancy
 
Full disclosure: I just deleted two of my recent posts in this and Russia-Ukraine threads:
1. Video from Iran of people's balconies being shot.
2. Supposed video from Cyprus of Russian satnav components being used in Iranian drones.

The second video has been proven to be misattributed to the current events. It's an old video from Ukraine.

The video of balconies being shot has not been debunked yet to my knowledge, but can easily be AI generated. The account that posted it is not a legitimate/respected OSINT resource.

I will make sure to only re-post reputable OSINT channels going forward. I have a short list of the ones that have proven themselves as accurate throughout the 4 years of Russia-Ukraine war.
 
afransen said:
Many on the left are very sympathetic to if not outright allied with Islamism.
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That's a huge generalization and completely untrue.

What is it with people wanting to take the humanist aspects out of being on the left? Humans who practice islamic faith are still humans.

I dare you to find anyone who calls themselves a leftist who defends the oppression of the Ayatollahs, or forced religion of any kind. That has always been the domain of conservatism, be it demonizing one religion because it's not their own, or forcing their own upon others. Defending human beings' rights to practice their own religion and live in peace is not the same as taking sides.
 
zang said:
That's a huge generalization and completely untrue.

What is it with people wanting to take the humanist aspects out of being on the left? Humans who practice islamic faith are still humans.

I dare you to find anyone who calls themselves a leftist who defends the oppression of the Ayatollahs, or forced religion of any kind. That has always been the domain of conservatism, be it demonizing one religion because it's not their own, or forcing their own upon others. Defending human beings' rights to practice their own religion and live in peace is not the same as taking sides.
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I see lots of criticism of Israel by the left. Very little to none on subjects like persecution of women, sexual minorities, etc in Islam. Folks on the left call for cancellation of public figures for having a bad date (eg, Aziz Ansari) but don't comment on homophobia and anti-semitism from Muslim clerics. Lots have seized on the erroneous bombing of a girls school located on a military compound in Iran, but not much comment on the 20k civilians slaughtered by the regime.

There is a troubling pattern of behaviour in the UK to turn a blind eye to misdeeds committed by some in the Muslim community, particularly by Labour.

I am not a defender of Israel--I don't pick sides in that quagmire. I have greatest sympathy for Palestinian children who suffer for the stupid pointless cycle of hatred and for which they are not yet complicit.
 
thettctransitfanatic said:
The February Jobs Report is out... and it's very bad. US lost 92,000 jobs in the month of February.

www.independent.co.uk

US workplaces unexpectedly cut 92,000 jobs as unemployment rate climbs to 4.4%

The outlook for the job market – and the entire economy – is clouded by the war with Iran
www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk

US workplaces unexpectedly cut 92,000 jobs as unemployment rate climbs to 4.4%​

The outlook for the job market – and the entire economy – is clouded by the war with Iran

American employers unexpectedly cut 92,000 jobs last month, a sign that the labor market remains under strain. The unemployment rate jumped up to 4.4%.

Hiring deteriorated from January, when companies, nonprofits and government agencies added a healthy 126,000 jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday. Economists had expected 60,000 new jobs in February.

Revisions also cut 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls.


The surprisingly weak employment picture in February adds to the economic uncertainty over the war with Iran, which has caused oil prices to surge and saddled business and consumers with unforeseen costs.

American employers unexpectedly cut 92,000 jobs last month, a sign that the labor market remains under strain. The unemployment rate jumped up to 4.4%.

Hiring deteriorated from January, when companies, nonprofits and government agencies added a healthy 126,000 jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday. Economists had expected 60,000 new jobs in February.

Revisions also cut 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls.


The surprisingly weak employment picture in February adds to the economic uncertainty over the war with Iran, which has caused oil prices to surge and saddled business and consumers with unforeseen costs.

“The job market is struggling in the face of so many headwinds,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union.

“ Companies are going to be even more reluctant to hire this spring until the war ends and they can see consumers still spending. It’s a tense time for the U.S. economy.”

The job market had been expected to rebound this year from a lackluster 2025 when the economy, buffeted by President Donald Trump's erratic tariff policies and the lingering effects of high interest rates, generated just 15,000 jobs a month. Hopes for a rebound rose after January hiring came in above expectations.


"Just when it looked like the labor market was stabilizing, this report delivers a knock-down blow to that view,'' said Olu Sonola, head of U.S. economics at Fitch Ratings. It’s bad news whichever way you look at it.''

The job losses were widespread.

Construction companies cut 11,000 jobs last month, which likely reflects reflect frigid weather. And healthcare firms shed 28,000 jobs after a four-week strike by more than 30,000 nurses and other front-line workers at Kaiser Permanente in California and Hawaii. Health care has been one of the job market's strong points.

Factories cut 12,000 jobs and have now lost jobs for 14 of the last 15 months. Restaurants and bars lost nearly 30,000 jobs. Administrative and support services firms cut nearly 19,000 jobs and courier and messenger services almost 17,000.

Financial firms added 10,000 jobs, though job cuts continue to hit that sector as well this year.

Average hourly wages rose 0.4% from January and 3.8% from a year earlier.

The outlook for the job market – and the entire economy – is clouded by the war with Iran.

Employers were reluctant to hire last year because of uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs – and the unpredictable way he rolled them out.

c
The impact of Trump’s aggressive trade policies may recede in 2025. His import taxes became smaller and less erratic after he reached a trade truce last year with China and deals with leading U.S. trade partners such as Japan and the European Union. A lot of businesses have also learned how to offset the costs of the tariffs, often by passing them along to customers via higher prices.

Brian Bethune, an economist at Boston College, said that Trump’s 2025 tariffs were a shock to companies’ business plans. Now, just as they’ve adjusted to them, “Guess what! All of a sudden their 2026 business plans are upended by an increase in fuel costs’’ caused by the war with Iran.

The combination of weak hiring and increasing inflationary pressures arising from the war creates a nightmare for the Federal Reserve, which must decide whether to cut interest rates to help the job market or hold off to help keep a lid on prices. "This is probably the worst scenario for monetary policy,'' said Eugenio Aleman, chief economist at Raymond James.

Hiring continues to lag far behind the hiring boom of 2021-2023 when the economy was bouncing back from pandemic lockdowns and the United States was adding nearly 400,000 jobs a month. Many economists describe today’s job market as “no-hire, no-fire’’: Companies are reluctant to add workers but don’t want to let go of the ones they have.

Companies may also be holding off on hiring as they buy, install and figure out how best to use new technologies, including artificial intelligence. AI, after all, potentially means they “can do more with less’’ and will need fewer workers, especially for entry-level positions, said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at the tax and consulting firm RSM.

They are thinking, he said, “we’ve invested an awful lot of money in (capital expenditures), and we need to see how much we can produce with our current labor force... The last thing you want to do is hire a lot of young people and then let them go.’’

​

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thettctransitfanatic said:
As gas prices rise and jobs fall, Trump's distraction? To talk about his feud with Bill Maher from last month...

View attachment 719787View attachment 719788View attachment 719790View attachment 719791
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Pretty bad week for Trump with the job numbers, gas prices sky rocketing, the illegal war on Iran going badly and now fresh proof that he raped a 13 year old too.
 
afransen said:
I see lots of criticism of Israel by the left. Very little to none on subjects like persecution of women, sexual minorities, etc in Islam. Folks on the left call for cancellation of public figures for having a bad date (eg, Aziz Ansari) but don't comment on homophobia and anti-semitism from Muslim clerics. Lots have seized on the erroneous bombing of a girls school located on a military compound in Iran, but not much comment on the 20k civilians slaughtered by the regime.

There is a troubling pattern of behaviour in the UK to turn a blind eye to misdeeds committed by some in the Muslim community, particularly by Labour.

I am not a defender of Israel--I don't pick sides in that quagmire. I have greatest sympathy for Palestinian children who suffer for the stupid pointless cycle of hatred and for which they are not yet complicit.
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This is textbook whataboutism.
 
narduch said:
This is textbook whataboutism.
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Is it though? Seems like what @afransen was talking about was pointing out blind spots in the arguments from the left. I suppose it would have been prudent to also discuss that the extreme opposite side of the debate has the same type of blind spots (like painting all Palestinians with a broad brush of "terrorists that deserve to be bombed")
You, on the other hand, any time the topic of Iran comes up start arguing "But what about Gaza? Will anyone think of Gaza?" as if that has anything to do with Iran.
So who is the real whatabouitist here, really?
 
Full Metal Junkie said:
Is it? By what metric? Can you really say that the war is going badly if the US hasn't even bothered to outline a cohesive set of goals for it? So what do you measure the success/failure against?
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Do you think its going well?

Been seeing reports of most US bases in surrounding countries (Bahrain, UAE, etc) being destroyed including the radar systems. Israel is getting bombed and the 'Iron Dome' is essentially no more. Oil ships can't get through. The Arab states that usually support the US are starting to feel abandoned. Do you consider these things wins?

China and Russia are probably taking notes and laughing.
 
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afransen said:
Many on the left are very sympathetic to if not outright allied with Islamism. Islamism is not a good or even benign thing.
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...as many on the right are sympathetic to if not outright allied with Christianity (as well as Islamism, though rarely both) . Which is currently and historically not a good thing either.

And thanks to Richard Dawkins, there many from the atheist side of things that are pretty bad too...

...but I am not sure what the point is all of this. Islam did not start this war, Donald Trump did. So let's start there.
 
Full Metal Junkie said:
Is it though? Seems like what @afransen was talking about was pointing out blind spots in the arguments from the left. I suppose it would have been prudent to also discuss that the extreme opposite side of the debate has the same type of blind spots (like painting all Palestinians with a broad brush of "terrorists that deserve to be bombed")
You, on the other hand, any time the topic of Iran comes up start arguing "But what about Gaza? Will anyone think of Gaza?" as if that has anything to do with Iran.
So who is the real whatabouitist here, really?
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I for one don't believe for a second that the people who bring up xx,000 dead Iranian protestors (which is Israeli propaganda by the way) care one shit about the people of Iran. Just like they didn't care about the people of Gaza when Israel was committing its attrocities.
 
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