Martin Chew

This is big: the Philippines - under Marcos (!) - is reopening talks with Beijing on joint oil and gas development in disputed South China Sea (SCS) waters. Talks his own government had unilaterally ended in 2022 to pivot toward Washington, and which fueled the tensions in the SCS during the next few years. So quite literally, the Iran war is making the Philippines pivot back to China. Now tell me again how the Iran war is "China's nightmare"? Between this and the THAAD withdrawal from South Korea, looks like it's making Asia clearly shift in China's favor.

🛢 Western Efforts to Isolate 🇷🇺 Russia FAIL as Southeast Asia Turns to Moscow Amid Supply Crisis Russia’s Deputy Energy Minister, Roman Marshavin, has reportedly said that most Southeast Asian countries are showing strong interest in Russian energy resources amid tightening supplies from the Middle East. The development reflects a broader shift in energy sourcing patterns, as countries diversify supply options in response to evolving market conditions and geopolitical pressures. As oil prices have risen to nearly $100 per barrel, the European Union has reportedly postponed plans for a new ban on certain categories of Russian oil, citing market uncertainties linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Beyond oil and gas, Russia is increasingly being viewed by some countries as a consistent energy supplier and a potential economic partner within a changing global energy landscape. The US’ incompetent neocon foreign policy in Iran has only ended up enriching Russia further, after the previous Biden administration failed to bring Russia to its knees as planned with the Ukraine proxy war.

🔴 Hezbollah lured an entire Israeli armored company into a textbook ambush last night on the Taybeh–Qantara axis Tuesday, Israel's 7th Brigade sent a remote-controlled bulldozer to probe Hezbollah's defensive lines between Muhaysibat and Qantara. The fighters spotted it and let it pass. They wanted the real prize. Wednesday at 6:50 PM, it came. A full armored column of Merkava tanks and D9 bulldozers, rolling single-file toward Qantara. Hezbollah waited. Every vehicle entered the kill zone. Then the order came, and with the battle cry "Ya Rasul Allah," the fighters launched. Guided missiles slammed into the middle of the column. Four Merkavas and a D9, all destroyed. The column was now cut in half. The rear platoon popped smoke to hide. It didn't matter. Missiles found them too. All four tanks burned. The lead platoon tried to push through into Qantara anyway. More missiles. Another D9 and two more Merkavas gone. The surviving soldiers abandoned their vehicles and tried to evacuate their casualties, fleeing on foot back toward Muhaysibat while Hezbollah artillery pounded their command posts and reinforcements. Final toll: ten tanks, two bulldozers. An entire company's worth of armor wiped out in a single engagement. And this was the second time in three days. Two days earlier, Hezbollah destroyed eight Merkavas in a similar ambush on the Taybeh to Deir Siryan road.

Huge battle in Taybeh, south Lebanon, where an invading Jewish column fell into an ambush, with at least 10 tanks and armoured vehicles destroyed. Invaders firing frantically in all directions and with everything they have, to attempt to give cover to extract their dead and wounded, Jets and Helicopters flying erratically for fear of AA fire. Keep in mind this is a mere kilometre away from the borders with occupied Palestine.

The Mayor of Kiryat Shmona has declared the city lost, delivering a devastating indictment of the Zionist government’s strategic collapse. In a raw address to officials, he confirmed that the state has effectively abandoned its northern front to Hezbollah's relentless attrition.