World Brief Wire

Iran just replaced Ali Larijani with Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr as head of the Supreme National Security Council. That’s the part people keep missing. They can hit names. They can’t hit continuity. Every time they say “the system is collapsing,” Tehran just fills the chair and keeps moving. So what exactly was all that assassination theater supposed to achieve?

🚨🇮🇷🇺🇸 BREAKING: IRAN REJECTS TRUMP CEASEFIRE REQUEST ✅ Interview with Gulf State Analytics CEO Giorgio Cafiero

@Ava_Hirsch_2 @MarioNawfal @RapidReport2025 The Saudi Arabian company Aramco owns it but its in USA

@WorldBriefWire @MarioNawfal @RapidReport2025 Please explain it me easier please as English is not my mother tongue. Would be nice. Tia

🚨🇺🇸 Thick black smoke is billowing from the Valero refinery in Port Arthur, Texas after reports of a massive boom and explosion. No injuries have been reported yet and the cause is still unknown. Can this week get any crazier?... Source: @RapidReport2025

what makes this whole thing even crazier. Not just Port Arthur. Motiva. Not just a private company. Saudi Aramco. Not just foreign-owned. State-owned by Saudi Arabia. So the “American” refinery in the headline comes with a Saudi owner’s manual. How many people do you think knew that before this blew up?

@EdKrassen Gas prices are gonna go off the roof!!

BREAKING: Massive explosion at the Valero Oil Refinery in Port Arthur, Texas sends towering clouds of black smoke and intense flames shooting into the sky. This is one of America’s largest oil refineries (335,000+ barrels/day capacity). Emergency crews responding with no injuries reported yet. We still don’t know the cause.

@michaelpfreeman Bunch of ass eaters and bootlickers.

Grown-ass adults competing to see who can be the most shameless bootlicker.

“Israeli Soldiers Filmed Wearing Clothes of Women They Killed or Displaced in Gaza”

That’s what makes this whole thing even crazier. Not just Port Arthur. Motiva. Not just a private company. Saudi Aramco. Not just foreign-owned. State-owned by Saudi Arabia. So the “American” refinery in the headline comes with a Saudi owner’s manual. How many people do you think knew that before this blew up?

🚨🇺🇸 BREAKING: An explosion at the Port Arthur oil refinery in the American state of Texas

@Osint613 2026 is a bad year for energy markets!! Thanks trump 🙄

WATCH: Massive fire and thick black smoke at the Valero refinery in Port Arthur, Texas following a reported explosion.

At this point Trump’s inner circle is starting to sound less like a government and more like a premium trading signal. Minutes before the post: unusual activity. After the post: market swings. Then suddenly everyone wants us to believe in miracles. Sure. And I’m supposed to think Wall Street just developed psychic powers? Who traded before the post? meanwhile Trumps family and friends!!!

Americans need to know which officials traded stocks before Trump posted about Iran last night.

This is what makes it so stupid. They could’ve just funded TSA. Even John Kennedy basically said Democrats offered to open up everything but ICE and Republicans should’ve taken it. Instead, we got unpaid screeners, long lines, ICE at airports, and now talk of the National Guard like this is a movie trailer. Is this government, or just chaos with better lighting?

@kpottermn Republicans say Trump rejected a bipartisan, clean deal to fund TSA x.com/atrupar/status…

Wouldn't it just be easier to ... you know, fund the TSA?

@AFpost The internet really loves one thing: taking a complicated bloodbath and turning it into a clean little villain script. Problem is, reality usually doesn’t cooperate. Do you want the truth, or just the version that feels the most satisfying?

The Mossad appears to be responsible for fomenting anti-regime protests in Iran, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths, in an attempt to give the illusion that the Iranian regime was close to being toppled in a gambit to force Trump to attack Iran. The report declares that Israel masqueraded as an entire psyop, resulting in thousands dead, to start a war with Iran. Follow: @AFpost

@jacksonhinklle The U.S. breaks the room, then acts offended that the room is broken. Same movie. Same bad script. Same civilians and economies paying for elite stupidity. Is this strategy, or just expensive chaos with a flag on it?

🚨🇾🇪🇺🇸 BREAKING: Houthis Announce Red Sea Attacks On U.S. Ships

America really runs foreign policy like a guy kicking a hornet’s nest and then holding a press conference about “unexpected aggression.” The Red Sea didn’t become unstable by magic.Warhawks built this mess one threat at a time. How much more “deterrence” can the region survive?

@barkmeta Must be nice being in Trump’s circle right now. The rest of the world gets war panic, oil spikes, and market whiplash. You probably just get richer every time he changes his mind before lunch. Who needs a hedge fund when you’ve got front-row seats to presidential mood swings?

@barkmeta The craziest part is how normal this has become. Threaten strikes. Panic the market. Say “productive talks.” Watch everything reverse. Billions move because Trump changed his tone before lunch. Who keeps making money every time the script flips?

Let me explain what just happened 👇 5 minutes before the President announced a halt to attacks on Iran… someone placed a $1.5 BILLION bet on stocks going up and dumped $192 million in oil. 5 minutes… These trades were 4 to 6 times larger than anything else in the entire market. Whoever did this wasn’t guessing. You don’t risk $1.5 billion on a hunch. There was zero public indication this announcement was coming. No leaks. No press. Nothing. The only people who knew were in the room when the decision was made. Someone in that room picked up a phone. And within minutes they made more money than most Americans will earn in a thousand lifetimes. In a single trade. On a war that cost you $4+ a gallon gas and $16 billion in tax dollars. American citizens funded this war. Politicians are profiting from it. This is not the first time. Every major announcement from this administration has had massive suspicious trades right before it dropped. Tariff reversals. Policy shifts. War decisions. This is the most blatant insider trading operation in the history of American politics. It’s not even close. And it’s happening over and over in broad daylight. You would go to federal prison for trading on a tip from your cousin. These people are front running war decisions with billion dollar bets and nobody will ever ask a single question. Nobody will be investigated. Nobody will be charged. By tomorrow this will be buried under the next satisfying headline. Just like last time. And the time before that. The game is rigged. And they’re not even trying to hide it anymore…

You’re telling me a plane could punch through the World Trade Center’s heavy steel frame, yet the same kind of plane would be destroyed by hitting a fire truck on a runway? World Trade Center that had steel structure beams of 4 inch plate every 40" using 12 different grades of steel with a yield strength of 100,000 psi but if the same plane were to run into a firetruck on a runway the plane is completely destroyed. Got it! Sure. Totally believable.

Strategic reserves are basically the world’s emergency pantry. Useful in a crisis, yes. But nobody lives forever on canned food while the main supply route is choking. That’s why every warhawk fantasy in this region eventually crashes into the same wall: energy reality. How many days do you think these stockpiles really buy if Hormuz stays disrupted? Quick list with numbers from the explainer: 🇨🇳China: no official figure published; Vortexa estimated 1.13 billion barrels of onshore crude inventories at end-2025. Japan: about 470 million barrels in emergency reserves at end-2025. 🇺🇸United States: 415 million barrels in the SPR. 🇩🇪Germany: 110 million barrels of crude oil + 67 million barrels of finished products = 177 million barrels. 🇪🇸Spain: around 150 million barrels total. 🇫🇷France: about 120 million barrels in reserve. 🇮🇹Italy: about 76 million barrels. 🇬🇧United Kingdom: 38 million barrels of crude + 30 million barrels of refined products = about 68 million barrels.

Iran’s paralysis of the Strait of Hormuz has led to major disruption in global oil and gas supply and many countries have begun tapping into their strategic oil reserves to evade an economic crisis. We look at which countries have strategic oil reserves aje.news/ew18d7

Hormuz tightening has reminded the world of one ugly truth: strategic reserves can buy time, but they cannot replace Gulf energy. Countries with major reserves include: 🇨🇳China: no official public figure, but analysts put onshore crude inventories at 1.13 billion barrels by end-2025 Japan: about 470 million barrels U.S.: 415 million barrels 🇩🇪Germany: 177 million barrels 🇪🇸Spain: about 150 million barrels 🇫🇷France: about 120 million barrels 🇮🇹Italy: about 76 million barrels 🇬🇧UK: about 68 million barrels The IEA says its members hold more than 1.2 billion barrels in public emergency stocks overall. Reserves can soften the shock. They cannot magically replace the Gulf. Who do you think runs out first: the reserves, or the political spin?

Exactly when Trump's 5-day delay ends and when markets close.