Alessio Patalano

Today's appointment of Vikram Doraiswami, who knows China well, as the next Ambassador in Beijing is welcome news. The Embassy in Beijing is in need of revitalization and fresh energy to navigate the on-going normalization of a very complex relationship, so this bodes well.

🚨 WOW! Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi just STUNNED the world, declaring only President Trump can achieve peace as he decimates the Iranian regime "I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world!" "And to do so, I am ready to reach out to many of the partners in the international community to achieve our objective together!" "So today, I came here at the White House to directly convey this message to you." 🔥

Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi's reaction as Trump says "Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Habour?" Undoubtedly the worst American diplomatic gaffe in post-war US-Japan history.

Fox News mocked Prime Minister Takaichi after she silently accepted an insulting joke from Trump about Pearl Harbor: "Point taken, because the Prime Minister had no comeback for that." Pro-Trump social media users are also laughing about it.

📽️ From Donald Trump to Britain's wind power trade body, there's a growing coalition calling for more drilling in the North Sea. Raising the question: if we DID encourage more exploration, how much oil & gas could we actually get? Our MEGA primer on the North Sea👇 Ps it's longer than usual, but it turns out this topic has SO MANY misconceptions. Time to put some of them right. Let me know what you think

The Israeli strikes at the Iranian port city of Bandar Anzal and in the Caspian Sea last night destroyed several vessels of the Iranian Navy, as well as naval infrastructure, the military says, publishing footage of the attacks. According to the IDF, the strikes destroyed an Iranian Navy corvette, four missile boats, several auxiliary ships and guard boats, along with a command center and a shipyard. Some of the vessels were located at the port, while others were out at sea. The military says that the missile boats were targeted to cause a blow to the Iranian military, despite the fact that they do not pose a direct threat to Israel from the Caspian Sea. Still, the IDF adds that the missile boats have anti-aircraft capabilities and could pose a threat to Israeli aircraft operating over Iran, as well as anti-submarine capabilities. Preparations for the strike only began days ago, and it was not among the military's initial bank of targets in Iran. Researchers at the Naval Intelligence Division located the ships and worked with the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Israeli Air Force to plan the strike. It marks the first time that the IDF had struck in this area of Iran, both in this war and the previous rounds of conflict, according to the military.

France 🇫🇷 has now deployed around 8 000 men across the Middle East, including ~50 Rafale fighter jets and ~12-14 ships 🇫🇷 Charles de Gaulle Aircraft Carrier (+/-26 Rafales, 3 E-2D Hawkeye + helicopters) 🇫🇷 2 amphibious helicopter carriers (Tonerre and Dixmude), total 30-35 helicopters 🇫🇷 ~8 destroyer (Forbin, Alsace, Courbet, Languedoc, Aconit, Chevalier Paul, Amiral Ronarc’h ?, Provence) 🇫🇷 ~1 auxiliary ship (Jacques Chevallier) 🇫🇷 ~1/2 nuclear submarines 🇫🇷 24 Rafale fighter in Jordan and UAE (usually 10) 🇫🇷 1 500 men in Djibouti 🇫🇷 900 men in the UAE 🇫🇷 1 200 men in Iraq (Chammal) 🇫🇷 800 men in Lebanon (United Nations) 🇫🇷 300 men in Jordan (Chammal) -> 🇫🇷 air defense reinforcements to Cyprus, UAE, Jordan (and possibly Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait). These have been deployed in multiple countries for years, while air-defense and fighter jets reinforcements arrived. The Navy is mainly in eastern mediterannean, but at least 4 ships are present in the Red and Arabian seas. France mission in the Middle East is purely defensive and France for now refused to participate in a risky mission to help the americans to reopen the Hormuz Strait that the war they started closed.

The Israel Defense Force has now confirmed and published footage of multiple strikes last night against the Iranian Navy’s Northern Fleet on the Caspian Sea, with aircraft carrying out airstrikes on pierside and underway naval vessels, as well as shipbuilding and repair facilities and command-and-control centers in Bandar Anzali, Northern Iran. During the strikes, Israeli military aircraft struck and sunk several naval vessel, including the Iranian Moudge-class frigate IRIS Deylaman (78).