On Friday, Nov 6, 2026, Iran's IRGC Navy said two oil tankers caught fire and stopped after hitting sea mines in or near the Strait of Hormuz. It said one was east of the strait. The other was inside the waterway on a route the IRGC calls "unauthorized". It also said both vessels had switched off their tracking systems and had US fighter cover. On Oct 30, Iran made a similar claim about four tankers.
The US and Iran are in a standoff over Hormuz. The US says the main shipping lanes are clear of mines. Iran disputes that and insists ships use its designated routes. The strait has been effectively closed since the US and Israel attacked Iran, nearly six months before August. A ceasefire and talks have broken down, and the US has put a naval blockade on Iran. Trump has accused Iran of "making up fake hits, mines, and everything else". The Iranian claims come as fears grow that fighting could resume after the US midterms.
On Friday, Nov 6, 2026, Iran's IRGC Navy said two tankers hit mines. One was east of the strait. The other was inside it, on a route the IRGC calls "unauthorized", with US jet cover. This is Iran's own claim. Trump has accused Iran of "making up fake hits, mines, and everything else". The post's quote about the Chief of Staff is cut off, so I couldn't check it. This is an opinion and rant aimed at NATO. It makes no checkable claim. NAMES: NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Western military alliance. POST 2120496290404401399: NOCLAIM This is a request to the Grok chatbot for casualty figures. It asserts nothing, apart from the premise that the Iran war began on 28 Feb 2026. I did not check that date. NAMES: Grok = the AI chatbot built into X. EU = European Union.
On Nov 13, 2026, ICC judges formally closed the part of the Afghanistan investigation that covered alleged crimes by US troops. That part had been dormant since 2021. The probe into the ISIL affiliate ISKP was also closed.
On Friday, Nov 13, 2026, the FAA ordered a nationwide gr
BThe International Criminal Court just closed the book on American troops in Afghanistan.
BAnd it only took them five years of doing nothing to make it official.
BThe judges formally ended the part of the investigation that covered alleged crimes by US forces. That part's been dormant since 2021.
BSo this is the ICC admitting what everyone already knew: they were never going to touch American soldiers.
BThey also closed the probe into the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan, which is the part that actually mattered.
BAnd that tells you everything. The court spent years chasing Americans, and the terrorists get a pass too.
BThe backdrop here is the feud between Washington and the Hague. The US sanctioned ICC officials back when they threatened to investigate Americans.
BWhich was the right call. The ICC has no jurisdiction over US troops, and pretending otherwise was always a political stunt.
BBut the court does have jurisdiction over Afghanistan itself, since it's a member state. That's why the investigation opened in the first place.
BAnd look how that ended. Five years, zero accountability for anyone, and now they quietly close it. What was the point?
BThe point, I think, was to pressure the US. And when that failed, they had nothing left.
BExactly. This was never about justice. It was about leverage.
BMeanwhile, the UN is blaming Israeli policies for making that Gaza winter storm worse.
BThe UN says Israel could have prevented death and destruction if it had allowed more aid in.
BThat's the UN's assessment, not an established fact. But it's a serious charge.
BIt's also convenient. A storm hits, and somehow it's Israel's fault? Not the weather, not Hamas, not the war that Hamas started.
BThe argument is that aid restrictions left people without shelter and supplies, so the storm did more damage than it should have.
BAnd Israel says it's been letting aid in. The UN has been wrong about Gaza before, and it'll be wrong again.
BBut even if you're skeptical of the UN, the humanitarian situation there is genuinely dire. That's not a political talking point.
BNo, it's not. But blaming Israel for a storm is a stretch, and the UN makes that stretch every single time.
BDifferent world entirely: measles deaths in the US are climbing, and the numbers are getting ugly.
BThe CDC says more than 5,400 confirmed cases this year. That's a 35-year high.
BAnd here's where it gets tricky. Some reports say 10 deaths. The CDC's own count is six.
BSo the death toll is either six or ten, depending on who's counting. Either way, it's too many for a disease we have a vaccine for.
BThat's the frustrating part. Measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000. Now it's back, and it's killing people.
BAnd the response from public health officials has been... what, exactly? More finger-pointing about vaccine hesitancy?
BThat's part of it. But there are also access issues, misinformation, and communities where vaccination rates have cratered.
BWe had this thing beat. Completely beat. And now we're arguing about whether the death count is six or ten.
BThe CDC number is the one I'd trust. The ten figure may come from a different tally.
BEither way, the trend is bad. And nobody in charge seems to have a plan to reverse it.
BOne more story, and this one's a rumor that's been floating around: holidays cancelled for sailors on a US carrier in the Middle East, nuclear forces on high alert.
BThat's from a prepper account on X, and I couldn't find a single news outlet reporting it.
BRight. No official word, no confirmation. It's a video link with a pile of hashtags.
BWhich is usually a sign that someone's trying to get clicks, not break news.
BNeither part of that checks out.
BAnd even if something like that were true, the Navy doesn't announce it through a prepper account with 38 likes.
BSo treat that one as noise. The real story in the region is the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz.
BAnd that's a story worth watching. Iran's Revolutionary Guard claims two tankers hit mines, one with US fighter cover.
BThat's Iran's version. Trump says they're making up fake hits and mines. The truth is somewhere in the middle.
BThe strait has been effectively closed for months. The US says the main lanes are clear. Iran says they're not.
BAnd with the midterms over, the fear is that fighting could resume. Regional officials are worried.
BTrump warned of a heavy hit on Iran. Iran's negotiator said Americans voted no to war. Neither side is backing down.
BThat's the standoff. And it's not going away.