Russia Says US Blockade Failing; 40 Iran Ships Transit Hormuz; US Mulls Retreat; Kiev Army Dwindles (Alexander Mercouris)

0:00:00 Introduction & host health update
0:00:39 UK PM Starmer & the Mandlesson scandal overview
0:03:47 Starmer's excuses collapse — security check failure
0:05:52 Why is Starmer still prime minister?
0:10:21 Collapse of British political center
0:13:27 Two major wars: Persian Gulf & Ukraine
0:15:01 Wall Street Journal: Trump excluded from military operations room
0:18:48 US presidency, command authority & historical context
0:21:45 Iran controls Strait of Hormuz — US sea blockade
0:22:34 Russia's warnings over drone factories & European escalation
0:29:56 Cuban Missile Crisis parallel — leadership & crisis management
0:33:34 US–Iran ceasefire dynamics & blockade under pressure
0:37:49 Kushner, JD Vance & Islamabad negotiations breakdown
0:41:36 40 Iranian ships transit Hormuz — blockade failing
0:44:57 US logistical strain & Chinese naval movements
0:49:35 Signs of US retreat — lifting the blockade
0:53:50 Next 48 hours critical — escalation or negotiation
0:58:17 Ukraine manpower crisis & European coercion of refugees
1:03:42 European cynicism — sacrificing Ukraine for rearmament
1:10:32 Battlefield update: Kursk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy encirclement



Best comment on You Tube, relevant to politics in general:

@darin7220
I suspect the reason Starmer is still in power in the U.K. is because european politicians no longer answer to the electorate, they answer to the Epstein Globalists.

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, April 21, 2026.]