//The Wire//2300Z April 4, 2025// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: YEMENI HOUTHIS DOWN TWO AMERICAN DRONES, CONTRIBUTING TO CONTINUED HIGH TENSIONS. ECONOMIC INSTABILITY REMAINS FOLLOWING TARIFFS ANNOUNCEMENT.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- United Kingdom: A 16-year-old boy was murdered after being stabbed in the neck in Huddersfield. So far, multiple attackers have been arrested in conjunction with the murder, however authorities have not identified the assailants. Red Sea/HOA: The situation involving American targeting of the Houthis in Yemen has deteriorated following the shootdown of two American drones within the past few days. Two MQ-9 Reaper drones were shot down by the Houthis, one in Hudaydah, the other over Ma'rib. Middle East: This afternoon the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center issued a maritime advisory warning of increased GPS jamming being detected in the Strait of Hormuz. AC: This is a classic tactic used by Iranian forces routinely, either for the hijacking of vessels, or for more wartime preparations. While it is possible that the jamming is the result of American warships using electronic countermeasures to defend against missiles, in this case this could be related to the recent uptick in Iranian forces stopping oil tankers allegedly engaging in the smuggling of petroleum products. Iranian authorities seized two vessels attempting to illegally export diesel fuel from Iran a few days ago for these reasons. However, considering that the overall security situation in the region remains tenuous, GPS jamming could be a sign of increasing defenses against a potential conflict. -HomeFront- Washington D.C. - Various economic fallout continues as all sides of the issue interpret the recent tariff announcements in the context of economic stability. Most financial markets have remained volatile as fast-moving economic developments have come to light. This morning President Trump urged the FED to cut rates, but as of this afternoon Chairman Powell seems to indicate he's not interested in such, leading to more uncertainty. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: Generally speaking, there are multiple viewpoints on whether the recent economic changes in the US are good or bad. Some state that the tariffs (and subsequent economic shake-up with regards to American domestic production) are a necessary hardship that will be tough at first, but will get better as more domestic production returns to the United States. Others think that while this is a noble goal, this may not be possible in some industries as companies will simply keep production overseas, and pass the costs of tariffs on to consumers, since most major companies in the modern world are monopolies. Others still don't like taxes in any form whatsoever, which is an argument that often mistakenly conflates taxing a domestic population with taxing an overseas adversary. Some people say "fair is fair", and that taxing other nations the same as they tax us is long overdue. Others agree with this idea, but point out that in the international arena, returning to a concept of fairness won't rule out hardship since most American companies outsourced everything to the third world years ago, and it will take a lot of work (and be quite costly) to start building things in America again. Even more people will point out the national security concerns of having the overwhelming majority of critical wartime supplies (such as almost all medications) being made overseas with cheap labor...an American-made Tylenol pill costing a few dollars per pill may be preferable to not having that pill at all in the event of a war. Which perspective is correct is already being hotly debated, and the situation isn't necessarily possible to categorize as "good" or "bad". However, virtually no one is stating that economic tribulation won't be the result; the general consensus is that economic trouble will happen no matter what. The debate lies with whether or not the tariffs will result in long term hardship, or short term hardship....hard times will probably be the result in any case. In the United Kingdom, the murder in Huddersfield has been subject to more gaslighting and manipulation in the media than usual, possibly due to the gruesome nature of the attack. For instance, the BBC reported the incident in very passive language, merely stating that "a man was found with a stab wound". Most media groups have also completely ignored the attacker, or in this case, the multiple people who have been arrested in conjunction with this murder. Analyst: S2A1 Research: //END REPORT//
This week's intel update is out!
//The Wire//2300Z March 28, 2025// //PRIORITY// //BLUF: MAJOR EARTHQUAKES STRIKE BURMA AND THAILAND, THOUSANDS OF CASUALTIES ESTIMATED. DIPLOMATIC ACTIONS CONTINUE IN UKRAINE.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Southeast Asia: A very large earthquake (and many aftershocks) struck the region this morning, primarily within the nations of Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand. The epicenter of the Burmese earthquake was located almost exactly under the city of Mandalay, Burma's second largest city. Early estimates indicate the earthquake's magnitude was 7.7, larger than usual for the region. In Thailand, several aftershocks were felt and have caused damage through much of the northwest. A state of emergency remains in effect throughout most of Burma, and parts of Thailand that have been hardest hit. Many skyscrapers and high-rise buildings have collapsed in Bangkok, about 600 miles from the epicenter. AC: This earthquake is a big deal, with most authorities estimating thousands, if not tens of thousands of casualties spread throughout the region. Right now, numbers are impossible to verify as most communications networks throughout Burma and Thailand (which barely functioned before the earthquake) are simply overwhelmed. Additionally, since Burma has been living under a state of military coup for several years, communications blackouts have been the norm to prevent access to the internet by locals. As such these censorship efforts probably will have a negative impact on determining the scale of the crisis in Burma. Eastern Europe: The potential for peace in Ukraine remains on the table as diplomatic efforts remain constant. Overnight, President Putin gave a very frank and direct talk regarding his concerns for the war coming to a close. One of his chief concerns is the legitimacy of peace; in short, Putin stated that he's not sure if a peace agreement with Zelenskyy would be legally binding, because he is not the elected leader of Ukraine (referencing the fact that elections have been suspended in Ukraine, and Zelenskyy's term of office expired some time ago). -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: Though many may scoff at listening to anything Putin says, his remarks last night provide some much needed insight into his perspective during negotiations. For instance, from Putin's perspective, regime change is a non-starter. From where Putin sits, Zelenskyy must go even if that means ousting him and creating an interim transitional government while elections take place. Considering his strangely direct remarks, he probably would be amenable to a ceasefire while Ukrainian elections take place, but that's sheer speculation at best. Rightly or wrongly, and like it or not, Zelenskyy remaining in office is one of the biggest barriers to peace and Russia has made it clear that they will continue fighting as long as he is in power. Zelenskyy himself did make it illegal for any ceasefire or peace talks to even happen with Putin, that is an undeniable fact that is complicating things quite a bit. Of course, on the other side of the issue, Russia wants to come out of this war in the best position possible, and a transitional government where everyone is vying for power would be politically advantageous to Russia. Fundamentally, opinions will vary on what is happening as long as those interpreting the diplomatic efforts adopt certain opinions. For instance, if a person thinks that Putin is hellbent on taking the entire continent of Europe, one analytical perspective will be adopted. If a person thinks that Putin just wants to make a minor land grab and isn't interested in land outside of Ukraine, another analytical perspective will be used. This is one of the major reasons for analytical discrepancy throughout the conflict, and is why the terms of a peace agreement might be confusing to many people who had believed one set of beliefs about the war for so long that at war's end, the reality of the situation might be hard to understand. Analyst: S2A1 Research: //END REPORT//
This week's intel update is out 👍
//The Wire//2300Z March 19, 2025// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: JUDICIAL ACTIVISM CONTINUES IN WASHINGTON. JFK DOCUMENT RELEASE CONTINUES. UNREST IN TURKEY FOLLOWING ARREST OF POLITICAL OPPOSITION.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Middle East: The various wars continue as before. American bombing continues in Yemen, Israeli bombing continues in Gaza. Turkey: Significant developments on the political front have resulted in economic turmoil. Over the weekend Turkish forces arrested Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul. Imamoglu was Erdogan's primary political opponent and was expected to be named as the official candidate running against Erdogan in the upcoming election. Around one hundred other political opponents of varying levels of importance were also arrested. AC: How this will work out is anyone's guess, though this is hardly a surprising development for Turkish politics. Despite Turkey being a NATO member, these types of electoral shenanigans happen rather blatantly every few years, and often result in an economic downturn due to the instability of the situation. -HomeFront- Washington D.C. - Many highly controversial and politically unsavory actions continue among the judiciary. Yesterday another D.C. District judge seems to have banned Executive Order 14183, which prevents mentally unwell individuals from serving in the military (such as transgender individuals). AC: It would seem as though the era of more openly weaponizing the judiciary for political purposes has become a main vector for opposing President Trump's policies. No judge has the authority to dictate what the Commander in Chief can do with the US Armed Forces, full stop. Likewise, no judge has the authority to allow illegals to remain in the United States illegally, as that power was explicitly not grated to the judiciary by the Constitution. Nevertheless, these efforts continue tiresomely, and are leading to an erosion of the entire judicial branch of government...for which the judiciary themselves are solely to blame. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: Following the release of the JFK files last night, multiple details must be noted as newcomers to the investigation begin to observe some things for the first time. Not only is a grand case of expectation management called for, but many people in our modern time make the assumption that the initial investigation into the JFK assassination simply wasn't conducted, or that the people investigating at the time were completely clueless as to what happened. This is not so; many exceptionally damning details of the investigation have been public since the very early years. There is no one report that will state "X did it" with any trustworthiness, however there are a LOT of one-off random documents and details that very strongly indicate that this wasn't just a simple assassination. By digging into these "new" documents, a lot of people are figuring out why the JFK assassination is so famously suspicious. Now, instead of someone thinking "those JFK conspiracy theorists are stupid", a fresh focus on the old documents from that time may persuade someone to think "hey that conspiracy dude actually has a point, this is really sketchy". As of right now, that's probably the most to come out of these documents. Almost all of the documents that have been released so far have already *been* released. As such, many exceptionally interesting documents have been found in the latest release that have long been in the public eye, for anyone who wanted them. This is going to result in a lot of social media pages touting "new" documents implicating this person, or that group...documents which have been public since the early days. Another detail to remember is that, while alternative media is often preferable to mainstream media, this does not automatically make everyone with a Twitter account a highly trained investigative journalist. For instance, one document circulated social media immediately after the docs were released. This document focused on Gary Underhill, and that he was afraid for his life because of his knowledge of CIA assassination teams. However, this document is NOT official testimony or any kind of "smoking gun" whatsoever. Reading is hard for some, so whoever first posted this document clearly did not read it. The subject and header of this Secret memo clearly state that this is an excerpt from Ramparts magazine, which was included for the record. This specific document buried in the JFK files does not confirm anything, it's merely a copy of something that was written in a public magazine, that investigators might want to make a note of. But overall this secret report did not confirm the actual information contained within the article, as implied (or openly stated) by many social media accounts. Same story with the pages that "implicate" Joe Biden. These documents aren't really a smoking gun either, and while very interesting, they have been in the public eye since the late 1960's. Consequently, many of the documents that have been released are simply interviews...a person's testimony. While helpful for investigative work, it's not a definitive picture, nor is it the truth in some cases. Most rather interesting documents have remained redacted, poorly scanned to the point of not being legible, or incomplete. Perhaps the only thing of note that has originated from the JFK file disclosure is that many documents openly state that the CIA would prefer to redact all references to the Israeli Intelligence Service. This is once again not surprising in the slightest, but a fairly common point of focus for those new to the JFK investigation. Analyst: S2A1 Research: //END REPORT//
//The Wire//2300Z March 18, 2025// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: WAR RETURNS TO GAZA AS CEASEFIRE FAILS, ISRAEL CONDUCTS LARGE-SCALE BOMBING IN GAZA. UNITED STATES CONTINUES BOMBING CAMPAIGN IN YEMEN. //  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Middle East: The already tenuous ceasefire in Gaza has come to an end, as Israeli forces recommenced their large-scale bombing campaign throughout the Gaza Strip. -HomeFront- Washington D.C. - This evening a few thousand pages of documents pertaining to the assassination of John F. Kennedy were released. AC: Many of the files are poor quality scans of copies, or handwritten notes, as is common among decades-old government documents. As such it may take some time for analysis to be conducted to determine if anything new was actually released. Additionally, no further comment has been made regarding the much-hyped Phase 2 release of Epstein documents. At the DoJ, the FBI announced the creation of a new Task Force to investigate the Oct 7th attacks in Israel. This will involve the FBI arranging a team of agents to directly work for Israel's National Bureau of Counter Terror Finance. This afternoon D.C. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang (an Obama appointee) mandated the reinstatement of USAID funding in it's entirety. Nevada: The attacks on parked Tesla vehicles has continued via another arson attack at a service center in Las Vegas shortly before sunrise this morning. Several Teslas were set on fire with improvised incendiary devices while parked in the parking lot of the service center on Badura Avenue. USA: The swatting incidents over the past few days have continued, with an increasing number of pro-Trump social media figures being targeted by malign actors. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: High tensions remain a standard in the Red Sea, as much false information abounds regarding current events. Various Houthi forces claimed to sink an American warship (as they do routinely), which is obviously false. Likewise, other social media accounts attempting to stoke a war with Iran claimed that an Iranian ship called the Zagros was sunk as well. This too is probably false, considering that the Zagros (an intelligence collection ship, the first of it's kind domestically produced by the Iranians) is a newer vessel that was only unveiled two months ago, and therefore might not have entered combat service yet. Analyst: S2A1 Research: //END REPORT//
//The Wire//2300Z March 17, 2025// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: UNITED STATES BEGINS LARGE-SCALE BOMBING CAMPAIGN IN YEMEN. SWATTING INCIDENTS CONTINUE AROUND THE UNITED STATES.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Red Sea/HOA: Over the weekend the United States began a large-scale bombing campaign in Yemen, targeting the Houthi government. Following this escalation, President Trump also took to social media to state that America's policy going forward will be to treat every shot fired by Yemen as a shot fired by Iran. AC: This is probably a pivot to increasing tensions with with the Iranians. The war in Yemen has been going on for many years, despite the Saudis bombing Yemen fairly regularly over the past decade. Much like the campaign against ISIS in the Mid-Euphrates River Valley (MERV) in Iraq and Syria, a mostly aerial campaign against insurgent groups (or even governments) in the Middle East is a challenging style of warfare that hasn't worked out well in the past. In short, continuing to bomb Yemen probably won't do very much in the long run to provide security for the region, though it does divert from the reasons as to why the Houthis are waging this war in the first place. Germany: This morning German officials announced a €300 million aid package for Syria. This brings the total European Union support to Syria to roughly €5.8 billion. United Kingdom: Plans to deploy British soldiers to Ukraine continue to go ahead, with PM Starmer stating in a virtual summit that up to 10,000 soldiers will be slated to deploy to Ukraine as part of a joint "peacekeeping" mission along with 35 other nations. -HomeFront- Washington D.C. - Much controversy has continued regarding a variety of actions in Washington over the past few days. Up first, D.C. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg issued an emergency order to stop the White House from deporting illegals to El Salvador. As the aircraft were already in the air, it wasn't logistically feasible to radio an in-flight aircraft regarding a court order that was issued, so the aircraft continued it's deportation flight. The second controversial development involves President Trump's remarks on the pardons issued by President Biden in his final days of the Presidency. Specifically, Trump has called into question the legality of Biden using an autopen digital signature on pardons, and has openly stated that he thinks the pardons are not legally binding because of this. AC: While entertaining, this autopen debate probably doesn't carry much weight since the use of digital signatures on government documents is a common standard used by government officials everywhere. Central USA: Following a series of severe storms that ripped through the central and southern regions of the nation, recovery efforts are ongoing. So far, 42 fatalities have been reported as a result of these storms. Most of the fatalities have taken place in Missouri, Kansas, and Mississippi, ranging from those being killed by debris, and pre-existing medical conditions, to high winds causing pileups on interstate highways causing multiple fatalities. Substantially high winds also inflamed hundreds of wildfires throughout Oklahoma, which has so far resulted in over 170,000 acres burning due to these storms. USA: Around the nation the Swatting of pro-Trump influencers and social media figures continues. Many of those swatted have provided surveillance footage confirming that such events did take place, however many have not provided the specific details of their swatting incidents for security reasons. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: Of note, several police departments have elaborated that in many of these swatting incidents, the caller making the fake threats will stay on the line with 911 operators for a long time, making statements that attempt to escalate the situation to lethal force. Several cases also have involved the malign actor calling a police department's non-emergency number, which is a common tactic for swatting as non-emergency numbers are standard phone numbers that can be called from anywhere. So far, this does not appear to be a simple prank phone call, then an immediate hang up. The caller(s) know the exact magic phrases that will trigger a higher-level response from police, and they are engaging in a more deliberate effort to create an elaborate story with the end goal of violence. As with the previous swatting incidents, those who have been targeted in such manner may be prioritized for such malign action due to affiliation with the Trump administration. Analyst: S2A1 Research: //END REPORT//
//The Wire//2300Z March 14, 2025// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT SUFFERS ENGINE FIRE IN DENVER. DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS CONTINUE TO URGE AN AGREEMENT IN UKRAINE.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Europe: Diplomatic developments continue by the hour regarding the potential for peace in Ukraine. Russia has responded favorably to the idea of a ceasefire, however no ceasefire terms have been accepted on paper or implemented just yet. However, this morning NATO Chief Mark Rutte stated that Ukraine will not be joining NATO, which likely will be viewed as a favorable development by Russia. In Ukraine, the Kursk Offensive is largely no more, with almost all Ukrainian troops egressing south back over the border into Ukraine over the past few weeks. Canada: Justin Trudeau has formally resigned as Prime Minister, being replaced by Mark Carney. -HomeFront- Washington D.C. - Following yesterdays' multiple swatting incidents of conservative media figures, FBI Director Kash Patel issued a statement acknowledging the incidents, and has allegedly begun investigations into the culprits of these types of events. Colorado: American Airlines Flight 1006 experienced a fire emergency upon landing in Denver yesterday. The pilots landed without issue, however while taxiing to the terminal, an engine caught fire. The aircraft successfully made it back to the terminal before the fire expanded significantly. Despite challenges while evacuating (such as many passengers taking the time to gather their carry on bags), all passengers and crew were able to safely evacuate the aircraft. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: The fire onboard AA1006 is a great reminder to pay attention to all safety procedures during commercial flights, such as the explicit direction to leave your possessions behind, and get out of the aircraft as quickly as possible. For future reference, most aircraft in the 737 family do not have slides or inflatables on the wings of the aircraft; the emergency procedure involves the pilots lowering the flaps, which serve as the slide to egress from the aircraft. There are markings painted on the top of the wing that indicate which route to take, and to slide off of the wing using the flaps. However, in this case, most passengers who took the overwing exits were stranded on top of the wing with no way to get down (or so they thought). Since it often requires going against human instinct to slide down a wing into the unknown below (or in this case, sliding down into flame and smoke under the wing) this detail regarding the overwing exits lacking a clear and confident egress method has been noted by investigators during previous emergencies over the years. The good news is that on most 737 platforms, the wing is a maximum of approximately 10 feet from the ground at worst (depending on variant), so jumping down from any point on the wing would likely have been possible in any case. Analyst: S2A1 Research: //END REPORT//
//The Wire//2300Z March 11, 2025// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: TRADE WAR BETWEEN USA/CAN CONTINUES TO ESCALATE. TRUMP TARGETS CONGRESSMEN OPPOSING OMNIBUS SPENDING BILL. AMERICAN AID TO UKRAINE RESUMES, PER STATE DEPARTMENT.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Canada: The trade war between the US and Canada continues to deteriorate as expected, with multiple short-lived diplomatic developments taking place throughout the day. This morning the White House announced an increase in tariffs to 50% for imported Canadian aluminum and steel. Within a few hours, the province of Ontario imposed a 25% tariff on electricity exports to several northeastern US states. This led to the White House announcing plans to declare a National Emergency on Electricity in the affected area. By this afternoon, Canada removed this 25% tariff on electricity, the "national emergency" hasn't been clarified at all, and negotiations have begun regarding cross-border electricity deals in the northeast. Ukraine: This afternoon the State Department announced that American military aid to Ukraine has resumed. AC: What this declaration means is anyone's guess at the moment. However, if this is a resumption of all military and financial aid to Ukraine, this would be a very significant reversal of another major issue that the White House explicitly campaigned on. Either way, time will tell, both in terms of what this looks like financially, but also how Americans will perceive this development. -HomeFront- Washington D.C. - Brief scandal has emerged following President Trump's pledge to primary Representative Thomas Massie for voting against the Republican omnibus spending bill to fund the government. As of this afternoon, the omnibus spending bill passed, with Rep. Massie being the only "no" vote from within the Republican party. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it is expected to pass. Meanwhile at the DoJ, the previous fiasco involving the release of Epstein, JFK, RFK, and MLK Jr. assassination documents has largely been forgotten. President Trump has made no comments on the issue, and more notably the White House press corps hasn't asked about it either. No new documents have been released, and the DoJ has pivoted to policing other speech-related concerns. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: The spending bill as passed in the House does not include any of the efforts undertaken by DOGE to identify fraud, waste, and abuse, meaning that all of the viral posts surrounding the DOGE audits were all for nothing if those same openly fraudulent programs get funded anyway. Rep. Massie has stated that his opposition to the bill is largely due to the bill funding exactly the same things that were funded by the past year of President Biden's reign, and that funding this bill would be identical to repeating Biden's Presidency from a budgetary perspective (until September when the Continuing Resolution expires). More generally, the conflict in Congress largely boils down to two perspectives. Trump doesn't like anyone who challenges his authority in any way, or goes against the establishment (or as some might say, the uniparty). Massie has gained notoriety by being the only Congressman who does not receive foreign lobby money (such as most notably from AIPAC). Thus, Trump's threat to oust him from office (while not levying this threat at any Democrat) is being perceived as a mistake (at best). Analyst: S2A1 Research: //END REPORT//
//The Wire//2300Z March 3, 2025// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: VEHICLE RAMMING ATTACK STRIKES MANNHEIM CARNIVAL. NOTHING NEW REGARDING EPSTEIN DOCS.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Germany: A vehicle ramming attack was carried out in Mannheim this evening. The attacker was detained at the scene. So far, one fatality was reported, with many wounded in the attack. Mannheim police have requested witnesses to stop sharing video evidence on social media. Austria: An unspecified threat at the Hauptbahnhof (central train station) in Vienna resulted in an evacuation of the station today, during the evening rush hour commute. AC: In keeping with tradition, very few details were released by authorities, however after a bomb squad sweep of the complex the alert was canceled. Though authorities have not specified the nature of the threat, most Austrian media has claimed the incident revolved around a bomb threat. Norway: A brief diplomatic scandal was reported over the weekend following the Oval Office argument between the United States and Ukraine. After Zelenskyy was removed from the White House, various European nations have also transitioned to adopt a more hostile diplomatic position toward the United States. In Norway, these icy tensions came to fruition in the form of a maritime logistics company refusing to refuel American warships as part of a defense pact with Norway. Haltbakk Bunkers (a refueling company) issued a profanity-laced statement on social media culminating with the basic idea of "no fuel for Americans". This statement was rebuffed by Norway's Defense Minister, who stated that Norway would continue to provide the agreed upon support for American naval vessels who visit Norwegian ports. AC: Additionally, it must be noted that the CEO of Haltbakk confirmed that they don't actually have any established contracts to supply American vessels in the first place (other companies hold the larger defense logistical contracts), so this short-lived economic protest would not have had any impact anyway. Ukraine: Two commercial cargo vessels were damaged in the port city of Odessa over the weekend. A Russian missile strike targeted the port and the vessels specifically due to allegedly being used for arms shipments to Ukraine. The M/V MSC LEVANTE F and the M/V SUPER SARKAS (a container ship and a bulk carrier respectively) were both struck in the attack, each suffering unknown damage. -HomeFront- Washington D.C. - All chatter surrounding the release of the Epstein client list has largely fallen away following last week's influencer binder scandal. Neither the DoJ, nor the FBI have provided a clear time window for when any new documents are scheduled to be released. As AG Bondi's original order to provide the documents has not been carried out by the FBI, she has given the FBI 14 days to explain why her order wasn't followed. AC: As this scandal has largely devolved into strongly-worded emails, finger pointing, and ultimatums that aren't acknowledged, the chances of any further disclosures of new information are becoming increasingly remote. Also in Washington, this afternoon the White House has announced the cessation of arms sales to Ukraine, as well as an increase in tariffs on Chinese trade to 20%. Following the failure of diplomatic talks, the previous trade tariffs with Canada and Mexico are set to come into effect at midnight (pending any last-minute diplomatic moves). Florida: Three separate civilian aircraft violated the closed airspace surrounding President Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday. These airspace violations resulted in F-16's scrambling from the 1st Air Force out of Tyndall Air Force Base to intercept the aircraft. During at least two of these interceptions flares were deployed by military aircraft to get the attention of the civilian pilots. AC: It is not clear as to why these airspace violations occurred, as the airspace has been closed around Mar-a-Lago for years. It is possible that President Trump's weekend visit prompted a brief expansion of the normal airspace cordon, which went unnoticed by pilots who failed to check recent NOTAMs before flight. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: The Mannheim attack was probably targeting the festivities of Germany's Karneval, a period of springtime festivities (similar to Marti Gras) leading up to Lent. This month-long season of festivity comprises of multiple holidays such as Rose Monday, Fasnacht Day, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, etc. As has become common throughout Europe, this attack highlights the importance of heightened vigilance and situational awareness at any public event, but especially those with any sort of Christian tradition or affiliated with any Christian holiday. Vehicle ramming attacks remain the number one threat vector for public events, despite how easy it is to prevent these types of attacks from happening. This is extremely important to consider in the context of the current threat environment...and all of the false-threats called in all over Europe. For instance, today's fake bomb threat in Vienna provided substantial intelligence to malign actors. After the station was evacuated, all of the passengers congregated at the entrances of the facility...well within blast range of any bomb that may have been inside the station. Furthermore, the large crowd of people outside formed an ideal target for a vehicle ramming attack. Hundreds of people were tightly packed together, facing the station (and thus facing away from potential threats), all completely oblivious to the fact that this evacuation order could have been a critical first step in a much larger attack. Terrorists know and understand that merely pulling a fire alarm will result in a convenient arrangement of soft-targets vulnerable to a variety of attacks immediately outside a facility: Outside the security cordon, outside the protection of any kind of structural barrier, well away from any kind of Stop-the-Bleed kits, or security personnel. Attacking not a hard-target, but a soft-target gathered outside, has been an open and transparent threat vector for everyone to see for years, which includes malign actors. Thankfully in this case, though situational awareness failed, no attack occurred either inside the train station, or among the crowd tightly-packed outside. However (as with the Mannheim attack) these incidents provide a critical chance to highlight weaknesses in situational awareness habits, and remind us that stepping two feet outside of an evacuated building does not mitigate the threat very much at all. Analyst: S2A1 Research: //END REPORT//