S2 Underground

//The Wire//2300Z April 28, 2025//
//PRIORITY//
//BLUF: VEHICLE RAMMING ATTACK KILLS 11X IN VANCOUVER, CAN. MAJOR BLACKOUT UNDERWAY IN SOUTHERN EUROPE. GROUND STOP ISSUED FOR NEWARK DUE TO RADIO COMMS OUTAGE. CEASEFIRE IN UKRAINE TO BEGIN ON MAY 8TH. LIKELY CARTEL ARMS SMUGGLER REMAINS FUGITIVE AFTER BEING RELEASED BY JUDGE. SOPHISTICATED IED FOUND AT CHURCH IN OREGON.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----
 
-International Events-

Canada: A vehicle ramming attack was conducted at the Lapu Lapu Filipino Heritage festival in Vancouver on Saturday night. Authorities state that the attacker intentionally drove his vehicle into a large crowd of people gathered at the intersection of Frasier and E 41st Avenue, killing 11x people and wounding dozens more. Local authorities have identified the attacker as Kai-Ji Adam Lo, who was arrested at the scene. Local police stated that the attacker was very well known to police, and had been the result of many emergency responses involving mental health incidents.

Europe: This morning, a large-scale electrical power outage was reported throughout Spain, before rapidly cascading to include Portugal, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. A few hours after the outage began, French utilities started to come back online. Spain and Portugal appear to be hardest hit, with a total blackout affecting much of the two countries. Portugal's grid operator has not given a timeline for a return of power, and has indicated that the delay might be significant. Grid operators in Spain stated that it will take most of the day to restore power throughout the blackout zones, though as night has fallen much of the region remains without electricity. A state of emergency has been declared throughout Spain, and officials in the provinces of Andalusia, Extremadura, and Madrid (plus the city proper) have requested federal authorities declare the crisis a Civil Protection Level 3, so as to maintain order throughout the night in major cities as the outage persists.

AC: This level of emergency declaration is usually only reserved for wartime as it involves a declaration of martial law, and a widespread deployment of military forces. Checkpoints and ID checks are also a part of this plan, along with the restriction of travel, curfews, etc.

Ukraine: President Putin has announced that a general ceasefire will take place from May 8-10 along all fronts. AC: Neither American nor Ukrainian leadership has commented on the ceasefire announcement yet, nor have there been any indications as to if Ukraine will be participating in the 72-hour cessation of hostilities.

Red Sea/HOA: An aviation mishap was reported onboard the USS HARRY S TRUMAN (CVN 75). During routine aviation operations, one F/A-18 aircraft was lost overboard while being towed by aircraft handlers. The tractor towing the aircraft was lost overboard as well. No casualties were reported as a result of this incident.

AC: Warfare is dangerous business, and it would seem that this proverbial "business is getting out of control" for the TRUMAN. This deployment has been rough so far for the entire strike group, as military forces globally experience the follow-on effects of an increased optempo, stressed maintenance schedules, and even complacency. On this one deployment to the Red Sea, one of her escorts shot down one of her own aircraft in a friendly-fire incident (Dec, 2024), she collided with a merchant vessel resulting in damage to her fantail (Feb, 2025), and now an entire aircraft was lost overboard. This is important in the context that she is on her second Captain (the first skipper was fired after the collision) during this deployment...a deployment which was extended a few weeks ago amid rising tensions with the Iranians.

 -HomeFront-

California: Over the weekend, vandals set fire to a utility pole in Sacramento, causing internet connectivity loss throughout the eastern and central p

//The Wire//2100Z April 25, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: INDIA-PAKISTAN TENSIONS REMAIN HIGH. POSSIBLE IED DISCOVERED AT FORT BRAGG GATE. TWO JUDGES ARRESTED ON CHARGES OF HARBORING ILLEGALS.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----
 
-International Events-

India/Pakistan: Overnight the situation deteriorated significantly as both sides escalate the situation as expected. So far, no military unit appears to have crossed the Line of Control (LoC) yet, save for one lone Indian soldier who was captured by Pakistani border guards yesterday. This morning an Indian Air Force aircraft jettisoned a fuel tank while over one of their own towns in Shivpuri district, which landed on a house and killed one civilian.

Russia/Ukraine: Tensions have briefly escalated amid peace talks. Two days ago, Russia launched a missile strike on Kiev, striking the Antonov aircraft factory in the industrial sector of the city. This morning, Russian Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik was assassinated via an explosive device that was planted in a parked vehicle near his home in a suburb of Moscow. When the General walked past, the device was detonated.

AC: Even without any evidence indicating blame whatsoever, the overall context strongly indicates that the assassination of a high-ranking Russian General was almost certainly retaliation for the strike at the Antonov factory in Kiev. The attack method was identical to that which killed another Russian General, Igor Kirillov, who was assassinated in the same area (the eastern suburbs of Moscow) back in December of last year.

 -HomeFront-

North Carolina: Last night one of the entrances to Fort Bragg was briefly locked down due to a possible explosive device being detected at the All American Gate. Details are very unconfirmed and highly speculative at the moment, but most local media is stating that a Jordanian national was stopped after he attempted to smuggled an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) through the gate. No official confirmation of exactly what happened has been released by base personnel.

Wisconsin: This morning county Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested by the FBI on obstruction of justice charges for allegedly harboring an illegal alien at her courthouse. In a statement provided by the U.S. Marshalls Service, Judge Dugan aided and abetted an illegal immigrant to evade capture by using off-limits passageways in the courthouse to escape. Judge Dugan also directly lied to federal officials about the illegal's whereabouts when presented with a lawful court order for his detention.

New Mexico: Judge Cano, the infamous Judge who openly admitted to harboring an illegal alien and TdA member in the guesthouse at his home, was also arrested yesterday afternoon along with his wife.

AC: This somewhat surprising arrest appears to have been conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, which could indicate that the immigration status of the immigrant he was harboring was the lesser concern, in favor of the individual actually being a TdA member. Even for New Mexico, where various cartels have a huge influence over the justice system, that TdA label was probably a bridge too far for this Judge to be able to quietly retire and forget about the whole affair (as he tried to do a few days ago).

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: Some reports have emerged that claim hostilities have already commenced throughout the northern border districts of Kashmir, however at the moment it's not clear if these are legitimate military advances, or just border guards shooting at each other as usual. Reports of heavy artillery being used are more concerning, however at the moment it appears that translation errors could be in play with some of these reports in Indian media. What locals are describing as "heavy artillery" in their native language seems to in actuality be mortar fire, which affects the seriousness of the situation. Cross border

//The Wire//2100Z April 24, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: INDIA AND PAKISTAN ON THE BRINK OF WAR. ARREST MADE IN CONJUNCTION WITH NEW JERSEY WILDFIRE.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----
 
-International Events-

India/Pakistan: The situation has rapidly increased in seriousness following India's actions after the recent terror attack in Kashmir. Various diplomats in both nations have been declared persona-non-grata, and diplomatic talks between both belligerents have been progressively deteriorating for the past 24 hours. Both India and Pakistan have closed all border crossings and suspended all visas from each other's country. India has ordered the deportation of all Pakistanis from India, and Pakistan has ordered likewise with all Indians in Pakistan. Both nations have issued repatriation orders, urging their own citizens to return to their respective nations immediately.

India has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (1960), halting all water access into Pakistan via the closure of sluice gates at the various dams along rivers that flow into Pakistan. As this water is crucial for roughly 80% of all agricultural irrigation in Pakistan, Pakistani leadership has labeled the move as an act of war and has subsequently threatened to bomb these dams. In response to this rhetoric, India has deployed the INS Vikrant (one of her two aircraft carriers), which was observed maneuvering off the coast of Pakistan this morning. Various airspace closures have been reported between the two nations as well.

 -HomeFront-

New Jersey: This morning authorities announced the arrest of Joseph Kling on charges of aggravated arson, for his role in starting the fires that have swept through the state over the past few days. The arrest notice stated that he set a bonfire in a wooded area and departed before the fire was extinguished.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: The development involving India deploying her main flagship during this crisis is probably related to one of three possibilities. 1 - It's a standard deployment that isn't related to any current event, 2 - It is an attempt by India to bully Pakistan via a little power-projection on the high seas, or 3 - India is intending to actually carry out some sort of military operation against Pakistan.

Under normal conditions, the latter option wouldn't be a realistic theory, however when it comes to the India/Pakistan conflict anything goes. This is why despite most of the civilized world not caring about what happens on the Indian subcontinent, this conflict has the potential to become rather serious. India and Pakistan have a very long history of conducting themselves exactly how they are doing so right now; tensions rising to the brink of war between these two nations has been quite common over the years. However, when two third-world nations have grievances that go back thousands of years, but both nations also happen to have nuclear weapons, the game takes on a slightly more concerning tone. Either way, the next few weeks will be a point of concern as these old rivals continue to escalate the situation.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
//END REPORT//

//The Wire//2300Z April 23, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: WILDFIRE CAUSES MASS EVACUATIONS IN NEW JERSEY. EARTHQUAKE STRIKES TURKEY. INDIA/PAKISTAN RELATIONS CONTINUE TO DETERIORATE.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----
 
-International Events-

Turkey: An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.2 struck just south of Istanbul (Constantinople) overnight. So far reports of damage have been limited; Turkey's Minister of the Interior stated that no major buildings had collapsed but damage had been reported.

India: Following the recent terror attack in Kashmir, India has responded in several ways, most of which are not directly related to the specific attack, but rather are more diplomatic in nature. For one, India has halted the recent cross-border water deal with Pakistan due to the attack. India has also paused a special visa program with Pakistan that had allowed faster cross-border traffic for Pakistanis into the highly-controversial Kashmir region. Indian security patrols are also increasing throughout the area of the initial attack, and various high-level meetings with Indian defense officials have been observed since the attack took place.
 
 -HomeFront-

New Jersey: Overnight large scale evacuations were ordered throughout the Barnegat township as a wildfire spread rapidly through Greenwood Forest. The Jones Road Fire was roughly 8,500 acres in size by morning, and at only 10% containment. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service reported that approximately 1,320 structures were at risk for being overtaken by the fire, and roughly 3,000 people have been evacuated from the areas most at risk.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: Throughout the past few days, various rhetoric has continued regarding the trade war between the USA and China. Nothing is solidified beyond mere rumor and casual comment at this point, however the situation remains delicate. Some media outlets historically critical of President Trump are claiming that he caved, and will reduce the tariffs on China following the economic turmoil since this whole affair began. Media outlets supportive of Trump imply that he hasn't "caved" and that the situation is still being negotiated. Considering that there's very little to go on that's solid, the truth is probably in between the two extremes.

More generally, it is often very hard to engage in a trade war with nations that are governed by Communist institutions. This simple detail could be an unforeseen factor in negotiations; China's economy is not solely based around commerce...there is a military angle to most things that China does even if it doesn't seem like it at first. Nevertheless, some agreement will likely be reached at some point, despite the power-projection attempts by both sides.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
//END REPORT//

//The Wire//2200Z April 22, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: TOURIST GROUP AMBUSHED IN KASHMIR, 24 DEAD. DHS SECRETARY VICTIM OF PICKPOCKET, DRAWING SECURITY CONCERNS.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----
 
-International Events-

India: Overnight unknown insurgents ambushed a group of tourists in the resort town of Pahalgam in Kashmir. So far, the death toll stands at 24 fatalities and an unknown number of wounded as per Indian officials. PM Modi has stated that the incident was a terror attack.

AC: The timing of this attack was very likely not random. Not only did this attack take place during American VP Vance's visit to India, but this is the most significant attack in recent memory. In the wider context of the very controversial Kashmir region, the indiscriminate targeting of unarmed civilians is outside the norm for the various separatist groups that have freedom of maneuver throughout the area. As India's government has increasingly flexed their muscle in Kashmir by having an increased security presence over the years, if these attacks continue this could indicate another intensification of conflict throughout the beleaguered region.
 
 -HomeFront-

Washington D.C. - Controversy has erupted following a minor incident involving DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who's purse was stolen while having dinner in Washington on Sunday. The investigation into the theft is ongoing.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: While the attention Noem has received since beginning her role at DHS has been palpable, this situation is the latest in highlighting the long-standing problems within federal agencies.

The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for managing the US Secret Service, which in turn is responsible for protecting high-ranking individuals who are critical to national security. A person who can get close enough to steal a purse can also do other things. As incredulous as that seems by itself, one must remember the assailant also succeeded in getting away without being noticed until afterward. It's one thing if someone snatched a purse and made it approximately 12 feet before being tackled to the ground...but in this case not one member of her security detail seemed to notice anything happened at all. This means that a malign actor was able to get within close proximity of their protectee, remove something from their possession, and egress from the area undetected.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
//END REPORT//

//The Wire//2200Z April 21, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: POPE FRANCIS PASSES AWAY THIS MORNING. CHINA ANNOUNCES LATEST MOVE IN USA/CHINA TRADE WAR.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----
 
-International Events-

Vatican City: Pope Francis passed away early this morning at the age of 88, following his bout of respiratory illness. The Vatican stated that Pope Francis died at his residence after experiencing a stroke this morning.

Switzerland: Klaus Schwab, the founder of the infamous World Economic Forum abruptly announced his resignation from his position as Chair of the forum, along with his seat on the Board of Trustees.

AC: No comment was provided on the reason for Schwab stepping aside, and the resignation took effect immediately. However, Schwab had taken a reduced role at the Forum anyway, after handing over most of the day-to-day operations of the organization to Børge Brende back in May of last year.

Far East: The trade war between the United States and China continues to expand, with China announcing a new style of retaliatory tariffs. Though the announcement from China's Ministry of Commerce was somewhat vague, the general sentiment is that for any nation that works with the United States regarding their own tariffs, China will impose Chinese tariffs on that nation.

AC: If this is what China intends to do, this is a significant development. Taxing a third-party nation simply because that nation is working favorably with the USA, is purely a "friend of my enemy is an enemy" approach to this trade crisis that highlights just how serious Beijing is regarding this situation. In short, this whole affair may just be more serious than it appears at face value.
 
 -HomeFront-

Florida: This morning Delta Flight 1213 experienced an engine fire before takeoff in Orlando. The fire occurred as the No. 2 engine was started after pushback from the gate, prompting the inflatable slides to be deployed to evacuate passengers to the taxiway.

New Mexico: A local county magistrate judge has resigned following an incident that involved harboring an illegal alien two months ago. Back in February, Cristhian Ortega-Lopez was arrested on a variety of charges at Judge Cano's home, where he had been living.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: The resignation of Judge Cano is not particularly surprising as this judge openly confessed to harboring this illegal alien at his residence. In photos posted to his personal (and public) Facebook page, the judge was also seen in video footage that shows the illegal handling weapons. The reason as to why this two-month-old story is worth mentioning now is due to the quiet "retirement" of the judge at nearly the same time that various court docs claim the illegal was a member of Tren de Aragua (TdA), the infamous gang that has been recently designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). While this development largely went unnoticed by the general public, this FTO designation is no joke. This categorization allows a plethora of tools (to include kinetic targeting efforts) to be used to combat the groups designated as FTOs. It's bad enough for a judge to openly harbor an illegal alien for political purposes, but it's a different thing altogether to harbor someone who's part of a terrorist organization.

It is that FTO label that changes the game; it's entirely a different atmosphere to harbor someone with the same designation as Bin Laden. Though this is speculative, this is probably why this judge quietly got shut down and pressured into "retirement". Everyone knows that it's almost impossible to indict a judge for anything at all (even low-level county magistrates), but it's also hard to remain in the public eye after being caught knowingly harboring a federally designated terrorist on US soil, and providing that individual with small arms.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsi

TOC Dashboard: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/ebe374c40c1a4231a06075155b0e8cb9/ 

Research Notes/Bibliography can be found here: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground 

Common Intelligence Picture: https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=204a59b01f4443cd96718796fd102c00 

00:00 - Global Strategic Concerns

02:49 - Strategic Movement 

03:19 - Kinetic Activities Tracker 

05:49 - Northeast Region 

08:09 - Midwest Region 

09:48 - Southwestern Region 

14:34 - Western Region 

17:06 - Diego Garcia 

19:17 - Middle East 

25:27 - GhostNet Reports 

Download the GhostNet plan here! https://github.com/s2underground/GhostNet The text version of the Wire can be found on Twitter: https://twitter.com/s2_underground And on our Wire Telegram page here: https://t.me/S2undergroundWire If you would like to support us, we're on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/user?u=30479515 Disclaimer: No company sponsored this video. In fact, we have ZERO sponsors. We are funded 100% by you, the viewer. All of our funding comes from direct support from platforms like Patreon, or from ad revenue on YouTube. Please note that even though it hurts our income, we still offer ad-free watching via alternative platforms like Odysee, Gab, and (for now) Rumble. Odysee: https://odysee.com/@S2Underground:7 Gab: https://gab.com/S2underground Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/S2Underground BitChute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/P2NMGFdt3gf3/ Just a few reminders for everyone who's just become aware of us, in order to keep these briefings from being several hours long, I can't cover everything. I'm probably covering 1% of the world events when we conduct these briefings, so please remember that if I left it out, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's unimportant. Also, remember that I do these briefings quite often, so I might have covered an issue previously that you might not see if you are only watching our most recent videos. I'm also doing this in my spare time, so again I fully admit that these briefings aren't even close to being perfect; I'm going for a healthy blend of speed and quality. If I were to wait and only post a brief when it's "perfect" I would never post anything at all. So expect some minor errors here and there. If there is a major error or correction that needs to be made, I will post it here in the description, and verbally address it in the next briefing. Also, thanks for reading this far. It is always surprising the number of people that don't actually read the description box to find more information. This content is purely educational and does not advocate for violating any laws. Do not violate any laws or regulations. This is not legal advice. Consult with your attorney. Our Reading List! https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/133747963-s2-actual The War Kitchen Channel! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYmtpjXT22tAWGIlg_xDDPA 

//The Wire//2300Z April 18, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: POSSIBLE DRAWDOWN OF AMERICAN PRESENCE OBSERVED IN SYRIA. LIKELY CARTEL AMMO SHIPMENT HALTED IN COLORADO. DALLAS SCHOOL SHOOTER IDENTIFIED.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----
 
-International Events-

Middle East: Early indications are emerging that the United States is drawing down their military presence in Syria. Details are hard to come by, however many locals have posted videos of American convoys departing several smaller bases to consolidate resources at some of the larger facilities in the region.
 
 -HomeFront-

Texas: Yesterday afternoon, video evidence came to light regarding the school shooting that took place in Dallas two days ago. Tracy Denard Haynes Jr. posted a video confession on social media while he was evading pursuit immediately after gaining entry to the school and shooting four people. Haynes turned himself in to authorities yesterday.

Texas: Austin Metcalf's family was swatted last night, as malign actors called in a fake report of gunfire at their home in Frisco.

Colorado: Two immigrants from Mexico (admitted to the US legally) were arrested after authorities discovered a substantial arms shipment during a traffic stop near Cañon City.

AC: While it is not illegal to transport ammunition, it is illegal to do so for an immigrant admitted to the United States on a non-resident visa. Considering that media reports that roughly 180,000 small arms rounds were discovered during this traffic stop, this was probably a shipment related to various cartel operations in the United States.

Arizona: Last night, Jacob Couch passed away after being on life support after being brutally attacked in Tucson two weeks ago. His attacker, Daniel Michael, is now being charged with first-degree murder for the attack.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: While largely speculative, the potential drawdown in Syria is an important indication and warning of what could be strategic movement, specifically with regards to a potential conflict with Iran. If this consolidation and reduction in forces throughout Syria is indeed genuine, it could be for any number of wildly differing reasons. In short, it could be due to the United States stepping back from escalations pertaining to Iran, or it could be a deception attempt to reduce the presence at more vulnerable and hard-to-defend bases, to reinforce other positions around the region.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
//END REPORT//

//The Wire//2300Z April 17, 2025//
//PRIORITY//
//BLUF: MASS SHOOTING ATTACK AT FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY, MULTIPLE CASUALTIES REPORTED. PLANE HIJACKED IN BELIZE, HIJACKER SHOT DEAD BY PASSENGER. DNI DECLASSIFIES DOCUMENT OUTLINING DOMESTIC DISARMAMENT INITIATIVES.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----
 
-International Events-

Belize: A man with a knife attempted to hijack a small Tropicair flight (registration: V3-HIG) this morning. During the regional flight, authorities state that American passenger Akinyela Sawa Taylor produced a knife and attempted to seize control of the aircraft. The hijacker's demands included transit out of the country, and enough fuel to do so. In the ensuing fray, multiple passengers were stabbed, with at least one passenger receiving severe lacerations. After some time, the pilots were able to barricade themselves in the cockpit to conduct an emergency landing at Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport. After the aircraft came to a halt on the runway, a brief hostage situation ensued before Taylor was shot dead by another passenger onboard the aircraft who had a firearm.

AC: While it may seem odd for a passenger to have a gun on a plane, this was a local charter flight and the passenger who shot the hijacker was properly licensed as per the local police commissioner. Additionally, local authorities state that the hijacker was illegally in the country, and had been denied entry just a few days prior.
 
 -HomeFront-

Florida: An active shooter was reported at Florida State University this afternoon. Initial reports indicate that two separate gunmen conducted a complex small arms (SMARMS) attack at the FSU Student Union. As of this report, 2x victims are deceased, and 4x others are wounded. Reports have varied throughout the day, however many locals suggest that one of the shooters was neutralized at the scene by police, and the second shooter was taken into custody. One of the shooters has been identified as Phoenix Eichner, the son of a local Sheriff's Deputy who used his parent's service weapons in the attack.

AC: This incident could meet the technical criteria for a Complex Coordinated Attack (CCA). For the past several days the Tallahassee Police Department has been warning locals of a training exercise that would involve loud explosions and sounds of gunfire. This exercise was scheduled for the exact time the shooting occurred. If this timing was deliberately chosen, this indicates more deliberate planning efforts on the part of the shooters, who likely sought to use the confusion of a training exercise to increase the effectiveness of their attack. Since one of the shooters has been identified as the son of a Sheriff's Deputy, he would probably have had even more knowledge of this drill taking place. Choosing to conduct an attack during a training exercise would have increased confusion on the part of first responders, maybe even delayed a response time, and would have reduced the number of people calling 911, since most people would have thought that gunshots would be related to the drill, and not a legitimate terror attack.

Additionally, some of the videos and photos of the aftermath that are circulating social media right now are exceptionally anger-inducing for reasons that would not be wise to comment on at the moment.

Virginia: Throughout the defense community, several personnel shakeups have taken place at the Pentagon over the past few days. So far, the list of personnel placed on suspension is as follows:

1. Colin Carroll, Chief of Staff for the Deputy Secretary of Defense
2. Dan Caldwell, Senior Advisor to the SECDEF
3. Darin Selnick, Deputy Chief of Staff

All three have been placed on administrative leave following developments in investigations pertaining to various leaks of defense policy.

AC: At the moment, it's not really clear as to what is going on. These firings could be

//The Wire//2300Z April 16, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: TRADE WAR GROWS IN SCOPE. IMMIGRATION WOES CONTINUE IN EUROPE.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----
 
-International Events-

United Kingdom: British media has reported this morning that a record number of illegals have crossed the Channel in boats, with over 700+ illegals gaining entry to the nation just yesterday.

AC: As the warmer weather sets in, migration season is likely to be in full swing. Similar illegal immigration efforts have been noted throughout the Mediterranean at large over the past few weeks, as weather conditions this time of year make crossings more favorable.

-HomeFront-

Texas: The Joint Task Force - Southern Border (JTF-SB) public affairs office released a statement today confirming the deaths of two service members who were killed in a vehicle accident near Santa Theresa, New Mexico. One additional service member remains in critical condition as a result of the accident.

AC: The press release did not specify, however it's likely that this was not a combat-related incident at this time.

Washington D.C. - The trade war between the United States and China has continued to worsen over the past few days. The Chinese government has banned all Chinese airlines from taking delivery of existing orders of new aircraft made by Boeing, and has halted most of the Chinese aerospace industry from buying any American-made parts.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: In the short term, it's hard to convey the real world impacts that a USA/China trade war might have. Generally speaking, uncertainty will drive prices up for most things. However, some goods won't take much of a hit, such as goods that are already extremely over-inflated in price under normal conditions. Some companies may be willing to take a temporary cut in revenue, eating the cost of the tariffs in the short term, with the goal of eventually waiting until things reach a point of stability. Many other companies will probably rely on trickery via a technicality to avoid tariffs in some way, or reduce the impact that tariffs might have. What is far more certain is that the Chinese government wields vastly more control over Chinese companies, than the American government exerts over American companies. This is important in the context of various industries that might be necessary to have in one's homeland in time of war.

One of the more important (yet largely unspoken) aspects of this trade dispute is the military angle. Reciprocal tariffs that exceed 100% are more than a mere trade dispute...this is more or less an attempt at a soft embargo at this point. Both nations are looking at this through the military lens, not the economic lens, a perspective which might explain some of the odd decisions and behavior on both sides. In short, engaging in a trade conflict with a Second World nation where the economy is largely centrally planned, could result in unforeseen developments over time. Especially if both nations continue engaging in this trade dispute, which probably isn't purely economic in nature.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
//END REPORT//