April 30th, 2025: The Real Reason Behind Putin’s Three-Day Ceasefire & Sectarian Clashes Continue In Syria
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Toyota, let's go places. It's Wednesday, the 30th of April. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right.

Let's get briefed. We'll start things off by taking a closer look at Vladimir Putin's declaration of a three-day ceasefire in Ukraine. Now, Putin claims it's for humanitarian reasons because, well, nothing says I'm a humanitarian like invading another country and contributing to death and destruction for over three years. We'll unpack what's really going on.

Later in the show, tensions erupt near Syria's capital with 13 killed in sectarian violence. Plus, officials are scrambling to determine what caused a massive power outage across parts of Europe. Early reports point to solar plant failures, and it's of course raising new questions about the stability of modern energy grids. Here's a pro tip: don't give up on fossil fuels just yet.

and in today's back of the brief how a u.s navy super hornet worth almost 70 million dollars that's a lot of fat stacks ended up at the bottom of the ocean but first today's pdb spotlight as we reported earlier this week russian president putin has announced what he's calling a humanitarian gesture oh good for him a three-day ceasefire in ukraine

The Kremlin says the unilateral pause in hostilities will begin just after midnight on the 7th of May and last through the end of the 10th of May. A statement from Putin's office claimed, quote, all military actions are suspended for this period. Russia believes that the Ukrainian side should...

"Follow this example." But frankly, not everyone is buying the goodwill angle. Ukrainian President Zelensky called the move, "Another attempt at manipulation," and said that a few days of quiet isn't good enough. Zelensky said, "The ceasefire should not be just for a few days. It must be immediate, full, and unconditional for at least 30 days to ensure it is secure and guaranteed. That," he said, "is the foundation

that could lead to real diplomacy, end quote. The White House echoed that skepticism. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes issued a statement Monday saying, quote, while President Trump welcomes Vladimir Putin's willingness to pause the conflict, the president has been very clear he wants a permanent ceasefire and to bring this conflict to a peaceful resolution, end quote.

So, that raises the question: Why now and why these specific three days? Well, first, it's not likely that Putin has suddenly discovered compassion.

The last time Russia announced a so-called humanitarian ceasefire, it was on Easter, and Russian forces violated it within hours. Putin also, of course, continues to launch missile attacks on Ukrainian cities. Now, not to sound cynical, oh, but I think I'm about to, there's a good chance, and by that I mean there's every chance, that this ceasefire has nothing to do with being compassionate and everything to do with optics.

May 9th, you see, is Victory Day in Russia, a deeply significant national holiday marking the Soviet Union's triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II. And under Putin's leadership, it's taken on even more symbolic weight. Military parades, speeches, patriotic displays, ice cream for the toddlers, it's a big affair. Think of it like Russia's version of the Fourth of July in the U.S., but with

with more tanks and missiles on display and fewer hot dogs and beer bongs.

And this year, well, it's an especially big deal. It's the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in Russia. Putin wants it to go off without a hitch, of course, and without the sound of air raid sirens echoing across Red Square. He's invited several high-profile guests to attend the parade, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. For the record, he also invited President Trump. Trump, however...

declined. Now, think about the risk here. Over the past three years, Ukraine has proven its ability to strike targets inside Russia, even deep into Moscow. Drone strikes have hit the capital multiple times, including a dramatic moment last year when one drone actually landed on the Kremlin's roof. Just last month, Russian air defenses intercepted more than 90 drones over Moscow in a single night. So,

So, imagine what that might look like if it happens again, this time with Xi Jinping sitting front row at the parade eating popcorn and sipping on a Big Gulp. The last thing Putin wants is footage of the Chinese president diving for cover. Now, that's not the image of control and strength that the Kremlin wants to project.

So, yes, Putin wants a ceasefire, but not really for peace, not to protect civilians. He wants a ceasefire to protect his image. And frankly, in Moscow, that's always priority number one. All right, coming up next, deadly sectarian violence erupts near Damascus, and a massive power outage across Europe sparks fresh concerns about the reliability of green energy. Where's Greta Thunberg when you need her?

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Welcome back to the PDB. Another wave of sectarian violence and bloodshed erupted early yesterday just miles from Damascus, killing 13 in a Druze-majority town after an audio clip sparked a mob attack, a grim reminder of the new government's tenuous grip on post-Assad Syria.

The violence broke out in Jeremana, a suburb of the capital, after a recording allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad surfaced on social media falsely attributed to a prominent Druze leader. The inflammatory clip triggered a wave of anger in nearby Sunni-majority towns, including Malaya, where armed men quickly mobilized and stormed Jeremana overnight, according to local officials. In a statement late Tuesday, Syria's Interior Ministry confirmed the casualties

and said it had opened an investigation into what it described as "intermittent clashes between groups of gunmen." The ministry vowed to pursue those responsible and hold them accountable. As we've discussed here on the PDB, the newly formed government in Damascus, cobbled together from the rebel factions that toppled leader Bashar al-Assad in December, promised to unify the war-fractured country and safeguard its religious minorities.

But the Jarrahmanah killings highlight a sobering reality. The post-Assad era has yet to deliver stability, especially for communities long caught in Syria's sectarian violence. Among the 13 killed were two members of Syria's General Security Service, that's a new force made up of mostly former rebels, according to an Interior Ministry spokesman.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that six Druze fighters from Jeremana were also killed, along with three of the attackers. The Druze community in Jeremana swiftly condemned the violence and the doctored audio message, calling it a malicious fabrication "meant to incite sedition and sow division among the people of the same nation."

Marwan Kiwan, the Druze leader falsely linked to the recording, posted a video denying any connection to the inflammatory message. He stated, quote, I categorically deny that the audio was made by me, adding, quote, whoever made it is an evil man who wants to incite strife between components of the Syrian people.

The Jarrahmana attack is the latest in a string of sectarian flashpoints since Assad's ouster. As PDB listeners may remember from last month, brutal clashes between Assad loyalists from the Alawite community and the new government's security forces in the coastal governance of Tartus and Latakia spiraled into mass vigilante killings, leaving hundreds dead.

Although Syria's 14-year civil war is officially over, the country remains carved into fragile zones of influence The Druze, an Arab minority whose religion branched out from Islam, have largely armed themselves throughout the conflict to defend against jihadist factions

The Interior Ministry says it's investigating the source of the forged audio and has appealed for calm, but many fear the damage is already done. With sectarian wounds still raw and trust in the new government low, Jarrah Mana may not be the last flashpoint, but rather the latest reminder that Syria's long-awaited peace remains fractured and dangerously combustible.

Okay, turning to Europe. A massive power outage plunged Spain and Portugal into chaos earlier this week, halting public transport, freezing financial systems, and sending city streets into darkness in one of the continent's most widespread energy collapses in decades.

Initially blamed on solar plant breakdowns in Spain, the blackout triggered a national emergency declaration, shuttered critical infrastructure, and reignited long-standing fears over the fragility of Europe's vastly interconnected energy grid. But turnaround was quick. By sunrise Tuesday, more than 99% of Spain's power supply had been restored, according to Red Electrica, the country's national electricity operator.

Portugal's grid agency REN said all 89 substations were back online by late Monday night, bringing power back to over 6 million customers. So, you ask, what exactly happened? Well, a fine question. According to Red Electrica, two separate power generation failures, likely involving solar plants, destabilized the Spanish grid and ruptured its energy connection with France via the Pyrenees.

Reuters, citing unnamed officials, reported that both breakdowns occurred in southwestern Spain, though investigations remain ongoing. REN, Portugal's grid operator, offered a different diagnosis. It pointed to a "rare atmospheric phenomenon" claiming "extreme temperature swings had triggered anomalous oscillations in high-voltage transmission lines"

a disruption known in energy circles as induced atmospheric vibration of course induced atmospheric vibration that of course was my first thought when the lights went out

Spain's weather agency wasn't convinced In a statement Tuesday, it flatly stated that no abnormal temperature swings or atmospheric anomalies were recorded That contradiction hasn't helped calm nerves The financial toll of the blackout across the Iberian Peninsula is still being tallied But according to investment bank RBC, the economic impact could range anywhere from $2.5 billion to over $5 billion

In Spain, some 35,000 passengers were rescued from halted metro cars and stranded trains. Footage from Madrid and Barcelona, some people say Barthelona, showed swarms of commuters evacuating blackened subway tunnels. Parliament also went dark, but nobody noticed. Okay, I'm kidding. Of course, of course, folks would notice if Parliament went dark. The sheer loss of hot air would alarm people.

Lisbon wasn't spared. Traffic lights blinked out, subways stalled, and emergency services scrambled to maintain order as confusion gripped the capital. A joint emergency cabinet session between Madrid and Lisbon was convened to manage the fallout. In a televised address Monday night, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez acknowledged the unprecedented nature of the event, stating, "...we have never had a complete collapse of the system," and he pledged full investigation.

Sanchez confirmed Spain's top criminal court had opened an inquiry into whether a, quote, computer sabotage incident triggered the collapse. He also said he had discussed the matter with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, citing potential security implications. Portugal's Prime Minister, Luiz Montenegro, tried to tamp down fears, insisting there was, quote, no indication of a cyber attack. But rumors of intentional sabotage were already reverberating across social media.

I want to point out that this wasn't Europe's first blackout of this scale. Back in 2003, a hydroelectric malfunction between Italy and Switzerland plunged the Italian peninsula into darkness for about 12 hours. And in 2006, an overloaded German line caused rolling blackouts from Western Europe all the way to North Africa.

And now, two decades later, Europe is facing the same vulnerabilities. The full cause of Monday's outage, well, it remains murky. But what's clear is that the continent's power infrastructure is no more resilient today than it was all the way back in 2003. In an era of hybrid warfare and digital disruption, that fragility is starting to look less like a technical oversight and more like a strategic liability.

Alright, coming up next in the back of the brief, a $70 million fighter jet falls off the deck of a carrier and is lost at sea. Well, I'm sure it was insured. We'll tell you what we know about the incident aboard the USS Harry Truman next.

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when you use code Baker at American-Giant.com. In today's back of the brief, a U.S. Navy F-A-18 Super Hornet fell into the Red Sea. Hmm. The almost $70 million aircraft was being towed on the deck of the carrier USS Harry Truman when a sudden evasive turn by the ship to dodge incoming fire from Yemen's Houthi rebels caused the plane and its towing vehicle to fall into the sea.

The mishap unfolded as the Iran-backed terror group claimed on Monday to have launched a missile and drone attack toward the Truman, prompting the carrier to veer sharply, hard enough, officials said, to destabilize the fighter jet as it was being moved across the hangar bay. The tow crew lost control and the jet, valued at some $70 million, actually more if it was equipped with cup holders and floor mats, careened overboard. A sailor stationed inside the cockpit, which is

Standard protocol during towing managed to jump free just before the Super Hornet went into the water. That sailor sustained a minor injury, but all personnel were accounted for. The Navy said in a statement Monday that the crew "took immediate action to move clear of the jet as it went over."

The exact details of the turn that the Truman made to avoid the Houthi fire have not been released, but photos of the Defense Department's website show just how dramatically Nimitz-class carriers like the Truman can list during high-speed evasive maneuvers, sometimes destabilizing operations on deck. Still, the Navy was quick to stress that the USS Harry Truman Carrier Strike Group and its air wing remained "fully mission capable."

As we've covered here on the PDB, the Truman is deployed to the Red Sea as part of the Trump administration's expanded military campaign against the Houthis, designed to secure commercial shipping routes and eliminate the Iran-backed terror group's ability to menace maritime traffic. That escalation began after the Houthis declared solidarity with Hamas's 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel, and they turned their sights on vessels headed for Israeli ports.

When the US Navy stepped in to shield merchant ships, the terrorists responded by targeting American warships directly In recent weeks, the Trump administration has intensified airstrikes on Houthi targets inside Yemen, strikes that have drawn fresh retaliatory threats from the terror group

And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Wednesday, the 30th of April. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com.

And remember to check out our not-yet-award-winning but still highly entertaining YouTube channel, which you can find by going to at President's Daily Brief. Now, help us to get to 100,000 subscribers on YouTube. We're very close, at which point we'll engage in a variety of celebratory shenanigans and hijinks, including a live stream that you won't want to miss. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Until then, stay informed.

Stay safe. Stay cool.