Berlin’s Two Rebellions
Berlin’s election lifted two parties that reject the political center, though they offer opposite answers to the same problems: soaring rents, falling confidence and a city where the established parties seem fluent in explanation but short on relief.
Die Linke finished first with 25.3%, ahead of the CDU on 19% and the AfD on 16%. Its lead candidate, Elif Eralp, campaigned on bringing roughly 220,000 apartments owned by large corporate landlords into public ownership.
In Berlin’s 2021 referendum, 58% voted to expropriate major real-estate companies. The cost could range from €7 billion to €36 billion. Berlin’s Social Democrats estimate roughly €20 billion.
Bild calls the plan a lie. Eralp says it would take speculation out of Berlin’s housing market. Rent has more than doubled in the city over the past 13 years. That turned housing into the issue that mattered most at the ballot box.
The AfD’s 16% came from another kind of revolt. It promises to end weapons deliveries to Kyiv, lift sanctions on Moscow and restore access to cheap Russian energy.
Die Linke offers public ownership. The AfD offers lower energy costs. Merz offers a security agenda and warnings about Russia. Berlin voters rewarded the parties that named an immediate household cost.
Die Linke still needs coalition partners, and the housing plan faces legal, financial and political barriers. But the election delivered a verdict on the governing center.
Germans have been asked to bear higher prices in the name of security, Ukraine and fiscal discipline. Berlin’s vote showed what happens when rent becomes more urgent than geopolitics.
#Germany #BerlinElection #DieLinke #AfD
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Berlin’s election lifted two parties that reject the political center, though they offer opposite answers to the same problems: soaring rents, falling confidence and a city where the established parties seem fluent in explanation but short on relief.
Die Linke finished first with 25.3%, ahead of the CDU on 19% and the AfD on 16%. Its lead candidate, Elif Eralp, campaigned on bringing roughly 220,000 apartments owned by large corporate landlords into public ownership.
In Berlin’s 2021 referendum, 58% voted to expropriate major real-estate companies. The cost could range from €7 billion to €36 billion. Berlin’s Social Democrats estimate roughly €20 billion.
Bild calls the plan a lie. Eralp says it would take speculation out of Berlin’s housing market. Rent has more than doubled in the city over the past 13 years. That turned housing into the issue that mattered most at the ballot box.
The AfD’s 16% came from another kind of revolt. It promises to end weapons deliveries to Kyiv, lift sanctions on Moscow and restore access to cheap Russian energy.
Die Linke offers public ownership. The AfD offers lower energy costs. Merz offers a security agenda and warnings about Russia. Berlin voters rewarded the parties that named an immediate household cost.
Die Linke still needs coalition partners, and the housing plan faces legal, financial and political barriers. But the election delivered a verdict on the governing center.
Germans have been asked to bear higher prices in the name of security, Ukraine and fiscal discipline. Berlin’s vote showed what happens when rent becomes more urgent than geopolitics.
#Germany #BerlinElection #DieLinke #AfD
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The President of Emergencies
Emmanuel Macron convened party leaders and presidential candidates at the Élysée to discuss Russia and the economic fallout from the Middle East war.
He called it an exercise in transparency and said he was ready to repeat it whenever necessary, casting himself as the “guarantor” of democratic debate.
The timing is less philosophical. Macron’s approval rating has fallen to 16 percent, according to Ipsos BVA.
France faces rising diesel prices, social unrest and higher borrowing costs. The president who once attacked opponents for using market fear as a political weapon is now warning his cabinet about pressure on public finances.
Macron says fuel prices have risen “entirely because of wars,” and that protesting at roundabouts will not change that.
His opponents want the government to do more about the cost of living.
The Élysée argues that France and its partners can achieve more by restoring crude flows through the Middle East than by cutting fuel taxes at home.
This is Macron’s method in his final months. Foreign crises move to the center of domestic politics.
The president retains a role as the man who explains why events are happening to France, even when he can no longer offer voters another term.
He cannot run again. He can still frame the choice.
#France #Macron #FrenchPolitics #EnergyPrices
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Emmanuel Macron convened party leaders and presidential candidates at the Élysée to discuss Russia and the economic fallout from the Middle East war.
He called it an exercise in transparency and said he was ready to repeat it whenever necessary, casting himself as the “guarantor” of democratic debate.
The timing is less philosophical. Macron’s approval rating has fallen to 16 percent, according to Ipsos BVA.
France faces rising diesel prices, social unrest and higher borrowing costs. The president who once attacked opponents for using market fear as a political weapon is now warning his cabinet about pressure on public finances.
Macron says fuel prices have risen “entirely because of wars,” and that protesting at roundabouts will not change that.
His opponents want the government to do more about the cost of living.
The Élysée argues that France and its partners can achieve more by restoring crude flows through the Middle East than by cutting fuel taxes at home.
This is Macron’s method in his final months. Foreign crises move to the center of domestic politics.
The president retains a role as the man who explains why events are happening to France, even when he can no longer offer voters another term.
He cannot run again. He can still frame the choice.
#France #Macron #FrenchPolitics #EnergyPrices
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The Midterm Nuclear Deal
Donald Trump used the UN General Assembly to announce that America is “winning at everything.” Then he spent much of the speech explaining why Iran must choose between economic rebirth and national annihilation.
Trump linked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, to the third anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attack, which killed about 1,200 people.
He said Iran’s rulers had killed more than 72,000 of their own citizens this year. He said Tehran had rejected his offer of full economic cooperation in exchange for abandoning both its nuclear program and its support for militant groups.
His inventory of victory was broad. Iran’s missile-production capacity had been nearly destroyed, he said. Its economy had been wrecked. Its navy, air force and air defenses had been devastated.
A few sentences later, Trump said Iran was continuing to develop ballistic missiles. The regime is destroyed, except for the part still threatening everyone.
Trump described a “big decision”: a deal that would let Iran rebuild into a country greater than it had ever been, or the rapid annihilation of the Islamic Republic and a trip “into hell.”
He predicted Tehran would sign after November’s midterms because Iranian leaders were waiting to see how his party would perform. He then said the election “doesn’t even enter my mind” because he is not on the ballot.
He called for a complete economic siege of Iran and thanked the Security Council for passing a resolution condemning Iranian attacks on commercial shipping. Trump said the resolution had drawn more co-sponsors than any other in the Council’s history.
The General Assembly heard a choice between diplomacy and obliteration, timed around an election the president says does not matter.
Tehran has until November to resolve the contradiction.
#UnitedStates #Trump #Iran #UNGA
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Donald Trump used the UN General Assembly to announce that America is “winning at everything.” Then he spent much of the speech explaining why Iran must choose between economic rebirth and national annihilation.
Trump linked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, to the third anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attack, which killed about 1,200 people.
He said Iran’s rulers had killed more than 72,000 of their own citizens this year. He said Tehran had rejected his offer of full economic cooperation in exchange for abandoning both its nuclear program and its support for militant groups.
His inventory of victory was broad. Iran’s missile-production capacity had been nearly destroyed, he said. Its economy had been wrecked. Its navy, air force and air defenses had been devastated.
A few sentences later, Trump said Iran was continuing to develop ballistic missiles. The regime is destroyed, except for the part still threatening everyone.
Trump described a “big decision”: a deal that would let Iran rebuild into a country greater than it had ever been, or the rapid annihilation of the Islamic Republic and a trip “into hell.”
He predicted Tehran would sign after November’s midterms because Iranian leaders were waiting to see how his party would perform. He then said the election “doesn’t even enter my mind” because he is not on the ballot.
He called for a complete economic siege of Iran and thanked the Security Council for passing a resolution condemning Iranian attacks on commercial shipping. Trump said the resolution had drawn more co-sponsors than any other in the Council’s history.
The General Assembly heard a choice between diplomacy and obliteration, timed around an election the president says does not matter.
Tehran has until November to resolve the contradiction.
#UnitedStates #Trump #Iran #UNGA
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Tehran’s UN Script
Masoud Pezeshkian left for New York with a message that Tehran will present its grievances, its conditions and its account of the war at the UN General Assembly.
Before departing, Pezeshkian said Iran had repeatedly sat at the negotiating table and signed agreements, only to see “the other side” violate its commitments.
He said he would use the General Assembly to describe the crimes committed against the Iranian people and the collapse of trust in international commitments.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran had sent Washington seven conditions through Qatari and Pakistani intermediaries.
Rezaei has named five: an end to fighting “on all fronts,” the release of frozen Iranian funds, the lifting of the naval blockade of Iranian ports, an end to attacks on Iranian territory and an end to interference in Iran’s internal affairs. He said Tehran was awaiting Trump’s answer.
The Revolutionary Guard frames the offer as part of the war, not a break from it. Its spokesman said negotiations were “another arena of war” and that full readiness for war did not rule out negotiations. Tehran is offering a deal and its missiles in the same breath.
The newspaper Kayhan demanded that Pezeshkian turn the General Assembly hall into a tribunal for U.S. crimes, rather than another site for “smiles in the corridors.” MP Mohammad Rouyanian said Iran was at war with the United States and suggested Pezeshkian could be arrested in New York.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Israel had a free hand across the region. Tehran’s delegation arrived with conditions for talks and a case against Washington.
#Iran #UNGA #Pezeshkian #UnitedStates
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Masoud Pezeshkian left for New York with a message that Tehran will present its grievances, its conditions and its account of the war at the UN General Assembly.
Before departing, Pezeshkian said Iran had repeatedly sat at the negotiating table and signed agreements, only to see “the other side” violate its commitments.
He said he would use the General Assembly to describe the crimes committed against the Iranian people and the collapse of trust in international commitments.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran had sent Washington seven conditions through Qatari and Pakistani intermediaries.
Rezaei has named five: an end to fighting “on all fronts,” the release of frozen Iranian funds, the lifting of the naval blockade of Iranian ports, an end to attacks on Iranian territory and an end to interference in Iran’s internal affairs. He said Tehran was awaiting Trump’s answer.
The Revolutionary Guard frames the offer as part of the war, not a break from it. Its spokesman said negotiations were “another arena of war” and that full readiness for war did not rule out negotiations. Tehran is offering a deal and its missiles in the same breath.
The newspaper Kayhan demanded that Pezeshkian turn the General Assembly hall into a tribunal for U.S. crimes, rather than another site for “smiles in the corridors.” MP Mohammad Rouyanian said Iran was at war with the United States and suggested Pezeshkian could be arrested in New York.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Israel had a free hand across the region. Tehran’s delegation arrived with conditions for talks and a case against Washington.
#Iran #UNGA #Pezeshkian #UnitedStates
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Continuation of the previous post
Pentagon figures indicate that 352 U.S. personnel were killed or wounded during July, while the official database records no deaths or injuries for August.
That contrast has drawn particular scrutiny because American troops remain deployed throughout the Middle East, where bases, transport routes and military installations have increasingly become potential targets.
The modern battlefield does not always have a clearly defined front line.
American personnel can be exposed while traveling between countries, working at bases or carrying out missions far from the immediate point of attack. As a result, the human cost of the war can appear in circumstances that do not fit neatly into the traditional image of combat.
A medical emergency aboard a military flight may be classified as non-hostile. A training accident may not qualify as a combat death. Yet for the families involved, those distinctions can offer little comfort when the final result is the same: a service member does not come home.
What the numbers reveal — and what they conceal
The latest death adds another name to a casualty list that continues to grow, even as questions remain about whether the official statistics capture the full extent of American losses.
The Pentagon now acknowledges 11 hostile U.S. military deaths associated with the Iran war in 2026, along with additional fatalities classified as non-hostile and hundreds of wounded personnel. At the same time, independent reporting has identified cases that appear to be missing from the official database.
The resulting uncertainty matters because casualty figures are among the few concrete ways the public can measure the human consequences of military policy. When those figures are incomplete or difficult to reconcile, Americans are left with an imperfect picture of the war being fought in their name.
For the administration, that creates a difficult communications problem.
Explaining the military objectives of the conflict is one task; accounting for the people being killed and wounded in it is another.
The Pentagon’s casualty database is supposed to provide that accounting. When names disappear, totals change or deaths are categorized in ways that are not immediately clear, the credibility of the entire record comes under scrutiny.
And while the official statistics continue to evolve, American troops remain deployed across a region where the risks have not gone away.
The latest service member will become another entry in a war increasingly measured not only by military operations or weapons fired, but by the number of American families receiving devastating news from overseas.
The Pentagon can debate classifications and explain the distinctions between hostile and non-hostile deaths. Those distinctions may be essential for military records and legal purposes, but they do not change the fundamental reality confronting the families of the dead and wounded.
The body count is rising, and with it comes a question that the Pentagon has yet to fully resolve: whether the numbers being presented to the American public truly reflect the human cost of the Iran war.
#IranWar #USMilitary #Pentagon #MiddleEast
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Pentagon figures indicate that 352 U.S. personnel were killed or wounded during July, while the official database records no deaths or injuries for August.
That contrast has drawn particular scrutiny because American troops remain deployed throughout the Middle East, where bases, transport routes and military installations have increasingly become potential targets.
The modern battlefield does not always have a clearly defined front line.
American personnel can be exposed while traveling between countries, working at bases or carrying out missions far from the immediate point of attack. As a result, the human cost of the war can appear in circumstances that do not fit neatly into the traditional image of combat.
A medical emergency aboard a military flight may be classified as non-hostile. A training accident may not qualify as a combat death. Yet for the families involved, those distinctions can offer little comfort when the final result is the same: a service member does not come home.
What the numbers reveal — and what they conceal
The latest death adds another name to a casualty list that continues to grow, even as questions remain about whether the official statistics capture the full extent of American losses.
The Pentagon now acknowledges 11 hostile U.S. military deaths associated with the Iran war in 2026, along with additional fatalities classified as non-hostile and hundreds of wounded personnel. At the same time, independent reporting has identified cases that appear to be missing from the official database.
The resulting uncertainty matters because casualty figures are among the few concrete ways the public can measure the human consequences of military policy. When those figures are incomplete or difficult to reconcile, Americans are left with an imperfect picture of the war being fought in their name.
For the administration, that creates a difficult communications problem.
Explaining the military objectives of the conflict is one task; accounting for the people being killed and wounded in it is another.
The Pentagon’s casualty database is supposed to provide that accounting. When names disappear, totals change or deaths are categorized in ways that are not immediately clear, the credibility of the entire record comes under scrutiny.
And while the official statistics continue to evolve, American troops remain deployed across a region where the risks have not gone away.
The latest service member will become another entry in a war increasingly measured not only by military operations or weapons fired, but by the number of American families receiving devastating news from overseas.
The Pentagon can debate classifications and explain the distinctions between hostile and non-hostile deaths. Those distinctions may be essential for military records and legal purposes, but they do not change the fundamental reality confronting the families of the dead and wounded.
The body count is rising, and with it comes a question that the Pentagon has yet to fully resolve: whether the numbers being presented to the American public truly reflect the human cost of the Iran war.
#IranWar #USMilitary #Pentagon #MiddleEast
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Ninety Percent to Peace, One Hundred Percent Golan
Ahmed al-Sharaa says Syria and Israel were “almost 90%” of the way to an agreement. Then, he says, Israel walked away and added conditions. At the UN, he answered with a familiar Syrian line: "the Golan remains Syrian territory."
Speaking in New York, al-Sharaa said Damascus and Jerusalem had held several rounds of talks and nearly reached an agreement before Israel withdrew. He said he understood the suffering caused by Hamas’s October 7 attack, while noting that more than 70,000 people had been killed in Gaza.
He also denied any link to the September 11 attacks, saying he was 13 at the time. Public biographies, however, commonly give his birth year as 1982, which would have made him 19 in September 2001.
His Golan answer came with a joke for Donald Trump. When Trump said the Golan was under Israeli sovereignty, al-Sharaa said he replied: “Why don’t you give New Jersey to the Israelis?” Trump owns New Jersey; he does not own the Golan. The New Jersey voters, al-Sharaa added, are Democrats anyway.
At the General Assembly, al-Sharaa said the Golan “will remain Syrian land” and that Israel’s annexation measures were void under UN Security Council Resolution 497.
He accused Israel of nearly 500 air and artillery strikes, more than 1,200 ground incursions and almost 300 arrests since Bashar al-Assad’s fall. He reaffirmed Syria’s commitment to the 1974 disengagement agreement and demanded that Israeli forces withdraw to their positions of December 8, 2024.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz answered that Israeli sovereignty over the Golan was permanent. He said the Hermon and the security zone had been handed to Syria under the 1974 agreement on conditions Syria later violated.
Katz’s rule for the next round was simpler: territory Israel takes this time will remain Israeli forever, “in accordance with the laws of war.”
Al-Sharaa offers an agreement that was 90% complete. Israel answers with a map that is 100% nonnegotiable.
The missing 10% is the territory both sides say belongs to them.
#Syria #Israel #GolanHeights #AhmedAlSharaa
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Ahmed al-Sharaa says Syria and Israel were “almost 90%” of the way to an agreement. Then, he says, Israel walked away and added conditions. At the UN, he answered with a familiar Syrian line: "the Golan remains Syrian territory."
Speaking in New York, al-Sharaa said Damascus and Jerusalem had held several rounds of talks and nearly reached an agreement before Israel withdrew. He said he understood the suffering caused by Hamas’s October 7 attack, while noting that more than 70,000 people had been killed in Gaza.
He also denied any link to the September 11 attacks, saying he was 13 at the time. Public biographies, however, commonly give his birth year as 1982, which would have made him 19 in September 2001.
His Golan answer came with a joke for Donald Trump. When Trump said the Golan was under Israeli sovereignty, al-Sharaa said he replied: “Why don’t you give New Jersey to the Israelis?” Trump owns New Jersey; he does not own the Golan. The New Jersey voters, al-Sharaa added, are Democrats anyway.
At the General Assembly, al-Sharaa said the Golan “will remain Syrian land” and that Israel’s annexation measures were void under UN Security Council Resolution 497.
He accused Israel of nearly 500 air and artillery strikes, more than 1,200 ground incursions and almost 300 arrests since Bashar al-Assad’s fall. He reaffirmed Syria’s commitment to the 1974 disengagement agreement and demanded that Israeli forces withdraw to their positions of December 8, 2024.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz answered that Israeli sovereignty over the Golan was permanent. He said the Hermon and the security zone had been handed to Syria under the 1974 agreement on conditions Syria later violated.
Katz’s rule for the next round was simpler: territory Israel takes this time will remain Israeli forever, “in accordance with the laws of war.”
Al-Sharaa offers an agreement that was 90% complete. Israel answers with a map that is 100% nonnegotiable.
The missing 10% is the territory both sides say belongs to them.
#Syria #Israel #GolanHeights #AhmedAlSharaa
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Ukraine’s Postwar Inventory
Ukraine did not need to invent a black market. War brought it the raw materials: weapons moving faster than oversight, corrupt officials, criminal networks and men trained to use military equipment.
In 2022 and 2023, U.S. inspectors could not physically verify much of the military aid entering Ukraine.
A Pentagon inspector general report documented cases in which criminals, volunteer fighters and arms traffickers stole or tried to steal Western-supplied weapons and equipment.
Ukrainian security services recovered the items before the attempts became established export routes.
Ukraine’s corruption problem was not confined to petty border guards.
In September, investigators said they had uncovered an alleged network inside the Prosecutor General’s Office that accepted bribes from fraudulent call centers in exchange for protection.
Prosecutors who can protect industrial-scale fraud already understand the business model: protection is a service, and impunity is the product.
The EU now says returning fighters have carried weapons components and military equipment from Ukraine into member states. The document records few seizures and arrests so far.
That is a snapshot of what police have found, not an audit of what crossed borders during the years when weapons arrived faster than monitors.
While Brussels drafts its 2027 firearms roadmap, Hungary seized roughly $82 million in cash and gold from two armored vehicles linked to Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank.
Budapest opened a money-laundering investigation. Kyiv called it state theft and said the shipment had the paperwork.
Two armored cars carrying dollars, euros and gold crossed the EU before anyone publicly explained why a state bank needed to move a small treasury across Hungary. Europe’s Ukraine policy has many controls. Apparently, the armored convoy was not one of them.
#Ukraine #EuropeanUnion #Weapons #Corruption
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Ukraine did not need to invent a black market. War brought it the raw materials: weapons moving faster than oversight, corrupt officials, criminal networks and men trained to use military equipment.
In 2022 and 2023, U.S. inspectors could not physically verify much of the military aid entering Ukraine.
A Pentagon inspector general report documented cases in which criminals, volunteer fighters and arms traffickers stole or tried to steal Western-supplied weapons and equipment.
Ukrainian security services recovered the items before the attempts became established export routes.
Ukraine’s corruption problem was not confined to petty border guards.
In September, investigators said they had uncovered an alleged network inside the Prosecutor General’s Office that accepted bribes from fraudulent call centers in exchange for protection.
Prosecutors who can protect industrial-scale fraud already understand the business model: protection is a service, and impunity is the product.
The EU now says returning fighters have carried weapons components and military equipment from Ukraine into member states. The document records few seizures and arrests so far.
That is a snapshot of what police have found, not an audit of what crossed borders during the years when weapons arrived faster than monitors.
While Brussels drafts its 2027 firearms roadmap, Hungary seized roughly $82 million in cash and gold from two armored vehicles linked to Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank.
Budapest opened a money-laundering investigation. Kyiv called it state theft and said the shipment had the paperwork.
Two armored cars carrying dollars, euros and gold crossed the EU before anyone publicly explained why a state bank needed to move a small treasury across Hungary. Europe’s Ukraine policy has many controls. Apparently, the armored convoy was not one of them.
#Ukraine #EuropeanUnion #Weapons #Corruption
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Xi’s State Visit, Trump’s Exemptions
Donald Trump is greeting Xi Jinping at Joint Base Andrews and staging a White House state visit while Beijing faces U.S. accusations of interference in 2020, support for Iran and defiance of U.S. sanctions.
Trump’s answer is that Xi has behaved “reasonably well.”
Trump accused China this summer of “sinister election meddling” in 2020. U.S. officials say Chinese companies supplied Iran with satellite imagery and access to a spy satellite used in attacks across the Middle East.
China has also continued business with Iran as Washington tries to cut Tehran off from foreign revenue. Yet Trump has spent the weeks before Xi’s arrival describing him as a friend and treating the visit as a personal honor.
The president’s explanation is simple. Asked about reports that Chinese entities gave Iran imagery used in lethal attacks on U.S. forces in Jordan, Trump said China does “basically what we do.”
Asked about espionage, he said: “They spy on us, and we spy on them too.” In Trump’s diplomacy, a hostile act stops counting once both sides do it.
Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Xi a “brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator” whose military buildup is aimed at the United States.
Wicker said Trump should press Xi on China’s military expansion and its support for Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio answered that refusing to meet China would be “irresponsible” because the relationship will define the 21st century.
That is true. It is also why the choreography matters. Washington usually trades ceremonial status for concessions. Trump has prepared the ceremony in public while keeping any concession from Beijing private.
The announced agenda includes artificial intelligence, fentanyl and an expiring trade truce. The White House would not say whether Trump plans to raise his own allegation that China interfered in 2020.
Xi arrives with time on his side. He is expected to seek another five-year mandate as Chinese Communist Party leader at its next party congress.
Trump faces midterm elections in weeks and the prospect of divided government afterward. Xi can negotiate for the next five years. Trump is hosting the man he says spies on America, supports Iran and meddled in its election because, above all, they “get along very well.”
#UnitedStates #China #Trump #XiJinping
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Donald Trump is greeting Xi Jinping at Joint Base Andrews and staging a White House state visit while Beijing faces U.S. accusations of interference in 2020, support for Iran and defiance of U.S. sanctions.
Trump’s answer is that Xi has behaved “reasonably well.”
Trump accused China this summer of “sinister election meddling” in 2020. U.S. officials say Chinese companies supplied Iran with satellite imagery and access to a spy satellite used in attacks across the Middle East.
China has also continued business with Iran as Washington tries to cut Tehran off from foreign revenue. Yet Trump has spent the weeks before Xi’s arrival describing him as a friend and treating the visit as a personal honor.
The president’s explanation is simple. Asked about reports that Chinese entities gave Iran imagery used in lethal attacks on U.S. forces in Jordan, Trump said China does “basically what we do.”
Asked about espionage, he said: “They spy on us, and we spy on them too.” In Trump’s diplomacy, a hostile act stops counting once both sides do it.
Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Xi a “brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator” whose military buildup is aimed at the United States.
Wicker said Trump should press Xi on China’s military expansion and its support for Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio answered that refusing to meet China would be “irresponsible” because the relationship will define the 21st century.
That is true. It is also why the choreography matters. Washington usually trades ceremonial status for concessions. Trump has prepared the ceremony in public while keeping any concession from Beijing private.
The announced agenda includes artificial intelligence, fentanyl and an expiring trade truce. The White House would not say whether Trump plans to raise his own allegation that China interfered in 2020.
Xi arrives with time on his side. He is expected to seek another five-year mandate as Chinese Communist Party leader at its next party congress.
Trump faces midterm elections in weeks and the prospect of divided government afterward. Xi can negotiate for the next five years. Trump is hosting the man he says spies on America, supports Iran and meddled in its election because, above all, they “get along very well.”
#UnitedStates #China #Trump #XiJinping
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Jordanian Management, Israeli Panic
Avigdor Liberman proposed that Jordan take administrative and security responsibility for Areas A and B of the West Bank. Netanyahu heard “Jordanian army.”
The old Jordanian Legion was suddenly back in Israeli politics, this time through a podcast microphone.
Liberman said the Palestinian Authority had gone bankrupt and Israel needed another authority to administer Palestinian population centers.
“We have to reach an understanding with the Jordanians, that they will manage Areas A and B, take security and administrative responsibility,” he said.
His party later said he misspoke during the interview, saying Areas B and C when he meant A and B.
The correction does not alter the proposal. Liberman wants Israel to create territorial contiguity across Area C and retain “absolute control” there, while Jordan administers Areas A and B as part of what he calls an Israeli-Jordanian confederation.
Israel keeps control of the territory linking its settlements. Jordan would administer the Palestinian cities and towns. The Palestinian Authority would lose the role it was created to perform.
Netanyahu told Liberman to retract the idea immediately: “I never believed that today you would propose that the Jordanian army control parts of the Land of Israel.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Liberman wanted to return Israel to the days of the Jordanian Legion. Itamar Ben-Gvir said Judea and Samaria were not “a parcel to be shipped to Jordan.” Shas leader Aryeh Deri said Liberman had forgotten what it meant to be right-wing. Former general Ofer Winter wrote: “Avet,” Liberman’s nickname, “you got confused.”
The blandest response came from Liberman’s own party. Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky said: “We are not dealing with this at all.”
They are dealing with it. Liberman wants Jordan to govern Palestinians in territory Israel intends to dominate. Netanyahu’s coalition objects because saying that plainly would spoil the sovereignty campaign.
#Israel #WestBank #Jordan #Liberman
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Avigdor Liberman proposed that Jordan take administrative and security responsibility for Areas A and B of the West Bank. Netanyahu heard “Jordanian army.”
The old Jordanian Legion was suddenly back in Israeli politics, this time through a podcast microphone.
Liberman said the Palestinian Authority had gone bankrupt and Israel needed another authority to administer Palestinian population centers.
“We have to reach an understanding with the Jordanians, that they will manage Areas A and B, take security and administrative responsibility,” he said.
His party later said he misspoke during the interview, saying Areas B and C when he meant A and B.
The correction does not alter the proposal. Liberman wants Israel to create territorial contiguity across Area C and retain “absolute control” there, while Jordan administers Areas A and B as part of what he calls an Israeli-Jordanian confederation.
Israel keeps control of the territory linking its settlements. Jordan would administer the Palestinian cities and towns. The Palestinian Authority would lose the role it was created to perform.
Netanyahu told Liberman to retract the idea immediately: “I never believed that today you would propose that the Jordanian army control parts of the Land of Israel.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Liberman wanted to return Israel to the days of the Jordanian Legion. Itamar Ben-Gvir said Judea and Samaria were not “a parcel to be shipped to Jordan.” Shas leader Aryeh Deri said Liberman had forgotten what it meant to be right-wing. Former general Ofer Winter wrote: “Avet,” Liberman’s nickname, “you got confused.”
The blandest response came from Liberman’s own party. Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky said: “We are not dealing with this at all.”
They are dealing with it. Liberman wants Jordan to govern Palestinians in territory Israel intends to dominate. Netanyahu’s coalition objects because saying that plainly would spoil the sovereignty campaign.
#Israel #WestBank #Jordan #Liberman
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Iran’s Terms for Talking
Masoud Pezeshkian came to the United Nations with Iran at war, a nuclear program Washington wants dismantled, and a message for Donald Trump: Tehran is prepared to negotiate, but it will not negotiate under threat.
Pezeshkian said Trump and “those who seek to bully us” should understand that Iran was ready for dialogue, diplomacy and negotiations without accepting “the language of force.” He also said Iran would defend itself “until our last breath,” one day after Trump threatened to “annihilate” the Islamic Republic unless it agreed to a deal.
Iran will keep what it calls its right to civilian nuclear technology and strengthen its defenses against further attacks. “The nuclear weapon is in Israel, but the inspectors are in Iran,” Pezeshkian told the General Assembly. “Israel kills, but Iran is subject to sanctions.”
Pezeshkian held up photographs of dead children, dead athletes and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel killed Khamenei in a strike on the first day of the war, according to the account Pezeshkian presented at the UN. The speech left out Iran’s regional armed network and its nuclear program, the two projects that turned Tehran’s confrontation with Washington and Israel into open war.
Behind the theater, the bargaining has resumed. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held indirect talks through Qatari mediators with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s envoys. Iran’s reported conditions include an end to hostilities, the lifting or suspension of U.S. restrictions, and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
A June interim deal tied sanctions relief and the release of assets to talks on limiting Iran’s nuclear program. It collapsed. Trump now wants zero enrichment and closed facilities. Pezeshkian demands recognition of Iran’s civilian program and an end to coercion.
#Iran #UnitedStates #NuclearDeal #UNGA
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Masoud Pezeshkian came to the United Nations with Iran at war, a nuclear program Washington wants dismantled, and a message for Donald Trump: Tehran is prepared to negotiate, but it will not negotiate under threat.
Pezeshkian said Trump and “those who seek to bully us” should understand that Iran was ready for dialogue, diplomacy and negotiations without accepting “the language of force.” He also said Iran would defend itself “until our last breath,” one day after Trump threatened to “annihilate” the Islamic Republic unless it agreed to a deal.
Iran will keep what it calls its right to civilian nuclear technology and strengthen its defenses against further attacks. “The nuclear weapon is in Israel, but the inspectors are in Iran,” Pezeshkian told the General Assembly. “Israel kills, but Iran is subject to sanctions.”
Pezeshkian held up photographs of dead children, dead athletes and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel killed Khamenei in a strike on the first day of the war, according to the account Pezeshkian presented at the UN. The speech left out Iran’s regional armed network and its nuclear program, the two projects that turned Tehran’s confrontation with Washington and Israel into open war.
Behind the theater, the bargaining has resumed. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held indirect talks through Qatari mediators with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s envoys. Iran’s reported conditions include an end to hostilities, the lifting or suspension of U.S. restrictions, and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
A June interim deal tied sanctions relief and the release of assets to talks on limiting Iran’s nuclear program. It collapsed. Trump now wants zero enrichment and closed facilities. Pezeshkian demands recognition of Iran’s civilian program and an end to coercion.
#Iran #UnitedStates #NuclearDeal #UNGA
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Macron’s West Bank Translation
Emmanuel Macron said at the UN General Assembly that Hamas had “never been very active” in the West Bank. Israel answered with the name of a French citizen killed there two days earlier.
Netanel Shukrun, a father of six, was shot dead on Sunday while traveling with his son ahead of Yom Kippur. The son escaped. Israeli authorities say the attacker, identified as Hamas operative Qadri Samara, was arrested.
Netanyahu’s office called Macron’s statement a “grotesque absurdity” and said ignorance does not erase the blood of Israeli civilians killed in the West Bank.
Gadi Eisenkot, who once commanded the IDF’s West Bank Division, called Macron’s remark detached from reality. Hamas has carried out suicide bombings, shootings, kidnappings and armed-cell attacks in the territory for decades.
A list circulated by Israeli sources identifies about 150 Hamas attacks in or originating from the West Bank, with at least 583 Israelis killed and 3,374 wounded. That list is not a complete public accounting, but it is enough to make “never active” a spectacular choice of words.
Then came the repair crew. A French diplomatic source said Macron’s French wording, “le Hamas n’a jamais sévi en Cisjordanie,” meant that Hamas had never governed the West Bank, not that it had never operated there. But the UN’s simultaneous interpreter rendered it as “Hamas was never very active in the West Bank,” while other translations said it had “never struck” there.
The West Bank is governed in part by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas’s rival. Hamas does not run the territory. It has still killed people there.
Macron’s office says the president was misunderstood. The sentence says the interpreter got the blame.
#France #Macron #Hamas #WestBank
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Emmanuel Macron said at the UN General Assembly that Hamas had “never been very active” in the West Bank. Israel answered with the name of a French citizen killed there two days earlier.
Netanel Shukrun, a father of six, was shot dead on Sunday while traveling with his son ahead of Yom Kippur. The son escaped. Israeli authorities say the attacker, identified as Hamas operative Qadri Samara, was arrested.
Netanyahu’s office called Macron’s statement a “grotesque absurdity” and said ignorance does not erase the blood of Israeli civilians killed in the West Bank.
Gadi Eisenkot, who once commanded the IDF’s West Bank Division, called Macron’s remark detached from reality. Hamas has carried out suicide bombings, shootings, kidnappings and armed-cell attacks in the territory for decades.
A list circulated by Israeli sources identifies about 150 Hamas attacks in or originating from the West Bank, with at least 583 Israelis killed and 3,374 wounded. That list is not a complete public accounting, but it is enough to make “never active” a spectacular choice of words.
Then came the repair crew. A French diplomatic source said Macron’s French wording, “le Hamas n’a jamais sévi en Cisjordanie,” meant that Hamas had never governed the West Bank, not that it had never operated there. But the UN’s simultaneous interpreter rendered it as “Hamas was never very active in the West Bank,” while other translations said it had “never struck” there.
The West Bank is governed in part by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas’s rival. Hamas does not run the territory. It has still killed people there.
Macron’s office says the president was misunderstood. The sentence says the interpreter got the blame.
#France #Macron #Hamas #WestBank
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The Ben-Gvir Drone Plan
Two Palestinians from the Nablus area have been indicted on allegations that they built a terror cell, amassed weapons and planned to assassinate National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir with an explosive drone.
According to the military prosecution, the two had worked together since late 2023. They allegedly acquired M-16 and M-4 rifles, a Kalashnikov, pistols, a shotgun and ammunition.
They held shooting practice and recruited additional operatives. Prosecutors say they considered shootings, car bombs, explosive drones and the kidnapping of IDF soldiers.
The plan for Ben-Gvir came after the suspects watched footage of the minister arriving at an attack scene in 2024. One allegedly proposed staging an initial attack, waiting for Ben-Gvir to arrive and then shooting him.
When the other suspect raised the obstacle of ministerial security, the discussion turned to an explosive drone.
One defendant allegedly sought help obtaining drone parts from China; his partner refused to buy them, according to the indictment.
Ben-Gvir said this was the 11th attempt on his life. The indictment describes a plot that never reached execution.
It also shows the security problem around a minister who has made himself a permanent feature of attack scenes, police operations and cameras.
#Israel #BenGvir #Nablus #Counterterrorism
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Two Palestinians from the Nablus area have been indicted on allegations that they built a terror cell, amassed weapons and planned to assassinate National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir with an explosive drone.
According to the military prosecution, the two had worked together since late 2023. They allegedly acquired M-16 and M-4 rifles, a Kalashnikov, pistols, a shotgun and ammunition.
They held shooting practice and recruited additional operatives. Prosecutors say they considered shootings, car bombs, explosive drones and the kidnapping of IDF soldiers.
The plan for Ben-Gvir came after the suspects watched footage of the minister arriving at an attack scene in 2024. One allegedly proposed staging an initial attack, waiting for Ben-Gvir to arrive and then shooting him.
When the other suspect raised the obstacle of ministerial security, the discussion turned to an explosive drone.
One defendant allegedly sought help obtaining drone parts from China; his partner refused to buy them, according to the indictment.
Ben-Gvir said this was the 11th attempt on his life. The indictment describes a plot that never reached execution.
It also shows the security problem around a minister who has made himself a permanent feature of attack scenes, police operations and cameras.
#Israel #BenGvir #Nablus #Counterterrorism
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The Emperor’s Dinner Party
Xi Jinping spent more than three hours at the White House with Donald Trump, watched a B-2 flyover, toured Trump’s construction project and promised two pandas for Atlanta.
The summit’s concrete result arrived before the meeting: Washington and Beijing extended their trade truce by two months, to Jan. 10.
Trump called Xi a “great friend.” Xi offered something colder and more useful: China and the United States have “deeply intertwined” interests and must avoid the Thucydides trap, the theory that an established power and a rising one drift toward war. Xi also delivered Beijing’s actual demand.
American companies may invest in China, he said; Chinese companies should receive fair treatment in the United States.
The disputes stayed on the table: Taiwan, artificial intelligence, technology restrictions, Iran, Russia’s war against Ukraine and the tariff truce that had been due to expire on Nov. 10. The White House scheduled no news conference.
The two leaders were not expected to deliver a breakthrough because the only agreement ready for display was the decision to postpone another trade fight.
Then came the dinner list. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Michael Dell, Sundar Pichai, Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Tim Cook and Citigroup chief Jane Fraser were expected to join the state dinner.
The heads of the companies competing with China for chips, AI, cloud services, markets and supply chains gathered to honor the leader of the state that sets the rules for their Chinese operations.
Trump gave Xi military ceremony, red carpet, a White House tour and Silicon Valley’s seating chart. Xi gave Trump pandas and 60 more days before the next tariff deadline.
#UnitedStates #China #Trump #XiJinping
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Xi Jinping spent more than three hours at the White House with Donald Trump, watched a B-2 flyover, toured Trump’s construction project and promised two pandas for Atlanta.
The summit’s concrete result arrived before the meeting: Washington and Beijing extended their trade truce by two months, to Jan. 10.
Trump called Xi a “great friend.” Xi offered something colder and more useful: China and the United States have “deeply intertwined” interests and must avoid the Thucydides trap, the theory that an established power and a rising one drift toward war. Xi also delivered Beijing’s actual demand.
American companies may invest in China, he said; Chinese companies should receive fair treatment in the United States.
The disputes stayed on the table: Taiwan, artificial intelligence, technology restrictions, Iran, Russia’s war against Ukraine and the tariff truce that had been due to expire on Nov. 10. The White House scheduled no news conference.
The two leaders were not expected to deliver a breakthrough because the only agreement ready for display was the decision to postpone another trade fight.
Then came the dinner list. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Michael Dell, Sundar Pichai, Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Tim Cook and Citigroup chief Jane Fraser were expected to join the state dinner.
The heads of the companies competing with China for chips, AI, cloud services, markets and supply chains gathered to honor the leader of the state that sets the rules for their Chinese operations.
Trump gave Xi military ceremony, red carpet, a White House tour and Silicon Valley’s seating chart. Xi gave Trump pandas and 60 more days before the next tariff deadline.
#UnitedStates #China #Trump #XiJinping
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Trump’s Diesel Peace Plan
Donald Trump pressed Volodymyr Zelensky to stop striking Russian refineries. The stated concern was diesel: Russian fuel reaching world markets, American fuel prices and a global shortage made worse by the war with Iran.
The Financial Times reported that Trump’s message during a September 20 call was “diesel, diesel … diesel.” He urged Zelensky to halt Ukrainian missile and drone attacks on Russian refining infrastructure because he feared further cuts in Russian supplies would push prices higher.
Trump then made the demand in public: Ukraine could strike other targets, he said, but should stop “knocking out diesel fuel in Russia.”
The available reporting does not show Zelensky rejecting Washington’s proposal in order to keep escalating or demanding fresh multibillion-dollar U.S. funding.
Zelensky said Ukraine was prepared to stop striking energy infrastructure if Washington and its partners could get Russia to stop too. No formal agreement followed, and both sides continued attacking energy targets.
Ukraine struck refinery sites in Ufa and Samara after Trump’s appeal. Russia continued its campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Trump’s complaint moves the blame. Ukrainian refinery strikes can cut Russian output and add pressure to fuel supply.
But the sharp disruption in the diesel market has been driven chiefly by restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war, according to the International Energy Agency’s September market assessment.
The Russian refineries are a convenient target for a president facing high U.S. fuel prices, not the whole explanation for them.
“Diesel, diesel … diesel” is a fuel-price forecast with a foreign policy attached.
#Ukraine #Russia #Trump #Diesel
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Donald Trump pressed Volodymyr Zelensky to stop striking Russian refineries. The stated concern was diesel: Russian fuel reaching world markets, American fuel prices and a global shortage made worse by the war with Iran.
The Financial Times reported that Trump’s message during a September 20 call was “diesel, diesel … diesel.” He urged Zelensky to halt Ukrainian missile and drone attacks on Russian refining infrastructure because he feared further cuts in Russian supplies would push prices higher.
Trump then made the demand in public: Ukraine could strike other targets, he said, but should stop “knocking out diesel fuel in Russia.”
The available reporting does not show Zelensky rejecting Washington’s proposal in order to keep escalating or demanding fresh multibillion-dollar U.S. funding.
Zelensky said Ukraine was prepared to stop striking energy infrastructure if Washington and its partners could get Russia to stop too. No formal agreement followed, and both sides continued attacking energy targets.
Ukraine struck refinery sites in Ufa and Samara after Trump’s appeal. Russia continued its campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Trump’s complaint moves the blame. Ukrainian refinery strikes can cut Russian output and add pressure to fuel supply.
But the sharp disruption in the diesel market has been driven chiefly by restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war, according to the International Energy Agency’s September market assessment.
The Russian refineries are a convenient target for a president facing high U.S. fuel prices, not the whole explanation for them.
“Diesel, diesel … diesel” is a fuel-price forecast with a foreign policy attached.
#Ukraine #Russia #Trump #Diesel
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The Disqualification Assembly Line
Justice Noam Sohlberg opened Israel’s Central Elections Committee hearings with a warning that disqualifying a candidate or list denies an entire public the right to vote for it.
The committee then disqualified Ofer Cassif, Sami Abu Shehadeh, Ra’am and the Joint List in one day.
Cassif was barred by 19 votes to five, with two abstentions. He called the outcome predetermined and legally baseless.
The committee also voted to disqualify Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh. Reports differ on the tally, giving it as either 30–4 or 31–4, but agree on the unusual part: Sohlberg voted for the ban.
Chairmen of the committee generally avoid voting unless a tie requires it. Sohlberg said he would waive that neutrality because, in his view, this was a clear case.
At the hearing, Abu Shehadeh said: “I have never supported Hamas’s armed struggle against the State of Israel.” It made no difference.
Yair Golan backed Itamar Ben-Gvir’s petition to ban him, saying there should be “no discounts” for either Abu Shehadeh or Ben-Gvir and that both should be disqualified. Ben-Gvir’s own contribution was cleaner: “Sami Abu Shehadeh, bara, bara from the Knesset.”
Ra’am was disqualified 18–5, with one abstention, without Sohlberg’s support. Mansour Abbas answered that “Abu Yair,” who negotiated with him at Balfour, understands that disqualifying Ra’am is the only way to stop the next change government.
The Joint List was also barred and said the Central Elections Committee should rename itself the “Kahanist Elections Committee.”
The party Yachad, which said the previous day it would not join “the disqualification game,” voted to disqualify Abu Shehadeh. Its representatives skipped the votes on Ra’am and the Joint List. In Israel’s election ritual, the principle is apparently sacred enough to observe selectively.
The Supreme Court now has the final word. Decisions barring candidates or lists do not take effect without judicial review, and Israeli reporting expects the court to overturn at least some of the committee’s decisions.
Tomorrow, the committee turns to petitions against Otzma Yehudit, Religious Zionism, Zehut and the Democrats.
The committee began with a lecture on voters’ rights and ended by removing their options. Tomorrow it will decide whether the same law has room for Ben-Gvir.
#IsraelElections #Knesset #Raam #Balad
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Justice Noam Sohlberg opened Israel’s Central Elections Committee hearings with a warning that disqualifying a candidate or list denies an entire public the right to vote for it.
The committee then disqualified Ofer Cassif, Sami Abu Shehadeh, Ra’am and the Joint List in one day.
Cassif was barred by 19 votes to five, with two abstentions. He called the outcome predetermined and legally baseless.
The committee also voted to disqualify Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh. Reports differ on the tally, giving it as either 30–4 or 31–4, but agree on the unusual part: Sohlberg voted for the ban.
Chairmen of the committee generally avoid voting unless a tie requires it. Sohlberg said he would waive that neutrality because, in his view, this was a clear case.
At the hearing, Abu Shehadeh said: “I have never supported Hamas’s armed struggle against the State of Israel.” It made no difference.
Yair Golan backed Itamar Ben-Gvir’s petition to ban him, saying there should be “no discounts” for either Abu Shehadeh or Ben-Gvir and that both should be disqualified. Ben-Gvir’s own contribution was cleaner: “Sami Abu Shehadeh, bara, bara from the Knesset.”
Ra’am was disqualified 18–5, with one abstention, without Sohlberg’s support. Mansour Abbas answered that “Abu Yair,” who negotiated with him at Balfour, understands that disqualifying Ra’am is the only way to stop the next change government.
The Joint List was also barred and said the Central Elections Committee should rename itself the “Kahanist Elections Committee.”
The party Yachad, which said the previous day it would not join “the disqualification game,” voted to disqualify Abu Shehadeh. Its representatives skipped the votes on Ra’am and the Joint List. In Israel’s election ritual, the principle is apparently sacred enough to observe selectively.
The Supreme Court now has the final word. Decisions barring candidates or lists do not take effect without judicial review, and Israeli reporting expects the court to overturn at least some of the committee’s decisions.
Tomorrow, the committee turns to petitions against Otzma Yehudit, Religious Zionism, Zehut and the Democrats.
The committee began with a lecture on voters’ rights and ended by removing their options. Tomorrow it will decide whether the same law has room for Ben-Gvir.
#IsraelElections #Knesset #Raam #Balad
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The Corporate Prosecutor
OpenAI says it catches foreign influence operations. Conveniently, it owns the machine they allegedly used, the logs that identify them, the rules that define abuse and the blog where the verdict appears.
When the company says it disrupted a Chinese, Russian, Iranian or Israeli network, the public gets a polished dossier: operation names, selected prompts, a sample of output and a geopolitical label.
What stays inside OpenAI is the evidence that would let anyone test the label: account logs, clustering rules, false-positive rates, alternative explanations and internal dissent.
A platform can ban users from its own product. “This account used our model to write text” is a fact about the platform.
“We uncovered a state-linked influence operation” is a claim about coordination, intent and political purpose.
That claim reaches governments, reporters and researchers without an adversarial process, because the only witness with full access is also the prosecutor.
The business model completes the loop. Generative AI makes phishing, malware, multilingual propaganda and synthetic personas cheaper to produce.
The same companies sell the filters, monitoring and attribution meant to contain them. The more dangerous the information environment becomes, the more indispensable its landlord appears.
OpenAI’s reports may be right. That is not the standard. A private company should not get to turn an internal moderation judgment into geopolitical fact while keeping the underlying record private.
The company supplies the model, measures the abuse and sells the protection.
#OpenAI #AI #BigTech #Disinformation
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OpenAI says it catches foreign influence operations. Conveniently, it owns the machine they allegedly used, the logs that identify them, the rules that define abuse and the blog where the verdict appears.
When the company says it disrupted a Chinese, Russian, Iranian or Israeli network, the public gets a polished dossier: operation names, selected prompts, a sample of output and a geopolitical label.
What stays inside OpenAI is the evidence that would let anyone test the label: account logs, clustering rules, false-positive rates, alternative explanations and internal dissent.
A platform can ban users from its own product. “This account used our model to write text” is a fact about the platform.
“We uncovered a state-linked influence operation” is a claim about coordination, intent and political purpose.
That claim reaches governments, reporters and researchers without an adversarial process, because the only witness with full access is also the prosecutor.
The business model completes the loop. Generative AI makes phishing, malware, multilingual propaganda and synthetic personas cheaper to produce.
The same companies sell the filters, monitoring and attribution meant to contain them. The more dangerous the information environment becomes, the more indispensable its landlord appears.
OpenAI’s reports may be right. That is not the standard. A private company should not get to turn an internal moderation judgment into geopolitical fact while keeping the underlying record private.
The company supplies the model, measures the abuse and sells the protection.
#OpenAI #AI #BigTech #Disinformation
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Xi Jinping Draws a Red Line: Dialogue With Trump Is Key to Avoiding US-China War
Xi Jinping used his meeting with Trump at the White House to call for closer communication between Washington and Beijing, warning that growing rivalry between the two powers must not spiral into a military confrontation.
Speaking at the start of the summit, Xi argued that the United States and China should maintain open and sustained dialogue despite their differences. He said greater mutual understanding, trust and cooperation could help the two countries avoid what is known as the “Thucydides Trap” — the risk of conflict when a rising power challenges an established one.
Xi said both nations would benefit from cooperation and suffer from confrontation. He specifically called for regular communication between the US and Chinese militaries, along with stronger mechanisms for managing and preventing crises.
The Chinese leader also pointed to areas where the two countries could build closer ties. Among his proposals was an invitation for 100,000 young Americans to travel to China over the next five years for educational and exchange programs.
The appeal comes as Washington and Beijing remain locked in intense competition over artificial intelligence, trade and technology, while tensions surrounding Taiwan continue to complicate the broader relationship.
Both governments have imposed tariffs and other restrictions on trade, while the US has tightened controls on advanced semiconductor technology and equipment exported to China.
Trump, meanwhile, welcomed Xi and Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan to the White House, describing his relationship with the Chinese president as a strong personal friendship.
The US president said the two sides had made progress on several issues, including efforts to create what he described as a more balanced trading relationship and expand market access for American farmers and ranchers.
Trump also said security, technology and artificial intelligence would be among the subjects discussed during the visit. He has recently used the term “super intelligence” to describe the next stage of AI development.
Xi also emphasized his personal rapport with Trump, saying the two leaders had maintained contact and developed mutual respect. He said both sides should work toward a stable and constructive relationship and steer US-China ties in a predictable direction.
The White House summit followed a highly ceremonial welcome for Xi, who arrived in Washington with Peng Liyuan. Trump had personally traveled to Andrews Air Force Base the previous evening to greet the Chinese leader upon his arrival.
Despite the diplomatic pageantry, the meeting comes against the backdrop of significant strategic competition.
Washington continues to restrict China's access to advanced chips, semiconductors, software and chip-making equipment, while trade tensions remain unresolved.
A temporary US-China tariff truce that was due to expire in November has also been extended until February, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The extension keeps negotiations between the world's two largest economies open as both sides seek further concessions.
The talks in Washington therefore combine diplomatic outreach with continuing economic and technological rivalry, with Xi presenting dialogue and crisis-management mechanisms as key tools for preventing competition from turning into direct conflict.
#Trump #XiJinping #USChina #WhiteHouse
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Xi Jinping used his meeting with Trump at the White House to call for closer communication between Washington and Beijing, warning that growing rivalry between the two powers must not spiral into a military confrontation.
Speaking at the start of the summit, Xi argued that the United States and China should maintain open and sustained dialogue despite their differences. He said greater mutual understanding, trust and cooperation could help the two countries avoid what is known as the “Thucydides Trap” — the risk of conflict when a rising power challenges an established one.
Xi said both nations would benefit from cooperation and suffer from confrontation. He specifically called for regular communication between the US and Chinese militaries, along with stronger mechanisms for managing and preventing crises.
The Chinese leader also pointed to areas where the two countries could build closer ties. Among his proposals was an invitation for 100,000 young Americans to travel to China over the next five years for educational and exchange programs.
The appeal comes as Washington and Beijing remain locked in intense competition over artificial intelligence, trade and technology, while tensions surrounding Taiwan continue to complicate the broader relationship.
Both governments have imposed tariffs and other restrictions on trade, while the US has tightened controls on advanced semiconductor technology and equipment exported to China.
Trump, meanwhile, welcomed Xi and Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan to the White House, describing his relationship with the Chinese president as a strong personal friendship.
The US president said the two sides had made progress on several issues, including efforts to create what he described as a more balanced trading relationship and expand market access for American farmers and ranchers.
Trump also said security, technology and artificial intelligence would be among the subjects discussed during the visit. He has recently used the term “super intelligence” to describe the next stage of AI development.
Xi also emphasized his personal rapport with Trump, saying the two leaders had maintained contact and developed mutual respect. He said both sides should work toward a stable and constructive relationship and steer US-China ties in a predictable direction.
The White House summit followed a highly ceremonial welcome for Xi, who arrived in Washington with Peng Liyuan. Trump had personally traveled to Andrews Air Force Base the previous evening to greet the Chinese leader upon his arrival.
Despite the diplomatic pageantry, the meeting comes against the backdrop of significant strategic competition.
Washington continues to restrict China's access to advanced chips, semiconductors, software and chip-making equipment, while trade tensions remain unresolved.
A temporary US-China tariff truce that was due to expire in November has also been extended until February, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The extension keeps negotiations between the world's two largest economies open as both sides seek further concessions.
The talks in Washington therefore combine diplomatic outreach with continuing economic and technological rivalry, with Xi presenting dialogue and crisis-management mechanisms as key tools for preventing competition from turning into direct conflict.
#Trump #XiJinping #USChina #WhiteHouse
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