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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Iran’s Seven-Day Ransom Note
Masoud Pezeshkian says Iran will give up uranium enriched to 60 percent. Abbas Araghchi says the Strait of Hormuz can reopen in seven days. First, Washington must lift the blockade, ease oil sanctions and release at least $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
In a Fox News interview, Pezeshkian rejected any nuclear-weapons ambition twice: “Absolutely not. Absolutely not.”
He said Tehran was ready to relinquish its 60-percent enriched uranium under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and called dilution “not a big deal.”
Asked where Iran’s estimated 440 kilograms of 60-percent uranium were, he offered a riddle: Washington says it destroyed everything, so either that claim is true or it is false.
Pezeshkian also said Iran wanted a deal with the United States before November’s midterm elections. Later that night, he said America’s midterms did not interest Tehran and played no role in Iranian calculations. Tehran’s message changed depending on whether the interviewer offered a clock or a microphone.
Araghchi’s seven-day proposal is less a peace plan than a sequence for releasing pressure. All hostilities, including in Lebanon, would stop.
The United States would release Iran’s frozen assets, waive sanctions on Iranian oil and end its naval blockade. On the seventh day, Iran would reopen Hormuz.
Comprehensive nuclear talks would begin immediately afterward, replacing the 60-day timetable in the June memorandum.
Iran is offering to reopen a waterway it closed, after the United States meets the price of reopening it. That is not diplomacy in the old sense. It is a seven-day hostage schedule for the world’s energy trade.
An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman said the previous form of fighting had stopped, but the confrontation continued. Fewer than 10 commercial ships passed Hormuz that morning. Tehran calls that de-escalation. Tankers call it waiting for permission.
Then came the nuclear rumor. Iranian MP Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani said he had heard from an Arab analyst that Iran had bought a nuclear weapon from North Korea.
#Iran #Hormuz #Nuclear #UnitedStates
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Masoud Pezeshkian says Iran will give up uranium enriched to 60 percent. Abbas Araghchi says the Strait of Hormuz can reopen in seven days. First, Washington must lift the blockade, ease oil sanctions and release at least $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
In a Fox News interview, Pezeshkian rejected any nuclear-weapons ambition twice: “Absolutely not. Absolutely not.”
He said Tehran was ready to relinquish its 60-percent enriched uranium under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and called dilution “not a big deal.”
Asked where Iran’s estimated 440 kilograms of 60-percent uranium were, he offered a riddle: Washington says it destroyed everything, so either that claim is true or it is false.
Pezeshkian also said Iran wanted a deal with the United States before November’s midterm elections. Later that night, he said America’s midterms did not interest Tehran and played no role in Iranian calculations. Tehran’s message changed depending on whether the interviewer offered a clock or a microphone.
Araghchi’s seven-day proposal is less a peace plan than a sequence for releasing pressure. All hostilities, including in Lebanon, would stop.
The United States would release Iran’s frozen assets, waive sanctions on Iranian oil and end its naval blockade. On the seventh day, Iran would reopen Hormuz.
Comprehensive nuclear talks would begin immediately afterward, replacing the 60-day timetable in the June memorandum.
Iran is offering to reopen a waterway it closed, after the United States meets the price of reopening it. That is not diplomacy in the old sense. It is a seven-day hostage schedule for the world’s energy trade.
An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman said the previous form of fighting had stopped, but the confrontation continued. Fewer than 10 commercial ships passed Hormuz that morning. Tehran calls that de-escalation. Tankers call it waiting for permission.
Then came the nuclear rumor. Iranian MP Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani said he had heard from an Arab analyst that Iran had bought a nuclear weapon from North Korea.
#Iran #Hormuz #Nuclear #UnitedStates
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China’s Iran Supply Chain
Donald Trump spent the Xi summit calling China’s leader a friend and artificial intelligence “super intelligence.”
Behind the diplomatic confetti, his administration was pressing Beijing over suspected low-yield nuclear tests and shipments that kept Iran’s drone and missile programs alive.
U.S. officials have held quiet talks with China in Geneva, New York and Casablanca about Beijing’s expanding nuclear arsenal and allegations that it has conducted low-yield tests despite a three-decade testing moratorium. Washington wants China to address the claims. Beijing has not publicly provided a substantive answer.
Trump nevertheless called his meeting with Xi “very productive” and predicted “tremendous things” between the two countries. He also claimed Xi liked Trump’s preferred label for AI: “SUPER INTELLIGENCE.” The White House can rename artificial intelligence. It cannot rename a nuclear test.
On Iran, U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue said Trump told Xi that any direct or indirect Chinese assistance to Tehran was “totally unacceptable.” Iranian customs records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal tell a different story about the supply chain: roughly 1,300 shipments of dual-use components went from China to Iran’s Defense Ministry in the first half of 2026. The consignments included electronics, GPS equipment, motors and aircraft-engine parts usable in drones and missile-guidance systems.
Days before the war began, Chinese suppliers delivered about 300 tons of chemical compounds to Iran’s Defense Ministry. Some chemicals documented in the records, including sodium perchlorate, can be used to produce solid-fuel propellant for ballistic missiles. The shipments continued after the war began, including more than a dozen consignments worth over $6 million in drone-capable parts.
Pezeshkian supplied the financial footnote: “One of the problems we face is that our money is blocked in China.” Beijing keeps Iranian money under lock while Chinese companies keep sending material that can help Iran build weapons.
Trump gave Xi a state dinner. Xi got two more months of trade truce, a lecture on Iran and the right to keep explaining what 1,300 shipments were for.
#China #Iran #Trump #Nuclear
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Donald Trump spent the Xi summit calling China’s leader a friend and artificial intelligence “super intelligence.”
Behind the diplomatic confetti, his administration was pressing Beijing over suspected low-yield nuclear tests and shipments that kept Iran’s drone and missile programs alive.
U.S. officials have held quiet talks with China in Geneva, New York and Casablanca about Beijing’s expanding nuclear arsenal and allegations that it has conducted low-yield tests despite a three-decade testing moratorium. Washington wants China to address the claims. Beijing has not publicly provided a substantive answer.
Trump nevertheless called his meeting with Xi “very productive” and predicted “tremendous things” between the two countries. He also claimed Xi liked Trump’s preferred label for AI: “SUPER INTELLIGENCE.” The White House can rename artificial intelligence. It cannot rename a nuclear test.
On Iran, U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue said Trump told Xi that any direct or indirect Chinese assistance to Tehran was “totally unacceptable.” Iranian customs records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal tell a different story about the supply chain: roughly 1,300 shipments of dual-use components went from China to Iran’s Defense Ministry in the first half of 2026. The consignments included electronics, GPS equipment, motors and aircraft-engine parts usable in drones and missile-guidance systems.
Days before the war began, Chinese suppliers delivered about 300 tons of chemical compounds to Iran’s Defense Ministry. Some chemicals documented in the records, including sodium perchlorate, can be used to produce solid-fuel propellant for ballistic missiles. The shipments continued after the war began, including more than a dozen consignments worth over $6 million in drone-capable parts.
Pezeshkian supplied the financial footnote: “One of the problems we face is that our money is blocked in China.” Beijing keeps Iranian money under lock while Chinese companies keep sending material that can help Iran build weapons.
Trump gave Xi a state dinner. Xi got two more months of trade truce, a lecture on Iran and the right to keep explaining what 1,300 shipments were for.
#China #Iran #Trump #Nuclear
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Yanbu Gets NATO by Another Name
The Houthis say they struck Riyadh and Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones. Saudi Arabia now has France deploying soldiers, radar and air-defense systems to guard an oil terminal, while Turkey and Pakistan prepare to test their new collective-defense pact.
Explosions were reported near Jizan shortly after 2:27 a.m., followed by two blasts near Riyadh airport around 3:38 a.m. The Houthis claimed two operations: one against a “sensitive target” in Riyadh and another against Aramco facilities in Yanbu. Saudi air defenses said they intercepted six ballistic missiles aimed at Taif and Yanbu.
Loading at the Yanbu oil terminal has yet to resume, and insurers have raised rates for tankers connected to the port. Emmanuel Macron said France would send “soldiers, radars and defence systems” to protect Yanbu. “Not to participate in any conflict,” he said, “but to protect this site.” France has found a new definition of nonparticipation: sending troops and air defenses to protect a belligerent state’s oil export terminal.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have scheduled an urgent meeting of their chiefs of staff under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement. Signed in August, the pact treats an armed attack on one member as an attack on all three.
The foreign ministers arranged the meeting in New York after condemning attacks on Mecca and other civilian sites.
The alliance now faces its first test: whether a missile launched from Yemen turns the Saudi war into a three-country obligation.
Pezeshkian says the Houthis “are responsible for their actions and do not take instructions from us.” The Houthis answer that Bab el-Mandeb is part of Yemen’s national sovereignty and warn that the next period will be more painful for the Saudi government. Tehran has discovered the useful freedom of commanding a partner that officially takes no commands.
In Sanaa, Houthi security forces have confiscated Yemeni flags from civilians ahead of the September 26 anniversary of the 1962 revolution that ended the imamate and created the republic. The movement speaks of Yemeni sovereignty at Bab el-Mandeb while policing the flag of the Yemeni republic in its own capital.
Yanbu now has French radar. Riyadh has Turkish and Pakistani generals on the way. The Houthis have missiles and a sovereignty lecture. Everyone has a defensive mission. The oil terminal has a front-row seat.
#SaudiArabia #Houthis #Yemen #Yanbu
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The Houthis say they struck Riyadh and Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones. Saudi Arabia now has France deploying soldiers, radar and air-defense systems to guard an oil terminal, while Turkey and Pakistan prepare to test their new collective-defense pact.
Explosions were reported near Jizan shortly after 2:27 a.m., followed by two blasts near Riyadh airport around 3:38 a.m. The Houthis claimed two operations: one against a “sensitive target” in Riyadh and another against Aramco facilities in Yanbu. Saudi air defenses said they intercepted six ballistic missiles aimed at Taif and Yanbu.
Loading at the Yanbu oil terminal has yet to resume, and insurers have raised rates for tankers connected to the port. Emmanuel Macron said France would send “soldiers, radars and defence systems” to protect Yanbu. “Not to participate in any conflict,” he said, “but to protect this site.” France has found a new definition of nonparticipation: sending troops and air defenses to protect a belligerent state’s oil export terminal.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have scheduled an urgent meeting of their chiefs of staff under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement. Signed in August, the pact treats an armed attack on one member as an attack on all three.
The foreign ministers arranged the meeting in New York after condemning attacks on Mecca and other civilian sites.
The alliance now faces its first test: whether a missile launched from Yemen turns the Saudi war into a three-country obligation.
Pezeshkian says the Houthis “are responsible for their actions and do not take instructions from us.” The Houthis answer that Bab el-Mandeb is part of Yemen’s national sovereignty and warn that the next period will be more painful for the Saudi government. Tehran has discovered the useful freedom of commanding a partner that officially takes no commands.
In Sanaa, Houthi security forces have confiscated Yemeni flags from civilians ahead of the September 26 anniversary of the 1962 revolution that ended the imamate and created the republic. The movement speaks of Yemeni sovereignty at Bab el-Mandeb while policing the flag of the Yemeni republic in its own capital.
Yanbu now has French radar. Riyadh has Turkish and Pakistani generals on the way. The Houthis have missiles and a sovereignty lecture. Everyone has a defensive mission. The oil terminal has a front-row seat.
#SaudiArabia #Houthis #Yemen #Yanbu
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Inside the CIA’s Darkest Game: When Deep Cover Becomes a Trap
Behind every intelligence operation lies another operation — the one no one is supposed to see. In the shadowy world of espionage, carefully constructed identities can become prisons, bureaucratic rivalries can be as dangerous as enemy agents, and a single mistake can bring an entire mission crashing down.
That world is at the heart of Moscow X, the espionage novel by former CIA analyst David McCloskey. Drawing on his experience inside the agency and at field stations in the Middle East, McCloskey depicts intelligence work not as a seamless machine run by flawless professionals, but as a dangerous system driven by human ambition, secrecy, miscalculations and competing agendas.
The novel follows CIA officers Sia Fox and Max as they pursue a potentially explosive Russian source known by the codename Persephone.
Their target is Anna, the wife of a powerful Russian financier with connections to Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. The operation is built around an elaborate deception designed to make it appear that Russian officials are stealing money — a scheme intended to create suspicion and instability among Moscow’s political elite.
On paper, it looks like a masterstroke of covert warfare. On the ground, nothing is that simple.
The agents operate through layers of false identities, secret communications and carefully controlled encounters, never knowing exactly who may be watching. Every relationship can become a vulnerability.
Every conversation can carry a hidden meaning. And every decision made inside the agency can have consequences thousands of miles away.
McCloskey’s CIA is powerful, but it is hardly omnipotent. It is a sprawling bureaucracy populated by people who make mistakes, misread situations and sometimes keep information from their own colleagues. Operations that appear perfectly designed from Washington can become unpredictable once they collide with reality.
That tension gives Moscow X much of its unsettling power.
The most frightening element is not necessarily the enemy intelligence service waiting on the other side. It is the possibility that the machinery designed to protect an operation may itself become a source of danger. Secrecy breeds mistrust.
Rivalries distort decisions. And the people working under deep cover can find themselves trapped inside identities they created for someone else.
For officers living this way, deception is not simply a professional tool. It becomes a way of life.
McCloskey’s background gives the story an unusual sense of authenticity. Before turning to fiction, he worked as a CIA analyst at Langley and in Middle Eastern field stations. His previous novel, Damascus Station, also drew heavily on the world of intelligence and the experience of officers operating in hostile environments.
But Moscow X goes further into the darker side of the profession. It asks what happens when an intelligence service demands that people spend years constructing elaborate lies — and then expects them to remain psychologically untouched by those lies.
The answer is complicated. Loyalty becomes conditional. Friendships become potential liabilities. Romance can become an operational risk.
Even success may come with a price that cannot be calculated in advance.
And that may be the most disturbing idea at the center of McCloskey’s fictional world: the greatest threat to a covert operation does not always come from an enemy lurking in the shadows. Sometimes it comes from the system itself — from secrecy, bureaucracy and the human beings forced to navigate both.
In the world of Moscow X, the line between controlling the operation and becoming trapped inside it can disappear without warning. And once that happens, there may be no safe way out.
#CIA #Espionage #MoscowX #SpyThriller #Intelligence
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Behind every intelligence operation lies another operation — the one no one is supposed to see. In the shadowy world of espionage, carefully constructed identities can become prisons, bureaucratic rivalries can be as dangerous as enemy agents, and a single mistake can bring an entire mission crashing down.
That world is at the heart of Moscow X, the espionage novel by former CIA analyst David McCloskey. Drawing on his experience inside the agency and at field stations in the Middle East, McCloskey depicts intelligence work not as a seamless machine run by flawless professionals, but as a dangerous system driven by human ambition, secrecy, miscalculations and competing agendas.
The novel follows CIA officers Sia Fox and Max as they pursue a potentially explosive Russian source known by the codename Persephone.
Their target is Anna, the wife of a powerful Russian financier with connections to Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. The operation is built around an elaborate deception designed to make it appear that Russian officials are stealing money — a scheme intended to create suspicion and instability among Moscow’s political elite.
On paper, it looks like a masterstroke of covert warfare. On the ground, nothing is that simple.
The agents operate through layers of false identities, secret communications and carefully controlled encounters, never knowing exactly who may be watching. Every relationship can become a vulnerability.
Every conversation can carry a hidden meaning. And every decision made inside the agency can have consequences thousands of miles away.
McCloskey’s CIA is powerful, but it is hardly omnipotent. It is a sprawling bureaucracy populated by people who make mistakes, misread situations and sometimes keep information from their own colleagues. Operations that appear perfectly designed from Washington can become unpredictable once they collide with reality.
That tension gives Moscow X much of its unsettling power.
The most frightening element is not necessarily the enemy intelligence service waiting on the other side. It is the possibility that the machinery designed to protect an operation may itself become a source of danger. Secrecy breeds mistrust.
Rivalries distort decisions. And the people working under deep cover can find themselves trapped inside identities they created for someone else.
For officers living this way, deception is not simply a professional tool. It becomes a way of life.
McCloskey’s background gives the story an unusual sense of authenticity. Before turning to fiction, he worked as a CIA analyst at Langley and in Middle Eastern field stations. His previous novel, Damascus Station, also drew heavily on the world of intelligence and the experience of officers operating in hostile environments.
But Moscow X goes further into the darker side of the profession. It asks what happens when an intelligence service demands that people spend years constructing elaborate lies — and then expects them to remain psychologically untouched by those lies.
The answer is complicated. Loyalty becomes conditional. Friendships become potential liabilities. Romance can become an operational risk.
Even success may come with a price that cannot be calculated in advance.
And that may be the most disturbing idea at the center of McCloskey’s fictional world: the greatest threat to a covert operation does not always come from an enemy lurking in the shadows. Sometimes it comes from the system itself — from secrecy, bureaucracy and the human beings forced to navigate both.
In the world of Moscow X, the line between controlling the operation and becoming trapped inside it can disappear without warning. And once that happens, there may be no safe way out.
#CIA #Espionage #MoscowX #SpyThriller #Intelligence
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Turkey’s Ten-Million-Drone Peace Message
Turkey says it has no hostility toward Israelis. Its military chief says the country will produce 5 million drones within five years and 10 million within a decade. Ankara’s peace vocabulary now comes with industrial output targets.
The dispute began after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz posted a video titled “My Clear Message to Dictator Erdogan.”
Turkey’s communications director, Burhanettin Duran, called Katz’s language “undignified and inappropriate” and said it would not obscure what Ankara describes as Israel’s record in Gaza.
Erdogan gave the diplomatic version in an interview with Newsweek. He said Israel was promoting a “misguided narrative” that portrayed Turkey as a new threat, tied the rhetoric to Israel’s domestic politics and election climate, and said Turkey held no hostility toward “the Israeli people or toward any other society.”
Ankara’s problem, he said, was with policies it considers unlawful and destabilizing.
At the Denizkurdu-I/2026 naval exercise, Turkey tested joint operations combining crewed platforms with unmanned and autonomous systems in the air, on the surface and underwater.
The drills ran across the Black Sea, Sea of Marmara, Aegean and eastern Mediterranean.
This is not a fleet plan. It is a national industrial doctrine measured in machines that can observe, jam, strike and swarm.
Ankara calls it self-reliance. Israel hears a neighbor building a military production line on continental scale.
Erdogan says Turkey has no hostility toward Israelis. Katz calls him a dictator. Turkey’s navy tests unmanned warfare across three seas.
The general staff gives the region a production target large enough to make every crisis look like a sales forecast.
#Turkey #Israel #Erdogan #Drones
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Turkey says it has no hostility toward Israelis. Its military chief says the country will produce 5 million drones within five years and 10 million within a decade. Ankara’s peace vocabulary now comes with industrial output targets.
The dispute began after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz posted a video titled “My Clear Message to Dictator Erdogan.”
Turkey’s communications director, Burhanettin Duran, called Katz’s language “undignified and inappropriate” and said it would not obscure what Ankara describes as Israel’s record in Gaza.
Erdogan gave the diplomatic version in an interview with Newsweek. He said Israel was promoting a “misguided narrative” that portrayed Turkey as a new threat, tied the rhetoric to Israel’s domestic politics and election climate, and said Turkey held no hostility toward “the Israeli people or toward any other society.”
Ankara’s problem, he said, was with policies it considers unlawful and destabilizing.
At the Denizkurdu-I/2026 naval exercise, Turkey tested joint operations combining crewed platforms with unmanned and autonomous systems in the air, on the surface and underwater.
The drills ran across the Black Sea, Sea of Marmara, Aegean and eastern Mediterranean.
This is not a fleet plan. It is a national industrial doctrine measured in machines that can observe, jam, strike and swarm.
Ankara calls it self-reliance. Israel hears a neighbor building a military production line on continental scale.
Erdogan says Turkey has no hostility toward Israelis. Katz calls him a dictator. Turkey’s navy tests unmanned warfare across three seas.
The general staff gives the region a production target large enough to make every crisis look like a sales forecast.
#Turkey #Israel #Erdogan #Drones
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The Campaign’s Rental Democracy
A new poll gives Yashar! 22 seats, Likud 18 and Bennett’s Beyachad 13. Israel’s election campaign has already found its central ideology: everyone is somebody else’s existential threat.
The full result puts the Democrats at 11, Yisrael Beytenu and Otzma Yehudit at nine each, the Joint List at seven, Shas, United Torah Judaism and Religious Zionism at six each, Ra’am at five, and Amcha Yisrael and the Reservists at four apiece. That is a crowded Knesset before anyone has formed a government or explained who will sit with whom.
Beyachad’s Ram Ben-Barak called Netanyahu “Israel’s greatest enemy.” Bennett went to Bnei Brak, faced activist Mordechai David, and told him: “I suggest you enlist quickly, because once I am prime minister, you won’t get a shekel from the state.” David then blocked Bennett’s vehicle. Israeli politics has reached the stage where conscription policy is settled through traffic obstruction.
Likud candidate Elisha Medan offered the counter-slogan: “I’m not sure pushing an entire public is the way.” Democrat candidate Moshe Radman said there was room for demands to recognize the Nakba and accusations of war crimes. The campaign now has a complete menu: end the draft exemptions, protect the draft exemptions, recognize the Nakba, disqualify the Arabs and call Netanyahu the enemy.
The Democrats demanded personal security for party leader Yair Golan, arguing that police assigned him the same threat level as Gadi Eisenkot while providing protection to Eisenkot.
The High Court will sit as an expanded nine-justice panel on Thursday to decide the disqualification of Ofer Cassif and Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh.
Meanwhile, Justice Noam Sohlberg issued a temporary order barring the Satmar-linked association HaShekel HaTahor from offering payments to people who promise not to vote.
The petition alleged payments worth $200 to people who declared that they would abstain. Israeli law prohibits a bribe meant to influence a voter either to vote or to stay home.
The country is choosing a parliament. One party threatens to cut off a citizen’s money unless he enlists. Another group allegedly pays voters to stay home. The court decides who may stand. The poll tells everyone they are winning.
#IsraelElections #Knesset #Bennett #Netanyahu
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A new poll gives Yashar! 22 seats, Likud 18 and Bennett’s Beyachad 13. Israel’s election campaign has already found its central ideology: everyone is somebody else’s existential threat.
The full result puts the Democrats at 11, Yisrael Beytenu and Otzma Yehudit at nine each, the Joint List at seven, Shas, United Torah Judaism and Religious Zionism at six each, Ra’am at five, and Amcha Yisrael and the Reservists at four apiece. That is a crowded Knesset before anyone has formed a government or explained who will sit with whom.
Beyachad’s Ram Ben-Barak called Netanyahu “Israel’s greatest enemy.” Bennett went to Bnei Brak, faced activist Mordechai David, and told him: “I suggest you enlist quickly, because once I am prime minister, you won’t get a shekel from the state.” David then blocked Bennett’s vehicle. Israeli politics has reached the stage where conscription policy is settled through traffic obstruction.
Likud candidate Elisha Medan offered the counter-slogan: “I’m not sure pushing an entire public is the way.” Democrat candidate Moshe Radman said there was room for demands to recognize the Nakba and accusations of war crimes. The campaign now has a complete menu: end the draft exemptions, protect the draft exemptions, recognize the Nakba, disqualify the Arabs and call Netanyahu the enemy.
The Democrats demanded personal security for party leader Yair Golan, arguing that police assigned him the same threat level as Gadi Eisenkot while providing protection to Eisenkot.
The High Court will sit as an expanded nine-justice panel on Thursday to decide the disqualification of Ofer Cassif and Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh.
Meanwhile, Justice Noam Sohlberg issued a temporary order barring the Satmar-linked association HaShekel HaTahor from offering payments to people who promise not to vote.
The petition alleged payments worth $200 to people who declared that they would abstain. Israeli law prohibits a bribe meant to influence a voter either to vote or to stay home.
The country is choosing a parliament. One party threatens to cut off a citizen’s money unless he enlists. Another group allegedly pays voters to stay home. The court decides who may stand. The poll tells everyone they are winning.
#IsraelElections #Knesset #Bennett #Netanyahu
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