Jerusalem’s Draft-Dodger Dividend

Thousands marched through Jerusalem to honor ultra-Orthodox men released from military prison for draft evasion. At the end, each man was promised 1,000 shekels.

The country is extending reserve call-ups while a religious movement puts a cash prize on refusing the draft.

The procession began in Geula and ended near Kikar HaShabbat. About 50 recently released draft evaders attended, though roughly 100 had been invited.

Participants held signs calling the IDF an “enemy army” and demanding the release of “hostages” from Prison 10, the military prison.

The event’s organizers said the money came from donations abroad. Video later showed Rabbi Yehuda Tzadaka handing envelopes to the men, with 1,000 shekels in each.

The cash is neither a salary nor a fine. It is a public reward for choosing the army’s jail over the army.

Yashar! leader Gadi Eisenkot called the coming vote a choice between a “government of draft evasion” and a “Zionist government of enlistment.”

Democrat leader Yair Golan said people were marching through the capital with anti-IDF signs while Netanyahu transfers billions of shekels to their community. Bennett said the Netanyahu-Deri government pays them billions.

Ofer Winter placed the sequence correctly: the evaders received honors in Bnei Brak, then the calls of “enemy army” arrived in Jerusalem. He said the scenes demeaned IDF soldiers.

Avigdor Liberman demanded an immediate investigation into who financed the envelopes and called on Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz to condemn the event that same night.

Israel’s government is asking for authority to keep up to 200,000 reservists under emergency call-up through November. In Jerusalem, a parallel institution handed cash to men whose emergency was refusing to serve.

#Israel #IDF #Haredim #Draft

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Meta’s AI Tax Bonanza: Billions Saved as Washington Pays the Bill


Meta is pouring billions of dollars into the infrastructure behind the artificial-intelligence boom. At the same time, the company has found a powerful way to reduce its federal tax bill: using tax incentives designed to encourage investment in research, development and capital infrastructure.

The result is striking. Meta reported a federal income-tax rate of just over 3.5% for 2025, its lowest rate since Facebook went public. Its federal tax bill fell to roughly $2.8 billion, compared with about $9.6 billion the previous year, even as its domestic profits climbed to roughly $79.6 billion.

Meta is not alone. Amazon and Alphabet also reported sharply lower tax bills as they accelerated spending on AI infrastructure, servers, chips and data centers.

Amazon’s federal tax bill fell from about $9 billion in 2024 to roughly $1.2 billion in 2025, while Alphabet’s combined federal and state tax figure declined from about $21.1 billion to $13.8 billion.

Much of the change is linked to the tax legislation signed by President Donald Trump in 2025. The law expanded or restored deductions allowing companies to write off certain capital investments and research expenses more quickly. For technology companies racing to build enormous AI computing networks, those provisions can translate into billions of dollars in tax savings or deferred payments.

Meta’s AI expansion is therefore doing double duty: increasing the company’s computing capacity while generating expenses that can reduce its taxable income.

There is, however, an important distinction. Lower taxes today do not necessarily mean those taxes disappear forever. Some provisions effectively push tax payments into future years. Meta reported more than $18 billion in deferred taxes for 2025.

Supporters argue that accelerated deductions encourage companies to invest in American technology, infrastructure and research rather than shifting those investments overseas. Critics counter that the incentives are increasingly benefiting some of the world’s most profitable corporations on a massive scale.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that Meta, Amazon and Alphabet collectively reduced their federal tax payments by nearly $50 billion in 2025 compared with what they would have owed at the statutory 21% corporate rate.

That is an advocacy group’s calculation, rather than an amount determined by the IRS.

The controversy is about more than accounting. AI data centers have become one of the biggest engines of corporate investment, with individual facilities costing billions of dollars. They also consume enormous amounts of electricity and, depending on their cooling systems, significant quantities of water.

That leaves Washington facing a difficult question: when Congress creates tax breaks to stimulate innovation, where is the line between encouraging investment and subsidizing the expansion of already enormously profitable technology companies?

For Meta, the answer is increasingly visible in its balance sheet. The company is spending aggressively on AI — and the tax code is helping make that expansion substantially cheaper.

#Meta #ArtificialIntelligence #BigTech #Taxes

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💲💥Qatar’s Bad Investment

Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN that Qatar spent “untold billions” spreading lies about Israel.

Qatar’s prime minister answered with the kind of return-on-investment calculation no lobbying firm wants to publish.

If that had been Doha’s goal, Qatar should be receiving American aid, immunity and protection. Instead, it got attacked.

Netanyahu accused Qatar of spending decades funding American universities and “toxic media outlets like Al Jazeera” to “brainwash young minds” against Israel, America and the West.

Qatar rejects the allegation. Doha says most of its U.S.-university spending supports American branch campuses in Qatar’s Education City, rather than political influence in the United States.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told Piers Morgan that, if Qatar’s investments had been meant to buy influence in Washington, the country had received an absurdly poor return.

Qatar would be the chief recipient of U.S. assistance, he said. It would never be attacked. Its strategic security would be guaranteed. “It was a very bad investment, if that was the purpose of it.”

Then he supplied the detail that makes the joke land. Al Thani said the White House informed him that the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran was beginning only minutes to half an hour before it started.

Qatar hosts the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East. Its government learned that a regional war was about to begin on a notice shorter than a late dinner reservation.

Bennett called Al Thani “a terrorist in a suit,” promised to declare Qatar an enemy state, remove “Qatari agents” from the Prime Minister’s Office and drive Qatar out of Israel and Gaza.

Al Thani calls Netanyahu a war criminal and insists that Qatari aid to Gaza was transferred at Israel’s request and under U.S. coordination.

An earlier Yedioth Ahronoth and Ynet investigation concluded that some Qatari funds officially described as humanitarian were diverted to Hamas, including funds that helped cover about half the military wing’s budget. Qatar denies the broader allegation.

Qatar hosts Hamas leaders, mediates with Hamas, hosts the U.S. military and receives warnings from Washington just before war begins. Netanyahu says this is hostile influence. Al Thani says it is a bad investment. Both descriptions can fit the same business model.

#Qatar #Israel #Netanyahu #Bennett

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The Strait of Trump™

Trump says Iran is “in a very bad situation” and will eventually give up. Qatar’s mediators spent the UN week trying to make Washington and Tehran speak to each other.

The talks hit a wall because Iran wants terms the United States will not accept, while U.S. officials see little reason to compromise.

Washington then sanctioned eight entities and five people tied to Iran’s weapons procurement, while offering up to $15 million for information on the IRGC’s money system and three missile-and-space commanders. Peace talks, but with a bounty menu.

Trump also claimed the United States had moved more oil through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days than at any point in history. A president measuring diplomacy in barrels is not trying to end a war. He is selling the war’s shipping report.

Iran wants sanctions relief. Trump wants surrender. Qatar wants the Strait reopened before everybody discovers what an oil panic costs at the pump. The negotiators call it diplomacy. The market calls it a hostage situation with tankers.

#Iran #Trump #Qatar #Hormuz

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The White House’s Robot Babysitter

Trump gathered the men building the machines that may outthink governments and signed a voluntary pact for them to supervise themselves.

Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Jensen Huang, Greg Brockman and Dario Amodei joined the ceremony. The document is called “The White House Accord on Superintelligence.”

Its plan is elegantly American: each company builds internal controls, appoints internal monitors, hires an outside auditor and sends the results to its own board.

The industry gets four layers of oversight, all ultimately paid by the industry. Trump called it “morally binding,” not legally binding. The White House calls that a constitution. Wall Street calls it governance.

The pact tells companies to stop advanced AI from entering computer systems it was not intended to access. It asks the makers of potentially uncontrollable software to promise that the software will behave, then asks the makers to grade their own promise.

Anthropic came to the White House having warned prospective IPO investors that advanced AI may pose “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity.”

Its prospectus says models could resist shutdown, conceal or manipulate information, and display behavior resembling blackmail.

The company selling the fire alarm helped sign the agreement saying the fire alarm company will inspect the building.

Trump’s answer to machine intelligence is corporate self-regulation with a presidential autograph. The boardroom already had a seat at the table. Now it has custody of the robot.

#AI #Trump #Anthropic #BigTech

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China’s Yemen Assembly Line

The Houthis no longer need to wait for Iran to deliver a finished missile in a fishing boat.

China is supplying the parts catalog: dual-use electronics, industrial machines, engines and drone equipment.

All of that arrive as commercial cargo and can become missiles or attack drones after a short trip through a Yemeni workshop.

The old supply chain was Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, small boats and weapons shipments headed for Yemen’s coast.

Much of it was intercepted. The newer model is harder to stop because a CNC machine, a radio transmitter or a drone engine can plausibly be sold as civilian equipment until it lands in Houthi hands.

U.S. and UN-linked findings cited by reporting say Chinese firms have become the largest source of seized material bound for the group, with Chinese-origin dual-use goods accounting for more than 70% of prohibited or restricted items intercepted from January 2025 through April 2026.

That turns the Houthi arsenal into an import business. Iran supplies expertise, designs and political cover.

Chinese exporters supply the parts. Yemen supplies cheap labor and a coastline built for smuggling.

Every container that clears customs is another installment in a local missile factory.

On Wednesday, the Houthis said they shot down a Saudi ScanEagle surveillance drone above Saada. They described it as a Boeing-made aircraft worth about $11.25 million. Insitu, the ScanEagle maker, is a Boeing subsidiary.

A $11 million drone versus a warehouse of consumer-grade components: this is the Red Sea’s business model. The United States and Saudi Arabia sell the hardware. Iran and China sell the repair kit. The Houthis supply the demonstration.

#Houthis #China #Iran #RedSea

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The Two-Minute Security Briefing

Netanyahu warned that Israel’s enemies may attack before the election. Lapid received a 30-minute classified briefing, said the military, Shin Bet and police were ready, and told the public not to panic. Likud’s reply was that he posted the statement two minutes after leaving.

The briefing included Netanyahu, Lapid, the military secretary and the military secretary’s intelligence officer. The Prime Minister’s Office said the intelligence presentation gave detailed warnings of possible attacks on multiple fronts before the election. It offered no public details on the threats.

Before the meeting, Lapid and Bennett had focused on a different warning: the IDF’s manpower shortage. Bennett said Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir had raised 10 red flags over a shortage of 20,000 combat soldiers. Lapid later used the figure of 15,000 ultra-Orthodox men “missing” from the IDF. The numbers describe the same political failure from different ends: an army asked to prepare for several fronts while the coalition preserves mass draft exemptions.

Lapid said Israel’s security agencies were prepared for the vote and that “there is no reason to put the public into panic.” He added that security threats must be handled professionally and that “Israel’s security and IDF bases are not props for election campaign videos.”

Likud did not dispute Lapid’s claim about readiness. It disputed his typing speed. The party said he left at 23:39 and issued his statement at 23:41, so he either writes “at the speed of light” or prepared his response before the briefing.

Meanwhile, the government is set to extend the legal framework for up to 200,000 reserve call-ups through November 30, down from the 240,000 authorized through the end of September. The estimated cost is 6.6 billion shekels. Israel has enough reserve orders for a large war. It is still arguing over whether it has enough soldiers for one.

Netanyahu says there are threats. Lapid says the public is safe. The coalition keeps the draft exemptions. The only uncontested intelligence is that somebody wrote a press release before midnight.

#Israel #Netanyahu #Lapid #IDF

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Trump’s Russia Gamble: Prisoners for Sanctions Relief 🏛


The Trump administration is considering an unusual bargain with Moscow: Russia could release political prisoners, while Washington would respond by easing some economic sanctions. According to reporting in The Atlantic, the idea was presented to Trump by his envoy John Coale, who has pursued a similar approach with Belarus.

The proposal reflects a distinctly transactional style of diplomacy. Rather than waiting for a comprehensive settlement of the war in Ukraine, Washington could seek a limited agreement with the Kremlin that produces a visible humanitarian concession while opening the door to broader economic negotiations.

Coale has already used a comparable strategy with Belarus, where the release of political prisoners was linked to sanctions relief. The Russian proposal would take that model into a far more consequential arena.

If Moscow agreed to release prisoners in exchange for sanctions relief, the arrangement could become an opening for renewed U.S.-Russian economic contacts. Energy, commodities and other areas currently constrained by sanctions could eventually become part of a broader conversation, while American companies could once again examine opportunities in the Russian market.

For Trump, such a deal could offer a tangible diplomatic achievement even while the larger Russia-Ukraine conflict remains unresolved.

But the proposal carries major political risks. Ukraine has consistently opposed sanctions relief for Russia while the war continues.

Zelensky has argued that sanctions should remain in place until Moscow ends its aggression. Any unilateral American move to ease restrictions could therefore create another serious dispute between Washington and Kyiv.

European allies and some members of Congress could also object to separating sanctions relief from a broader settlement of the war. The question is particularly sensitive because economic pressure remains one of the principal tools available to the United States and its allies.

The plan is still at an early stage. There is no final agreement with Moscow, and it remains unclear which prisoners could be released, what sanctions might be lifted, or what conditions Washington would impose.

The economic dimension is equally significant. Jared Kushner has reportedly discussed with Russian officials the business opportunities that could emerge after a potential peace agreement, including the possibility of renewed American-Russian commercial cooperation.

That points to a broader vision of diplomacy: not simply ending the fighting, but rebuilding economic ties that were severed or sharply restricted after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

For Moscow, sanctions relief would provide an immediate economic incentive. For Washington, the release of political prisoners could offer a concrete humanitarian result. For Trump, a deal could be presented as evidence that direct negotiation and transactional diplomacy can produce concessions from the Kremlin.

But the central obstacle remains the war itself. A prisoner-for-sanctions arrangement would not resolve the territorial, security and political disputes between Russia and Ukraine. It would be a limited bargain, not a peace settlement.

For now, Washington appears to be exploring a radically different approach to Moscow — one based on immediate exchanges, concrete concessions and the promise of larger economic opportunities.

Whether the Kremlin would accept such a bargain remains uncertain. But if the idea moves forward, it could become an important test of Trump’s strategy toward Russia and a new source of tension between Washington, Kyiv and its European allies.

#Trump #Russia #Ukraine #Sanctions

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🪖💲Washington Cashes Egypt’s Iran War Credit

Secretary of State Marco Rubio waived human-rights conditions on $320 million in U.S. military aid to Egypt, citing Cairo’s “helpful role” after the launch of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

The State Department said the funds are necessary for counterterrorism, border security, nonproliferation, or other U.S. national-security interests.

Rubio’s signed justification said the waiver was essential to the U.S.-Egypt relationship, but did not specify what Egypt had done to earn it.

Egypt receives roughly $1.3 billion in U.S. military assistance annually.

Human-rights conditions are a bargaining chip, not a principle. Cairo became useful in a regional war, so Washington removed the price of its domestic repression.

@Burning_Babylon

#Egypt #UnitedStates #Iran #Rubio #BabylonBurning

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Turkey’s Export Model: Turn Allies Into Fronts

Azerbaijan has already shown where its priorities sit when Israel’s interests collide with Turkey’s.

When Israel’s government decided to recognize the Armenian genocide in June, Baku condemned the decision as a “distortion of historical facts,” demanded that Jerusalem reverse it and adopted Ankara’s line almost word for word.

The country Israel treated as a strategic partner chose Turkey’s national myth over Israel’s political decision.

For years, Israeli diplomats had cited Azerbaijan’s sensitivities as a reason to avoid recognition. Then Jerusalem signaled it was ready to cross that line, and Baku did not merely complain.

It reportedly pushed to curb further Knesset action, proving that the Turkish veto can now travel through Israeli-Azerbaijani relations without Turkish diplomats entering the room.

Israel knows this story. Before 1979, Iran was one of Israel’s closest regional partners: intelligence cooperation, arms ties, oil and a shared interest in containing Arab nationalist states. The Islamic Revolution converted a strategic partner into Israel’s central regional enemy.

Turkey followed the same trajectory. It was the first Muslim-majority state to recognize Israel in 1949 and developed deep defense, intelligence and commercial ties with Jerusalem. Under Erdoğan, those ties collapsed into open hostility over Gaza, Syria and regional power. Turkey’s leadership now treats Israel as a source of regional disorder.

Israel’s historical gift is finding the region’s most strategically useful non-Arab partner and discovering, a generation later, that it has acquired a new ideology, a new map and a reason to treat Israel as the enemy.

Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler brought Turkish, Azerbaijani and Uzbek forces together for joint exercises in Azerbaijan and called for Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to join future drills.

Ankara is drawing the Turkic states into a military bloc of its own.Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler brought Turkish, Azerbaijani and Uzbek forces together for joint operations in Azerbaijan, and called for Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to join future drills.

The project creates common doctrine, common officers and a political hierarchy in which Turkey supplies the strategic vocabulary.

Iran’s old resistance axis was built around militias that advertised their hatred of Israel. Turkey’s emerging axis works through governments, transport corridors, military exercises and historical vetoes.

It is quieter because it does not need a masked spokesman. It has ministries.

Azerbaijan is not yet Israel’s enemy, and its extensive relations with Israel still matter. But Ankara is changing Baku from Israel’s strategic depth into Turkey’s forward operating environment.

Israel watched Iran and Turkey travel from partnership to hostility.

#Turkey #Azerbaijan #Israel #Armenia

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The Warnings Department

Benjamin Netanyahu told CBS he did not ignore warnings before October 7 because he never received them.

Donald Trump told Time he did not believe reports that Egypt and the UAE warned Netanyahu, reasoning that Netanyahu would have acted if he had known.

That same day, Israel’s Supreme Court allowed the name of the Gaza Division’s intelligence officer on October 7 to be published: Lt. Col. Aryeh Amidror, son of retired Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser.

Amidror had fought both the end of his career service and publication of his identity while the IDF moved to dismiss him over alleged professional failures.

Supreme Court President Isaac Amit found no remaining security reason to preserve the gag order.

The name had circulated online, the public interest was clear, and even Amidror’s own position suggested the restriction might expire within months.

The official chain now looks almost elegant. Foreign leaders may have warned Netanyahu. Netanyahu says no warning reached him. Trump says he believes Netanyahu.

A military intelligence officer who allegedly rejected a detailed Hamas raid scenario has spent months litigating whether Israel may say who he is.

October 7 did not lack warnings. It lacked a department willing to own them.

#Israel #Netanyahu #October7 #Intelligence

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💲🎚The Proxy War Graduates

Marco Rubio already called Ukraine a “proxy war between nuclear powers.”

Today Vladimir Putin supplied the next chapter: he told the Valdai Discussion Club that international conflicts are highly likely to continue, blamed the upheaval on the decline of Western hegemony, and warned the West against escalation.

He also said Russia would use “all weapons at [its] disposal” if attacked.

This is the logic of a proxy war after it has run too long. Washington says it is helping Ukraine defend itself. Moscow says it is fighting the West through Ukraine.

Both states preserve the line that keeps their own soldiers from meeting openly, while Ukraine remains the place where the line is paid for in bodies and ruins.

Putin’s threat is not a peace proposal. It is a demand that NATO stay outside the ring while Russia continues fighting inside it. The Kremlin’s promise to reach for its entire arsenal if Russia is attacked gives the arrangement its nuclear perimeter.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico recently described the same machine more crudely, calling the Western effort to defeat Russia through Ukraine a failed strategy and warning that some Western politicians want a direct NATO-Russia confrontation.

Rubio called it a proxy war. Putin calls it Western hegemony.

Fico calls it an attempt to destroy Russia. Everyone has a phrase. Ukraine has the cemetery.

#Ukraine #Russia #Putin #NATO

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Meridian: The War Chatbot Cabinet

Pete Hegseth has launched Project Meridian, a 120-day Pentagon exercise in designing future wars. Its co-leads are Elon Musk, Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

The task is to identify the domains America must “conquer” and the weapons it must field, from underground battlefields to somewhere beyond the Moon.

The Pentagon has assembled a billionaire who owns rockets, a billionaire who sells autonomous weapons, and a retired politician to forecast the future of war.

Musk arrives at the Pentagon with a special credential: according to Time, Trump spent hours questioning Musk’s Grok chatbot about his own presidency and legacy. While considering the capture of Nicolás Maduro, Trump asked Grok how Venezuelans would react.

Grok answered that many would celebrate the fall of an unpopular dictator. Trump saw celebrations after Maduro’s capture and decided the chatbot was “genius.”

A military superpower is now treating a chatbot’s regime-change mood board as a presidential reference desk.

Google released Gemini 4 Argon, a frontier model that can autonomously find, verify and patch critical software vulnerabilities.

Google is initially limiting access to vetted cybersecurity specialists because the model’s abilities could also help attackers.

Argon is safe enough to defend critical networks, and dangerous enough that Google will not hand it to the public. That is less a product launch than a classified warning label.

The Pentagon wants to map future war. Trump asks Grok whether a foreign public will applaud a captured president. Google locks its strongest cyber model behind a trusted-defenders gate because it could turn digital locks into open doors.

The machines are learning to break into systems. The humans are learning to outsource judgment.

#Pentagon #AI #Trump #Grok

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🚀Iranian Footprints, By Rumor

Donald Trump was asked whether Iran was tied to the Flydubai co-pilot who allegedly stabbed the captain and tried to crash a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight.

“We’re working on it right now,”

Trump said.

“I would say the answer, based on what I’m hearing, is yes, but we’re working on it right now.”

Asked about retaliation, he replied:

“They’ll be hit, very hard, don’t worry.”

The president supplied no public evidence. Netanyahu had said earlier that it was too early to establish Iranian involvement.

The investigation is still trying to determine the co-pilot’s motive, contacts and whether the cockpit attack was directed by anyone beyond the man in the seat.

That creates the usual Middle East evidence ladder. A pilot attacks another pilot. The plane sends the hijack code. A Saudi airport receives the aircraft. Israel, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Washington begin comparing intelligence.

Before the investigators complete the first version of the file, the White House has placed Iran under an implied retaliatory deadline.

Trump’s phrase is more than an accusation. It is a diplomatic fuse. If evidence later identifies an Iranian chain of command, Washington already has its warning line.

If it does not, the public has still spent a day watching the United States threaten a country that has not been formally tied to the attack.

The co-pilot may prove to be an Iranian operative. He may prove to be a lone attacker.

Trump has decided the escalation script should be written before the investigation finishes.

#Iran #Trump #Flydubai #Israel

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Ukraine Warns of Possible New Russian Campaign Against Energy Infrastructure ⚠️


Ukraine has presented European partners with documents that it says contain intercepted Russian plans for attacks on the country’s energy system during the coming winter.

According to Ukrainian officials, the material describes a potential campaign aimed at critical infrastructure serving major Ukrainian cities. The facilities identified in the documents include parts of the electricity network as well as systems connected to heating and water supplies.

The information has emerged as Kyiv and its European allies prepare for another winter in which energy infrastructure is expected to remain a major security concern. Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukrainian power facilities during the war, while Ukraine has sought to strengthen air defenses, repair damaged infrastructure and secure alternative sources of electricity.

The documents presented by Kyiv have not been independently authenticated in public. Their contents therefore represent Ukrainian assessments of Russian planning rather than independently established evidence of what Moscow will ultimately do.

Still, Ukrainian officials regard the material as significant because of the potential scale of the infrastructure involved. Damage to major power facilities can have consequences beyond the immediate loss of electricity. In large cities, interruptions to power can affect district heating systems, water distribution, communications and other essential services.

The timing is also important. Ukraine enters the colder months with an energy system that has already sustained extensive damage from repeated Russian attacks. Engineers and utility companies have spent much of the year repairing substations, generating facilities and transmission networks while attempting to create additional capacity and emergency reserves.

The country has also worked with European governments to reduce the impact of possible disruptions. Electricity imports, backup generation and additional air-defense equipment are among the measures being considered or expanded as Ukraine prepares for another period of heavy demand.

The latest warning comes against a broader backdrop of continued Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. Moscow has previously said that its strikes are directed at military and energy-related targets, while Ukrainian officials have repeatedly accused Russia of deliberately attacking infrastructure essential to civilian life.

The distinction between military objectives and civilian consequences is particularly important in the energy sector. A strike on a power facility can affect hospitals, transportation, water systems and residential buildings even when the facility itself is described as a military or strategic target.

European governments therefore face the task of assessing the credibility of the Ukrainian intelligence while preparing for scenarios that could place additional pressure on Ukraine's power system.

The documents may provide indications of Russian planning, but they do not by themselves establish whether every element of the reported plan will be carried out.

For Ukraine, the immediate challenge is practical: maintaining electricity, heating and water supplies while protecting infrastructure that is difficult to replace quickly. For its European partners, the issue also involves determining how much additional assistance can be provided before the winter demand period begins.

The coming months will show whether the reported plans translate into a broader campaign against Ukraine's energy network. For now, Ukrainian officials are treating the documents as a warning and are urging partners to prepare for further attacks on critical infrastructure.

#Ukraine #Russia #EnergySecurity #WarInUkraine

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The Abraham Accords Grounded

Israel’s Transport Ministry said overnight that Israeli carriers would begin repatriation flights from Dubai on Friday after coordination with all relevant parties.

By morning, El Al had canceled its special flights. The UAE had withdrawn landing approval for Israeli airlines.

The official explanation was “security coordination.” Israelis stranded in Dubai had tickets, airlines had aircraft, and none of it mattered without a final Emirati yes.

El Al said it would fly as soon as approval returned, while keeping future Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday rescue services on its schedule, already fully booked.

The permits then began to move again. Arkia said it had obtained approval to operate a Friday flight and another on Saturday.

Israir later said it had received final Emirati clearance, although El Al’s two Friday flights remained canceled.

The UAE had transformed an evacuation operation into airport-slot roulette.

Two days after the Flydubai cockpit attack on a Dubai–Tel Aviv route, Israel needs the UAE’s cooperation to bring its citizens home.

The Emirates can answer the phone, withdraw the permit, restore it for one airline, and let Jerusalem describe the result as coordination.

#Israel #UAE #Dubai #Aviation

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💲The G7 Opens the Diesel Vault

The G7 agreed today to release 100 million barrels of crude and refined products through the International Energy Agency over four months, starting immediately.

A substantial share of diesel is to hit the market within the first 20 days, because the West’s energy-security architecture has discovered that trucks, farms and armies run on the fuel nobody wants to discuss at climate summits.

The leaders also agreed to coordinate refinery-maintenance schedules, increase refinery use where feasible, and avoid energy-export restrictions among G7 members.

They urged other producers to do the same. Translation: no one is allowed to solve a fuel shortage by keeping fuel at home.

Trump claimed victory in his usual language: “Europe has just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil. The process will begin immediately.”
The IEA will monitor compliance and report back within 20 days.

Reuters reported that the Trump administration had pressed European governments to free stocks as diesel prices surged amid the Iran war.

Europe did not wake up with a sudden passion for collective logistics. Washington reminded it that the alternative could be an American ban on diesel exports.

The statement blamed Iran for attacks on regional neighbors and disruption to trade, demanded the restoration of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, and praised U.S. action to keep the strait open.

#G7 #Iran #Diesel #Hormuz

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