#pete #hegseth #hearing #urgent

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The Superpower Will Disconnect You

Tehran’s next bid for world power could begin by cutting off the neighbors’ internet.

Iran has drawn up detailed plans to attack Gulf undersea communications cables if the United States and Israel strike again, two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters. One said Iran would also try to prevent repairs, prolonging the disruption.

“If Iran is attacked, there will be no more red lines ... from undersea cables to military bases, including covert ones,” one official said.

Revolutionary Guards spokesman Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi promised a response “several times greater” to even a limited attack. He also insisted Iran’s enemies currently lack the capacity for effective military operations. Apparently, the incapable enemy still requires an expanding target list.

Washington’s regional security promise and Tehran’s deterrence doctrine now meet at the same cable. One side stations forces to protect the neighborhood. The other threatens to disconnect it if those forces attack.

The neighbors bought connectivity. The powers supplied the cancellation policy.

#BabylonBurning #Iran #IRGC #GulfSecurity

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Libya’s Extension Cord

Israel wants a power connection to Europe. Libya’s eastern parliament has just strengthened the hand of the country demanding the coordinates.

On Oct. 20, the chamber approved Turkey’s 2019 maritime deal with Tripoli after years of opposition. Ankara courted the Haftar camp with defense cooperation and investment prospects. Greece offered objections, a less attractive package.

The disputed maritime claims overlap the planned Crete–Cyprus cable route, the essential bridge for Israel’s future electricity link to Europe.

Turkey demands written notice of survey work. Greece insists that notification is not a request for permission.

“Here are the coordinates. That is all we are asking for,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Oct. 21.

Libya’s rival power brokers found common ground where Ankara found leverage. Athens now hopes to send a notice that Turkey can sell domestically as consent. Both governments could claim sovereignty while the survey ship gets back to work.

Israel’s planned connection to Europe comes with an extra adapter: Greek paperwork that Turkey can label a permit.

#BabylonBurning #Libya #Turkey #Israel #EnergyPolitics

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Lula Downloads Hope

At 80, Lula has his first cell phone. A first-round election setback persuaded Brazil’s president that the device he never wanted might help him keep the job.

Bloomberg reports that his campaign has traded formal institutional messaging for selfies, jokes and workout videos. Bolsonaro’s allies made big gains in both houses of Congress. Lula’s counteroffensive now includes proving he can work a front-facing camera.

“Hope is all I have left,” said Maria Elisa Assy, 35, wearing a Lula cap to vote near São Paulo’s Avenida Paulista on Sunday. She said the first-round results had shocked her.

With Bolsonaro’s allies heading into a stronger Congress, Lula’s campaign is offering shaken supporters reassurance through presidential content. The workout videos give them something to watch while they worry about the count.

The president has discovered the smartphone. His voters are waiting for the feature that turns selfies into votes.

#Brazil #Lula #BrazilElections

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Boarding at Your Own Risk

Riyadh’s airport is open again. The Houthis still promise to hit it. Passengers are advised to check their bookings.

Apparently the booking system is the one part of this war that still works.

An October 10 cruise missile strike killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 300 in a passenger terminal.

At least three other deadly attacks hit the airport this month. Now the doors are unlocked.

The Iran-backed Houthis call the airport a “military target” and say Saudi Arabia will bear responsibility for the consequences of reopening it.

A magnificent arrangement. They fire the missile, then assign liability to whoever lets the victims through the door.

Please keep your boarding pass handy for identification.

#SaudiArabia #Houthis #Riyadh

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The Retaliation Subscription

Washington and Tehran are preparing the next round. Each describes its package as a response to the other.

In private, Trump appears to favor renewed strikes. Central Command has expanded its target list to include Iranian energy infrastructure.

Trump has said he would hold off until after the Nov. 3 midterms.

Two Iranian officials told the Times that Tehran’s expanded targets include U.S. diplomats and personnel. They called Americans “fair game,” citing U.S. and Israeli killings of Iranian officials and their family members.

American intelligence says several plots are moving toward execution.

Both sides are manufacturing the next round’s justification in advance. Washington prepares to bomb Iran’s economy. Tehran prepares to target the people representing Washington. Each preparation gives the other another reason to act.

#BabylonBurning #Iran #Trump #MiddleEast

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The Drone Demo

The Houthis’ military media arm released footage of “Shawaz” drones striking a tank, an armored vehicle and pickups on Yemen’s Marib front. The camera supplies both the targeting feed and the promotional material.

A Yemeni recruit fighting for Russia in Ukraine offers the customer review from underneath: “We ask Allah to save us from the drones.” In an account published by [source], he describes their speed and sharp turns, then says he started smoking out of loneliness, anxiety, cold and fear.

Meanwhile, a seller in Houthi-controlled northern Yemen is offering a German World War II MG42 machine gun for 800,000 Yemeni rials, roughly $1,600, according to the same account.

Yemen’s war has room for Hitler’s old hardware and drones with live camera feeds. Russia’s army has room for a Yemeni recruit who gets to meet such drones from the receiving end.

The Houthis publish the impact footage. The recruit supplies the part that military promotional videos tend to leave out: what happens to a man while he waits for the next drone.

#Yemen #Houthis #DroneWarfare

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#BillClinton #HillaryClinton #Trump

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Trump Won the Border Battle — Now Immigration Is Becoming a Political Liability

For years, the U.S.-Mexico border was one of the Republican Party’s most powerful political weapons.

Under Trump, that advantage may be fading. The administration’s crackdown has sharply reduced illegal crossings, easing one of the biggest concerns that helped propel Trump back to the White House in 2024. In Starr County, Texas, a predominantly Latino community that broke with decades of Democratic voting to support Trump, frustration over border security helped reshape the political landscape.

But with migrant encounters falling dramatically, the issue that once energized voters is losing some of its force. Federal data show that encounters at the southern border dropped from more than 2.2 million in 2022 to 237,538 in fiscal year 2025, the lowest level since 1970.

For Republicans, that represents a major policy achievement. Politically, however, it creates an unexpected challenge: when the crisis appears to have subsided, voters may turn their attention elsewhere.

And immigration enforcement is generating its own backlash. Expanded operations by Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have raised fears among residents, disrupted local labor markets and left some communities struggling to find workers.

Reports of construction workers being detained have heightened anxiety among families and employers alike. The shift is complicating the political calculations of voters who supported Trump because they wanted a more secure border but did not necessarily endorse sweeping deportations.

Some former Republican supporters now say the administration has gone too far, particularly when enforcement affects longtime residents, workers and neighbors. Democratic state Sen. Juan Hinojosa acknowledges that the Biden administration failed to manage the border effectively.

But he argues that Trump’s aggressive response has overshot the mark, creating new problems even as crossings decline. The political stakes are significant ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Republicans can point to measurable progress on border security, but they may find it harder to turn that success into votes if immigration is no longer the dominant concern it once was. Meanwhile, the human and economic consequences of deportation policies could give Democrats a fresh line of attack.

Trump’s border crackdown may have changed the political debate. The question now is whether Republicans can claim victory without alienating the very voters who helped deliver it.

#Trump #Immigration #BorderSecurity #MidtermElections

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Democracy’s Warranty

Democrats brought Barack Obama back to Michigan nine days before the midterms. Trump’s Sunday rally advertised Nicki Minaj. The closing campaign push has a reunion-tour feel, with control of Congress riding on the turnout.

Trump has a legal contingency in Alaska. On Oct. 23, he said he directed the Justice Department to sue over a Senate ballot featuring Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan and Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired teacher.

The department seeks to delay certification if the senator loses and his namesake receives enough votes to change the outcome, pending an investigation into voter confusion. Alaska’s Supreme Court has allowed the second Sullivan to run.

The filing calls this an effort

“to protect the integrity of the 2026 Senate election in Alaska.”

Voters can choose between two Sullivans. Under the administration’s proposed safeguard, whether that choice requires investigation depends on whether they elect the one Trump wants.

#Midterms #Trump #Alaska #ElectionLaw

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War, Pending Scheduling

Bombing Iran apparently requires finding a date that works for both democracies.

CNN reports that Netanyahu pressed Trump for a joint strike before Israel's election. Trump withheld approval. An Israeli security source told CNN that military chief Eyal Zamir warned his American counterpart that an attack could disrupt the vote and force its postponement. Netanyahu's office called the report "fake news."

Two U.S. officials said American forces could launch strikes within 96 hours of Trump's order.

The target list, according to the officials, includes energy infrastructure, military sites, and nuclear facilities.

Trump has yet to settle on a course of action.

#BabylonBurning #Iran #Israel #Trump

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Trump’s Election Warning Campaign Raises Alarms as America Heads Toward the Midterms 🗳


With control of Congress at stake, Trump and his allies are intensifying warnings about election fraud, raising concerns that the groundwork is being laid to challenge unfavorable results before voters even cast their ballots.

The strategy centers on a familiar message: American elections cannot be trusted unless they produce an outcome the president and his supporters consider legitimate. From claims about noncitizen voting to attacks on mail-in ballots, Trump and influential voices in his political orbit have repeatedly portrayed the voting system as vulnerable to widespread abuse, despite limited evidence of fraud on the scale they suggest.

An analysis by The Washington Post found that nearly 600 prominent conservative accounts and media outlets had made more than 7,000 claims about election integrity this year. Allegations involving noncitizen voters and mail ballots have become particularly prominent as the November 3 midterms approach.

The evidence, however, tells a different story. Investigations in states including Nevada and Georgia have found few or no noncitizens on voter rolls in the cases examined. In New Jersey, officials removed registrations affected by a software error. Such cases highlight the distinction between administrative mistakes, which election officials can address, and claims of a coordinated effort to manipulate the outcome of an election.

Trump has continued to question the reliability of American elections, encouraged people to report suspected fraud and declined to rule out deploying federal personnel at polling places.

His administration has also pursued legal challenges involving voting procedures, ballot eligibility and election certification, placing additional pressure on state officials responsible for administering elections.

The consequences could extend beyond Election Day. By repeatedly suggesting that the system is compromised, political leaders can make it easier for supporters to dismiss results they dislike. The danger is not limited to a single disputed race. It is the possibility that distrust becomes the default response whenever an election produces an unexpected outcome.

Polling cited in the report suggests that doubts about election security have gained traction among Republicans, particularly over whether noncitizens can be prevented from voting.

At the same time, many Americans question whether Trump would accept a Republican defeat without challenging the result. Democrats and voting-rights advocates are preparing legal and political responses, including efforts to protect ballot counting, certification and the formal seating of elected lawmakers.

Their preparations reflect concern that disputes could move quickly from campaign rhetoric into courtrooms and government institutions.

Foreign influence operations pose a separate challenge. U.S. adversaries have sought to exploit political divisions and undermine confidence in democratic institutions, but the report offers no evidence that foreign actors are interfering directly with vote tabulation in the upcoming midterms.

The central issue is therefore not simply whether individual claims of fraud can be disproved. It is whether Americans will trust the institutions responsible for counting their votes when the results are announced.

With control of Congress on the line, the battle over election legitimacy is unfolding alongside the campaign itself.

The warnings now circulating among Trump's allies could shape not only how voters approach November 3, but also how the country responds if the outcome threatens the president's political agenda.

#Trump #MidtermElections #ElectionIntegrity #AmericanPolitics

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A Deputy Ministry, Despite the Allegations

Israel’s education minister has a lesson in public service: withdraw your party, collect a government post.

Yoav Kisch brokered a deal for Rabbi Haim Yosef Abergil’s Achi party to quit the election race in exchange for a deputy minister representing its interests. Abergil faces an ongoing sexual-offense investigation involving women and minors. The promised appointment is for a party representative, not necessarily the rabbi himself.

The recording captures Kisch asking aides to stop filming, then explaining the arrangement to Netanyahu by phone. Current law requires a deputy minister to be a sitting lawmaker. Likud would try to change it; failing that, Achi could choose a lawmaker to fill the post. Netanyahu’s response: “Completely acceptable.”

The allegations remain unresolved. The political bargain is on tape. For the education minister, the obstacle requiring remedial work was the law.

#Israel #Netanyahu #PoliticalDeals

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⚔️Democracy, With Exclusions

Far-right lawmaker Simcha Rothman wants Israeli law applied across the West Bank. Asked by The New York Times whether Palestinians there would get the vote, he said, "No."

Yoav Segalovitz, a former police commander and deputy public security minister, is running second on the list of Raam, an Islamist Arab party. He is the first Jewish candidate on its slate. He joined the list and its Knesset faction but not the party itself, and he keeps a free vote on religion and state, security, and LGBTQ rights.

"I am going to an Arab party. They are not coming to me," he told The Media Line. Netanyahu's billboards frame the choice more simply, as "The Right or Palestine!"

The opposition has its own uncomfortable arithmetic. Polls cited by the Times suggest neither camp will reach 61 seats alone, and Raam's projected five or six seats could give Netanyahu's opponents a majority.

Bennett has ruled out relying on Raam, whether as a coalition partner or as outside support for a minority government. Segalovitz is betting his candidacy can change that refusal.

#IsraelElection #Raam #WestBank

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The Cease-Fire Body Count

Trump's Board of Peace said Gaza's cease-fire had "largely held." A U.N. commission of inquiry counted 1,431 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire between Oct. 10, 2025, and Sept. 30, 2026, including 300 children. A cease-fire can hold while the bodies accumulate.

In an Oct. 26 report to the General Assembly, the three-member Independent Commission of Inquiry said Israeli forces had continued to commit genocidal acts in Gaza with intent to destroy Palestinians there, in whole or in part.

It cited airstrikes, artillery, and sniper attacks, and reported further verified cases of sexual violence against Palestinian detainees, including gang rape. The International Court of Justice has yet to rule in South Africa's genocide case against Israel.

In the West Bank, the panel reported 1,080 Palestinians killed since the cease-fire, attributing 95% of the killings to Israeli security forces. Military operations there displaced more than 34,000 people between January 2025 and August 2026. The panel characterized military and settler attacks as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel rejected the report as misinformation and an attempt to delegitimize the state.

The commission also accused the Palestinian Authority of using excessive force in operations coordinated with Israel, killing at least 14 Palestinians in roughly two years through October 2025, and of trying to silence journalists and rights defenders. The Palestinian envoy to the U.N. promised misconduct would be addressed.

#Gaza #WestBank #UNReport

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The White House Audition

Nicki Minaj sat down with Trump's communications director and praised the president's business instincts. He posted the video as though she had just passed a job interview.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I think we may have found the new White House Press Secretary!" Steven Cheung wrote on X on Oct. 25, tagging the rapper. In the clip, he asks her about Trump's economic policy, and she calls the president a businessman at heart who came back even when he had nothing left in the bank. The post came nine days after Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was fired. The official White House account replied with an eyes emoji. Neither post announced an appointment.

The tease already works as well as an announcement would. Minaj lends a celebrity endorsement and the White House dangles a government title, yet nobody needs to hire anyone for both sides to collect the attention.

So far, the only questions have come from the president's own communications director. Reporters' would presumably be the harder round.

#WhiteHouse #NickiMinaj #Trump

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450 Million Slips, One Verdict Pending

Israel has printed 450 million ballot slips for 7,331,981 eligible voters. That is about 60 slips per voter. Only one of them counts.

Voting for the 26th Knesset began at 7 a.m. at 12,018 polling stations. Thirty-six lists are competing for 120 seats.

Most stations close at 10 p.m., while stations in smaller communities, hospitals, prisons, and nursing homes close at 8 p.m.

Trains run free of charge on election day. Election monitors will carry some 15,000 cameras.

Tonight's exit polls will leave a large block of ballots unopened: an estimated 600,000–650,000 double-envelope ballots from soldiers and other voters casting ballots outside their assigned stations.

Officials must first check for duplicate voting, then separate the outer envelopes, which identify the voter, from the sealed ballots.

Those ballots equal roughly 15 Knesset seats. Election-night celebrations will begin before they are counted.

#IsraelElection #Knesset #Election2026

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🏛⚔️ Trump Fires at Obama Over White House Makeover, Turning Cheesecake Factory Into a Political Battleground


Trump is defending his lavish White House renovations after former President Obama mocked the gold-heavy decor, sparking a political clash that has turned an unlikely restaurant chain into a talking point ahead of the November midterm elections.

Trump spent several minutes defending his renovation projects during a campaign stop in Mississippi on Monday, insisting that the historic residence had needed extensive repairs long before he returned to office.

His response followed Obama's remarks at a Democratic rally in Ohio, where the former president compared the White House's new look to a Cheesecake Factory opened by former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Obama had questioned Trump's priorities, arguing that the president appeared more interested in home improvement than in addressing the economic pressures facing American families.

He pointed to the planned White House ballroom, changes to the Rose Garden, a new helicopter landing area and the extensive use of gold-colored decorations. Trump rejected the criticism, saying the building had suffered from neglected maintenance, damaged plaster, broken architectural features and missing decorative elements.

He argued that restoring the White House was a matter of national pride, not personal vanity, and insisted the work required only a small portion of his daily schedule.

The president also turned Obama's joke into a personal attack, arguing that mocking the renovations demonstrated a lack of understanding of the White House's symbolic importance.

Trump praised the work of the craftsmen involved and maintained that the building was now in better condition than it had been for decades.

The Cheesecake Factory quickly became an unexpected character in the political dispute. Republican allies accused Obama of looking down on ordinary Americans by using a popular restaurant chain as shorthand for excessive or tasteless design.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent even visited one of the chain's restaurants in Washington, publicly praised the meal and challenged the former president's perceived cultural elitism. But the backlash generated its own criticism.

Some commentators argued that defending the restaurant missed Obama's broader point: that Trump was devoting attention to decorative projects while voters remained concerned about prices, household budgets and the administration's policy priorities.

The dispute arrives at a politically sensitive moment. With control of Congress at stake in the November 3 midterms, Democrats are trying to frame the election as a referendum on Trump's leadership and his handling of the economy.

Republicans, meanwhile, are seeking to portray Obama's remarks as an example of Democratic condescension toward working-class voters.

The clash also reflects a more personal style of American politics, in which former presidents have increasingly become prominent voices in campaigns against their successors.

Obama's criticism followed a similar attack by former President Clinton, who mocked Trump's changes to the Rose Garden. For Trump, the renovations offer a chance to present himself as a builder restoring an important national landmark.

For his critics, the gold decorations and ambitious construction plans raise a different question: whether the president's attention is focused on the concerns that matter most to voters.

Ultimately, the argument is about more than interior design. It is a contest over image, priorities and political identity, unfolding just days before Americans head to the polls.

#Trump #Obama #WhiteHouse #MidtermElections

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God, Please Form a Coalition

Israel's election eve came with two requests: stop fighting each other and defeat the enemy. The first appeared in a newspaper column. The second went into the Western Wall.

Writing in The Jerusalem Post, Zvika Klein recalled Rabbi Moshe Yekutiel Alpert's diary from Israel's first parliamentary election in 1949. Alpert rose at 5:35 a.m., reached his polling station at 5:50, and became its first voter once the chairman arrived at 6:02.

Seventy-seven years later, Klein's appeal to today's politicians was less ceremonial: form a government, and indulge the mutual hatred on your own time.

Netanyahu visited the Western Wall on Monday evening, hours before the polls opened. His handwritten note asked for protection for soldiers, victory over enemies, and success for the Jewish people.

His office published the note, complete with a hand-drawn Israeli flag. A prayer between ancient stones also made a perfectly serviceable campaign image.

Netanyahu submitted his requests to a higher authority. Coalition negotiations will still require human signatures.

#IsraelElection #Netanyahu #PoliticalReligion

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