President Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner says a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine could be completed if Ukraine surrendered territory Russia claims but has failed to capture. theintellectualistofficial.s…

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao delivers a message to US adversaries: "You can run, but you'll only die tired. But you know what? You piss us off, we're gonna sneak into your country in the middle of night and snatch you and your wife while you're sleeping in your beds."

🚨Sirens sounding in central Israel🚨

Even Russian military bloggers now question Putin's strategy based on acts of terror and mass murder among Ukraine's civilian population, complaining that the strategy will not alter Russia's current trajectory of losing the war. All is now to satisfy the dictator's lust for mass murder, with Russia still losing the war.

Authorities worldwide brace for pro-Palestine protests on October 7 anniversary haaretz.com/world-news/2026-…

Exclusive: The U.S. has warned Moscow that its failure to disclose details about the death of a lab worker from a plague research center in Siberia violates international health obligations. on.wsj.com/4rWwhK8

The elections are a month away, Trump’s numbers are historically low, generic ballot polls favour Democrats over Republicans, and control of the Senate is now within reach. Right now, Democratic messaging is unambiguous: affordability, competence, and corruption. My argument is simple: in a system of checks and balances, the Republican-held Congress is not doing its job to prevent the worst excesses of this wayward president from damaging the national interest. Where to begin? In no particular order: 1. Out-of-control corruption. Self-dealing by the Trump family and associates is at a level at or beyond that of some of the most corrupt administrations in American history. From a proposed deal involving Lukoil assets, to shady crypto-bros in the UAE, to the administration’s dealings with Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt (who has been investigated by Swiss authorities), there are so many other examples. The proposed Lukoil deal alone reportedly involves Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Todd Boehly, and Middle Eastern business interests linked to the Witkoff and Kushner families. 2. Pointless wars. The war with Iran was effectively pointless. Firstly, a plethora of jus ad bellum arguments and objectives were given for why the war was being fought, ranging from preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons to destroying its ballistic missile production, eliminating its navy, ending its support for proxies, and rhetoric about political change in Iran. The breadth and shifting emphasis of these justifications created the impression of a war without a clearly delimited political end state. And the broader objectives have not been reached, but we are dealing with a generational disruption to oil markets that has sent the prices of diesel and other petroleum products skyrocketing. 3. Tariffs. Against the basic principles of economics that a first-year student would know, Trump introduced sweeping tariffs that predictably did nothing to solve America’s persistent trade imbalances (which weren’t even necessarily a problem in and of themselves), but did contribute to higher prices. Tariffs are taxes on imports, and much of their cost is ultimately borne by American businesses and consumers. 4. Deficits. Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill significantly increased projected U.S. deficits by introducing unaffordable tax cuts alongside increased spending. The national debt has reached an all-time high, and the resulting fiscal trajectory puts upward pressure on borrowing costs and debt-service expenditures. This might become a permanent legacy of his unless future administrations take drastic and painful steps to reduce the deficit. 5. Alienating allies. This includes chastising NATO, threatening to take over Greenland and make Canada America’s 51st state, imposing high tariffs on allies (particularly Canada), and generally weakening America’s relationships with countries that have spent decades supporting the United States. 6. Weakening our strategic posture against China. By moving scarce military assets away from the Indo-Pacific and burning through hard-to-replace munitions needed in a potential war with China, he has weakened deterrence against China, increasing the risk of a hot war with China. 7. Abandoning Ukraine. He has dramatically reduced American support for Ukraine and deprived Ukraine of essential air defence capabilities needed to counter Russia’s daily bombardment, while berating and humiliating Zelenskyy in the White House. 8. Coddling dictators. He lavishes praise on Xi Jinping, Putin, and Kim Jong Un, but attacks friends. His administration pursues business arrangements with Russia involving people with close personal and financial connections to his family and senior officials, while imposing tariffs and making threats against democratic allies. 9. Weakening democracy. Attacks on the press, repeatedly casting doubt on the electoral process, prosecuting political opponents, attempts to impose new restrictions on mail-in voting, using government funds for advertisements that closely resemble campaign messaging, and pushing legislation that would increase the burden on women and minority voters (reducing the likelihood that they will vote). 10. Possibly violating international law. The seizure of Nicolás Maduro raised serious questions under international law, as have military strikes against suspected drug-smuggling vessels without publicly demonstrated evidence in many cases that the targets were engaged in drug trafficking or constituted a threat justifying the use of lethal military force. 11. Damaging the U.S. military. Pete Hegseth has fired or forced out numerous senior military commanders (including Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff), while pursuing further substantial reductions in the number of general and flag officers. He has weakened adherence to military law and established norms governing the use of force and treatment of prisoners, withdrawn a sizeable number of U.S. forces from Europe (weakening our position against an increasingly belligerent Russia), and weakened our security posture in the Asia-Pacific region by focusing attention and scarce military resources on Iran. Perhaps most astonishingly, he violated basic operational-security doctrine by sharing sensitive details about impending U.S. military strikes over Signal, an unclassified commercial messaging application, in a group to which an unauthorized third party had been added. The Pentagon inspector general subsequently concluded that his conduct violated Department of Defense policies and could have endangered U.S. personnel and the mission. And so on. At no point did the Republican-held Congress hold up its hand and say, "Stop," even though it had the power to do so. That is the point of checks and balances. Congress is not supposed to be an adjunct of the executive branch. It controls appropriations, passes legislation, conducts investigations and oversight, confirms senior officials, can constrain presidential war-making, and ultimately possesses the power of impeachment. The entire constitutional purpose of giving these powers to a separate branch is to prevent an errant president from being able to do whatever he wants. Republicans controlled Congress. They had the institutional power to constrain this administration and repeatedly chose not to use it. So they do not deserve to be there. My ask to Democrats now is simple: don’t fuck it up.

Suspected Russian UAV Attacks on 3 cargo ships in Black Sea 3 cargo ships have reportedly been attacked in the last ~24hrs inside Romania and Bulgaria's Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) in the Black Sea. 2 ships have reportedly been sunk with at least 2 dead, per @euronews. Bulgaria's Prime Minister will issue a statement this morning. @InsiderGeo @MarineTraffic

Police have arrested the former head of Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency on suspicion of espionage. August Hanning served as the agency's chief from December 1998 to November 2005, before moving to the Federal Interior Ministry. dw.com/en/germanys-ex-spy-ch…

I asked POTUS if he would consider establishing a US base in Lithuania. Trump: We will certainly look at it. I know so many people in Lithuania. They are great people

⚡️South Korea shipped fuel to Russia via sanctioned vessels. Over 176,000 tonnes of fuel from South Korean ports were loaded onto sanctioned Russian tankers, based on analysis of port records and ship-tracking data by The Guardian. kyivindependent.com/south-ko…

BREAKING: A large-scale search-and-rescue operation is underway in the Black Sea after drones struck two vessels inside Bulgaria’s Exclusive Economic Zone the first reported attack of its kind in Bulgaria’s EEZ. The Palau-flagged ABLE had departed Romania and was bound for Turkey when it was hit. The vessel caught fire, forcing all 18 crew members to abandon ship. They were rescued by the Bulgarian-flagged ferry DIOSCURIA, with several sailors reportedly injured and given first aid. The Togo-flagged ALFA WATAN was sailing from Turkey toward Galați, Romania, when it was struck. The vessel suffered critical structural damage and sank east of the Bulgarian coast. The fate of its crew remains unknown, and a major search operation is continuing. Prime Minister Rumen Radev has convened an emergency meeting with representatives of state institutions following the strikes a statament is expected shortly.

Russia's five-hospital quarantine, FSB involvement, and reported hazmat use in response to the death of a single researcher at a weapons-lineage Irkutsk lab are inconsistent with a lab-acquired plague infection, which would have been treated with prophylactic antibiotics. 1/4