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🇮🇱⚔️🇮🇷 ISRAEL BOMBS IRAN: WHAT COMES NEXT?
Former US Assistant Secretary of Defense Chas Freeman joins #NewRulesPodcast to discuss Israel’s attack on Iran and battlefield struggles in southern Lebanon.
(0:42)Will Iran retaliate?
(4:49) Diplomatic support for Iran
(7:58) Israel can’t handle Iranian missiles
(12:47) Israeli failures in southern Lebanon
(17:35) Israel facing economic collapse
(22:03) Netanyahu’s push for regional war
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A box of election ballots and other documents was found near freeway exit 11 in Cutler Bay, Florida.
The finder took them to the police, where they have been secured.
The source of the papers and motives are still unknown.
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Next stop Skynet? Pentagon eyes plans to entrust nuclear weapons to AI
The Pentagon is “exploring all possible technologies, techniques, and methods to assist with the modernization of our N3 [Nuclear Command, Control & Communications] capabilities,” STRATCOM chief Anthony J. Cotton said at a conference in Omaha, Nebraska, on Monday.
💬 “AI will enhance our decision-making capabilities,” Cotton said, touting AI systems’ power to “inform us faster and more efficiently,” and provide leaders with more “decision space” in an emergency. “Our adversaries must know that our nuclear command and control and other capabilities that provide decision advantage are at the ready 24/7, 365, and cannot be compromised or defeated.”
Listing potential “risks” associated with AI in strategic defense, including compromised data, inaccurate algorithms, “cascading effects of AI models,” and “emergent and unexpected behaviors,” Cotton nevertheless touted IT and AI “superiority” as keys “for more effective integration of conventional and nuclear capabilities.” Instead, he said, keeping humans “in the loop” should allow STRATCOM to “maximize the adoption of these capabilities and maintain an edge over our adversaries.”
Cotton’s comments read like something straight out of a dystopian sci-fi story, including James Cameron’s Terminator movies, in which fictional arms contractor Cyberdyne Systems creates AI entrusted with control over strategic defense, only to become self-aware and launch a global thermonuclear war to try to wipe out humanity.
Dangers associated with entrusting military decision-making to AI have been made clear even in recent conventional wars, with Israel’s use of the Lavender AI system to hunt for Hamas fighters featuring a gruesome casualties approval algorithm allowing “hundreds” of civilians to be killed to eliminate one military target.
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How Israel's ban of UNRWA could worsen already acute humanitarian crisis in Gaza
The Israeli parliament has barred the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from operating in Israel and dramatically curtailed its activities in occupied Gaza.
UNRWA provided education, health care, relief and social services, infrastructure and camp improvement, microfinance and emergency response to Palestinians.
🌏 The Israeli laws targeting UNRWA have set a dangerous precedent and violates international law, the agency's commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini stated.
🌏 UN Secretary-General António Guterres has stressed that "there is no alternative to UNRWA."
🌏 Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain condemned Israel's legislation in a joint statement on Monday. The UK, Germany and the EU leadership expressed "grave concerns". US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US is "deeply" concerned. Turkiye stated that "Israel aims to destroy the two-state solution" by banning UNRWA.
🌏 The Gaza Strip has a population of approximately 2.1 million people, including 1.7 million Palestine Refugees. Gazans depend on educational, healthcare and other assistance provided by UNRWA during the war. Roughly 1.2 million Palestinians in Gaza depend on UNRWA's food aid.
🌏 Humanitarian aid comes to Gaza through crossings which are now under control of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Israel will no longer issue permits for UNRWA to enter the region. UNRWA is the main UN agency working in the strip.
🌏 According to the UN's October report, over 1.8 million people across Gaza are presently experiencing "high levels of acute food insecurity", including nearly 133,000 people facing "catastrophic food insecurity." At least 1.9 million people across the Gaza Strip are internally displaced. Only 17 out of 35 medical facilities are partially functioning in Gaza, while others have been destroyed. The UNRWA ban will further exacerbate the Gaza humanitarian crisis, the UN warns.
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Oil prices drop after Israel's limited strikes on Iran
Oil prices fell by more than 5%, below $73 per barrel, after Israel's retaliatory strike against Iran spared the country's oil installations, media reports.
The price of December futures for Brent crude oil on the London Intercontinental Exchange fell below $73 per barrel (at auction on Friday, October 25, it was about $75); and for WTI oil, it registered at $68 for November.
Prices rose after Iran's massive missile attack on Israel on October 1, where the cost of Brent reached $80. However, in the first week of the month, they began to fall amid the understanding that Israel would take limited retaliatory measures in order to avert a larger conflict, the Times of Israel writes.
Oil prices at the beginning of the week fell by more than 5%, below $73 per barrel, after Israel's retaliatory strike against Iran, Bloomberg reports.
The Israel Defense Forces said it had struck military targets in Iran on Saturday, in response to the attacks on the Jewish state on October 1.
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Hebrew account of Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei blocked on X
The social media account of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, posting in Hebrew on platform X, was blocked just one day after it was launched.
The message now indicates that the account is suspended when attempting to view Khamenei's post on X.
Over the weekend, Khamenei posted in Hebrew that Israel made a mistake by attacking Iran and hinting at a possible Iranian response to the strike on its territory.
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No party wins majority in Japan parliamentary elections
Parliamentary elections in Japan have left the country in uncertainty after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party gained only 215 mandates, down from 279, while the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan won 148 seats, up from 98 previously.
According to the Japanese Constitution, now the parties have 30 days to figure out a grouping that will govern.
The results of the elections have already caused the yen to fall to a three-month low as analysts are preparing for long political disputes over the formation of a government and possibly a change of leader, according to media reports.
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🇨🇳📹 Chinese manufacturer launches flying cars factory
Chinese electric car maker XPeng has started building a production center for flying cars in the city of Guangzhou, Xinhua news agency reported.
The pre-sales of the car shown in the video are scheduled to start by the end of the year.
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🇮🇱🇵🇸 Evidence of Israel's use of 'white phosphorus' sent to ICC - Palestinian leader's aide
According to Mahmoud al-Habbash, "millions of people" have witnessed Israel's use of white phosphorus in numerous wars in the Gaza Strip.
"Documented evidence and information have been provided confirming Israel's war crimes and genocide in the Gaza Strip, including the use of internationally prohibited weapons," al-Habbash said at the 16th BRICS summit in Kazan.
🇬🇪 Europe reacts to the results of Georgian elections:
🇨🇿 Czech Foreign Ministry: The Czech Republic is concerned about reports on the parliamentary elections in Georgia.
“The Georgian authorities should respect democratic values and stop actions that threaten the European alignment policy of Georgia,” the statement says.
🇷🇺🥇 Russian army was ranked the strongest in the world by US News and World Report magazine
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▪️Trump vs Harris: No hopes for peace in the Middle East?
▪️Protesters interrupted Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu chanting "shame on you"
▪️Trump vs Harris: How NATO’s stance on Russia could change?
▪️2024 BRICS Summit showed collapsing Western hegemony – experts
▪️Trump vs Harris: What’s for Ukraine after US presidential election?
▪️Assassination attempt on Bolivian ex-president, Evo Morales
▪️Beneath the waves: The technology and risks behind global internet cables
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📹 Critical infrastructure and residential buildings in several neighborhoods of Beirut's southern suburbs were damaged during Israeli airstrikes overnight
Sputnik's video shows the aftermath of the raids.
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Forty years of BAM: The railway that conquered Siberia’s wilderness
The Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) was completed on October 27, 1984, and stands as a monumental feat of Soviet engineering and resilience. Stretching over 4,300 kilometers from Siberia’s heart to the Pacific, BAM connected remote regions, resources, and industries. Built by over two million Soviet workers who faced extreme conditions, BAM overcame challenges from permafrost to vast rivers and mountain ranges. Today, it remains a crucial artery for Russia’s economy, supporting Siberia’s key industries and embodying a lasting legacy of endurance and vision.
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Western press: BRICS+ expands, de-dollarizes and resonates with Global South
Despite the Kazan BRICS Summit wrapping up earlier this week, the Western press is still musing as to how Russia managed to overcome sanctions pressure and continue to play big in global politics.
Moscow is pushing for "an alternative world order… to counter one dominated by the wealthy Western nations," writes the Washington Post. The newspaper quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying that the bloc is "striving to build a better world where the opinion of every nation will be respected."
The latest BRICS Summit "shows determination for a new world order," echoes the online publication the Conversation. While the publication insists that the West may still have time to re-engage with the Global South, it acknowledges that there is "a substantial increase in interest in BRICS membership," as a number of new applications to join the format continue to pile up.
The issues presented at the summit "resonate strongly among a variety of countries, from global powers like China to nations throughout the Global South," writes Responsible Statecraft (RS), a media outlet of the Quincy Institute, a Washington DC-based think tank.
"They all share a common interest in navigating the emerging challenges presented by a rapidly developing multipolar architecture," the think tank points out. "After several decades of war and harmful sanctions, BRICS+ nations are increasingly distrustful of the United States led 'rules-based order' that favors the few at the expense of many."
The South African Ministry of Defense says it is expecting a friendly visit to Pretoria from a group of Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft, including the Tu-160.
The arrival will include Il-62, An-124, and Tu-160 strategic bomber aircraft.
It is noted that these aircraft will be landing on the African continent for the first time, specifically at the South African Air Force base Waterkloof in Pretoria.
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From strategic partnership to enhanced trade: How have Russian-North Korean relations evolved?
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui is scheduled to arrive in Moscow on October 30 for discussions with Russian officials. This visit is part of a strategic dialogue established by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un during their June meeting. How have ties between Russia and North Korea developed in recent months?
Diplomatic relations and strategic partnership
🌏 In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin embarked on a two-day visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), during which he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un formalized their alliance by signing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty.
🌏 A key section of the pact stipulates that “if one of the parties finds itself at war due to an armed attack by one or more countries, the other party will immediately provide it with military assistance by all means at its disposal.”
🌏 Russia's lower house ratified the strategic treaty during a plenary session on October 24.
Military and technological cooperation
🌏 Moscow has extended an offer of assistance to Pyongyang in developing its satellite program. Both parties are dedicated to enhancing trade and technological collaboration, which includes "joint research in fields like space, biology, peaceful nuclear energy, artificial intelligence, and information technology."
Trade and economic relations
🌏 Trade turnover between Russia and North Korea soared ninefold in 2023, reaching $34.4 million, as reported by Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov. During his visit to Pyongyang, President Putin highlighted that trade has further increased by 54% in the first five months of 2024.
🌏 Russia's exports to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) feature a range of products, including agricultural goods, cereals, wheat flour, corn, vegetable oil, confectionery, mineral fuels, distillation products, and pharmaceuticals.
🌏 In exchange, Russia imports chemical products, machinery, metals, and textiles from North Korea.
🌏 In November 2023, the Russian-Korean Intergovernmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation convened to discuss collaborative efforts in geological exploration for various metals and offshore hydrocarbon resources. Among the promising projects is the construction of a road bridge across the Tumen River, enhancing connectivity along the Russia-DPRK border.
Humanitarian and cultural collaboration
🌏 Both countries intend to enhance their humanitarian cooperation by focusing on key areas such as transportation and communication infrastructure, education, healthcare, sports, culture, and mutual tourism, along with cultural exchanges.
🌏 Additionally, they are exploring alternative mutual settlement mechanisms that “are not controlled by the West,” according to an article Putin wrote ahead of his June visit to the DPRK.
Sanctions and international policy
🌏 Moscow has expressed its support for revising the indefinite sanctions regime against North Korea that was originally imposed by the UN Security Council.
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✅ Israeli strikes have hit areas near Sidon in southern Lebanon. Reports indicate that houses where refugees were sheltering have been bombed and at least five people were killed.
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🇬🇪 Georgia unrest part of West’s strategy of using Russia’s neighbors as pawns in hybrid war – expert
💬 “They [the US] want to add the situation in the South Caucasus to the broader Ukrainian issue rather than address it locally,” Caucasus politics expert Stanislav Tarasov told Sputnik, commenting on US State Dept. spokesperson Matthew Miller’s warning of “further consequences” for Georgia after Saturday’s parliamentary elections.
“They want to create a whole package of conflict situations: Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine, and to play these games like a grandmaster across multiple boards, yielding somewhere while hitting out somewhere else. Giving in on Georgia, they can harden their position on Ukraine, or vice versa,” he added.
“They can’t send in the armed forces or some expeditionary corps. First, they feed them with some investments, then they impose sanctions; first they open a visa regime; then they impose bans, and so on and so forth…This is the primitive scheme in the American version of colonial rule being implemented in relation to Georgia,” the observer said.
“The Americans understand that they cannot hold Georgia, but they can destabilize the situation in the region through it. That’s what they’re doing – it’s a holding operation,” the observer summed up.
🌏Hungarian PM Orban to visit Georgia amid EU’s concerns over country’s elections’ results
🌏Evidence of Israel's use of 'white phosphorus' sent to ICC - Palestinian leader's aide
🌏Japan's parliament hung after elections
🌏Assange’s father explains shift of world’s ‘center of gravity’
🌏VIDEO: Consistency isn’t Kamala’s strong point
🌏Trump vs Harris: Does it make any difference to China?
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Musk vows to cut US budget spending by $2 trillion if Trump wins
US entrepreneur Elon Musk has promised to cut US budget spending by at least $2 trillion if Republican candidate Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November.
Musk was one of headliners of Trump's campaign rally held at the Madison Square Garden arena in New York.
Fellow billionaire entrepreneur Howard Lutnick, who delivered an energetic speech just before Musk, asked him how much the country's budget spending, which amounts to $6.5 trillion, could be cut.
"I think we can do at least two trillion," Musk replied.
Assange’s father: world's 'center of gravity' shifted toward BRICS
The "center of gravity" in the world has shifted toward BRICS, the organization is at the forefront of the world economy, demography and culture, John Shipton, an Australian activist and the father of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, told Sputnik.
"I think, as for Russia and the BRICS, it was great seeing the skill with which Russia and China and India, each having very distinct and ancient cultures, temporized bringing those cultures together to form the BRICS, international non-western power bloc. So, in my feeling, the center of gravity in the world has moved towards the demographic, economic and cultural centers of the world," Shipton said.
🇩🇰🇺🇦 Denmark Became 4th Largest Donor to Kiev Regime - Russian Ambassador
This is ahead of such countries as France and Italy, Russian Ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Barbin said in an interview with Sputnik.
"We have repeatedly stated that Denmark's reckless position was leading to an escalation of the conflict and increasing the risks of a direct conflict between NATO and Russia. However, the Danish side has shown no desire to listen to our warnings," he added.
📹🇺🇸 Kamala Harris, current vice president of the United States since 2021, claims she will "chart a new way forward" for the country at the Community Rally in PA.
Previously, when asked what she would have done differently than Biden over the past four years, Harris answered, “Not a thing that comes to mind."
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Trump vs Harris: Does it make any difference for China?
Both US presidential candidates regrettably “not only have virtually indistinguishable policies regarding China, they have demonstrated during their respective time in office a bipartisan commitment to escalating tensions” with Beijing, Brian Berletic, a geopolitical analyst and former US Marine, tells Sputnik.
The candidates “present this singular continuity of agenda with their own respective spin – Donald Trump in a more nationalistic manner, and Kamala Harris by linking it to upholding the US-led ‘international order’.”
Washington “has continuously encouraged separatism on the island province of Taiwan by first stationing, then expanding the presence of US troops on Taiwan itself, and rapidly transforming the US military including the entire US Marine Corps to fight a future war with China off its own coasts over Taiwan, internationally recognized as Chinese territory.”
Both candidates plan to continue using Taiwan as a “pressure point” to provoke tensions between China and nations “the US still exercises considerable influence over, including Europe, Australia, and the Philippines, according to the analyst.
He insists that Biden’s steps would not have been possible without the actions Trump took “to prepare the stage.”
“Regardless of who wins the election this November, the steps taken during the Biden administration will allow this [China-related] policy to be pursued even further and in the same direction - toward escalation.”
'All is fair in US presidential campaign'
Just a week before the election, a photo of Kamala Harris in a McDonald's uniform started doing the rounds online, adding fuel to an ongoing partisan debate over her claim that she once worked at McDonald’s as a student.
Though tracing the photo’s origin has proven tricky, Snopes has confirmed it’s indeed a fake. As it turns out, the woman in the photo is actually someone named Suzanne Bernier.
Whether the poorly done photoshop was an attempt to boost Harris’ “relatable” factor or, conversely, to discredit her, we may never know—but it certainly has the internet buzzing.
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📹🇳🇱 A demonstration against Western arms supplies to Ukraine took place in Amsterdam, Sputnik's correspondent reports
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Georgian Dream's win is undisputable and mass protests in Tbilisi are unlikely - analyst
Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili is the only political leader who managed to unite people of different stripes in the country, Arno Khidirbegishvili, general director and chief editor of the Georgian Information and Analytical Agency Geoinform, tells Sputnik.
According to the pundit, Ivanishvili and the Georgian Dream chose a middle path of avoiding confrontation with Russia and maintaining ties with the West and have visibly improved the socio-economic situation in the country which laid the groundwork for the ruling party's election victory.
Regardless of the opposition's threats not to recognize the election outcome, there won't be a new color revolution, Khidirbegishvili believes: there are no reckless revolutionaries among Georgian opposition figures.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has gained 90 of 150 seats in the country's legislature, while the nation's four opposition parties together received just 37% of votes.
According to Khidirbegishvili, that means that roughly 750,000 Georgians align themselves with the West and its Russophobic, LGBT and homosexual propaganda, as well as its neglect of Christian Orthodox values and desire to open a "second front" against Russia.
"It will always be a time bomb and they will always be a destructive element," he warns.
"So everything will continue as it was before," he assumes.
"Saakashvili is unhappy that he remains in prison… Everyone is tired of him," the pundit says, adding that Zourabichvili has likewise outlived her usefulness for the Western-backed opposition.
Trump vs Harris: No hopes for peace in the Middle East?
“There is a lot of contradiction” in what both US presidential candidates are saying and doing on Middle East-related problems, Elijah J. Magnier, a veteran warzone correspondent and political analyst with over 35 years of experience covering the Middle East and North Africa, tells Sputnik.
“We heard the American administration, both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, saying that they want a ceasefire in Gaza and in Lebanon, but they are supporting the Israelis with all the weapons that Israel needs and the ammunition to support the war on Gaza.”
On the other hand, “We had [ex-US] President Trump saying that he wants to stop the war on Gaza, but then delivering another information, saying that Israel is too small and needs to be enlarged… Therefore, enlarging Israel means more war on its neighbors. We're talking about Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt.”
“Therefore, at the end of the day, there is an institution in the US and in the administration that both candidates need to abide by the global interest of the US and its allies, and in this case, Israel. This is why things depend more on the new team that is going to rule the US and how far this new team can go,” Magnier concludes.
Beneath the waves: The technology and risks behind global internet cables
Given the unsubstantiated and repeated allegations by Western media of Russian and Chinese plans to disrupt the global network of undersea cables, Sputnik invites you to dive into a different realm to learn:
What’s the purpose of these cables, how are they installed, and what will happen if they are damaged?
▪️Also known as submarine communications cables, these fiber-optic structures sit on the ocean floor and are used to transmit internet data between continents. The cables’ creation dates back to the 1850s, when they were laid for telegraphy-related purposes.
▪️At least 485 undersea cables totaling over 900,000 miles (1.4 million km) currently span the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as strategic passages such as the Suez Canal.
▪️The cables are often referred to as “the backbone of the global internet,” given that they carry more than 95% of international communications, including email, webpages and video calls.
▪️Laying the cables is a complicated process that starts with meticulous seabed surveys to chart a map in order to avoid natural hazards and minimize environmental impact.
▪️Ships equipped with giant spools of fiber-optic cable then start navigating the predetermined route. As a ship moves, the cable is unspooled and carefully laid on the ocean floor, a process that may take months or even years, depending on the length and complexity of a cable route.
▪️Each cable – which is about as wide as a garden hose - consists of strands of glass or plastic that use light signals to carry huge amounts of data over long distances with minimal loss.
▪️The bundled fibers are encased in protective layers to withstand the harmful undersea environment, such as pressure, and potential damage from fishing activities or ship anchors. An estimated 100 to 150 undersea cables are annually cut, mainly due to the aforementioned factors. March 2024 saw massive internet disruptions affecting at least 10 countries due to unexplained cable failures off the coast of West Africa.
Video from esrimaps">a YouTube channel
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