Saudi Arabia at the Breaking Point
the Gulf’s energy system will take far longer and cost far more to rebuild than anyone in Washington is admitting, and Saudi Arabia can no longer be counted on to cover the gap. Here are his key findings.
This Week in the World Affairs Brief
MID-TERM ELECTION MADNESS
I can’t remember a mid-term election so contested and consequential as this one. The Democrats are running a fake candidate in the Alaskan Senate race, with the same name as the GOP Senate candidate, fully intending to split off Republican votes by confusing people. President Trump is holding campaign rallies around the country trying to stir up the MAGA crowd to action, but Republicans are concerned with all of the defections from their ranks over disappointment in Trump adding to high inflation in everything (not just fuel) and his intentions to continue with the futile war with Iran which is sapping our military strength, and providing no benefit that Americans can feel. I don’t mean that they are going to vote for the Democrats, which are scaring the nation with their vows to impose more Socialism on the nation. No former Trump supporter would do that, but they certainly aren’t enthused about Trump’s performance, compared to his claims about exposing the Epstein files, draining the swamp and halting foreign wars. In his typical arrogant style, this week, Donald Trump summed up for the nation when the Iran war will end with six defiant words: “Whenever I want it to end.” Which isn’t any time soon, given his refusal to cut his losses and stop the war. Trump is saddling himself with the full responsibility for all the war’s coming hardships, costs and ill effects. To receive a free, one-time copy of the Brief, along with options on how to subscribe, click on Request a sample on the left.
Also:
- More on the MAHA Betrayal
- Trump’s Farm Fiasco
- Israeli Election Split
Daily News
Trump’s $8 Billion Farmer Fuel Bailout
Relief is real, the financing is not free, and the schedule is political. Diesel near $6 is a genuine emergency for row-crop farmers, and CCC exists precisely for fast action. But a program announced at a campaign rally, funded off-budget, and paying out after Election Day invites skepticism. The number to track is the per-commodity rate in November, which will tell you whether this is targeted loss relief or a broad pre-election transfer.
Israel is 'Jewish territory,' gov't must send Gazans to France per Trump plan, Ben-Gvir says
Ben-Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party has been a key member of Netanyahu’s coalition. Recent polling has projected Otzma Yehudit to win approximately eight seats in the next Knesset.
Five key takeaways from Israel’s parliamentary elections
With more than 76 percent of votes counted, Netanyahu’s bloc holds a slight lead over the opposition but shy of a majority.
California Sends Nearly $369 Million in Wildfire Recovery Money to Developers While Survivors Still Cannot Rebuild
The Camp Fire and Woolsey Fire together killed 103 people and wrecked or damaged more than 24,000 structures. The Camp Fire alone wiped out about 14,000 homes in Paradise. The federal allocation of $1,017,399,000 was supposed to cover costs insurance and other aid did not. California’s Department of Housing and Community Development split the money between homeowner rebuilding and “affordable” rentals. Homeowners got the short end. Of the $222.4 million set aside for them, just $38 million had been spent by the end of 2023, rebuilding a total of 110 homes. Meanwhile developers collected $368.7 million.
She Took Her Triplets Back to China. She Returned With 2.
Now, she was at a Chinese airport, the triplets in her arms. Two strangers appeared, a man and a woman. They offered to hold her newborns. Tursun was only too grateful. But as soon as she handed her babies to them, their faces changed. Follow us, they instructed. They were the Chinese police. Thus began an ordeal that cost Tursun one of her babies and stole years of her youth.
Switzerland Freezes Funding To Doctors Without Borders Over Sexual Exploitation In Chad
The Swiss foreign ministry says MSF breached its contractual obligation to report, and NZZ am Sonntag writes that mistrust of the charity is "now immense within the Confederation." MSF has acknowledged its mistakes. NZZ says MSF's internal investigation turned up 59 reports of sexual violence and exploitation, mostly involving women and girls who fled the war in Sudan, and that 18 staff were dismissed, six of them from MSF's Swiss branch.
Minnesota Charges James O'Keefe And Cam Higby With Felonies Over Polling-Place Vouching Stunt
"They revealed how easy it is to commit fraud in your system - without actually defrauding anyone - and you are prosecuting them for embarrassing you?...
War Secretary Swears In General Forced to Retire After Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine
War Secretary Pete Hegseth has welcomed back an Air Force general who was forced to retire because she did not want to take the COVID-19 vaccine when it was mandated during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of War said on Oct. 27.
US Grants Visa to Flavio Bolsonaro After He Flees Brazil
After the presidential election, Brazilian authorities asked Bolsonaro to surrender his passport to prevent him from leaving the country.
DOJ Flags More Than 400 Suspected Noncitizens on Washington Voter Rolls
In a statement, the DOJ said it had provided the state with a list of voters suspected of being noncitizens or green card holders. Noncitizens are barred from voting in U.S. elections regardless of their legal immigration status. “We have identified over 400 non-citizens who are registered to vote and have voted in multiple elections. This is only the tip of the iceberg,” acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said.
Behind France’s School Blockades and ‘Yellow Vest’ Riots, a Far-Left Network Years in the Making
Benjamin Cauchy, a 2018 Yellow Vest leader, told The Epoch Times the movement has been ‘completely hijacked by the far-left.’
Democracy Dies In Brazil? Bolsonaro Flees Lula's Totalitarian Crackdown As Trump Admin Plans To Grant Visas
Brazil On Brink Of Political Chaos? Bolsonaro Inbound To US, Trump To Issue Visas Democracy Dies In Brazil Under Lula's Socialist Regime Bolsonaro Reportedly Entered Argentina To Fly To US Bolsonaro Says His Political Prosecution By Socialists Is "Sign Democracy Has Failed" Bolsonaro Drops Annulment Bid As Party Concedes To Lula, Vows Congressional "Fortress" Against Socialist Rule
Why Can’t Farmers Butcher Their Own Animals? A New Bill Could Change That
Just two months earlier, I had been with Massie at Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farm when President Donald Trump posted on social media that he wanted to make it possible for farmers and ranchers to process their own meat.
Dozens of Immigrants Charged With Illegal Voting, Fraudulent Voter Registration
The defendants include an illegal immigrant accused of voting in the 2024 election.
WHO Kills MAHA-Backed Hepatitis B Baby Vaccine Trial
Per the study design, the control group of 7,000 infants would skip the at-birth hepatitis B vaccine dose and receive it later on at six weeks, whereas the experimental group of 7,000 infants would receive the shot immediately at birth, the objective being to assess potential adverse health impacts of the hepatitis B shot in day-old infants - a practice which the Public Health™ experts stateside have gone to war to shield from scrutiny, notwithstanding the facts that: · Screening mothers for hepatitis B is cheap and easy · Hepatitis B, outside of mother-to-infant transmission, is nearly exclusively acquired via unprotected sex and intravenous drug use, neither of which most rational people outside of Portland or Brooklyn would recognize as normal activities for infants
"Democracy Has Failed": Bolsonaro Says Lula's Socialist Regime Seized His Passport
Bolsonaro Says Lula's Socialist Regime Seized His Passport Ibovespa Stock Index Plunges 20%, Triggers Circuit Breaker Real Crashes 11% To 5.58/USD Brazil Markets Crater After Socialist Lula's Shock Victory; Bolsonaro Seeks To Annul Runoff
Inside the Pentagon's doomsday plan to keep America fighting if global war erupts
The Pentagon is preparing U.S. military bases to keep operating for at least 90 days without outside support as it prepares for the possibility of a major war that could cripple power grids, disrupt supply chains and threaten critical infrastructure on American soil.
They Went to a Pro Women's Soccer Match and a Communist Purge Broke Out.
Kruse's violation? She wore a shirt bearing the letters XX-XY. She chanted "Save women's sports! Save women's sports!" The commie mob insisted that this group, which included lesbians, Kruse, and the OutKick reporter, be purged. And purged they were.
Champagne Communist: AOC Campaign Blows Nearly $50K on Luxury Hotels
Donor cash funds posh stays and limos while the socialist lectures America on inequality and “oligarchy.”
Musk Clarifies Why Starlink Speed Limits Were Throttled In Ukraine
The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk personally ordered the cap. One of its sources said he and President Trump discussed the move before it took effect, while others said they spoke only after it became public, and some U.S. officials said Musk acted alone. Administration denials have been broad. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said "there was no foreknowledge," Hegseth said "we haven't pulled anything back," and a White House official said "we didn't slow down Starlink at all." Trump has said he did not make the call but that Musk should not be blamed, AP noted.
More Than 18,000 Children Injected With Vaccines Under Anesthesia or Sedation at Colorado Hospital Since 2020
under anesthesia or sedation, “[a]dditional vaccinations are administered … particularly for children with neurocognitive conditions who are unable to tolerate vaccination without sedation.”
Space War Fears Rise as Russian Satellite Makes Dangerous Maneuver
The United States accused Russia of reckless conduct after its Kosmos-2612 military satellite maneuvered exceptionally close to the US-registered ICEYE-X36 satellite.
Hegseth Barred Trans Troops - Yet Navy And Marine Boards Are Voting To Keep Them
Military boards set up to push transgender troops out of the service are instead voting to keep many of them, the New York Times reported Friday, in a quiet break with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's ban.
A Withdrawn Immigration Application, Corrected Tax Returns, And 'Military Officer' Father: Ilhan Omar Evidence Piles Up
A shared address: Omar and Elmi listed the same Columbia Heights, Minnesota, address on their 2009 marriage application. Ahmed Hirsi, the father of Omar's children, also used that address for a business license, according to the Post. Overlapping relationships and tax filings: Omar had her third child with Hirsi in 2012 while legally married to Elmi. The Post also cites joint tax returns Omar filed with Hirsi for 2014 and 2015, before her divorce from Elmi was finalized in 2017. Those returns were subsequently corrected.
Ukraine Officials Complain Starshield Restrictions Still Not Lifted, Despite Trump Assertions
Ukraine says its military forces continue to experience disruptions to critical battlefield communications, a day after President Trump declared that these restrictions had been removed. "President Trump called Elon Musk on Wednesday and asked him to lift restrictions on a military-grade version of Starlink in Ukraine that the SpaceX chief had throttled, U.S. officials said," The Wall Street Journal had initially reported Thursday.
Voters in 7 States Will Have Their Say on Property Tax Limits
States have been collecting far more money than needed, proponents of the ballot measures contend.
Why the French Riot
[T]he US media—mainstream and social—are reacting as if this has no precedent. It has several thousand years’ worth of precedent. It’s the way France has always been and will always be. Do I think it’s a good way to be? No. But it will never change. It must simply be accepted.
Russia is now hitting apartment buildings with drone strikes
Air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv around 5:20 a.m. local time, after air raid alarms had been raised. The high-rise in Sviatoshynskyi district was hit around 7 a.m. – following attacks by drones during the night.
Starlink is getting dragged into Russia's hybrid war against the West
There have been several attacks against Starlink infrastructure across Europe in recent weeks. SpaceX's lucrative connectivity business has become a military and political target.