This week, I’ll lead off with an economic analysis of the shaky bond market, whose interest rate yields are rising to new levels because of inflationary monetary policy in Japan. My economist brother, Mark Skousen, and Steve Henke of John Hopkins University will explain why US Treasury bonds are tied so closely to Japan and its low interest rates. As the US under Trump continues to create huge new spending deficits, which must be financed by bond sales and new money creation, rising interest rates and bond yields threaten to raise the total interest burden within the US budget to unsustainable levels. Interest on the $40 trillion dollar debt will consume over a trillion dollars in 2026—about 12% of Trump $8T budget for Fiscal Year 2027, equaling the Defense and Medicare portion, and bested only by Social Security. The US budget first crossed the 1 trillion dollar mark in 1987, and is now 8 times that size, showing how out of control government spending is. It’s also a reflection of the real rate of inflation. To receive a free, one-time sample of the Brief, along with options on how to subscribe, click on Request a sample on the left.
At the start of this week, Britain announced it plans to provide Ukraine with classified technology to allow for the country's own manufacturing of the British/French-designed SCALP air-launched cruise missile (which in the UK is known as the Storm Shadow). The allies expect to set up a production line in Ukraine as soon as year's end.
Measles did not cause one of the deaths, a county coroner said, while officials have declined to release details about the second death.
The warehouse in the central Tambov region city of Kotovsk was first targeted in July, but this time the large complex has been "completely" destroyed in the resulting fire, Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov confirmed.
Glacier Collapse May Have Sparked Nepal Flash Flood 100 Dead, 300 Missing, according to Nepal's government (54 Americans among hundreds missing) Deadly Flash Flood Near Nepal's Border with Tibet Swallows Entire Border Crossing
The study details joint laboratories and research in aero-engines, underwater acoustics, and target detection as the Pentagon audits 30 U.S. schools.
The issue emerged when the developer's Bluetooth headphones refused to transfer their audio connection from his computer to his phone while AliExpress was open. A deeper dive of the website's code showed background scripts maintaining access to the computer's audio-processing system without producing audible sound.
Champagne said counter-tariffs will be introduced on a sliding scale of 15, 25, and 50 percent, with the highest levies applied to specific dairy products, cosmetics, and select lumber products.
The Supreme Court stated that its new order “does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful ... but the [executive order] itself does not harm the States, so the District Court lacked jurisdiction to bar the Government from trying to implement it.” In other words, any concrete injury that the litigating states may experience would come from later agency actions implementing it, and states may then sue over that issue when it arises.
Trump said that starting in the new year, all Canadian cars, trucks, and auto parts will be subject to a 50 percent tariff. Current tariffs on Canadian autos are 25 percent.
Inside SEMA’s Detroit garage, which opens up aftermarket parts to Americans in 49 states....“It was such an arduous process with CARB, and there was no timeline that you could assign to it,” Kaminsky said while telling of real-world examples of members encountering problems with compliance in the past. He recounted one situation in which he was sitting across from a chief engineer of GM’s Corvette program “in a very uncomfortable meeting” as regulatory delays disrupted operations.
Beijing and other nations will face ramifications if they do not cut ties with Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
Yahya Saree, the military spokesman for the Houthi rebels in Yemen, described that the attacks were carried out using ballistic missiles and drones and were executed as part of the implementation of the 'siege for siege' operation targeting the Saudis.
Tourists flee dinghies while invaders reoccupy beaches, schools and parks back in the enclave
The appeals court ruled that parents should not have been allowed to amend their lawsuit to seek more damages after the jury verdict. ...shrinking the amount from $50 million to around $6 million
Year after year across 2004–2023, the most active and lethal groups are Sunni: the Taliban, ISIS, Boko Haram, al-Qaeda and its affiliates, al-Shabaab, the TTP. On the order of nine in ten attacks in the reporting trace back to Sunni extremist actors operating out of the Salafi-jihadist tradition. None of them answer to Tehran. Most regard Shia Muslims — Iran very much included — as heretics, and target them accordingly. ISIS has spent years at open war with Iran and its allies.
Zelensky described that the strikes came in two waves, with the second drone hitting "half an hour after the first hit and the ensuing fire, there was a second strike on the emergency services. He urged for the "the world" to respond "accordingly - with real pressure on the aggressor." "Attacks like these are nothing less than terrorist acts," Zelensky wrote further, and pledged a strong response to the aggression.
It's a common story which liberals tend to ignore in their search for anything better than the "evils" of the capitalist west. They say the grass is greener elsewhere, but they can't seem to find any legitimate examples. The "rape culture" and "patriarchy" of the west that the political left constantly complains about doesn't hold a candle to the unfiltered predatory nature of the third world.
According to Trump, the drills are costly (with Washington footing most of the bill); the exercises send a 'hostile and inappropriate' signal toward a North Korea that has been "unthreatening and respectful" on his watch; and - revenge... Seoul refused to help with the war on Iran. Trump recounted asking President Lee Jae-myung whether South Korea would care to join the denuclearization of the Islamic Republic, and characterized Seoul's answer as a breezy "No thanks!" This sent Seoul scrambling, as Lee spent Tuesday's cabinet meeting insisting the US alliance remains the bedrock of South Korean security, while his military worked out how to salvage an exercise that was already underway. Meanwhile, Pyongyang spent last week denouncing the drills as "a rehearsal for an aggressive war" - lobbing two ballistic missiles in the space of six days earlier this month. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Seoul mid-week for security talks, presumably trying to keep a straight face.
The president said the takeover of the vital waterway would happen once U.S. forces defeat Iran.
Police made about 12,000 arrests in a single year for online communications offences, a figure assembled from force-by-force records. That is more than thirty a day. The count marks a sharp rise since 2019, driven by posts on X, Facebook, and WhatsApp.
Privacy groups warn that flying plate readers could expand surveillance far beyond roadside cameras
their rules that allow someone to come in and if he is registered to vote, to "vouch" for the identities of up to eight additional people who are not registered – but in fact immediately are made "voters." On social media, O'Keefe, who just days earlier had revealed evidence of voters voting twice in Michigan, explained he was told, "You're the ID" for extra voters who are not registered and apparently do not display identification.
Multiple shocks are converging all at once across the global food complex, including continued disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, rising El Niño risks, and adverse weather across the US agricultural belt. This note focuses on another emerging chokepoint: Europe's breadbasket, where intensifying attacks in the Russia-Ukraine war have shuttered critical Black Sea grain export terminals.
President Zelensky used the devastation to once again call on the West to urgently provide more Patriot systems, amid dwindling anti-air supplies. "The interceptors for Patriot systems have not yet been replaced, and they are needed every day," Zelensky wrote in a Telegram post on Thursday. "Each additional missile saves the lives of our people."
The new test is obviously meant to send a strong message, given it follows Pyongyang's dismissal of President Trump's decision to scale back US military exercises with South Korea this week. Without doubt, Kim Jong-Un is welcoming the sudden attention from Trump, but if there's hope of rekindling the 'bromance' - this is basically Kim playing hard to get.
More than half of all internet traffic now comes from bots, analysts say, and for businesses, that means reaching customers may be more challenging than ever. The flood of artificial intelligence-powered bots is forcing small businesses especially to find new strategies to make human connections.
Trump's Economic War against Iran Begins Trump says "severe economic consequences" for any country that does businesses with Tehran Trump says "ECONOMIC D-DAY" begins against Iran UAE Cuts Ties As Iran Warns Gulf States Against Helping Washington; Kpler Says US Navy Gaining Ground In Hormuz
There are now more than 2,700 mosques in the United States. In 1970, there were about 100. But it isn’t just mosques that are going up everywhere. Enormous Islamic “mini-cities” are being constructed in states such as California and Texas. And rapidly growing Islamic populations are taking over entire sections of the states of Minnesota and Michigan.
South Korea took peacetime operational control, or OPCON, of its military in 1994, but the US still holds wartime OPCON. Lee previously committed to regaining wartime OPCON by the end of his term in 2030, which he reaffirmed at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Jeffrey Tucker - founder and president of the Brownstone Institute, says top FDA and NIH officials told him that the purpose of the COVID-19 lockdowns were "to delay the onset of natural immunity… until after the shots were online."