This Week in the World Affairs Brief

PARIS IS BURNING — AGAIN

Protests erupted in the French capital again this week, shocking the world at the degree of looting, property destruction and violence in this and other French cities. What began as student demonstrations over deteriorating schools and teacher shortages has expanded into a nationwide movement over the cost of living, fuel prices, declining public services and dissatisfaction with President Emmanuel Macron’s government—or any government for that matter. Parts of the movement have descended into looting, arson (110 vehicles cars were torched), violent confrontations with police, historic buildings in Marseille and Lyon attacked and Limoges’ historic town hall set ablaze. France’s uprisings make even the Antifa riots in the US look mild by comparison. Arrests mounted into the thousands, curfews were introduced in some areas, and police tried in vain to curtail looting and property destruction. About 2400 protestors have been arrested and 1900 police injured. Over 3,000 shops have been looted or destroyed with damages in the billions of Euros. Protests, some violent, also broke out in other parts of Europe. Despite the horrible damage, this is but the latest in France’s long history of violent protests, including the most famous events of the French revolution. This week, I’ll discuss what increasing public discontent like this portends for social instability in the future of Europe. 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:
  • Trump Continues to Play Up to Putin
  • More War with Iran After Israeli Elections
  • The Betrayal of MAHA by Trump

Daily News

Donald Trump Jr. Privately Breaks With His Father On Foreign Policy: Report

ZeroHedge

The president's eldest son has repeatedly voiced his opposition to the nearly eight-month conflict behind closed doors, despite carefully avoiding any public criticism of his father. Two anonymous sources who reportedly spoke directly with Trump Jr. said the MAGA leader has repeatedly questioned the military campaign, a position in line with his longstanding opposition to U.S. involvement in foreign wars.

Federal Judge Suspended After Panel Found Her Unfit for Duty

The Epoch Times

It also found that Brown had been making inappropriate comments, including racial insults; claiming without proof that orders were being entered in cases she oversaw without her permission; making racial insults to judges and court staffers; and “sending copious and bizarre emails to court staff and judges, including emails in the middle of the night, and copying and/or blind copying others who have no reason to be copied on such emails.”

Feds Arrest 28 Foreign Nationals In California Monday For Illegal Voting

American Greatness

Federal agents arrested more than two dozen foreign nationals across California on Monday, for fraudulently registering and voting in U.S. elections. Specifically, the 28 suspects are being charged with a combination of illegal voting, making a false claim of U.S. citizenship in order to vote, and “knowingly depriving the residents of California of a fair and impartial election process,” Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter announced at a news conference in Los Angeles.

Russia Celebrates 'Historic Moment' After Trump Formally Waives Graham Act Sanctions

ZeroHedge

It was expected to take effect soon, as part of a big Washington ramping up of pressure to further strangle the Russian economy and thus starve Putin's war machine. Trump has informed Congress that he must waive the new sanctions package because it is in the US national interest, at a moment he's desperately trying to get diesel prices under control amid both the Iran war and Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil refineries.

Ukraine's Starlink & Starshield Services Restored, Officials Say

ZeroHedge

Starshield is the military version of Starlink, which offers satellite internet connectivity for consumer and commercial use. The temporary disruptions to Ukraine's Starshield access, which were reported on Oct. 14, come amid increased tension between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Adding more confusion to this whole scenario, around midday on Friday, President Trump told a gaggle of reporters that he "didn't know who gave the order on Starshield," to slow it down, claiming further that "it wasn't us."

US Law Wasn’t Built for How China’s Spies Operate in America

The Epoch Times

Experts told The Epoch Times that Beijing conducts most of its U.S. intelligence operations through people already living inside the country, relying on tasks that are largely lawful—making introductions, hosting events, logging attendee lists, or looking up individuals. These activities unfold across student clubs, hometown associations, campaign fundraisers, and university forums—the very institutions an open society intentionally keeps accessible. In Pauken’s case, his role was to identify individuals the Justice Department called “new recruitment targets” for his Chinese handlers.

Another Mass Shooter Stopped By Armed Citizen In Oregon

ZeroHedge

Three children and one adult are dead following an active shooter situation at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon on Thursday afternoon. The suspected active shooter is also dead after an armed civilian chased the shooter into the school and killed him.

The Pentagon awarded $350M to a firm tied to a senior DOD official

ProPublica

Among a cadre of Wall Street executives brought into the Pentagon during President Donald Trump’s second term, George K. Kollitides II has emerged as a powerbroker with a broad mandate to improve procurement of weapons and critical minerals. The longtime partner at the private equity firm Alvarez & Marsal Capital has framed his tour of duty in government as a service to the country. But the work he’s leading has also been a boon to his old friends in the private sector, government procurement records show.

Report: Ilhan Omar’s Staff Had Her Listed Birth Year Changed After She Was Elected

Breitbart

The library’s director also explained that the original entry had not been supported by documentation. Omar has said she became a U.S. citizen in 2000 through her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, after her family arrived in the United States from Somalia in 1995. “I became a citizen actually before I turned 18,” Omar told the Intercept in September 2018. “My father became a citizen and so I got my citizenship through that process.” The one-year difference matters to that account. Someone born October 4, 1981, would have turned 18 in October 1999. Someone born October 4, 1982, would have remained 17 until October 2000.

FROM BURNING MAN TO THE BEAST SYSTEM: How Neo-Paganism and Silicon Valley Are Shaping the Last-Days World

That question takes us to one of America’s strangest gatherings: Burning Man. What began in 1986 as a small gathering around a wooden effigy on San Francisco’s Baker Beach has developed into a temporary city in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert attracting tens of thousands of people. Burning Man officially presents itself around principles such as radical inclusion, radical self-expression, communal effort, participation, and immediacy. Yet accounts from inside the event describe something far more spiritually significant than an unusual art festival. The environment includes psychedelic drugs, sexual experimentation, altered states of consciousness, New Age ideas, occult imagery, ritualistic activity, and the rejection of traditional moral boundaries. The worldview celebrated there should concern Christians because much of it represents the opposite of the biblical understanding of God, humanity, morality, sexuality, and truth.

SpaceX Reportedly Caps Starlink Speed As Kiev Defies Trump's Calls To Halt Refinery Strikes

ZeroHedge

The local outlet noted, "Ukraine relies on Starlink for several military applications including operating its mid-strike campaign in Russian-occupied Ukraine, as well as interceptor drones that defend against Russia's new jet-powered attack drones." "The consequences are already being felt in the field. Since the start of the day alone, a drone unit operating within the 7th Corps' area of responsibility in the Huliaipole sector has had to cancel a number of missions due to these connectivity issues," Ukraine's 7th Air Assault Corps told the outlet. Western media, such as the Financial Times, said Ukraine was "blindsided by Starlink restrictions and intelligence gaps during Russian attack."

Ilhan Omar's Staff Scrambled To Change Her Birth Year Days After Fraud Allegations Emerged

ZeroHedge

Omar has said she derived citizenship through her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, when he naturalized in 2000, and the law then required the child to be under 18 when the parent naturalized. Born in 1981, she'd have been an adult all of 2000 - the year she says she became a citizen at 17, the NY Post reports. For her two years in the Minnesota House and more than four months into her congressional term, the state's Legislative Reference Library listed her birthday as Oct. 4, 1981, the same date carried by Wikipedia, the BBC and Congress's own Biographical Directory.

Trump Hints at Possible Meeting With North Korean Leader

The Epoch Times

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Oct. 12 that he might meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his planned visit to Asia next month. Asked by a reporter whether he expects to meet Kim during the trip, Trump said: “I may. That will be exciting, won’t it? But I get along with him.”

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