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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Kid Thomas

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Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features somewhat obscure blues and rock n roll musician Kid Thomas. Enjoy!

^{Kid Thomas - The Wolf Pack}

“There's always a moment when you start to fall out of love, whether it's with a person or an idea or a cause, even if it's one you only narrate to yourself years after the event: a tiny thing, a wrong word, a false note, which means that things can never be quite the same again.”

-- Douglas Adams

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News and Opinion

All Our Problems Are Caused By Believed Narrative

All our problems basically come down to narrative control.

People are manipulated into believing the story that Israel’s existence must be preserved at all cost because of this religious belief or that political ideology.

People are manipulated into believing the story that western elections are real and that voting in the two-party system is the only path toward beneficial policies.

People are manipulated into believing the story that capitalism is the best possible system, and that socialism always fails (organically, all by itself) because its tenets go against human nature.

People are manipulated into believing the story that the US-led liberal world order, while perhaps flawed, is still our best shot at a just and stable world.

People are manipulated into believing the story that the mass media are telling us the truth about our society and the world, and that everything works pretty much the way we were taught in school.

People are successfully manipulated in these ways because the wealthiest among us control the media and own all the largest platforms, which gives them a very high degree of narrative control. They decide what stories get told to the largest audiences about how the world works, so they control public perception of reality.

This has been happening for generations, so we grow up with our parents, teachers, preachers and pundits teaching us the narratives that they were trained to believe when they were young.

So we grow up marinating in this. It’s so rife throughout our society that most people don’t even notice it’s happening; they just think all those narratives are what reality objectively looks like.

But they’re not. They’re just thoughts. Mental noises. Stories made of words. Pick any of them apart and you’ll find that’s all they are: empty narrative fluff. Their power comes entirely from large numbers of people imbuing those narratives with the power of belief.

The consciousness of the average human is dominated by mental stories, so if you can control the mental stories the average humans are telling themselves, then you can control the humans. Get them buying into your preferred narratives about reality and you can exert huge degrees of influence over the way they think, speak, work, shop, live, and vote.

Our entire civilization looks the way it looks because of this vast network of influence. It’s what made the Gaza holocaust possible, what makes homelessness possible, what makes ecocide possible, what makes war and militarism possible. If the public were not being successfully manipulated into accepting the narratives which justify these realities, then everyone would start un-jacking their minds from the psychological control network and building the kind of world they would prefer to see.

And what’s interesting is that believed mental narrative is also the source of suffering in humans as individuals. The only reason you’re unable to be present in the moment and rest in peaceful contentment with a serene mind is because of all the thought-stories about reality that you are holding onto inside yourself, both consciously and unconsciously.

As we grow up and experience traumas in early childhood, we start forming beliefs about reality and who we are and how we need to be, which we then carry in our bodies deep into adulthood. With a lot of inner work we can begin releasing these old beliefs and freeing up the energy our bodies have been feeding into them this whole time, liberating ourselves from the internal commotion and dysfunction they cause.

“I am unworthy.”

“I am deficient.”

“The world is a hostile place and I need to protect myself from it.”

The young human organism forms all these belief constructs about itself and its reality, and then those beliefs quickly become maladaptive because they were built in youthful naivety without taking real-time feedback from life’s ever-changing circumstances. It is only by becoming aware of them and consciously removing the power of belief from them that they release their grip on our lives.

It’s a challenging process, but if you take it deep enough it will completely transform your entire experience of reality in some surprising and delightful ways. You will discover that even your most fundamental assumptions about what you are, what your world is, and how your experience is happening were never anything more than believed thoughts held on a subtle energetic level, and that life is so much simpler and more peaceful than you had ever imagined it could be.

Our collective untangling from believed mental narrative is unfolding in the same way. Gradually we are learning together that everything we were indoctrinated into believing about our world and how it’s happening was completely false from top to bottom, and we are beginning to deconstruct our power-serving worldviews one by one.

The more this happens, the weaker the hold our rulers will have on our minds at mass scale. The less we buy into the old narratives, the less capable the manipulators will be of influencing our thoughts, words and actions to their advantage.

And from there, anything is possible. If human consciousness becomes liberated from believed mental narrative on all levels, we could truly have paradise on earth.

I am more convinced then ever that this is possible. I am more convinced than ever that it is already happening.

"IRAN WILL BURN DOWN THE MIDDLE EAST" /Lt Col Daniel Davis

Tlaib Calls to Arrest Commander of IDF Unit Accused of Killing Hind Rajab as He Travels the US

US Rep. Rashida Tlaib called Monday for the US Department of Justice to arrest the commander of the Israel Defense Forces unit believed to have killed 5-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza back in 2024.

Maj. Sean Glass, who commanded the “Vampire Empire” Company of the 52nd Armored Battalion in the 401st Armored Brigade, is traveling in the United States, according to an urgent legal complaint submitted by the Hind Rajab Foundation.

“The commander of the Israeli military unit likely responsible for killing 5-year-old Hind Rajab is currently in the US,” Tlaib (D-Mich.), the only Palestinian American member of Congress, wrote on social media. “As a party to the Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions, our government is obligated to arrest and investigate him for these war crimes and acts of genocide.”

The commander of the Israeli military unit likely responsible for killing 5-year-old Hind Rajab is currently in the U.S.

As a party to the Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions, our government is obligated to arrest and investigate him for these war crimes and acts of genocide. I stand with @HindRFoundation in calling on the DOJ to follow the law and take action.

— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) October 19, 2026

An investigation by the foundation, in collaboration with Al Jazeera, concluded that Glass’ unit opened fire on a car, killing six of Rajab’s family members on January 29, 2024, as they attempted to lee Gaza City.

Rajab spent hours pleading with emergency dispatchers to rescue her. But Israeli forces also attacked an ambulance sent to save her, killing two paramedics. Rajab’s body was discovered 12 days later.

Following international outrage, Israel initially denied responsibility for the attack, before admitting in August 2026 that its troops had fired upon the family’s car and toward the ambulance.

Using satellite imagery, forensic evidence, and Israeli soldiers’ social media activity, the Hind Rajab Foundation said it established that Glass’ unit was operating a few hundred meters from Rajab’s vehicle when the attack occurred. However, the allegations have not been proven in court.

On Monday, the foundation posted photos of Glass standing on the Brooklyn Bridge and riding the New York City subway. It is not clear why he is traveling in the US or where he is currently located.

The group filed a request with the Justice Department on Monday demanding that it investigate, arrest, and prosecute Glass under the US War Crimes Act and federal genocide statutes.

“Glass is not just another man implicated in the killing of Hind Rajab,” said Dyab Abou Jahjah, the foundation’s general director. “He is the man who most likely gave the order to open fire on the vehicle carrying Hind and members of her family, including other children. That Glass can walk the streets of the United States as though nothing has happened is intolerable. He must be brought to justice.”

The foundation has already filed a submission with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and authorities in other countries, calling for Glass and members of his unit to be held accountable.

Glass, the foundation noted, has often publicly celebrated destruction in Gaza during Israel’s genocidal military campaign there, which has led to the deaths of more than 74,000 people, including over 21,000 children, according to official tallies. Experts warn the true death toll is likely much higher.

According to the foundation:

On Instagram, in interviews, and in a self-published book, [Glass] has proudly recounted the destruction of hospitals, UN buildings, entire neighborhoods, and the Rafah Crossing, the lifeline on which Palestinian survival depended.

Celebrating 100 days of the war, he described the campaign as a “war of existence of the eternal people” and urged his troops to “attack, attack till victory.” Marking seven years in the army, he wrote there was “no more significant way to celebrate” than in Al-Shifa, “the terror nest,” posting side-by-side satellite images of Al-Shifa Medical Complex before and after his forces destroyed it.

In his farewell speech to his company, he boasted that they had “destroyed every part to where we were asked to go, in all areas of the Gaza Strip,” and described emptying the Zeitoun neighborhood of its residents. Days after the ceasefire took effect, still in Gaza, he filmed himself promising, “I’ll rush at the opportunity to return to the battle and finish the work.”

“The War Crimes Act and the Genocide Statute were written precisely for men like Sean Glass,” said Jake Romm, the Hind Rajab Foundation’s representative in the United States. “Congress and successive administrations promised that the United States would never be a refuge for war criminals; instead it has condoned and aided their crimes.”

Calls for Glass’ arrest come amid the Trump administration’s efforts to “dismantle” the ICC over its attempt to prosecute Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes in Gaza. Earlier this month, after targeting individual judges and prosecutors, the administration placed the ICC itself under sweeping financial sanctions. Human Rights Watch executive director Philippe Bolopion said the administration’s clear goal was to “shield US and Israeli officials from facing charges before the court.”

US law allows foreign nationals like Glass to be prosecuted for certain war crimes when they are present on US soil. Such prosecutions require the approval of the US attorney general or deputy attorney general.

As of Tuesday morning, Tlaib appeared to be the only US lawmaker who had issued a statement calling for the US government to arrest Glass.

“Glass and his company are responsible for some of the worst atrocities of this genocide—that he now walks free and unbothered in the US is not only an insult to his victims, but to all people of conscience here in the US as well,” Romm said. “Some politicians in the US have claimed to be committed to accountability for Israeli war crimes—this filing is a good opportunity to test the sincerity of that commitment.”

Bibi, Trump PLOT Pre-Election MASSIVE IRAN ESCALATION

Ansarullah Strikes Saudi Oil Field as U.S. Reportedly Bombs Iran-w/ Fmr. CIA Larry Johnson

Netanyahu Says He Discussed ‘Eliminating’ the Iranian Government With Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel was “committed” to “eliminating” the Iranian government and that he spoke about the idea in his recent conversation with President Trump.

“Finishing the job means bringing down the terrorist regime in Iran. It is the head of this poisonous octopus. You cut it off, and it will fall. We will also have peace with Lebanon,” he said. “We must complete the elimination of the Iranian regime — that is the primary objective. I have spoken about this with President Trump more than once, including the day before yesterday.”

A day earlier, Netanyahu released part of a phone call he had with President Trump on Sunday, where he thanked the US leader for endorsing him in the upcoming Israeli elections. In Trump’s endorsement message, he suggested that the US may have to “finish the job” against Iran without the help of Israel if Netanyahu doesn’t remain prime minister.

The Saudi Dictator's Dreams Of Grandeur Are Finished

BREAKING: Iranian lawmakers say Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei's position on nuclear weapons will differ from his late father's and that Iran must now acquire nuclear weapons.

"The nuclear doctrine must change," Iranian MP Naderi says, adding that the discussion of nuclear deterrence has become more serious and has now reached the level of Friday prayer imams (top state clerics).

"Our response so far in terms of revenge has not been sufficient. A response will be sufficient when we achieve definitive deterrence, which will happen, we are in this process," he adds.

— The Hormuz Letter (@HormuzLetter) October 18, 2026

Phil Giraldi : After the US Falls …

Israeli Defense Minister Accuses Lebanon Army of Negligence, Dials Up Threats

A week before the Israeli elections, their assorted offensive wars are becoming a particularly important issue, and high ranking figures are attaching themselves to various hawkish narratives, particularly as related to the ongoing invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon.

Defense Minister Israel Katz has been at the fore in this regard. Last week he threatened significant escalation of the war, taking more territory further north and potentially leading to the outright annihilation of the Lebanese Shi’ite community. He’s now accused the Lebanese Army of “negligence” and is threatening more escalations on that basis.

The Israeli Army issued a statement adjoining this allegation, accusing the Lebanese Army of failing to disarm Hezbollah in 2024 and 2025, and accusing them of not taking actions to that effect they’d publicly reported. The statement added they were holding the Lebanese Army “responsible” for dragging Lebanon into the war, which is to say Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in March. Katz went on to reiterate the threat to expand the war northward into the Litani and Nabatieh areas, which they’re already actively attacking.

Over the weekend, Katz had framed that territory seized by Israel as a “permanent buffer zone,” apparently resolving the question of whether this occupation is permanent.

US has resumed sharing intelligence with Ukraine about Russian strikes, says Zelenskyy

The US has resumed sharing intelligence with Kyiv about Russian missile strikes, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday after a meeting with the US envoy Steve Witkoff in Norway. He said Ukraine was again receiving advance warnings of ballistic missile attacks, which were seemingly suspended last week by the White House. “Now it works. It’s great,” he said, adding that the US move would save lives.

The Ukrainian president said: “It’s very important for our people, for children, adults, civilians, because we can hear when ballistic [missiles] is coming. So we are thankful to the American side.” Witkoff will on Wednesday meet Russian president Vladimir Putin after what a US official called “constructive” talks with Zelenskyy in Norway. The US envoy would aim to “create a pathway toward direct trilateral and broader multilateral negotiations”, a US official told Reuters.

The talks in Oslo took place amid the worst crisis in US-Ukraine relations since Putin’s full-scale invasion nearly five years ago. Donald Trump has bitterly accused Zelenskyy of failing to end the war and has said Ukraine needs a new leader. On Tuesday Trump again suggested Zelenskyy was the main obstacle to an agreement. “We want Zelensky to make a deal. He can make a deal. He could have made a deal two years ago when we had our little chat in the Oval Office,” he said.

Zelenskyy said he had held a “positive” phone call earlier with the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio. Asked if Ukraine was now losing the war, after recent hostile US actions, Zelenskyy replied: “Of course we are not losing. But we are losing people because of Russian attacks and time. It’s a pity.” Zelenskyy said he had offered to stop Ukraine’s long-range attacks on Russian oil refineries – a key Trump demand – if the US provided Kyiv with Patriot missile interceptors. The Pentagon has blocked the delivery of Patriots to Kyiv paid for by other countries, leaving Kyiv more vulnerable than ever to air attacks.

France’s Youth Uprising Is Pushing Macron to the Brink

Italy to deploy 500 troops to Milan after days of protests and looting

Italy’s government is sending 500 soldiers to Milan and vowed a “firm response from the state” after protests against the cost of living descended into clashes with police, vandalism and looting. Further demonstrations are planned on Saturday. The government of the far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, also announced new security measures, including an offence of violent participation in ⁠a demonstration, tougher penalties for ⁠rioters, and financial liability for ​parents whose children take part in vandalism and looting.

In France, the interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, said on Tuesday some military forces would be deployed during ⁠protests ​planned for this Saturday, “mostly to free police and gendarmes in their mission to maintain order”. The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, told parliament that the police presence during Saturday’s demonstrations ⁠would be “massive” and that ​his ​goal was ​for an “immediate return ​to order” ‌after last weekend’s violent riots.

Police in Milan, in northern Italy, detained 271 young people after hooded youths set bins ablaze, ransacked shops and smashed windows, including in the area surrounding the city’s cathedral, during the unrest on Saturday and Sunday. Police used teargas and water cannon to disperse the violent groups, who were on the fringes of an initially peaceful protest. Of those detained, 32 have been arrested, including 23 minors and 13 foreign nationals, police said on Monday. A further 28 people were reported to judicial authorities.

Meloni’s coalition, which is facing a general election next year, is reportedly planning tougher penalties for road blockades after days of protests in southern Italy by lorry drivers over fuel prices.Meanwhile, Milan is bracing for further protests on Saturday after a new movement, called 17 October, emerged on social media. It said it would organise demonstrations there and in other Italian cities each Saturday afternoon “until this government of thieves collapses”.

“You are the violent ones,” the group said. “You, who denied us a future. Now, we are claiming that future ourselves.”

France is at war with itself - Yanis Varoufakis & Wolfgang Munchau | The Econoclasts

Why are French police so violent? Their job is to protect the state, not the people

Familiar images of teargas clouds drifting across Paris squares, police baton charges against masked protesters and terrified teenagers floored – and worse – by stun grenades have once again focused the world’s attention on France’s policing methods. While most of its western European neighbours generally favour police tactics that prioritise crowd containment and de-escalation, France has long responded to social movements that take to the streets with, at times, shocking physical force.

The reasons why are a complex mix of history, politics, state organisation and a particular security culture that has become deeply ingrained over decades, if not centuries, and whose limits continue to be pushed today. French policing policy is rooted in Napoleon’s ultra-centralised state and in the political philosophy of the Republic. In France, the police are an instrument of the state. Their core task is to protect it, enforce its laws, and maintain public order.

Conceptually, that is a far cry from, for example, the UK, where since the early 1800s the police have been considered servants of the public, whose authority derives from public consent and whose chief responsibility is to keep the peace. French police officers are agents of state authority. That means protests, blockades and mass disorder are not just civil nuisances, but direct challenges to the authority of the republic. The police’s priority is to reclaim the streets, not to negotiate.

Violent policing methods are also fostered by France’s almost unique culture of street protest. A legacy of insurrection dating back to the 1789 revolution means protesters know the street can, and generally does, force governments to back down.

Unlike in Germany or the Netherlands, French unions, while they may strike often, are not formal government negotiating partners. The top-heavy, presidential structure of the Fifth Republic marginalises institutional consultation. That means a heavily centralised state often passes laws with little popular agreement, making the “power of the street” one of citizens’ few viable means of forcing concessions. Protest here is regarded as a civic duty and a legitimate democratic tool. That creates a vicious circle. French authorities see large crowds as an existential threat, so send in the police. Their military-style tactics entrench the aggression and alienate peaceful demonstrators. This prompts the more radical groups to opt for more violent tactics. But rather than isolating those elements, police respond with baton charges and munitions. And that turns protests into battles.

Belgian MP: Europe Is Sealing Our Future to Pay for War

United Airlines CEO faces rightwing backlash after calling for US wealth tax

Scott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines, is under scrutiny from conservative politicians and commentators for saying wealth inequality is a “danger to society” and calling for a national wealth and inheritance tax in a recent interview. Talking to the New York Times, Kirby was asked about the growing public distrust of CEOs and whether he felt any responsibility to quell that distrust. “We should have a national wealth tax – it won’t work by state because people will just move,” he said. “And I think we should have inheritance taxes that get close to 100% at some level. I would pay them.”

In response, headlines from Fox Business and the New York Post decried that Kirby made $32m in 2025. In response to Kirby’s comments, Glenn Beck, a former Fox News host, and other users on X called for a boycott of United Airlines. Jeff Landry, Louisiana’s governor, said the statement was “audacious”. “How audacious from a guy that didn’t even build @united and makes $32 million a year,” he wrote on X, adding a link to a government website to donate money to the government. “Better yet, he should distribute his salary to the employees at the bottom of the ladder @united!”

“Let’s see you step up and place your money where your mouth is!” Landry added. The comment comes just two weeks before voters in California will decide on a so-called “billionaire’s tax”, which would put a 5% tax on the state’s billionaires, that the wealthy have been spending millions fighting against.

Poll Shows 70% of US Voters Doubt Trump Will Accept GOP Walloping in Midterms

Seven in 10 Americans doubt President Donald Trump would accept the results of next month’s midterm elections if Republicans suffer major losses, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released Tuesday that spurred one progressive senator to implore people to get out and vote.

The poll, conducted October 9-13 among 2,545 US adults, found that just 28% were very or somewhat confident that Trump would accept the election results if Republicans lose, while 70% were not confident. Half of respondents said they were “not at all” confident he would accept a decisive GOP defeat.

While an overwhelming majority of Democratic respondents— 94%—and 77% of independents doubted Trump would accept a Republican midterm loss, 36% of Republicans also expressed doubts. Among Republicans, 63% said they were confident Trump would accept the results, although only a quarter were very confident.

Sixty-one percent of respondents also said they believe Trump is not committed to ensuring free and fair elections, up from 56% last year.

Still, the new polling suggests that confidence in Trump’s willingness to respect electoral outcomes is substantially weaker than confidence in the voting process itself, as about 6 in 10 respondents said they were confident the midterms would be conducted fairly and accurately, while 65% said they believed that votes would be correctly counted.

US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) responded to the poll in a social media post urging Americans to vote in order to thwart Trump’s attacks on democracy.

“Too many Americans fought and died for democracy,” Sanders asserted. “Trump’s authoritarianism will not prevail. Go vote. We WILL win this election whether Trump likes it or not.”

The poll’s findings come as Democrats seek to regain control of Congress, and Trump continues to promote baseless claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, which his own administration’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency called “the most secure in American history.”

According to the poll, Democrats are leading Republicans by eight percentage points among likely voters in congressional races, 52% to 44%. Trump has continued campaigning for Republican candidates as his approval ratings have tanked amid dissatisfaction over the economy and the illegal US-Israeli war of choice against Iran.

Trump campaigned on promises to tackle the affordability crisis and not wage new wars. As of last month, the benchmark consumer price index has soared by nearly 30% since Biden’s administration, while Trump has ordered military attacks against 10 countries during his two terms—more than any president in modern history.

DoJ’s suspected non-citizens list includes ‘high percentage’ of those born in US, LA officials say

The justice department’s list of suspected non-citizens in California includes a “high percentage” of people born in the United States, Los Angeles election officials said on Tuesday. The statement, made in court papers, raises further questions about the reliability of a list of 20,000 people the justice department provided to election officials in Los Angeles last week. The department sent the county and California secretary of state the list last week and gave them a 48-hour deadline to segregate ballots cast from anyone on the list unless they could verify their citizenship. California election officials refused and the Department of Justice sued them on Thursday.

Of the 20,000 names delivered to Los Angeles county, only about 7,000 people had an address in the county, according to the filing. Los Angeles officials analyzed a sample of 200 people on the list. “Among the records for which birthplace information was meaningfully reported, 38.9% indicated that they were born in the United States,” Aman Bhullar, an official in the Los Angeles clerk and recorder’s office, wrote in a court declaration. It is not immediately clear how many people that is and a county spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.

Forty-three per cent of those on the list had a voter registration record that had been cancelled, Bhullar said in his declaration. Seventy-one per cent of those in the sample never voted, and 86 people had been mailed a ballot this year.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has compiled the list of non-citizens on the rolls, has resisted state demands to share its methodology for matching voter rolls for non-citizen records. Experts have warned that the way DHS is trying to match voter rolls to its own records could be error-prone.

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Man who heckled El-Sayed is son of Republican adviser who was paid for ‘influencer marketing’

The man who attempted to ambush the Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed with a question about his supposed allegiance to the Muslim Brotherhood – which El-Sayed parlayed into a viral clip for his campaign – is the son of a political operator who recently received $250,000 for “canvassing and influencer marketing” against El-Sayed, the Guardian has learned.

In the now-famous exchange, a man – first identified by the Handbasket as Thomas “Tommy” Teepell – asked El-Sayed if he would “disavow” the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed said he would, but then asked: “What are you implying? Do you assume that I wouldn’t?” What followed was a five-minute exchange that has drawn over 50m views across several social media platforms, in which El-Sayed queries the man about the guarantees of religious freedom in the constitution.

Teepell is the son of Timothy “Timmy” Teepell, a longtime strategist for the Missouri Republican senator Josh Hawley as well as former Republican Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal. Timmy Teepell’s firm, Breakthrough LLC, was paid $250,000 on 29 September by America Next, a 501(c)(4) non-profit with which it shares a Baton Rouge office suite, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

The filing says the money would fund the canvassing and influencer marketing in opposition to El-Sayed. It is the only independent expenditure the group has reported since 2015, when it paid OnMessage Inc for television advertising backing Bobby Jindal’s presidential campaign. America Next has been trying to gin up “organic” town hall opposition to El-Sayed, as the Handbasket report noted. On 1 October, a member of the University of Michigan College Republicans, saying he was acting for America Next, reportedly offered students $200 to boo and question El-Sayed at a town hall in Flint.

Republicans have pressed the Muslim Brotherhood line against El-Sayed for several weeks. His opponent Mike Rogers, raised alleged Brotherhood ties during a debate, and Donald Trump has said without evidence that El-Sayed is “100%” Muslim Brotherhood. There is no evidence that El-Sayed has been involved with the group.

'Examined His A**': Trump Has HOT FANTASY Amid Early Vote NIGHTMARE

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Why have countries been pushing for a vital global climate report to be delayed?

[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/oct/20/countries-pushing-vi... The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suspended an important meeting on Friday in Addis Ababa without setting out a firm timetable for its next report. The world’s governments are due to meet in less than a month for the Cop31 climate summit, and this leaves the future of scientific advice to governments on the climate in doubt.]

The IPCC – the UN-convened body of the world’s leading climate scientists – met for a week but, despite progress in many areas, was unable to come to agreement on the substantive issue of setting a launch date for its next comprehensive assessment of global knowledge of climate science. The seventh assessment report, known as AR7, was expected to be published in 2028, seven years after the last report in 2021. But some want this timetable to be delayed to 2029, or later.

A loose group of governments led by Saudi Arabia, Russia and India, and also including China and Kenya, have raised objections to publishing the report in 2028, arguing that climate science is dominated by developed countries, which they say has skewed its findings. But many scientists, and experts, worry that a delay would prevent AR7 being used to inform the next round of pledges of emissions cuts, due to be discussed by governments at the Cop33 climate summit in late 2028. Under the timetable set out by the 2015 Paris agreement, 2028 is a crucial year as it will be the second “global stocktake”, by which governments’ pledges on emissions are scrutinised to ensure they are in line with the goal of holding temperature rises to 1.5C above preindustrial levels.

Saudi Arabia has a long history of obstructing climate action, including seeking to water down previous IPCC reports, and has employees of its oil company and scientists with oil links on the IPCC committees.

Mohamed Adow, director of the Power Shift Africa thinktank, said: “It is deeply frustrating that governments have failed to agree a way forward. Developing countries must have a meaningful voice in shaping that science, and wealthy nations must provide the funding needed to make that possible. But legitimate concerns about fairness cannot become an excuse for endless delays.” Oscar Soria, director at the Common Initiative group, said: “The failure to agree the timeline is not a procedural detail, it has real consequences.. The answer is not to choose between urgency and equity, but to provide the resources and support needed to achieve both.”

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Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some of which defied fair-use abstraction.

The Democratic Party Still Hates the Left

Iran War: Kinetic Action and US Threats Continue at Low Boil as Tanker Attacks and Resulting Nosebleed Charges Plus Continues Supply Choking Increase Economic Toll

Higher Oil Prices Are Like To Stay

Widespread Riots & Protests In Europe & India

‘Bismillah, c’est les ténèbres’: What does the French student protest slogan mean?

Press Coverage of French Protests Broadcasts Neoliberal Message That Markets Matter More Than People

US, Japan Holding Major Military Exercises Near Taiwan

Alberta voters overwhelmingly reject plan to leave Canada in referendum

The little-known friendship between Nina Simone and Langston Hughes

From Paris to Porto, from Tirana to Milan: protests across Europe – in pictures

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A Little Night Music

Kid Thomas - Wail, Baby, Wail

Kid Thomas - The Spell

Kid Thomas - The Hurt Is On

Kid Thomas - In A Cold Cold World

Kid Thomas - You Are An Angel

Kid Thomas - You Heard What I Said

Kid Thomas - Jivin' Mess

Kid Thomas - Beaulah Don't Leave Me Baby

Kid Thomas - Rockin' this Joint Tonight

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