The Golden Hare That Sparked a Three-Year Treasure-Hunting Frenzy Intriguing Times
Liver King and the Rise of Dark Nutrition Enlightened Omnivore
Climate/Environment
Flooding remains the big weather story, from the Four Corners region to both coasts Balanced Weather
Pandemics
Among those species is human.
So far there hasn’t been sustained human-to-human transmission, but if we keep giving the virus chances, it is just a matter of time.
13/13
https://t.co/6VURz2MVUX
— Marc Johnson (@SolidEvidence) October 25, 2026
***
@BBCWorld is just mystified, but they assure us Ebola is not spread through the air like flu.
Right now, we know that these two both went through the Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport on Oct. 3.
Let’s timeline this.
/1 https://t.co/CxQMSPAz2B
— Lazarus Long (@LazarusLong13) October 24, 2026
The Koreas
North Korea-South Korea tensions high as letters lodged with UN, howitzer spotted Channel News Asia
China?
Tibetan river hosting world’s biggest dam is facing increasing flood risk: study South China Morning Post
Syraqistan
Israeli bombing cuts off water to large parts of Gaza City, as Israel ‘reinstates starvation policy’ New Arab
Israel is preparing to annex the whole of the West Bank right now. The Spectacle
Netanyahu, IOF chief Zamir clash over Iran order before election Al Mayadeen
Relax, It’s Only an Exxon Valdez on Steroids Larry Johnson
A single miscalculation is all it takes: the occupied lands rendered uninhabitable in under an hour. https://t.co/X8wuAXnKO5
— ابراهیم عزیزی (@Ebrahimazizi33) October 24, 2026
Iran war live: Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish defence officials due in Tehran Al Jazeera
Iran has ramped up efforts to target US personnel, intelligence memo warns Reuters
CENTCOM commander flies over Hormuz Strait, says most ships transiting safely New Arab
Africa
Algeria moves to send troops to Niger to protect energy assets in historic policy shift TRT World
Industrial policy, redux. The Radical Cape Reading Room
Deported to Liberia, again Africa Is A Country
Old Blighty
Revealed: Palantir led secret review of how the MoD spends billions Democracy for Sale
European Disunion
French unions call for fresh protests after more than 1,300 arrests during rallies over living costs TRT World
Marine Le Pen launches presidential campaign with vow to restore ‘rule of law’ Euronews
Portuguese police cleared a Lisbon housing protest camp, arresting several demonstrators amid anger over soaring rents and proposed eviction reforms https://t.co/iuo9zx6Emo
— TRT World (@trtworld) October 25, 2026
Portugal Housing Activists Push for Nationwide General Strike TeleSur
The Bunker State’s Silent State of Exception Nel Bonilla
Key European defence ministers to discuss Ukraine support in Paris DPA International
Ukraine loan stirs the budget pot Politico:
UKRAINE COLLIDES WITH THE BUDGET TALKS: EU leaders are preparing to seek a deal on a roughly €45 billion support package for Ukraine by the end of this year, according to five EU diplomats and officials who spoke to me and Bjarke Smith-Meyer.
The potential loan, which would be guaranteed by the current EU budget, has emerged in recent weeks as the most likely scenario for Europe to meet Ukraine’s financial needs in 2027. The EU has also been trying to garner more contributions from other allies such as Canada and the United Kingdom, while Belgium continues to oppose the use of immobilized Russian assets to help Ukraine.
But the push for the support package — which would amount to about two-thirds of the €70 billion requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — coincides with difficult talks about the EU’s next long-term budget. And it will likely aggravate tensions between countries that provide the bulk of support for Ukraine and those that contribute comparatively little.
BREAKING: Serbia’s Vucic concedes defeat as student-backed list wins election Intellinews
Today, the people of Serbia turned out in record numbers to shape their country’s future.
Congratulations to the Student List on its victory in the parliamentary elections.
We stand ready to support reforms on the rule of law, media freedom, the fight against corruption and strong democratic institutions, and to work together to advance Serbia’s future in the European Union.
@eucopresident
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 25, 2026
Why so few Bulgarians voted: Record-low turnout and the tight November 1 presidential run-off explained The Statesman
New Not-So-Cold War
What’s The Real Importance Of Putin’s Recent Prediction Of The EU’s Inevitable Collapse? Andrew Korybko
The CIA’s War, Trump’s Diplomacy and the Illusions of America’s Intelligence Establishment Kautilya the Contemplator
Elon Musk says SpaceX closed Ukraine Starlink ‘loophole,’ while Kyiv denies breaching terms NBC News
The Great Game
Chevrolet cars still rule road in Uzbekistan. But for how much longer? Intellinews
South of the Border
Lula defies odds to clinch election victory over Flavio Bolsonaro in Brazil Buenos Aires Times
Lula Won Due to Happiness, Mobilization, and Fight Big Tech Payday Report
Brazil’s Lula thanks voters for his victory, Bolsonaro does not recognise the results France24
Investors expect Brazilian stocks, currency to fall after Lula reelected Reuters
And not to be a downer, but along with Lula being greeted by an historically rightwing parliament and a wall of US-Israel-aligned states around the country, there’s this:
Despite how happy I am for Brazil, the hypocrisy of the international applause is hard to ignore. The same actors cheering Lula’s 4th term called Chávez a dictator for it and vilified PSUV for “human rights abuses” while turning a blind eye to Lula’s troops committing rape and war crimes in Haiti. Lula is afforded their sympathy because he maintained neoliberal economics, played nice with Noboa and Jolani, blocked Venezuela from BRICS, and aligned with U.S. intervention abroad. This election result is, without a doubt, a victory for the sovereignty of Latin America against egregious election interference. But not all those applauding are cheering for our sovereignty. And, as yet another Latin American country joins U.S. mercenaries in Haiti, it’s pretty gross that certain ‘human rights activists’ (especially the Latin American pachamama libs) ignore the stain on humanity that was MINUSTAH simply because it was in service of the U.S. interests.
— Camila Lourdes Galarza (@sovietwithsazon) October 26, 2026
Operation Condor Black Lodges
Spook World
Why Everyone You Follow Might Be a PSYOP— Kit Klarenberg BettBeat
Trump 2.0
Facing an electoral wipeout, Trump goes after the system Politico
Trump wants to strip California of coastal protections unless state meets list of demands Los Angeles Times
Automating the Bribe State Can We Still Govern?
Offering cash for votes is quite common – but here’s why it doesn’t work The Conversation
Healthcare?
Why 43% of hospitals are losing money Becker’s Hospital Review
Agriculture
Iowa’s cancer crisis — facts and its future Dr. James Merchant, Art Cullen’s Notebook
Immigration
Trump says Norwegian immigrants not welcome in the US because of Nobel snub Reuters
Realignment and Legitimacy
What is “the government?” Archedelia
Imperial Collapse Watch
Inside the Pentagon’s doomsday plan to keep America fighting if global war erupts Fox News
This goes way beyond general national defense preparedness. This has the earmarks of something urgent and much, much larger scale than anything previously contemplated.
Preparations of this nature and magnitude would only be envisioned for an attack on America from a major global power as part of a world war.
Given the urgency with which Pentagon officials are announcing this initiative, I’m worried that they know something is coming and they’re not telling us…
— Daniel Davis Deep Dive (@DanielLDavis1) October 25, 2026
Economy
Two AI Chipmakers Make Up 34% of America’s Earnings Boom WSJ
Why candy prices are scary high ahead of Halloween Food Dive
AI
Anthropic model accessed voter information Axios
No Signs of AI Payoff Outside the Tech Sector Apollo
Monopoly Round-Up: What Happens When Cybersecurity is Bad for Business Matt Stoller
New LF Research Survey Shows Generative AI Cuts Open Source Coding Time in Half, but 25% of Incoming Pull Requests are Considered AI Slop Linux Foundation
Google Says Gmail and Photos Data Shared With AI Search Could Be Used for Targeted Ads Hacker News
🚨 BREAKING NEWS: Gmail Users Need to Read This!
If you have a Gmail account, you need to read this.
Google’s AI is now rifling through your inbox emails and attachments, bank statements, tax docs, medical letters, the whole stack. It was enabled by default, and that quiet rollout is now facing a class-action lawsuit.
Here are 5 steps to turn it off because the kill switch is buried in two different spots:
— Nyx (@Nyx_Tech_AI) October 23, 2026
AI use leads UC Berkeley math professor to see ‘no point’ in grading homework The Daily Californian
Casino Nation
For fuck’s sake https://t.co/FlBTtesPc6
— Jared Holt (@jaredlholt) October 23, 2026
Class Warfare
Corporate Greed is Coming for Everything Working Class Stories
Econo-cops…and Robbers Jared Bernstein
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
