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Turkey Begins Ratifying Mecca Defense Pact With Saudi Arabia And Pakistan
Turkey Begins Ratifying Mecca Defense Pact With Saudi Arabia And Pakistan
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/what-to-know-about-the-mecca-joint-defense-agreement-6108031?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge,
Turkey has begun ratifying the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, a new pact signed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The agreement has drawn increased attention since it was signed in August.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L), Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C), and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (R) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Aug. 7, 2026. Saudi Press Agency via APPresident Donald Trump https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/trump-hails-new-defense-pact-between-turkey-saudi-arabia-pakistan-6075977?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge the pact as a step toward greater regional security, while recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have put renewed focus on how the alliance could operate in practice.
Saudi Arabia is the Gulf's largest military https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/mecca-defense-pact-not-aimed-at-iran-erdogan-6094910?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge, Turkey has NATO's second-largest army after the United States, and Pakistan is the world's only nuclear-armed Muslim-majority nation.
The agreement commits the three countries to closer military cooperation and includes a collective defense clause under which an armed attack on one member would be treated as an attack on all.
Here's what the agreement says, how it would work, and what could happen next.
Where the Agreement Stands
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the agreement in the Saudi holy city of Mecca.
It aims to strengthen military and security cooperation among the three countries and is based on the principles of the U.N. Charter, respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference in each other's domestic affairs.
Turkey is the first of the three countries to publicly begin ratifying the agreement. Parliamentary records show the treaty was formally submitted to Turkish lawmakers on Oct. 21.
Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus said on Oct. 22 that the relevant parliamentary committee will consider the treaty first, then submit it to the General Assembly for debate and a vote. If approved, it will become law.
Pakistan has not sought parliamentary approval, and Saudi Arabia has not announced a separate ratification process. Despite this, officials from both countries have already participated in meetings held under the new defense pact.
What's in the Agreement?
The treaty contains 16 articles covering defense, security, intelligence sharing, military cooperation, and defense industry collaboration.
The agreement's main provision is its collective defense clause.
It says that if one of the three countries comes under an external armed attack, the others will treat it as an attack on all of them and provide assistance.
However, the treaty does not require the same response every time. Instead, the three governments would decide together what kind of support is needed based on the situation.
That support could include military assistance, intelligence, logistics, or other resources.
The three countries also agree to work together on defense technology, research, innovation, and joint production of military equipment. They also commit to sharing intelligence through secure channels and providing logistical support, such as ammunition, fuel, spare parts, and other military supplies, when needed.
Why Does It Matter?
The pact comes during a period of heightened tensions in the Middle East following the Iran conflict and amid Iran-backed Houthi https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/yemens-houthis-attack-saudi-refinery-after-defense-pact-with-turkey-pakistan-6073071?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge on Saudi Arabia.
Pakistani and Turkish officials have condemned the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Last month, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/turkey-backs-saudi-arabia-under-mecca-alliance-amid-ongoing-houthi-attacks-6092775?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge Turkish broadcaster NTV that Ankara was ready to provide Saudi Arabia with technical military assistance under the Mecca agreement if the kingdom requests it.
At the same time, Ankara maintains that the Mecca agreement is not directed against Iran, Israel, or any other country.
For Pakistan, the Mecca Agreement builds on existing military ties with Riyadh.
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia rolled over more than $1.2 billion in oil import https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/saudi-arabia-nuclear-armed-pakistan-sign-mutual-defense-pact-5916861?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge for Pakistan, part of a series of bailouts and deferred payment facilities that have propped up Pakistan's economy.
The two countries also signed a separate mutual defense agreement in 2025, pledging to come to each other's aid if either is attacked.
How Will It Work?
The agreement creates a Strategic Political and Defense Committee to oversee the alliance.
The committee will include the foreign ministers, defense ministers, and military chiefs of the three countries. It will meet twice a year, with meetings rotating between Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.
The three countries' leaders may also meet annually if needed, and a permanent secretariat will be based in Saudi Arabia.
On Oct. 5, officials from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan met in Riyadh to discuss security threats facing Saudi Arabia. They appointed retired Pakistani Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmood as the alliance's first secretary-general for a three-year term.
The agreement also allows the alliance to expand. Last month, Kurtulmus said it could eventually include other Muslim countries, including Iran. The three founding countries must unanimously approve any new member.
Under the treaty, it will remain in force indefinitely, but any member may withdraw after 10 years with three months' written notice.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to MPs at his party's group meeting in the Turkish parliament on Jan. 21, 2026, in Ankara, Turkey. Serdar Ozsoy/Getty Images
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Mon, 10/26/2026 - 02:00
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/turkey-begins-ratifying-mecca-defense-pact-saudi-arabia-and-pakistan
Turkey Begins Ratifying Mecca Defense Pact With Saudi Arabia And Pakistan
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/what-to-know-about-the-mecca-joint-defense-agreement-6108031?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge,
Turkey has begun ratifying the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, a new pact signed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The agreement has drawn increased attention since it was signed in August.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L), Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C), and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (R) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Aug. 7, 2026. Saudi Press Agency via APPresident Donald Trump https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/trump-hails-new-defense-pact-between-turkey-saudi-arabia-pakistan-6075977?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge the pact as a step toward greater regional security, while recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have put renewed focus on how the alliance could operate in practice.
Saudi Arabia is the Gulf's largest military https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/mecca-defense-pact-not-aimed-at-iran-erdogan-6094910?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge, Turkey has NATO's second-largest army after the United States, and Pakistan is the world's only nuclear-armed Muslim-majority nation.
The agreement commits the three countries to closer military cooperation and includes a collective defense clause under which an armed attack on one member would be treated as an attack on all.
Here's what the agreement says, how it would work, and what could happen next.
Where the Agreement Stands
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the agreement in the Saudi holy city of Mecca.
It aims to strengthen military and security cooperation among the three countries and is based on the principles of the U.N. Charter, respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference in each other's domestic affairs.
Turkey is the first of the three countries to publicly begin ratifying the agreement. Parliamentary records show the treaty was formally submitted to Turkish lawmakers on Oct. 21.
Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus said on Oct. 22 that the relevant parliamentary committee will consider the treaty first, then submit it to the General Assembly for debate and a vote. If approved, it will become law.
Pakistan has not sought parliamentary approval, and Saudi Arabia has not announced a separate ratification process. Despite this, officials from both countries have already participated in meetings held under the new defense pact.
What's in the Agreement?
The treaty contains 16 articles covering defense, security, intelligence sharing, military cooperation, and defense industry collaboration.
The agreement's main provision is its collective defense clause.
It says that if one of the three countries comes under an external armed attack, the others will treat it as an attack on all of them and provide assistance.
However, the treaty does not require the same response every time. Instead, the three governments would decide together what kind of support is needed based on the situation.
That support could include military assistance, intelligence, logistics, or other resources.
The three countries also agree to work together on defense technology, research, innovation, and joint production of military equipment. They also commit to sharing intelligence through secure channels and providing logistical support, such as ammunition, fuel, spare parts, and other military supplies, when needed.
Why Does It Matter?
The pact comes during a period of heightened tensions in the Middle East following the Iran conflict and amid Iran-backed Houthi https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/yemens-houthis-attack-saudi-refinery-after-defense-pact-with-turkey-pakistan-6073071?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge on Saudi Arabia.
Pakistani and Turkish officials have condemned the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Last month, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/turkey-backs-saudi-arabia-under-mecca-alliance-amid-ongoing-houthi-attacks-6092775?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge Turkish broadcaster NTV that Ankara was ready to provide Saudi Arabia with technical military assistance under the Mecca agreement if the kingdom requests it.
At the same time, Ankara maintains that the Mecca agreement is not directed against Iran, Israel, or any other country.
For Pakistan, the Mecca Agreement builds on existing military ties with Riyadh.
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia rolled over more than $1.2 billion in oil import https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/saudi-arabia-nuclear-armed-pakistan-sign-mutual-defense-pact-5916861?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge for Pakistan, part of a series of bailouts and deferred payment facilities that have propped up Pakistan's economy.
The two countries also signed a separate mutual defense agreement in 2025, pledging to come to each other's aid if either is attacked.
How Will It Work?
The agreement creates a Strategic Political and Defense Committee to oversee the alliance.
The committee will include the foreign ministers, defense ministers, and military chiefs of the three countries. It will meet twice a year, with meetings rotating between Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.
The three countries' leaders may also meet annually if needed, and a permanent secretariat will be based in Saudi Arabia.
On Oct. 5, officials from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan met in Riyadh to discuss security threats facing Saudi Arabia. They appointed retired Pakistani Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmood as the alliance's first secretary-general for a three-year term.
The agreement also allows the alliance to expand. Last month, Kurtulmus said it could eventually include other Muslim countries, including Iran. The three founding countries must unanimously approve any new member.
Under the treaty, it will remain in force indefinitely, but any member may withdraw after 10 years with three months' written notice.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to MPs at his party's group meeting in the Turkish parliament on Jan. 21, 2026, in Ankara, Turkey. Serdar Ozsoy/Getty Images
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Mon, 10/26/2026 - 02:00
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/turkey-begins-ratifying-mecca-defense-pact-saudi-arabia-and-pakistan
Is It Time For Another Worldwide Civilizational Collapse?
Is It Time For Another Worldwide Civilizational Collapse?
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/10/is-it-time-for-another-worldwide-civilizational-collapse/,
It has happened before in history. Those who think it can't happen again are out of their minds...
In 1200 B.C., worldwide civilization fell into ruin. That is only partially an overstatement. The Americas and Asia were on a separate path, but the Mediterranean complex of civilizations, the "known world," was all but destroyed. It was laying the foundation of Western Civilization, which is the modern worldwide standard for science, technology, human rights, and self-government - and critically, an enduring monotheistic society.
The Bronze Age collapse took about a century, but that is sudden in terms of history. Before 1300 B.C. there was a network of prosperous, stable kingdoms. Then, shortly thereafter, everything went wrong at once. Volcanoes and invasions were the headline causes, but numerous other factors came into play. The result was the destruction of mighty empires. Thriving cities fell into ruin. Trade routes were cut. Barbarians massacred entire populations.
Recovery took centuries, but here we are, enjoying yet another golden age of worldwide prosperity. Yes, there are dark spots and open sores in the picture, but day to day, most people awaken to indoor plumbing and controlled temperatures. They enjoy breakfast, and they thrive within family, career, and comfort.
It could all come crashing down in a lifetime or less.
In the 1980s, cultural revolutionaries chanted, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western civ has got to go." If no one took them seriously at the time, we do now, because they are getting their wish.
Witness Europe. The aforementioned modern worldwide standard for science, etc. is being eroded. Invaders who once were repelled at the walls have now been invited in through the gates, and given food, shelter, medical care, and freedom. In return, they plunder, rape, and murder their benefactors. The revolution continues.
All of this was not only eminently predictable, but actually predicted. Hungary and Poland sounded the warning loud and clear, as did classic liberals throughout Europe and the anglosphere. Today, those two nations are the safest and most stable countries in Europe, yet they are excoriated by the others for practicing the very policies that make them the shining examples of what the continent could be. The lepers are screaming at the healthy, "Be like us!"
Is a reversal of the currently unfolding self-destruction possible? Yes, but the bandage must be painfully ripped off. Mass deportation, previously unthinkable to the leftist mind, is now being seriously discussed as a necessity. Painful solutions, however, are not something ignorant populations accept, or even understand.
As our Founders understood, evils will be suffered while they are sufferable, but eventually, they become neither tolerable nor tolerated. What happens when the evils are so deeply embedded that removing them is not merely painful, but destructive of the institutions of power?
Embedded they are. Western Europe, which was once the bastion of all that is valuable in a free society, has fallen into a state of what can only be called terminal madness - a state in which the cure is deemed to be the disease, and vice versa.
Worse yet, Canada and Australia, legendary allies and partners of the United States, are falling headlong into the same mire. Mires, almost by definition, only get worse, pulling their victims ever downward the more they struggle to extricate themselves. Canada will soon discover this, courtesy of its new friends in Communist China.
In the 1940s, European civilization was on the brink of final collapse. The economies of Italy and Germany had become so distressed that brutal dictatorships were installed as a solution, bringing ever more ruin. Will history repeat itself?
There is hope. Bronze was never the best metal; iron is better, but iron is more difficult to forge than the copper-tin alloy of bronze. Only when the supplies of tin were cut off were the metalsmiths forced to resort to the more abundant, and stronger, elemental iron. It had been there all along, available the whole time. (Does this give greater meaning to the word irony?)
By analogy, multiculturalism is the weak alloy of various, incompatible cultures. The values of Western civilization are the iron - difficult to practice but superior values to which we must return. Europe can survive, but it will have to be dragged, kicking and screaming (and worse) the whole way.
Viva Hungary. Viva Poland.
We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of ZeroHedge.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 23:59
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/it-time-another-worldwide-civilizational-collapse
Is It Time For Another Worldwide Civilizational Collapse?
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/10/is-it-time-for-another-worldwide-civilizational-collapse/,
It has happened before in history. Those who think it can't happen again are out of their minds...
In 1200 B.C., worldwide civilization fell into ruin. That is only partially an overstatement. The Americas and Asia were on a separate path, but the Mediterranean complex of civilizations, the "known world," was all but destroyed. It was laying the foundation of Western Civilization, which is the modern worldwide standard for science, technology, human rights, and self-government - and critically, an enduring monotheistic society.
The Bronze Age collapse took about a century, but that is sudden in terms of history. Before 1300 B.C. there was a network of prosperous, stable kingdoms. Then, shortly thereafter, everything went wrong at once. Volcanoes and invasions were the headline causes, but numerous other factors came into play. The result was the destruction of mighty empires. Thriving cities fell into ruin. Trade routes were cut. Barbarians massacred entire populations.
Recovery took centuries, but here we are, enjoying yet another golden age of worldwide prosperity. Yes, there are dark spots and open sores in the picture, but day to day, most people awaken to indoor plumbing and controlled temperatures. They enjoy breakfast, and they thrive within family, career, and comfort.
It could all come crashing down in a lifetime or less.
In the 1980s, cultural revolutionaries chanted, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western civ has got to go." If no one took them seriously at the time, we do now, because they are getting their wish.
Witness Europe. The aforementioned modern worldwide standard for science, etc. is being eroded. Invaders who once were repelled at the walls have now been invited in through the gates, and given food, shelter, medical care, and freedom. In return, they plunder, rape, and murder their benefactors. The revolution continues.
All of this was not only eminently predictable, but actually predicted. Hungary and Poland sounded the warning loud and clear, as did classic liberals throughout Europe and the anglosphere. Today, those two nations are the safest and most stable countries in Europe, yet they are excoriated by the others for practicing the very policies that make them the shining examples of what the continent could be. The lepers are screaming at the healthy, "Be like us!"
Is a reversal of the currently unfolding self-destruction possible? Yes, but the bandage must be painfully ripped off. Mass deportation, previously unthinkable to the leftist mind, is now being seriously discussed as a necessity. Painful solutions, however, are not something ignorant populations accept, or even understand.
As our Founders understood, evils will be suffered while they are sufferable, but eventually, they become neither tolerable nor tolerated. What happens when the evils are so deeply embedded that removing them is not merely painful, but destructive of the institutions of power?
Embedded they are. Western Europe, which was once the bastion of all that is valuable in a free society, has fallen into a state of what can only be called terminal madness - a state in which the cure is deemed to be the disease, and vice versa.
Worse yet, Canada and Australia, legendary allies and partners of the United States, are falling headlong into the same mire. Mires, almost by definition, only get worse, pulling their victims ever downward the more they struggle to extricate themselves. Canada will soon discover this, courtesy of its new friends in Communist China.
In the 1940s, European civilization was on the brink of final collapse. The economies of Italy and Germany had become so distressed that brutal dictatorships were installed as a solution, bringing ever more ruin. Will history repeat itself?
There is hope. Bronze was never the best metal; iron is better, but iron is more difficult to forge than the copper-tin alloy of bronze. Only when the supplies of tin were cut off were the metalsmiths forced to resort to the more abundant, and stronger, elemental iron. It had been there all along, available the whole time. (Does this give greater meaning to the word irony?)
By analogy, multiculturalism is the weak alloy of various, incompatible cultures. The values of Western civilization are the iron - difficult to practice but superior values to which we must return. Europe can survive, but it will have to be dragged, kicking and screaming (and worse) the whole way.
Viva Hungary. Viva Poland.
We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of ZeroHedge.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 23:59
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/it-time-another-worldwide-civilizational-collapse
Ottawa's Counter-Tariffs On US Costing Canadians $100 Million Weekly, Economist Says
Ottawa's Counter-Tariffs On US Costing Canadians $100 Million Weekly, Economist Says
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/ottawas-counter-tariffs-on-us-costing-canadians-100-million-weekly-economist-says-6108290?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge,
Canada's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports are costing consumers an estimated $100 million a week and raising prices by about 0.25 percent, an economist told MPs.
Trucks stop near the Peace Bridge US-Canada border crossing, on March 20, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. AP Photo/Yuki IwamuraUniversity of Calgary economics professor Trevor Tombe https://images.cpac.ca/in-committee-from-the-house-of-commons/episode/foreign-affairs-and-international-development--october-21-2026?id=b4676377-383c-4823-bb33-b39736f81f01before the House of Commons foreign affairs committee on Oct. 21 about the counter-tariffs that Ottawa imposed on $28 billion of American imports on Sept. 8, in a tit-for-tat response to American tariffs that took effect Aug. 22.
The retaliatory tariffs ranged from 15 percent on U.S. farm equipment and appliances to 25 percent on construction supplies and 50 percent on smartphones, furniture, aluminum, and steel.
Tombe told MPs that Ottawa's retaliatory tariffs cut half a percentage point from the disposable income of Canadians making under $30,000 a year and increased consumer prices "across the board" by roughly 0.25 percent, as first reported by Blacklock's Reporter.
"Just for consumers, not even for businesses, it's about $100 million per week of additional costs," he said.
"Those costs might be worth paying if one is making an argument that there are non-economic objectives that these tariffs achieve," he added. "I don't know what those might be. ... So, I'd say the economic case for retaliation is thin."
The federal government has said it is applying counter-tariffs on the United States to shield domestic producers amid U.S. tariffs, and to also apply pressure on the White House to remove its tariffs.
"We're also targeting products that will target states in the U.S.," Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said in August.
"We're being wise and strategic to put political pressure, and that's why we think it's the right thing to do right now."
Tombe said a better way to understand the U.S. tariffs is that they are really an "American domestic policy rather than a bilateral dispute with Canada." Furthermore, he said Ottawa's retaliation only adds costs for Canadian consumers, while its effect on American policy "appears to be quite limited."
He called the U.S. tariff increases "the largest trade policy change" in the country's 250-year history.
He said the average U.S. tariff globally was 2 percent in 2024, then it jumped to 30 percent in 2025 before falling to an average of 11 percent. He put the average U.S. tariff on Canadian goods at 8 percent, lower than rates faced by 93 other countries.
"So this may be less of a trade war with Canada than a fundamental change in how the United States runs its economy," Tombe said. He said a tariff essentially equals a domestic consumption tax plus a production subsidy of the same rate.
Tombe said Canada's 2025 retaliatory tariffs generated $4 billion in federal revenue over six months.
He added that it's difficult for a small country's tariffs to meaningfully affect the target country's economic costs, especially one as big as the United States.
"There's no evidence that the retaliation we've enacted has changed U.S. behavior," he told MPs.
Tombe said that "Canada faces something of a trilemma," since it wants to retaliate by targeting goods from politically important states, goods where Canadian companies are major buyers, and goods where Canada can easily substitute for other things.
"And doing all three is quite difficult," he said, noting that a tariff package meeting all those objectives would be roughly one-tenth the size of a full dollar-for-dollar retaliation.
Tombe also said Ottawa's counter-tariff package didn't actually follow through on dollar-for-dollar retaliation; instead, it was about 60 cents for every dollar.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 18:00
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/ottawas-counter-tariffs-us-costing-canadians-100-million-weekly-economist-says
Ottawa's Counter-Tariffs On US Costing Canadians $100 Million Weekly, Economist Says
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/ottawas-counter-tariffs-on-us-costing-canadians-100-million-weekly-economist-says-6108290?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge,
Canada's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports are costing consumers an estimated $100 million a week and raising prices by about 0.25 percent, an economist told MPs.
Trucks stop near the Peace Bridge US-Canada border crossing, on March 20, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. AP Photo/Yuki IwamuraUniversity of Calgary economics professor Trevor Tombe https://images.cpac.ca/in-committee-from-the-house-of-commons/episode/foreign-affairs-and-international-development--october-21-2026?id=b4676377-383c-4823-bb33-b39736f81f01before the House of Commons foreign affairs committee on Oct. 21 about the counter-tariffs that Ottawa imposed on $28 billion of American imports on Sept. 8, in a tit-for-tat response to American tariffs that took effect Aug. 22.
The retaliatory tariffs ranged from 15 percent on U.S. farm equipment and appliances to 25 percent on construction supplies and 50 percent on smartphones, furniture, aluminum, and steel.
Tombe told MPs that Ottawa's retaliatory tariffs cut half a percentage point from the disposable income of Canadians making under $30,000 a year and increased consumer prices "across the board" by roughly 0.25 percent, as first reported by Blacklock's Reporter.
"Just for consumers, not even for businesses, it's about $100 million per week of additional costs," he said.
"Those costs might be worth paying if one is making an argument that there are non-economic objectives that these tariffs achieve," he added. "I don't know what those might be. ... So, I'd say the economic case for retaliation is thin."
The federal government has said it is applying counter-tariffs on the United States to shield domestic producers amid U.S. tariffs, and to also apply pressure on the White House to remove its tariffs.
"We're also targeting products that will target states in the U.S.," Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said in August.
"We're being wise and strategic to put political pressure, and that's why we think it's the right thing to do right now."
Tombe said a better way to understand the U.S. tariffs is that they are really an "American domestic policy rather than a bilateral dispute with Canada." Furthermore, he said Ottawa's retaliation only adds costs for Canadian consumers, while its effect on American policy "appears to be quite limited."
He called the U.S. tariff increases "the largest trade policy change" in the country's 250-year history.
He said the average U.S. tariff globally was 2 percent in 2024, then it jumped to 30 percent in 2025 before falling to an average of 11 percent. He put the average U.S. tariff on Canadian goods at 8 percent, lower than rates faced by 93 other countries.
"So this may be less of a trade war with Canada than a fundamental change in how the United States runs its economy," Tombe said. He said a tariff essentially equals a domestic consumption tax plus a production subsidy of the same rate.
Tombe said Canada's 2025 retaliatory tariffs generated $4 billion in federal revenue over six months.
He added that it's difficult for a small country's tariffs to meaningfully affect the target country's economic costs, especially one as big as the United States.
"There's no evidence that the retaliation we've enacted has changed U.S. behavior," he told MPs.
Tombe said that "Canada faces something of a trilemma," since it wants to retaliate by targeting goods from politically important states, goods where Canadian companies are major buyers, and goods where Canada can easily substitute for other things.
"And doing all three is quite difficult," he said, noting that a tariff package meeting all those objectives would be roughly one-tenth the size of a full dollar-for-dollar retaliation.
Tombe also said Ottawa's counter-tariff package didn't actually follow through on dollar-for-dollar retaliation; instead, it was about 60 cents for every dollar.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 18:00
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/ottawas-counter-tariffs-us-costing-canadians-100-million-weekly-economist-says
Ilhan Omar's Deleted 2013 Tweet Could Be Key Evidence In Federal Probe
Ilhan Omar's Deleted 2013 Tweet Could Be Key Evidence In Federal Probe
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) once posted a Father's Day message that appears to identify her father as "Nur Said," a name that closely matches that of her ex-husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi.
"Happy Father's Day to my aabo Nur Said, I am forever grateful to Allah for giving me the best father ..." Omar wrote in June 2013. She removed the post on the morning of Sept. 17, 2019.
Omar deleted the 2013 post six years later, and it has https://www.foxnews.com/politics/omars-deleted-tweet-clue-alleged-brother-marriage as federal investigators examine her identity and immigration records.
Federal agents searched Omar's Washington, D.C., home on Oct. 12 as part of a criminal investigation into possible false statements on her immigration and naturalization documents. Court records tied to the search warrant, first obtained by Fox News Digital, refer to the congresswoman as "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a.k.a. Ilhan Abdullahi Omar." The filing does not explain why it uses that name, and it does not show that she used a false identity.
The name Omar gave her father in the 2013 post, Nur Said, also appears in the name the federal filing now uses.
Two people familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital that "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi" may be Omar's legal name, however, her office disputes that account.
Fox News Digital asked Omar on Friday for her real name. "Ilhan Abdullahi Omar, you know it," Omar said. "It's Ilhan Abdullahi Omar."
Other records list a different name for her father. A Congressional Black Caucus memorial post following his death in 2020 identified him as "Nur Omar Mohamed." Some reports, however, have used "Nur Said." In one example, Oxford University historian Mohamed Haji Ingiriis referred to him by that name in a New York Post https://nypost.com/2026/10/13/us-news/ilhan-omars-father-was-loyal-to-somali-dictator-misrepresented-himself-as-a-refugee-source/ about his alleged military service.
"He was a full colonel in Siad Barre's military regime," Ingiriis told The Post. "Ilhan's father was never an educator. Nur Said was a military officer who was loyal to the regime until the end. He was part and parcel of those who caused and created the mayhem they 'fled' to live comfortably in the United States."
Fox News has not independently confirmed whether the father's name is Nur Said Elmi Mohamed, as alleged, or Nur Omar Mohamed. Omar's office did not answer Fox News Digital's request for comment on the deleted post.
Nur died in June 2020 at age 67 from complications with COVID.
The Daily Caller first https://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2019/09/17/ilhan-omar-deletes-2013-tweet-that-revealed-her-fathers-name-the-same-as-her-husbands/ on an archived copy of the post in 2019. Questions about Omar's immigration records first drew wide attention that same year.
A statement attributed to Omar's spokesperson has also circulated online again. It says "Nur Said" was her father's childhood nickname and that he maintained a public page under that name. According to the same statement, Omar deleted the tweet after her family received threats.
A spokesperson for Rep. Ilhan Omar sends me the following statement on her deleted tweet from 2013 https://t.co/JGshLtjdn0
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) https://x.com/LevineJonathan/status/1174041052661133312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Omar and her office have repeatedly denied that Elmi is her brother. She denies any wrongdoing and has described the federal probe as a political attack.
On Thursday, her spokesperson said that Omar has "repeatedly and unequivocally denied" what the spokesperson called a "baseless, disgusting conspiracy theory" that she married her brother.
However, Omar's https://www.zerohedge.com/political/not-my-knowledge-ilhan-omar-cant-quite-rule-out-marrying-her-brother-live-tv-and-trump undermined those denials. On Wednesday, during an interview with Chris Hayes on MS NOW, Hayes asked Omar whether her one-time husband might be a "distant relative."
"Not to my knowledge," Omar said.
Omar and Elmi divorced in 2017. She legally married Ahmed Hirsi in 2018.
The investigation now centers on what Omar stated on her federal immigration and naturalization paperwork. A former Minnesota federal immigration judge said that if investigators prove Omar knowingly used a false name on federal forms, she could face scrutiny under the federal false-statements law, 18 U.S.C. § 1001.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 17:30
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/ilhan-omars-deleted-2013-tweet-could-be-key-evidence-federal-probe
Ilhan Omar's Deleted 2013 Tweet Could Be Key Evidence In Federal Probe
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) once posted a Father's Day message that appears to identify her father as "Nur Said," a name that closely matches that of her ex-husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi.
"Happy Father's Day to my aabo Nur Said, I am forever grateful to Allah for giving me the best father ..." Omar wrote in June 2013. She removed the post on the morning of Sept. 17, 2019.
Omar deleted the 2013 post six years later, and it has https://www.foxnews.com/politics/omars-deleted-tweet-clue-alleged-brother-marriage as federal investigators examine her identity and immigration records.
Federal agents searched Omar's Washington, D.C., home on Oct. 12 as part of a criminal investigation into possible false statements on her immigration and naturalization documents. Court records tied to the search warrant, first obtained by Fox News Digital, refer to the congresswoman as "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a.k.a. Ilhan Abdullahi Omar." The filing does not explain why it uses that name, and it does not show that she used a false identity.
The name Omar gave her father in the 2013 post, Nur Said, also appears in the name the federal filing now uses.
Two people familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital that "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi" may be Omar's legal name, however, her office disputes that account.
Fox News Digital asked Omar on Friday for her real name. "Ilhan Abdullahi Omar, you know it," Omar said. "It's Ilhan Abdullahi Omar."
Other records list a different name for her father. A Congressional Black Caucus memorial post following his death in 2020 identified him as "Nur Omar Mohamed." Some reports, however, have used "Nur Said." In one example, Oxford University historian Mohamed Haji Ingiriis referred to him by that name in a New York Post https://nypost.com/2026/10/13/us-news/ilhan-omars-father-was-loyal-to-somali-dictator-misrepresented-himself-as-a-refugee-source/ about his alleged military service.
"He was a full colonel in Siad Barre's military regime," Ingiriis told The Post. "Ilhan's father was never an educator. Nur Said was a military officer who was loyal to the regime until the end. He was part and parcel of those who caused and created the mayhem they 'fled' to live comfortably in the United States."
Fox News has not independently confirmed whether the father's name is Nur Said Elmi Mohamed, as alleged, or Nur Omar Mohamed. Omar's office did not answer Fox News Digital's request for comment on the deleted post.
Nur died in June 2020 at age 67 from complications with COVID.
The Daily Caller first https://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2019/09/17/ilhan-omar-deletes-2013-tweet-that-revealed-her-fathers-name-the-same-as-her-husbands/ on an archived copy of the post in 2019. Questions about Omar's immigration records first drew wide attention that same year.
A statement attributed to Omar's spokesperson has also circulated online again. It says "Nur Said" was her father's childhood nickname and that he maintained a public page under that name. According to the same statement, Omar deleted the tweet after her family received threats.
A spokesperson for Rep. Ilhan Omar sends me the following statement on her deleted tweet from 2013 https://t.co/JGshLtjdn0
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) https://x.com/LevineJonathan/status/1174041052661133312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Omar and her office have repeatedly denied that Elmi is her brother. She denies any wrongdoing and has described the federal probe as a political attack.
On Thursday, her spokesperson said that Omar has "repeatedly and unequivocally denied" what the spokesperson called a "baseless, disgusting conspiracy theory" that she married her brother.
However, Omar's https://www.zerohedge.com/political/not-my-knowledge-ilhan-omar-cant-quite-rule-out-marrying-her-brother-live-tv-and-trump undermined those denials. On Wednesday, during an interview with Chris Hayes on MS NOW, Hayes asked Omar whether her one-time husband might be a "distant relative."
"Not to my knowledge," Omar said.
Omar and Elmi divorced in 2017. She legally married Ahmed Hirsi in 2018.
The investigation now centers on what Omar stated on her federal immigration and naturalization paperwork. A former Minnesota federal immigration judge said that if investigators prove Omar knowingly used a false name on federal forms, she could face scrutiny under the federal false-statements law, 18 U.S.C. § 1001.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 17:30
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/ilhan-omars-deleted-2013-tweet-could-be-key-evidence-federal-probe
House Dems Target Hegseth For Impeachment If They Win Midterms
House Dems Target Hegseth For Impeachment If They Win Midterms
https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/24/house-dems-target-hegseth-for-impeachment-if-they-win-midterms/,
House Democrats are already plotting to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth if they regain control of Congress in November, making the Trump administration official a top target of their anticipated return to power.
While Democratic leaders have largely avoided discussing another impeachment of President Donald Trump, they have openly embraced efforts to remove Hegseth.
"One of the first things we're going to do in the majority, we're going to run Pete Hegseth out of town," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., declared during a Pennsylvania rally earlier this month.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/house-democrats-target-hegseth-for-impeachment-push-e851feb5, Democrats are preparing impeachment efforts both before the current Congress adjourns and next year, should they secure a House majority.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., has accused Hegseth of being incompetent and corrupt, while Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., described him as an extremist who should be removed.
The Pentagon has pushed back against the attacks.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson defended Hegseth's leadership, saying the department remains united behind his agenda of strengthening America's military and ensuring troops have the resources necessary to succeed.
Democrats have criticized Hegseth over his handling of military operations against Iran, personnel changes and a 2025 incident involving sensitive military information shared through a Signal group chat.
However, the impeachment push is not exclusively Democratic.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a vocal opponent of American military intervention overseas, introduced impeachment articles against Hegseth in September, arguing that the administration's military operations against Iran were unlawful.
Massie plans to force a House vote when lawmakers return Nov. 9.
Republicans currently hold a narrow 219-214 House advantage, including an independent who caucuses with the GOP. Democrats would need additional Republican support to impeach Hegseth before the new Congress convenes.
Several Republicans, including Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Warren Davidson of Ohio, have indicated they oppose impeachment.
Even if Democrats regain the House and successfully impeach Hegseth, removing him would require a two-thirds majority in the Senate, an outcome widely considered unlikely.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 17:00
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/house-dems-target-hegseth-impeachment-if-they-win-midterms
House Dems Target Hegseth For Impeachment If They Win Midterms
https://amgreatness.com/2026/10/24/house-dems-target-hegseth-for-impeachment-if-they-win-midterms/,
House Democrats are already plotting to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth if they regain control of Congress in November, making the Trump administration official a top target of their anticipated return to power.
While Democratic leaders have largely avoided discussing another impeachment of President Donald Trump, they have openly embraced efforts to remove Hegseth.
"One of the first things we're going to do in the majority, we're going to run Pete Hegseth out of town," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., declared during a Pennsylvania rally earlier this month.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/house-democrats-target-hegseth-for-impeachment-push-e851feb5, Democrats are preparing impeachment efforts both before the current Congress adjourns and next year, should they secure a House majority.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., has accused Hegseth of being incompetent and corrupt, while Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., described him as an extremist who should be removed.
The Pentagon has pushed back against the attacks.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson defended Hegseth's leadership, saying the department remains united behind his agenda of strengthening America's military and ensuring troops have the resources necessary to succeed.
Democrats have criticized Hegseth over his handling of military operations against Iran, personnel changes and a 2025 incident involving sensitive military information shared through a Signal group chat.
However, the impeachment push is not exclusively Democratic.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a vocal opponent of American military intervention overseas, introduced impeachment articles against Hegseth in September, arguing that the administration's military operations against Iran were unlawful.
Massie plans to force a House vote when lawmakers return Nov. 9.
Republicans currently hold a narrow 219-214 House advantage, including an independent who caucuses with the GOP. Democrats would need additional Republican support to impeach Hegseth before the new Congress convenes.
Several Republicans, including Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Warren Davidson of Ohio, have indicated they oppose impeachment.
Even if Democrats regain the House and successfully impeach Hegseth, removing him would require a two-thirds majority in the Senate, an outcome widely considered unlikely.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 17:00
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/house-dems-target-hegseth-impeachment-if-they-win-midterms
Brazil Supreme Court Extends Voting By Two Hours At Socialist Lula's Request
Brazil Supreme Court Extends Voting By Two Hours At Socialist Lula's Request
Summary:
- Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Extends Voting Time By Two Hours
- Brazil Runoff Enters Final Hour: Left-Right Showdown Could Reshape Latin America's Political Balance
Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Extends Voting Time By Two Hours
AFP News reports that a Brazilian Supreme Court judge extended voting nationwide by two hours after complaints that public transport problems had hindered access to polling stations.
Justice Cristiano Zanin ordered polling stations to remain open until 7 p.m. local time, or 6 p.m. in New York, following a request from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
One key question is whether the additional voting window boosts turnout in Lula's favor. The transport complaints also raise questions about cheating.
Hyperliquid's Brazil ETF perpetual dropped 3.5% on the news.
Brazil Runoff Enters Final Hour: Left-Right Showdown Could Reshape Latin America's Political Balance
Brazilians began voting early Sunday in a presidential runoff, with right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva statistically tied. Bolsonaro won the first round at the start of the month.
Nearly 160 million people are eligible to vote today, with polling stations closing at 1600 ET. A last-minute AtlasIntel survey for Bloomberg, released Saturday, showed Bolsonaro leading Lula 51% to 49%, largely in line with other final polls. The survey's margin of error was 1 percentage point.
Regular readers will remember that polls showed Lula ahead going into the first round, but Bolsonaro finished ahead with 47.03% of valid votes to Lula's 45.16%.
Goldman's chief Latin America economist, Alberto Ramos, provides the latest in his https://marketdesk.ai/standalone/217nMEKIluJ (https://www.zerohedge.com/signup/professional-membership-year):
"The race has tightened considerably. Polls immediately after the first round gave conservative Bolsonaro a 4- to 5-point lead over left-wing incumbent President Lula in the October 25 runoff. His lead has since narrowed to 0 to 2.5 points, with one outlier, Vox, showing Lula slightly ahead. Prediction markets still favor Bolsonaro, but the odds are less lopsided than immediately after the first round."
Here is Goldman's poll-of-polls, which shows Bolsonaro's lead eroding in the final stretch (chart source: GS GIR):
And here is the full scorecard by pollster. Goldman's average still puts Bolsonaro ahead 51% to 49%, a 2-point lead right on the edge of most surveys' margin of error. Note how many arrows point down: in almost every poll, the senator's lead is smaller than it was in that pollster's previous survey.
https://polymarket.us/event/pres-bra-2026-10-04 gives Bolsonaro an 82% chance of winning the runoff, while Lula's odds are around 20%.
Post-Election Market Outlook:
- https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/photo-finish-brazil-votes-polls-tied-bettors-all-bolsonaro-and-market-priced-lula
UBS analyst Kyle Duca adds more color to FX impact on election results:
Trading and strategy see a wide two-way range for BRL around the presidential runoff, but distinguish between the likely FX and rates reactions in each outcome.
The FX trading desk sees a Lula win pushing USDBRL toward 5.40-5.45, where the move could run out of steam as higher rates bring the carry trade back into play and encourage USDBRL selling.
On a Flavio win, trading sees more of a rates story, with USDBRL likely moving toward 4.90-4.80 before interest to clean up emerges. A sharp rates rally and diminished carry could then leave FX consolidating around those levels.
FX Strategy sees USDBRL at 4.70-4.80 if Flavio wins 52%-48%, with less upside for BRL if the margin is below 1%. A Lula victory would put USDBRL at 5.30-5.50.
The "Bolsonaro trade" is already gaining momentum ahead of the runoff.
The black line, Hyperliquid's Brazil ETF perpetual, has surged to $45.16, about 6% above the iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ), which closed at $42.59 on Friday.
By this evening, Brazilian voters will decide whether to accelerate Latin America's rightward shift or extend a failed left-wing economic agenda that risks deeper deficits, a mounting debt pile, higher interest rates, more economic gloom, and faltering investor confidence. A Bolsonaro win would cement the continent's rightward shift.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 16:48
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/brazil-runoff-enters-final-hour-left-right-showdown-could-reshape-latin-americas
Brazil Supreme Court Extends Voting By Two Hours At Socialist Lula's Request
Summary:
- Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Extends Voting Time By Two Hours
- Brazil Runoff Enters Final Hour: Left-Right Showdown Could Reshape Latin America's Political Balance
Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Extends Voting Time By Two Hours
AFP News reports that a Brazilian Supreme Court judge extended voting nationwide by two hours after complaints that public transport problems had hindered access to polling stations.
Justice Cristiano Zanin ordered polling stations to remain open until 7 p.m. local time, or 6 p.m. in New York, following a request from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
One key question is whether the additional voting window boosts turnout in Lula's favor. The transport complaints also raise questions about cheating.
Hyperliquid's Brazil ETF perpetual dropped 3.5% on the news.
Brazil Runoff Enters Final Hour: Left-Right Showdown Could Reshape Latin America's Political Balance
Brazilians began voting early Sunday in a presidential runoff, with right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva statistically tied. Bolsonaro won the first round at the start of the month.
Nearly 160 million people are eligible to vote today, with polling stations closing at 1600 ET. A last-minute AtlasIntel survey for Bloomberg, released Saturday, showed Bolsonaro leading Lula 51% to 49%, largely in line with other final polls. The survey's margin of error was 1 percentage point.
Regular readers will remember that polls showed Lula ahead going into the first round, but Bolsonaro finished ahead with 47.03% of valid votes to Lula's 45.16%.
Goldman's chief Latin America economist, Alberto Ramos, provides the latest in his https://marketdesk.ai/standalone/217nMEKIluJ (https://www.zerohedge.com/signup/professional-membership-year):
"The race has tightened considerably. Polls immediately after the first round gave conservative Bolsonaro a 4- to 5-point lead over left-wing incumbent President Lula in the October 25 runoff. His lead has since narrowed to 0 to 2.5 points, with one outlier, Vox, showing Lula slightly ahead. Prediction markets still favor Bolsonaro, but the odds are less lopsided than immediately after the first round."
Here is Goldman's poll-of-polls, which shows Bolsonaro's lead eroding in the final stretch (chart source: GS GIR):
And here is the full scorecard by pollster. Goldman's average still puts Bolsonaro ahead 51% to 49%, a 2-point lead right on the edge of most surveys' margin of error. Note how many arrows point down: in almost every poll, the senator's lead is smaller than it was in that pollster's previous survey.
https://polymarket.us/event/pres-bra-2026-10-04 gives Bolsonaro an 82% chance of winning the runoff, while Lula's odds are around 20%.
Post-Election Market Outlook:
- https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/photo-finish-brazil-votes-polls-tied-bettors-all-bolsonaro-and-market-priced-lula
UBS analyst Kyle Duca adds more color to FX impact on election results:
Trading and strategy see a wide two-way range for BRL around the presidential runoff, but distinguish between the likely FX and rates reactions in each outcome.
The FX trading desk sees a Lula win pushing USDBRL toward 5.40-5.45, where the move could run out of steam as higher rates bring the carry trade back into play and encourage USDBRL selling.
On a Flavio win, trading sees more of a rates story, with USDBRL likely moving toward 4.90-4.80 before interest to clean up emerges. A sharp rates rally and diminished carry could then leave FX consolidating around those levels.
FX Strategy sees USDBRL at 4.70-4.80 if Flavio wins 52%-48%, with less upside for BRL if the margin is below 1%. A Lula victory would put USDBRL at 5.30-5.50.
The "Bolsonaro trade" is already gaining momentum ahead of the runoff.
The black line, Hyperliquid's Brazil ETF perpetual, has surged to $45.16, about 6% above the iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ), which closed at $42.59 on Friday.
By this evening, Brazilian voters will decide whether to accelerate Latin America's rightward shift or extend a failed left-wing economic agenda that risks deeper deficits, a mounting debt pile, higher interest rates, more economic gloom, and faltering investor confidence. A Bolsonaro win would cement the continent's rightward shift.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 16:48
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/brazil-runoff-enters-final-hour-left-right-showdown-could-reshape-latin-americas
Trump's Reverse Nixon Strategy: Bring Russia In, Shut China Out
Trump's Reverse Nixon Strategy: Bring Russia In, Shut China Out
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Trumps-Reverse-Nixon-Strategy-Bring-Russia-In-Shut-China-Out.html,
On October 9, hours after a phone call between President Trump and President Putin, the Treasury Department issued a six-month waiver allowing Russian diesel to be sold on the global market.
The stated aim is to bring down fuel prices before the November 3 midterms. But I believe the deal is more consequential than that. It fits a larger strategy: for the United States to control as much of the world's energy supply as possible, while denying it to its chief rival, China.
A pattern, not a one-off
The strategy began in Venezuela. Since US forces https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Oil-Markets-Brace-for-Supply-Squeeze-After-US-Captures-Nicols-Maduro.html President Maduro in January, Washington has effectively https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/US-Venezuela-Oil-Deal-Threatens-Chinas-Oil-Backed-Loans.html the country's oil exports, and shipments to China, once Venezuela's largest customer, have collapsed.
Iran came next. China was the largest buyer of Iranian oil, and with the Strait of Hormuz closed, Gulf and Iranian energy has been choked off from China and the rest of the world, sending prices soaring. The President now claims "total control" of the Strait. Whatever the truth of that claim, a closed Hormuz does exactly what the strategy requires: it starves China of Middle Eastern supply.
Russia is the next piece. With Gulf oil cut off, Russia has become China's major energy supplier. The diesel waiver is a first step toward easing sanctions on Russian energy, reversing that flow back toward the West, and bringing US oil companies back to tap Russia's vast reserves.
The pipeline question
The larger prize may be Russian gas for Europe. Reuters https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-russia-explore-gas-sale-europe-amid-ukraine-war-say-sources-2026-10-08/ that Washington and Moscow have discussed a role for a US investor in the Nord Stream pipelines, which were sabotaged in 2022 and lie damaged on the floor of the Baltic Sea.
Consider what US ownership of the pipeline would offer. In my reading, it would provide a fig leaf enabling Europe to resume buying Russian gas without appearing to capitulate. A pipeline is of little use without gas to put in it, and without that gas Europe's economy would likely stay depressed. Energy use and economic growth have historically moved closely together, which is why the stakes are so high.
Next would come the return of US oil companies that were forced out of Russia by post-2022 sanctions, along with joint ventures in the Russian Arctic. Moscow, for its part, would have to scale back its military and intelligence support for Iran.
Nixon's play, in reverse
In this effort, Trump appears to be taking a page from Nixon and Kissinger, who https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB66/ relations with China in the 1970s to exploit its rift with the Soviet Union. This would run the play in reverse: pry Russia away from China.
Would Moscow go along? Russia has long been frustrated as the junior partner in the relationship. It hoped for an alliance of equals, military and economic, that never materialized. It watched China pour billions into countries like Pakistan as part of an effort to rebuild the ancient Silk Road, while promised projects for Russia remained more talk than action. China has also delayed Russia's proposed second gas pipeline for over ten years. Return to the European market, with hundreds of millions of customers, is an offer Russia could hardly refuse.
The price would be ending the Ukraine war on terms less favorable than Moscow has sought. I expect marginal concessions at the edges of its conquests, which Trump would promote as a historic achievement in his quest for the Nobel Prize.
President Zelensky will vigorously oppose the plan and appeal to his European allies. But Trump's recent comments suggest little patience with the Ukrainian President, and I expect Washington to press Kyiv by reducing military and intelligence aid.
What it means at home and in Europe
The costs of this strategy are immediate: higher energy prices, worldwide inflation, and continued emissions. In Europe, energy bills driven up first by the loss of cheap Russian gas and now by Hormuz's closure are feeding public anger and the rise of right-wing parties. In the United States, affordability may cost Republicans control of Congress.
After World War II, the United States rebuilt Europe through the Marshall Plan, understanding that a broken Europe would leave a gaping hole in the world economy. Today Europe needs cheap energy to heat homes, cook food, and power its utilities and industry. Without it, the continent risks becoming a drain on the world economy.
If Democrats win Congress, would they oppose a plan to control world energy markets and deny energy to China? Doubtful. It was the Obama administration that launched the "Pivot to Asia," sending naval vessels through the Taiwan Strait under freedom-of-navigation operations while deepening ties with India, Japan, Australia, and South Korea to constrain China's rise. If there is one thing the two parties agree on, it is that China is the greatest threat to US influence in the world.
The bottom line
The aim, as I read it, is to constrain China's economic growth and influence while enhancing US power and aiding Europe's recovery. Whether Moscow will trade its partnership with Beijing for a seat at Europe's table is the question to watch.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 16:10
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trumps-reverse-nixon-strategy-bring-russia-shut-china-out
Trump's Reverse Nixon Strategy: Bring Russia In, Shut China Out
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Trumps-Reverse-Nixon-Strategy-Bring-Russia-In-Shut-China-Out.html,
On October 9, hours after a phone call between President Trump and President Putin, the Treasury Department issued a six-month waiver allowing Russian diesel to be sold on the global market.
The stated aim is to bring down fuel prices before the November 3 midterms. But I believe the deal is more consequential than that. It fits a larger strategy: for the United States to control as much of the world's energy supply as possible, while denying it to its chief rival, China.
A pattern, not a one-off
The strategy began in Venezuela. Since US forces https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Oil-Markets-Brace-for-Supply-Squeeze-After-US-Captures-Nicols-Maduro.html President Maduro in January, Washington has effectively https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/US-Venezuela-Oil-Deal-Threatens-Chinas-Oil-Backed-Loans.html the country's oil exports, and shipments to China, once Venezuela's largest customer, have collapsed.
Iran came next. China was the largest buyer of Iranian oil, and with the Strait of Hormuz closed, Gulf and Iranian energy has been choked off from China and the rest of the world, sending prices soaring. The President now claims "total control" of the Strait. Whatever the truth of that claim, a closed Hormuz does exactly what the strategy requires: it starves China of Middle Eastern supply.
Russia is the next piece. With Gulf oil cut off, Russia has become China's major energy supplier. The diesel waiver is a first step toward easing sanctions on Russian energy, reversing that flow back toward the West, and bringing US oil companies back to tap Russia's vast reserves.
The pipeline question
The larger prize may be Russian gas for Europe. Reuters https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-russia-explore-gas-sale-europe-amid-ukraine-war-say-sources-2026-10-08/ that Washington and Moscow have discussed a role for a US investor in the Nord Stream pipelines, which were sabotaged in 2022 and lie damaged on the floor of the Baltic Sea.
Consider what US ownership of the pipeline would offer. In my reading, it would provide a fig leaf enabling Europe to resume buying Russian gas without appearing to capitulate. A pipeline is of little use without gas to put in it, and without that gas Europe's economy would likely stay depressed. Energy use and economic growth have historically moved closely together, which is why the stakes are so high.
Next would come the return of US oil companies that were forced out of Russia by post-2022 sanctions, along with joint ventures in the Russian Arctic. Moscow, for its part, would have to scale back its military and intelligence support for Iran.
Nixon's play, in reverse
In this effort, Trump appears to be taking a page from Nixon and Kissinger, who https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB66/ relations with China in the 1970s to exploit its rift with the Soviet Union. This would run the play in reverse: pry Russia away from China.
Would Moscow go along? Russia has long been frustrated as the junior partner in the relationship. It hoped for an alliance of equals, military and economic, that never materialized. It watched China pour billions into countries like Pakistan as part of an effort to rebuild the ancient Silk Road, while promised projects for Russia remained more talk than action. China has also delayed Russia's proposed second gas pipeline for over ten years. Return to the European market, with hundreds of millions of customers, is an offer Russia could hardly refuse.
The price would be ending the Ukraine war on terms less favorable than Moscow has sought. I expect marginal concessions at the edges of its conquests, which Trump would promote as a historic achievement in his quest for the Nobel Prize.
President Zelensky will vigorously oppose the plan and appeal to his European allies. But Trump's recent comments suggest little patience with the Ukrainian President, and I expect Washington to press Kyiv by reducing military and intelligence aid.
What it means at home and in Europe
The costs of this strategy are immediate: higher energy prices, worldwide inflation, and continued emissions. In Europe, energy bills driven up first by the loss of cheap Russian gas and now by Hormuz's closure are feeding public anger and the rise of right-wing parties. In the United States, affordability may cost Republicans control of Congress.
After World War II, the United States rebuilt Europe through the Marshall Plan, understanding that a broken Europe would leave a gaping hole in the world economy. Today Europe needs cheap energy to heat homes, cook food, and power its utilities and industry. Without it, the continent risks becoming a drain on the world economy.
If Democrats win Congress, would they oppose a plan to control world energy markets and deny energy to China? Doubtful. It was the Obama administration that launched the "Pivot to Asia," sending naval vessels through the Taiwan Strait under freedom-of-navigation operations while deepening ties with India, Japan, Australia, and South Korea to constrain China's rise. If there is one thing the two parties agree on, it is that China is the greatest threat to US influence in the world.
The bottom line
The aim, as I read it, is to constrain China's economic growth and influence while enhancing US power and aiding Europe's recovery. Whether Moscow will trade its partnership with Beijing for a seat at Europe's table is the question to watch.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 16:10
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trumps-reverse-nixon-strategy-bring-russia-shut-china-out
Mamdani Drops Spanish-Language Video Telling Migrants To Keep The Door Shut On ICE, Sparking Cries Of 'Sedition'
Mamdani Drops Spanish-Language Video Telling Migrants To Keep The Door Shut On ICE, Sparking Cries Of 'Sedition'
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted a Spanish-language video on Oct. 23 walking residents through what to do if immigration agents come to their door or stop them on the street, and Republicans https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/sedition-mamdani-ignites-absolute-fury-in-maga-world-with-spanish-language-video-on-ice/ within hours. The clip went up on Instagram and X, https://www.latintimes.com/mamdanis-spanish-video-immigrant-rights-ice-600540 Latin Times, and reaffirms the city's sanctuary policies.
Mamdani told viewers that ICE needs a judicial warrant signed by a judge to enter a home, and that without one they can keep the door closed. In Mediaite's translation, he tells them to look for the words "United States District Court" and a judge's signature, and to say, "I do not consent to your entry." If agents stop someone on the street, he says to ask, "Am I free to go?" He also urges viewers to speak with a lawyer before signing anything or making decisions about their immigration case.
Latin Times adds that the mayor says agents may misrepresent themselves or show official-looking papers that are not a court order, that everyone has the right to remain silent regardless of status, and that bystanders may film agents in public as long as they do not obstruct an arrest.
🚨 WTF?! Zohran Mamdani just put out a video IN SPANISH to COACH illegals how to evade ICE
This guy is OPENLY assisting invaders who are committing FEDERAL CRIMES
He needs his security clearance revoked IMMEDIATELY. https://t.co/WjOVTHifDY
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) https://x.com/nicksortor/status/2113678991454351407?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) called it "unbelievable" and wrote that the mayor "is openly helping illegal aliens evade @ICEgov and undermine the law," per Mediaite. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) said the mayor was using taxpayer resources to tell people in Spanish how to dodge accountability. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) wrote: "At no point in this video is anyone urged to abide by the laws of the United States." Commentator DC_Draino called the video "sedition," and Sortor, whose post is above, demanded the mayor's "security clearance" be revoked; none of the coverage says Mamdani holds one.
Immigrant advocacy groups, which Latin Times does not name, praised the release, especially its delivery in Spanish. Neither outlet reports a statement from the mayor's office beyond the video itself, and neither reports a response from the Department of Homeland Security.
It is not Mamdani's first such video. In December 2025, as mayor-elect, he https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/8/zohran-mamdani-video-teaches-immigrants-rights-ice-encounters-new/ a similar rundown of residents' rights during ICE encounters, saying agents can lie and that people may film them. Then-DHS Secretary https://www.foxnews.com/media/noem-says-zohran-mamdani-could-violating-constitution-advice-evading-ice-agents said at the time that Mamdani, if he were mayor, "could be violating the Constitution" by advising people how to evade law enforcement.
The fight with Washington has sharpened since. After an ICE officer shot a Dominican man during an arrest attempt in the Bronx's Marble Hill on Oct. 8, Mamdani called ICE "rotten to its core" and said he had spent two hours on the phone with President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin trying to resolve the case, https://newschannel9.com/news/nation-world/mamdani-calls-ice-rotten-to-its-core-after-agent-shot-illegal-immigrant-in-nyc-president-trump-dhs-markwayne-mullin-bronx-dominican-republic-jessica-tisch a syndicated news report. Mullin replied that Mamdani wanted DHS to walk away, and DHS said the man has ties to the Trinitarios gang, a claim the reporting does not independently verify. As we https://www.zerohedge.com/political/judge-bars-deportation-illegal-immigrant-shot-ice-new-york, a judge later barred that man's deportation.
The city has also won a round in court. As we https://www.zerohedge.com/political/nyc-sanctuary-laws-survive-judge-rules-feds-cant-force-city-help-ice on Oct. 16, a judge ruled that the federal government cannot force New York City to help ICE, leaving its sanctuary laws standing.
https://store.zerohedge.com/products/congressional-trading-club-tee-members-only?utm_source=zerohedge&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=2026-10-ctc-tee-hat&utm_content=dress-for-the-upside
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 15:45
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/mamdani-drops-spanish-language-video-telling-migrants-keep-door-shut-ice-sparking-cries
Mamdani Drops Spanish-Language Video Telling Migrants To Keep The Door Shut On ICE, Sparking Cries Of 'Sedition'
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted a Spanish-language video on Oct. 23 walking residents through what to do if immigration agents come to their door or stop them on the street, and Republicans https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/sedition-mamdani-ignites-absolute-fury-in-maga-world-with-spanish-language-video-on-ice/ within hours. The clip went up on Instagram and X, https://www.latintimes.com/mamdanis-spanish-video-immigrant-rights-ice-600540 Latin Times, and reaffirms the city's sanctuary policies.
Mamdani told viewers that ICE needs a judicial warrant signed by a judge to enter a home, and that without one they can keep the door closed. In Mediaite's translation, he tells them to look for the words "United States District Court" and a judge's signature, and to say, "I do not consent to your entry." If agents stop someone on the street, he says to ask, "Am I free to go?" He also urges viewers to speak with a lawyer before signing anything or making decisions about their immigration case.
Latin Times adds that the mayor says agents may misrepresent themselves or show official-looking papers that are not a court order, that everyone has the right to remain silent regardless of status, and that bystanders may film agents in public as long as they do not obstruct an arrest.
🚨 WTF?! Zohran Mamdani just put out a video IN SPANISH to COACH illegals how to evade ICE
This guy is OPENLY assisting invaders who are committing FEDERAL CRIMES
He needs his security clearance revoked IMMEDIATELY. https://t.co/WjOVTHifDY
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) https://x.com/nicksortor/status/2113678991454351407?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) called it "unbelievable" and wrote that the mayor "is openly helping illegal aliens evade @ICEgov and undermine the law," per Mediaite. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) said the mayor was using taxpayer resources to tell people in Spanish how to dodge accountability. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) wrote: "At no point in this video is anyone urged to abide by the laws of the United States." Commentator DC_Draino called the video "sedition," and Sortor, whose post is above, demanded the mayor's "security clearance" be revoked; none of the coverage says Mamdani holds one.
Immigrant advocacy groups, which Latin Times does not name, praised the release, especially its delivery in Spanish. Neither outlet reports a statement from the mayor's office beyond the video itself, and neither reports a response from the Department of Homeland Security.
It is not Mamdani's first such video. In December 2025, as mayor-elect, he https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/8/zohran-mamdani-video-teaches-immigrants-rights-ice-encounters-new/ a similar rundown of residents' rights during ICE encounters, saying agents can lie and that people may film them. Then-DHS Secretary https://www.foxnews.com/media/noem-says-zohran-mamdani-could-violating-constitution-advice-evading-ice-agents said at the time that Mamdani, if he were mayor, "could be violating the Constitution" by advising people how to evade law enforcement.
The fight with Washington has sharpened since. After an ICE officer shot a Dominican man during an arrest attempt in the Bronx's Marble Hill on Oct. 8, Mamdani called ICE "rotten to its core" and said he had spent two hours on the phone with President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin trying to resolve the case, https://newschannel9.com/news/nation-world/mamdani-calls-ice-rotten-to-its-core-after-agent-shot-illegal-immigrant-in-nyc-president-trump-dhs-markwayne-mullin-bronx-dominican-republic-jessica-tisch a syndicated news report. Mullin replied that Mamdani wanted DHS to walk away, and DHS said the man has ties to the Trinitarios gang, a claim the reporting does not independently verify. As we https://www.zerohedge.com/political/judge-bars-deportation-illegal-immigrant-shot-ice-new-york, a judge later barred that man's deportation.
The city has also won a round in court. As we https://www.zerohedge.com/political/nyc-sanctuary-laws-survive-judge-rules-feds-cant-force-city-help-ice on Oct. 16, a judge ruled that the federal government cannot force New York City to help ICE, leaving its sanctuary laws standing.
https://store.zerohedge.com/products/congressional-trading-club-tee-members-only?utm_source=zerohedge&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=2026-10-ctc-tee-hat&utm_content=dress-for-the-upside
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 15:45
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/mamdani-drops-spanish-language-video-telling-migrants-keep-door-shut-ice-sparking-cries
Bill Gates Faces Court Over Claims COVID Jabs Were 'Lethal Biological Weapons'
Bill Gates Faces Court Over Claims COVID Jabs Were 'Lethal Biological Weapons'
https://modernity.news/2026/10/24/bill-gates-faces-dutch-court-over-claims-covid-jabs-were-lethal-biological-weapons/,
In a packed courtroom in Leeuwarden, the official COVID story is being put on trial as Dutch plaintiffs demand personal liability from Bill Gates, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, former Prime Minister Mark Rutte and others for what their lawyer calls a coordinated global deception.
The civil case, filed in 2023, alleges the mRNA injections functioned as lethal biological weapons rolled out through unlawful public deception tied to the World Economic Forum's Great Reset.
Two of the original seven plaintiffs have already died. Defendants' lawyers rejected every claim, repeating that the shots were safe and effective and developed through normal science.
?BILL GATES/BOURLA TRIAL: "These injections are a BIOLOGICAL WEAPON." "COVID-19 injections are LETHAL." "The global deployment of this biological weapon can only take place through the UNLAWFUL deception of the public on a global scale." "The defendants [including Bill Gates and Albert Bourla] are implementers of the 'COVID-19: The Great Reset' project and are GUILTY of this deception; they are therefore being sued individually in these proceedings."
— John F. Kennedy Jr Q (@Real_JFK_Jr_) https://x.com/Real_JFK_Jr_/status/2113704893706109313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The substantive hearing on the merits took place on October 22, 2026 before three judges at the District Court of Northern Netherlands. Lawyer Peter Stassen told the court the injections were not ordinary medical products.
"These injections are a biological weapon," Stassen declared. "Global deployment of this biological weapon can only take place through the unlawful deception of the public on a global scale."
He added that "COVID-19 injections are lethal, or at least highly harmful to human health and fertility" and that "the defendants are implementers of the 'COVID-19: The Great Reset' project and are GUILTY of this deception."
Outside the courthouse Stassen told supporters, "COVID-19 was not a disease; It was a project." He said the plaintiffs had crucial evidence showing the official narrative was false.
Supporters gathered with banners while critics outside and in mainstream outlets called the arguments extreme conspiracy theories.
The judge noted the case was highly unusual, with the two sides diametrically opposed: one side arguing there was no virus, that the injections were a bioweapon and that genocide had occurred; the other side insisting the opposite.
Justice is coming for the COVID Vaccine Injured... two of the original plaintiffs against Bill Gates, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, and PM Mark Rutte have already died. The Netherlands Case moves FORWARD as Lawyer Peter Strassen receives a monumental welcome. Peter Stassen walks out of the District Court of Northern Netherlands after a substantive hearing in the civil case brought by Dutch plaintiffs who say they were injured by COVID-19 injections and policies. Defendants include Bill Gates, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, former PM Mark Rutte, and the Dutch State. The plaintiffs are seeking personal liability for what they call coordinated deception and coercion. Outside, Stassen and expert witnesses (including Sasha Latypova) addressed supporters and laid out their core claim: the official COVID narrative is false, and the court must decide which side it stands on. The case has already survived jurisdiction challenges and is now being heard on the merits. Two of the original seven plaintiffs have since died.
— Valerie Anne Smith (@ValerieAnne1970) https://x.com/ValerieAnne1970/status/2113601337686396977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Expert witness material submitted by the plaintiffs included statements from Sasha Latypova, former Pfizer scientist Mike Yeadon, Catherine Austin Fitts and others.
Latypova has described the response as a coordinated government effort originating in changes to U.S. law over roughly 25 years that enabled the global program, rather than originating solely in pharmaceutical companies. She has spoken of dark practices, including the slow killing of disabled children to maximize profits, and of people who appeared to enjoy the process.
Sasha Latypova, an expert witness in the lawsuit against Bill Gates et al. in the Netherlands, on the Covid crimes as a "government effort" + doctors "getting off" on killing "they... killed disabled children... slowly to maximize their profits... they were getting off on it" "we actually got to depose one of these people... they were enjoying doing this" "I can tell you it's dark. It's like, as dark as you can think of" "I came out first and I said this is, first of all, a coordinated effort by global governments" "a lot of so-called health freedom advocates still today insist that this is just pharma. We just have to blame pharma here" "[but] it's not just pharma, and [the crimes don't] even originate necessarily in pharma. [They originate] in the U.S. government that changed the laws... [over the course of] about 25 years of lawmaking to enable this global crime" @sasha_latypova @PaulChek
— Sense Receptor (@SenseReceptor) https://x.com/SenseReceptor/status/2113717191279607997?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Defendants' representatives denied all allegations. Gates's lawyer stated that his client denies every accusation and that the claims rest on incorrect premises, with nothing in the large dossier attributing liability to him.
Bourla's side repeated that the vaccines are proven safe and effective, with only rare side effects as with any vaccine. The State's lawyer warned against unfounded personal accusations that could deter scientists and officials from acting in future crises, asking which scientist would still stick their neck out. Some defendants' lawyers noted that their clients had received hate messages and death threats.
A ruling is not expected before December 9, 2026 and could come as late as the end of February 2027. The case survived earlier jurisdiction challenges, including Gates's attempt to argue the Dutch court lacked authority over him.
The plaintiffs' dossier runs to thousands of pages plus video evidence. Stassen has said the parties stand opposed and only one side can be telling the truth, with the court tasked to seek that truth.
The timing coincides with fresh public comments from Gates. He has stated that the COVID pandemic "didn't work out the way I expected" and warned that over the next several years there will be "attacks" different in scale from anything seen before.
Bill Gates:- "Covid didn't work out the way I expected" This basically implies that there was a pre-orchestrated plan for Covid - which there obviously was So what did Bill Gates expect? He wanted a Deadly Virus that required full compliance from EVERYONE in getting fully Vaccinated with the mRNA Jabs & use of Covid Passports to access every day life 'They' will try again
— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) https://x.com/BGatesIsaPyscho/status/2113927288228077737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Critics interpret the first remark as implying an expected outcome of higher lethality, fuller compliance, universal mRNA uptake and permanent digital passports for daily life.
?BILL GATES: The COVID pandemic "didn't work the way I expected." "Over the next several years... you will see a lot of ATTACKS different in terms of scale than anything we've seen in the past." That literally sounds like a threat...
— Nicolas Hulscher, MPH (@NicHulscher) https://x.com/NicHulscher/status/2113737403449975076?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
These remarks sit against Gates's longer pattern of pandemic preparedness and funding. Through the Gates Foundation he co-founded CEPI, which has sought billions more for next-pandemic vaccines while the WHO and World Bank deploy large sums across dozens of nations.
CEPI has directed tens of millions to Moderna for mRNA platforms, including work on an Ebola jab using the same technology as the COVID product.
Gates has recently separately predicted that AI combined with ill-intent actors could drive events causing a billion deaths, describing AI as an evolutionary event more dangerous than previous technologies, and has warned of grim cyberattack surprises and bioterror risks now far higher than natural pandemics.
The Dutch proceedings remain a civil damages action, not a criminal trial. Plaintiffs seek compensation for physical and psychological injuries they attribute to the injections and the policies that pushed them.
Whether the court accepts the bioweapon and Great Reset framing, or accepts the defense that the shots were ordinary safe-and-effective vaccines, will be decided on the written record and the arguments heard in Leeuwarden.
The case places the official preferred narrative under formal judicial scrutiny for the first time at this level. Supporters outside the court have framed it as a rare chance for accountability.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 15:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/bill-gates-faces-court-over-claims-covid-jabs-were-lethal-biological-weapons
Bill Gates Faces Court Over Claims COVID Jabs Were 'Lethal Biological Weapons'
https://modernity.news/2026/10/24/bill-gates-faces-dutch-court-over-claims-covid-jabs-were-lethal-biological-weapons/,
In a packed courtroom in Leeuwarden, the official COVID story is being put on trial as Dutch plaintiffs demand personal liability from Bill Gates, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, former Prime Minister Mark Rutte and others for what their lawyer calls a coordinated global deception.
The civil case, filed in 2023, alleges the mRNA injections functioned as lethal biological weapons rolled out through unlawful public deception tied to the World Economic Forum's Great Reset.
Two of the original seven plaintiffs have already died. Defendants' lawyers rejected every claim, repeating that the shots were safe and effective and developed through normal science.
?BILL GATES/BOURLA TRIAL: "These injections are a BIOLOGICAL WEAPON." "COVID-19 injections are LETHAL." "The global deployment of this biological weapon can only take place through the UNLAWFUL deception of the public on a global scale." "The defendants [including Bill Gates and Albert Bourla] are implementers of the 'COVID-19: The Great Reset' project and are GUILTY of this deception; they are therefore being sued individually in these proceedings."
— John F. Kennedy Jr Q (@Real_JFK_Jr_) https://x.com/Real_JFK_Jr_/status/2113704893706109313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The substantive hearing on the merits took place on October 22, 2026 before three judges at the District Court of Northern Netherlands. Lawyer Peter Stassen told the court the injections were not ordinary medical products.
"These injections are a biological weapon," Stassen declared. "Global deployment of this biological weapon can only take place through the unlawful deception of the public on a global scale."
He added that "COVID-19 injections are lethal, or at least highly harmful to human health and fertility" and that "the defendants are implementers of the 'COVID-19: The Great Reset' project and are GUILTY of this deception."
Outside the courthouse Stassen told supporters, "COVID-19 was not a disease; It was a project." He said the plaintiffs had crucial evidence showing the official narrative was false.
Supporters gathered with banners while critics outside and in mainstream outlets called the arguments extreme conspiracy theories.
The judge noted the case was highly unusual, with the two sides diametrically opposed: one side arguing there was no virus, that the injections were a bioweapon and that genocide had occurred; the other side insisting the opposite.
Justice is coming for the COVID Vaccine Injured... two of the original plaintiffs against Bill Gates, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, and PM Mark Rutte have already died. The Netherlands Case moves FORWARD as Lawyer Peter Strassen receives a monumental welcome. Peter Stassen walks out of the District Court of Northern Netherlands after a substantive hearing in the civil case brought by Dutch plaintiffs who say they were injured by COVID-19 injections and policies. Defendants include Bill Gates, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, former PM Mark Rutte, and the Dutch State. The plaintiffs are seeking personal liability for what they call coordinated deception and coercion. Outside, Stassen and expert witnesses (including Sasha Latypova) addressed supporters and laid out their core claim: the official COVID narrative is false, and the court must decide which side it stands on. The case has already survived jurisdiction challenges and is now being heard on the merits. Two of the original seven plaintiffs have since died.
— Valerie Anne Smith (@ValerieAnne1970) https://x.com/ValerieAnne1970/status/2113601337686396977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Expert witness material submitted by the plaintiffs included statements from Sasha Latypova, former Pfizer scientist Mike Yeadon, Catherine Austin Fitts and others.
Latypova has described the response as a coordinated government effort originating in changes to U.S. law over roughly 25 years that enabled the global program, rather than originating solely in pharmaceutical companies. She has spoken of dark practices, including the slow killing of disabled children to maximize profits, and of people who appeared to enjoy the process.
Sasha Latypova, an expert witness in the lawsuit against Bill Gates et al. in the Netherlands, on the Covid crimes as a "government effort" + doctors "getting off" on killing "they... killed disabled children... slowly to maximize their profits... they were getting off on it" "we actually got to depose one of these people... they were enjoying doing this" "I can tell you it's dark. It's like, as dark as you can think of" "I came out first and I said this is, first of all, a coordinated effort by global governments" "a lot of so-called health freedom advocates still today insist that this is just pharma. We just have to blame pharma here" "[but] it's not just pharma, and [the crimes don't] even originate necessarily in pharma. [They originate] in the U.S. government that changed the laws... [over the course of] about 25 years of lawmaking to enable this global crime" @sasha_latypova @PaulChek
— Sense Receptor (@SenseReceptor) https://x.com/SenseReceptor/status/2113717191279607997?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Defendants' representatives denied all allegations. Gates's lawyer stated that his client denies every accusation and that the claims rest on incorrect premises, with nothing in the large dossier attributing liability to him.
Bourla's side repeated that the vaccines are proven safe and effective, with only rare side effects as with any vaccine. The State's lawyer warned against unfounded personal accusations that could deter scientists and officials from acting in future crises, asking which scientist would still stick their neck out. Some defendants' lawyers noted that their clients had received hate messages and death threats.
A ruling is not expected before December 9, 2026 and could come as late as the end of February 2027. The case survived earlier jurisdiction challenges, including Gates's attempt to argue the Dutch court lacked authority over him.
The plaintiffs' dossier runs to thousands of pages plus video evidence. Stassen has said the parties stand opposed and only one side can be telling the truth, with the court tasked to seek that truth.
The timing coincides with fresh public comments from Gates. He has stated that the COVID pandemic "didn't work out the way I expected" and warned that over the next several years there will be "attacks" different in scale from anything seen before.
Bill Gates:- "Covid didn't work out the way I expected" This basically implies that there was a pre-orchestrated plan for Covid - which there obviously was So what did Bill Gates expect? He wanted a Deadly Virus that required full compliance from EVERYONE in getting fully Vaccinated with the mRNA Jabs & use of Covid Passports to access every day life 'They' will try again
— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) https://x.com/BGatesIsaPyscho/status/2113927288228077737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Critics interpret the first remark as implying an expected outcome of higher lethality, fuller compliance, universal mRNA uptake and permanent digital passports for daily life.
?BILL GATES: The COVID pandemic "didn't work the way I expected." "Over the next several years... you will see a lot of ATTACKS different in terms of scale than anything we've seen in the past." That literally sounds like a threat...
— Nicolas Hulscher, MPH (@NicHulscher) https://x.com/NicHulscher/status/2113737403449975076?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
These remarks sit against Gates's longer pattern of pandemic preparedness and funding. Through the Gates Foundation he co-founded CEPI, which has sought billions more for next-pandemic vaccines while the WHO and World Bank deploy large sums across dozens of nations.
CEPI has directed tens of millions to Moderna for mRNA platforms, including work on an Ebola jab using the same technology as the COVID product.
Gates has recently separately predicted that AI combined with ill-intent actors could drive events causing a billion deaths, describing AI as an evolutionary event more dangerous than previous technologies, and has warned of grim cyberattack surprises and bioterror risks now far higher than natural pandemics.
The Dutch proceedings remain a civil damages action, not a criminal trial. Plaintiffs seek compensation for physical and psychological injuries they attribute to the injections and the policies that pushed them.
Whether the court accepts the bioweapon and Great Reset framing, or accepts the defense that the shots were ordinary safe-and-effective vaccines, will be decided on the written record and the arguments heard in Leeuwarden.
The case places the official preferred narrative under formal judicial scrutiny for the first time at this level. Supporters outside the court have framed it as a rare chance for accountability.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 15:20
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/bill-gates-faces-court-over-claims-covid-jabs-were-lethal-biological-weapons
Brazil Runoff Enters Final Hour: Left-Right Showdown Could Reshape Latin America's Political Balance
Brazil Runoff Enters Final Hour: Left-Right Showdown Could Reshape Latin America's Political Balance
Brazilians began voting early Sunday in a presidential runoff, with right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva statistically tied. Bolsonaro won the first round at the start of the month.
Nearly 160 million people are eligible to vote today, with polling stations closing at 1600 ET. A last-minute AtlasIntel survey for Bloomberg, released Saturday, showed Bolsonaro leading Lula 51% to 49%, largely in line with other final polls. The survey's margin of error was 1 percentage point.
Regular readers will remember that polls showed Lula ahead going into the first round, but Bolsonaro finished ahead with 47.03% of valid votes to Lula's 45.16%.
Goldman's chief Latin America economist, Alberto Ramos, provides the latest in his https://marketdesk.ai/standalone/217nMEKIluJ (https://www.zerohedge.com/signup/professional-membership-year):
"The race has tightened considerably. Polls immediately after the first round gave conservative Bolsonaro a 4- to 5-point lead over left-wing incumbent President Lula in the October 25 runoff. His lead has since narrowed to 0 to 2.5 points, with one outlier, Vox, showing Lula slightly ahead. Prediction markets still favor Bolsonaro, but the odds are less lopsided than immediately after the first round."
Here is Goldman's poll-of-polls, which shows Bolsonaro's lead eroding in the final stretch (chart source: GS GIR):
And here is the full scorecard by pollster. Goldman's average still puts Bolsonaro ahead 51% to 49%, a 2-point lead right on the edge of most surveys' margin of error. Note how many arrows point down: in almost every poll, the senator's lead is smaller than it was in that pollster's previous survey.
https://polymarket.us/event/pres-bra-2026-10-04 gives Bolsonaro an 82% chance of winning the runoff, while Lula's odds are around 20%.
Post-Election Market Outlook:
- https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/photo-finish-brazil-votes-polls-tied-bettors-all-bolsonaro-and-market-priced-lula
UBS analyst Kyle Duca adds more color to FX impact on election results:
Trading and strategy see a wide two-way range for BRL around the presidential runoff, but distinguish between the likely FX and rates reactions in each outcome.
The FX trading desk sees a Lula win pushing USDBRL toward 5.40-5.45, where the move could run out of steam as higher rates bring the carry trade back into play and encourage USDBRL selling.
On a Flavio win, trading sees more of a rates story, with USDBRL likely moving toward 4.90-4.80 before interest to clean up emerges. A sharp rates rally and diminished carry could then leave FX consolidating around those levels.
FX Strategy sees USDBRL at 4.70-4.80 if Flavio wins 52%-48%, with less upside for BRL if the margin is below 1%. A Lula victory would put USDBRL at 5.30-5.50.
The "Bolsonaro trade" is already gaining momentum ahead of the runoff.
The black line, Hyperliquid's Brazil ETF perpetual, has surged to $45.16, about 6% above the iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ), which closed at $42.59 on Friday.
By this evening, Brazilian voters will decide whether to accelerate Latin America's rightward shift or extend a failed left-wing economic agenda that risks deeper deficits, a mounting debt pile, higher interest rates, more economic gloom, and faltering investor confidence. A Bolsonaro win would cement the continent's rightward shift.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 14:55
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/brazil-runoff-enters-final-hour-left-right-showdown-could-reshape-latin-americas
Brazil Runoff Enters Final Hour: Left-Right Showdown Could Reshape Latin America's Political Balance
Brazilians began voting early Sunday in a presidential runoff, with right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva statistically tied. Bolsonaro won the first round at the start of the month.
Nearly 160 million people are eligible to vote today, with polling stations closing at 1600 ET. A last-minute AtlasIntel survey for Bloomberg, released Saturday, showed Bolsonaro leading Lula 51% to 49%, largely in line with other final polls. The survey's margin of error was 1 percentage point.
Regular readers will remember that polls showed Lula ahead going into the first round, but Bolsonaro finished ahead with 47.03% of valid votes to Lula's 45.16%.
Goldman's chief Latin America economist, Alberto Ramos, provides the latest in his https://marketdesk.ai/standalone/217nMEKIluJ (https://www.zerohedge.com/signup/professional-membership-year):
"The race has tightened considerably. Polls immediately after the first round gave conservative Bolsonaro a 4- to 5-point lead over left-wing incumbent President Lula in the October 25 runoff. His lead has since narrowed to 0 to 2.5 points, with one outlier, Vox, showing Lula slightly ahead. Prediction markets still favor Bolsonaro, but the odds are less lopsided than immediately after the first round."
Here is Goldman's poll-of-polls, which shows Bolsonaro's lead eroding in the final stretch (chart source: GS GIR):
And here is the full scorecard by pollster. Goldman's average still puts Bolsonaro ahead 51% to 49%, a 2-point lead right on the edge of most surveys' margin of error. Note how many arrows point down: in almost every poll, the senator's lead is smaller than it was in that pollster's previous survey.
https://polymarket.us/event/pres-bra-2026-10-04 gives Bolsonaro an 82% chance of winning the runoff, while Lula's odds are around 20%.
Post-Election Market Outlook:
- https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/photo-finish-brazil-votes-polls-tied-bettors-all-bolsonaro-and-market-priced-lula
UBS analyst Kyle Duca adds more color to FX impact on election results:
Trading and strategy see a wide two-way range for BRL around the presidential runoff, but distinguish between the likely FX and rates reactions in each outcome.
The FX trading desk sees a Lula win pushing USDBRL toward 5.40-5.45, where the move could run out of steam as higher rates bring the carry trade back into play and encourage USDBRL selling.
On a Flavio win, trading sees more of a rates story, with USDBRL likely moving toward 4.90-4.80 before interest to clean up emerges. A sharp rates rally and diminished carry could then leave FX consolidating around those levels.
FX Strategy sees USDBRL at 4.70-4.80 if Flavio wins 52%-48%, with less upside for BRL if the margin is below 1%. A Lula victory would put USDBRL at 5.30-5.50.
The "Bolsonaro trade" is already gaining momentum ahead of the runoff.
The black line, Hyperliquid's Brazil ETF perpetual, has surged to $45.16, about 6% above the iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (EWZ), which closed at $42.59 on Friday.
By this evening, Brazilian voters will decide whether to accelerate Latin America's rightward shift or extend a failed left-wing economic agenda that risks deeper deficits, a mounting debt pile, higher interest rates, more economic gloom, and faltering investor confidence. A Bolsonaro win would cement the continent's rightward shift.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 14:55
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/brazil-runoff-enters-final-hour-left-right-showdown-could-reshape-latin-americas
They Went To A Pro Women's Soccer Match And A Communist Purge Broke Out. Feds Investigating...
They Went To A Pro Women's Soccer Match And A Communist Purge Broke Out. Feds Investigating...
https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2026/10/24/they-went-to-a-professional-womens-soccer-match-and-a-communist-purge-broke-out-n4958650,
Confirmed: https://pjmedia.com/stephen-kruiser/2026/10/20/the-kruiser-kabana-248-iwf-ambassador-madisan-debos-on-trans-madness-in-womens-sports-n4958511 in Portland, Ore., is nothing if not a political mob. This mob consists of disaffected men who want to be women, their allies, lesbian activists, and finally, a sprinkling of normal families who want their kids exposed to women's professional athletics. Notice there's not much mention of the game, which seems to be incidental to the leftist political confab, where everyone agrees with each other or shuts up if he or she doesn't.
Shutting up is important. Shhh. Don't challenge preexisting ideological beliefs the mob clings to the way furries cling to their stuffed animals and cat's ears. They get real mean real fast.
And so in the same way that the Portland Timbers FC has become a welcoming place for https://pjmedia.com/tags/antifa mobs for years, the motley mob has also claimed Major League Soccer (MLS)'s Thorns FC team. The mob consists of some of the same people who destroyed downtown businesses in the Antifa riots in the Summer of Love, mere blocks away from Providence Park.
And those forces worked to expel independent reporter Brandi Kruse and others, including a male OutKick reporter. A uniformed guard whom the MLS franchise paid to provide "security" ripped the OutKick reporter's press pass from his neck.
These are the shirts allowed for the @ThornsFC fans. None of them were removed. They have chants about burning people alive. Fans assaulted multiple people wearing @xx_xyathletics shirts. None of them were removed. I am quite literally in shock. https://t.co/djnj47Xo3z
— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) https://x.com/BrandiKruse/status/2113845600949289110?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
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.
Look at that guy's (?) shirt with the Nazi swastika in Kruse's photo. He looks familiar, like an Antifa person I've seen before.
Is Nazi iconography allowed in the stands at the Thorns game? Apparently.
And he and his buddies had chants, too. Kruse wrote:
These are the shirts allowed for the https://x.com/ThornsFC fans. None of them were removed. They have chants about burning people alive. Fans assaulted multiple people wearing https://x.com/xx_xyathletics shirts. None of them were removed. I am quite literally in shock.
The mob attacked the XX-XY crowd because they couldn't control their impulse to commit assault and battery and chant about burning people alive. That's normal for them. People who believe that there are two genders, XX and XY, are heretics, deserving of being "burned alive," or at least tossed out of the game after paying for a ticket.
The incident has gotten the attention of the Department of Justice, according to Fox News, where they're reviewing Kruse's information for possible civil rights violations. Excellent.
BREAKING: The US Department of Justice is reviewing the forceful ejection of fans wearing XX-XY t-shirts at Friday's Portland Thorns game. "The Justice Department is aware of these reports and will review the matter thoroughly. Where the facts and the law warrant action, the Department will not hesitate to act." A DOJ spokesperson also told me, "Based on what is known so far, the conduct described appears to raise viewpoint discrimination and First Amendment questions rather than sex discrimination. The Department is reviewing it." https://t.co/hDJ4AS61mI
— Jackson Thompson (@JackThompsonFOX) https://x.com/JackThompsonFOX/status/2114025989726523684?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
There's more, however, because the Antifa mob connection at these MLS sporting events is strong, and the league knows it.
MLS banned symbols of violence such as pro-communist Iron Front flags (three arrows down), which https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2026/09/04/west-coast-messed-coast-n4956885 adopted, and other Antifa imagery seen at Portland and Seattle MLS games in 2019 for a while, but later removed the ban when Portland and Seattle Antifa mobs got big mad. And, you know, when Antifa gets big mad, buildings coincidentally burn, and people get hurt. Ask Brandi Kruse.
The Timbers Army was more than a fan club for the Timbers. Some are Antifa members. And it's happening at the Thorns games.
Here's some 2025 imagery from independent reporter https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2026/10/14/andy-ngos-the-zizians-like-the-manson-family-but-trans-vegan-and-weirder-n4958294 that Antifa uses. This imagery is on the flags you see inside the games.
In downtown Portland, members or sympathizers of the local terrorist Antifa network put up a banner for Antifa at The Axe & Rose meeting space for soccer fans of the @TimbersFC. https://t.co/kbMsUrsSuU As I wrote in my book, Antifa political propaganda feature prominently at @TimbersFC games. The soccer games are also used to recruit people to their direct actions. Rose City Antifa handed out flyers at @ProvidencePark_ in 2019 to recruit people to the rally where I was ambushed and beaten.
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) https://x.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1972937776988574114?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
MLS, therefore, has made a choice about who's welcome in the stands. That's a problem for them that the DOJ is likely going to consider.
Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank has announced plans to "fight back" against the mob. He's currently on the ballot in November over the Tacoma area effort to make the job of sheriff an appointed rather than elected position.
He's calling on men and women to put on those XX XY shirts and stand up for free speech at MLS and WNBA games.
It's time to fight back. I'm looking for a few (actually a lot) good men and women to join me. We will go to a sporting event where these radical leftists are (soccer or wnba), and we will wear https://t.co/976yOlUQw9. We will stand up for free speech. It will be a lot of fun.If you want to join just email me at:https://cms.zerohedge.com/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection
— Sheriff Keith Swank (@SaveOurSheriff) https://x.com/SaveOurSheriff/status/2114021346548367690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Because I know someone will complain that I haven't said this out loud, allow me this prosaic, obligatory sentence: They showed up to support women's sports at a women's sporting event, and got thrown out for supporting women's sports at a women's sporting event.
Washington state voters will open their mail in ballots on their kitchen tables soon and will vote for only women being allowed to compete in women's school sports. Washington Initiative 638. Vote Yes.
There it is.
The founders of https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2026/10/12/portland-agitator-records-ambush-of-ice-officer-in-biggest-self-own-since-the-last-time-she-did-it-n4958223's https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2026/09/15/trans-antifa-freak-says-he-wishes-lindsay-clancy-would-kill-his-kids-n4957259 have been on the lam for a while. They used to be seen at the Portland Timbers games as part of the Timbers Army with their comrades. They let their freak and Iron Front flags fly. Then they'd put on their balaclavas and beat the crap out of people who wanted them to stop burning stuff down.
On Thursday's Adult in the Room Podcast, I talked with reporter Christian Peterson, who found https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2026/08/27/portlands-antifa-linked-to-designated-international-terror-group-n4956580 Antifa founders living in Sweden.
You'll never guess what they're doing now. Hint: it has to do with soccer.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 14:05
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/they-went-pro-womens-soccer-match-and-communist-purge-broke-out-feds-investigating
They Went To A Pro Women's Soccer Match And A Communist Purge Broke Out. Feds Investigating...
https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2026/10/24/they-went-to-a-professional-womens-soccer-match-and-a-communist-purge-broke-out-n4958650,
Confirmed: https://pjmedia.com/stephen-kruiser/2026/10/20/the-kruiser-kabana-248-iwf-ambassador-madisan-debos-on-trans-madness-in-womens-sports-n4958511 in Portland, Ore., is nothing if not a political mob. This mob consists of disaffected men who want to be women, their allies, lesbian activists, and finally, a sprinkling of normal families who want their kids exposed to women's professional athletics. Notice there's not much mention of the game, which seems to be incidental to the leftist political confab, where everyone agrees with each other or shuts up if he or she doesn't.
Shutting up is important. Shhh. Don't challenge preexisting ideological beliefs the mob clings to the way furries cling to their stuffed animals and cat's ears. They get real mean real fast.
And so in the same way that the Portland Timbers FC has become a welcoming place for https://pjmedia.com/tags/antifa mobs for years, the motley mob has also claimed Major League Soccer (MLS)'s Thorns FC team. The mob consists of some of the same people who destroyed downtown businesses in the Antifa riots in the Summer of Love, mere blocks away from Providence Park.
And those forces worked to expel independent reporter Brandi Kruse and others, including a male OutKick reporter. A uniformed guard whom the MLS franchise paid to provide "security" ripped the OutKick reporter's press pass from his neck.
These are the shirts allowed for the @ThornsFC fans. None of them were removed. They have chants about burning people alive. Fans assaulted multiple people wearing @xx_xyathletics shirts. None of them were removed. I am quite literally in shock. https://t.co/djnj47Xo3z
— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) https://x.com/BrandiKruse/status/2113845600949289110?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
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.
Look at that guy's (?) shirt with the Nazi swastika in Kruse's photo. He looks familiar, like an Antifa person I've seen before.
Is Nazi iconography allowed in the stands at the Thorns game? Apparently.
And he and his buddies had chants, too. Kruse wrote:
These are the shirts allowed for the https://x.com/ThornsFC fans. None of them were removed. They have chants about burning people alive. Fans assaulted multiple people wearing https://x.com/xx_xyathletics shirts. None of them were removed. I am quite literally in shock.
The mob attacked the XX-XY crowd because they couldn't control their impulse to commit assault and battery and chant about burning people alive. That's normal for them. People who believe that there are two genders, XX and XY, are heretics, deserving of being "burned alive," or at least tossed out of the game after paying for a ticket.
The incident has gotten the attention of the Department of Justice, according to Fox News, where they're reviewing Kruse's information for possible civil rights violations. Excellent.
BREAKING: The US Department of Justice is reviewing the forceful ejection of fans wearing XX-XY t-shirts at Friday's Portland Thorns game. "The Justice Department is aware of these reports and will review the matter thoroughly. Where the facts and the law warrant action, the Department will not hesitate to act." A DOJ spokesperson also told me, "Based on what is known so far, the conduct described appears to raise viewpoint discrimination and First Amendment questions rather than sex discrimination. The Department is reviewing it." https://t.co/hDJ4AS61mI
— Jackson Thompson (@JackThompsonFOX) https://x.com/JackThompsonFOX/status/2114025989726523684?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
There's more, however, because the Antifa mob connection at these MLS sporting events is strong, and the league knows it.
MLS banned symbols of violence such as pro-communist Iron Front flags (three arrows down), which https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2026/09/04/west-coast-messed-coast-n4956885 adopted, and other Antifa imagery seen at Portland and Seattle MLS games in 2019 for a while, but later removed the ban when Portland and Seattle Antifa mobs got big mad. And, you know, when Antifa gets big mad, buildings coincidentally burn, and people get hurt. Ask Brandi Kruse.
The Timbers Army was more than a fan club for the Timbers. Some are Antifa members. And it's happening at the Thorns games.
Here's some 2025 imagery from independent reporter https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2026/10/14/andy-ngos-the-zizians-like-the-manson-family-but-trans-vegan-and-weirder-n4958294 that Antifa uses. This imagery is on the flags you see inside the games.
In downtown Portland, members or sympathizers of the local terrorist Antifa network put up a banner for Antifa at The Axe & Rose meeting space for soccer fans of the @TimbersFC. https://t.co/kbMsUrsSuU As I wrote in my book, Antifa political propaganda feature prominently at @TimbersFC games. The soccer games are also used to recruit people to their direct actions. Rose City Antifa handed out flyers at @ProvidencePark_ in 2019 to recruit people to the rally where I was ambushed and beaten.
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) https://x.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1972937776988574114?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
MLS, therefore, has made a choice about who's welcome in the stands. That's a problem for them that the DOJ is likely going to consider.
Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank has announced plans to "fight back" against the mob. He's currently on the ballot in November over the Tacoma area effort to make the job of sheriff an appointed rather than elected position.
He's calling on men and women to put on those XX XY shirts and stand up for free speech at MLS and WNBA games.
It's time to fight back. I'm looking for a few (actually a lot) good men and women to join me. We will go to a sporting event where these radical leftists are (soccer or wnba), and we will wear https://t.co/976yOlUQw9. We will stand up for free speech. It will be a lot of fun.If you want to join just email me at:https://cms.zerohedge.com/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection
— Sheriff Keith Swank (@SaveOurSheriff) https://x.com/SaveOurSheriff/status/2114021346548367690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Because I know someone will complain that I haven't said this out loud, allow me this prosaic, obligatory sentence: They showed up to support women's sports at a women's sporting event, and got thrown out for supporting women's sports at a women's sporting event.
Washington state voters will open their mail in ballots on their kitchen tables soon and will vote for only women being allowed to compete in women's school sports. Washington Initiative 638. Vote Yes.
There it is.
The founders of https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2026/10/12/portland-agitator-records-ambush-of-ice-officer-in-biggest-self-own-since-the-last-time-she-did-it-n4958223's https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2026/09/15/trans-antifa-freak-says-he-wishes-lindsay-clancy-would-kill-his-kids-n4957259 have been on the lam for a while. They used to be seen at the Portland Timbers games as part of the Timbers Army with their comrades. They let their freak and Iron Front flags fly. Then they'd put on their balaclavas and beat the crap out of people who wanted them to stop burning stuff down.
On Thursday's Adult in the Room Podcast, I talked with reporter Christian Peterson, who found https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2026/08/27/portlands-antifa-linked-to-designated-international-terror-group-n4956580 Antifa founders living in Sweden.
You'll never guess what they're doing now. Hint: it has to do with soccer.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 14:05
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/they-went-pro-womens-soccer-match-and-communist-purge-broke-out-feds-investigating
Obama Says Iran Is "In A Stronger Strategic Position Now Than Before The War Started"
Obama Says Iran Is "In A Stronger Strategic Position Now Than Before The War Started"
With midterms right around the corner, Democrats are capitalizing on Trump's unpopular war in Iran. At a Saturday campaign rally in Michigan, former President Obama said Iran "now has veto power over the Strait of Hormuz," the route oil takes to reach the rest of the world. "So they're in a stronger strategic position now than before the war started," he said.
NOW - Obama says that Iran is "in a stronger strategic position now than before the war started." https://t.co/0nCKTKg7CF
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) https://x.com/disclosetv/status/2114130103756325057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Obama spoke on the first day of early voting in Michigan, where he took the stage at Cass Technical High School in Detroit to boost Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. His stated agenda included the need to "end this war and stop corruption in Washington."
Obama also made the Iran case earlier in the day at a Cleveland rally for Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton. There he called it "an unnecessary war that nobody asked for and nobody voted for," per https://www.foxnews.com/politics/obama-compares-trumps-white-house-renovations-saddam-hussein-opening-cheesecake-factory-ohio-rally, and asked the crowd, "how's that war going?" after saying "seven months later," according to https://www.newsweek.com/barack-obama-trump-hegseth-iran-war-12614985. He also called Trump administration officials, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth among them, "not serious people."
On the nuclear file he said "Iran didn't have nuclear weapons because I had put a deal in place" and that Trump "pulled out of it, starts this war," as https://politifact.com/article/2026/oct/24/iran-nuclear-deal-barack-obama-trump-policy/ recorded. PolitiFact's account of the 2015 deal: Iran agreed to give up about 97 percent of its enriched uranium stockpile and about 70 percent of its centrifuges, and the IAEA found no violations beyond minor ones in the 28 months the deal ran before Trump withdrew in 2018.
In June, Obama told NBC's Today that "it feels like we're back where we were before we started the war, except maybe a little bit worse off," https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/foreign-policy/4617511/ reported. Now the argument is that Iran came out ahead.
The strait is where the claim gets tested. In mid-October, flows out of the Gulf of Oman fell to 9.1 million barrels a day, from an early-October peak of 17 million, according to https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/iran-hormuz-attack-spree-starts-choking-oil-flows-again-ubs-warns Evidence Lab data. LNG flows were about 25 percent of pre-conflict levels, down from near 50 percent a week earlier, and the bank counted no Iranian crude loadings.
Iranian drones had hit 24 commercial ships in October as of Oct. 14, and two Emirati container ships, GFS Pride and Cape Dao, sank within 24 hours, https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/burning-container-ship-sinks-strait-hormuz-irgc-proclaims-5-or-6-vessels-targeted. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told state TV: "We target five or six of these every night." https://www.npr.org/2026/08/06/nx-s1-5923623/iran-strait-hormuz-us-israel-ban reported in August that Iran aims to ban U.S. and Israeli ships from the strait and charge everyone else a toll.
Critics rejected the premise. Hudson Institute's Rebeccah Heinrichs replied that the regime is missing "its Ayatollah, its missile force, its nuclear scientists," and listed its oil-shipping capability, covert tanker fleet, navy, steel sector and currency stability among the losses, PJ Media said.
Trump is scheduled to campaign for Senate candidate Mike Rogers in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday afternoon, per the Epoch Times.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 13:40
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/obama-says-iran-stronger-strategic-position-now-war-started
Obama Says Iran Is "In A Stronger Strategic Position Now Than Before The War Started"
With midterms right around the corner, Democrats are capitalizing on Trump's unpopular war in Iran. At a Saturday campaign rally in Michigan, former President Obama said Iran "now has veto power over the Strait of Hormuz," the route oil takes to reach the rest of the world. "So they're in a stronger strategic position now than before the war started," he said.
NOW - Obama says that Iran is "in a stronger strategic position now than before the war started." https://t.co/0nCKTKg7CF
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) https://x.com/disclosetv/status/2114130103756325057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Obama spoke on the first day of early voting in Michigan, where he took the stage at Cass Technical High School in Detroit to boost Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. His stated agenda included the need to "end this war and stop corruption in Washington."
Obama also made the Iran case earlier in the day at a Cleveland rally for Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton. There he called it "an unnecessary war that nobody asked for and nobody voted for," per https://www.foxnews.com/politics/obama-compares-trumps-white-house-renovations-saddam-hussein-opening-cheesecake-factory-ohio-rally, and asked the crowd, "how's that war going?" after saying "seven months later," according to https://www.newsweek.com/barack-obama-trump-hegseth-iran-war-12614985. He also called Trump administration officials, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth among them, "not serious people."
On the nuclear file he said "Iran didn't have nuclear weapons because I had put a deal in place" and that Trump "pulled out of it, starts this war," as https://politifact.com/article/2026/oct/24/iran-nuclear-deal-barack-obama-trump-policy/ recorded. PolitiFact's account of the 2015 deal: Iran agreed to give up about 97 percent of its enriched uranium stockpile and about 70 percent of its centrifuges, and the IAEA found no violations beyond minor ones in the 28 months the deal ran before Trump withdrew in 2018.
In June, Obama told NBC's Today that "it feels like we're back where we were before we started the war, except maybe a little bit worse off," https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/foreign-policy/4617511/ reported. Now the argument is that Iran came out ahead.
The strait is where the claim gets tested. In mid-October, flows out of the Gulf of Oman fell to 9.1 million barrels a day, from an early-October peak of 17 million, according to https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/iran-hormuz-attack-spree-starts-choking-oil-flows-again-ubs-warns Evidence Lab data. LNG flows were about 25 percent of pre-conflict levels, down from near 50 percent a week earlier, and the bank counted no Iranian crude loadings.
Iranian drones had hit 24 commercial ships in October as of Oct. 14, and two Emirati container ships, GFS Pride and Cape Dao, sank within 24 hours, https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/burning-container-ship-sinks-strait-hormuz-irgc-proclaims-5-or-6-vessels-targeted. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told state TV: "We target five or six of these every night." https://www.npr.org/2026/08/06/nx-s1-5923623/iran-strait-hormuz-us-israel-ban reported in August that Iran aims to ban U.S. and Israeli ships from the strait and charge everyone else a toll.
Critics rejected the premise. Hudson Institute's Rebeccah Heinrichs replied that the regime is missing "its Ayatollah, its missile force, its nuclear scientists," and listed its oil-shipping capability, covert tanker fleet, navy, steel sector and currency stability among the losses, PJ Media said.
Trump is scheduled to campaign for Senate candidate Mike Rogers in Port Huron, Michigan, on Sunday afternoon, per the Epoch Times.
https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
Sun, 10/25/2026 - 13:40
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/obama-says-iran-stronger-strategic-position-now-war-started