Something strange is happening to Donald Trump: He just threatened to ‘finish it off’ when it comes to the Iran war
Story by Stephen Silver
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JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – A U.S. Marine Corps F-35 Lighting II attached to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, takes off for a training mission during Northern Edge, May 2, 2017. Northern Edge 2017 is Alaskas premiere joint-training exercise designed to practice operations, techniques, and procedures as well as enhance interoperability among the services. Thousands of participants from all the services; Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guard personnel from active duty, Reserve and National Guard units, are involved. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class Travis Litke/Released)
CNN reported this week on potential strike plans the U.S. could pursue if Trump chooses that route.
The report said U.S. forces are prepared for “new, potentially major, military operations” in the region if the president orders them.
The network cited two U.S. officials who said “sufficient forces” are now in the region to carry out the war plans. The officials told CNN that the new plans would go beyond any “mow the lawn” strategy for maintaining the status quo, and would entail “a big effort.”
October 16 – CoreWeave’s (CRWV.O), opens new tab mounting debt is raising fresh concerns about the AI boom, as investors question whether demand can justify the billions being borrowed to build data centres.
Shares and bonds of the Nvidia-backed (NVDA.O), opens new tab company have tumbled despite its CEO’s assurances of a strong contract backlog, fueling a broader selloff in technology stocks.
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Here is why investors are worried and what its troubles could mean for the industry.
WHAT DOES COREWEAVE DO?
CoreWeave rents out computing power from Nvidia processors to companies developing and running AI, including Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab and OpenAI.
It is one of the leading “neocloud” providers, a group of newer cloud companies that are growing rapidly to meet demand for scarce and expensive AI chips.
These neocloud companies give customers access to computing power without requiring them to build their own data centers. However, supplying such capacity requires heavy upfront investment in chips and infrastructure, often financed with debt.
CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV) and other neocloud stocks fell in after-hours trading Wednesday after Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported lower-than-expected capital spending, raising fresh concerns about the pace of AI infrastructure deployment.
Binance’s hot wallets sent $6.3B to an attacker in under four hours. $2.7B is frozen. Most of the rest sits untouched in the attacker’s wallets
Billions in crypto left the world’s biggest exchange in a single evening. We followed every coin, chain by chain, to see how it got out and where it went.
CoinDesk called it the largest crypto theft on record, and the numbers back that up. The previous record, the Bybit hack of February 2025, took about $1.5 billion. This one took about four times as much. Even now, what the hacker still holds is more than twice what Bybit lost.
………..
If you use Binance
Binance says user funds are safe. It says it will cover all losses from its SAFU fund, an emergency pot it keeps for hacks, and from its own money. Deposits and withdrawals stay paused until its security checks are done, and it says it will publish an updated proof of reserves.
Rely only on Binance’s official channels for updates. Scams follow big hacks.
Do not sign anything or send coins to anyone who contacts you about the hack.
When withdrawals reopen, check the address you withdraw to before you confirm.
Tech stocks sell-off deepens, dragging Wall Street toward worst day since June
A sell-off for tech stocks is getting worse Friday on worries that Wall Street’s frenzy around AI sent prices too high, Reuters reported.
The S+P 500 dropped 1.9% and was on track to erase its gain for October, even though it set its all-time high during the month. The Nasdaq composite was likewise heading toward its worst day since June, as the weakness for technology stocks dragged it down 3.1%, as of 1:20 pm ET. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 511 points, or 1%.
The U.S. stock market remains only 3.1% below its record, which has boosted the value of workers’ 401(k) accounts, but the shakiness for stocks in the AI industry is coming just days before Tuesday’s upcoming US elections. Worries about AI in general have already become a general and bipartisan concern for voters, and Donald Trump has historically used the stock market’s performance as a measure of his own personal success.
In the cryptocurrency industry, meanwhile, stocks tumbled following a hack of Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange. The price of bitcoin fell toward $77,000 from more than $86,000 earlier this month, and a US-based blockchain intelligence firm said a North Korean unit was likely behind the attack that impacted more than $6 billion worth of crypto at Binance.
Alexander brothers each sentenced to 30 years for drugging and raping dozens of women
Oren, Alon and Tal Alexander sentenced to prison in New York after being convicted in sex trafficking case
………
Twins Oren and Alon Alexander, 39, and Tal Alexander, 40, were convicted in March on multiple charges after a five-week trial heard details of years of sexual assaults committed in Miami, New York and other high-end locations including the Hamptons; Aspen, Colorado; and on a Caribbean cruise.
A dozen of their victims spoke at the brothers’ sentencing hearing in Manhattan on Tuesday.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai.Karl Mondon / AFP via Getty Images
Oct 29, 2026, 11:34 AM GMT
Thursday, slashing Alphabet’s market capitalization by over $500 billion, from around $3.9 trillion to $3.4 trillion.
If the losses persist until the close, it would be the second-largest one-day loss of market capitalization ever. Only AI chipmaker Nvidia has lost more value in a single day, when it shed close to $600 billion on January 27, 2025, on fears that China’s DeepSeek would steal its lunch.
Alphabet’s shares slumped after its earnings report on Wednesday showed about $9.1 billion in negative free cash flow as it spent heavily on AI infrastructure, and profits that fell short of Wall Street’s forecasts.
Google’s AI search revenue also lagged expectations, despite CEO Sundar Pichai saying on the earnings call that AI helped search queries grow at the fastest year-over-year pace in five years.
I am reproducing an article by Bioplastics News of the timeline of the disabling of Saudi refineries and other drone strikes on Aramco industry, since the illegal Israeli-US war on Iran began on February 26th 2026.
Saudi Arabia Under Fire: Oilfields, Refineries and Pipelines Hit Since the Iran War Began
Reporting cutoff: 29 October 2026. Reported attacks and claims are distinguished from confirmed damage.
2 March: Ras Tanura refinery
Saudi Aramco temporarily shut its Ras Tanura refinery following a drone attack. Saudi officials said two drones were intercepted and debris caused a limited fire; no injuries were reported. The refinery has a nameplate capacity of 550,000 barrels per day (bpd), but that figure is processing capacity, not a confirmed volume of crude production lost. The shutdown was described as precautionary. Reuters report, 2 March.
4 March: Ras Tanura targeted again
Saudi Arabia reported another attempted drone attack on Ras Tanura. The defence ministry said there was no damage and the energy ministry reported no disruption to supplies. Reuters cited sources saying the site had been struck, without details of damage. Reuters report, 4 March.
Late September–3 October: Yanbu and Riyadh claims
The Iran-aligned Houthi movement said it had targeted Aramco facilities in Yanbu with missiles and drones. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted six ballistic missiles directed toward Taif and the Yanbu area but did not report damage to Aramco installations. On 3 October, the Houthis said they attacked an Aramco facility in Riyadh using ballistic missiles and drones. A Reuters witness observed smoke and fire nearby; Saudi authorities had not immediately confirmed a direct hit. Reuters report, 3 October.
13–14 October: Aramco headquarters, Dhahran
A ballistic missile hit Aramco’s headquarters complex in Dhahran, according to a company source cited by Reuters. The upper floors of an office tower were damaged and a fire broke out. Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry acknowledged a limited fire and said no deaths or injuries occurred. Subsequent Reuters reporting described more extensive interior damage, while saying operations continued. This was an attack on a corporate and operations complex, not evidence that a corresponding number of barrels of oil production had stopped. Reuters, 13 October; Reuters, 14 October.
24 October: pipeline, refinery and airport targets claimed
The Houthis claimed attacks against an Aramco facility at Yanbu, the Rabigh refinery, pumping stations on the East–West Pipeline, Riyadh airport and other locations. Saudi authorities reported missile interceptions and falling debris, but did not confirm that all the claimed energy targets were hit. Claims of strikes should not be equated with verified destruction or lost throughput. Reuters, 24 October.
What the capacity figures mean
The clearest reported refinery disruption in this chronology is the temporary shutdown at Ras Tanura, rated at 550,000 bpd. That is refinery capacity, not an independently verified loss of Saudi crude production. For the later attacks and claimed targets, reliable public reporting does not establish a cumulative barrels-per-day production loss. Missile interceptions, temporary shutdowns, physical damage and sustained production outages are different measures and should not be added together.
Assessment
Saudi energy infrastructure has faced repeated threats since the wider Iran conflict began in late February 2026. The attacks have shifted from early drone incidents on the Gulf coast to Houthi missile-and-drone operations and claims involving refineries, pipeline infrastructure and Aramco offices. The scale of verified physical damage varies substantially by incident. This chronology reflects reporting available through 29 October 2026 and distinguishes independently reported events from belligerents’ unconfirmed claims.
Russian satellites have consistently appeared in the skies above facilities in Saudi Arabia that Iranian-backed Houthis and Iraqi militia groups have struck with missiles and drones over the past several months, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
Nawaf Obaid, founder of the Geneva-based firm AURORAH Geosignal Intelligence, told the news agency that he and his colleagues tracked 72 Russian military and government satellites between July and October, finding them orbiting above Saudi sites before and after they were attacked.
“What we found is a 100% match,” Obaid said.
The targeted facilities include Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline, which was forced to shut down immediately after it was attacked in September.
Another example is the Kind Fahd Air Base. When the base was attacked last month, an Italian fighter jet was struck while a nearby Saudi aircraft was left unscathed.
Obaid said the apparent precision of the strike on Kind Fahd suggests vital intelligence is being collected and transferred for Houthi and Iraqi militia targeting, given that the groups lack sophisticated reconnaissance capabilities on their own.
On October 22, a fire broke out on a Ukrainian An-124-100 Ruslan transport aircraft operated by Antonov Airlines at Chubu Centrair International Airport in Japan. Due to the incident, the runway was closed for 15 minutes, according to FL360aero.
After an inspection, the airport resumed normal flight operations.
It is not yet known whether the aircraft was damaged or if anyone was injured. No reports indicate what cargo Ruslan was carrying or the cause of the fire.
The An-124 Ruslan is one of the world’s largest cargo aircraft developed by the Antonov Design Bureau in Kyiv.
The Soviet bomber built for World War III that is still flying in Ukraine
This is not the first incident involving a Ukrainian Ruslan abroad. On the night of August 5, a drone containing explosives and a detonator was found near an Antonov Airlines An-124 at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany. According to media reports, the plane was loaded with ammunition. The device did not explode, and US intelligence linked the sabotage attempt to Russian military intelligence.
CSIS satellite imagery published June 18, 2026, shows Cuba’s Bejucal signals intelligence site has completed a new 32-antenna array likely now operational.
A second Cuban CDAA site at El Salao remains incomplete as of May 2026, with construction largely stalled since 2024.
A sprawling Cuban intelligence facility just 145 kilometers (90 miles) from the Florida coast has completed construction of a powerful new antenna array capable of intercepting and tracking American military communications across the southeastern United States and the Caribbean, the Center for Strategic and International Studies reported on June 18, 2026.
Satellite imagery analyzed by CSIS researchers Matthew Funaiole, Brian Hart, Joseph Bermudez Jr., and Aidan Powers-Riggs shows that a signals intelligence site at Bejucal, located near Havana in Cuba’s northwest, has finished building a circularly disposed antenna array, a specialized listening system designed to intercept radio transmissions and pinpoint their geographic origin with high precision. The array consists of 32 antennas arranged in two concentric rings, with 19 on the outer ring and 13 on the inner, making it larger and, according to CSIS, likely more capable than any comparable Cuban installation previously documented by the organization. Construction on the antenna field, which converted an existing linear antenna grid into the circular configuration over roughly two years, now appears complete, and the CSIS team assesses the facility has very likely begun operations.
A circularly disposed antenna array, or CDAA, works by measuring the direction from which a radio signal arrives at multiple antennas simultaneously, allowing operators to triangulate the source of a transmission with considerable accuracy across a wide range of frequencies. The technology is not new, the United States operated its own large CDAA networks during the Cold War under programs like Pusher and Wullenweber, but the capability remains operationally relevant for monitoring military communications, ship and aircraft movements, and electronic emissions from naval and air operations. Positioned at Bejucal, the newly completed array sits within range of U.S. naval activity in the Caribbean, air operations out of bases across the southeastern United States, and maritime traffic through the Gulf of Mexico, all of which have intensified in recent months as the Trump administration has elevated the Western Hemisphere as a strategic priority.
The Bejucal facility has carried a long association with Chinese intelligence operations in public reporting, congressional testimony, and statements from U.S. officials, though CSIS notes carefully that no clear publicly available evidence proves Beijing’s direct involvement at that specific site. The CSIS report does note that U.S. officials have recently acknowledged that China operates three intelligence sites in Cuba, and the researchers assess Bejucal is likely one of them, a conclusion drawn from the pattern of public statements rather than from declassified documentation. The distinction matters journalistically: what the satellite imagery confirms is the physical completion of a sophisticated new listening capability, not the identity of whoever is running it day to day.
The picture at a second suspected CDAA site, located at El Salao on Cuba’s eastern coast, is considerably less alarming in the near term, though no less significant for what it might eventually represent. CSIS first identified El Salao in 2024, and updated imagery from May 2026 shows that construction there has slowed nearly to a halt, with no antennas yet erected around the central control building that was installed during the site’s initial groundwork phase, which began in 2021. Grass has reclaimed graded areas within the antenna rings, a reliable visual indicator that a site has sat idle long enough for vegetation to recover, and no changes to surrounding buildings suggest the facility is anywhere close to operational.
One detail in the May 2026 imagery introduces a note of ambiguity about El Salao’s future, however. An access road that previously led to an off-center area of the site has been repaved and repositioned toward the center of the antenna array, a change that CSIS flags as unusual because paving a road through the center of an active antenna array would interfere with its operation. The researchers conclude from this that the site has not been fully abandoned, but that its ultimate purpose, whether completion as originally planned or conversion to some other use, remains unclear.
The strategic importance of El Salao lies in its geography. Positioned on Cuba’s eastern end, a completed CDAA there would extend signals intelligence coverage southward over the Southeast Caribbean, complementing Bejucal’s northwestern orientation. Operated together, the two facilities would give Cuban authorities, or their foreign partners, the ability to triangulate radio emissions from a much broader arc spanning Central America and the Western Atlantic, creating overlapping coverage zones that are considerably more difficult to evade than a single site.
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — When charismatic opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down on a bridge near the Kremlin in February 2015, more than 50,000 Muscovites expressed their shock and outrage the next day at the brazen assassination. Police stood aside as they rallied and chanted anti-government slogans.
Nine years later, stunned and angry Russians streamed into the streets on the night of Feb. 16, when they heard that popular opposition politician Alexei Navalny had died in prison. But this time, those laying flowers at impromptu memorials in major cities were met by riot police, who arrested and dragged hundreds of them away.
In those intervening years, Vladimir Putin’s Russia evolved from a country that tolerated some dissent to one that ruthlessly suppresses it. Arrests, trials and long prison terms — once rare — are commonplace, especially after Moscow invaded Ukraine.
Alongside its political opponents, the Kremlin now also targets rights groups, independent media and other members of civil-society organizations, LGBTQ+ activists and certain religious affiliations.
“Russia is no longer an authoritarian state -– it is a totalitarian state,” said Oleg Orlov, co-chair of Memorial, the Russian human rights group focused on political repression. “All these repressions are aimed at suppressing any independent expression about Russia’s political system, about the actions of the authorities, or any
……….after the kulaks. Generally, kulaks were only marginally better off than other peasants, but the party claimed that the kulaks had ensnared the rest of the peasantry in capitalistic relationships. In any event, collectivization met widespread resistance not only from the kulaks but from poorer peasants as well, and a desperate struggle of the peasantry against the authorities ensued. Peasants slaughtered their cows and pigs rather than turn them over to the collective farms, with the result that livestock resources remained below the 1929 level for years afterward. The state in turn forcibly collectivized reluctant peasants and deported kulaks and active rebels to Siberia. Within the collective farms, the authorities in many instances exacted such high levels of procurement that starvation was widespread. [Source: Library of Congress, July 1996 *]
“Collectivization” caused hardships particularly in the Ukraine and the Volga-Don region, the heart of the farming belt, where hundreds of thousands of farmers, many of them “kulaks”, resisted. Many were killed or sent to labor camps or remote areas of Siberia to start new villages and had their grain, homes and possessions were seized. Other protested the action by killing all their animals: sheep, cattle, pigs goats and even the horses and oxen that pulled their plows.
Great Famine in the Early 1930s
The two greatest famines in the 20th century were in China in the 1960s and the Soviet Union in the 1930s. The famine created by Stalin policies between 1929 and 1933 is believed to have caused 5 million and 40 million deaths. The hardest hit area was the Ukraine. The historian Robert Conquest estimated that 14.5 million people died, half of them children and 6.5 million of the kulaks, making it the second or third worst famine ever.
The famine was its worst between the spring of 1932 to the summer of 1933. Much of it was caused the decline of food production that accompanied collectivization. This in turn was caused when the people who worked the land were driven away or killed. At the time of the famine four fifth of the Soviet population was made up of peasant farmers.
There was initially plenty of food, but to fulfill the unrealistic quotas, nearly all of it was handed over the state. Some farmers stopped growing grain. There was no incentive to grow it because they had to turn it over to the state, with very little compensation. Those who didn’t turn over their grain were accused of “hoarding” and imprisoned or killed. Marxist brigades searched houses for food; peasant who looked healthy were singled out for intensive searches.
Farmers starved to death while working in the fields. Entire villages perished from starvation. One Ukrainian farmer who returned to his farm in 1933 after a year’s absence, found his village “almost extinct” and survivors living on grass, bark on and occasional rabbit. His brother told him when the food sources gave out: “Mother says we should eat her is she dies.” Survivors of the Great Famine recall piles of bodies and monasteries turned into orphanages. Many children were raised by their grandparents or in orphanages.
Book: “Harvest of Sorrow” by historian Robert Conquest.
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