Aviation News – North American Aerospace Defense Command detected and tracked multiple Russian military aircraft operating inside the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) this week, underscoring renewed long-range patrol activity near North American airspace and prompting routine monitoring by U.S. and Canadian forces.
And
NATO maintains intensive surveillance amid Russian Arctic training and weapons testing
DUBAI- A Defense News investigation found evidence linking the Russian cargo airline Aviacon Zitotrans to more than 100 apparent missions conducted on behalf of the UAE government and its royal family since mid-2025. The investigation analyzed thousands of flight records, aviation filings, leaked company documents, and emails.
The airline has been sanctioned by the United States, Canada, and Ukraine for supporting Russia’s war effort. Several aircraft identified in the UAE-related flight records are separately designated as blocked property by the U.S. government.
Gravitas | US attack could trigger WW III: Russian planes in Tehran, Israeli jets, US warships in action
Story by Jatin Verma
As elections in Israel and America draw closer, tensions in West Asia are rising again. The USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, with 10,000 troops is heading towards the region. With Tehran too prepared for a large-scale retaliation, speculation is growing over the possibility of US and Israel striking Iran as early as this weekend. The first indication came earlier this week as US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth visited Israel and met Netanyahu on Monday. IDF reportedly simulated new strikes on Iran.
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According to reports, dozens of fighter jets flew more than 800 miles from Israel, passed through Syrian and Iraqi airspace and turned around at Iran’s border. This may also have been a bid to provoke Iran into firing on the jets, thereby creating pretext for an Israeli strike. According to reports, US and Israel are preparing to resume attacks on Iran even before the Israeli general election, scheduled on October 27.
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In another indication of impending hostilities, several Russian military aircraft have reportedly landed in Iran, as Moscow prepares to evacuate personnel from the Bushehr nuclear power plant. The first time Russia did so was on February 28, when the Iran war started. Amid heightened tensions, the US has ordered the departure of non-emergency employees and their families from Saudi Arabia and has also reportedly planned to withdraw staff from other missions in the region. Additionally, there has reportedly been a surge in the departure of wealthy expatriates, diplomats and members of royal families from West Asia in the last few days.
Iranian Russians are Russians living in Iran or Iranians of Russian descent. Russians populate various regions, but mostly in those regions which had been under direct Russian military occupation in the past. This was an indirect result of the outcome of the last Russo-Persian Wars.[1] Nowadays there are Russians located in the southern regions of the country as well (such as Bushehr), where many of them work as technicians and nuclear experts, on for example the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.
Quick facts Regions with significant populations, Languages …
As the transatlantic allies adapt to Europe’s new geopolitical realities, maintaining unity against Russia will be critical. Türkiye will have a pivotal role to play in this long-term effort.
The Europe Program in Washington explores the political and security developments within Europe, transatlantic relations, and Europe’s global role. Working in coordination with Carnegie Europe in Brussels, the program brings together U.S. and European policymakers and experts on strategic issues facing Europe.
This paper is part of a series of four publications in a project run by the Carnegie Endowment’s Türkiye and the World Initiative, analyzing the forces at play in the Euro-Atlantic area since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The project examines the European Union’s geopolitical evolution, Türkiye’s relations with Russia and China, and European and Turkish aspirations for strategic autonomy, and draws conclusions for the United States and the transatlantic partnership.
During the Cold War, Türkiye presented itself as the steadfast guardian of Europe’s southern flank against the Soviet threat. It stood in lockstep with its Western allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and few, if any, questioned Ankara’s foreign policy trajectory or its commitment to NATO.
But this once firm conviction has weakened in the past decade. Türkiye’s deepening entanglement with Russia and setbacks in its relations with the United States and some of its European allies have muddled the country’s image as a staunch member of the Western security architecture.
Ankara’s ability to maintain a constructive dialogue with Moscow (alongside Kyiv) even after Russia’s attack against Ukraine has been beneficial in some cases, as evidenced by Türkiye’s role in the 2022 grain deal and the complex prisoner swap that freed numerous Western hostages including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.1 These ties could also be helpful in the future for peacemaking efforts and post-conflict scenarios in Ukraine.
However, as a longtime NATO member, Türkiye’s recent hedging has created an impression of dissent within the Western front against Russian aggression. As the transatlantic allies adapt to Europe’s new geopolitical realities, maintaining unity against Russia will be critical. Türkiye will have a pivotal role to play in this long-term effort.
This paper aims to explain the drivers and complexities behind Russian-Turkish convergences while considering their implications for Euro-Atlantic security. It examines the deepening engagement of the two countries in the security and energy domains, analyzes their strengths and weaknesses, and offers ideas on a way forward that would contribute to Euro-Atlantic security by safeguarding both Türkiye’s and its NATO allies’ long-term interests.
Russian diesel returns to Turkey and Brazil after Trump deal
At least two tankers have already set sail for traditional buyers of Russian fuel. Moscow lifts export ban after deal between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin
Ibrahim Kalın, director of Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT), will join officials from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, Ankara’s partners in the Mecca Defense Alliance, in a visit to Tehran, an Iranian official said on Monday. Turkish sources speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) also confirmed the participation of Kalın to the talks, which, according to Iranian media outlets, will be held on Monday. The talks will focus on “regional security.”
“As agreed, Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman, Pakistani army chief General Asim Munir and Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalın will participate in this meeting,” said Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. He said the meeting will be held with Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei.
“This four-party meeting in Tehran could represent an important and effective step towards building lasting regional security, and we hope this initiative will contribute to establishing a stable region,” said Kani in an interview with state television, without elaborating.
He said that the meeting was proposed during a visit by Pakistani army chief Asim Munir to Tehran last week.
The Israeli prime minister faced opposition from Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, Israel’s military chief, who believed an attack could prompt Tehran to retaliate, three Israeli defence officials told the New York Times.
After nearly two decades in office, the Israel’s longest-serving prime minister is facing one of the biggest political challenges of his career on Tuesday.
The national elections are the first since the Oct 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, and Mr Netanyahu, who is behind in the polls, has tied his re-election to the survival of Israel.
Although Lt Gen Zamir was not opposed to an attack on Iran per se, he reportedly objected to the timing coinciding with the elections and said there was no immediate need to restart the conflict, the officials said.
He and Maj Gen Omer Tischler, the commander of the Israeli air force, apparently cited “political sensitivities”, The New York Times reported.
Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military chief, was opposed to the timing of the strike Credit: Reuters/Amir Cohen
Mr Netanyahu has not said publicly why he was pushing for renewed strikes on Iran but a return to war could have delayed the election.
Reports in Israeli media claimed that he would dismiss Lt Gen Zamir if he received a mandate to form the next government.
In his final interview before the election, the Israeli prime minister admitted that his Likud party could face defeat, telling Channel 14 that “it’s not in our pocket and it’s not a lost cause”.
Arab parties:
Ra’am: Mansour Abbas’s pragmatic approach
Ra’am, or the United Arab List, is an Islamist-conservative party led by Mansour Abbas. It advocates better public services and economic opportunities for Arab communities, alongside recognition of Arab citizens’ collective rights.
Its priorities include tackling organised crime, improving housing and infrastructure, narrowing educational inequalities and securing greater resources for Arab municipalities. The party also supports Palestinian statehood, an end to the occupation and the dismantling of Israeli settlements.
Abbas has pursued a pragmatic approach to coalition politics, arguing that Arab lawmakers can secure tangible benefits by negotiating with Israeli governments rather than remaining permanently outside them. In 2021, Ra’am became the first independent Arab party to join an Israeli governing coalition, supporting the government led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid.
For this election, Ra’am’s strategy has centred on presenting itself as a potential negotiating partner. Its list also includes former Israeli deputy public security minister Yoav Segalovitz, a Jewish politician who previously belonged to the centrist Yesh Atid party
Who are Israel’s Arab parties, what they want, why they matter
Story by Raunaq Lekhi
• 10h
Who are Israel’s Arab parties, what they want, why they matter
New Delhi: Israel’s Arab parties could emerge as pivotal players in the country’s first general election since the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack. Exit polls released on 28 October project that Palestinian parties could win as many as 19 seats in the 120-member Knesset. Neither the bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor the opposition grouping led by Gadi Eisenkot is projected to secure the 61 seats required for a majority. The official results are still awaited.
The result could give Arab lawmakers greater leverage in negotiations over the next government. But Israel’s Arab parties are not a unified political force. While they share concerns about discrimination, crime and the treatment of Palestinians, they differ over ideology and how far they should cooperate with predominantly Jewish parties to influence government policy.
‘Go home, Ben-Gvir’; Arab bloc celebrates record turnout in Israel elections
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Who are Israel’s Arab parties?
Arab citizens make up roughly a fifth of Israel’s population. They can vote in national elections and elect representatives to the Knesset, although they have long faced inequalities in areas such as housing, public services and municipal funding.
The main Arab political forces contesting the 2026 election are Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am and the Joint List, an alliance comprising Hadash, Ta’al and Balad. The two are pursuing different approaches to political influence.
Ra’am, or the United Arab List, is an Islamist-conservative party led by Mansour Abbas. It advocates better public services and economic opportunities for Arab communities, alongside recognition of Arab citizens’ collective rights.
Its priorities include tackling organised crime, improving housing and infrastructure, narrowing educational inequalities and securing greater resources for Arab municipalities. The party also supports Palestinian statehood, an end to the occupation and the dismantling of Israeli settlements.
Abbas has pursued a pragmatic approach to coalition politics, arguing that Arab lawmakers can secure tangible benefits by negotiating with Israeli governments rather than remaining permanently outside them. In 2021, Ra’am became the first independent Arab party to join an Israeli governing coalition, supporting the government led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid.
For this election, Ra’am’s strategy has centred on presenting itself as a potential negotiating partner. Its list also includes former Israeli deputy public security minister Yoav Segalovitz, a Jewish politician who previously belonged to the centrist Yesh Atid party.
The Joint List: Hadash, Ta’al and Balad
The Joint List brings together three parties with different political traditions.
Hadash, associated with the Jewish-Arab left, emphasises equality, social justice, workers’ rights and cooperation between Jewish and Arab citizens. Ofer Cassif is among its prominent representatives.
Ta’al, founded by Ahmad Tibi, combines Palestinian national advocacy with participation in Israeli parliamentary politics. Tibi is one of the most recognisable Arab lawmakers in Israel.
Balad, led by Sami Abu Shehadeh, advances an Arab-nationalist and democratic vision, calling for Israel to become a state of all its citizens rather than one that privileges Jewish national identity. Abu Shehadeh withdrew from the Joint List’s candidate slate in October, although he remains Balad’s chairman.
Yousef Jabareen and Ahmad Tibi head the Joint List’s filed electoral slate. The alliance supports Palestinian statehood, opposition to the occupation, civil equality and stronger protections for minority rights.
SERBIA’S pro-Russian leader Aleksandar Vucic has conceded defeat in the national election – marking a massive blow for Vladimir Putin.
The fiercely contested vote saw strongman Vucic’s 12-year reign as Serbian president with the election result set to weaken Moscow’s control over the Balkan region.
Brazil’s Lula wins reelection with victory over Trump ally Bolsonaro, who rejects result
By Alessandra Freitas
CNNOctober 26, 2026
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was reelected to a historic fourth term Sunday, but his defeated rival and Trump ally Senator Flávio Bolsonaro said he would not accept the results and would mount a legal challenge.
The 80-year-old leftist leader won more than 51 percent of votes, securing a runoff victory that bucks a broader rightward political shift across Latin America and comes after a campaign dominated by concerns over the cost of living, crime and corruption.
Bolsonaro, who trailed Lula by about 4.4 million votes, said his team would challenge the result after the Supreme Court’s last-minute ruling to extend voting by two hours.
“It is impossible to recognize the election result given how these events unfolded,” Bolsonaro told supporters in the capital Brasilia after Lula’s victory was declared.
“We will take legal action. We will ask for this election to be annulled.”
The vote marks the first time since the return of direct presidential elections in 1989 that a candidate has won the presidency after finishing second in the first round.
“I can assure you that we are going to change the way we govern this country. We are going to give the people a greater role in our decisions,” Lula said after his reelection.
Lula thanked the Brazilian people for their “generosity,” especially the country’s youth who “took to the streets to defend democracy.”
And Bolsonaro flees:
Lula Says Bolsonaro Family’s ‘First Homeland Is Licking US Boots’ as Flávio Flees to America After Brazil Election Defeat
‘Metrópoles’ reported Flávio Bolsonaro was headed to Florida and might seek asylum
ByRegyl Jaen Published 28 October 2026, 10:38 AM GMT
Something bizarre just happened. Something that proves independent journalism is doing what the corporate press refuses to do.
A couple of weeks ago, Closer to the Edge published an article calling out CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and every other major news outlet for ignoring what should be one of the biggest geopolitical bombshells in modern history:
Alnur Mussayev, former head of Kazakhstan’s intelligence service, claimed that Donald Trump has been a Russian asset since 1987 —operating under the KGB codename “Krasnov.”
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It didn’t start in Moscow.
It started in New York — in 1986 — when Donald Trump was first approached by Soviet operatives posing as business representatives. According to Yuri Shvets, a former KGB officer stationed in Washington during the Cold War, Trump was identified as a potential asset and cultivated through soft power: flattery, promises of fame, and the prospect of doing business in the USSR.
A year later, in 1987, Trump would fly to Moscow under the watchful guidance of Intourist, the Soviet government’s travel agency and a known KGB front. That trip, Shvets claims, was a “textbook active measure.” Trump was paraded around, given VIP treatment, and gently encouraged to consider a future in politics.
He returned home weeks later and took out full-page ads in American newspapers criticizing U.S. foreign policy and NATO spending — almost verbatim what Soviet officials had wanted. Shvets believes that moment marked the beginning of Trump’s role as a Kremlin asset.
Alnur Mussayev, a former Soviet and Kazakh security official, began his career in 1979. He conducted counterintelligence missions in Iraq (1980–1986) and later held a leadership role in Moscow. Mussayev claims that the KGB recruited Donald Trump, then a 40-year-old American businessman, under the codename “Krasnov.”
Former Chief of the KGB, Alnur Mussayev. (Photo: Alnur Mussayev)
In 2007, after a fallout with President Nazarbayev, Mussayev fled to Austria, alleging widespread governmental corruption in Kazakhstan. The Kazakh government subsequently convicted him in absentia for various crimes. In 2015, Mussayev faced charges in Austria related to the abduction and murder of two bankers in the Nurbank case.
Kremlin and Kazakhstan Both Have Kompromat on Trump, Says Ex-KGB Spy Chief
In brief: The ex-KGB official and Kazakh spy chief who claimed Donald Trump had been recruited by the KGB on his watch now says that Kazakhstan tried to used kompromat videos to blackmail Trump.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during Trump’s first term as president meets with Kazakh Chairman of the State Security Service (KNB) Karim Massimov at the US Department of State in Washington, DC on Oct. 10, 2017, when Massimov allegedly negotiated agreements with the US based on blackmail leverage in the KNB’s possession. (Photo: US State Department).
The Kremlin and Kazakhstan are both in possession of kompromat incriminating US President Donald Trump, according to Alnur Mussayev, the former head of Kazakhstan’s security services, who had been a KGB officer in Moscow in the 1980s.
In a Feb. 6 interview on Ukraine’s Espreso TV program “Studia Zakhid,” Mussayev reiterated a claim he has expressed publicly for years – namely, that there is a Kremlin file with compromising video material from Trump’s stay at Moscow’s Ritz-Carlton hotel in 2013. Trump had come to Moscow before his first run for the US presidency to attend the Miss Universe pageant.
In the latest interview, however, Mussayev added some significant details regarding Kazakhstan’s also being in possession of that same kompromat (a portmanteau word for “compromising material”).
The liquefaction facility, located in Nikiski, will process, store, and transport up to 20 million tons of LNG per year. Illustration courtesy Alaska Gasline Development Corporation
See President Trump meet Vladimir Putin at US military base in Alaska
Aug. 16, 2025
And back in March of this year:
Planned LNG plant in Alaska seeks equipment from sanctioned Russia firm
March 30, 202610:26 PM GMT+1Updated March 31, 2026
WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) – The head of Polar LNG, a company that plans to build a liquefied natural gas plant on Alaska’s North Slope, said his company is hoping to buy discounted equipment from a Russian project on which Washington has imposed sanctions.
Polar LNG launched on Monday. Joel Riddle, its president and CEO, in an interview said the company wants to make a final investment decision on its plant in mid-2027 and start producing LNG in 2029 or 2030.
Polar LNG is hoping to get approval from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control to buy the equipment, including a partially built liquefaction plant, from Arctic LNG 2. The administrations of former President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump have both imposed sanctions on the project. The U.S. Treasury Department had no comment. Novatek (NVTK.MM), opens new tab, which owns about 60% of Arctic LNG 2, said it was aware of Polar LNG’s interest in its production technology. “Working-level discussions on possible engagement options are currently underway,” Novatek said.
The first phase of the project will take $8 billion to $9 billion in investments to produce 7 million tons a year of the fuel that could be sold to Japan, South Korea and other countries. The plant could be expanded in one or two more phases that would require similar investments.
Gentry Beach, a friend of Donald Trump Jr, is one investor in the project, Riddle said. Beach did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Polar LNG wants to finance more than half of the project with U.S. capital, but is open to investments from companies in Japan and other countries.
The project would collaborate with another project called Alaska LNG that the Trump administration is hoping will be built in coming years.
The North Slope is subject to severe weather and impacts from climate change that have driven some energy companies from the region. Riddle said the equipment the company seeks to buy is Arctic tested. The company also plans to buy six icebreakers.
A group of American executives has quit an energy startup that aspired to liquefy and export natural gas out of Alaska, alleging they recently learned it was secretly being funded by Russian gas giant Novatek.
Polar LNG, the startup, was launched in March with what seemed like a long-shot goal. The U.S. company wanted to get a license to import a half-finished piece of equipment from the Russian company, with the goal of exporting a geyser of gas from beneath Alaska’s North Slope.
The massive structure—as tall as the Statue of Liberty and suitable for frigid conditions—had fallen under sanctions during the Biden administration in response to Russia’s war on Ukraine. But Polar hoped its project would find favor with the Trump administration’s goal of “energy dominance” for America.
The sanctions also meant the equipment was available at a knockdown price, people involved in the project said. Securing it would mean Polar wouldn’t have to build its own from scratch.
Then the plans hit a snag: It turned out the project was being run and at least partly funded by Russian energy company Novatek, former Polar executives said. Joel Riddle, Polar’s CEO until September and a former ExxonMobil employee, says he resigned after the discovery, which he said emerged in budget discussions over the summer.
“I felt uncomfortable that the Russian company Novatek was financing and ultimately controlling the strategic direction of the company,” Riddle said.
Other executives left with Riddle. Their departures and the alleged Russian funding were earlier reported by the Financial Times and the New York Times.
Novatek didn’t respond to a request for comment. The White House, the Treasury Department and the State Department didn’t return calls for comment.
Novatek isn’t sanctioned by the U.S., and Europe has continued to buy its LNG since the invasion of Ukraine. Unlike many other Russian companies, Novatek has continued to have a presence in the U.S. and in European capitals during the war, paying lobbyists and elite law firms to try to influence sanctions and energy policy.
Polar’s project required convincing the Treasury Department to give it a license to buy the infrastructure from a sanctioned entity, Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 business. It hasn’t received the go-ahead.
Two former Polar executives said high-ranking officials at the company shared concerns about Novatek’s role with the administration around early September and that government officials expressed concern.
Polar would have to import the gear from Russia by tugboat. Then, there was the issue of building the project on Alaska’s North Slope, dredging an enormous amount of seabed and securing icebreaker tankers to chart paths in the Arctic.
Monetizing the gas beneath Alaska has been a long-held ambition of many American energy executives. But the gas remains underdeveloped because shuttling it to domestic markets via pipeline would be costly and logistically daunting, as would liquefying it and shipping it internationally from where it is produced.
Russia, meanwhile, has poured resources into liquefied natural gas, and Novatek emerged as its national champion. The company is one of the few major energy producers that remain in private hands after a quarter-century of rule by President Vladimir Putin.
Novatek was partway through building a new export facility named Arctic LNG 2 in 2023 when the Biden administration sanctioned the project. The sanctions threw sand in the gears, stopping the project from importing parts from overseas.
A Norwegian executive at Novatek named Bjorn Gundersen, who is credited with having developed the technology used at Arctic LNG 2, left for Tech Wave, an engineering firm in Abu Dhabi, according to people familiar with the matter.
Tech Wave owned Polar and provided most of Polar’s capital. But in discussions over new, much-needed funding over the summer, it became clear that senior Novatek executives were really calling the shots and allocating capital, Riddle said.
Gundersen didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Around the same time, the sanctions bill named after late Sen. Lindsey Graham was making its way through Congress and threatened to make it even harder for Polar to get permission to transact with Novatek.
Polar executives had lobbied the White House and President Trump’s National Energy Dominance Council to get the go-ahead from the Treasury Department, said people familiar with their efforts. As of last month, there weren’t signs the efforts had momentum, according to the people and Riddle’s resignation letter, which The Wall Street Journal reviewed.
Former CEO: Russian Firm Backed Alaska Gas Venture
By Newsmax Wires | Saturday, 24 October 2026 02:43 PM EDT
Joel Riddle, former chief executive of Polar Train LNG, told the Financial Times he resigned in September after discovering what he described as undisclosed Russian involvement in the proposed liquefied natural gas export terminal on Alaska’s North Slope.
“I resigned as chief executive of Polar LNG because I felt uncomfortable that the Russian company Novatek was financing and ultimately controlling the strategic direction of the company,” Riddle told the newspaper.
“Building an LNG facility in Alaska is a very strategic project for the US and as a patriot I feel this needs to be developed using US technology and funded by US investors, not a Russian company.”
Polar LNG disputed his allegations, calling Riddle a “disgruntled employee” who was terminated. The company maintained that its operations comply with U.S. law.
“Development activities are being pursued in full compliance with applicable US laws,” the company told the Financial Times.
Bjørn Gundersen, Deputy Director of Novatek’s LNG Projects, refuses to speak with journalists. Archive photo by Thomas Nilsen
Bjørn Gundersen is Deputy Director of Novatek’s LNG Projects Department and plays a key role in the company’s grand development of the Arctic LNG 2, one of the biggest energy projects in the Arctic ever. He spoke in this Thursday’s Neighbor Conference in Kirkenes, Norway.
The event was open for the public. It was organized in connection with this week’s 75 year commemorations of Soviet liberation of Kirkenes.
About 15,000 people will have their jobs in the Arctic LNG 2, and Murmansk will become among the world’s leading centers for building of oil and gas facilities and platforms, Gundersen said and highlighted that «this is now in the making.»
The company representative is responsible for the development of the Kola Yard, the plant for construction of floating LNG platforms for the Arctic LNG 2.
About 10,000 people are now involved in the building works at Belokamenka, a few kilometers from Murmansk, Gundersen said. The three platforms to be built on site are combined three times bigger than the largest offshore installation ever built in the North Sea, he made clear. The construction of first of the platforms started in June this year.
According to Gundersen, he might be the only Norwegian working in Novatek, but there are a number of Norwegian companies involved as subcontractors in the Arctic LNG 2 project. Among them are Dr Techn. Olav Olsen, Concrete Structures, Trelleborg, IKM, Tschudi Shipping and more.
Bjørn Gundersen was very clear that he foresees a stronger future involvement of Norwegian companies in the LNG project. «After all, Kirkenes is only 250 kilometers from Murmansk and it would be tragic if we do not manage to succeed with cooperation,» he told the audience in Kirkenes.
Novatek’s projects in the Arctic have wide-reaching implications for local societies, economy and environment. But Bjørn Gundersen and Novatek are highly reluctant to share their views with the public.
When requested to respond to a question about Novatek’s activities in Murmansk, the company representative abruptly rejected.
«I can not take any questions from the Barents Observer, nor from any other media» he underlined and referred to the company press department.
The questions were subsequently forwarded to Novatek’s press departments.
No response from the company’s Moscow office had come by the time of publishing this report.
Russian natural gas company says it will abandon Norway
As an Arctic storm rages along Barents Sea coast, company Novatek signals that it will move its large-scale reloading of LNG away from Norwegian waters.
WASHINGTON—President Trump said he asked the Justice Department to sue Alaska to prevent certification of the state’s Senate results if the Republican candidate loses, an extraordinary move by his administration to intervene legally in the 2026 midterm elections.
Israel has launched a campaign of collective punishment against Palestinians in Hebron after gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers and injured three near a checkpoint outside the city.
Benjamin Netanyahu announced a siege on Hebron and neighbouring Halhul and said residents of the gunmen’s home neighbourhoods would all be forced out. He promised mass demolitions of homes.
The first destruction began within hours of the attack, as ministers who had been on the campaign trail ahead of elections on Tuesday rushed to the site of the shooting.
The far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, posted a video of himself in front of a bulldozer as it tore down a Palestinian home near the site of the firefight.
The destruction of a home built without permits aimed to “create deterrence and exact a price”, Smotrich said. There was no claim of a connection between the building’s owners and the attackers.
Soon after the destruction began, Israel’s high court issued a temporary order to stop the demolitions. A human rights lawyer, Mohammed Dahleh, filed an urgent petition on behalf of two factory owners nearby, arguing that the demolition violated international law on collective punishment and Israeli administrative law.
There is, however, a third factor behind Americans’ anger, and it isn’t getting nearly as much attention as it should. There has been a catastrophic decline in health insurance coverage combined with sharply rising premiums for many of those who have managed to hang on to their coverage. And this, too, is all on Trump.
Here’s what happened: Trump and his congressional minions refused to renew the expanded subsidies that had made health insurance affordable for millions of Americans during the Biden years. At the same time the One Big Beautiful Bill imposed punitive work requirements that made it far more difficult for families to obtain Medicaid coverage.
And we haven’t felt the full effect of these changes yet — Republicans tried to backload the effects of the OBBB so that much of the pain will come after the midterms. But the consequences of this attack on healthcare have already been dire.
By June 2026 enrollment in Medicaid and the Childrens’ Health Insurance Program had declined by more than 6 million since January 2025; 2.5 million of those losing coverage were children. KFF estimates that enrollment in individual plans, mainly via the Affordable Care Act, was down almost 5 million by June. The redoubtable Charles Gaba, putting these numbers together with other information, estimates that around 12 million Americans have lost health insurance under Trump 2.0.
That’s a lot of lost coverage, even in a nation as big as ours. And because many of the savage cuts Trump and his allies have imposed on healthcare have yet to kick in, the situation will get much worse in the years ahead. It’s worth noting thatkicking children off healthcare coverage is especially personally and socially destructive because it compromises their health and earnings potential for their entire lifetimes.
Paul Krugman, Substack Oct 21 2026
Health insurance CEO shooting unleashes Internet vitriol aimed at industry
X-energyAmerican Electric Power, Amazon and X-energy announced on Oct. 19 that they are exploring a 960-megawatt advanced nuclear project at the former Breed Generating Station coal plant site in Sullivan County, Indiana. The initial design calls for 12 X-energy Xe-100 small modular reactors rated at 80 megawatts each. It is a feasibility effort, not a finished deal, and the companies gave no construction or operating dates
British oil major BP reported a second-quarter profit of $5.73 billion, almost double that of the same period last year and higher than forecasts predicted. BP saw its highest quarterly net profit since the third quarter of 2022, and second-quarter profits across all units surpassed expectations.
The fossil fuel lead at the international NGO Global Witness, Patrick Galey, stated, “BP’s sky-high profits are a scandalous reminder of who’s been cashing in on human misery this year. While wildfires threaten communities across the world, drought bites and energy costs spiral, ordinary families are paying the price for big oil’s prioritisation of shareholder wealth over a livable planet.” Galey added, “It’s time to make oil giants pay up to repair the climate breakdown they’re driving.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. oil major Chevron reported its highest quarterly profit in at least six years, surpassing analyst estimates. Chevron posted adjusted earnings of $12 billion, with $8.2 billion from upstream operations, marking a 200% increase compared to the previous year.
Chevron’s Chief Financial Officer, Eimear Bonner, said in an interview, “Amid all the geopolitical uncertainty and market volatility that’s still upon us, we continue to deliver the reliable energy that the world has needed.”
While oil company CEOs defend their record profits, many others are criticising the earnings that come at a time when consumers are facing rising inflation and other economic challenges. Even U.S. President Donald Trump critiqued oil firms for profiting from high oil prices, which came as a surprise to many due to Trump’s unwavering support for oil and gas.
On August 3, President Trump criticised the U.S. oil majors ExxonMobil and Chevron for making “too much money” on high crude prices. “They’re making too much money based on a shortage,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I don’t like it, and I should be the last one to say because I’m a big free enterprise guy — nobody bigger.”
The record profits experienced by oil and gas companies in the wake of the Iran war have led to backlash from environmentalists, consumers, and political leaders, as governments worldwide float the possibility of introducing or increasing windfall taxes on higher-than-normal earnings.
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