Butt breathing declared safe after first human trials 404 Media
Climate/Environment
The likelihood that Melissa will have a devastating impact on parts of the Caribbean Equilibrium climate increases
Record autumn rains fall in China’s breadbasket wetlands Caixin International
Causal mechanisms of subpolar circulation variations in the CMIP6 model. European Geosciences Union. Abstract: “The Subpolar Circulation is a wind-driven circulation in the North Atlantic that allows mixing of water between surface and deep layers. We investigate the interaction between circulation strength, salinity, temperature, and mixing in climate models. We find that most models capture increases in salinity or decreases in temperature that lead to mixing. However, the feedback from the density at the center of the circulation to the strength of that circulation is poorly represented.”
Why are electricity prices rising? Distillation
Trump plan to open up drilling from almost all coasts to offshore Bloomberg
What is “essential” to President Trump’s EPA? More mercury contamination. heated
pandemic
Immune cell communication networks and memory CD8+ T cell signatures supporting chronic inflammation during COVID-19 and the long COVID-19 frontier
Children with multiple long-term conditions are nearly three times more likely to die from coronavirus Royal Society of Medicine
Measles spread beyond epicenters in Utah and Arizona NBC News
Free vaccines, cheaper than low vaccination rates: Alberta Medical Association CTV News
Africa
The end of “aid” on the continent
South Korea
Why North Korea scaled back missile tests this year WSJ
South Korea says it is ‘very likely’ Kim and Trump will meet next week Channel News Asia
Japan
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi says Japan will increase security spending to 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) in fiscal 2025 Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan will play a larger role in advancing American policy in Asia Andrew Korybko
India
PM Modi’s latest post throws cold water on potential meeting with Trump India Today
US sanctions expected to force India to curb purchases of Russian crude oil, Reuters reports. IIRC there is usually a slowdown immediately after sanctions before a workaround is found.
China?
Chinese state buyer withdraws from Russian oil due to sanctions Bloomberg
White House: President Trump to attend one-on-one meeting with President Xi next Thursday DPA
China appoints new Central Military Commission vice chairman amid biggest restructuring of ruling elite in eight years Channel News Asia
IMF raises forecast for China’s economy amid US trade war, says Asia will drive global growth until 2026 Telesur
ASEAN summit: President Trump’s visit to Kuala Lumpur puts Southeast Asia’s neutrality to the test Business Times
old blighty
UK removes Syria’s HTS from list of ‘terrorist’ organizations New Arab
Palestinian prisoners announce hunger strike in letter to British government Cage International
Or Canada
President Trump says trade talks with Canada are ‘over’ after Ontario’s anti-tariff ad CTV News
syrakistan
Weapons, warlords, and wasteland: Israel’s strategy for the new Arab postwar Gaza
Latest News: Israel, Gaza’s humanitarian crisis worsens despite Hamas ceasefire Al Jazeera
Oops.
“The master plan that Jared has been working on for two years.”
Look at the look on Jared Kushner’s face when this goofball blurted out the fact that before the October 7th attack, they were planning to rebuild Gaza into a prime coastal location.
Reveal the secret🤐 pic.twitter.com/NS7ulUJH0w
— Genghis Khan (@GenghisMFKhan) October 23, 2025
J.D. Vance said there would be a “constructive role” for Turkey to play in the Gaza Strip, but Washington would not force Israel to do anything regarding foreign forces “in Israeli territory.” what? Does this mean that Gaza is Israeli territory, not Palestine? https://t.co/rkqxaDHPPR
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) October 22, 2025
Ben Gvir promotes campaign to kill Palestinian detainees in Israeli prison New Arab
***
Israeli parliament pushes forward bill imposing ‘sovereignty’ on West Bank’s al-Mayadeen
Trump has always been honest, so of course he would fire Huckabee immediately. https://t.co/yYDK1iji5y pic.twitter.com/O6CxWRXsAs
— Sam Husseini (@samhusseini) October 23, 2025
discord in europe
‘I’m not a bad boy’: Belgium’s de Wever defends Ukraine loan veto Euractic
Inside Belgium’s budget standoff: What happens if negotiations fail? Brussels Times
France’s Socialist Party threatens to oust government by Monday as budget negotiations stall
Spain declares El Pais a “reliable partner” to purchase US weapons for Ukraine
Poland’s Janus face towards Ukraine is untenable Ian Proud
The curtain falls on Aleksandar Vučić’s foreign policy ‘balancing law’ Lily Lynch
Costa puts the brakes on Merz’s victory lap at Mercosur Politico
Export-grade poisons: Sales of EU-banned pesticides soar as Brazil becomes world’s biggest consumer Brazil de Fato
A new war that’s not so cold war
President Zelensky thanks EU for ‘signal’ of financial support to Ukraine for next two years Anadolu Agency
Russian Kremlin President responding to questions from the media. President Putin talks about new sanctions and other issues.
Russia is calling up its reserves.
Why now? It is speculated that it is related to the October 21st bombing carried out by the AFU.
What’s so special about these bombings? Now, the AFU utilized targeting data authorized by the United States European Command (EUCOM) and was carried out to… pic.twitter.com/5Bk1RFeaLj
— Mats Nilsson (@mazzenilsson) October 23, 2025
Russia begins large-scale nuclear exercises: launches intercontinental ballistic missiles and cruise missiles to test land, sea, and air components Military Watch
Why did the Armed Forces of Ukraine decide to combine brigades into corps? Marat Khairullin Substack
Now, a new phase in the power wars John Helmer
south of the border
Trump plans ground attack on suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers The Guardian
US flies B-1 bomber near Caribbean Sea in latest provocation aimed at anti-Venezuela war
Maduro warns he has 5,000 anti-aircraft missiles to ‘guarantee peace’ in El Pais
Trump 2.0
Disgraced Binance founder receives pardon from President Trump Gizmodo
Officials plan to force President Trump to declare national emergency in 2026, raising fears he will ‘hijack’ next election Common Dream
Trump says tech leaders convinced him to cancel San Francisco ‘surge’ NOTUS
Deshabille Democratic Party
Voters matter: From Waterville to Ogunquit, Mainers wait at Graham Platner drop-off locations.
health care?
‘It’s only going to get worse’: As ACA premiums rise, some Americans choose to go uninsured NBC News
police state surveillance
Video: FBI agent visits anti-ICE activist Ken Klippenstein
accelerationist
Anti-union, pro-Israel billionaire supports Tim Wahlberg and his show trial truth
The Rise of the Sealvers and the Building of a Surveillance State (w/Whitney Webb) Chris Hedges Report
imperial collapse watch
This is the worst graph I’ve seen in a while. What is hell like now? Are they installing nuclear power for $2.50/W? https://t.co/Vyfneh71VP
— Craig Lawrence (@clawrence) October 23, 2025
brave new world
Shield AI unveils autonomous VTOL combat drone that isn’t scary at all
Quadrupedal State of the Market – A Semi-Analysis of Unitree, Boston Dynamics, ANYbotics, DEEP Robotics, and the Emerging Application Ecosystem
Maha
Is your drug made in a contaminated factory? The FDA won’t tell you. propublica
RFK Jr. may encourage eating more saturated fat. Experts say his points are off the mark. today’s med page
sports desk
How a hacked card shuffler allegedly enabled a mob poker scam that rocked the NBA Wired
antitrust law
Warner Bros. is up for sale (again): Get ready for another pointless and disastrous media merger TechDirt
A.I.
GenAI makes cyber fraud more believable Economic Times
OpenAI signals plans for deeper integration into OS Ars Technica with new acquisition
Google and Anthropic announce cloud deal worth tens of billions of dollars CNBC
zeitgeist watch
goon squad harpers. “Loneliness, the next frontier of porn, and endless masturbation dreams.”
AWS outage leaves people’s $2,700 smart bed 404 Medium unusable
Blinded by light: Tesla fixes blinding Cybertruck headlights
EVs are depreciating much faster than gasoline cars.
class war
From 2021 onwards, rents for the poorest tenants will more than double those of wealthier tenants Private Equity Stakeholder Project
Antidote (via):
Click here for yesterday’s link and Antidote du Jour.
