ISRAEL - The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted a second wave of airstrikes against Iran early Saturday morning, as hits were reported across the entire breadth of the country. As Breitbart News reported, the IDF announced earlier that it had begun attacks on Iranian military targets in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attacks and other attacks. Iran would essentially be defenseless against Israel if the IDF were able to destroy its missile sites and air defenses. Formerly, Iran used its terrorist proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen as deterrents — and, indeed Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel after the Israeli retaliation began. However, these proxies have been severely downgraded in their capabilities after a year of war, in which they attacked Israel and the IDFresponded with devastating force.

IRAN - They had boasted of Israeli “weakness” but when the cruise missiles first struck just after 2.15 am on Saturday, the Iranians appeared completely unprepared. As the regime scrambled aircraft and sought to stop the Israeli onslaught with outdated air defences, it was only a few minutes before plumes of smoke were rising around Tehran. In a humiliating admission, Iran acknowledged that its capital had been struck during a swift four-hour IDF operation, which saw key nuclear and oil targets overlooked by Israel, under pressure from the US to avoid an escalation of the Middle East conflicts.

IRAN - Israel bombarded Iran with a series of airstrikes on Saturday following earlier missile attacks from Tehran, as tensions in the Middle East near breaking point. Iran's top strategists are reportedly escalating efforts to acquire and test nuclear weapons following the death of Hamas leader and Tehran ally, Yahya Sinwar. The Iranian leadership suffered a significant blow when Israeli forces assassinated Sinwar in Rafah on October 16 as part of their ongoing offensive in Gaza. Sinwar was the brains behind the October 7 attack on Israel that led to approximately 1,200 fatalities - predominantly civilians - and the abduction of hundreds of people.

RUSSIA - The West cannot control this bloc, and that is hard for Western leaders to accept. The creation of such an association was in itself a major achievement. Firstly, because it included countries with very different foreign policy interests. That is, their desire to act together was underpinned by sufficiently reliable objective circumstances to make cooperation between such different powers meaningful. Secondly, because the emergence of BRICS signalled from the outset the West’s inability to control the evolution of international governance. In the case of BRICS, for the first time, Western countries did not initiate or lead the process. The achievement is actually quite fantastic, given that the entire international architecture, starting with the UN, is now a product of the foreign policy choices of the United States and Western Europe.

CHINA - The Chinese president says Beijing and Moscow should further deepen economic ties while defending the UN-based global system. Beijing and Moscow should further deepen their already strong economic cooperation while defending global stability, Chinese President Xi Jinping said at talks with counterpart Vladimir Putin at the BRICS summit in Kazan on Tuesday. He also stressed that Sino-Russian ties have been steadily developing in recent years despite the turbulent geopolitical situation. Commenting on relations with Moscow, Xi stated that “despite the chaotic and confused external situation, trade and cooperation in other spheres between the two countries are actively developing,” as evidenced by a number of large-scale joint projects. In August, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin estimated that over 95% of mutual settlements between Russia and China are now conducted using the ruble or yuan.

RUSSIA - Russia is to present its proposal for a new international financial system to fellow BRICS nations at the group’s summit next week, Reuters has reported, citing a document distributed by Moscow to journalists ahead of the event. The system is believed to be immune to Western sanctions and could put an end to the dominance of the US dollar in international exchanges and transactions, the news agency said. According to the report, the new payment platform is based on blockchain technology and uses digital tokens backed by the national currencies of participating countries. This format would allow such currencies to be easily and securely exchanged without the ubiquitous need for dollar transactions.

ISRAEL - The head of the Israeli spy agency, Mossad, has insisted that after his country's incursion into Lebanon concludes, any ceasefire will be contingent on the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, according to the Walla news agency, citing a senior US official. Dadi Barnea, head of Mossad, recently relayed the demand to CIA Director William Burns, Walla reported on Wednesday. According to the unnamed American official and another informed source, Barnea told Burns that Israel and the US should only agree to a truce in Lebanon if Hamas frees the captives. The Mossad chief allegedly believes that it would be possible to make the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, Iran and “other elements in the region” put pressure on Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to meet the terms, the report said.

GERMANY - Germany needs to reintroduce the draft and buy more drones and military equipment right away, Markus Soeder, leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU) party and head of the state of Bavaria, has said. Soeder spoke to the outlet Bild on the eve of his party conference in Augusburg, where the CSU and its national sister party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), will plot to unseat the current “traffic light” coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “What is needed is money for the Bundeswehr, clear [funding] structures, drones... and of course conscription. As quickly as possible,” Soeder told the outlet. “Otherwise, the ability [of Germany] to defend itself cannot be guaranteed in the long term.”

IRAN - An earthquake-like tremor has sparked speculation that it was more than seismic, perhaps an underground explosion. In the late evening of October 5, seismic tremors of a magnitude of 4.6 on the Richter Scale were detected in Iran’s Semnan region. Although they could be felt even in the capital Tehran, over a hundred kilometers away from the epicenter, as earthquakes go this was not a major event: It was not terribly strong and caused no casualties. And yet it has attracted global attention. The reason is that we are not sure that it really was an earthquake.

USA - Monster storm Hurricane Milton has landed in Florida with the first casualties reported as the state is battered by 'catastrophic' flooding and 120mph winds. The National Weather Service said flash flooding was occurring in the Tampa Bay area, including St Petersburg, where over 16 inches of rain has fallen so far. More than 1.5 million homes and businesses were without power Wednesday night in Florida, while about 125 homes were destroyed. Meanwhile, the Sheriff of Florida's St Lucie County revealed there have been 'multiple fatalities' after the area was ravaged by a tornado before the hurricane even made landfall.

USA - Many citizens want more government control of the economy to curb rising prices. It is the worst strategy imaginable. Interventionist governments never reduce consumer prices because they benefit from inflation, dissolving their political spending commitments in a constantly depreciated currency. Inflation is the perfect hidden tax. The government makes the currency less valuable by issuing more units of fiat money, partially dissolves its debt in real terms, collects more taxes, and presents itself as the solution to rising prices with subsidies in an increasingly worthless currency. That is why socialism and hyperinflation go hand in hand.

USA - The State Department said Tuesday that it doesn’t want to see a ceasefire in Lebanon and supports the heavy Israeli bombardment of the country to “degrade Hezbollah.” State Department spokesman Matt Miller was asked about comments from Hezbollah Deputy Sheikh Naim Qassem, who said the group supports efforts by Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to reach a ceasefire without mentioning that it must also include a ceasefire in Gaza. "Now that Hezbollah is on the back foot and is getting battered, suddenly, they’ve changed their tune and want a ceasefire,” Miller told reporters. “What we want to see come out of this situation ultimately is Lebanon able to break the grip Hezbollah has had on the country” Miller said.

LEBANON - Hezbollah said Tuesday it is now ready to engage in cease-fire talks with Israel, after suffering serious blows to its leadership and ranks in recent months. The terror group in Lebanon made the announcement after firing more than 100 rockets at the Jewish state hours earlier. Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, Naim Qassem, publicly endorsed a truce with Israel, the first such time the terror group has proposed a cease-fire not conditioned on the war in Gaza. “We support the political efforts led by [Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih] Berri under the banner of achieving a cease-fire,” Qassem said, according to a CNN translation. “Once the cease-fire is firmly established and diplomacy can reach it, all other details will be discussed and decisions will be made collaboratively,” he added.

UK - All birdkeepers, regardless of the size of their flock, will be required to officially register their birds under new measures announced by Defra (The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). The threshold for mandatory registration will be reduced from 50 birds to 1, which means all poultry and captive bird keepers will be legally required to register their birds. Poultry keepers will be required to review their poultry register entry annually to ensure their details are up to date. The requirement for all poultry keepers to register will come into force [from 1 October 2024], with the requirement for an annual review to be introduced 12 months later. The government said the changes would help manage potential disease outbreaks, such as avian influenza and Newcastle disease, and limit any spread.

USA - Thousands of people are scrambling to flee Florida as catastrophic Hurricane Milton threatens a once-in-a-century direct hit on Tampa and St Petersburg, engulfing the region with towering storm surges. Terrified Floridians are rushing to safety after local officials issued a stark warning overnight advising residents to 'flee or die' before the monster storm packs furious winds and gushes walls of water inland tomorrow.