NORWAY - Like Britain, Norway discovered a bounty of oil and gas in the North Sea in the 1960s but, today, rather than now deciding to close down its fields to win some witless race to net zero, it sells most of it abroad to fund social expenditure. Most of its electricity for home use comes from hydroelectricity so it can afford to sell its carbon energy around the world. The figures are impressive. It is the third largest exporter of natural gas after Russia and Qatar, the eighth largest exporter of crude oil and has some of the biggest coal reserves in the world.

USA - Strike – the first by port workers on US east coast since 1977 – threatens to shut down ports from Maine to Texas. Biden urges port operators to increase wages after 45,000 workers go on strike. Joe Biden has urged port operators to give workers a “meaningful increase” in pay after tens of thousands went on strike, prompting some of the busiest ports in the US to brace for crippling disruption. About 45,000 port workers represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) began walking off the job after their contracts expired at midnight, with 36 ports along the east and Gulf coasts affected. They typically handle about half of the nation’s ocean shipping. As workers joined picket lines at ports including Philadelphia, Houston and Virginia in the early hours, economists have warned that failure to end the strike swiftly could lead to shortages and higher prices.

USA - Port workers have some of the highest wages among blue-collar workers. Under the current contract with the East Coast union, a top-scale longshoreman could earn up to $39 an hour, which translates to about $81,000 a year. But many workers take overtime and extra shifts that have higher rates. Neither the union nor the ports have disclosed exact pay levels. But according to a 2020 report by the Waterfront Commission, the regulator that oversees New York Harbor, more than half of the longshoremen based there made $150,000 or more. The ILA is asking for a $5-an-hour raise for each of the six years of the new contract, which means the hourly rate could reach $69 by 2030.

MIDDLE EAST - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a powerful message Tuesday, reaffirming Israel’s unwavering resolve to defend itself against Iran’s regime and its proxies. Netanyahu made a bold declaration: Iran’s regime is nearing its end, and the people of Iran will soon experience a freedom they have long been denied. Netanyahu also addressed the Iranian people directly. He spoke sympathetically to the Iranian populace, painting a vivid picture of how their regime was wasting resources on foreign conflicts while the people themselves suffered. "I know you don’t support the rapists and murderers of Hamas and Hezbollah, but your leaders do. You deserve more. The people of Iran should know – Israel stands with you. May we together know a future of prosperity and peace.”

ISRAEL - Iran’s decision to launch about 180 high-speed ballistic missiles at Israel indicates that Tehran sought to inflict serious damage in Tuesday’s night attack, unlike the well-telegraphed drone and missile attack in April. Their sheer speed makes ballistic weapons challenging to intercept, but the initial reports of no fatalities within Israel and one in the West Bank would suggest despite the numbers of missiles launched it was a military failure, though some of the weapons or fragments appear to have struck the ground. Firing so many ballistic missiles in a few minutes also represents a serious effort to overwhelm or exhaust Israel’s air defences. Because they are sophisticated, the interceptor missiles are expensive – and their stocks uncertain.

USA - The global standing of the US has been called into question by the Ukraine conflict, the country’s Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander admitted on Tuesday. The senior official tried to allay concerns regarding the future of Washington’s security cooperation with its Western European allies when it comes to dealing with Russia. Speaking during a panel discussion at the Warsaw Security Forum this week, Wallander argued that “American global credibility is at stake” in Ukraine. In light of this challenge, she continued, “the United States and Europe… must work together for credible defense and deterrence against Russia.” “The United States needs Europe – it’s not just Europe that needs the United States,” Wallander said.

USA - In more bad news for the rapidly declining quality of the American diet, the US Department of Agriculture has given its stamp of approval to genetically modified wheat. That’s right: there is going to be yet another Frankenfood you’ll have to go out of your way to avoid, and when it’s something as ubiquitous as wheat, you’re going to need some excellent label reading and interpreting skills given how hard food companies try to obscure the true nature of the ingredients they use. The Argentinean firm Bioceres and the French multinational Florimond Deprez are behind the planet’s first GM wheat. They grow it using an agrotoxin known as glufosinate ammonium that is so dangerous that the European Union has banned it. However, the media – likely at the behest of their BigAg sponsors – has characterized the approval as a “milestone” for national agriculture.

MIDDLE EAST - The next stage of the Big Middle East War has begun. On Monday, IDF troops crossed the border and entered southern Lebanon. Over and over again, Hezbollah has stated that there will be “all-out war” if this happens. So now we will watch and see what happens in the coming hours. Will Hezbollah decide to launch thousands upon thousands of missiles toward Israeli cities? Will other parties join the fight? This stage of the war is going to look completely different from Israel’s war against Hamas. Hezbollah is a formidable enemy, and it has very powerful friends. For Hezbollah, this is the big showdown that they have been preparing for all these years. As long as there is a single IDF soldier on Lebanese soil, Hezbollah will be fighting with everything that they have got.

EUROPE - Marine Le Pen has celebrated the march of hard-Right parties across Europe after the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) won its first ever general election victory. Other Eurosceptic leaders also hailed Herbert Kickl’s historic triumph as a victory for national sovereignty against Brussels overreach. The Patriots for Europe group wants to claw back powers taken by Brussels from national governments and reform the EU. Geert Wilders, the veteran Eurosceptic, won elections in the Netherlands in 2023. “The Netherlands, Hungary, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, France, Spain, Czech Republic and today Austria! We are winning! Times are changing!,” he said on X. "Identity, sovereignty, freedom and no more illegal immigration/asylum is what tens of millions of Europeans long for.”

USA - I have a feeling that October is going to be one of the most tumultuous months that we have seen in a really long time. Ports all along the East Coast and all along the Gulf Coast are about to shut down, and that could throw US supply chains into a state of chaos for an extended period of time. Meanwhile, vast areas of the South are just starting to recover from a “once in a generation storm” that has done about 100 billion dollars in total damage. Sadly, economic conditions in those states will not return to normal for the foreseeable future. On top of everything else, we are less than 40 days away from a presidential election which threatens to absolutely rip this country apart. If you can’t see the storm clouds that are rapidly approaching at this point, you must have your head in the sand.

VATICAN - Pope Francis has sparked outrage for his views on women after saying it's "bad when the woman wants to be the man" during a speech at Belgium catholic university. The Catholic Church has an all-male clergy despite the Pope creating two comissions to consider women serving as deacons - the lowest ranking position in the clergy - but nothing has changed. During his speech, the 87-year-old Pope said: "We must remember that women are at the very heart of salvation history. It is thanks to the 'yes' of Mary that God himself came into the world. The woman is a fertile welcome, care, vital dedication. That is why the woman is more important than the man. But it is bad when the woman wants to be the man.

USA - The financial situation in the United States is experiencing a significant change as major banks are selling off assets at an unprecedented rate. This move is caused by the imminent commercial real estate crisis, bad loans, and high interest rates. This situation is not just a financial maneuver but a response to deep-seated issues affecting the stability of the banking sector. As banks hurry to get rid of assets, the consequences are widespread, affecting everything from the availability of credit to confidence in the financial system itself.

UK - The package of insanity puts Britain in a leading position in a world where nobody is following. Producing only two percent of global emissions and therefore irrelevant to global warming, any measures which cost wealth or economic growth are effectively simply exporting pollution, jobs and wealth to other countries that are not following our agenda. The catalogue of delusion includes removing support from pensioners while generating the highest electricity prices in the world for both consumers and industry with all the consequences of that for the economy and personal wealth and wellbeing.

ISRAEL - Houthi rebels claim they fired a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was landing back in Israel - and just hours after a series of devastating airstrikes on Beirut resulted in the death of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Netanyahu was swift to shrug off the near-miss with an address to the nation shortly afterwards in which he justified Israel's actions and said they had 'settled the score' with the death of Nasrallah, a man he described as 'the arc murderer'. He also remained unrepentant after a series of IDF strikes on Friday and Saturday left Beirut a smouldering city and said Israel will 'continue to strike our enemies' while continuing to press for the release of the more than 100 hostages remaining in Gaza. Warning there would be more to come, Netanyahu defiantly said: 'There is no place in Iran nor the Middle East where the long arm of Israel cannot reach.'

AUSTRIA - Austrian hard-right party WINS 'earthquake' election after pledging to close borders and end support for Ukraine: Leader called for 'non-ethnic Europeans' to be expelled. Austria's hard-right Freedom Party has topped the country's national elections, winning the popular vote for the first time in its history. While the party has been in government several times, it's the first time it has won the most votes, having gained the support of 29.1 per cent of electors, according to projections based on more than 60 per cent of the votes counted. But even with the victory, it is still uncertain that the party will be able to form the next government. Mr Kickl and his party have promoted 'remigration', the controversial concept which promotes the expulsion of immigrants of non-European ethnic backgrounds who are deemed to have failed to integrate.