A New ‘Super Ice’ Is 10 Times Stronger, Bringing It Close to The Strength of Concrete Science Alert
Man accused of hiding 10 live birds in his ‘bulge’ at the airport CNN
Climate/Environment
The 2026 state of the climate report: challenges and opportunities BioScience
Are we on course to a hothouse Earth? Can we stop it? The Raven
Exxon scientist says the company knew its algae biofuel ads were BS HEATED
The Overshoot Trap: The Unforgiving Physics and Economics of Carbon Removal Climate Uncovered
Insurance is stuck in the delayed disclosure trap New Climate Reality
Pandemics
As Ebola spreads in eastern Congo, mothers and children shun vital care Reuters
‘It’s time to get a vaccine in place’: RFK Jr.’s views helped stall bird flu plan Politico
As measles continues to spread, health officials are seeing vaccine interest rise ABC News
Water
Colorado River drought drives unprecedented pattern of groundwater loss Phys.org
China?
EU to Lift Sanction on Chinese Firm to Save an ASML Supplier Bloomberg
This is one of the tragedies of the EU-China relationship: China really wants to invest in Europe, it even has a “super appetite” to do so 👇, and Europe would objectively largely stand to benefit, because 1) that’d reduce the trade deficit they keep complaining about and 2) that’d be doing what China itself did to catch up by welcoming Western firms.
Yet it’s not really happening at a meaningful scale for political and economic reasons.
The political aspect is obvious, you just need to see what happened with Wingtech/Nexperia last year. A Chinese company bought Nexperia, the Dutch government cleared the deal, and 2 years later the same Dutch state literally confiscated it using, for the first time, an obscure Cold War-era emergency law. Or you just need to see the constant media hysteria in Europe over China (this example just 2 days ago being yet another sad illustration: https://t.co/cDp2IJOhPc).
If you put yourself in China’s shoes, you’d have to be crazy to sink billions into a continent where your acquisitions can be confiscated at any moment and every factory you build gets portrayed as part of an evil scheme by an “authoritarian dictatorship”.
And on top of that there are the economic challenges that Liang is mentioning here 👇: Chinese investments in Europe face the same economic issues as any European company, it’s simply really hard to do business profitably in Europe (given energy costs, administrative overheads, etc.)
All resulting in the rather Kafkaesque situation where Europe complains about being flooded with Chinese exports yet makes the solution for it – Chinese goods being produced in Europe instead, which China has a “super appetite” for – politically radioactive and economically unattractive.
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) October 15, 2026
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The Hormuz Disruption Reaches Central Asia Through Chinese Demand Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Syraqistan
Gaza’s buildings are collapsing on top of us. But there’s nowhere else to shelter +972 Magazine
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Containership Sinks as Hormuz Attacks Spiral Out of Control gCaptain
Exclusive: US considering using ‘mother of all bombs’ against Iran, sources say CNN
IRGC warns of ‘far more painful’ response, says Iran has ‘more advanced weapons’ Press TV
‼️🇺🇸 – US Military Activity Intensifies Across the Middle East
A significant surge in military aviation activity has been reported across the Middle East, with 98 military aircraft tracked over the past 24 hours.
According to the reported figures,
–>👇 https://t.co/NMIUnies2w
— David Roth-Lindberg (@RothLindberg) October 15, 2026
UN official sounds alarm as Hormuz fertilizer deadlock pushes Asia, Africa toward food crisis The Cradle
Houthis say targeted Saudi oil giant Aramco, vow more attacks New Arab
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Israel Has Demolished Majority of Villages in Southern Lebanon—Mostly After the Ceasefire Common Dreams
Azerbaijan school hijab ban spark protests and rupture with Turkey New Arab
Old Blighty
Sally Rooney says she can no longer sell books in UK due to Palestine Action support The Guardian
Will UK Greens fold to Israel lobby? Palestine is Still the Issue
Ex-UK army chef jailed for ‘terror’-related offence Al Jazeera
Evidently Psyop Town Decline and Fall
European Disunion
Unions threaten legal action over Brussels red tape bonfire Rapporteur
Mass protests in Europe: is a new anti-war movement emerging? Movisol.org (via GeoPolitiQ)
EXCLUSIVE | Leaked emails reveal former German intelligence chief’s Mossad links The Cradle
Martin Armstrong: Forecasting European False Flag Operations to Start War with Russia Glenn Diesen
New Not-So-Cold War
Zelenskyy says Ukraine will resume strikes on Russian oil refineries – FT Ukrainska Pravda
Oil Prices Fall as Trump Considers Easing Sanctions on Shadow Fleet Tankers OilPrice
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For the last 12 hours, Russia has been carrying out one of the largest Geran-2/4/5 drone attacks on Ukraine since the beginning of the year.
At least 400 Geran-2 drones and 80 Geran-4/5 jet-drones have been used, targeting railway infrastructure, warehouse facilities, electrical substation, data centres, and port infrastructure across several different regions of southern, central, and western Ukraine.
Explosions were heard in/near the following locations:
– Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
– Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
– Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
– Shyroke, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
– Zaporizhzhia City
– Svitlodovsk, Kirovohrad Oblast
– Oleksandriya, Kirovohrad Oblast
– Bandurivka, Kirovohrad Oblast
– Znamyanka, Kirovohrad Oblast
– Kanatove, Kirovohrad Oblast
– Kropyvnytskyi, Kirovohrad Oblast
– Bobrynets, Kirovohrad Oblast
– Mykolaiv City
– Velykodolyns’ke, Odesa Oblast
– Izmail, Odesa Oblast
– Reni, Odesa Oblast
– Uman, Cherkasy Oblast
– Smila, Cherkasy Oblast
– Cherkasy Oblast
– Kryzhopil, Vinnytsia Oblast
– Sutysky, Vinnytsia Oblast
– Zhmerynka, Vinnytsia Oblast
– Kozyatyn, Vinnytsia Oblast
– Vinnytsia City
– Kam’yanets’-Podil’s’kyi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
– Starokostyantyniv, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
– Shepetivka, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
– Slavuta, Khmelnytskyi Oblast
– Chabany, Kyiv Oblast
– Hlevakha, Kyiv Oblast
– Irpin, Kyiv Oblast
– Nalyvaikivka, Kyiv Oblast
– Ripky, Chernihiv Oblast
– Lebedyn, Sumy Oblast
– Rokytne, Rivne Oblast
– Rivne City
– Lutsk, Volyn Oblast
– Ivano-Frankivsk City
– Chortkiv, Ternopil Oblast
– Kolomyya, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast
— AMK Mapping 🇳🇿 (@AMK_Mapping_) October 15, 2026
Ukrainian Drones Hit Russia’s Top Data Center in Attack on AI Ambitions Reuters
Russia destroys Ukrainian retailer Epicentr’s last big logistics hub Intellinews
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Türkiye, Romania, Bulgaria eye Black Sea shipping plan as Berlin urges truce Turkiye Today
THE BLACK SEA GAME NATO IS PLAYING FOR BULGARIA AGAINST RUSSIA John Helmer
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Panic in Kiev as AFU’s Starlink “Mysteriously” Throttled One Day After Intelligence Blackout Simplicius
South of the Border
Whistleblower Exposes Meta, Bolsonaro, and Cerimedo Election Meddling Partnership Panamerican Dispatch
Brazilian Senate Ends 6×1 Schedule, Approves 40-Hour Workweek TeleSur
Trump’s ‘Shield of the Americas’ is more fragile than it seems Responsible Statecraft
L’affaire Epstein
After Ashley Moody Epstein Probe, Donors Linked to Him Poured Money Into her Senate Campaign Drop Site
Trump 2.0
Trump doubling down on Russian diesel deal as Republicans run from it Semafor
Things Really Are Getting Worse at IRS Can We Still Govern?
He Crafted a Crypto Law for Trump—as His Company Got Millions From a Crypto Giant WSJ
Democrats Suck
Crypto’s Favorite Democrat New York Mag
Realignment and Legitimacy
Ammon Bundy says he has an ‘inalienable right’ to drive without registration. The Utah authorities who arrested him disagree. Salt Lake Tribune
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Tlaib Unveils Bill to Ban Federal Funding for Flock Cameras Amid ‘Mass Surveillance Crisis’ Common Dreams
Flock CEO defends surveillance technology amid national backlash: ‘We shouldn’t pause progress’ TechCrunch
Mamdani
Mamdani stands by NYPD commissioner amid calls for removal after ICE shooting NY1
Zohran Mamdani Cannot Fire Jessica Tisch Ghost Runner
Healthcare?
Medicare Open Enrollment Starts Tomorrow. Here’s What the Ads Won’t Tell You. HEALTH CARE un-covered
Martin Shkreli livestreamed himself violating lifetime pharma ban, FTC says Ars Technica
Economy
Consumer prices rose 3.7% annually in September as gas prices skyrocket CNBC
US Crude Oil Inventories See Massive Drop Off OilPrice
The Iran War Price Shock Is Here, and It Runs Into 2027 Lori Ann LaRocco
The Shrugflation Triangle: How AI, Oil, and Treasuries are Impacting the Economy Kyla Scanlon
Candy prices jump nearly 8%, but consumers are still willing to splurge this Halloween Yahoo! Finance
Imperial Collapse Watch
Why the Ukraine War Is Just the Start of a Global Power Struggle Forum Geopolitica
AI
Global chip sell-off deepens as South Korean market plunges Yahoo! Finance
Character.ai’s Bankruptcy Documents Show the Economics of AI Don’t Work 404 Media
Oracle Asks Regulators to Expedite Gas Pipeline for Data Center Bloomberg
Class Warfare
How Expedia Rigs Travel Markets and Raises Your Hotel Prices Matt Stoller
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
