Peter Thiel, billionaire co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, is giving a private four-part lecture series on the Antichrist at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.

Thiel links biblical prophecy to modern fears — climate change, AI, nukes — warning they could justify a “non-democratic one-world state,” which he frames as the Antichrist’s rise through fear.

China’s Navy is expanding at record speed, outproducing every other country’s shipyards.

It now fields 234 warships compared to the US Navy’s 219, thanks to massive investment and shipbuilding capacity “200 times that of the US.”

Beijing is pouring billions into bases like Yulin, building new piers for nuclear-armed subs and testing drones and hypersonic weapons.

While the US still leads in tonnage and carriers, the gap is narrowing fast.

Source: BBC

Burkina Faso passes law criminalizing homosexuality.

Kim Jong Un inspected North Korea’s new integrated missile production line.

He praised the shift to automated, assembly-line production, which he said sharply boosts missile output and ensures higher quality.

BIG: Israeli defense chiefs told Netanyahu that Gaza City's takeover won’t defeat Hamas and urged a limited hostage deal instead.

They warned an invasion could drag on for a year, cost many lives, and worsen Israel’s global standing.

Some Likud ministers even likened Gaza to becoming “Israel’s Vietnam.”

Source: Haaretz

BREAKING: Belgium will recognise Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly this month and impose 12 sanctions on Israel, including banning settlement products and restricting procurement with Israeli firms.

Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said recognition depends on all hostages being freed and Hamas no longer governing Palestine.

Trump will make an announcement at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday. It will be his first public speech in a week.

Syria exported 600,000 barrels of crude oil from Tartus, its first official shipment in 14 years.

Source: Reuters

According to South Korean intelligence, around 2,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Somalia: Puntland forces release drone footage of operation eliminating ISIS militants hiding in caves of Baallade Valley, Calmiskaad mountains.

Colombian President Petro warned that aggression against Venezuela could turn the Greater Colombian region (Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela) into a scene of war and fragmentation similar to what was experienced in Syria and Iraq:

“Mass murderers will take over territories driven by greed, and states will be weakened.”

On this day in history, September 2, 1945, World War II officially came to an end as Japan signed the Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

Billionaire Ray Dalio warns that the U.S. under Trump is sliding into “1930s-style autocracy.”

“What is happening now politically and socially is analogous to what happened around the world in the 1930–40 period.”

Source: FT

Israel is struggling to get enough reservists to report for duty as it prepares a new Gaza City invasion.

A commando master sergeant said after 400 days of fighting:

“People are dying for nothing… Netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political survival.”

Dalit Spektor, whose husband has served 580 days, said:

“The war is political, because none of us believes in our leadership. If it was up to me, I would ask you not to go.”

Commanders are even recruiting via WhatsApp groups, writing:

“I’m looking for combat soldiers, mainly medics and snipers… If there are reservists who are interested please message me privately.”

Source: WSJ

NEW: Finland and Poland are exploring an unusual defense strategy: restoring peatlands and wetlands to stop Russian tanks.

Both countries see rewetting bogs as a natural anti-tank barrier, forcing invaders into predictable, easier-to-defend routes.

France quietly told hospitals to get ready for mass-casualty scenarios by March 2026, with capacity for up to 50,000 wounded troops.

Officials stress it’s precautionary planning, not a war forecast.

Source: Le Canard enchaîné

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping began bilateral talks in Beijing, praising their countries’ ties as at an “unprecedented level.”

Putin:

“We were always together then, and we remain together now.”

Xi responded that China-Russia relations have “withstood the test of international changes” and vowed to build a “more just global governance system.”

The meeting comes before China’s largest-ever military parade, marking WWII’s 80th anniversary.

Both leaders criticized the West, with Xi condemning “bullying” and Putin blaming the West for the Ukraine war.

Ukrainian FPV drones breach a Russian facility, hitting both personnel and equipment.

NEW: China will allow visa-free entry for Russian citizens with regular passports for up to 30 days.

DR Congo: Peace talks in Doha stall as clashes intensify between government forces and AFC/M23, with tensions rising after statements by Tshisekedi and Nangaa.

Sudan Doctors Network:

18 killed and over 100 injured in deliberate RSF shelling of El Fasher neighborhoods yesterday.