🇩🇪🔫💬🇷🇺❌🇪🇺🪖 — 🇩🇪 BILD:

"Russia is capable of attacking NATO as early as tomorrow: Bundeswehr General

Lieutenant General of the Bundeswehr Alexander Zolfrank stated that Russia already has the forces for a limited strike on NATO territory.

“It is necessary to assess what Russia has and what it can do with it. Based on this, Russia could attack NATO territory on a limited scale as early as tomorrow”

— he said in an interview with Reuters.

According to him, if armaments continue to be built up, a large-scale attack could become a reality by 2029. At the same time, Zolfrank emphasized that everything depends on the behavior of the West and the alliance's ability to demonstrate strength.

The general noted that Moscow is already conducting hybrid warfare against NATO countries, using cyberattacks, sabotage, and disinformation.

“This method is aimed at sowing uncertainty, creating fear, causing damage, and infiltrating spies. It is a war based on fear”

— Zolfrank added.

Despite losses in Ukraine, according to the Bundeswehr, the Russian armed forces remain combat-capable, and the number of tanks allows for limited offensive actions.

Russia, Zolfrank added, continues its course to change the European security system and intends to increase the size of its army to 1.5 million people."

🔗 Source:

🇨🇭 Swiss government rejects naturalisation reform proposal

The Swiss government wants cantons to continue to have the last say in naturalisation procedures. On Wednesday, it reiterated its rejection of the so-called "democracy initiative".

The democracy initiative wants to make naturalisation easier. It demands that naturalisation should be possible after five years of legal residence in Switzerland [instead of 10 years], regardless of the settlement permit held by the person.

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-democracy/federal-council-stands-by-its-no-to-the-democracy-initiative/90283489

🤖 OpenAI Wants Federal Backstop for New Investments — WSJ

In other words, OpenAI wants a US government bailout in case those investments into data centers and chips don't pay out.

@CIG_telegram

🤖 OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman says his company is "too big too fail".

Altman also told that the U.S. government is the “insurer of last resort for AI financing".

The term "too big to fail (TBTF)" is a theory in banking and finance that asserts that certain corporations, particularly financial institutions, are so large and so interconnected with an economy that their failure would be disastrous to the greater economic system, and therefore should be supported by government when they face potential failure. The term emerged as prominent in public discourse following the 2008 financial crisis.

New economic data shows that without AI, the U.S. economy is in a recession, with as much as 63% of GDP growth coming from AI investment.

Altman is not wrong when he says that OpenAI is "too big to fail" because his company plummeting would certainly crash the American economy.

The question is, should he be bailed out? Should the American people be forced to pay to keep Altman's company running? Why shouldn't OpenAI be allowed to fail?

@CIG_telegram

🇺🇸❌🇳🇬 Trump: "We're gonna do things to Nigeria that Nigeria's not gonna be happy about, and may very well go into that now disgraced country guns a-blazing... I'm hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack it will be fast, vicious, and sweet."

📝: Nigeria has a lot of oil, located mostly in the separatist Christian Biafra region in the southeast. The Igbo people living in Biafra were not subject to the terror attacks of the jihadist Boko Haram terror group as the violence affects only the north of Nigeria.

The aggressive posturing against Nigeria is the result of the Igbo lobby and a backup in case the U.S. military fails to overthrow Maduro.

🔗 The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline)

🇺🇸🌍🇳🇬 The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) has drafted plans for an intervention in Nigeria, the primary target being ISWAP and, to a lesser extent, other Islamist groups such as JAS and decentralized bandit groups. Plans are divided into light, medium, and heavy options.

The light option is to continue to rely on the Nigerian army while providing additional military and financial support to help the government neutralize the threats.
The medium option would include drone strikes and joint operations with the Nigerian army against terrorist camps and positions. This, however, would be difficult because the US lost access to airbases in Niamey and Agadez in Niger. Other regional countries might permit use of their territory, but that is unlikely; the most feasible alternative would be to operate from the AFRICOM base in Djibouti.

The heavy option, and the least likely, would be to move an aircraft-carrier strike group into the Gulf of Guinea so fighter jets could carry out high-impact airstrikes against militant camps. That is constrained by carrier availability: the Gerald R. Ford is being moved to the southern Caribbean, other carriers are deployed in the Pacific or the Middle East, and some are undergoing maintenance.

🔗 Brant

https://archive.is/fbq2z

🇵🇱🪖 Poland launches military training for all citizens: "Most dangerous times since World War II"

https://www.bild.de/politik/ausland-und-internationales/polen-startet-militaer-training-fuer-alle-buerger-kurse-koennen-per-app-gebucht-werden-690c799d0a79f6e663e11e0c

🇺🇸🇻🇪 U.S. Senate blocks measure barring U.S. President Donald Trump from launching war on Venezuela.

🔗 AZ Intel

🇺🇸 FBI Tries to Unmask Owner of Infamous Archive.is Site

The FBI has subpoenaed the domain registrar of archive.today, demanding information about the owner.

🔗 https://www.404media.co/fbi-tries-to-unmask-owner-of-infamous-archive-is-site/

🇺🇸🤝🇺🇿 President Trump announces a trade deal between the US and Uzbekistan.

The deal includes $35 billion invested in the US over the next 3 years and $100 billion invested in the US over the next 10 years.

📝Uzbekistan has an annual GDP of $115 billion.

This would be like if China announced a $20 trillion trade deal.

📝 Trump is now approaching third world nations and signing fake trade deals worth 90% of their GDP.

They call it the “Altman strategy”.

🔗 Kobeissi Letter

🇨🇳🤖🇺🇸 "Chinese stocks and gold are the best hedges against an AI meltdown," per Bank of America, $ BAC.

🔗 unusual_whales

🤖 Sam Altman was subpoenaed on stage:

🔗 unusual_whales (@unusual_whales)

🇺🇸🇮🇱 Israel dumps millions into US influence targeting evangelicals in churches and ChatGPT

Israel's government has allocated millions in contracts to U.S. firms for public diplomacy efforts, targeting evangelical Christians and AI platforms like ChatGPT amid eroding support.

Foreign Agents Registration Act filings document payments routed through Havas Media Germany GmbH, which has handled at least $100 million since 2018 for Israeli tourism promotion in the U.S.

The largest agreement, a $6 million four-month deal in August with Clock Tower X—owned by Brad Parscale, Trump's former digital campaign manager—funds antisemitism campaigns producing 100 core content pieces monthly, such as videos, podcasts, graphics, and text, plus 5,000 derivatives for 50 million impressions.

Eighty percent of the content targets young Americans on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, distributed through Salem Media Network's over 200 conservative Christian radio stations and websites, where Parscale serves as strategy lead.

A proposed $3 million campaign by Show Faith by Works, run by Republican evangelical consultant Chad Schnitger, seeks to reverse evangelical support declines using biblical arguments emphasizing Israel's importance to Christians and portraying Palestinians as choosing Hamas, murdering Christian aid workers, celebrating the October 7 massacre, and sharing genocidal intentions with Iran.

This includes the largest U.S. geofencing operation, mapping perimeters of major churches and Christian colleges in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado during worship hours to identify 8 million churchgoers and 4 million students via commercial data for continued ad targeting.

Clock Tower X's contract features a "Search and Language Operation" to influence Google search results and generative AI responses from ChatGPT and Claude, representing the first documented state attempt to shape chatbot framing on Israel-Palestine issues.

SKDKnickerbocker's 2.5 million shekel contract deploys bots on TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube to amplify Foreign Ministry messages, supported by up to five spokespersons for international media and social media promotion.

Bridges Partners' $1 million "Esther Project" recruits 14-18 influencers for 25-30 monthly posts on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and X promoting U.S.-Israel cultural exchange; payments include $15,000 to Nadav Shtrauchler, a former Netanyahu consultant, and $10,000 to digital marketer Pnina Rezidor.

🔗 https://www.disclose.tv/id/wrbhq1fa5c/

📉 BREAKING: Nvidia's, $ NVDA, losses accelerate to -5% on the day, now down -16% since Monday's high.

That marks a drop of -$800 BILLION since Monday.

@CIG_telegram

📉 BREAKING: US consumer sentiment falls to its 2nd lowest level on record.

Consumer sentiment is now below the 2008 low.

@CIG_telegram

📉 The economy is not reaccelerating.

This is a high-frequency chart of the goods economy, and index of the number of goods shipped through the US domestic economy.

Down 15% YoY.

🔗 Craig Fuller

📉 Experts Predicted An EV Sales Collapse. It's Already Started

Jim Farley was right. Last month, Ford's CEO predicted that market share of electric cars would be cut in half once the federal tax credit for clean vehicles met its untimely demise on September 30.

And in the first month of the post-tax-credit future for EVs, that's exactly what happened. Both J.D. Power and S&P Global Mobility estimate that October's EV market share plummeted to around 5% in the U.S., from a record high of over 12% in September.

The battery-powered share of sales also dropped significantly on a year-over-year basis, from over 8% in October 2024. The last time EVs made up 5% of U.S. vehicle sales was in early 2022.

According to S&P Global Mobility, some 64,000 new electric vehicles were sold in October. That's a epic drop from September, when Americans bought or leased nearly 150,000 EVs as they scrambled to cash in on the expiring $7,500 incentive.

Plug-in hybrids got hit hard too, with their market share dropping from 2.2% in September to just 1% in October, per J.D. Power.

“The automotive industry is experiencing a significant recalibration in the electric vehicle segment in the first month following the expiration of the federal tax credits," said Tyson Jominy, J.D. Power's senior vice president of data and analytics.

You could say the EV market is coming to terms with a new reality for consumer demand—one in which electric cars are now unsubsidized, more expensive to buy and have to sell on merit alone. That may be part of what's going on here, and that's certainly going to be a factor over the coming months and years.

🔗 https://insideevs.com/news/777506/ev-sales-october-hangover-tax-credit/

📉 September Class 8 Truck Sales Fall 25% From Year-Ago Period

Decline Is Third Consecutive as Tariff Uncertainty Continues 'Angst' for Trucking Industry

Sales decreased 25.6% to 16,228 from the 21,813 units reported during the prior-year period. They also declined 9.2% from the 17,876 units reported in August. The only year-over-year increase in 2025 occurred in June. Year-to-date sales are down 9.2% to 160,981 from 177,368.

“This was [a] bigger [drop] than we expected. I think it’s an ongoing reflection of just the angst in the industry,” ACT Research Vice President Steve Tam said. “People are concerned, they don’t know what to do, so they’re not doing anything. And of course, in that vein, falls the sales. The other interesting piece, I think, and it’s certainly not coincidence, that has an impact on the mentality ... is that 25% tariff.”

President Donald Trump plans to place a 25% tariff on all imported medium- and heavy-duty trucks starting Nov. 1. The announcement marked an escalation in his ongoing trade war with numerous trading partners from around the globe. Tam noted that there still isn’t a clear picture of what the policy looks like.

🔗 https://www.ttnews.com/articles/class-8-truck-sales-sept-2025

📉 Transportation secretary announces 10% reduction in U.S. air traffic

Federal officials announced that the U.S. will reduce air traffic by 10% across 40 "high-volume" markets starting on Friday, citing staffing shortages related to the ongoing government shutdown.

"We have decided that a 10% reduction in scheduled capacity would be appropriate to continue to take the pressure off of our controllers," Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Bryan Bedford said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Bedford and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the new measures are necessary to keep air travel safe, as pressures on air traffic controllers mount during the longest government shutdown in history.

Bedford said he would specify which 40 markets around the country will be affected on Thursday, adding that the restrictions will affect commercial airspace and other activities, including space launches.

A source late Wednesday night provided CBS News with a proposed list of the 40 markets that included major hubs such as Boston Logan International, New York LaGuardia, Los Angeles International and Dallas/Fort Worth International. The provided list was not final and could change.

More air traffic controllers are exhibiting fatigue as they work without pay during the congressional stalemate, now in its 36th day, Bedford added. Thursday will mark one month since controllers were last paid.

Airlines, aviation unions and the wider travel industry have urged Congress to end the shutdown.

More than 10,000 flights within, into or out of the U.S. experienced delays last weekend, while roughly 11,000 trips have been delayed this week, according to tracking service FlightAware.

The U.S. struggled to recruit sufficient numbers of air traffic controllers even before the shutdown began, with Duffy saying that the country needs an additional 2,000 controllers.

🔗 https://www.aol.com/articles/transportation-secretary-announces-10-reduction-213253816.html?guccounter=1