Russia: Plague?
October 5th, 2026Via: CNBC:
Nearly 200 people have been placed under medical observation in Russia’s Irkutsk region in eastern Siberia over suspected exposure to plague, according to local media reports.
The report said 189 people were being monitored following the illness of an employee at an anti-plague research institute in Irkutsk. Alexei Tsydenov, head of the nearby Republic of Buryatia, said the woman had died from an unspecified form of plague.
Russia’s public health watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said Sunday that the employee had been diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology” and that the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk region and the cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov remained stable.
The agency said expanded testing had not detected microorganisms linked to the employee’s work.
Pentagon Wants On Demand Solar Power from Orbit
October 5th, 2026Via: Interesting Engineering:
A solar power startup has received backing from US authorities to design, build, and test a homing beacon that will enable its space-based solar energy system accurately beam power from orbit to receiving solar arrays on Earth.
Overview Energy secured the contract through the Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund (OECIF). The company announced the project on Wednesday, September 30.
The technology will allow the firm’s satellites to identify and authenticate receiver sites on the ground. Once a site is confirmed, the satellites could lock onto it and precisely beam energy from orbit to Earth. That said, satellites in geosynchronous orbit could receive sunlight around the clock.
The proposed satellites would collect sunlight in space and convert the captured energy into near-infrared light. The safe, invisible beam would then be directed toward existing and future utility-scale solar facilities on Earth.
U.S. Moves B-1B Bombers Our of Britain
October 5th, 2026Via: The War Zone:
U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers that had been deployed to RAF Fairford in the U.K. since operation Epic Fury have returned to their home stations, a U.S. defense official confirmed to TWZ. The hasty movement was reportedly sparked by new Iranian threats against the base, although the Pentagon doesn’t confirm that assertion.
The sudden withdrawal came a week after a major incident was declared near Fairford following the arrest of five men on suspicion of driving bomb-laden vans toward it. They were later released on bail after no explosives were found. However, Counter-Terrorism police are continuing the investigation and said they were considering ?whether a foreign ?state had ?been involved. On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the incident might have had an Iranian ?link.
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The U.S. withdrew all 12 B-1s “after commanders received new threats about an Iran-backed plot against the installation,” The New York Times reported, citing two U.S. officials.
“The withdrawal was highly unusual: Such moves are rarely made so quickly from an allied air base in a peacetime country thousands of miles from a combat zone,” the publication added. “The need to move the bombers out of the base, R.A.F. Fairford, was deemed so urgent that some of the planes and their flight crews left while aerial refueling aircraft were still being scrambled to support their flights to the United States. At least three of the planes had landed at their home base in South Dakota by Sunday.”
U.S. officials declined to tell the Times the specific nature of the new information that prompted the Lancer withdrawal, some of which had just arrived in the past week as part of a normal rotation of forces to maintain the B-1 forward presence in Europe.
“One U.S. official said the new information was part of the same threat warnings that surfaced three weeks ago, but specific details and a sense of urgency spiked in the past 24 hours, alarming commanders,” the publication noted.
U.S. Sending Third Aircraft Carrier Towards Iran
October 2nd, 2026Via: Al Jazeera:
The United States is deploying a third US aircraft carrier to the waters around Iran, a US official told Al Jazeera, as the war enters its eighth month and both sides weigh escalation and diplomatic engagement.
The official told Al Jazeera that the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group left its San Diego base on Sunday, bound for the region, followed a day later by the Makin Island Marine Expeditionary Force, carrying more than 2,000 Marines.
By the end of November, the official said, three aircraft carriers and two amphibious landing groups will be positioned around Iran.
Riots in France
October 1st, 2026Via: Daily Mail:
Student protests have escalated into widespread riots in France with schools set on fire and teachers beaten and doused in petrol.
Rioters have unleashed chaos in major cities across the country after what started as largely peaceful demonstrations against the state of education descended into violent chaos.
Protests began last Monday, when students and teaching staff took to French towns and cities to demand the replacement of absent teachers, an increase of educational resources, school renovations and ‘decent’ learning conditions.
But disorder has spread since Tuesday with some 600 arrests and 85 police officers wounded.
The unrest gathered pace this week after the Left-wing mayor of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko, told protesters on Tuesday ‘violence can be legitimate’ in remarks that sparked fury across the country.
Amazon Prime
October 1st, 2026If you have been thinking about signing up for Amazon Prime, Amazon will pay me $40 if you do that between now and October 7th. Thank you!
The Coming GOP Bloodbath?
October 1st, 2026— cryptogon (@cryptogon) September 27, 2026
Via: Ron Paul:
Most indicators suggest that the Republicans in the House and Senate are going to face a brutal backlash from the American people in November. Polling with generic ballots suggest a big win for the Democrats and likely the loss of Republican control of both houses of Congress.
There is little reason to cheer a Democratic party victory, however Republicans in charge have for the most part earned what is coming to them. They have refused to uphold their Constitutional obligation to take leading responsibility for war powers.
Russia Extends Diesel Export Ban Through Oct. 31
October 1st, 2026Via: OilPrice:
Russia’s government on Wednesday extended the ban on exports of diesel, marine fuel, and gasoil for all fuel producers by October 31, which effectively extends the period in which the tightening global market will have to cope without Russian diesel shipments for another month.
The government took the decision to extend the ban, which has been in place since the summer, “to maintain a stable situation on the domestic fuel market, including to meet higher demand for fuel during the harvest season.”
Russia has been extending the ban on diesel and other fuel exports by one month for months as Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries are crippling domestic fuel production.
Ukraine continues its campaign to cripple Russian refining capacity, fuel supply, and export revenues.
Russia has been suffering from a gasoline and diesel crunch since the spring, when Ukraine intensified its drone attacks at Russian refineries, aiming to cripple fuel supply to the front lines and to the domestic Russian market.
Autonomous Warfare Command (AUTOWARCOM): Pentagon Setting Up New Combat Command for Autonomous and Robotic Capabilities
October 1st, 2026Also, Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey and Newt Gingrich (not a typo) will, “Map the trajectory of future warfare, identify critical capability gaps, and propose actionable solutions.”
Via: The War Zone:
The Pentagon has announced plans for a new functional combatant command, very broadly akin to U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) or U.S. Space Command (SPACECOM), but for operational activities involving autonomous and robotic capabilities. Secretary Pete Hegseth has also announced new initiatives to help further accelerate the fielding of uncrewed systems in the air, at sea, and on land, as well as explore future warfighting challenges. All of this builds on previous and long-overdue efforts to prioritize the fielding of various tiers of drones, as well as artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies, across domains, but there are questions about how these new efforts will translate into tangible developments.
Secretary Hegseth unveiled plans for what is tentatively dubbed Autonomous Warfare Command (AUTOWARCOM), as well as the aforementioned initiatives, called Project Agincourt and Project Meridian, during a speech to service members today at the U.S. Marine Corps’ base in Quantico, Virginia. Hegseth called this a State of the Force address, and said he planned to make it an annual event.
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Furthermore, “Project Meridian will leverage critical perspectives from outside the Pentagon, drawing upon a group of top technologists, innovators, business leaders, policy makers, and national security experts,” according to the memo. “Project Meridian’s primary function will be to map the trajectory of future warfare, identify critical capability gaps, and propose actionable solutions in furtherance of the identified goals in the 2026 National Security Science and Technology Strategy.”
This is also very much a near-term initiative, with Hegseth demanding a final report no later 120 days from now, or January 28, 2027. The Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer, Emil Michael, has been directed to set up this project. Today, Hegseth also named Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey, and Newt Gingrich as key members.
Leaked Anthropic IPO Prospectus Shows $42BN Net Loss, $518BN In Unfunded Spending Commitments, And $20BN In Cash
September 30th, 2026Via: Reuters:
When Anthropic confidentially submitted its draft S-1 to the SEC back in June, it was clear there were many shocking numbers in the IPO prospectus which the company did not want made public amid speculation of massive ongoing losses, but few were prepared for what was leaked today to Reuters.
According to a copy of the IPO prospectus leaked by Reuters, Anthropic is making a massive bet that AI will transform the global economy more profoundly than industrialization, electricity and ?the internet. But, as Reuters correctly puts it, “the cost to get there will be staggering” – the company reported a net loss of $42 billion in 2025. And while revenue grew 12-fold in 2025 to nearly $4.6 billion, the company lost more than $8 billion on an operating basis, with compute spend soaring to $7.33 billion, accounting for 58% of its $12.65 billion in total operating expenses.
In other words, Anthropic lost almost $2 for every dollar it made in sales, and that trend is accelerating.
