Mario Nawfal

🇸🇦🇾🇪 With Houthi missiles hitting Saudi airports and oil facilities, I've been hearing increasingly dramatic predictions about the future of the kingdom. So I wanted to hear from Ali Shihabi, who knows the Saudi leadership and advises on the NEOM project. He pushed back hard. Shihabi acknowledges that Saudi Arabia is vulnerable. It's a huge country with oil installations, pipelines and airports that are difficult to defend simultaneously. But he argues the kingdom has something the Houthis and Iran don't: the money, engineering expertise and international supply chains to repair damage and sustain a prolonged confrontation. We also disagreed about how this war began. I questioned whether Saudi Arabia's decision to bomb the runway at Sana'a airport had triggered a disastrous escalation. Shihabi insists the strike was intended to prevent Iranian military supplies from reaching the Houthis, and believes the confrontation was coming regardless. What interested me most was his position on the wider war. Despite defending Saudi Arabia's military response in Yemen, he says Riyadh opposed America's war against Iran from the beginning. “It was not a smart decision.” And while he expects a negotiated settlement with Iran, he believes MBS is determined to keep fighting the Houthis rather than accept their ability to threaten the Red Sea. It's a revealing perspective from someone close to the Saudi establishment, particularly when so many others are predicting the kingdom's defeat. @aliShihabi

🇬🇧🇮🇷 Iran may have just brought its war with America onto BRITISH SOIL Think about the magnitude of this. Britain's Prime Minister says the Revolutionary Guards were almost certainly behind a suspected attack plot at RAF Fairford, the very base American bombers have used to strike Iran. The threat was serious enough that the U.S. pulled its B-1 bombers out of Britain. 7 men were arrested. London has now summoned Iran's ambassador and sanctioned two more Iranians, including a senior IRGC intelligence official. We're talking about a suspected Iranian-directed operation against American military assets inside a NATO country. And that changes the conversation entirely. If Tehran is willing to take the fight to American forces stationed in Britain, how far beyond the Middle East does this war actually extend? Source: UK Foreign Office , Iran international ( Anti- IRGC outlet) / Writer: Oliver

🇺🇸 The Pentagon has disclosed a SECURITY BREACH affecting more than 3 MILLION PEOPLE, including military personnel, veterans and others connected to the Defense Department. ABSOLUTELY WILD that an institution responsible for some of America's MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION could leave millions of people's personal records EXPOSED for months! The exposed information includes Social Security numbers, dates of birth and, in some cases, military occupational details. According to officials, unauthorized users accessed the system between October 2025 and July 2026. And here's what really bothers me. The Pentagon says it has no indication the information has been misused. But once someone's Social Security number and military details have been exposed, there's no simple way to take that information back. Affected individuals are being offered identity protection services, including up to 12 months of credit monitoring. For personal information that could remain sensitive for the rest of their lives. Source: Fox News / Writer: Oliver

“No signal” might become one of those things we eventually forget used to happen. SpaceX is moving to acquire nationwide low-band spectrum licenses in the U.S. Low-band is the useful stuff for phones: it travels farther and gets through walls, trees and difficult terrain much better. Cities. Highways. Farms. Mountains. Remote areas. Pair that with Starlink Gen 2 satellites and ordinary phones can stay connected across far more of the map. Do that globally and Starlink becomes a communications layer reaching people almost wherever they go. @Starlink @SpaceX / Writer: Annette, Designer: Janné

🇺🇸 Americans can bet on elections, but most want nothing to do with it. A new poll found 69% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans oppose betting on election results. And there's a reason for the concern. The big fear is insiders cashing in early, and researchers flagged more than 150 Polymarket accounts that may have traded on military secrets. The companies insist they have strong controls to stop that kind of thing. Still, it’s one of the rare things both parties agree on. Source: Reuters / Writer: Daniyal

🇹🇷🇸🇦🇵🇰 Turkey is sending its defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to parliament FOR APPROVAL The deal works like NATO’s Article 5, meaning an attack on one counts as an attack on all. And the timing says a lot. Houthis just attacked Riyadh’s airport, and Erdogan made a point of condemning it too. It’s quite the team on paper, with Saudi money, Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, and Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army. Nobody knows yet if Turkey and Pakistan would actually send jets or troops to help, but for now, they’re lining up behind Saudi Arabia, at least on paper. Source: Reuters / Writer: Daniyal

🇸🇦🇾🇪 Apparently it stayed at 3 explosions in RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, for now. Reports say the SKIES ARE CLEAR. Source: Reuters, GeoPolitics Watch on TG / Writer: Oliver

🇸🇦🇾🇪 3 explosions have reportedly been heard in Riyadh, according to eyewitnesses on the ground. The reports follow missile alerts across the capital, with residents claiming to have seen missiles overhead. It's not yet clear whether the explosions were caused by interceptions or direct impacts. Source: GeoPolitics Watch, MES on TG / Writer: Oliver

🚨🇫🇷 France's Marine Le Pen is polling at a commanding 36% ahead of the 2027 presidential election! A new poll puts left-wing Jean-Luc Mélenchon at 18%, while former PM Philippe trails at 13%. But if former PM Gabriel Attal also runs, the center-right vote splits further, with Attal polling at just 5%. Le Pen's 36% is the highest figure in this first-round scenario, but a presidential victory would still require winning a runoff. Source: @europeelects / Writer: Samuel

🇸🇦🇾🇪 BREAKING: Missile alerts are reportedly sounding across Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Residents say they can see missiles in the skies above the capital. It remains unclear what has been launched, where the missiles are heading. Active air defenses reported. Apparently explosions have been heard! Source: GeoPolitics Watch on TG, @officialrnintel / Writer: Oliver

🇺🇦🇷🇺 Zelensky: "Although the Russians outnumber us by 6 to 8 times in some areas of the front, we are still achieving the results Ukraine needs." At some point, we need to stop asking whether Ukraine can hold another village and start asking what the actual plan is. Because telling soldiers to keep performing miracles is not an answer to being outnumbered 8 to 1. Writer: Oliver t.co/0CrHAWYPnQ

🇺🇸 Federal agents just wrapped up a 5-hour search of Ilhan Omar’s home near Washington, DC. The search is part of a federal criminal investigation, with sources saying investigators are looking into immigration paperwork her late father filled out when she arrived in the U.S. as a child refugee from Somalia. So far, no charges have been announced, and there's still no word on where Omar is. Writer: Daniyal t.co/bkKfeG5ac5

🇺🇸 A judge has ordered Trump’s administration to pull TV ads paid for by taxpayers. The ads praise Trump ahead of next month’s midterms, and critics from both parties call them political propaganda. They’ve already cost around $19 million in public money, some of it taken from funds meant for border security. So a watchdog group sued, and a federal judge has now frozen the ads for 2 weeks and ordered the rest canceled. Trump calls them “rather standard” and says he’ll pay for future ads himself, but the White House has no plans to pay back what’s already spent. That $19 million is gone, and taxpayers aren’t getting it back. Source: Sky News / Writer: Daniyal

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🇺🇸🇵🇸🇮🇱 Jerry Seinfeld got called out mid-show in Chicago by hecklers pointing out the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed, including thousands of kids, and he just laughed it off. “I’m racist, it’s a genocide, I’m into it.” Then he started dancing on stage. And as if that wasn’t enough, he said: “I’m going to find out how much your ticket was & I’m sending it to Israel.” Guy’s been recycling the same observational comedy for 30 years, and now he’s recycling the same “I don’t care” energy about kids getting blown up. Absolute legend in his own mind. Writer: Daniyal t.co/FMZlnwFvFM

🇦🇿 In Azerbaijan, girls are being turned away from school for wearing a hijab. Schools should be places of education, not religious institutions. A secular state has every right to keep religious dress out of public schools and apply the same rules to everyone. Writer: Samuel t.co/m44VTA2UHP

🇮🇱🇵🇸 An Israeli reservist has given German news magazine Der Spiegel a DEEPLY DISTURBING account of what his unit allegedly did in GAZA Soldiers would hide in areas where civilians hadn't been evacuated, then shoot Palestinians who unknowingly approached. When others came to help the wounded, they were shot too. Five, six, seven people dead. The military report? "Seven terrorists eliminated." He says his brigade killed around 160 to 170 people in the Netzarim corridor, despite encountering no Hamas attacks during that period. And according to him, virtually all were recorded as terrorists without evidence that they were armed. He's one of ten soldiers who spoke to Der Spiegel. These allegations demand a serious, independent investigation! Writer: Oliver

🇺🇸🇪🇸 Today is COLUMBUS DAY, and the War Dept. made a post about it; without a doubt, a huge mark in our history. That crossing was the moment the Old World and the New World actually started talking to each other, and a lot of what we still call Western civilization grew out of that exchange. Big human events never stay fully clean. Violence and hard chapters show up when the scale is this large; they almost always have. But we're talking about the first real attempt to know the planet as one connected place, and the long inheritance of knowledge and culture we’re still living inside. Source: Department of War / Writer: Lucas

🇪🇺🇷🇺 While Europe adds 1,600 more names to its sanctions list against Russia, Trump cut a deal with Putin to flood the market with Russian diesel and temporarily lift the sanctions meant to starve Moscow of cash. Kaja Kallas says it’ll make weapons “harder, slower, and more expensive.” The actual money funding those factories just got a green light from Washington, so American truckers and farmers get cheaper fuel before the midterms. Diesel sales put hard currency straight into the Russian treasury that keeps the factories running, which actually changes the equation. Putin walks away with export relief he can bank, while Brussels walks away with another press release. Writer: Lucas t.co/2HEpuEc3Lm

Britain says IRAN was "almost certainly" behind the plot targeting a UK base used by U.S. bombers. Iran's ambassador now DENIES EVERYTHING... Think about where this is heading. If Britain CONCLUDES that Tehran is directing attacks on British soil, the confrontation with Iran is no longer confined to the Middle East. The question is do they still have a choice?! Writer: Oliver

🇵🇰 I've been following the pressure on PTI supporters in Pakistan from the very start, and this statement from Shafi Jan really stayed with me. He says his family home is BEING RAIDED REPEATEDLY because he continues to stand with Imran Khan. What struck me though was how he responded. Rather than calling for retaliation, he appealed to the authorities to respect the privacy and dignity of people's homes, reminding them that Pashtuns value peace, family honor and the protection of others. “Think of Pakistan; it belongs to all of us.” There's something deeply troubling about a political dispute reaching the point where someone feels compelled to remind the authorities that his family home should be OFF LIMITS. Writer: Oliver t.co/LnljAz7z9z

🇬🇧🇷🇺 It's Russia. AGAIN. 😂 Immigration? Russia. Trump? Russia. AfD gaining popularity in Germany? Russia. And now Britain's PM Andy Burnham says he's been told Russia interfered in the Brexit referendum TEN YEARS AGO. Who told him? We don't know. What did they find? He hasn't said. Did it actually change the result? No evidence of that. At this point, Russia has apparently become the universal explanation for EVERY POLITICAL OUTCOME Western establishments struggle to explain. The allegations may deserve investigation. But after a decade, surely we're entitled to something more substantial than another politician telling us someone told him it was Russia. Source: The Guardian / Writer: Oliver

🇺🇸 Federal agents just wrapped up a 5-hour search of Ilhan Omar's home, and she's now popped up on X to let everyone know she's okay. “Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.” She says Trump has spent 10 years targeting her with lies and smear campaigns, and she's not backing down. “I will not be silenced.” Still no word on where she is, but wherever she's tweeting from, the Wi-Fi seems to be working just fine. Writer: Daniyal

🇪🇸🇲🇦 Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez ADMITS Moroccan warships entered Spanish waters off Ceuta WITHOUT PERMISSION after a migrant surge saw over 72,000 people cross into the enclave. A Spanish frigate had to turn them back. Sánchez calls it an “isolated incident,” while Morocco claims Ceuta and Melilla and warns migration cooperation has reached its limits. Moroccan warships probe Spanish waters, thousands cross the border, and Madrid plays it down to protect relations. Neighbours don’t enter sovereign waters without permission. Ceuta is Spanish territory. The question is how long Madrid will defend that reality in this "good neighbor" policy. Source: Reuters / Writer: Lucas

🇴🇲🇮🇷🇳🇮 Omani fisherman rescued the crew of an oil tanker that was attacked at sea... The ship appears to be Nicaragua-flagged tanker MT Petro Dolphin, and the crew appear to be Indian. The ship was reportedly struck by a drone yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz. Writer: Michael t.co/xKyr7ToZKG

One miscalculation after another… - Israel should have never oppressed Palestinians for decades - Hamas should have never committed the Oct-7 massacre - Israel should have never committed the Gaza genocide - Hezbollah should have never attacked Israel - Trump should have never attacked Iran - Saudi should have never attacked the Houthis - The TDF should have never attacked Ethiopia Yet all the above happened, and it's about to get a lot worse

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🇺🇸🇬🇱 Trump's GREENLAND DEAL is looking increasingly likely to pass A majority of Greenland's lawmakers have now signaled SUPPORT for an agreement that could give the U.S. two new military bases and a foothold for its GOLDEN DOME missile defense system. And Greenland gets something important in return: recognition of its right to self-determination, alongside continued Danish sovereignty. Not everyone is happy, though. Opposition lawmakers are asking why Washington gets extensive military rights without guaranteeing Greenland a single dollar in compensation. The government argues that American protection is worth far more than any payment. Quite a turnaround from Trump's earlier threats to take the island. A classic Win-Win or the Art of the Deal? Source: Reuters / Writer: Oliver

🚨 Diddy was reportedly rushed from federal prison in New Jersey to a hospital after suffering a head injury. An ambulance left Fort Dix around noon on Saturday. He was reportedly conscious, speaking, and returned to prison before sunrise. The injury is not believed to be life-threatening. What's still unclear is how he got hurt. His representatives say they're working to establish what happened. Source: TMZ / Writer: Oliver

🇪🇺 Ursula von der Leyen is MOVING FAST on EU enlargement! And I don't think nearly enough people are paying attention. Montenegro. Albania. Ukraine. Moldova. Brussels is preparing to bring more countries into the Union while simultaneously proposing new powers to suspend their voting rights for up to 15 years if they violate EU rules. And von der Leyen openly calls enlargement a “geopolitical imperative.” THAT'S the real story here. The EU is doing more than expanding its membership. It's trying to expand its STRATEGIC REACH while making sure the next generation of members stays ALIGNED with Brussels... The real question is what kind of European Union is being built in the process. Writer: Oliver