Mario Nawfal

🇬🇧 Russell Brand's trial on rape and sexual assault charges began yesterday in London, with the comedian facing seven charges involving six women. The allegations date from 1999 to 2009 and include three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. Brand has pleaded not guilty to all seven charges, maintaining that he has never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity. The trial is expected to last several weeks, with prosecutors preparing to present allegations dating back more than two decades. With Russell making a living on criticizing the British government and the strong liberal bias of British institutions, I wouldn't hold my breath for a fair trial. Writer: Mhedi t.co/M9CkHZzC1e

This also doubles as an IQ test 😂 Writer: Ian t.co/X4SEl1XRMz

🇾🇪🇸🇦 Houthi missiles are slamming into Saudi airports and the U.S. could get dragged in, but the roots of this fight go back a lot further than most people realize. Yemen was 2 separate countries until 1990, and the cracks from that shotgun marriage never really healed. The Houthis grew out of a northern religious revival movement in the 1990s, took over the capital Sana'a in 2014, and have been at war with a Saudi-led coalition ever since. More than a decade later, they're still in charge in Sana'a, and they're taking the fight straight to Riyadh. Writer: Julie t.co/1oAwizkNGB

🇸🇦🇾🇪 The Houthis fired more ballistic missiles at Saudi Arabia last night, and MBS's big pitch as the Gulf's go-to business hub is starting to feel the heat. The missiles targeted Riyadh and a city near the Yemeni border and were intercepted, with warnings sent out to residents. Recent strikes have already shut down operations at Riyadh's main airport and sent the capital's financial district home to work remotely. Some business execs are giving this week’s World Petroleum Congress in Riyadh a miss, and next month’s Misk Global Forum has been scrapped altogether. Next up is the Future Investment Initiative later this month, which usually pulls in Wall Street heavyweights like BlackRock’s Larry Fink and Citi’s Jane Fraser. Hosting a global investor summit in a city under missile fire is a hard sell, no matter how good the pitch deck looks. Source: Bloomberg / Writer: Julie

If you work hard enough, for long enough, you can achieve your goals Don't believe anyone who says you can't Writer: Ian t.co/uPnhZiNrit

🇫🇷🇷🇺 France is hunting Russia's shadow fleet all the way into the Indian Ocean. French naval forces boarded the sanctioned oil tanker DF Peak more than 450 nautical miles south of Réunion, the French island east of Madagascar, suspecting it of sailing under a false flag and illegally transporting fuel. The ship has a long history in Russia's tanker fleet and has been sanctioned by the U.S., EU, UK and several other countries. It's now under French escort while inspections continue. Macron says France will go after the shadow fleet wherever it operates, and this time he wasn't kidding about the distance. Just days ago, Trump paused sanctions on Russian diesel exports to help bring down fuel prices ahead of the midterms. So while Washington is easing pressure on Russian fuel, Paris is boarding tankers halfway across the world. Sources: Euronews, The Maritime Executive / Writer: Julie t.co/QZRnVAJfjg

This is the person who heckled Trump and was thrown out of his Ohio rally Surely they could have seen that one coming 😂 Writer: Ian t.co/NKklafwpgJ

🇺🇸 He went from running his mouth to being a pussycat as soon as she showed up 😂 Writers: Mhedi, Ian t.co/DUqkYNEgiW

This poor girl was praying inside a temple when a construction worker came in and tried to r*pe her WTF India, is nowhere safe for young girls?!?! Writer: Ian t.co/A8h71nfUcp

🇸🇦🇾🇪 Saudi Arabia went silent on missile warnings right before the Houthis hit Riyadh's airport. The reason, reportedly, is that people were complaining the alerts were waking them up at night. At least 18 people are dead and more than 300 wounded after 4 attacks on the capital in the past week, and not a single public alert went out before any of them. The warning system had gone quiet since late September, even as Houthi attacks kept piling up, and residents have been told to keep images of interceptions and impact sites to themselves. Western embassies were quietly sending their own missile alerts to staff the whole time, but even they were left in the dark before Saturday's strike, the deadliest of the lot. Riyadh finally turned the alerts back on yesterday, after the capital had already been hit around a dozen times this month. Frm U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Ratney: "The lack of alerts of incoming Houthi attacks creates the very nervousness they are trying to avoid." Source: Reuters / Writer: Julie t.co/oO1Yx9dMpN

A Berkeley metallurgist began to develop a series of mysterious illnesses and suspected someone might be tampering with her food She installed a spy camera and was horrified to discover her coworker, David Xu, was poisoning her with cadmium!! Goes to show, just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they aren't out to get you Writer: Ian t.co/p7npubZJr3

🇧🇬🇷🇺 Drones hit two ships in the Black Sea off Bulgaria's coast, sinking one and damaging the other, with at least twelve crew members injured. Calls are now growing for NATO intervention and tougher action against Russia, despite the incident occurring outside Bulgaria's territorial waters. Former European Parliament member Aleksandar Yordanov demanded Russia's complete isolation, calling for reduced diplomatic ties with Moscow. At the same time, Fmr. Deputy Defense Minister Yordan Bozhilov urged Bulgaria and Romania to consult NATO, while other defense experts call for stronger military defenses and greater alliance involvement. Although the drones' origins remain unconfirmed, Bulgarian officials have blamed Russia, raising the prospect of a wider diplomatic confrontation over security in the Black Sea. Source: Bloomberg / Writers: Mhedi, Ian

🚨BREAKING: 🇮🇱🇺🇸 A Delta flight from New York was moved to an isolated area at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport after an anonymous bomb threat prompted a security alert. Passengers were evacuated to the terminal while security teams searched the aircraft for explosives. Initial assessments suggest the threat may have been a false alarm, but its credibility has not yet been established and the investigation is ongoing. Sources: Jerusalem Post, Ynet, Israel Hayom / Writer: Julie t.co/mWcxuHfanP

🇮🇳 Manufacturing in India is a movie you ALWAYS have to watch to the very end. 🤣 Writer: Mhedi t.co/14FwD6UuMs

This guy left his phone charging in a football stadium while he watched the match, not knowing if it would still be there when he came back Writer: Ian t.co/LsYzDOiWVh

🇮🇷🇺🇸 Iran’s convinced Trump is coming back for round 2 after the midterms, so it’s fortifying its nuclear sites and getting the whole country ready to fight. Satellite images show dirt mounds piled up around the Pickaxe Mountain and Natanz nuclear sites to make any ground raid a headache, while airports, seaports and power plants are stocking up on shelters and emergency supplies. Billboards in Tehran are now pitching civilians on training with shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles and sniper rifles, and the Revolutionary Guard just rolled out its first female commando units. Tehran’s also been warning regional officials it could go after the UAE, Saudi oil facilities, data centers and undersea internet cables if the fighting picks back up. It’s even floated sinking U.S. warships and killing their crews. Washington isn’t exactly sitting on its hands either, with a 3rd carrier strike group and another Marine expeditionary unit on the way. Trump’s sworn off attacking Iran before the Nov. 3 midterms, but he’s openly toyed with the idea of hitting Pickaxe Mountain. Meanwhile, Revolutionary Guard troops are visiting kindergartens to read kids war stories and show off a Tomahawk missile they claim to have "neutralized." Goldilocks never stood a chance. Source: WSJ / Writer: Julie

🇬🇧 This 92-year-old man went back to the streets he grew up on in Tottenham, London, for the first time in 56 years, and was HAUNTED by what he saw. When he was a boy, the place was 99% English, and now barely anyone there looks anything like him. One local admitted the sense of community is "completely gone" in what is now an epicenter of crime and drugs. Writer: Mhedi t.co/4gOgrAx4EN

Africa just got its first Starlink airline. Royal Air Maroc is bringing Starlink to 41 aircraft from 2027, with free access planned for Safar Flyer members. That’s fast, low-latency internet on Royal Air Maroc flights across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. A video call over the Sahara suddenly sounds pretty normal. Once passengers get used to proper internet at 35,000 feet, everyone else has to catch up. @Starlink @SpaceX / Writer: Annette, Designer: Janné

🇺🇸 Leonardo DiCaprio just hit the beach shirtless, and the paparazzi made sure the ENTIRE INTERNET got a front-row seat. The Hollywood star was spotted splashing around in the Pacific Ocean with girlfriend Vittoria Ceretti and a celebrity crew including Tobey Maguire, Courteney Cox, and Kate Hudson. And judging by these pictures, Leo has been taking his role in “The Wolf of Wall Street” a little too seriously when it comes to enjoying the good life. Bro survived the TITANIC, won an Oscar, and apparently decided abs were no longer part of the contract 🤣 Source: @DailyMail / Writer: Sol

🇺🇸 Only in America can you go to a college football game and have the U.S. ARMY literally DROP IN FROM THE SKY. Members of the Army Parachute Team parachuted straight into Louisville's football stadium in Kentucky before the Cardinals faced Florida State. The footage shows an absolutely INSANE aerial view as the soldiers descend toward the field, with thousands of fans watching from the stands. Americans really know how to turn a football game into a Hollywood production Source: MediaMagikGroup (YT) / Writer: Sol

With sky-high gas prices, another forever war in the Middle East, and 30-year fixed mortgage rates at 7.4%, people are heading into the midterms with one question: How is this America First? Writer: Ian

OUCH, THAT HAD TO HURT LIKE HELL! WWE star Tiffany Stratton launched herself FORWARD off a ladder, attempting to rotate through the air, but the ladder shifted beneath her as she jumped, throwing off her move. She completely missed the landing and crashed BACK-FIRST onto the floor. That was an absolutely BRUTAL impact. Writer: Sol t.co/iWTXExCCzo

🇮🇹 STRAIGHT OUT OF AN ACTION MOVIE! Italy BLEW UP a massive section of a highway bridge, and the whole thing collapsed in SECONDS. Engineers planted explosives inside the Tevere Viaduct near Viterbo, bringing down 13 of its 33 spans in a spectacular controlled demolition. The bridge stretches nearly 1.4 KILOMETERS, and the explosives were carefully positioned to make the roadway fall STRAIGHT DOWN without destroying the neighboring structures. The operation is part of a €41.5 MILLION project to rebuild and reinforce the viaduct. Writer: Sol t.co/3fG2dk0PZF

🇫🇷 Someone went MISSING in the PARIS CATACOMBS in 1993… Watch as an explorer takes a 3-day trek through the underground system’s UNMAPPED TUNNELS to search for him. Known for holding the bones of over 6 MILLION PEOPLE, the famous passageways under Paris also may conceal underground dwellers and other spooky sh*t. Total nightmare fuel for anyone who doesn't like small spaces and skeletons. Writer: Marie t.co/0E4gsQRKWl

🇸🇦 🇾🇪 Riyadh is running out of armies to borrow: Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan and Syria have reportedly all said no to troops for Yemen Abdullah Alaoudh says MBS went to each of them with cash in hand and still came away empty, putting the odds of foreign ground troops at 5% at best: "Turkey and Pakistan both said there is no way we are sending ground troops to Yemen." A deal with the Houthis is now the only real way out, and the hard part for MBS will be selling it at home as a win. @aalodah

🇰🇷🇺🇸 South Korea's stock market just shed nearly 9% in four trading days as Samsung and SK Hynix led an AI chip selloff Monday's 3.65% drop in Seoul came on the first session back from a three-day holiday, and it capped a four-day slide that took the KOSPI from above 7,000 to 6,384. The damage came straight from the AI trade, with Samsung down 4.4%, SK Hynix down 4.5%, and foreign investors dumping nearly 2 trillion won in Korean stocks, mostly chips. Korea builds the memory chips that go inside AI servers, so when Seoul starts doubting whether AI will actually pay off, that worry rarely stays in Seoul. Ten AI giants already make up 42% of the US stock market, and with oil above $105 stoking inflation fears, a Korean chip slide like this is the kind of tremor that tends to reach American portfolios next. Source: CNBC, Digital Today, @WatcherGuru / Writer: Daniel

🇸🇦 MBS stripped away every other center of power in Saudi Arabia, and now the whole system hangs on one man Abdullah Alaoudh says the royal family despises MBS as much as any dissident does, and the army was hollowed out years ago to stop a coup, leaving it barely able to defend the country: "It's an absolutely actual threat." Gut your own army to stay safe from a coup, and you end up with nobody to fight your wars... which is why Riyadh keeps asking other countries for troops. @aalodah

🇪🇺🇺🇸 Europe is getting nervous about how much control AMERICAN companies have over its money. Nearly two-thirds of EU card payments are processed by foreign firms, mainly Visa and Mastercard. Now European officials are worried that a serious fight with Washington could leave them vulnerable to U.S. sanctions and payment restrictions. The fear isn't entirely hypothetical. Some individuals targeted by U.S. sanctions, including people connected to the International Criminal Court, have already faced disruptions to American financial services. Now Europe is building its own payment networks to reduce that dependence. A new alliance of European services already reaches more than 130 MILLION users, with plans to expand cross-border payments. Washington just imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court itself, further demonstrating how powerful access to the U.S. financial system can be. Europe has spent decades relying on American payment infrastructure. Now it's scrambling to make sure a political dispute can't leave Europeans unable to pay. Writer: Sol t.co/01CJPisXb2

🇸🇦 Fake travel routes, food tasters and secret bunkers: MBS is reportedly hiding underground more than ever Abdullah Alaoudh, the Saudi dissident whose father has been in a Saudi prison since 2017, says the bunkers were built long ago, which shows how MBS saw his own future from the start: "He anticipated his own catastrophes. Like he knew that he's that incompetent to attract these kind of problems." If the crown prince is this worried about who's around him, how stable is the kingdom he runs? @aalodah

🇮🇷 🇺🇸 Iran can trade a $100,000 missile for a $150 million tanker that takes three years to replace. Philip Pilkington says that kind of trade is impossible to spin, because in a war of attrition the side with cheaper ammunition holds out longest: "In a war of attrition of magazines, of Iranian missile and drone magazines versus tanker magazines, I think we pretty much know who will win and pretty much know who will win pretty quick." Shipyards can't build tankers anywhere near as fast as Iran can build missiles, and no press release changes that. @mercoglianos @philippilk