Mario Nawfal

🚨🇺🇸🇮🇷 With its radars bombed out, Iran is using men in wooden boats to spot targets for the IRGC A US military official told Reuters that American forces confronted a dhow last week, ordered everyone off and destroyed it after determining the crew was calling in ship positions, including US warships, to the Revolutionary Guard. Nobody was hurt. That's the new Iranian playbook: unarmed spotters on small boats doing the job the radars did before US strikes wrecked them. The official says Iran won't risk its last fast boats, which is why exports through the strait keep climbing. But the data shows at least 5 ships hit around Hormuz in 48 hours, the fastest pace of the war, and spotters in dhows are cheap, deniable and everywhere. Sinking one is easy. Telling a spotter from a fisherman before he radios a tanker's position is the war the Navy is now in. Source: Reuters / Writer: Daniel Media: CentCom(2024)

🚨🇺🇸 One construction worker just grounded one of the busiest airports in America A contractor cut a fiber-optic line at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental, and the FAA froze incoming flights for over two hours while international travelers sat stuck at customs. The ground stop has lifted, but the repair is still underway and delays will run late into the night. Bush handles roughly 45 million passengers a year... if you’re flying out of IAH, pack snacks and patience. Source: KHOU / Writer: Daniel

🚨🇾🇪🇨🇳 The Houthis are building Iran’s best missile themselves... with parts shipped from CHINA Conflict Armament Research found motor sections, airframe pieces, fins and heat shielding for a Kheibar Shekan class missile hidden in two shipments Yemeni authorities seized last year, with paperwork pointing to a Chinese precision metal firm that advertises custom aerospace parts. The missile flies about 1,200 miles, covering all of Saudi Arabia and Israel, with a warhead that separates and steers around air defenses at 6,000 mph. This fits a pattern... In August the Journal reported Chinese factories supply the turbojet engines in the Shahed drones that wrecked the US Navy base in Bahrain, Chinese firms are the top source of seized Houthi-bound parts, and US officials have suspected Beijing of feeding Iran targeting data. Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday that he doesn’t believe China or Russia are helping Iran. The receipts say China’s factories are arming both ends of this war, and no sanctions list has slowed them down. Source: Wall Street Journal, Conflict Armament Research / Writer: Daniel

🚨🇷🇺🇺🇦Russian ballistic missiles reportedly hit Kyiv's power plant and nobody warned the city, for the second night in a row Ukraine's Air Force says it got no launch data from its "partners" before Tuesday night's strike on the Darnytsia heat and power plant, so radar only picked up the missiles as they were nearly over the capital. Zelensky posted that the plant was hit and that Ukraine was again left blind. The strike lands days after Trump's Russian diesel deal, his call for Ukraine to replace Zelensky, and a Miami meeting where US officials reminded Kyiv it owes Washington for its intelligence help, which some in the room heard as a threat. Ukraine's own foreign minister says the gap came from the weapon Russia used, not a US cutoff, and that intelligence sharing continues. Source: NYT, DD Geopolitics on TG / Writer: Daniel

🚨🇺🇸 WAIT... no way Trump just handed out presidential pardons LIVE on stage at his rally like it was a game show giveaway “That means you’re as clean as a newborn baby’s ass.” Pass the wipes, Trump’s scrubbing those records clean! The midterms are three weeks away, and this might be the first rally in history where people left with a clean slate instead of a T-shirt😅 Writers: Marie, Daniel t.co/O9ybPQBSYq

🇮🇷🇺🇸 Whatever happened to hitting Iran back harder for every ship it touches?... A US and Israeli strike on Iran could come within weeks Netanyahu reportedly pushed Trump to restart the Iran war on a call last Wednesday, Israeli jets are flying sorties, and three US carriers are converging, while Iran’s six strikes on ships in 24 hours came the same week Washington hit its first ship in over a month. Former Marine and State Department official Matthew Hoh says Washington’s pledge to hit back harder for every ship Iran touched has gone silent, because tit-for-tat is a game Tehran sets the terms of: “There’s going to be no real penetration of Iranian airspace. We haven’t seen that since around April.” He expects a joint strike within two weeks that looks like July and September all over again, fighters lobbing missiles from 100 to 200 miles out, a week of headlines, and a strait left exactly where Iran wants it. @MatthewPHoh @WeTheBrandon

🇺🇸🇸🇴 Ilhan Omar may face more heat from the forms she signs as a member of Congress than from old immigration questions. Lawmakers file disclosures and ethics forms every year. If those contain false information, each filing could raise separate legal issues, even if the original immigration matters are too old to prosecute. The bureaucracy may actually be what keeps this case alive! Writer: Lucas t.co/1DhKNSEf5v

This might be Trump's favorite bit😅 Writer: Daniel t.co/YAtridptus

🇨🇳🇺🇸 A week of driving in China costs $7 while one Florida fill-up just topped $100, and Washington still won't let the Chinese cars in Peter Alexander, who runs Z-Ben Advisors from inside China, charges his EV for the week for about seven bucks, while his sister in Florida just sent him a photo of a fill-up over a hundred dollars. The Iran war has set off a rush for Chinese EVs, solar and batteries across Europe, South America and Southeast Asia, and Beijing doesn't even need the American market yet: "Right now it's essentially the United States that has said, we understand that, but we still don't care." Every month of this war makes the cheap Chinese car harder to keep out, so the question is whether Washington builds something to compete before voters decide the price at the pump matters more than the tariff wall. @WeTheBrandon

🚨🇺🇸 🇮🇷 Trump tells Alaska rally America has “had it” with Iran: “Wait until you see what we do” Hours after Iranian officials told Reuters they are stepping up tanker attacks to keep oil high through the midterms, Trump answered from the stage in Wasilla: “We’re going to do a number. We sort of had it. You know we’ve had it.” He has already promised no strikes before the November 3 midterms, and more carriers and Marines are heading to the region by late November. Put those together and the window is obvious... Tehran has about three weeks to send a real answer, because once the votes are counted, the warnings turn into bombers. Writers: Daniel, Lucas t.co/OeIYTd660C

🇸🇦🇮🇱🇾🇪 Israel wants to be Saudi Arabia's bodyguard against the Houthis and can't even find the Houthi leadership Bernard Haykel, a Princeton professor and Middle East specialist, says the Israeli offer of Iron Dome and air cover is real and the Saudis aren't buying it, partly over Gaza and partly because Israel has bombed the Houthis before without denting them. Israel spent decades penetrating Hezbollah before it could peel the leadership apart, and nothing like that exists for Yemen, where nobody knows where the Houthi leaders are: "The idea that the Israelis can come in and make a radical difference in the outcome of this war is a bunch of baloney." Greece has already sent interceptors and Ukrainian anti-drone kit is guarding Saudi tankers, so Riyadh is building its shield from a dozen suppliers, and an Israeli flag over that effort would hand the Houthis their best recruiting poster yet. @WetheBrandon

🚨🇺🇲 A border patrol agent whose MURDER was linked to a “TRANSTIFA” group has been memorialized. A section of Vermont highway is now known as the David Chris Maland Memorial Highway. Maland was allegedly shot during a traffic stop by Teresa Youngblut, a member of the Zizians. The Zizians are a fringe, cultlike group linked to 6 deaths across 3 states. It’s associated with Jack “Ziz” LaSota, a transgender woman known for supporting radical ideas involving rationalism, veganism, gender identity, and AI. Youngblut faces the death penalty and has pleaded not guilty. Source: AP, PBS, WCAX3 / Writer: Marie

🇺🇸 Trump listed the Alaska energy and infrastructure projects he's LAUNCHING March brought a record oil and gas lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve that drew about $164M in high bids. This month the Energy Department put up to $150M toward a second Railbelt power line. He also approved the Ambler Road for mining access that the prior administration blocked, and the King Cove Road is moving ahead. Writer: Lucas t.co/RNCSaHLh1W

🚨🇮🇷🇺🇸 Iranian officials are ramping up tanker attacks to keep oil high through the midterms: "This is a game of chess" Two senior Iranian officials say the new strategy started about 10 days ago, was approved at the very top, and changes both the kind of attacks and how often they come, with strikes now reaching the Gulf of Oman and the waters off Qatar and the UAE. One of them put the goal plainly: "Just when they think they are getting close to the point where prices will fall, we will push them away from it." The data backs it up, with at least 5 ships hit around Hormuz in the past 48 hours, the highest pace since the war began. A US official says Iran lost its radars and now uses unarmed spotters on dhows, one of which the Navy sank last week, and that it can't stop the export ramp-up without risking its last fast boats. So Iran's weapon is pace and reach, and the Americans' is the blockade and escorts, with both leaders counting to Nov. 3. Trump promised no strike before then, which hands Tehran three weeks to run up the price with no risk, and the officials say "complete closure" is next. Source: Reuters / Writer: Daniel

🇸🇦 Saudi Border Guard stopped a local man carrying 18 kg of banned khat leaves in southern Jazan. Patrols near Yemen caught him in Al-Ardah with the plant chewed for a mild buzz. Authorities completed the initial paperwork and handed him and the seized load over for further action. Saudi bans the substance, and larger seizures continue along the border. At 18 kg, this haul is small compared with others, but it adds to the steady flow officers handle in the area. Writer: Lucas t.co/Sg516T2ZHS

🇺🇸🇹🇼 Trump said Taiwan agreed to buy 30% of the gas from the new Alaska pipeline FOR 20 YEARS "It's one of the biggest commitments in history for anything." Taiwan’s state energy company has signed letters of intent for roughly 6M tons a year, matching about 30% of the planned export volume, as part of broader talks to raise its U.S. gas share. Writer: Lucas t.co/4oORhcEjEv

🇺🇸 I’m not sure if it’s a scam… but Ranked Choice Voting is dumb and confusing as fuck! Why make it so complicated? Writer: Jamie t.co/l3Q8wwLGYx

🚨🔥🇸🇦 BREAKING: Saudi Aramco’s Shedgum Gas Plant struck by rockets. Ansarullah is believed to be responsible for attacking the plant, located in Al-Ahsa, eastern Saudi Arabia. Writer: Jamie t.co/B1TnDZIujr

🇺🇸 If you’re looking for the aliens among us… it’s the ULTRAMARATHONERS! There is no way these people are human! Writer: Jamie t.co/BrncjXlOTZ

🚨🇺🇸 TRUMP gets heckled for the SECOND DAY in a row: “Sounds like we have a spoiled child!” Or some disgruntled constituents? Writer: Jamie t.co/QmlGeuXhRx

🔥🚔🇺🇸 Meet Honorary FBI Special Agent SHAQ! At this point, I think he's is a commissioned law enforcement officer or marshal in at least 5 states! Shaq don’t like criminals! Don't make Shaq put you in shackles! Writer: Jamie t.co/fs7iMk145C

🔥🇺🇸 @SpaceX isn’t making history… that would be an UNDERSTATEMENT! They are rewriting history with all the advances they have made in such a short time. 🚀 Ship 40 is the first Starship to make it back to the launch site… even if it was in the most bizarre way possible. Soon, a fleet of ships will leave and return home every day from across the world. In a way, unlike anything we’ve ever seen, from places we’ve not yet been. What a time to be alive! Writer: Jamie t.co/wywFc2sn66

🇺🇲 The helicopter took off and so did her fake eyelashes 👀 Writer: Marie t.co/4PAM7V78mx

🇺🇸 Treasury hit Bank of America with MORE THAN $1.21B in penalties for failing to stop money laundering FinCEN, the main anti-money-laundering unit, assessed $1.2B, the OCC added a record $750M credited toward the total, and OFAC settled for $11.6M over sanctions violations involving Iran, Russia, and others. The bank admitted it willfully broke anti-money-laundering rules and failed to report more than $5B in suspicious transactions on time, including over $1B linked to Chinese money-laundering networks. The penalty lands 1 day before the bank’s earnings report and follows a 2024 order to fix the same problems. The size of the miss is what stands out. Source: Treasury Dept. / Writer: Lucas

🇺🇲 SIX FLAGS IS TAKING A BEATING ON WALL STREET. Six Flags shares fell as much as 16% today, 1 day after a deadly accident at one of the company’s theme parks in Georgia. The company was already in rough financial shape after losing about HALF its value in the past year. Among its major investors is a group that includes NFL's TRAVIS KELCE, whose investors hold about 9% of the company. Six Flags also tapped Kelce as a BRAND AMBASSADOR earlier this year. But even his star power can’t save the swift decline of Six Flags’s value. Source: Yahoo Finance / Writer: Marie

🇺🇸 TBH, I had no idea Wasilla even had that many people! Those are just the Republicans! Granted, it’s about a 75% GOP voter town. Writer: Jamie t.co/RMDGSs0STS

🇺🇸 Damn, if Diddy hadn’t gone sour on Ciroc… he’d still be making bank behind bars! Who are we kidding… the dude is still getting paid. He’ll never truly pay for what he’s done. Writer: Jamie t.co/C31xVDvjWy

🇵🇰🇹🇷🇸🇦 Pakistan and Turkey activated the Mecca pact to defend Saudi, but both are STAYING OUT of the Yemeni battlefield. Pakistani forces are already in Saudi under the trilateral defense agreement, with officials pledging to defend the kingdom and its holy sites. Yet Islamabad says its troops will NOT enter Yemen to fight the Houthis and denies reports of Pakistani airstrikes. Turkey has offered mainly technical and defensive support, while parliamentary approval for troop deployments remains incomplete. The pact treats an attack on 1 member as an attack on all, following Houthi strikes on Saudi airports and energy sites. Pakistan refused combat deployments in 2015, and both countries are again drawing a line between defending Saudi territory and fighting inside Yemen. Source: Jerusalem Post, Arab News / Writer: Lucas

🇮🇱🇱🇧 The IDF said a BALLOON may have been the MYSTERY OBJECT that floated across the border from southern Lebanon. The sighting put northern Israel on HIGH ALERT. Take a look at surveillance camera footage of the “balloon.” Still, the object’s origin and purpose remain unknown... Source: Jerusalem Post / Writer: Marie t.co/1voWAfJSLH

🇮🇳 Vigilante justice is BRUTAL when you’re a phone thief in India! 😳 Writer: Marie t.co/CXlHnPPSyf