Mario Nawfal

🇩🇪🇮🇷 Germany just shut down ANOTHER Iranian bank. Financial regulator BaFin says the Hamburg branch of Bank Saderat Iran is being liquidated in the wake of sanctions and is no longer allowed to do any banking business. The branch actually lost its license last year for breaking the rules and never fixing the problems the regulator flagged. Last month, a Hamburg court appointed a liquidator. It had just 13 employees and €62.4 million in assets. In September, BaFin also declared the German branch of Bank Sepah, another Iranian state-owned lender, insolvent. Not a great time to be an Iranian bank with a German address. Source: Reuters / Writer: Julie

🇮🇷🇺🇸 Iran is warning that America's data centers and AI facilities in the Gulf could be NEXT on its target list. Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, says that if the U.S. and Israel attack again, "cables, data centers and artificial intelligence facilities" could be targeted. He says Iran held back some of its capabilities in the last round of fighting and is "prepared for the next stage." The IRGC has also threatened the undersea internet cables running through the Strait of Hormuz. Gulf neighbors aren't off the hook either. Rezaei warned that countries helping squeeze Iran's economy shouldn't expect their energy infrastructure to remain untouched. First it was oil fields. Next time it could be the cloud. Source: Drop Site / Writer: Julie

🇺🇸 Elon on what stops Trump from cutting government waste: "I came to the conclusion that there was no way we were going to solve the deficit from within the government. Maybe if the president made that his primary goal, we could do that. But the problem is, if you try to solve the deficit and stop wasteful spending, you make a lot of enemies. And President Trump likes to be liked. He doesn't like people being upset about some funding being stopped." Writer: Mhedi t.co/y4RG2NL37R

🇰🇵🇰🇷 North Korea has threatened to deploy new military countermeasures along its border with South Korea, raising tensions after a landmine explosion injured three South Korean soldiers. Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong Un, announced that new military units had moved into firing positions and that additional countermeasures were being placed on alert. Pyongyang also plans to reactivate border loudspeakers within days, potentially escalating the propaganda exchanges between the two countries. However, South Korea's military says it has detected no evidence of new weapons being deployed, despite closely monitoring the border. The confrontation follows a September landmine explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone, which Seoul blames on North Korean forces. South Korea is now preparing to raise the incident with the UN Security Council, accusing the North of violating the 1953 armistice agreement. Source: France 24 / Writer: Mhedi

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇵🇰 Mediators are scrambling to stop round 2 of the Iran war before it starts, and Tehran isn’t making it easy. Pakistan’s army chief flew to Tehran earlier this week, followed by a team of Qatari diplomats, trying to break a deadlock that’s dragged on for months. The offers on the table include unfreezing some Iranian money held overseas, WITH interest, if Iran lets nuclear inspectors back in. Another idea is shipping Iran’s enriched uranium to Russia. Iranian diplomats reportedly showed some interest in the inspectors, until the hardliners shut it down. FM Araghchi says Iran will only talk if the U.S. takes its military options off the table, and he warns any escalation will put the whole region and the global economy at risk. Meanwhile, the U.S. has about 20 warships in the region, with a 3rd carrier group on the way. The diplomats are racing the calendar, and November 3 is coming fast. Source: WSJ / Writer: Julie

🇺🇸 Elon just made a prediction that should make every billionaire a little nervous. “I don't think money is going to matter in the future.” For all the talk about billionaires owning the future, Elon thinks the technology could eventually outgrow its owners. He thinks the AIs will control THEMSELVES. Most billionaires spend their lives protecting their fortunes. Elon is building a future where fortunes don't count. Writer: Julie t.co/gH17NsA3Qj

🇺🇸 Wall Street goes to bed at 4 p.m. The rest of the world keeps trading its stocks ALL NIGHT. More than half of all trading in tokenized U.S. stocks now happens while the market is closed, the IMF found. On Robinhood Chain, it's two-thirds. These are crypto tokens that track shares like Tesla, Nvidia and the S&P 500, sold mostly to investors outside the U.S. who don't feel like waiting for New York to wake up. And it's mostly the little guys. About 80% of trades are for less than a single share. The interesting part? Those overnight moves actually call the open. Within 5 minutes of the bell, the real stocks absorb more than 87% of the move their tokens made overnight. It's still a small, jumpy market, worth about $3.3 billion, with tokens swinging roughly 1.5x as hard as the real shares. Wall Street still rings the bell. It just isn't the first to hear the news anymore. Sources: IMF, Cointelegraph, Blockworks Data / Writer: Julie

🇺🇸 Elon thinks AI could be an existential threat, and he’s not about to watch it happen from the sidelines. He says there’s “at least some percentage chance” AI ends up being an existential threat, and nothing he can do to stop it from coming. So he boiled it down to 2 choices: participant or spectator. He picked participant, hoping he can steer it “in a good direction.” If AI is coming either way, better to have a hand on the wheel. Writer: Julie t.co/Fj4J0jPoca

🇬🇧 Boundless mass migration will enrich the nation, they said. 🤣 Writer: Mhedi t.co/EhOcN93YLL

With those gun skills, no one needs to mess with him He's enough of a danger to himself 😂 Writer: Ian t.co/WEbqJ51LHw

Scientists went house-hunting across the universe, and it turns out we hit the cosmic REAL ESTATE JACKPOT. They simulated galaxies to find the best places for life, and the Milky Way's quieter suburbs scored extremely well. Fewer exploding stars, deadly radiation bursts, black hole tantrums and rogue stars messing with planetary orbits. Smaller galaxies, on the other hand, are too crowded, too chaotic. So Earth might be a bit of a disaster right now, but at least we've got a FANTASTIC address. Source: SciTechDaily / Writer: Julie

They said DEI will help with diversity in the British Army This is what they got Writer: Ian t.co/BPvObGM0AB

🇺🇸 The horrific details of this LA pickax murder case are absolutely sickening! Andrew Jimenez, a California firefighter allegedly struck his wife 32 times. The attack was so savage that detectives testified her face was completely gone when she was found decapitated in their own bedroom. Investigators believe a dispute over cheating could've sparked the alleged bloodbath. He faces 26 years to life in prison if convicted. Source: NY Post / Writer: Bri

Construction in India seems to follow its own rules 😂 Writer: Ian t.co/5HGX3fr4ks

🇺🇸 Foreign investors are buying more American government debt, even as China and Japan continue selling. Foreign holdings of U.S. Treasuries jumped $83 billion in August to $9.33 trillion, their sixth-highest level on record. Canada led the surge, adding $38 billion, while Belgium bought another $20 billion and the UK increased its holdings by $11 billion. But Japan and China, historically two of America's biggest lenders, are moving in the opposite direction. Japan reduced its holdings by $36 billion to $1.07 trillion, while China cut another $27 billion to $591 billion, its lowest level since 2008. The shift is particularly significant as Washington continues running enormous budget deficits, requiring a steady stream of investors willing to finance its borrowing. With China and Japan reducing their exposure, Canada and European financial centers are playing a growing role in financing America's debt. Source: t.co/PUCGxCAcSz / Writer: Mhedi

🇵🇭 Two Filipino farmers tried to settle a land dispute through a breath-holding contest in a local river. And, yes, it went exactly as you would expect. Writer: Mhedi t.co/oO4LIAuLVo

Some of these are wild... And some are just plain wrong Writer: Ian t.co/C1dAAXE3aZ

🇴🇲🇮🇷 Another tanker fire near Oman, and Iran's IRGC Navy couldn't be prouder. It claims it set 7 tankers on fire in just 24 hours, 4 during a ship-to-ship transfer and 3 on mines. They're announcing burning tankers like they just beat their HIGH SCORE. Writer: Julie t.co/niR64ajkht

🇺🇸 NASA is going CAVE HUNTING on the Moon, and it's got its eye on one very suspicious hole. The giant Marius Hills Pit might be the entrance to a massive underground lava tube, formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. NASA has approved a mission to investigate, using a lander, rover, radar and seismic sensors to figure out what's hiding beneath the surface. IF there's a big cave down there, it could one day shelter astronauts from deadly radiation and the Moon's extreme temperatures. A cozy little cave on the Moon, away from all the chaos on Earth? SIGN ME UP. (Commute might be a bitch though 😂) Source: SciTechDaily / Writer: Julie

This motorhome is bigger than most people's apartments Writer: Ian t.co/Mb4QV75xqi

🇺🇸 American homebuilders haven't been THIS MISERABLE since 2012, and buyers have basically STOPPED showing up. Builder confidence fell to just 29 (out of 100) in October. Back in November 2020, it hit an all-time high of 90. Buyer traffic is even worse, crashing to 18, its lowest level since 2012, excluding the pandemic. The war sent oil prices and inflation fears soaring, Treasury yields followed, and the 30-year mortgage rate hit 7.40% last week, the HIGHEST in nearly 3 years. Builders are also PAYING MORE for diesel, materials and construction loans, while immigration enforcement is keeping even legal workers off job sites. So they're doing what every desperate seller does. 43% of builders CUT PRICES this month, the highest share since at least 2020, and 65% are throwing in sales incentives. All this just 12 days before the midterms, with affordability already a top issue. Earlier this year, Trump refused to sign a bipartisan housing affordability bill, dismissing it as "a big yawn." The bill became law anyway. You think anybody's yawning at a 14-year low? Sources: NAHB, Reuters, NPR / Writer: Julie

This firefighter was trying to stop a man from jumping off a building Unfortunately, he ended up being the one plummeting to the ground Writer: Ian t.co/jyK2eoaonu

🇬🇧 Woke former British teacher and what looks like her daughter discussing their desire for a "violent revolution" after what happened in France. Why aren't the British police arresting these people for "incitement" too? Writer: Mhedi t.co/Pd07gSsK5a

Despite all that firepower, the most dangerous weapon is the dog Writer: Ian t.co/X1RaBVwYvG

11 MILLION people connected to satellites using the phones already in their pockets. No special equipment needed. Starlink Mobile reached that number in just one year across Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Bangladesh. Messages, voice notes and location sharing, even in places where cell towers can't reach. For someone stuck on a remote road, caught in a flood or trying to contact family when the local network goes down, that connection can mean a hell of a lot. Same phone. No cell tower. Still connected. @Starlink @SpaceX / Writer: Annette, Designer: Janné

It's at that exact moment you start questioning every life choice that led you here Writer: Ian t.co/pcu0QnAcq9

🇺🇦 Ukraine just got a NATO shopping card. Kyiv can now buy weapons, ammo and military gear through NATO’s central procurement agency, which could mean faster deliveries and bulk prices instead of haggling country by country. Need 30,000 uniforms? Ukraine just tells NATO, and the agency goes and buys them. Ukraine’s relationship with Washington is at its lowest point since the Oval Office blowup, and Trump’s envoy was in St. Petersburg yesterday talking peace with Putin, so the timing is definitely interesting. When one ally stops picking up the phone, you find a wholesale club. Source: FT / Writer: Julie

I was expecting a bit of road rage... I wasn't expecting the machetes, though 😬 Writer: Ian t.co/oS8GiyFL5q