Russia’s New Jet Drone Contains Over 75% U.S.-Made Components
October 18th, 2026Via: Militarnyi:
More than three-quarters of the Geran-4’s onboard computer consists of electronic components manufactured by American companies. Products from Texas Instruments account for the largest share, along with components from its acquired subsidiary National Semiconductor — together accounting for more than half of all identified components.
This information was revealed in a report analyzing the flight controller recovered from the wreckage of one of the drones. The investigation was conducted by an engineer using the call sign Prop, who serves with the 1230th Athena Engineering and Technical Regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Support Forces. The unit shared the results with Militarnyi.
Components from foreign companies handle navigation data processing, engine control, power supply, and signal exchange between circuit boards. At the same time, the circuit boards’ serial number markings indicate that they were manufactured in Alabuga.
Related: The Best Enemy Money Can Buy by Antony C Sutton
Replacing Europe
October 18th, 2026Via: Muckraker:
France: Riots Continue
October 18th, 2026Des véhicules de police sont prises pour cible par la foule dans le secteur République à Paris.
#Paris #17octobre https://t.co/yMReav1Tie
— Luc Auffret (@LucAuffret) October 17, 2026
Via: Daily Mail:
Chaos hit the streets of France yesterday as violent protesters rebelled against the cost of living, education standards and Emmanuel Macron’s government, with police admitting they ‘lost control’.
More than 1,200 demonstrators were arrested as the streets of major French cities were turned into a battleground, with city halls and prefectures set on fire and hundreds of shops looted in ‘apocalyptic riots’.
Desperate business owners and horrified residents could only watch in fear as the mob went door-to-door, smashing their way into each business.
More: “A Decade of Unfettered Mass Migration and a Cancerous Far-Left Movement”
Gold Became Top U.S. Export for Several Months
October 17th, 2026This article is from April 2026.
Via: Forbes:
The value of U.S. gold exports soared to $17.88 billion, the highest monthly total dating back at least two decades and almost certainly ever, according to my analysis of the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Gold, which is coming off its best year since 1979, is a safe haven in uncertain times. While many factors can affect its price and movement, economic and political uncertainty are generally the factors that lead to the widest swings.
This year, those factors are plentiful…
…
So, perhaps not surprisingly, February was the highest monthly total on record for U.S. exports in the primary gold category (HS 7108), enough to make it the No. 1-ranked U.S. export among the 1,200-plus categories.
That had never occurred – until last October. Now it has done so a remarkable three of the last five months.
That’s uncertainty. Economic and political.
Zelenskyy Resumes Russian Refinery Drone Strikes
October 15th, 2026Via: ZeroHedge:
A defiant President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Financial Times on Thursday morning that Ukrainian forces will resume attacks on Russian refineries. The move certainly seems more political than anything else. Such attacks have been described as one of the drivers behind the global refining crisis, which has collided with Strait of Hormuz disruptions.
“The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done,” Zelenskyy told the FT. He said Kiev had suspended energy strikes for three days at the Trump administration’s request.
Even before that, the Trump administration had requested many times that Kiev stop bombing Russian refineries, but Ukraine remained mostly defiant and ramped up those attacks leading up to the US midterm elections. One can only wonder whether the escalation was politically motivated, worsening the diesel crisis and translating into consumer pain at US pumps.
Zelenskyy’s new narrative is that the resumption of drone attacks on Russian refineries is a response to what he described as a “dangerous” cutoff of US intelligence sharing and the degradation of Starlink service.
Trump has denied cutting off intelligence sharing. Elon Musk said the US government controls Starshield’s speed and usage limits, the military satellite network built on Starlink technology. Zelenskyy’s office said Thursday that it had lifted the speed restrictions.
Banks Now Trying to Offload AI Data Center Debt They Just Underwrote
October 14th, 2026Via: Startup Fortune:
JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, SMBC and MUFG are quietly shopping pieces of the AI debt pile they helped build, a sign the lenders closest to the money have started hedging their own bet.
Six months ago, banks were racing each other to underwrite data center loans tied to Oracle, Meta and the rest of the AI buildout. Now some of the same banks are trying to get that debt off their books. JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, SMBC and MUFG have been exploring significant risk transfers, according to a report from the Financial Times. These are deals that let a bank keep a loan on paper while shifting its riskiest slice to outside investors. The banks are doing this because they are bumping up against internal limits on how much AI-linked exposure any one lender can hold.
Related: Volta’s $5 billion debt deal is a pulse check on the AI-financing boom
Power Grid Emergency Declared Across 13 U.S. States
October 13th, 2026Via: Daily Mail:
A power grid emergency affecting more than 60 million Americans has been declared as the US government scrambles to prevent outages across several states.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a short-term emergency order under the Federal Power Act, allowing regional power grid operator PJM Interconnection to push past normal pollution limits to keep the lights on.
PJM manages electricity for residents in Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington DC.
The emergency order went into effect on Tuesday and is expected to last through Friday due to a sudden and unseasonably warm spike in temperatures.
FBI Foils Plot To Attack Mall of America With FBI-Provided AK-47
October 12th, 2026Via: Reason:
Federal law enforcement officials in Minneapolis announced at a press conference last week that FBI agents arrested a Minnesota teenager plotting to commit a mass shooting at the Mall of America.
Sheikhdoon Abdullahi Mohamud, an 18-year-old American-born citizen of Somali descent, was arrested in a public park on October 6 by FBI agents immediately after he allegedly paid an undercover agent posing as a member of the Islamic terrorist group ISIS $600 for an AK-47 rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition. The arrest was the culmination of a two-year investigation into Mohamud, who allegedly planned to commit a mass shooting at the mega-mall on October 24.
According to the criminal complaint filed against Mohamud, he exchanged hundreds of messages with a confidential FBI informant expressing his desire to travel to Somalia to join ISIS, but lacking enough money to travel, he eventually settled for an alleged plot to attack the Mall of America because it was owned by Jews.
“I want to do this, I am very serious I don’t care about anything in the world, I am 100% committed to the cause of dying for the sake of Allah only,” Mohamud allegedly wrote in one text message, according to the complaint.
Mexican Cartel’s Crypto Farm Seized in Mountain Raid
October 12th, 2026Just another day at the office.
Via: Tom’s Hardware:
There is increasing evidence that Mexican drug cartels are diversifying into cryptocurrency mining and are using crypto platforms to diversify their income and, at the same time, launder their ill-gotten gains and fund other illegal activities. Reuters reports that local Mexican police uncovered a clandestine cryptocurrency farm in Tlaola, a town located in the leafy mountains of Puebla’s Sierra Norte region. They found 300 GPUs, electricity infrastructure, and satellite equipment. The electricity-hungry operation likely drew power by secretly tapping into the grid at Presa de Necaxa, a nearby hydroelectric dam.
Research Credit: nullweh
ATF Drops Registration For Suppressors And Short-Barreled Rifles Nationwide After DOJ Declines To Appeal
October 12th, 2026It will be interesting to see what happens to this when someone like Gavin Newsom is in the White House…
Via: ZeroHedge:
The ATF said Friday it will no longer require anyone to get federal approval before making or transferring suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns or “any other weapons,” and will no longer require those items to be registered, in guidance that extends a Texas court ruling to every gun owner, not just the plaintiffs who won it.
