Geopolitics
The UN World Food Programme has warned that the US-Iran war is increasing acute hunger risks as the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz sustains elevated oil prices. It stated that March projections of 45 million people facing acute food shortages at $100-per-barrel oil are occurring. In Somalia, 6.5 million people are projected to face severe hunger in 2026. Afghanistan could see 17.4 million affected, and up to 1.3 million Sri Lankans may be unable to meet basic food needs. The WFP projects serving 1.5 million fewer people than planned for 2026.
Meanwhile, US Central Command intercepted four Iranian attack drones near the Strait of Hormuz and struck Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in Sirik and on Qeshm Island. Iran fired ballistic missiles toward Bahrain and Kuwait, six of which CENTCOM said were intercepted. Iran’s Foreign Ministry described the US strikes as ceasefire violations. President Trump stated that Iran retains roughly 20–22% of its missile arsenal, although other reports peg the number as high as 70%.
Additionally, in a CNN interview, Mohsen Rezaei said talks remain deadlocked over Iran’s demand for the release of $24 billion in frozen assets. He stated that renewed US fighting would extend the conflict to additional regions and rejected a Trump-Khamenei meeting at this stage. He asserted joint Iran-Omani sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz with a maintenance fee for passage. US officials have explored redirecting portions of the frozen assets toward compensating regional allies rather than releasing them to Iran.
US Politics
The Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency reportedly raised its counterintelligence threat assessment of Israel to critical, the highest level, according to current and former US officials. A seven-page internal document cited concerns that Israel is surveilling top US officials to obtain information on Trump administration deliberations. Israel’s embassy called the claim completely false, and the White House dismissed the reporting. Officials said daily intelligence-sharing continues, though US personnel traveling to Israel will take added precautions.
On election integrity, US Attorney for California’s Central District Bill Essayli confirmed multiple election fraud investigations coordinated with the FBI. Nate Silver noted that California averaged 38% of votes counted after Election Day across the last five general elections, the slowest rate among states. Secretary of State Shirley Weber stated that accuracy takes precedence over speed. Essayli announced a comprehensive audit of voter rolls. However, critics contend that fraud claims lack substantiation and that California’s voting system has been repeatedly audited.
On economics, El Gato Malo argued that the US is experiencing crony corporatism rather than capitalism, citing proposals to direct hundreds of billions of dollars to private AI firms at valuations no private fund would accept. He referenced SpaceX’s pending IPO, whose S-1 filing shows 90% of the addressable market tied to AI, and described xAI (Grok) as a massive money pit, pointing to broad retail allocation as evidence of strained demand. He predicted the Treasury would serve as the bagholder of last resort under strategic imperative rhetoric.
Health
A critique by A Midwestern Doctor contends that large randomized controlled trials, established after the FDA’s 1962 rulemaking and 1990s evidence-based medicine reforms, have become tools for pharmaceutical profit rather than patient benefit. The critique states that because RCTs cost tens of millions, only industry, governments, and large NGOs can fund them, and industry-sponsored studies reach favorable conclusions 34% more often. It lists tactics including comparator rigging, spiked placebos, run-in periods, surrogate endpoints, outcome switching, p-hacking, ghostwriting, and burial of negative results, while noting that regulators rely on industry fees and revolving-door employment. The author cites COVID-19 outcomes, where the US recorded higher death rates than some low-intervention African nations, and calls for acceptance of replicated observational trials, mandatory data transparency, and a regulatory focus limited to safety oversight. However, many analysts maintain that randomized controlled trials remain the strongest tool for causal evidence despite acknowledged flaws.
Energy
In the US, protesters interrupted NV Energy CEO Brandon Barkhuff at the Edison Electric Institute’s Las Vegas conference before roughly 1,000 utility executives. The United Ratepayers coalition is seeking cancellation of a new daily demand charge approved in September, scheduled to take effect January 1, 2027, and based on a customer’s peak 15-minute usage. Organizer Leslie Vega stated that the charge amounted to air conditioning rationing. NV Energy has said the redesign is revenue-neutral and will lower bills for most southern Nevada customers by ending cross-subsidies, adding about 49 cents per day for typical users. Utilities nationally plan over $1 trillion in spending over five years, much of it linked to data-center demand growth.
In the UK, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch criticized Sir Keir Starmer’s permanent ban on new North Sea oil and gas licenses. She cited a peer-reviewed University of Aberdeen study that estimated roughly 4.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent remain in the West of Shetland basin. Professor Nick Schofield described the area as “a technically demanding but strategically important energy province,” and the study stated that domestic production would be economically, environmentally, and strategically preferable to increased import reliance. Badenoch said Conservatives would end the licensing ban and the windfall tax, describing offshore oil and gas as the economic lifeblood of the North East. Scottish First Minister John Swinney has stated that Scotland’s energy wealth should enrich Scotland’s people, not Westminster.
Artificial Intelligence
A new study describes subliminal learning, in which a pretrained teacher large language model transmits unwanted habits, including violent and antisocial traits, to a smaller student model through signals in seemingly benign training data. Researchers stated they cannot yet explain the mechanism, raising questions about the propagation of undesirable behaviors when one AI generates training data for another. Some researchers characterize the effect as a specific artifact of certain fine-tuning methods and note its brittleness under particular conditions.
Privacy & Surveillance
San Diego State University installed more than 1,300 AI-enabled Avigilon cameras by 2024 at a cost exceeding $1.3 million, with 330, or roughly 28%, directed at student housing. Students learned the extent of the deployment after a public records request by Daily Aztec journalists. Campus police stated that features are limited to motion detection and that no behavioral tracking or facial recognition is used. The university does not post signage indicating camera locations. CSU policy prohibits cameras aimed at areas with reasonable expectations of privacy, including residence halls.
Sources
Conservatives Blast Labour North Sea Ban as ‘Utter Madness’
The University of Aberdeen survey just demonstrates the utter madness of the stance taken by Keir Starmer and John Swinney,
Source | Submitted by jhughes1973
How Clinical Trials Are Rigged to Serve Profits, Not Patients
Over the years, a robust system of ways to rig trials has emerged, with tactics that exaggerate or fabricate benefits while downplaying or erasing harms.
AI Models Secretly Pass ‘Violent’ Traits via Subliminal Data Signals
AI models are teaching each other ‘violent and antisocial’ traits through hidden data signals, study finds — and scientists can’t figure out why
Source | Submitted by pinecarr
Pigs at the Democracy Trough: Crony Corporatism’s AI Bailout Grab
99% of what people “hate about capitalism” is not capitalism at all, it’s crony corporatism dancing around in the skinsuit of free markets while making pretense to equity or safety and this has become the big business of our time.
UN Warns US-Iran War Risks Hunger for Millions in Fragile States
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran is putting millions of people at risk of hunger.
Protesters Disrupt NV Energy CEO Speech at Utility Conference Over Demand Charge
We’re not just asking for lower rates. We’re asking for survival.
Feds Probe California’s Slow Vote Count Amid Fraud Claims
It’s hard to overstate how much of an outlier California is for its slow vote-counting relative to literally any other state or almost any other industrialized democracy.
US Intercepts Iranian Missiles as Tehran Slams Ceasefire Violations
Iran has again accused the US of breaking the ceasefire, with the Foreign Ministry on Saturday stating the US “not only lacks the will to reduce tensions and return to the path of stability, but with its adventurist actions, it seriously endangers the security of the region.”
SDSU’s 1,300 AI Cameras Include 330 Aimed at Student Dorms
More than 330 of them point at student housing, close to 28 percent of the entire network.
Pentagon Raises Israeli Espionage Threat to Critical Level
The Pentagon is increasingly concerned about Israel ramping up its spying on the U.S.
Iran Demands $24B Release to Break Deadlock, Warns of Wider War
The negotiations are at a deadlock and (US President Donald) Trump must break this deadlock.
In addition to sources submitted by community members, the following were also used in the creation of this report: NBC News, X.
by rodster 
