Energy
A drone strike set fire to the Moscow Oil Refinery in Kapotnya. Early reports indicated a hit on the AVT-6 unit. The plant, one of Russia’s largest, refines 11 million tonnes annually and supplies 40 percent of Moscow’s fuel market plus 70 percent of regional gasoline and aviation fuel. The blaze formed part of a wider overnight drone assault on the capital area. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described the attack as the largest barrage on the capital, reporting over 1,600 drones intercepted.
Houthi ballistic missiles struck Aramco fuel tanks next to Riyadh’s King Khalid airport, the first such attack on the Saudi capital. Smoke rose over the airfield, city-wide air-raid alerts sounded, and flights were disrupted. Officials reported no casualties. The barrage followed a blocked Iranian flight into Houthi-controlled Sanaa and came after the group seized remaining Red Sea coastline, placing forces beside the Bab al-Mandeb. Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki stated that air defenses intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched toward Riyadh.
Separately, a 14-country Saudi-led maritime coalition has reached initial operational capability and is preparing to station ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to protect shipping after Houthi blockades and territorial gains. Members include Gulf states, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan and several African nations. Commanded from Riyadh, the alliance describes itself as purely defensive. European governments have so far declined to join. Pipeline damage has already led Aramco to cancel some October European oil deliveries. Reuters reported that Italy’s minister also called for more ships to protect Red Sea navigation.
In other geopolitical news, the United States has acknowledged it already deploys on-orbit space-control weapons capable of defending against adversary action. Space Force described the mission as covering kinetic and non-kinetic disruption or destruction of hostile capabilities. The disclosure followed reports of Chinese satellites performing coordinated low-orbit maneuvers described as dogfighting and a spaceplane releasing an object that circled another satellite. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits nuclear weapons in orbit but not conventional ones. The South China Morning Post reported that the U.S. move has broken a taboo and could trigger a new arms race.
Relatedly, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated that China intends to land on the Moon and that the United States should arrive first. Beijing has targeted 2030 with two reusable launches and a planned nuclear south-pole base shared with Russia. NASA aims for 2028 with four launches. Isaacman credited recent policy changes with standardizing the heavy rocket, scheduling nearly monthly robotic flights from 2027 and prioritizing a surface base over a space station. He said other nations will decide whose standards and security arrangements to follow. Chinese state media reported that China is advancing preparations for a 2030 crewed moon landing, including progress on the Wangyu lunar spacesuit.
Health
A British Medical Journal investigation reported that U.S. officials were aware of limitations in the COVID-19 vaccine safety monitoring system. mRNA shots accounted for more than 90 percent of 1.1 million first-year VAERS reports, so the detection algorithm compared those vaccines mainly against each other. The investigation stated that FDA scientist Ana Szarfman proposed an alternative method but was ordered by Peter Marks in 2021 to cease and desist, with the stated aim of avoiding anti-vaccination rhetoric. Officials reportedly knew of the limitation before the pandemic yet did not adopt other tools during the emergency-use authorization period. A later CDC analysis identified hundreds of signals, including myocarditis, pericarditis, Bell’s palsy and tinnitus, which it described as generally consistent with no unexpected safety signals.
In other news, research has noted differences between incandescent lighting and LEDs. Incandescent bulbs emit infrared radiation that some studies associate with mitochondrial function, while LEDs lack this output and their blue-light component has been linked to circadian disruption. 2022 efficiency rules treated infrared as waste heat and led to bans on most incandescent bulbs. A University College London study found 670 nm red light reduced blood-sugar spikes by 27 percent. Two-week exposure to incandescent lamps was reported to improve office workers’ color vision by 25 percent for months. A group of 248 scientists stated that high-blue LEDs at night may increase risks of cancer, obesity and sleep disorders. Senator Mike Lee’s LIT Act, which would repeal the bulb bans, held its first hearing.
Economy
An independent review (the Starling report) concluded that Federal Reserve staff knew or should have known by March 2022 of Silicon Valley Bank’s mounting securities losses, unstable deposits and lack of readiness to borrow from the Fed, yet did not act before the 2023 collapse. The report cited a risk-averse culture. Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said the review found social media did not trigger the run. It identified oversight lapses under Michael Barr and cleared the 2018 deregulation and Randal Quarles. Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized the report’s ties to Quarles, calling it a partisan autopsy.
Education
A Progressive Policy Institute study found a strong negative correlation between teachers’ union power and states’ adoption of science-of-reading literacy policies. Blue states adopted an average of 9 of 18 key measures versus 13.5 in red and purple states. Mississippi’s 2013 law requiring retention, screening, and phonics produced the largest national fourth-grade reading gains, tying for seventh by 2024. New Mexico, Maryland and Massachusetts later passed similar bills despite union opposition. Grok observed that exceptions exist in the data, such as some blue states with strong unions ranking highly on reading scores, and that correlation does not equal causation.
US Politics
A Blue Dot Farmers directory now lists more than 200 Democrat-voting meat producers, so buyers who prefer them can source beef accordingly and avoid Republican ranchers. Nebraska producer Trina Hanzel said she went from a handful of customers to 150 weekly messages after joining. The group also warns members away from farms it believes are MAGA-run. Tennessee rancher Jodie Moore, targeted after a viral post on beef prices, said asking how she voted has nothing to do with food. Organizers noted that votes remain private while spending does not.
British Politics
The UK government is consulting on legislation that would treat couples cohabiting for more than three years like married spouses for financial claims after a split. England and Wales have 3.5 million such couples who currently have few automatic rights to property or support. Critics of the proposal say it would apply typical divorce outcomes—alimony or asset transfers, which they say usually fall on men—to relationships some people chose specifically to avoid marriage contracts. David Lammy stated that many cohabiting couples lack protections after long relationships or raising children, and Labour was consulting on stronger safeguards.
Also making headlines, incoming University of Northampton students were given a race-equity induction module that asked them to reflect on White privilege and pledge anti-racist steps. Officials said the module is optional, though non-completers receive reminders. The supplier defines white privilege as unearned advantages from being white. White British enrollment in grammar schools has fallen from 66 percent to 44 percent over ten years, according to available figures. Some classrooms have taught that racism requires power, so Black pupils cannot be racist toward White ones. The university stated that inclusivity is a core value, the course is optional industry-standard training encouraging reflection, and non-completion does not prevent starting studies.
Canadian Politics
Deputy House Leader Arielle Kayabaga sponsored a petition seeking a Criminal Code offence for recording a person known to be homeless, in mental crisis or heavily intoxicated when the recording is intended for public posting. Following complaints of street disorder involving needles and excrement, it cites the vulnerability of people who cannot easily sue. Sponsors say the images stigmatize, can help predators locate victims and currently lack extra legal protection. Critics suggest that barring people from recording homeless people doesn’t do anything to actually fix the problem, that it’s just another form of censorship. The e-petition remains open until 2027 and is not legislation.
Sources
BMJ Exposé: Officials Knew COVID Vaccine Safety System Was Broken—and Suppressed the Scientist Who Tried to Fix It
US officials knew covid vaccine safety system was flawed—but turned aside the FDA doctor who alerted them.
Source | Submitted by pinecarr
Fed Knew SVB Was in Trouble Since 2022 but Did Nothing, Review Finds
Our supervisory staff knew, or should have known, about these vulnerabilities as early as March 2022
Source | Submitted by Shplad
UK’s Cohabitation Trap: Live Together Three Years, Risk Losing Your Assets Like a Divorcee
Liberal Democrats want the enforcement of “cohabitation laws” which would essentially treat any couple living together for more than three years as if they are married.
US Confirms Orbital Weapons as China Tests Satellite ‘Dogfights’
The United States has publicly acknowledged that it already has weapons in orbit.
NASA Chief: Beat China to the Moon or Watch the World Follow Beijing
China will accomplish what the Soviets never could.
Blue States Lag on Literacy as Powerful Teachers’ Unions Resist Proven Reforms
The stronger the teachers unions, the fewer early literacy reforms states have adopted.
Blue Dot Farmers: Progressives Build a Database to Boycott MAGA Ranchers
Wokies have created an online database so consumers can boycott MAGA farmers 😂
The Hidden Harms of Modern Lighting and the Fight to Restore Incandescent Bulbs
In 2022, the federal government effectively banned the incandescent bulb because most of its output is “wasted” infrared rather than visible light, despite our bodies using that infrared for a myriad of essential processes.
UK Freshers Must Confess ‘White Privilege’ Before Unpacking Their Bags
This is not inclusion. It is a hierarchy with British children at the bottom and ideology at the top — paid for by the same public that is no longer allowed to say so.
Canada’s Fix for Street Filth: Criminalize the Photos
The federal govt thinks the solution to excrement on the street is to make it illegal to take pictures of excrement on the street.
Source | Submitted by westcoastjan
Houthi Missiles Hit Aramco Fuel Tanks Near Riyadh Airport in First Strike on Saudi Capital
In a historic first of the Yemen conflict, Houthi ballistic missiles rained down on the Saudi capital of Riyadh overnight, triggering rare air raid alerts and a general state of panic among the citizenry.
Saudi-Led 14-Nation Coalition Nears Red Sea Deployment as Houthis Seize the Strait
With Saudi shipping traffic in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait under unprecedented peril, the recently-launched Multinational Maritime Defense Coalition is moving closer to deploying ships to ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, the Saudi Ministry of Defense announced on Friday.
Drone Strike Sparks Fire at Moscow Oil Refinery
The Moscow Oil Refinery in the Kapotnya district has caught fire after a drone attack.
In addition to sources submitted by community members, the following were also used in the creation of this report: @IntegralAnswers, @Jeremy_Kress, David Lammy, University of Northampton, CGTN, Xinhua News, South China Morning Post, Al Arabiya English, Reuters, @grok, @GrantJacksonMP, and Sergei Sobyanin.
by richcabot 
