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October 12, 2026
October 11, 2026
Andy Burnham Says It Is Clear Russia Interfered in Brexit Referendum
THE GUARDIAN: PM says he asked question upon entering No 10 but does not reveal who gave him ‘clear answer’ that Russia meddled
Screenshot taken from this Guardian article. | Andy Burnham: ‘We haven’t informed people sufficiently about the extent to which people are seeking to disrupt the political process from overseas.’ Photograph: Christopher Furlong/AFP/Getty Images
Andy Burnham has said it is clear Russia interfered in the Brexit referendum, after seeking answers on the Kremlin’s involvement in the 2016 vote when he entered Downing Street.
Burnham said he had asked whether Moscow had attempted to influence the referendum and received a confirmation that it had.
Speaking on the podcast The Rest is Politics, Burnham said: “I asked the question coming to Downing Street: well, was there interference in the 2016 referendum from Russia? I’ve had the clear answer that yes, there was.”
His comments mark a significant departure from the position taken by past Conservative governments, which insisted there was no evidence of successful interference by Russia in the hugely consequential referendum vote.
Burnham did not disclose who had given him the assessment, what evidence it was based on or whether any interference had affected the result of the vote.
A report by parliament’s intelligence and security committee in 2020 criticised the government and intelligence agencies for failing to properly investigate potential Russian interference in the referendum. » | Aletha Adu Political correspondent | Sunday, October 11, 2026
At last! A prime minister willing and courageous enough to tell us the truth! It was as clear as crystal to the wide-awake that Russia was behind that ridiculous Brexit referendum. What must be done now is simple: Brexit must be reversed. ASAP — © Mark Alexander
Andy Burnham has said it is clear Russia interfered in the Brexit referendum, after seeking answers on the Kremlin’s involvement in the 2016 vote when he entered Downing Street.
Burnham said he had asked whether Moscow had attempted to influence the referendum and received a confirmation that it had.
Speaking on the podcast The Rest is Politics, Burnham said: “I asked the question coming to Downing Street: well, was there interference in the 2016 referendum from Russia? I’ve had the clear answer that yes, there was.”
His comments mark a significant departure from the position taken by past Conservative governments, which insisted there was no evidence of successful interference by Russia in the hugely consequential referendum vote.
Burnham did not disclose who had given him the assessment, what evidence it was based on or whether any interference had affected the result of the vote.
A report by parliament’s intelligence and security committee in 2020 criticised the government and intelligence agencies for failing to properly investigate potential Russian interference in the referendum. » | Aletha Adu Political correspondent | Sunday, October 11, 2026
At last! A prime minister willing and courageous enough to tell us the truth! It was as clear as crystal to the wide-awake that Russia was behind that ridiculous Brexit referendum. What must be done now is simple: Brexit must be reversed. ASAP — © Mark Alexander
At Least 12 Killed in Houthi Attack on Saudi Airport
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Iran-backed Houthi militia launched a deadly attack on an international airport in Saudi Arabia’s capital on Saturday that Saudi officials said killed at least 12 people and injured more than 300 others. | Julie Yoon | Saturday, October 11, 2026
Watch the short NYT video here »
Trump May Join Saudi War after Houthi Strike Kills 12
THE TELEGRAPH: US citizen among dead in attack on Riyadh airport in deadliest assault on Gulf Arab country since Iran war began
Donald Trump is considering joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis after a missile attack on Riyadh airport killed 12 people, including a US national.
The Houthi strike, the deadliest attack in a Gulf Arab country since the US began its war with Iran, hit a passenger terminal at King Khalid International Airport on Saturday.
Riyadh’s civil aviation authority confirmed that an American was among those killed in the strike and that 309 others were injured. Four Saudis, two Bangladeshis and one person each from Palestine, Jordan, Sudan, Syria and Egypt were also killed in the attack. Operations at the airport have been suspended.
The Saudi-led military coalition blamed the Houthis for the attack, which they called a “war crime,” and vowed to respond. It was the deadliest attack in the kingdom since May 2015.
The Houthis said the group had “shut down” the airport in a post on X, and threatened to carry out more strikes on Saudi Arabia. » | Emily Smith | Foreign Breaking News Reporter | Published: Saturday, October 10, 2026. Updated: Sunday, 11 October 2026
World War III is progressing nicely! Just as one would expect. — © Mark Alexander
Donald Trump is considering joining Saudi strikes on the Houthis after a missile attack on Riyadh airport killed 12 people, including a US national.
The Houthi strike, the deadliest attack in a Gulf Arab country since the US began its war with Iran, hit a passenger terminal at King Khalid International Airport on Saturday.
Riyadh’s civil aviation authority confirmed that an American was among those killed in the strike and that 309 others were injured. Four Saudis, two Bangladeshis and one person each from Palestine, Jordan, Sudan, Syria and Egypt were also killed in the attack. Operations at the airport have been suspended.
The Saudi-led military coalition blamed the Houthis for the attack, which they called a “war crime,” and vowed to respond. It was the deadliest attack in the kingdom since May 2015.
The Houthis said the group had “shut down” the airport in a post on X, and threatened to carry out more strikes on Saudi Arabia. » | Emily Smith | Foreign Breaking News Reporter | Published: Saturday, October 10, 2026. Updated: Sunday, 11 October 2026
World War III is progressing nicely! Just as one would expect. — © Mark Alexander
Trump's Putin Deal Prompts Fresh Questions over Support for Ukraine | DW News
One thing is CERTAIN: The USA needs a NEW PRESIDENT — and with dispatch! What a disgrace Trump is! — © Mark Alexander
À LIRE AUSSI :
Volodymyr Zelensky «mérite d'être soutenu»: les réactions se multiplient après les propos de Trump en faveur d’un nouveau président ukrainien : Donald Trump s’est prononcé pour le remplacement de son homologue ukrainien samedi depuis la Maison-Blanche, afin qu’un «accord» de paix puisse survenir avec Moscou. »
October 10, 2026
Trump’s Russian Fuel Deal: Strategic Masterstroke or Dangerous Betrayal?
ANTHONY DAVIS can be supported on Patreon here »
Rob Groves: The Tories Are Dying and the Numbers Prove It
Even though an ex-colleague once called me a “dyed-in-the-wool” Conservative voter, I finished voting for that party long ago. After the fiasco of Brexit, I shall never vote for them again. I am a European with every fibre of my being, and that party took my European rights away from me (and everyone else, of course), and has impoverished my home country in so doing. So, as far as I am concerned, the curtains have closed on that party.
Then, after that disastrous Brexit referendum, along came Rishi Sunak, spending public money like a drunken sailor! He also introduced the undemocratic idea of a “generational smoking ban”, which I vehemently disagree with and for a number of good reasons. However, in short, one can say that it is not the job of government to tell people how to live their lives. Doing so is both illiberal and undemocratic. Furthermore, there are far more important things for governments to concentrate on if people’s health is their goal. But in fact, I don’t really think that politicians give a tinker’s toss about people’s health. What they care about is money. How much is smoking costing the NHS in treatment. But I have news for them: smokers contribute approximately £12 billion to the state coffers. To treat smoking-related diseases in the UK, it costs the treasury between £1.9 and £2.5 billion per annum. Clearly, smokers more than pay for any treatment they get on the NHS.
But I digress… another reason why I would never vote Tory again is because the party is so anti-EU. AND because the party wants to exit the ECHR. Leaving the ECHR would be a disaster.
Kemi Badenoch radiates neither magic nor sparkle for me, I’m afraid. Her vision for this country is diametrically opposed to mine. What she wants to do with this country is re-hash Thatcher’s policies. But it is high time that the Tories retired her policies. It is time for them to get creative. In any case, it was Thatcher and her sidekick Reagan, who sowed the seeds of the ginormous wealth gap in the West. So, do we really want to increase the gap between the have-nots and the superrich even more?
In my opinion, once upon a time, the Conservative Party was the only sensible party to vote for. But then the party started destroying itself, it started committing suicide in slow motion. The self-harm continues apace! — © Mark Alexander
October 09, 2026
Constantin Schreiber — Gesellschaft: Das Zeitalter des Westens endet
Le commissaire européen au Commerce veut du « concret » de ses entretiens en Chine
LE FIGARO : Le commissaire européen au commerce Maros Sefcovic attend des « résultats concrets » lors des entretiens qu'il a engagés jeudi à Pékin sur le déséquilibre des échanges commerciaux entre la Chine et l'Union européenne, a-t-il dit sur les réseaux sociaux. Maros Sefcovic a redit sur X jeudi soir œuvrer « activement à rééquilibrer les relations commerciales », objet d'un dialogue en cours depuis plusieurs mois entre Bruxelles et Pékin. Il dit « crucial » que cette phase des discussions « débouche sur des résultats concrets », à la suite d'entretiens avec le ministre chinois du Commerce Wang Wentao. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | vendredi 9 octobre 2026
October 08, 2026
It's 'Appalling' How US Treats Allies, Yellen Says
Trump doesn’t care about the ‘little people’; Trump cares only about the people at the top, and he cares most especially about himself, his family, and his cronies. In addition, he sucks up to dictators, especially to Vladimir Putin — he loves him, and is determined to destroy any semblance of democracy in the USA. Most of it has already been destroyed anyway. Furthermore, Trump has turned his back on America’s traditional allies for a purpose: it is part of his covert plan to destroy totally the world order status quo ante. Donald Trump, apart from being geopolitically ignorant, is the most dangerous US president in my not-too-short lifetime. The sooner Americans wake up to what Trump is up to and rid themselves of him, the better for them and the better for the rest of the civilized world. — © Mark Alexander
October 07, 2026
‘Another Coup d’état’: Fears Grow as Flávio Bolsonaro Vows to ‘Re-democratise’ Brazil
THE GUARDIAN: After a surprise first-round victory, critics suggest son of disgraced ex-president could seek to continue his father’s authoritarian project
Screenshot taken from this Guardian article. | Flávio Bolsonaro 45, goes into the 25 October runoff as favourite after a first-round win against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday. Photograph: André Borges/EPA
Flávio Bolsonaro, the far-right frontrunner to become Brazil’s next president, has vowed to “re-democratise” the South American country, increasing fears about a move into authoritarian rule if he wins power.
Brazil was re-democratised in the 1980s after a brutal 21-year dictatorship that Flávio’s father, the disgraced ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, has long praised.
Last year, Jair Bolsonaro, a former soldier who served under that military regime, was jailed for 27 years for trying to engineer a coup after he lost the 2022 election to the current leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Flávio, 45, beat Lula, 80, in Sunday’s presidential election first round and goes into the runoff on 25 October as favourite. On Tuesday, the rightwinger vowed to capitalise on the hugely increased far-right presence in congress after the election to change the constitution and “re-democratise this country”.
“The only thing standing in the way of Brazil becoming a barbarity is called Flávio Bolsonaro as president,” he claimed at a campaign event in Goiânia, a city near the capital, Brasília.
The incendiary comments caused outrage among historians and opponents of Bolsonaro’s radical populist movement, who have accused him of co-opting the language of democracy to disguise an illiberal shift. » | Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro | Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Flávio Bolsonaro, the far-right frontrunner to become Brazil’s next president, has vowed to “re-democratise” the South American country, increasing fears about a move into authoritarian rule if he wins power.
Brazil was re-democratised in the 1980s after a brutal 21-year dictatorship that Flávio’s father, the disgraced ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, has long praised.
Last year, Jair Bolsonaro, a former soldier who served under that military regime, was jailed for 27 years for trying to engineer a coup after he lost the 2022 election to the current leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Flávio, 45, beat Lula, 80, in Sunday’s presidential election first round and goes into the runoff on 25 October as favourite. On Tuesday, the rightwinger vowed to capitalise on the hugely increased far-right presence in congress after the election to change the constitution and “re-democratise this country”.
“The only thing standing in the way of Brazil becoming a barbarity is called Flávio Bolsonaro as president,” he claimed at a campaign event in Goiânia, a city near the capital, Brasília.
The incendiary comments caused outrage among historians and opponents of Bolsonaro’s radical populist movement, who have accused him of co-opting the language of democracy to disguise an illiberal shift. » | Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro | Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Brazil: Between Violence and Lust for Life | ARTE.tv Documentary
Steve Rosenberg: Russian Papers Silent on the 20th Anniversary of Journalist's Murder
October 06, 2026
It Never Made Any Sense’ | Justin Wolfers Tears into Trump’s ‘Foolish’ Trade Wars
Trump’s Recent Statements on the Economy Are Even More Bonkers Than Usual
THE GUARDIAN: Our ‘genius’ president is revealing his ignorance of economics, fueling concerns about the threat he poses to the world
Donald Trump recently made a bold claim about his abilities, writing on Truth Social: “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!”
But in the days before and after that post, Trump made one mind-boggling statement after another, including one that raised the possibility of cutting off all trade with dozens of the US’s trading partners. The president’s statements had many experts questioning not just his intelligence, but also whether he – and the outlandish policies he was proposing – were a clear and present danger to both the US economy and the world economy. Public respect for Trump’s economic sense has fallen so low that just 7% of Americans think he should take the lead in regulating AI, according to a recent WSJ poll.
Responding to Trump’s reckless statements, one prominent advocacy group, Republicans Against Trump, derided him as “Dumbest. President. Ever.”
Economists and corporate executives were especially alarmed by two Trump statements. First, he wrote on Truth Social: “I’ll stop trading with countries with which we have a deficit” if the Federal Reserve doesn’t cut interest rates.
The second disconcerting statement was: “If we stopped Trading with every country that we have a Deficit with, which is most of them, we would make, at least, 1.5 Trillion Dollars a year.”
Not only is Trump’s arithmetic childishly silly here, but any college student who took Econ 101 knows that if a trade-dependent nation like the US suddenly ended all trade with dozens of countries, that would lead to economic disaster. What’s more, it was worrisome that Trump views himself as almighty emperor with the power to singlehandedly halt hundreds of billions of dollars in trade. » | Steven Greenhouse | Monday, October 5, 2026
Donald Trump recently made a bold claim about his abilities, writing on Truth Social: “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!”
But in the days before and after that post, Trump made one mind-boggling statement after another, including one that raised the possibility of cutting off all trade with dozens of the US’s trading partners. The president’s statements had many experts questioning not just his intelligence, but also whether he – and the outlandish policies he was proposing – were a clear and present danger to both the US economy and the world economy. Public respect for Trump’s economic sense has fallen so low that just 7% of Americans think he should take the lead in regulating AI, according to a recent WSJ poll.
Responding to Trump’s reckless statements, one prominent advocacy group, Republicans Against Trump, derided him as “Dumbest. President. Ever.”
Economists and corporate executives were especially alarmed by two Trump statements. First, he wrote on Truth Social: “I’ll stop trading with countries with which we have a deficit” if the Federal Reserve doesn’t cut interest rates.
The second disconcerting statement was: “If we stopped Trading with every country that we have a Deficit with, which is most of them, we would make, at least, 1.5 Trillion Dollars a year.”
Not only is Trump’s arithmetic childishly silly here, but any college student who took Econ 101 knows that if a trade-dependent nation like the US suddenly ended all trade with dozens of countries, that would lead to economic disaster. What’s more, it was worrisome that Trump views himself as almighty emperor with the power to singlehandedly halt hundreds of billions of dollars in trade. » | Steven Greenhouse | Monday, October 5, 2026
October 05, 2026
Dr Bandy Lee Deconstructs Trump's Insane TIME Magazine Interview
ANTHONY DAVIS can be supported on Patreon here »
Steve Rosenberg: What Are Russian Newspapers Saying about Reports of a Potentially "Dangerous Infection" in Irkutsk?
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