US President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday morning, checking in amid preparations for possible strikes on Iran, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing people familiar with the call.

According to the WSJ, Trump had earlier held another meeting with senior military commanders at the White House to discuss options for resuming major combat operations. Over the past few weeks, multiple media outlets have reported that the US could resume strikes on Iran after the November 3 midterm elections.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to bomb Iran, warning of “another little Epic Fury” if Tehran fails to meet his peace terms. US officials have reportedly warned Arab allies hosting American military bases to prepare for a short but intense operation.

We’re at a lower political point than we care to realise, writes Michael Pascoe. It’s not just Albo’s mid-term doldrums. 

Things are getting desperate when the scoop out of an “exclusive” interview with the Prime Minister is that he described monetary policy as a “blunt instrument”. 

OMG! Hold the front page!

Uncomfortable awakening. The pie now grows slowly … it’s how we cut it that counts

by Michael Pascoe

I’m personally not sure how you could have any discussion about monetary policy tightening without the blunt instrument cliché popping up. How do you describe grass without mentioning “green”? Where do bears defecate? 

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE CARTOONS IS POSTED ABOVE... IN IT, I SIMPLY EXPLAIN HOW THE WESTERN CIVILISATION "BASED ON CHRISTIANITY" IS THE DAUGHTER OF ZIONISM ET AL. FOR SOME PEOPLE THE WESTERN CIVILISATION IS A MIRAGE... SAY:

The values of liberty, tolerance and rational inquiry are not the birthright of a single culture. In fact, the very notion of something called ‘western culture’ is a modern invention

By Kwame Anthony Appiah

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/09/western-civilisation-appiah-reith-lecture

BUT THIS IS SEMANTICS... 

Pat Conroy presents AUKUS as an expression of Labor values and Australian sovereignty. But its enormous costs, troubled procurement record and dependence on Washington tell a different story.

In July this year in a National Press Club address, the minister for defence industry, Pat Conroy, tried to pitch the fuzzy notion of ‘progressive patriotism’ to the nation. This concept had been mentioned briefly by the prime minister in his 2025 election victory speech.

Kym Davey

BREAKING: SPAIN BURIED 68 PEOPLE AND THE PRESS WROTE “SIGNAL FAILURE”… NOBODY ASKED WHO WAS INSIDE THE SIGNALS. ISRAEL WAS.

Did Spain’s state railway operator award THREE SECURITY CONTRACTS to an Israeli-linked firm responsible for guarding and controlling trains and railway infrastructure?

The answer came back clean: YES. Renfe handed three contracts to I-SEC…the Spanish arm of ICTS, a security group built by former Shin Bet men. Trains. Stations. Workshops. Multiple regions. Awarded 2024, expanded through 2025 until it ran nearly half of Renfe’s security, fifteen airports and three metro lines.

OKAY... WE'RE GOING TO DREAM... WE'VE ALREADY SUPPLIED AMPLE EVIDENCE TO SHOW THAT THE WAR IN UKRAINE WAS PROVOKED BY THE WEST... NOT ONLY PROVOKED, BUT FINANCED PLUS ENGINEERED THE DISMANTLING OF EARLY PEACE PROCESSES, ALL IN ORDER TO DESTROY RUSSIA...

IT'S NOT WORKING... RUSSIA IS WINNING...

THE CONSPIRACY OF THE WEST IS KAPUT. TRUMP KNOWS IT BUT HE CANNOT SAY THIS ALOUD. ALL HE CAN DO IS BLAME EVERYONE FOR IT, ESPECIALLY BIDEN, AND DEMAND "NEGOTIATIONS" BETWEEN UKRAINE AND RUSSIA UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF CHINA, AMERICA AND RUSSIA... EUROPE CAN FUQUE ITSELF.

DESPITE THIS, THE WEST IS STILL PUSHING FOR MORE WAR... BECAUSE IT'S PROFITABLE TO A FEW GEEZERS... AND OF COURSE THE WEST WILL NEVER ADMIT IT STARTED THE CAPER — WHICH IT DID.

ADMITTING RESPONSIBILITY WOULD CREATE A MASSIVE STINK, WOULD IT NOT?... MORE TO COME.

While Germany focuses on issues like market access, supply chain security, and industrial competition, China likewise places great importance on a fair business environment and the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises. What both sides need is to establish more effective communication and coordination mechanisms to identify a new balance of interests in areas such as industrial upgrading, technological innovation, and economic and trade rules.

‘Consistency is valuable in governance’ – this ancient saying is worth heeding by the German side

By Global Times

John Menadue writes of the ethnic cleansing of Christians from the Holy Land and the shameful silence of Australian Christian leaders.

They are the oldest Christian communities in the world. They have endured Roman persecution, Byzantine decline, the Crusades, Ottoman rule and British colonialism. What they have not survived is the state of Israel.

John Menadue

When senior Defence bureaucrat Celia Perkins shocked senators by demanding that they not post public evidence on social media, she had cover from the highest levels of government. Rex Patrick reports on a contemptuous plot by Executive Government to ‘manage’ committees of the Senate.

On September 4, Defence Deputy Secretary Celia Perkins appeared before a Senate Committee. At the end of her opening statement she tried to impose censorship on the senators.

Cover-up. Government conspiracy to ‘manage’ the Senate revealed

by Rex Patrick

Young people are protesting across Germany on Saturday over the cost of living, underfunded education, and the possible reintroduction of military conscription. Organizers expect more than 170,000 participants, with demonstrations planned in 34 German cities including Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, and Munich. 

The demonstrations continue last week’s unrest across Europe, where protesters clashed with riot police over rising living costs and government policies. In France, rallies that began in September with students demanding lower education costs, more teachers, and better school facilities have since escalated into broader anti-government protests across the continent. 

Delegations from 48 African countries, including 21 leaders, gathered in Moscow for the third Russia-Africa Summit under the motto “For Peace, Security and Development.” The gathering concluded on Thursday with a final declaration and a new cooperation plan. Organizers reported 146 documents signed across the Summit and its accompanying economic, humanitarian and media forums, comprising 92 agreements and 54 memorandums.

More than 3,500 participants from 74 countries attended, including over 1,200 business representatives from around 630 companies.The forum hosted more than 40 sessions.

The word ‘Gallipoli’ evokes memories of Britain’s greatest military disaster in the First World War. The objective was to clear the Dardenelles – the straight between the European and the Asian part of Turkey, South of the Sea of Marmara – to enable the Russian fleet to pass from the Black Sea to the Mediteranean. According to US author Richard Poe, in his book ‘How the British Invented Communism (And Blamed It on the Jews)’, “If the attack were successful, Constantinople would fall, and the Ottoman Empire with it. But the attack failed. Catastrophically“.

FROM TIME TO TIME, ONE NEEDS TO EXPOSE OUR — WELL NOT OURS [WE DON'T HAVE ANY], BUT THAT OF OUR GOVERNMENT[s] — HYPOCRISY... FOR EXAMPLE IF YOU NEED TO BE FED, LIKE THE DOG OF THE FABLE, YOU NEED TO BE PREPARED TO BE TIED UP TO POLICIES THAT ARE — LET'S BE FRANK — REVOLTING AND DEGRADING...

IN THE FABLE, THE LONE WOLF STARVES... IN THE WILD, THE WOLF IS INDEPENDENTLY SMART...

SO WHAT ARE THE POLICIES AUSTRALIA HAS TO BE TIED UP WITH?: AUKUS, AMERICA'S PRESIDENT LOONITUDE, ENGLAND'S KISSING OF ZELENSKY's BUTT... EUROPE's FASCSIM, ETC.

AMONGST ALL THIS, ARE TWO MAIN CONTRADICTIONS:

FIRST, CHINA IS OUR BEST CUSTOMER BUT WE HAVE TO HATE IT, TO PLEASE OUR US MASTERS...

Pope Leo XIV has become the first ever pontiff to vote in a United States general election after submitting a mail-in ballot ahead of November's midterms, the Vatican confirmed on Friday.

The 71-year-old US citizen, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, as Robert Francis Prevost, applied for a postal vote on October 3, according to US media.

The Holy See's press office said in a statement that the pope "has exercised his right to vote as a United States citizen" and has done so "whenever he was eligible to do so."