Israel Closes UK Consulate, Expels British Representatives from Gaza Center

Foreign Minister Sa'ar says Israel will shut Britain’s consulate in East Jerusalem and bar British MPs from the Gaza support center after London sanctioned Israeli settlements.

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Germany fears France's battlefield AI system Arcadia would just replace American dependency with French dependency.

Internal German notes say:

Engagement with Arcadia must not undermine national efforts to build a sovereign data-integration platform.

Both countries want an alternative to Palantir's Maven, which NATO bought in 2025, but can't agree who leads.

Arcadia runs entirely on French defense tech — Mistral AI, Safran, Thales, Airbus.

The EU Commission rejected French requests for funding, saying it didn't qualify as a European project of common interest.

Germany is quietly building its own platform.

The pattern is familiar — the Franco-German fighter jet program already collapsed over similar disputes.

Source: Politico

The first two F-16V Block 70 jets being delivered to Taiwan turned back to Hawaii shortly after takeoff for unknown reasons.

Taiwan purchased 66 of the jets for eastern defense at Chihhang Air Base.

Delivery was originally expected in 2023 but was repeatedly delayed due to production line relocation and supply chain problems.

The remaining jets are scheduled for 2027 and 2028.

The route runs Hawaii to Guam to Taiwan — about 13 hours total flight time.

Source: Taipei Times

Europe's next-generation fighter jet plans are a mess.

France and Germany's joint project collapsed in June after years of fighting between Dassault and Airbus over who leads.

Safran and MTU just ended their joint engine effort too.

France says it'll build its own jet — Dassault wants a demonstrator by 2031, but skeptics say it'll be a "Super Rafale," not a true sixth-gen stealth fighter.

Germany is left with the embarrassing option of asking to join the UK-Italy-Japan Tempest program as a junior partner.

Industry consensus: Europe can't afford three competing jets, probably can't even afford two.

One consultant said bluntly:

There's no order book for it.

Leonardo's CEO called Germany a welcome "strong financial partner" but admitted another member risks delays.

Source: The Guardian

US Sanctions 27 Iranian Airlines in Sweeping Aviation Crackdown

Washington sanctioned 27 Iranian airlines and other aviation-linked entities, targeting foreign intermediaries and service providers as it seeks to deepen Iran’s economic isolation.

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Bessent on Canada:

Prime Minister Carney needs to stop campaigning and start governing.

He knew this was coming.

Marco Rubio on Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia:

The Houthis, in many ways, are agents and proxies of the Iranians. I think behind some of this is clearly the Iranian hand.

The U.S. has a very strong defensive military relationship with Saudi Arabia, and we’re watching those events very closely. It’s been going on for some time.

I think there’s been some ground operations as well, where Yemeni forces are taking on the Houthis and pushing back against some of the ground advances that they attempted to make.

And we’re monitoring that, as I said, very, very closely.

Marco Rubio:

We are not going to do what the UK did, but I don't have any comment on it right now.

Canadian PM Mark Carney:

Canada came to life, in many ways, in response to American aggression.

Our first prime minister, Sir John A. MacDonald, recognized the threat of an expansionist United States for what it was and raced to unite this land.

Reporter: Ambassador Huckabee said, "The Brits will suffer."

Rubio: We were made aware that they were going to make this decision. We heard their argument as to why. We share the goal of stability.

We don't want to see some uptick in violence or an uptick conflict or tensions in the West Bank at a very tenuous time in the region.

Canadian PM Mark Carney:

This isn't the first time Americans have tried to use tariffs to break us.

Before he became president, William mckinley was an Ohio congressman known as the Napoleon of protection.

He put 50% tariffs on our exports to the US. Sound familiar?

McKinley's 50% tariff was meant to pressure us into dependence and eventually annexation by the United States.

In reality, it did just the opposite. Rather than getting weaker, Canada grew stronger.

Zohran Mamdani:

Now, close to 25 years later, more people have died from 9/11-related illnesses than were killed on the day itself.

It would be one thing if government had stood alongside survivors and provided them with everything they needed at every step of the way. And yet, we know that could not be further from what actually happened.

People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air.

And then when they began to contend with the symptoms of the illnesses that followed, the government that had not hesitated to send them into harm’s way was nowhere to be found.

Canadian PM Mark Carney:

At the 11th hour, they were still pursuing restrictions on our ability to protect and promote the French language and our culture.

They wanted a say in our future trade agreements with other countries. They were asking far too much and offering far too little.

Since a fair deal wasn't on the table, we made the right choice — to walk away from a bad one.

In too many areas, they wanted dependency, not a true economic partnership.

European and US officials increasingly expect Russia’s war in Ukraine to continue into 2027 after the latest Witkoff-Kushner initiative failed to shift Putin’s position.

Moscow is expected to intensify attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure through winter while stepping up hybrid pressure in Europe.

Officials believe Putin is betting on entering next spring in a stronger position, making serious negotiations unlikely before next year.

Source: Bloomberg

Bessent on Canada:

If I were the Canadians, I would be careful because they wanted the benefits of being a state without being a state.

Now that the arrangement may be splintering, everyone is going to come to our side.

Canadian PM Mark Carney:

We are matching the new U.S. tariffs dollar-for-dollar with new tariffs of our own.

I don't believe in escalating the conflict — but our tariffs are necessary to protect our workers, companies, and communities.

We can't let American goods into Canada tariff-free while they charge our companies to export to them.

Bessent on Texas and Canada:

The Texas economy is bigger than Canada.

Texas has an economy of three trillion dollars. Canada's is two point five trillion.

Per capita, Texas is ninety thousand dollars per person, Canada is sixty.

So, I'm more interested in Texas right now.