Abdul El-Sayed on Palestine:

I believe in equal rights to peace, dignity, and self-determination for Palestinians and Jewish Israelis.

I believe that it is up to a free Palestinian people and free Jewish Israeli people to decide how to maneuver the inconsistencies of that.

Abdul El-Sayed on Israel:

My foreign policy views are very simple. I just think we should be the first among equals to enforce international law.

I would argue that Israel is the greatest outlier when it comes to the behavior of the government of Israel relative to the approbation you would expect them to get versus what they actually get.

They've been able to sustain an apartheid system, which is the only thing you can call sustained nearly six decade long occupation of a people in Gaza and the West Bank.

They did a genocide in Gaza. They led us into a war. Benjamin Netanyahu came to the situation room, made the argument for a war. He finally had a dupe big enough who was willing to do it.

But think about war aims. We had no clear war aims for that war. Israel had clear war aims. And one of those big war aims seems to be setting up for the annexation of southern Lebanon.

And we do all of this and all of this has been done while our stated policy in the region is that we believe in a two-state solution, which is wild because we're aiding, arming, and abetting the very government that is attempting to foreclose on the possibility of a second state openly.

And so I'm just saying that we should treat Israel the way we treat any other country that did the same stuff.

Abdul El-Sayed on Israel-Palestine:

I understand on both sides of this debate, we're also dealing with a lot of trauma. A lot of trauma.

I understand that for a lot of Jewish Americans, there's the trauma of the Holocaust and the need to have a refuge. I understand that.

And I also understand that for a lot of Palestinian Americans and Palestinians everywhere, there's the trauma of the Nakba.

We've got to be able to create the circumstances within which both of these deeply traumatized people can have a conversation built on principle. But to me, the answer has to be principle. It has to be.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced a ban on online betting operations, less than two years after the industry was legalized.

The measure comes ahead of the October 4 first-round election, where Lula faces a tight race with right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro.

The government says the ban addresses rising household debt linked to gambling, while Bolsonaro called it “populist” and politically motivated.

Licensed betting sites will be blocked from October 6, after users are allowed to withdraw remaining funds.

Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel visited Israel on September 26, 2023, warning that Hamas appeared to be preparing for a major attack. He urged Israel to ease tensions and warned: “If you don’t change course, Gaza is going to blow up in your faces.”

The warning did not include a specific date or details about the October 7 attack, and Israeli officials later disputed receiving any direct warning.

The report says multiple officials believed Kamel’s visit itself should have raised alarms, with one former Israeli official saying: “The messenger was the message.”

Source: The Atlantic

Bill Gates warned that AI could become powerful enough to create catastrophic risks, saying it could “drive events that… cause a billion deaths.”

Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press, Gates said:

“Even though it's pretty hard to get to 100%, there's never been a weapon as powerful as the combination of people with ill intent using the latest AI tools.”

BIG: Trump has rejected Iran’s proposal for a seven-day ceasefire and told aides he expects bombing of Iran to resume after the November midterm elections, according to U.S. officials.

Iran’s proposal would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz and restarted nuclear talks in exchange for the U.S. lifting its blockade of Iranian ports and easing economic pressure.

Source: WSJ

The White House blocked CNN from traveling with Trump on Air Force One for a trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, according to The Washington Post.

Source: WaPo

Trump:

Russia’s Perm oil refinery, one of the country’s largest, halted operations after a Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire and damaged pipelines, storage facilities and processing units.

Source: Reuters

Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis:

Even if you think that Türkiye is about to invade us, do you really think that this strategic alliance with Israel is going to help us militarily?

Do you think, do you ever, ever think that Israel is going to lift its little finger maybe against the Turkish air force if needs be? Under no circumstances.

So we are not gaining anything by siding with a genocidal state, but we're losing a lot because Greece's good name has been dragged through the mud in the United Nations General Assembly.

Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis:

Let me share my vision for the next 10, 20 years. What I would like to see is a treaty between Greece and Türkiye whereby we commit to non-aggression between the countries, whereby we commit, as I said before, to not drilling the bottom of the sea anywhere, developing alongside with other countries in the region a peaceful agenda for renewable energy and joining forces to end apartheid and genocide in Palestine.

South Africa’s new ambassador to the U.S., Roelf Meyer, rejected claims of a “white genocide” against Afrikaners, saying the allegations do not reflect reality.

Meyer, a former apartheid-era National Party negotiator, said crime is a serious issue in South Africa but does not amount to a targeted campaign against white people.

The Trump administration has defended its Afrikaner refugee program, arguing that white South Africans face persecution.

Source: BBC

A bipartisan group of 14 U.S. senators urged Trump to withdraw Putin’s invitation to the G20 summit in Miami, arguing that his participation would legitimize Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The senators said Putin is responsible for launching the full-scale invasion and that allowing him to attend while Russia continues attacks on Ukrainian civilians raises “serious concerns.”

The letter was led by Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R) and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrat Jeanne Shaheen (D), and was signed by both Republican and Democratic senators.

Source: WaPo

Peter Thiel:

I think we moralize way too much.

And there's always a question I like to ask: What is the antonym of good? The moral antonym is evil. The functional antonym is bad.

A Ferrari is an evil car because it doesn't get many miles per gallon. A Trabant is a bad car. It works. It's less good than a Golf car, you know, the former East German car.

So, you know, if you're evil, you're at least competent. And if you're evil, you're not bad, and therefore you're actually maybe kind of good because you're at least getting something done.

I think it's better to be good than evil.

Peter Thiel on Germany:

The rise of the AfD reflects these failures of the centrist parties. It reflects a failure to find an economic future for Germany that is somehow inclusive and broad and works for society as a whole.

I don't think they have great solutions. I don't think they know how to balance the budget — either the parties of the extreme left or the extreme right.

Peter Thiel on AfD:

I think there can be a reasonable debate about Ukraine, a reasonable debate about China, a reasonable debate about Israel.

And at the same time, somehow I do think the AfD is wrong on all three. And you can't be wrong on all three.

Bill Clinton:

Some days I can hardly believe what is happening in this country that I love so much.

The people in charge have created one set of rules for themselves and another set for everyone else. They've weaponized government to settle personal scores, prosecute enemies, stamp out free speech.

They've even made the federal government a new profit center for themselves and their allies.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian:

There are no specific ongoing health issues or challenges for Mojtaba Khamenei. On the last occasion when we met for seven-plus hours, of course, we were not used to being in seated positions for that many hours.

We changed angles and positions. We crossed our legs and so on. But of course, he was healthy enough to be able to withstand those hours in that situation.

From a medical standpoint, he's completely healthy. Hear this from me as a physician and accept it: he has no issues.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian:

When did we ever say that we are seeking nuclear weapons? Developing nuclear weapons is haram from a standpoint of belief, not from a legal perspective.

Even if some individuals in Iran may have the incentive to develop nuclear weapons, religiously speaking, they are not allowed to pursue that path.

Peter Thiel:

I’m not saying Pope Leo was an agent of the Communists, but he was at least acting as a useful idiot for the CCP.