🇺🇸⚔️🇮🇷 US forces in the Middle East are prepared to launch new, potentially major, military operations against Iran “within 96 hours of receiving” an order from President Donald Trump, according to two US officials.

Sufficient forces are now deployed in the region to carry out the potential attacks, the sources said. The scope of new US military operations would likely go beyond efforts to simply “mow the lawn” or maintain the status quo by striking radars, launchers and other Iranian assets that can be quickly reconstituted — as has been the case since Trump halted full combat operations earlier this year, the sources added.

“It will be a big effort,” one of the officials told CNN. That view has been echoed by other current and former US officials familiar with internal military planning discussions — some of whom say it is a question of when, not if, Trump will issue a go-order. They believe it could come any time before the end of the year, though most likely after the US midterm elections.

Iranian forces are now more familiar with US tactics, and it would therefore be harder for the American military to effectively destroy all potential intended targets. However, leaders in US Central Command and the Pentagon have been developing a wide-ranging target list, which includes Iranian energy infrastructure, military sites and nuclear facilities.

Officials say that Trump has not made up his mind on what he will do after the midterms but that he appears to be leaning toward ordering major action. But officials also caution that Trump has appeared in the past to lean toward certain actions only to back off at the last moment.

US intelligence officials believe Iran and the Houthis are unlikely to carry out preemptive escalatory attacks against American personnel or Israel at this point but would not hesitate to respond if Iran is targeted first by US or Israeli forces, one of the sources familiar with the latest American intelligence assessments noted.

Additionally, nonessential US military personnel who were expected to deploy to the Middle East as part of the next troop rotation have been told they are no longer being sent, according to a US official, underscoring the possibility of looming regional escalation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing to carry out new attacks against Iran, but US officials have requested he delay until the Trump administration is ready to conduct joint operations, according to two US officials and an Israeli security source.

“Netanyahu really wanted and tried to convince Trump for a joint attack in Iran before the elections, and Trump did not give a green light,” the Israeli security source told CNN. The prime minister’s office said this was “fake news.”

One reason Trump declined is because Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Eyal Zamir told US Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, that it would harm the elections in Israel and lead to their postponement, the Israeli security source added.

Israel’s Channel 12 News reported Sunday there was an “unprecedented” confrontation between Zamir and Netanyahu fewer than 48 hours before Tuesday’s vote. According to the report, Zamir received a directive from the political echelon related to Iran but requested an in-depth discussion and legal authorizations before carrying it out, fearing the action could lead to a miscalculation that could trigger an immediate conflict.

🔗 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/10/26/politics/us-iran-strike-plans-trump

🇮🇱⚔️🇮🇷 Israel Hayom reported that Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, planned a new round of decapitation strikes on Iranian leaders believing that this time, unlike the previous two times, would cause a chain reaction that would lead to the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Citing sources familiar with Netanyahu's plan, the Israeli newspaper claimed the operation was going to be "limited" in nature and that it was supported by the Mossad director, Roman Gofman, recently appointed by Netanyahu, only to be vetoed by the IDF Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, who, while not opposed in principle to the operation, was skeptical as the operation did not involve American forces and feared that Iranian retaliation would derail indefinitely the Knesset elections.

The Israeli cabinet, intelligence services and the IDF are all in agreement, according to Hayom, that they need to keep attacking Iran to keep it weak and unable to develop and expand its missile and nuclear program.

Netanyahu and Gofman were confident that a new round decapitation strikes against the IRGC would lead to a collapse of the Iranian military and cause revolts among the soldiery as the U.S. imposed naval blockade and new sanctions packages heightened inflationary pressure.

More interestingly, the newspaper mentions "limited Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets in Iraq". Mysterious warehouse explosions and fires have occurred inside Iraq and Syria with allegations that Iran has been supplying the PMF with air defenses to hopefully shoot down Israeli jets when they make incursions into Iraqi airspace, while the explosions in Syria are related to Israel trying to keep the Syrian Armed Forces weak and unable to fight back Israeli incursions into Syria.

🔗 https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/10/26/new-details-emerge-about-attack-netanyahu-planned-against-iran/

🇮🇱⚡️ — Channel 14: Could Israel find itself engaged in intense fighting in the coming days and weeks?

Ben-Gvir: Ultimately, sooner or later, we will have to put an end to this problem.

💰🔎🔋 Discord Is Making Public Server Messages Searchable on Google

Starting mid-December 2026, posts in qualifying servers with 1,000-plus members will surface in Google results by default in most regions

https://www.gadgetreview.com/discord-is-making-public-server-messages-searchable-on-google

https://discord.com/blog/making-content-from-discoverable-servers-easier-to-discover

Follow @FelipeChannel

🔋☀️💧 Renewables' share of world electricity rises to 34% as nuclear slips to 9%

The two sources have followed very different paths since 2000, when they supplied a similar share of global power: renewables a little under 20% and nuclear about 17%, the data show. Rapid growth in solar and wind has lifted renewables since then, while nuclear's share has roughly halved. Fossil fuels still produced 57% of the world's electricity in 2025, down from more than two-thirds in the early 2010s.

Nuclear output has not shrunk. Reactors worldwide generated a record 2,702 TWh in 2025, up 35 TWh on the previous year's record, the World Nuclear Association said in September. But the amount of power from nuclear plants is about the same as two decades ago, while the world now produces far more electricity overall, so its share of the mix has fallen.

Most of last year's nuclear growth came from new reactors in China, which added 37 TWh, with France adding 12 TWh and Japan 9 TWh, while reactor closures in Belgium cut output by 7 TWh, according to Ember's Global Electricity Review 2026. Over the same year renewables generated 10,730 TWh, or 33.8% of the total, edging past coal's 33.0% to become the world's largest source of electricity for the first time.

Solar did most of the work. Solar generation rose by 636 TWh, or 30%, to 2,778 TWh in 2025, Ember said, and solar's share of global power generation reached 8.7%, nearly matching nuclear's 8.8%, according to the Energy Institute.

Nuclear construction is picking up. Eleven reactors started construction in 2025, taking capacity under construction worldwide to 82 GWe, against 423 GWe now operating, the World Nuclear Association said. Reactors ran at an average capacity factor of 83.7% last year.

🔗 https://www.intellinews.com/renewables-share-of-world-electricity-rises-to-34-as-nuclear-slips-to-9-478547/

🇶🇦🇮🇷 Qatar says Iran needs to show good intentions for mediation efforts to succeed

Iran needs to show good intentions for mediation efforts to succeed, mediator Qatar ​said on Tuesday, after a delegation from ‌the Gulf Arab country visited Tehran earlier this week in an effort to de-escalate regional tensions in coordination with ​the United States.

A spokesperson for the Qatari ​Foreign Ministry told a press briefing that Iran ⁠should stop threats against Arab Gulf states ​and open the Strait of Hormuz to show good ​intentions.

Qatar, along with Pakistan, has been mediating between Washington and Tehran in an effort to end the US-Israeli war on Iran ​that has disrupted global shipping and oil ​supplies, and spilled over across other parts of the Middle East.

📝 Representatives of Gulf Arab monarchies, Pakistan and Turkey going to Tehran to discuss regional security is a major political victory by Iran who is now considered by its neighbours strong and important enough to get consulted on regional security matters.

War is a continuation of politics by other means. Even if Iran suffered more material damage than it inflicted on its enemies, it is the sole country that achieved its political objectives in the 40 Day War those being: kicking out the U.S. from its bases in the vicinity of the Persian Gulf, forcing the U.S Navy out of the Persian Gulf, gaining control of the Hormuz Strait and being recognised by the other Middle Eastern countries as a significant if not the most powerful actor in the region.

Having delegates from Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey and the KSA travel to Tehran to discuss such matters was unthinkable 10 months ago. The Qatari complaint about Iran's "lack of goodwill" is out of place in the present day as Qatar, a country that opened its airspace to U.S. aircraft from which to target Iran, is in no place to make such demands, a fact which they will have to learn the hard way.

🔗 https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/qatar-says-iran-needs-show-good-intentions-mediation-efforts-succeed-2026-10-27/

🇦🇫🇨🇳 Taliban complete Afghanistan road to China – but Beijing keeps border firmly shut

The Taliban completed their road to the Chinese border – but were met with a frosty silence from across the frontier, according to multiple local reports.

As explained by a feature published by IntelliNews in May, the Islamist politico-militant group that governs Afghanistan are the latest rulers of the country to dream of “opening up Wakhan Corridor, the mountain valley that connects three worlds”. But the road has been built only in the hope that China will play ball. Still addressing sensitive considerations such as what would an open border with Afghanistan mean for the Chinese territory that borders the country, majority-Muslim Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), Beijing is yet to show whether it will do so.

RFE/RL has reported that for the early October inauguration of the road, China did not send representatives or officially acknowledge the event. The militarised boundary remained firmly shut, with images from the inauguration showing Chinese security cameras watching from behind razor wire.

Zhu Yongbiao, director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at China’s Lanzhou University, told RFE/RL that the chances of Beijing opening the mountain pass border checkpoing any time soon “are extremely low.”

“Afghanistan's economy is very small and its value to China is negligible,” Zhu reportedly said, adding: “Meanwhile, the financial costs and security risks associated with opening the route would be substantial.” Afghanistan’s main exports to China are pine nuts, dried apricots and gemstones.

The Wakhan Corridor is a narrow, protruding strip of land in northeastern Afghanistan, sandwiched between China, Pakistan and Tajikistan.

The 350-kilometre (217-mile) mountain valley is nestled high in the Pamir Mountains in the province of Badakhshan. The width of this rugged strip of land dividing Tajikistan from Pakistan is just 13 km (eight miles) in places. Likely once trodden by luminaries including Alexander the Great and Marco Polo, its potential is fascinating.

If the high valley was made generally accessible and developed for modern trade flows, it would serve as a fabulous, even stupendous, link between Central, South and East Asia. Landlocked Central Asia would finally gain a clear road into Pakistan and thus the access to the ocean sought for so long by the region, Pakistani commerce would enjoy a short path into Central Asia and Afghanistan would have a direct trade passage into China. It would also become a route to the world’s second largest economy likely favoured by Iran.

In opening up corridors for international trade, in this part of the world, China’s chosen path has diverged from Wakhan, instead concentrating on the utility provided by the $62bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It stretches from Kashgar in Xinjiang, across the Karakoram mountain range on China’s border with Pakistan and through to the Pakistani strategic deep-water port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea.

In Beijing’s thinking, Afghanistan and Central Asia should enjoy access to CPEC infrastructure via link-through routes opened up on Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan, but this concept runs counter to the ambitions of the Taliban to conduct trade with China through Afghanistan’s own sole border with its giant neighbour at the end of the Wakhan Corridor.

🔗 https://www.intellinews.com/taliban-complete-afghanistan-road-to-china-but-beijing-keeps-border-firmly-shut-479103/

🇨🇳🇬🇭 China’s Huayou acquires Ghana lithium project rights, assumes $66mn funding commitment

China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt has completed the acquisition of Elevra Lithium’s interests in Ghana’s Ewoyaa lithium project, assuming rights to a 22.5% interest in Atlantic Lithium’s Ghanaian lithium portfolio, including Ewoyaa, and an obligation to fund up to $66mn in outstanding development expenditure.

Under the existing project agreements, Huayou will provide up to $66mn in outstanding expenditure under a $70mn sole-funding commitment. Subject to those agreements, the funding would earn Huayou an additional 27.5% interest in Atlantic Lithium’s Ghanaian portfolio, taking its total interest to 50%. Subsequent development costs would be shared equally between the partners.

The completed project transaction comes as Huayou pursues a separate acquisition of Atlantic Lithium, valued at approximately $210mn, or about $0.25 per share in cash, under an agreement announced in May. Huayou chairman and president Chen Hongliang said at the time that the deal “complements our existing battery metal mining operations in Africa”.

The proposed takeover would give Huayou control of Atlantic Lithium itself, potentially consolidating the private-sector interests in Ewoyaa currently covered by the joint-venture arrangements.

Ewoyaa is intended to become Ghana’s first commercial lithium mine, producing spodumene concentrate for further processing into lithium chemicals used in rechargeable batteries.

Ghana’s Parliament ratified the project’s mining lease in March 2026, the first lithium mining lease to be granted and ratified in the country, following the granting of environmental and mine operating permits in 2024.

Ewoyaa’s development comes as Ghana prepares restrictions on exports of unprocessed minerals by 2030. President John Dramani Mahama said on October 19 that investors seeking access to the country’s bauxite, manganese, iron and lithium would face processing obligations under a phased ban, although mineral-specific deadlines and detailed regulations have yet to be published.

Because Ewoyaa is designed to produce spodumene concentrate rather than battery-grade lithium chemicals, Huayou’s immediate commitment is to advance the existing mining project under its inherited funding obligations, rather than establish downstream lithium refining in Ghana.

🔗 https://www.intellinews.com/china-s-huayou-acquires-ghana-lithium-project-rights-assumes-66mn-funding-commitment-479226/

🇫🇮🇳🇴🇷🇺🇪🇺 Putin's Call Divides Europe — VZGLYAD

"Driving a wedge between partners," "European leaders were furious" - the phone call between Putin, President Stubb, and Prime Minister Store sparked a heated debate in the Western press. Some describe Helsinki and Oslo's initiative as an attempt to maintain the EU's influence in the peace process, while others see it as a violation of the consensus on Ukraine.

European leaders criticized Stubb and Store for "acting alone," without European consensus. According to a source at The Telegraph, after this dialogue, the heads of EU countries may contact the President of Russia "left and right," without a common position. Another source at the newspaper said that without this contact, Europe risked being seen by the head of the White House as an obstacle to peace.

The German magazine Der Spiegel, analyzing the reaction of European countries to the actions of Helsinki and Oslo, also notes: the phone call to Putin "angered Europeans." "Unilateral actions by this pair are viewed with skepticism in Europe," the article states.

The British newspaper The Independent reports that European leaders "were furious" after politicians from Norway and Finland "broke tradition and directly called Putin on Tuesday." "This move drew criticism from their colleagues in other Nordic countries, who urged them to 'stick together' on the issue of Ukraine," the publication writes.

In this regard, the American newspaper The New York Times points out that in recent days, Trump's rhetoric has become increasingly favorable towards Russia, while he regularly criticizes the actions of Zelensky. The publication cites the "diesel deal" as an example. Against this backdrop, European leaders are trying to intervene in the peace process. They are pursuing at least two goals: to ensure that European interests are taken into account and to "protect" Ukraine from pressure, the article states.

Analysts believe that Stubb could become an important asset if Europe and the United States ever coordinate their approaches to Ukraine. However, even within the "unified European front" on Ukraine, there are cracks, according to Politico. Against this backdrop, the Norwegian newspaper VG emphasizes: "The Scandinavian dispute should be avoided." And observers at the Norwegian publication Aftenposten even criticized the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, for being dissatisfied with the phone talks.

The Finnish broadcasting company Yle views the conversation not only as an attempt to bring the Ukrainian conflict to a close, but also as a change in Finland's approach to relations with Russia. According to the publication, Stubb's decision opens up the possibility of restoring political dialogue after several years of virtually no contact.

🔗 https://t.me/vzglyad_ru/153652