Saudi Arabia reaffirms no normalisation with Israel without Palestinian state

Posted on by
Reply
The Saudi Arabia national flag [Chris McGrath/Getty Images]

The Saudi Arabia national flag [Chris McGrath/Getty Images]

MEMO

Saudi Arabia has reiterated that it will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without the creation of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, amid reports that US President Donald Trump is seeking to link a civil nuclear agreement with Riyadh to Saudi normalisation with Israel.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Trump has referred the US-Saudi civil nuclear cooperation agreement to Congress for review but has stipulated that it will not take effect unless Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords.

“The president’s position has not changed, and the agreement will not move forward unless Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords,” the newspaper quoted a US administration source as saying.

The reported condition follows the signing of the nuclear agreement last month by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.

A Saudi source quoted by Israel’s Channel 12 rejected linking the nuclear agreement to normalisation, saying Riyadh’s position on relations with Israel remained unchanged.

“The Saudi position is clear, firm and unwavering,” the source said. “There will be no diplomatic relations with Israel without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

The source maintained that Saudi Arabia’s civilian nuclear program forms part of its broader strategic partnership with Washington and should not be conditional on establishing relations with Israel.

[…]

Via https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260827-saudi-arabia-reaffirms-no-normalisation-with-israel-without-palestinian-state/

Visa, Mastercard launch first international card transactions in Syria

Posted on by
Reply

Visa and Mastercard Fuel Syria's Financial Integration DriveThe Cradle

Visa and Mastercard processed their first international card transactions in Syria on Wednesday just days after Washington removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Qatar’s QNB Group said it and Mastercard completed the world’s first end-to-end international card payment in Syria. Separately, Visa said it conducted its first live international transaction in the country in partnership with Lebanon-based Fransabank.

Syria’s self-appointed President Ahmad al-Sharaa participated in Visa’s test by making a card payment at a restaurant in Damascus’ historic Old City, according to footage released by state-run Syrian Response. Central Bank Governor Mohammed Safwat Raslan was also present.

Syria’s central bank told Reuters that the transactions marked the beginning of international card payment services in the country following months of technical preparations and testing, although the service is not yet available nationwide.

Via https://t.me/thecradlemedia/66897

Trump Complained About Big Oil Profits, But Dumped Exxon Stock on Ceasefire Day

Posted on by
Reply

By Charles Kennedy – Aug 27, 2026

President Donald Trump’s investment accounts sold between $500,000 and $1 million of ExxonMobil stock on April 7, the same day Trump announced a ceasefire in the Iran war and hours before Exxon shares opened 6.5% lower, according to financial disclosures reviewed by CBS News.

Exxon closed at $163.91 on April 7 before Trump announced the ceasefire that evening and opened at $153.52 the following morning. The transaction was one of hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchases and sales involving Exxon, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and other oil and gas companies during the first half of 2026, according to filings with the Office of Government Ethics as reported by CBS News.

Those trades continued through a war that sent oil prices sharply higher and delivered some of the strongest earnings for U.S. oil majors since 2022. ExxonMobil and Chevron ultimately earned a combined $26.5 billion in the second quarter as the Iran war and disruption to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz drove crude prices and refining margins sharply higher. Exxon reported $14.5 billion in net income, more than double its year-earlier profit and its best result in four years, while Chevron reported record net income of $12.2 billion, nearly five times its year-earlier result. Trump subsequently accused the companies of making “too much money” and demanded that they cut fuel prices.

CBS reported that Trump’s accounts executed roughly 3,600 stock and securities trades worth between $212 million and $695 million during the first quarter alone. Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee estimate that his oil and gas holdings increased in value from between $13 million and $46 million at the start of the year to between $17 million and $61 million by mid-August. The estimate does not include trades made during 2026.

The White House said Trump does not direct the trades. Spokesman Davis Ingle told CBS that the portfolio is managed independently by third-party financial institutions using computer-based model portfolios and that Trump and his family cannot influence when securities are bought or sold.

Trump has not placed his assets in a blind trust, and federal law does not prohibit presidents from owning or trading individual stocks. His energy holdings remain a small portion of a fortune Forbes estimates at more than $6 billion.

[…]

Via https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Trump-Complained-About-Big-Oil-Profits-But-Dumped-Exxon-Stock-on-Ceasefire-Day.html

Red Flag: NZ Mortality up in 2026

Posted on by
Reply
Our Industry - Propel Funeral Partners
By Guy Hatchard

The pandemic health legacy that is starting to bite

The year ended June 2026 figures for births and deaths have just been released by StatsNZ. Compared to the previous year:

  • Births were down 3.6%
  • Deaths were up 1.9%
  • Fertility per woman was down 3.8%
  • Infant mortality was up by 2.7% although this last statistic was inflated to some extent by late registrations.

The rate of deaths per thousand population had been declining since a peak of 7.59 in 2022 falling to 7.02 in 2025. The 2026 figures reversed this trend with a rise to 7.10. This compares to the 2015 – 2019 average of 6.84 meaning that deaths are currently running at 3.8% above pre-pandemic levels. This equates to an additional 1,411 deaths in the year to June 2026 which would not have been expected if pre-pandemic trends had continued.

The NZ fertility rate has been declining every year since 2008 and is now at a historic low. The 2026 figures are 28% below levels necessary to maintain a population. Despite this, the NZ population is continuing to grow as a result of net immigration.

The most concerning figure in the latest data is therefore the upward movement in the rate of mortality. This increase in levels of excess mortality is very concerning. Although the 2026 rise does not yet amount to a trend, it should be a red flag. It points to a drop in the underlying level of immunity which is affecting the whole population. In this light, it remains disturbing that Health NZ are not closely investigating the possible causes. A comparison of health outcomes of the Covid vaccinated with the unvaccinated is long overdue. Studies published overseas which we have covered have pointed to differences in rates of cancer and cardiac problems for example. These have disproportionately affected younger age groups.

RCR has produced a comprehensive report showing that 311,257 NZ teens were exposed to an elevated risk of myocarditis from Covid shots despite the government having been warned of this risk prior to rolling out vaccination for this age group. We have previously reported high levels of chest pain presentations for under 40s at EDs. Prior to the pandemic it was recognised in the literature that there is a five year elevated risk of complications following a myocarditis diagnosis. Five years have now passed since these shots. Health NZ should be following up and producing a very detailed picture of cardiac health outcomes as a precautionary measure.

A great many published studies have focused on investigating an immune deficit following Covid vaccination. Since the year to June figures were compiled more evidence of a health deficit in NZ has emerged. You must have read about the depth of the current flu and winter illness seasonal health crisis. Hospitals are overwhelmed as never before. On August 15 the NZ Herald reported “Middlemore Hospital hits ‘terrifying’ record as paramedics treat patients in corridors” In one 24 hour period nearly 500 patients presented to ED at Middlemore beating the previous record of 280. According to Stuff newspaper, the St John ambulance service activated its major incident response and emergency operations centre after a week of sustained exceptional demand culminated in its busiest day on record. This week Stuff headlined “Flu wards set up, elective surgery cancelled as hospital admissions surge”. The NZ Herald reported high rates of student absences due to sickness and parents unable to cope at home. The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners has asked practices nationwide to reinstate some Covid-era infection controls, including phone-first triage and separating patients with respiratory symptoms.

Without a detailed investigation of the causes of the higher levels of sickness among the general population broken down by age, vaccination status, and disease type, it is not possible for Health NZ to understand and respond appropriately to the current health crisis. A task force should be set up to undertake this analysis as a precautionary priority and make their findings public. This will inform and potentially reassure the public by determining how much of this effect is due to Covid infection and how much to vaccination or other factors.

[…]

Via https://hatchardreport.com/red-flag-nz-mortality-up-in-2026/

Poison your data: fight back against AI

Posted on by
Reply

This video describes how ordinary people are using data poisoning to fight back against tech giants who are vacuming up music from free peer-to-peer websites like Soulseek to train their AI systems. One example given is selectively replacing song tacks with audio fom Homer Simpson shows. Another moe advanced method is contamnating songs with frequencies that are inaudible to the human ear.

Farm Bankruptcies Up 46% in 2025 Before Iran War While US Manufacturing in Chaos

Posted on by
Reply

By Helena Glass
August 26, 2026

Meet the man who is likely the producer of the beef trimmings Trump is buying from Argentina – Eduardo Elsztain. Hardly ‘dying’ as Trump attempted to play, Eduardo is worth well over $8 billion+ given his appraisal in the Panama Papers Caper some years ago. He runs Argentina and tells Milei what to do, when, and how. He brought Milei to power and can take him down in an hour. 

Elsztain’s father ventured into Argentina real estate at the advice of his rabbi. Today 850,000 hectares of farm and ranchland are managed by his company Cresud. Real estate holdings include hotels and malls across South America and the US. He has ownership in IRSA and most recently Sendero Resources specializing in gold, copper, nickel and lithium mines. He considers himself one of George Soros’s proteges.

A follower of Chabad, created in 1775 by Rabbi Schner Zalman and rooted in the Rothschild family, Elsztain maintains a larger than life profile in his wealth accumulation utilizing Rabbis to advise him on his business ventures. The problem with these two mega capitalists, Trump and Elsztain, is that their focus on monetary wealth will be a worthless enterprise in a global collapse. The global collapse as orchestrated by the Zionist/Chabadist Jews is for the return of their Messiah – not Christ. That Messiah is rooted in Satan.

The Holy War. Each Country’s government is required to do its part in creating this desolation/Armageddon in order for the Zionists to realize their final offering to Ba’al. his beginning is slated to be 2028 when Trump will illegally impose himself as the winner of a third term Presidential Office igniting civil war across the US. The ICE/IDF will act as the Gestapo. While various police and Sheriff offices have already committed to the IDF superiority ideology, particularly in urban cities.

All of which could be avoided If Trump simply stopped every war the US is involved in right now including Palestine, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Venezuela, Cuba, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Ukraine, Yemen and Niger. But the Zionist bankers won’t allow this because they have funded every war since the American Revolution via Haym Saloman, which created the first war debt in America to the tune of $75 million.

Trump has no economic understanding at all.

America is suffering under his blockade of the Strait – fertilizer is now more important than oil as JP Morgan warns of food shortages coming in 2027.

In addition, Bank of America and JP Morgan warn this September through October will be bearish with a possible 10% correction in equity shares. Average market drops have been roughly 7.35% but given the turmoil across the economy as created under the Trump regime, a larger selloff is expected.

AI stocks are over-valued and could trigger the equity market downturn. But given the Argentina Beef scandal, the obvious manipulation of Brent Crude, and farm bankruptcies without fertilizer – America is not ‘winning’ as Trump claims. Trump’s feud with Canada will only aggravate an already volatile oil market. Four million barrels of oil ‘per day’ representing 60% of all oil imports will put a largess dent in American’s pocketbook as Trump’s Strategic Reserve drawdowns leave America with less than 40 days worth of supply.

The Saudis have cut exports to the US to zero. And Mexico doesn’t have the capacity to fill the Canadian void. Meanwhile, Canada has been exporting more oil to China which leaves Trump and his Economics professors in twallete water. And the twallete is now overflowing like the USS Lincoln.

The classic model claiming a falling dollar will attract more buyers to US goods and manufacturing is hampered by one thing – American manufacturing. American manufacturing is on a steady decline with the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs and higher production costs via energy and unions. America is NOT self-sufficient. Primary manufacturing capacity vs output is well behind in chemicals, metals, machinery, while Trump continues to tout his tariffs which are paid for by American taxpayers.

Top destinations for American exports are Mexico, Canada and Japan. Before Trump’s America first regime, American agriculture exports had been a surplus for 60 years. In 2019 that changed. In 2025 the deficit reached $45 billion. For farmers, the export allocation has traditionally been powered by soybeans, corn, tree nuts, dairy and beef historically making the US the largest exporter of agriculture products. Without fertilizer, this parade will be empty.

As ICE continues its roundup and deportation of immigrants, farmers will be facing a crisis. In 2025 alone, farm bankruptcies increased by 46%. With net farm income dipping to $153.4 billion, sector-wide debt climbed to a record $624.7 billion. Add to the fray the absence of affordable fertilizer since the Iran war, the outlook for farmers in 2027 looks even more bleak.

The problem? Incompetent governance. Our Agriculture Secretary is a lawyer by trade – her degree is in lawyering. The mess is now so extensive that it will take years to even breakeven – assuming appropriate measures are taken to grow America instead of the Greater Israel and Argentina. Given Trump’s lack of understanding, ability to speak the truth, and concern for Americans, it is doubtful he will even try as his focus is unrelenting on his personal family wealth building.

As a footnote: Trump’s claim that the Navy has removed or detonated all mines in the Strait should be taken with a grain of salt. As of August 1st an uncrewed underwater minehunter developed by General Dynamics Mission Systems and delivered to the Navy in 2021 was likely deployed from a littoral combat ship to pinpoint the locations of potential mines, giving U.S. forces a safe surface route to work with.

“That’s sort of a halfway accomplishment, but nowhere near yet to actually fully clearing it.”  —Cmdr. Joseph Bubulka, head of the mine warfare branch in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations for Expeditionary Warfare.

[…]

Via https://www.globalresearch.ca/farm-bankruptcies-up-2025-us-manufacturing-chaos/5938043

Judge rules for doctor who prescribed ivermectin for Covid-19

Posted on by
Reply

Zero Hedge

A doctor’s lawsuit against Maine’s medical board can proceed, a federal judge has ruled.

An order from the Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine that Dr. Meryl Nass undergo a psychological evaluation for allegedly spreading misinformation about COVID-19 was “based on no evidence or process,” including no probable cause, U.S. District Judge Lance Walker said in an Aug. 20 decision.

“In judicial proceedings, at a minimum probable cause findings ordinarily are required to justify pretrial impositions. In this case, as alleged, the Board dispensed with preliminary proceedings altogether,” Walker wrote.

The process appeared to have “lacked any safeguards to protect against agency zeal and resembled investigatory action imposed, somewhat ironically, in the absence of evidence rather than the initiation of an impartial, sober, thoughtful judicial process designed to assess the truth of facts to arrive at the existence of probable cause to justify such a sanction,” he also said.

The board did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

“I am happy to report that I will eagerly move forward with the legal case to clear my name and defend the free speech right of medical practitioners to tell the truth to their patients, especially if it goes against government or medical orthodoxy,” Nass said in a blog post.

Maine’s medical board in 2022 suspended Nass’s license after receiving a complaint from a person who was not her patient that the doctor was spreading misinformation about COVID-19 because she noted that people who recovered from the illness had protection against re-infection.

Board members also took issue with how Nass prescribed ivermectin to a COVID-19 patient and lied to a pharmacist about why she prescribed hydroxychloroquine to another patient. It was for COVID-19, not for Lyme disease.

The board ordered Nass to undergo a psychological evaluation in order to get her license back, among other conditions. State law only authorizes such an order when a licensee “may be unable to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety to patients by reason of mental illness, alcohol intemperance, excessive use of drugs, narcotics, or as a result of a mental or physical condition interfering with the competent practice of medicine,” Walker noted in the new ruling.

“The record before the Board did not include any suggestion or information that Dr. Nass suffered from drug or alcohol abuse or a physical condition, suggesting that, if anything, the Board considered Dr. Nass’s opinions to be the product of not independent thought but a mental illness or mental condition,” he said. “Alternatively, the imposition of this sanction would suggest that the Board was making an example out of Dr. Nass.”

The Maine Superior Court previously voided the psychological evaluation order, concluding it was arbitrary and capricious.

After that court ruled, Maine’s medical board asked the federal court in Maine to throw out Nass’s lawsuit.

Walker sided with the board regarding its actions apart from the evaluation, finding members enjoyed immunity for their conduct during the hearing on the allegations against Nass and for their determination to suspend her license.

But the case can move forward regarding the psychological evaluation order, he said.

“The scope of what remains of Dr. Nass’s claims will need to be addressed in later proceedings but includes, at a minimum, the requirement that she submit to a psychological evaluation,” the ruling stated.

Nass told The Epoch Times in an email that her license remains suspended because the board imposed conditions that would have prevented her from practicing independently, including requiring her to send her charts regularly to the board for review.

“The reason I wanted a license was so that if another pandemic happened, I would be able to provide the appropriate care to patients as I saw fit, which might not be what the government recommended,” Nass said. “Since the conditions the Board imposed precluded that, I did not seek to regain the license, which remains suspended.”

Nass also said she recently moved to New Hampshire.

[…]

Via https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/judge-rules-doctor-who-prescribed-ivermectin-covid-19

Kremlin reveals why CIA chief visited Moscow

Posted on by
Reply
Kremlin reveals why CIA chief visited Moscow
CIA Director John Ratcliffe speaks during a news conference in James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on April 6, 2026 in Washington, DC. © Getty Images
RT

26 Aug, 2026

John Ratcliffe’s trip revolved around intelligence service contacts, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said

CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s unannounced trip to Moscow on Tuesday was for contact between the US and Russian security services, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

A US Air Force C-17A Globemaster III, identified by flight trackers as RCH4555, flew from Joint Base Andrews to Riga on Sunday evening before continuing on Tuesday to Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport. Later that day, a motorcade with US diplomatic plates was spotted in central Moscow.

CBS News first reported that Ratcliffe was in Moscow for meetings, citing sources familiar with the situation. It was also not clear whether the visit – which ultimately lasted roughly eight hours – involved any other senior US officials.

Asked by the Washington Post on Wednesday about the purpose of Ratcliffe’s trip, Peskov said it was for “contacts between security services” and declined to give further details. Separately, Peskov told TASS that “contacts with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin were not planned.”

Speaking to reporters later on Wednesday, Peskov said Putin had been kept in the loop about the talks, calling engagement between the special services “a positive phenomenon.” However, he cautioned that it is “too early to say” whether the talks “will affect the overall process of bringing our bilateral relations out of the deep crisis.”

US President Donald Trump described the visit as “semi-routine.” Asked by talk show host Glenn Beck whether Putin planned on “testing NATO resolve,” or whether Ratcliffe discussed US sanctions on Iran, Trump replied “none of the above.”

Media reports have floated several possible subjects of the secretive talks, including detainee negotiations, the Ukraine peace process, the Iran conflict, and broader questions of strategic stability.

The last publicly disclosed contact between Ratcliffe and top Russian officials took place in March 2025, when the CIA director spoke by phone with Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) chief Sergey Naryshkin. At the time, the SVR said Russia and the US agreed to maintain dialogue in order to “promote international stability and security, as well as to reduce tensions in relations between Moscow and Washington.”

Ratcliffe’s visit was the first known trip to Moscow by a CIA director since William Burns traveled there in November 2021, several months before the escalation of the Ukraine conflict. The last publicly known face-to-face meeting between the heads of the CIA and Russia’s SVR before Ratcliffe’s trip was in Ankara in November 2022, when Burns met Naryshkin to discuss nuclear escalation risks and detained US citizens.

[…]

Via https://www.rt.com/russia/644658-kremlin-reveals-cia-visit-moscow/

US Designates Palestine Action as Terrorist Group

Posted on by
2
Palestine Action supporters protest near Woolwich Crown Court in London, England, June 12, 2026
Palestine Action supporters protest near Woolwich Crown Court in London, England, June 12, 2026 ©  Getty Images ;   Guy Smallman

RT

26 Aug, 2026

The group claims its actions save lives by “disrupting the Israeli war machine”

The US has labeled Palestine Action a terrorist group, marking the first time that a British left-wing organization has been targeted by US terrorism sanctions. The US Treasury also blacklisted two other left-wing groups.

Palestine Action was added to the US’ list of Specially Designated ​Global Terrorist organizations on Wednesday, according to a statement posted online by the US Treasury Department. Under the department’s sanctions, the group will have any of its bank accounts or property in the US frozen, while its members could be barred from entering the country.

Formed in the UK in 2020, Palestine Action’s stated goal is to end “global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime.” Its members have vandalized British military aircraft and factories owned by or linked to Elbit Systems, an Israeli weapons manufacturer.

The British government declared Palestine Action a terrorist organization last July. Since the designation, four of its members have been sentenced as terrorists for causing criminal damage to an Elbit Systems plant, while more than 3,500 of its supporters have been arrested and 480 charged with terror offenses for endorsing the group.

“Today’s action complements the UK’s proscription,” the Treasury Department stated, adding that Palestine Action was being sanctioned “for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods and services to or in support of, an act of terrorism.”

“Palestine Action’s activities in the US and elsewhere have always been about saving lives by disrupting the Israeli war machine, which is committing a genocide in Gaza with the support of the US Government,” Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori said in a statement. “[US President Donald] Trump has been at the center of the mass murder of Palestinians, enabling the Zionist regime at every turn.”

The Treasury also sanctioned Masar Badil, a Palestinian revolutionary movement allegedly run by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and Autistici Inventati, described by the department as “an Italy-based entity that supplies specialized digital architecture, tools, and services for Antifa cells and other violent far-left extremists.”

The 2026 US Counterterrorism Strategy identifies “Violent Left-Wing Extremists, including Anarchists and Anti-Fascists” as one of the top three terror threats facing the US, along with transnational drug cartels and Islamist terrorists. In late 2025, the US State Department designated four European ‘Antifa’ groups – including a German group that attacked right-wingers with hammers in Budapest in 2023 – as terrorist organizations.

[…]

Via https://www.rt.com/news/644686-palestine-action-us-terrorist-designation/

Trump to Import Contaminated Beef from Argentina While Giving American Cattle Ranchers the Middle Finger

Posted on by
2


From 2nd Smartest Guy in the World

Last Friday President Trump decided to intervene in the free markets by manipulating the price of beef at the direct expense of American cattle ranchers.

There are many serious issues with this deal, and when Trump was initially asked exactly where this foreign beef will originate from he was evasive.

A couple of days later Trump had no choice but to disclose the origins of this mystery meat:

TRUMP: “We’ll buy Argentinian beef.”

Reporters:’ What about the US farmers who are suffering?’

Trump: “Argentina is fighting for its life. Do you understand me? They’re dying.”

He says this as 77 American cattle producers are going out of business in the US per day.

The meat from Argentina is contaminated and as such dangerously toxic.

It was only five months ago that China averted disaster by rejecting contaminated beef from Argentina.

On March 19, 2026, Chinese authorities turned away a 22-ton shipment after detecting chloramphenicol.

[…]

Via https://www.2ndsmartestguyintheworld.com/p/psyop-famine-and-pink-sludge-trumps