World’s largest rays may be diving to extreme depths to build mental maps of vast oceans Phys.org
‘Chicago Rat Hole’ was not made by a rat, say rodent researchers Chicago Sun-Times
Faulty mitochondria cause deadly diseases: fixing them is about to get a lot easier Nature
Study: We’re losing the war against drug-resistant infections faster than we thought NPR
Climate/Environment
CrOP30: Why burning food for land-hungry biofuels is fuelling the climate crisis Transport & Environment
2025 floods have altered the very ‘foundation’ of Punjab’s agriculture: its soil structure Down to Earth
Disaster Insured Losses Top $100 Billion for Sixth Year in a Row Bloomberg
Lack of weather data due to Trump’s budget cuts impacted forecast for deadly Alaska storm CNN
Pandemics
Want to Call CDC to Report a Possible Disease Outbreak? Fuhgeddaboutit MedPage Today
Beyond all reason The Gauntlet
The Koreas
US has backed down on demand for $350 billion all-cash investment, says Korea’s top diplomat Hankyoreh
Japan
Economic, diplomatic fears rise with Japan in political limbo The Asahi Shimbun
US expects Japan to stop buying Russian energy: Treasury secretary Anadolu Agency
India
Process for India’s shift from Russian oil ‘to be over soon’: Donald Trump Indian Express
Mumbai Police Detain TISS Students Who Attended Gathering In Honour of G.N. Saibaba The Wire. “Saibaba, who suffered with over 90% disability and was wheelchair-bound, was incarcerated for a decade for having alleged links with the banned Communist Party of India.”
China?
Why is China cracking down on a Christian group? Beijing’s action on Zion Church and ’tariff connection’, explained Hindustan Times
Top Venture Capitalists tour China, declare Western energy firms “uninvestable” Kevin Walmsley
Chinese Merchant Fleet Avoids Western Controlled Waters with First Shipment Through Russian Arctic Military Watch
The Gulf Turns East: How Central Asia Became a New Financial Frontier The Diplomat
IN FOCUS: As US closes tariff escape route via Southeast Asia, what’s next for region’s firms, workers? Channel News Asia
Old Blighty
‘The Fraud’ links Labour minister Steve Reed to hacked data scandal The Canary
O Canada
Canada flying in lockstep with the United States Canadian Dimension
Pakistan-Afghanistan
Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to 48-hour ceasefire after deadly border clashes Press TV
Syraqistan
Israeli attacks kill two in Gaza despite ceasefire Al Jazeera
Israel still holds thousands of Palestinians hostage Stephen Semler
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich vowed that “there will be Jewish settlements in Gaza,” speaking at an event in the southern border city of Sderot.
His declaration came just days after a ceasefire with Hamas forced the Israeli army to withdraw from some areas… https://t.co/kgK7LbMOe3
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) October 14, 2025
US Central Command Issues Warning To Hamas That Contradicts President Trump Antiwar
‘No shame’: UK invites private firms to compete for Gaza reconstruction contracts Middle East Eye
A Plan to Rebuild Gaza Lists Nearly 30 Companies. Many Say They’re Not Involved Wired
***
Israeli forces enter villages in Syrian countryside Arab News
Syria’s al-Sharaa seeks to rebuild ties with Russia in first Kremlin talks Intellinews
Syria’s ticking time bomb Responsible Statecraft
European Disunion
The most dependent companies in Europe for components from frozen and sanctioned Nexperia are VW, BMW, Stellantis, Bosch, ASML, Siemens, and Airbus. Germany wasn’t deindustrialising fast enough to please the Trump administration? Substitution of alternatives will take 12-18… https://t.co/Klft0HER1M pic.twitter.com/NGnpxg1mJW
— Kathleen Tyson (@Kathleen_Tyson_) October 15, 2025
Opaque new EU budget could boost Euroscepticism, top auditor warns Euractiv
New Not-So-Cold War
European NATO allies pledge to buy more US weapons under PURL scheme for Ukraine Euronews
Trump admits his proxy war in Ukraine and that Zelensky is proxy: Trump says that Zelensky wants to launch offensive, and that Trump would determine if Zelensky would go on offensive after their talks. pic.twitter.com/mGa9IvHFAH
— Ivan Katchanovski (@I_Katchanovski) October 15, 2025
this is nuts: between 100,000 and 250,000 AFU soldiers have deserted
that is at least a quarter of the force. maybe more. adn this is from Ukr sources, not Russian
UKR Pravda recently reported that there are kilometer long holes in the front line now, being covered only by…
— BenAris (@bneeditor) October 15, 2025
‼️🇺🇲🇷🇺 “Kaliningrad and Sevastopol will be destroyed in the very first hours” — there will be no war between Russia and NATO similar to the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war,” said former US forces commander in Europe, General Ben Hodges.
📌 “If Russia attacked Poland in 2025… pic.twitter.com/sdB9jeiIT5
— Visioner (@visionergeo) October 14, 2025
US has confirmed continued presence of troops in Poland, says defence minister after Hegseth meeting Notes From Poland
Special Interview: Sean McMeekin Big Serge Thought
South of the Border
US is working on doubling aid to Argentina to $40 billion by tapping private funding sources AP
Trump Approves Lethal Covert CIA Operations in Venezuela as Another Strike in the Caribbean Kills Six Venezuelanalysis
So there are two B-52 bombers—part of the nuclear deterrence and global strike operations force AFGSC—currently tracing a dick and balls with their flights paths off the coast of Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/2RuGB5qCEV
— New Left EViews (@NewLeftEViews) October 15, 2025
L’affaire Epstein
Bank of America, BNY sued over alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein New York Post
Trump 2.0
US approves new bank backed by billionaires with ties to Trump FT
A “very wealthy” private Trump donor offered to pay U.S. troops’ salary if funding ran out amid U.S. government shutdown.
Any guesses? pic.twitter.com/lo0Og6hiXf
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) October 14, 2025
WHY ARE US TROOPS OCCUPYING AMERICAN CITIES? Seymour Hersh
Inside the War on Antifa Ken Klippenstein
‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat Politico
***
Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump shutdown layoffs The Hill
Why odds are increasing that the government shutdown could last into November Yahoo! Finance
Democrats en déshabillé
Democratic Establishment Targets Maine Working-Class Senate Candidate Graham Platner Common Dreams
What this text describes—the calculated American effort to reorient the Western left from class struggle to cultural critique, from the collective to the individual, from socialism to liberal moralism—resonates almost prophetically with the forgotten work of Michel Clouscard.… https://t.co/VuEuhNcGdr pic.twitter.com/Oeh9000uG3
— Hispanic American Studies (@hispano_studies) October 15, 2025
Immigration
This Family Visit to a Military Base Ended With ICE Deporting a Marine’s Dad Military.com
Imperial Collapse Watch
Pentagon retreats from climate fight even as heat and storms slam troops Floodlight
Learning From The Defeat? Aurelien
Army general says he’s using AI to improve “decision-making” Ars Technica
Brave New World
Grenade-launching war-ready robot dog that strikes autonomously unveiled in US Interesting Engineering
MAHA
Inside FDA, career staffers describe how political pressure is influencing their work STAT
From Medicine to Mysticism: The Radicalization of Florida’s Top Doc Mother Jones
Groves of Academe
Brown University joins MIT in rejecting Trump’s academic funding pact Al Mayadeen
White House opened funding compact to all higher ed. Christian Science Monitor
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Inside SF’s private surveillance state 48 Hills
Flock’s Gunshot Detection Microphones Will Start Listening For Human Voices Tech Dirt
Healthcare?
A closer look at what’s driving the rising rate of uninsured children Public Health Watch
AI
Lawyer Caught Using AI While Explaining to Court Why He Used AI 404 Media
Man Stores AI-Generated ‘Robot Porn’ on His Government Computer, Loses Access to Nuclear Secrets 404 Media
Economy
The Used Car Market Is Imploding Jacobin
Gain-of-Function Monetary Policy Racket News
The Bezzle
Mr. Market Froth Bonanza
The Frothiest AI Bubble Is in Energy Stocks WSJ
Nvidia-backed firms plan massive West Texas AI data center. The Real Deal. “Self-powered “Horizon” campus will sprawl across 500 acres and tap into Permian Basin gas.”
Class Warfare
Atlanta’s city-run grocery sees early success, sparking debate over government’s role Fox News
When Bread Becomes a Weapon: Rethinking Hunger on World Food Day The Wire
Sacrificing the Present for An Anticipated Memory Scantron
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
