Monstrification Aeon
Scientists Explain Why ‘Harmless’ Sharks Devoured Swimmer in Chilling World First Science Alert
New DNA Evidence Reveals What Really Killed Napoleon’s Grand Army in 1812 ZME Science
The Dupont Metro Sticker Wars Overthinking
Climate/Environment
Melissa Undergoing Extreme Rapid Intensification, Catastrophic Impacts Expected for Jamaica Eye on the Tropics
New Satellite Data Reveal a Shift in Earth’s Once-Balanced Energy System Eos
Something very odd going on..
Arctic temperatures usually begin to fall at this time of year.
Currently there’s very little sign of that and if anything it’s likely we’re going to see temperatures rise again. pic.twitter.com/hs15pZY9Vp
— Met4Cast 🍂 (@Met4CastUK) October 25, 2025
Pandemics
‘Every time I step outside, the first thing on my mind is my forehead’: the women getting hair transplants The Guardian
Scars from the pandemic: understanding post-COVID-19 interstitial lung disease Breathe
WHN joins in the chorus: Medical masks are not PPE World Health Network
The great divide: How different Covid-19 control strategies shaped pandemic outcomes New Zealand Public Health Communication Centre
Tuberculosis cases are surging in the UK: Symptoms and advice you need to know The Independent
Water
Japan
In Abe’s shadow Observing Japan
Takaichi set to remove Japan’s defense export bans Asia Times
China?
US, China tee up sweeping trade deal for Trump, Xi to finish Business Times
The Illusion of American Leverage Warwick Powell. E.g.:
(1) US Auto Plants Weeks Away From Chip Shutdowns, Lobby Group Says Bloomberg
(2) China shift to higher-end exports boosts margins, mutual gains as US reliance dips: report South China Morning Post
(3) China’s industrial profits surge 21.6% in September, biggest jump in nearly two years CNBC
(4) China’s Pharma Leverage Is ‘Nuclear Option’ in US Trade Talks Bloomberg
China’s economic successes are reshaping the Western media narrative South China Morning Post
Stabilizing the U.S.-China Rivalry RAND We linked to a Simplicius piece on this in yesterday’s Links, but here’s a little more:
Absolutely extraordinary paper by RAND, the main think tank of the US military-industrial complex, and another key sign that the U.S. deep state – despite all the chaos and noise – is shifting away from deterring China, towards accepting coexistence (it’s literally what they… pic.twitter.com/AHNLfVuv6m
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) October 25, 2025
🇺🇸🇨🇳Beware of “analysts” (Arnaud Bertrand in this case) selling you US-China “peace” based on obscure papers disconnected from reality.
Arnaud is waving around a RAND paper as if it is proof that there is some sort of “retreat” in US policy regarding encircling and containing… pic.twitter.com/Ba7OznWmkG
— Brian Berletic (@BrianJBerletic) October 26, 2025
Navy helicopter, jet crash in South China Sea in separate incidents Navy Times
US grants 0% tariffs to Malaysia alongside Cambodia and Thailand Intellinews
Syraqistan
Revealed: The plan for a ‘New Gaza’ – and the four militias Israel is backing to defeat Hamas Sky News
Israeli excavations around Al-Aqsa threaten partial mosque collapse: Statement Al Arabiya. That sure is convenient.
Trump’s Paradox: Opposing Israeli West Bank Annexation in Words but Allowing It in Practice Haaretz
Baby, Boom: How to Keep Israeli Kids Busy on Vacation? Take Them to a Minefield Haaretz
Trump’s Road to Riyadh: The Geopolitics of AI and Energy Infrastructure American Affairs Journal
PKK says withdrawing all forces from Turkey to northern Iraq Middle East Eye
Killing of Sunni candidate casts shadow over Iraqi elections Amwaj
Old Blighty
Share our nuclear weapons with Germany, say British military chiefs The Telegraph
European Disunion
China humiliated Germany: no one in China wants to meet with German politicians InfoDefense. There’s a strong case to be made that it’s Germany humiliating itself.
Germany is doing to itself what even its defeat in WWII couldn’t Tarik Cyril Amar
Flashy hardware, fragile strategy: is Poland, NATO’s biggest defence spender, preparing for the right war? Notes from Poland
Mac On The Civil War In Europe Mark Wauck https://meaninginhistory.substack.com/p/mac-on-the-civil-war-in-europe?
Hungary’s new energy plan quietly redefines Russia as a risk Daily News Hungary
EXCLUSIVE: EU mulls copying US with end to aid for global health funds Euractiv
New Not-So-Cold War
Russia Just Launched the World’s Longest Ranged Missile: Burevestnik Can Fly Around the World Thousands of Times Before Striking Military Watch Magazine
Trump may not follow through on Russian oil or Tomahawk Indian Punchline
Europe’s Plan B for Ukraine Politico. ‘EU countries may be called upon to raise tens of billions of euros in joint debt as part of a “Plan B” to keep Ukraine afloat after Belgium shot down plans to use Russia’s frozen assets as a financial lifeline for Kyiv, according to three EU diplomats.’
Lithuania closes border crossings with Belarus indefinitely after balloons violate airspace for 3rd night in row Kyiv Independent
South of the Border
Argentina investors poised for rally after Milei election win Buenos Aires Times
Venezuela Denounces US-Backed Military Drills by Trinidad and Tobago as Hostile Provocation Orinoco Tribune
From Baghdad to Caracas: A Washington Manual on Sanctions and War Z Network
A lithium bust leaves Latin American towns in the dust Rest of World
Spook Country
How Secret Agents Work to Hijack U.S. Foreign Policy SpyTalk
Trump 2.0
The risks of letting Trump become the military paymaster Can We Still Govern?
Federal food aid will not go out starting Nov. 1 amid government shutdown, Trump administration says CBS News
The Conservatives Who Think Trump Isn’t Going Far Enough Boston Review
Trump says he won’t run for vice-president in 2028 US election Straits Times
Immigration
SCOOP: ICE List Shares Evidence With Letitia James Migrant Insider
Democrats en déshabillé
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he’d be ‘lying’ if he denied plans to consider a presidential run NBC News
Mamdani
I know you meant this to be racist against Mamdani but this mostly reads like “vote cuomo or else we’ll do another 9/11.” https://t.co/EVzSxHVLiy
— Matt Lieb?? (@mattlieb) October 25, 2025
Wars Come Home
How To Kill Subversives and Get Away With It New Lines Mag
Police State Watch
Feds detain Laugh Factory night manager, deploy tear gas in nearby neighborhood The TRiiBE
Imperial Collapse Watch
Golden Fleet: US eyes new generation of warships to restore dominance at sea Interesting Engineering
Accelerationists
What the Fascist Tech Bros Get Wrong About Prometheus Lit Hub
Groves of Academe
Higher Ed’s Rush To Adopt AI Is About So Much More Than AI Defector
Educated Slaves in Ancient Rome History Today
Healthcare?
Monopoly Round-Up: Obamacare Is Cooked. What’s Next? BIG by Matt Stoller
PNHP’s New Report on Medicare Advantage’s Equity Illusion HEALTH CARE un-covered
Against Equity: An Old-Fashioned Defence Of Equality 3 Quarks Daily
Our Famously Free Press
As Millions March Against Fascism, NYT Warns Against Progressives FAIR
The White House shared this Washington Post oped written by an Abu Shabab gang member from multiple accounts.
Post then replied with a gift link. The oped was pitched by a pro-Israel PR firm. Israel backed these gangs.
The rot is so deep https://t.co/YFrubVUVY2
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) October 25, 2025
Sports Desk
Make Sports Sacred Again UnHerd
The Friendly Skies
More than 8,000 US flights delayed as air traffic control absences persist Channel News Asia
AI
Class Warfare
The merits of unified ownership Works in Progress
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
