The Kremlin welcomes Japan’s desire to sign a peace treaty with Russia, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. This follows a statement by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who told parliament that pursuing an agreement is part of her government’s foreign policy agenda.

Japan and Russia never signed a peace treaty after the end of World War II. The absence of a treaty stems from a longstanding dispute over the four southernmost islands of the Kuril archipelago, which were incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1945 as part of the postwar settlement. Tokyo, however, continues to claim what it calls the Northern Territories.

“The Japanese government’s policy is to resolve the territorial issue and finalize the peace treaty,”Takaichi told parliament.

The US will work to reduce its dependence on rare earth metals from China, considering the country unreliable, said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

In an interview with the Financial Times on October 31, Bessent expressed confidence that Washington would find an alternative to Chinese sources of rare earth metals within two years.

According to him, China’s influence over the US in the rare earth metals sector will last no longer than 12 to 24 months.

"We're going to go at warp speed over the next one, two years, and we're going to get out from under the sword that the Chinese have over us," Bessent said in an interview with CNN.

He added that both Eastern and Western US allies are working to establish their own supply chains to avoid reliance on Chinese rare earth metals, as China plans to impose export restrictions.

People all over social media are publicly threatening to steal food once their EBT benefits run out. Some of them are taking it one step further by threatening to get violent with anyone that tries to prevent them from stealing food. So what is our country going to look like if this actually happens on a widespread basis? Today is day 26 of the government shutdown, and there is no end in sight. It appears that food stamp benefits will not be paid out to 42 million Americans at the beginning of November, and nobody is exactly sure what is going to happen next.

“The Well Has Run Dry”: Are The People That Are Having Epic EBT Meltdowns Serious About What They Plan To Do Next?

BY MICHAEL SNYDER

Personally, I have never seen as much anger directed toward the federal government as I am seeing right now.

Beirut – Does the unified Iranian-Russian-Chinese stance affirming the expiration of UN Resolution 2231 pose a challenge to Western efforts to revive the “snapback mechanism,” signal a shift in international relations, and herald the emergence of a multipolar world order?

WILL DISABLING THE “TRIGGER MECHANISM” LIMIT UNIPOLAR HEGEMONY AND HASTEN THE BIRTH OF MULTIPOLARITY?

BY Hassan Hardan

Here’s Israel’s strategy to continue the war on Gaza: find a pretext, no matter how baseless, use it to kill dozens of civilians and fighters, stop fire and claim you’re honouring the ceasefire. Then do it again.

The Israeli army announced that a soldier in Rafah had been killed by gunfire on Tuesday. Before the source of the gunfire could be confirmed, Netanyahu blamed it on Hamas, and gave the order for the army to launch “powerful strikes” on Gaza.

Tareq S. Hajjaj

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth claimed a new US strike on a vessel that, according to him, was used for drug trafficking in the Caribbean Sea and belonged to a "terrorist organization."

"Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) in the Caribbean," Hegseth said on X.

Three men were on board the vessel during the attack, which was carried out in international waters, he added.

"All three terrorists were killed, and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike," Hegseth added.

The Finnish region of South Karelia has been losing an estimated €1 million ($1.2 million) in tourist income every day since the country closed its border with Russia, Bloomberg reported on Saturday.

Finland shut all crossings along its 1,430km land border with Russia in late 2023, accusing Moscow of orchestrating an influx of migrants from Africa and the Middle East. Russia dismissed the allegation as “completely baseless.”

For decades, South Karelia, which lies closer to St. Petersburg than to Helsinki, had enjoyed lucrative ties with Russia – from cross-border shopping and tourism to lumber imports and local jobs in the forest industry. The loss of Russian visitors has reportedly left hotels, shops, and restaurants deserted, dealing a heavy blow to the local economy.

Opponents of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky have accused his administration of using lawfare to sideline political opposition, Politico reported on Friday, citing lawmakers and anti-graft activists.

The outlet cited last week’s indictment of the former chairman of Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo, Vladimir Kudritsky, as being seen as part of the pattern.

Kudritsky, who was dismissed from his post in 2024, told Politico that the embezzlement charges against him are political, aimed at facilitating a centralization of power under Zelensky and his top aide, Andrey Ermak.

Some Ukrainian executives fear that as Russia intensifies long-range strikes on the country’s energy and military-industrial facilities, Zelensky will be looking for scapegoats, local media reported in October.

US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard has acknowledged Washington’s history of regime change but said it ended under President Donald Trump – despite his recent remarks on Iran and accusations about Venezuela.

The US has long faced criticism for pursuing policies aimed at overthrowing governments under the banner of promoting democracy or protecting national interests – from Iraq in 2003 and Libya in 2011 to backing “color revolutions” such as Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan coup. Speaking at the 21st Manama Dialogue in Bahrain on Saturday, Gabbard claimed that, unlike its predecessors, the Trump administration prioritizes diplomacy and mutual deals over coups.

March for Australia rallies, at which neo-Nazis have been a visible presence. The heightened prominence of the sovereign citizen movement. Vigils in state capitals for the assassinated MAGA provocateur Charlie Kirk. A surge in the polls for One Nation. The intrigue surrounding the ambitions of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Barnaby Joyce, both figures with journalistic entertainment value, a prerequisite for successful political disruptors. US- and European-style populism appears to be taking deeper root on Australian soil.

Do you notice how nobody’s losing their jobs or getting deported for criticising the genocidal atrocities in Sudan?

Volodymyr Zelensky and his Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky are infamous for sacrificing Ukrainian lives to prolong fighting, Mikael Valtersson, former officer of the Swedish Armed Forces and Air Defense, tells Sputnik, commenting on the Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) and Kupyansk encirclements.

"[Their] policy has left up to 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers in a very precarious position. They are left with two bad alternatives, either being eliminated defending hopeless positions or taking heavy losses during a very hard withdrawal. In both cases Ukraine will lose invaluable military units," Valtersson notes.

There is a little, if any, chance that Zelensky could order a surrender, as "the worst thing that could happen from Kiev's point of view would be thousands of retreating or surrendering Ukrainian soldiers," according to the pundit.

Ukraine’s European backers will secretly meet in Madrid next week to coordinate efforts to increase support, Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported on Friday.

The organizers are reportedly maintaining “utmost secrecy” for the event planned for November 4, instructing delegates from 35 countries to leave their cell phones in a designated room and refrain from posting about the gathering on social media, according to a government document cited by the outlet.

Participants are expected to discuss ways to increase military and financial aid for Kiev, as well as possible security guarantees. They will also coordinate additional pressure on Russia. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares is set to attend, El Mundo said.

Europe is on the war path with grandiose plans for building a war economy akin to the American military-industrial complex. As always, drumming up public support for war—manufacturing consent—calls for narratives ranging from spurring ‘growth’ at home to combating threats from foreign regimes that obstruct the west’s monopoly on endless capital accumulation. At any rate, European leaders’ enhanced belligerence is inextricably related to safeguarding the interests of monopoly capitalism, while Europe has made itself redundant through its unconditional servitude to the U.S.

Capitalism and Endless War

by Sona Prakash