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Sun, 11 Oct 2026 18:30:00 +0000 Bluesky Exodus? Nikita Bier Says Users "Coming Back To X In Droves" And "Very Angry"
Bluesky Exodus? Nikita Bier Says Users "Coming Back To X In Droves" And "Very Angry"
Nikita Bier, who most recently led X's product development, has stayed on as an advisor and revealed on Saturday that Bluesky users have been " Read more.....
Bluesky Exodus? Nikita Bier Says Users "Coming Back To X In Droves" And "Very Angry"
Nikita Bier, who most recently led X's product development, has stayed on as an advisor and revealed on Saturday that Bluesky users have been "coming back to X in droves the last few weeks ."
Bluesky, once pitched as a "Twitter Killer" by corporate media in a highly coordinated information operation, has been nothing less than another failed left-wing experiment. The social platform, which ripped off old Twitter, has transformed into an echo chamber for folks who still suffer from "Trump Derangement Syndrome" and for the far left.
"The only group more insufferable than tech people is anti-tech bluesky users, who have been coming back to X in droves the last few weeks ," Bier wrote on X.
He added, "And they’re just discovering that the entire world got rich over the last two years while they were busy arguing with each other about politics and AI. And they’re very, very angry ."
X users commented on Bier's post:
The conversations and breaking news are on X. Bluesky has morphed into an extremist pit for left-wing users who left X in revolt against Elon Musk's push for free speech because these folks with TDS can't have a civilized conversation about politics or anything else without getting into a violent shouting match. Bluesky is their so-called "safe space," but now some appear to be venturing back into the real world.
Tyler Durden Sun, 10/11/2026 - 14:30 Close Sun, 11 Oct 2026 18:20:00 +0000 Riyadh Airport Struck Again, A Day After Houthi Attack Killed 12, Including An American
Riyadh Airport Struck Again, A Day After Houthi Attack Killed 12, Including An American
Update(1420ET) : Read more.....
Riyadh Airport Struck Again, A Day After Houthi Attack Killed 12, Including An American
Update(1420ET) : Sunday evening and leaving more people injured , after the day prior a Houthi missile strike on the travel hub left 12 people dead and over 300 injured. Regional reports say emergency crews battled a fire in the wake of the fresh attack :
A fire broke out at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Sunday after an unidentified projectile struck the airport’s terminal 4 for passengers. Authorities are responding to the scene, the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen reported.
Later on Sunday, the Kingdom’s civil aviation authority said the attack resulted in injuries and that damage assessment and safety checks of airport facilities were underway .
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree announced that these strikes in response to the "brutal Saudi aggression against our country and our people."
According to CBS News, "The airport remains closed on Sunday and Saudi Arabia moved Riyadh schools online amid the Houthis' latest threat." Apparently those among the injured are airport workers, and not travelers, as the airport remains closed and flights have been canceled or diverted.
* * *
Iran-backed Houthi rebels have not officially claimed responsibility for Saturday's missile attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, which killed 12 people and wounded more than 300 . The mass-casualty missile strike raises new questions about the effectiveness of Saudi Arabia's Western-supplied air and missile defenses, including potential gaps in detection, interception, and/or coverage. It also raises the risk of a wider Gulf conflict.
Al Jazeera correspondent Yousef Mawry , reporting from Sanaa, wrote early Sunday that the Saudis face a very uncomfortable reality: repeated airstrikes across Yemen have yet to eliminate the Houthis' ability to launch missiles and one-way attack drones toward the kingdom.
"Although Saudi Arabia has said it will retaliate, let's not forget that it's carried out many air strikes across Yemen, and the Yemeni group is still able to launch ballistic missiles and drones towards Saudi Arabia ," Mawry wrote.
The missile attack on the international airport late Saturday was the kingdom's deadliest incident since the Iran war began. The Saudi-led coalition blamed Yemen's Houthi rebels, describing the attack as a war crime.
Asked by reporters on Saturday whether the US military would join the Saudi attacks on the Houthis, President Trump responded: "We may. We're going to look at it."
Bloomberg reported that the attack disrupted travel ahead of the World Petroleum Congress, scheduled to begin today and last through next Thursday. Airport operations were temporarily suspended, with the flight monitor website Flightradar24 showing roughly 85% of flights canceled.
Al Jazeera quoted Dania Thafer, executive director of the Gulf International Forum, who said the Saudis will likely retaliate forcefully against the Houthis.
Gulf states want to contain the confrontation rather than let it spread across multiple fronts, Thafer told the outlet.
"I think in this situation, compartmentalizing the Houthi issue is in their interest rather than causing further escalation from many fronts ," Thafer said.
Thafer continued, "I still think that the Saudis probably want de-escalation. They don't want long-term escalation, but the Houthis are making it very difficult by not only being a threat to Saudi national security but also a threat to international maritime security. So this battle is much bigger than just a tit-for-tat ."
International leaders have released statements condemning the attack (via Al Jazeera):
The Iraqi prime minister's spokesman, Sabah al-Numan , condemned the attack, warning that it endangered "regional security and stability" and calling for an end to hostilities. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the attack a "dangerous escalation" by Iranian proxies that pushes the region into a spiral of violence that threatens global transport and energy networks. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas denounced the strike as an "appalling act of terror" against civilian infrastructure. UK Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said the "completely contemptible" attack highlighted a dangerous pattern of Houthi targeting of civilian sites in Saudi Arabia. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also condemned the attack as a "terrorist act" against civil aviation and offered sincere condolences to the families of the victims. Yasmeen al-Eryani, the executive director for knowledge production at the Sanaa Center, told the outlet that the Houthis are trying to put "maximum pressure" on Saudi Arabia. This comes as the US midterms are less than one month away.
"But they're also mobilizing the internal front lines in a really major way, moving even away from the west coast battle into Taiz and more densely populated areas," al-Eryani said.
"We could see further mobilization; they have very high momentum. They will probably continue to capitalize on that momentum, internally and cross-border attacks and by doing this, operationalizing a unification of arenas putting pressure across the region, economically, politically and so on," she said.
She added that the Houthis were "provoking" Saudi Arabia, the US and regional states, which could potentially join the conflict.
There are unofficial reports that the Saudis have begun striking multiple Houthi targets in Yemen.
In markets, Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index fell as much as 1%, with most of its constituents in negative territory, including Saudi National Bank and Saudi Aramco.
The attacks risk pushing the Gulf region into a more dangerous phase as US-allied Gulf governments are waking up to the fact that Iran's proxy network is becoming a shared threat to national security, energy infrastructure, and maritime trade.
Tyler Durden Sun, 10/11/2026 - 14:20 Close Sun, 11 Oct 2026 18:00:00 +0000 Poll Finds 64 Percent Of Americans Say AI Is Developing Too Fast
Poll Finds 64 Percent Of Americans Say AI Is Developing Too Fast
Poll Finds 64 Percent Of Americans Say AI Is Developing Too Fast
Authored by Savannah Hulsey Pointer via The Epoch Times ,
A new poll indicates that 64 percent of Americans believe artificial intelligence (AI) is developing "too fast."
The Associated Press-NORC Center poll released on Oct. 8 indicated that just 27 percent say the development is "about right," and less than 10 percent think it's moving "too slow."
Of the polled adults, more Democrats (76 percent) than Republicans (54 percent) think AI is moving too fast. However, 70 percent of those under 30 years old think the technology should be slowed, and 60 percent of those 60 years old and older think the same.
It comes amid growing concern over the technology's potential threat to humanity, which has led to industry leaders and politicians calling for a slowdown and more regulation.
President Donald Trump has dismissed calls for more regulation, saying the United States needs to maintain its edge over China in the AI race. Major AI companies recently signed a voluntary accord with the White House that calls for internal and external reviews.
According to the poll conducted Sept. 24 to 28, about half of respondents think the government's support is about promoting technological innovation, and a little fewer say they think it's about competition with China.
Meanwhile, 80 percent of Americans say it's "extremely" or "very" important for the United States to ensure AI stays under human control.
Recent months have seen several incidents of AI agents from major tech firms breaching websites of private companies, research institutions, and multiple government agencies.
Notably, ChatGPT developer OpenAI acknowledged in July that its AI agents broke out of a testing environment and hacked into Hugging Face, an open-source community for AI.
In September, OpenAI canceled the release of its latest model, GPT-6.1 Astra, slated for October, over safety concerns. It also postponed plans for its initial public offering this year.
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have proposed a range of measures to regulate the technology, but none are likely to advance anytime soon with Congress in recess ahead of the midterms.
Confidence in politicians' handling of AI is low, with 23 percent trusting Democrats to do a better job and 21 percent favoring Republicans , while 39 percent trust neither party.
Mistrust of AI appears to have extended to the realm of politics, as very few adults are using AI as a source of information for the upcoming election. The poll indicated that only about 21 percent of respondents said they use or plan to use AI to gather information about a candidate or ballot issue.
Even fewer (12 percent) said they will use AI for information about how to vote, and only 10 percent said they would use it for information on voter registration.
Jacob Burg contributed to this report.
Tyler Durden Sun, 10/11/2026 - 14:00 Close Sun, 11 Oct 2026 17:00:00 +0000 More School Cafeterias Are Getting A MAHA Makeover
More School Cafeterias Are Getting A MAHA Makeover
More School Cafeterias Are Getting A MAHA Makeover
Authored by Aaron Gifford via The Epoch Times ,
In Cleveland, new students at several schools across the city were pleasantly surprised by their cafeteria last month.
A shiny new buffet counter with locally sourced produce and a variety of cold meats and eggs replaced packaged salads with wilted lettuce, bland-looking vegetables, and minimal protein. Cilantro-lime rice made with just five ingredients has also been a popular choice lately, said Robert Gorman, executive director of nutrition services for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
"We're getting back to the basics, " he told The Epoch Times. "If there's a will, there's a way. If you want to serve locally, you can."
Public schools in Santa Fe, New Mexico, also have salad bars with local fruits and vegetables, plus beef from a nearby ranch included in the hamburgers, Frito pies, and Bolognese pasta sauce, said Diana Tarasiewicz, the district's student nutrition director.
Both districts received support from the Colorado-based Chef Ann Foundation, which works with school leaders to replace ultra-processed foods with whole ingredients.
The Make America Healthy Again federal Harvest to Hallways initiative, announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Health and Human Services just ahead of the current semester, will allow these districts and thousands of others to improve school nutrition and connect with local farmers for years to come.
The bipartisan Scratch Cooked Meals for Students Act, meanwhile, might see action in the upcoming congressional session. The bill was referred to a Senate committee in late May. It would establish a pilot program for replacing heat-and-serve operations in school cafeterias with scratch-cooking methods.
At the state level, legislation related to restricting unhealthy ingredients or incentivizing partnerships with local farmers was proposed or passed in Alaska, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania , according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Ultra-processed foods are often defined as those that are chemically manipulated with ingredients such as corn, soy, and wheat extracts to extend shelf life. Artificial ingredients are used to replace the vitamins and minerals that are lost as a result of processing and packaging.
Ultra-processed foods are less filling yet contain more calories than minimally processed foods, leading consumers to eat faster and consume more.
Collectively, these laws and incentives could bring a sea change for school nutrition , said Lori Nelson, the Chef Ann Foundation's executive director of school food operations.
"A key fact: there are six times more school cafeterias than there are McDonald's," she told The Epoch Times.
School food service leaders say overhauling heat-and-serve operations that have been the norm for decades, retraining cafeteria staff, and changing long-established procurement procedures to increase business with local producers is no easy task with narrow reimbursement margins; the USDA rate is about $4.60 per meal.
Salad bars, for example, prompt more concerns over cleanliness and require staff to watch the students.
"You need point-of-sale staff to make sure the kids don't just take a dozen eggs," Gorman said.
Even though Ohio, like other northern states, has a short growing season, there are creative ways to buy fresh foods from local producers. Gorman contracts with hydroponic lettuce growers and nearby bakers who make bagels and pizza dough.
New Mexico, by contrast, starts the school year just as local farmers are harvesting apricots, peaches, and beans , Tarasiewicz said.
"The month of August is the month of abundance for us," she said.
Both districts have reported less food waste since scratch cooking operations were ramped up. Moreover, Santa Fe has a district-wide composting system where discarded food is used for soil improvements. This also provides a science lesson for younger students, Tarasiewicz said.
Gorman said he is pleased with the reduced amount of packaging. The paper wraps previously used for grab-and-go hot sandwiches and the plastic salad containers cost the district several thousand dollars over the course of a school year.
It will take more than just guidance, money, and recipes to improve school nutrition practices at a mass scale, Nelson said.
Districts should provide adequate time and arrangements for children to eat their lunch , she said. Lunch period requirements are virtually nonexistent, and ideally kids should have recess before they eat.
"They get the sillies out and then go to lunch hungry, eat with a purpose, and get back to schoolwork," Nelson said. "If you can give 30 minutes for lunch, you should."
Tyler Durden Sun, 10/11/2026 - 13:00 Close Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:30:00 +0000 Nine Dead, Including Two Children, In Pennsylvania Family Mass Shooting
Nine Dead, Including Two Children, In Pennsylvania Family Mass Shooting
A shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Friday left nine people dead, including two small children, a pregnant woman and the man authorities believe was responsibl
Read more.....
Nine Dead, Including Two Children, In Pennsylvania Family Mass Shooting
A shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Friday left nine people dead, including two small children, a pregnant woman and the man authorities believe was responsible, according to USA Today . Police say the violence appears to have unfolded largely within a single family, although the circumstances leading up to the killings remain unclear.
The incident occurred October 9 at a house on Perry Street, where police were alerted to gunfire shortly before 5 p.m. Officers arriving at the property discovered two women, ages 37 and 51, who had been shot outside. A subsequent search of the residence revealed seven more bodies, including that of the suspected attacker.
USA Today writes that the victims inside included a 1-year-old girl, a 5-year-old boy, two young men ages 19 and 21, and two women ages 24 and 44. One of the deceased was eight months pregnant. Investigators determined that eight of those killed were members of the same extended family, while the remaining victim was a family acquaintance.
Police identified the suspected attacker as a 45-year-old man who was found upstairs with a legally registered firearm. Evidence initially suggested he had taken his own life after the killings. One of the nine deceased was transported to a hospital before being pronounced dead.
Questions surrounding the police response prompted officials to clarify the timeline. Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said officers reached the address within roughly three minutes of the initial gunfire alert but encountered a secured house with covered windows and no audible signs of violence continuing inside. Authorities maintain that everyone had already been shot before officers reached the scene and that the response did not involve a prolonged confrontation with the gunman.
Detectives are now attempting to reconstruct the events preceding the shooting through witness interviews, cellphone evidence and the suspect's prior interactions with law enforcement. Lorah indicated that psychological issues were among the possibilities being considered, but stressed that no explanation for the killings had been confirmed. He also described the crime scene as the worst he had witnessed in his policing career.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro pledged assistance to the city and expressed sympathy for those affected. Local officials are arranging mental health resources and other services for surviving relatives and residents shaken by the tragedy.
As of Saturday afternoon, authorities were still working to formally confirm the victims' identities and had not publicly released their names.
Tyler Durden Sun, 10/11/2026 - 12:30 Close Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:22:00 +0000 Polish Police Arrest Man Suspected Of Plotting To Assassinate PM Donald Tusk
Polish Police Arrest Man Suspected Of Plotting To Assassinate PM Donald Tusk
Summary:
PM Tusk Reveals Man Threatening Assassination Against Him Has Been Arrested Read more.....
Polish Police Arrest Man Suspected Of Plotting To Assassinate PM Donald Tusk
Summary:
PM Tusk Reveals Man Threatening Assassination Against Him Has Been Arrested Poland Holds Emergency Security Meeting Over Suspected Plot To Assassinate PM Tusk Polish Police Arrest Man Suspected Of Assassination Plot Against PM Tusk
Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X, "The man threatening an attack has been detained . Thank you to the police officers for their swift and decisive action."
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski first announced the arrest about ten minutes before Tusk took to X.
Kierwinski said, "The man threatening an attack has been detained. Thank you to the police officers for their swift and decisive action ."
Polish police earlier said they had received information about a possible assassination plot targeting both Tusk and Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz.
Jacek Dobrzynski, the security services spokesman, said, "We take this matter extremely seriously," adding that authorities believed there was a "high probability " the threats would be carried out.
Tusk warned in September that Russia could intensify hybrid attacks against European countries supporting Ukraine. Moscow has rejected those allegations.
So far, Polish officials have not disclosed whether the man arrested was linked to any state actors.
Poland Holds Emergency Security Meeting Over Suspected Plot To Assassinate PM Tusk
Elevated security threats across Ukraine, Europe, and the Gulf are increasing global instability and the risk of conflict spilling across borders. A major concern is that simultaneous crises could reinforce one another and lead to a broader confrontation.
The latest development comes from NATO member Poland, which borders Ukraine, where security services are investigating a suspected plot to assassinate Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz.
Early Sunday morning, Jacek Dobrzynski, the security services spokesman, wrote on X that the police had received "information…regarding a possible assassination attempt " on Tusk and Kosiniak-Kamysz, who, in addition to serving as defense minister, also serves as deputy prime minister.
Dobrzynski told reporters, "Month after month, year by year, we're getting more and more threats against Poles. Now we're talking about the most important people of the country ."
Polish authorities did not link the suspected assassination plot to Russia, but there have been mounting concerns over sabotage and other hybrid attacks against European countries supporting Ukraine. Those officials held an emergency meeting of Poland's police force, State Protection Service and Internal Security Agency earlier today to discuss the matter.
"As a major conduit for aid to Ukraine, Poland has suffered a spate of suspicious incidents , with multiple cyberattacks on public utilities like water, energy infrastructure and hospitals, and damage to the rail line between Warsaw and the Ukrainian border attributed to Russian intelligence," according to Bloomberg.
Tusk responds on X:
The assassination plot would fall just short of NATO's Article 5 threshold, which requires an armed attack. Such a credible threat could justify Article 4, which covers threats to a member's security or political independence. This would allow Poland, a NATO member since 1999, to hold talks with other NATO members to discuss the threat and possible coordinated responses.
This comes days after President Trump announced a deal with Russian President Putin to supply the US with diesel, infuriating the European Deep State, as Ukraine's Zelensky has ignored the US request to stop hitting Russian refineries. Those Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy assets have been one of the drivers of the global refining crisis.
Trump has also said it's "time for Ukraine to get a new leader," while Elon Musk agreed in a comment on our X post: "I agree, time for Ukraine to get a new leader."
Meanwhile, the Gulf conflict continues to rage as Iran-backed Houthi rebels are suspected of hitting a Saudi Arabian international airport, resulting in a mass-casualty incident and the risk of a major Saudi response.
Tyler Durden Sun, 10/11/2026 - 12:22 Close Sun, 11 Oct 2026 16:00:00 +0000 US Seizes 7 Domains Used By China-Linked Hackers To Target Critical Infrastructure
US Seizes 7 Domains Used By China-Linked Hackers To Target Critical Infrastructure
US Seizes 7 Domains Used By China-Linked Hackers To Target Critical Infrastructure
Authored by Arthur Zhang via The Epoch Times ,
The Justice Department and FBI announced on Oct. 8 that they had seized seven internet domains used by Chinese state-linked hackers to target critical infrastructure and other computer networks in the United States and overseas.
A hacker uses his computer in Dongguan, China's southern Guangdong Province, on Aug. 4, 2020. Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images The seizures targeted two hacking tools allegedly operated by cyber actors working for Integrity Technology Group, a Beijing-based cybersecurity company with Chinese regime contracts.
The tools were used to identify security weaknesses, gain unauthorized access to computer networks, and steal information, according to the Justice Department.
In a joint cybersecurity advisory released the same day, U.S. and allied agencies warned that Chinese regime-linked hackers enabled by Integrity Tech had combined automated scanning, large networks of compromised devices, and targeted intrusions to steal sensitive information from organizations worldwide, including U.S. critical infrastructure operators.
A federal magistrate judge in Pennsylvania approved the seizure warrant on Oct. 6, authorizing the domains to be redirected to FBI-controlled servers.
The Justice Department has not announced criminal charges against Integrity Tech or identified individual defendants in connection with the seizures.
The operation marks the second public U.S. disruption of Integrity Tech's hacking infrastructure in two years.
In September 2024, the FBI dismantled a network of more than 200,000 infected internet-connected devices, including home routers and cameras, that investigators said were used to conduct cyber operations.
However, a newly unsealed FBI affidavit indicates that tools linked to Integrity Tech remained accessible afterward.
Investigators found a server hosting one hacking tool in March 2026 and confirmed that a login page for another was still accessible in September.
"The PRC relies on contractor and enabling companies to expand the reach and scale of its malicious cyber activity," said Brett Leatherman, assistant director of the FBI's Cyber Division, referring to the People's Republic of China.
"By exposing and disrupting these enablers, we make it harder for the PRC to target American networks and infrastructure."
US Power Company, Foreign Airports Targeted
According to the affidavit, one hacking tool, called Microscan, searched computer networks for weaknesses that hackers could later exploit.
Investigators identified scanning activity involving a South Carolina power company, airports in Japan and Poland, a multinational nonprofit organization, and Taiwanese companies operating in the natural gas and electricity industries.
Scanning does not necessarily mean hackers gained access to a network. The court filings do not establish that the power company, airports, or energy companies were successfully breached.
However, investigators said two Taiwanese universities were successfully hacked after their networks had been scanned.
A second tool, FishHub, was used in targeted phishing operations designed to trick victims into opening malicious content.
After an initial breach, it could deliver additional software that allowed hackers to control computers remotely, search for files, and send stolen information to servers under their control.
The Justice Department said approximately 20 Taiwanese universities were confirmed victims of FishHub activity .
Five of the seized domains were used to deliver the malicious software.
Chinese Regime Contractor
Integrity Tech was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in January 2025 over its role in cyber operations attributed to Chinese state-sponsored hackers.
At the time, the department said the company had ties to China's Ministry of State Security, the country's principal civilian intelligence agency, and provided services to state-security and public-security bureaus.
The department said hackers working for Integrity Tech operated at the Chinese regime's direction.
The Oct. 8 advisory describes Integrity Tech as a profit-making company whose employees acquire or develop hacking tools for use and sale, provide infrastructure supporting cyberattacks, and compromise networks worldwide.
The agencies said those services contribute to a larger Chinese cyber ecosystem that seeks to steal sensitive information from victims around the world.
Integrity Tech is publicly traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange under stock code 688244.
In a January 2025 disclosure, the company rejected earlier U.S. allegations, saying they lacked a factual basis. It maintained that it operated legally and had no subsidiaries, business operations, or assets in the United States.
The Epoch Times contacted Integrity Tech, the FBI, and the Justice Department for comment but received no responses before publication.
Asked about the seizures at an Oct. 9 press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing opposed hacking and rejected what she described as politically motivated misinformation.
She accused Washington of double standards and political manipulation but did not directly address the allegations against Integrity Tech.
The United Kingdom also sanctioned Integrity Tech in December 2025 over its alleged involvement in cyber operations targeting British public-sector systems.
Agencies Warn of Worldwide Data Theft
The joint advisory, issued by the FBI, National Security Agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and authorities from six other countries, identified U.S. targets across government services, critical manufacturing, health care, and information technology.
The hackers also targeted American law-enforcement agencies, educational institutions, and religious organizations , along with entities in Southeast Asia, Africa, and elsewhere in North America.
The agencies described the activity as extending beyond the China-backed cyber espionage group Flax Typhoon to operations also tracked under the names Ethereal Panda and Red Juliett, while cautioning that such labels do not necessarily correspond to identical groups or operations.
The advisory warned that hackers used a combination of mass scanning and targeted attacks to enter computer networks, steal account credentials, maintain unauthorized access, and remove sensitive files and emails.
Some of the malicious software was disguised as legitimate Windows programs.
Other tools exploited weaknesses in Microsoft email services or enabled attackers to maintain remote access while making their activity harder to detect.
The FBI identified victims of email theft among government agencies, law-enforcement organizations, health care systems, and religious institutions in Southeast Asia.
In some instances, access to the stolen information was restricted to internet addresses in Xiamen, China .
Investigators also discovered a custom online application maintained by the hackers that allowed third parties to retrieve stolen emails from specific accounts, according to the advisory.
The agencies urged government bodies and critical infrastructure operators to search their networks for evidence of compromise, promptly fix known security weaknesses, disable unnecessary services, and strengthen account protections.
Tyler Durden Sun, 10/11/2026 - 12:00 Close Sun, 11 Oct 2026 13:55:00 +0000 "Facing Problems With Crime": Even Baltimore City's Hipster-Owned Businesses Are Losing Patience
"Facing Problems With Crime": Even Baltimore City's Hipster-Owned Businesses Are Losing Patience
Baltimore City's image remains deeply shaped by HBO's hit crime drama, the 2015 riots , an ongoing public safety crisi
Read more.....
"Facing Problems With Crime": Even Baltimore City's Hipster-Owned Businesses Are Losing Patience
Baltimore City's image remains deeply shaped by HBO's hit crime drama, the 2015 riots , an ongoing public safety crisis, decades of deindustrialization, population collapse, and the opioid and drug crisis. Together, those mounting problems have severely weakened the city's appeal to visitors, residents, and businesses.
Democrats have held Baltimore's mayor's office continuously since 1967 , placing nearly a six-decade reign under what can only be described as one-party rule by extreme left-wing Democratic queens and kings. This epic trail of destruction and chaos reflects a progressive experiment that has horribly gone wrong and the resulting crime and economic despair.
A population collapse to a 100-year low , absurdly high taxes, and crime have made it nearly impossible for mom-and-pop businesses to operate, even in the nicest parts of town.
Take Federal Hill, a historic neighborhood just south of Baltimore's failed Inner Harbor. Once a popular spot for bars, restaurants, and college graduates, it has quickly descended into crime.
Local outlet The Baltimore Banner reports that yet another local restaurant is leaving the area.
Blue Moon Too will close its Federal Hill location in spring 2027 after its landlord declined to renew its lease.
Owner Sarah Simington also warned: "The neighborhood has been facing problems with crime ."
Instead of moving her local brunch spot into the county, a much safer area, as many other restaurants in the city have done since the 2015 riots, Simington will relocate hers to Hampden, a somewhat safer part of the metro area.
Another popular spot in the harbor area that has been transformed into chaos is Fells Point, a popular bar district.
Fox Baltimore reported in June on youth mobs and gunfire that plagued the once-happening bar district, and the footage from the summertime is shocking:
The misery doesn't stop at Fells Point. In the downtown area known as the Inner Harbor, it's a ghost town as commercial real estate buildings implode in value. Even Under Armour's city-within-a-city project saw Goldman pull out of the multibillion-dollar development.
This summer, Moody's Ratings downgraded the city because of its rapidly deteriorating financial situation, as left-wing Mayor Brandon Scott's ability to govern properly comes into question.
Moody's recently said the downgrade "reflects the trend of declining fund balance and cash levels across all government operations, largely concentrated in the utility and internal service funds."
To Brandon's credit, murders are significantly down, but that comes after a decade-long violent crime wave. We must add that the damage is already done because Baltimore has seen a massive exodus of residents, losing more than 70,000 people, or about 11% of its population, over the past two decades.
The slow death of Baltimore City has happened under more than a half-century of one-party Democratic rule, and its leaders' progressive experiment has all but failed.
Tyler Durden Sun, 10/11/2026 - 09:55 Close Sun, 11 Oct 2026 13:20:00 +0000 Equity Risk Premium Has Vanished, And Stocks Aren't Cheap...
Equity Risk Premium Has Vanished, And Stocks Aren't Cheap...
Equity Risk Premium Has Vanished, And Stocks Aren't Cheap...
Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,
?? Equity Risk Premium Has Vanished, And Stocks Aren’t Cheap.Last week’s Q4 market outlook
The Equity Risk Premium Has Turned Negative
The simplest version of the math compares what the S&P 500 earns with what a Treasury note pays. At Tuesday’s record close of 7,818.93, the index traded at about 27 times trailing as-reported earnings, according to Robert Shiller’s data. ChartRow’s independent count
Notice in the chart above how rarely the spread sits this far below zero. Shiller’s monthly data, now running through October 2026, puts the average since 1950 at about +1.0 point. Aside from the 2009 earnings collapse, the last time stocks yielded this much less than bonds was in 2002.
Someone will tell you trailing earnings are the wrong yardstick when profits are growing at nearly 30%. Fair enough. Use the forward numbers instead. FactSet’s forward P/E of 19.0
A Negative Premium Only Hurts When Stocks Are Expensive
Here’s where it gets interesting, and where I had to check my own bias. I sorted every month since 1950 by its starting premium, then measured the S&P 500’s real total return over the following decade. A negative premium on its own was NOT a reliable sell signal. The 1980s are the reason. Through the first half of that decade, the 10-year yielded well into double digits, stocks earned less than bonds month after month, and investors who bought anyway were rewarded with one of the best ten-year runs the market has ever produced.
The difference was the starting price. In the early 1980s, the S&P 500 carried an earnings yield above 5%, and at times above 12%. Stocks were cheap, and bonds were cheaper. The premium was negative because yields were enormous, and when yields collapsed, both assets soared. Starting points like that averaged a 10.3% real annual return over the next ten years. Only about one in twenty lost money.
Now look at the other bucket. When the premium was negative and the earnings yield was below 5%, the average real return fell to 3.7% per year. More than one in four of those ten-year stretches finished in the red. Most of those starting points came during the 1990s run-up and the dot-com peak. Such is the distinction that matters. Today’s 3.7% earnings yield puts us squarely in the expensive bucket, not the 1980s one.
A negative premium is survivable when you buy cheap. It’s a problem when you pay up for the privilege.
Cash And Bonds Now Pay You To Wait
For the better part of fifteen years, zero-yield money markets fueled the “there is no alternative” trade. Savers got pushed out of the risk curve because cash paid nothing. That flow can run in reverse, and Michael Lebowitz laid out why in “From TINA To TIGA.”
“Stocks return 10% over time. Why would I lock in 5%?”
Because that 10% assumes you start at an average valuation, and we aren’t starting there. Adam Taggart and I
The bulls do have a valid point. When you measure stocks against inflation-protected Treasuries, instead of nominal ones, the premium survives. Currently, that premium ranges from roughly 0.8 to 2.3 points, depending on whose earnings you trust. That’s a thin margin, and the higher end depends on nearly 30% earnings growth arriving on schedule. For me, there is also some irony here. In my view, yields will eventually come down due to the disinflationary impact of debt on the economy. This is why I’ve argued for keeping bonds in your portfolio If yields fall, the premium rebuilds from the bond side, and stocks get rescued by the same math that hurts them today. If they don’t, the comparison to 1997 through 2002 stops being an analogy.
Notably, the recovery math is what investors consistently underestimate. We previously discussed “Financial Crisis” impact of a 52.6% decline, that 111% recovery can take years to return to the previous level. Bonds not only reduce losses but also shorten the climb back, and that difference compounds over the years of a retirement timeline.
Here is another crucial point for owning bonds in your portfolio, particularly if nearing retirement. Income is better today than at any point in two decades. The 10-year yields 5.3%, more than three times what it paid at the end of 2021. That is contractual cash flow rather than hoped-for appreciation, which means you aren’t forced to sell equities into weakness to fund a withdrawal.
Lastly, the behavioral issue determines outcomes. DALBAR’s 2026 study found that the average fixed-income investor earned 2.41% in 2025, while the Bloomberg Aggregate returned 7.30%, a gap of 4.89 percentage points. Investors pulled a record 2.30% of assets out in a single month, July 2025.8 Read that again. The asset class returned more than 7%, while the people who owned it captured a third of the return. They sold into the drawdown and bought back after the recovery, which is the same behavior that the stock-bond correlation debate is now encouraging on a much larger scale.
What Should Investors Do Now
Let’s state the obvious: none of this discussion is about wholesale dumping of stocks before year-end. As discussed in last week’s report
For our clients, this means a few recent changes. We shortened the duration slightly, but are still maintaining the overall bond allocations across all stock/bond allocation models. This is not because bonds are exciting, nor because the past five years treated them kindly. We keep those bond allocations because they remain the cheapest insurance against the one scenario that most severely damages a retirement plan. That is when a deep equity drawdown arrives early in the withdrawal phase.
Owning bonds in your portfolio is a choice. If you choose not to, there is nothing wrong with that decision as long as you can manage portfolio risk. If you choose to own bonds in your portfolio, they should be sized to your circumstances rather than to a number somebody printed in 1952. Forty percent is not a law of nature. Your income needs, your time horizon, and your honest tolerance for watching a statement fall determine that figure.
Understand the limitation clearly. Duration protects you in a growth shock and hurts you in an inflation shock. If inflation is the risk that keeps you awake, the answer is inflation-sensitive assets and a shorter duration.
The bond market is finally paying investors to be patient. The stock market is still charging full price for impatience.
?? Key Catalysts Next Week Two narratives collide next week. Q3 earnings season starts in earnest with the big banks, and the September inflation data lands before the Fed goes quiet ahead of its Oct. 27-28 meeting. Monday is Columbus Day, so stocks trade while the bond market stays closed.
Tuesday morning brings JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs, along with Johnson & Johnson and UnitedHealth. Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, Progressive, and ASML follow on Wednesday. Thursday is the heavyweight session, with Taiwan Semiconductor, Charles Schwab, PNC, U.S. Bancorp, BNY, and Prologis. Travelers closes the week on Friday.
Banks are expected to grow earnings 15.2%, well above the 4.4% expected for the financial sector overall. Watch net interest income, loan growth, and credit quality with yields near their highest level since 2002. If the banks show loan growth and steady credit with the 10-year above 5%, the broadening case gets real support. TSMC on Thursday is the most important read on AI demand after this week’s chip selloff, and ASML gives the equipment side a day earlier.
On the data side, Wednesday’s CPI report is the main event after August’s headline rate of 3.4%. Thursday is crowded, with PPI expected to be up 0.5% for the month, retail sales expected to be up 0.3%, plus the Empire State and Philly Fed surveys. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack speaks Monday.
Markets are currently pricing in roughly a 20% chance of an October hike, but traders see about an 80% chance of a move by December. The Fed’s quiet period begins Saturday, Oct. 17, so next week is the last chance for officials to shape expectations before the meeting. Expect any hawkish or dovish lean in their remarks to show up quickly in the 2-year yield.
Oil remains the wild card. Trump’s pledge not to strike Iran before the Nov. 3 midterms pulled Brent back, but it still sits above $100.
The single most market-moving event is Wednesday’s CPI. A soft print would support the “pause” camp and pull the 10-year back toward 5%. A hot one revives bets on December rate hikes and pushes yields higher, which matters more than usual given that stocks offer little premium over bonds.
A record standing on a few names is NOT the same as a broad advance.
For traders, the playbook is simple. Don’t chase the market while it’s sitting at the resistance of previous highs. A close above the record and the upper band near 7,846, with semis participating, would open a run toward 8,000. Pullbacks toward the 50-day average near 7,700 are the place to add exposure. A break below the Sept. 16 low of 7,567, which also lines up with the lower Bollinger Band, would warrant raising hedges and cash. We continue to recommend rebalancing winners back to target weights ahead of earnings and using the 50-day average as the stop-loss line.
The level that matters next week is the record close at 7,818.93. A close above it with chips joining in confirms the breakout. A failure there, with bank earnings and CPI on deck, likely keeps the index boxed between 7,700 and 7,850. A close below 7,700 would shift the near-term trend back to neutral.
Tyler Durden Sun, 10/11/2026 - 09:20 Close Sun, 11 Oct 2026 13:15:00 +0000 Houthi Missile Attack On Busy Terminal At Riyadh Airport Kills 12, Injures 309
Houthi Missile Attack On Busy Terminal At Riyadh Airport Kills 12, Injures 309
Update (1610ET) : Read more.....
Houthi Missile Attack On Busy Terminal At Riyadh Airport Kills 12, Injures 309
Update (1610ET) :unprecedented : at least 12 people have killed and 50 more were injured (NYT) in the Houthi missile attack on King Khalid International Airport in Ryiadh on Saturday. A missile is reported to have directly struck the busy Terminal 3 of the major hub. Saudi state sources are listing over 300 among the injured .
The New York Times "the deadliest attack in a Gulf Arab country since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began in February." Dozens of ambulances were at the scene and area hospitals saw a huge influx of patients needing emergency care. Some among the dozens admitted to the hospitals are said to be in critical condition. All air traffic to and from the airport has been suspended and flights diverted amid the emergency.
This mass casualty event could open up a bigger war, but also questions of the failures of Western anti-air defenses in the kingdom. The NYT writes :
Across the border in Yemen, Saudi warplanes have been waging a deadly bombing campaign against the Houthis, who say that the country has been subjected to hundreds of airstrikes in recent weeks. Since Sept. 3, airstrikes have killed 91 people in Yemen, mostly women and children, according to Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesman for the Houthi government-affiliated health ministry.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior Houthi official, said the militia was responsible for the attack in Riyadh on Saturday, which he said was in retaliation for Saudi strikes, including on civilian infrastructure in Yemen.
National sources are citing various injuries in the hundreds after the airport attack, and reports of an American among the dead :
Saudi state sources/Aviation Authority: At least 12 people were killed and 309 injured, some critically
President Trump is weighing joining the anti-Houthi fight in the aftermath:
"We may. We're going to look at it," Trump said of intervening. "We just found out about the recent attack. So we'll make a decision. We move very quickly."
Meanwhile Time by day's end the group officially claimed responsibility . Houthi response (Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior Houthi official) via NYT: "so that the world understands that airports, seaports, wedding and mourning halls, hospitals, and markets in Yemen are civilian facilities that must not be targeted or harmed — and that the same rules that apply to these facilities in Yemen must also apply to their counterparts everywhere else ."
The emerging videos throughout the day of the impact zone have revealed smoke-filled chaos in the moments after impact:
* * *
On Saturday Yemen's Houthis have once again pummeled Saudi Arabia's King Khalid International Airport in Ryiadh with a volley of ballistic missiles. A major emergency response has ensued with dozens of ambulances at the scene, and a total evacuation of the major flight hub.
In this fresh instance, which comes after multiple attacks on the kingdom's civilian aviation hubs stretching back at least a week, there appears to be mass casualties as a result .
Result of the prior October 8 attack on Riyadh's international airport, social media via Reuters Arrivals have been canceled across the board for much of Saturday, according to flight tracker Flightradar24, with passengers that were already in the air having been diverted to other cities.
"Terminal 3 of the King Khalid International Airport suffered a direct hit from missiles and has been evacuated, with at least some injuries, Saudi officials said," reports The Wall Street Journal
ALL OPERATION SUSPENDED
"Several ambulances and a few helicopters were sent to collect the wounded and take them to King Fahad hospital in Riyadh, one of the officials said," the report continues. "A video the official said was authentic showed blood smeared on the floor ."
Horrible scenes out of Terminal 3:
Various countries have increasingly warned their citizens against flying in and out of Riyadh, including the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Ireland, and others.
These travel alerts have especially increased in the wake of Thursday's deadly missile attack on the airport, which saw one or more parked plane destroyed and three people killed, including a pilot . Mass casualties are being reported via Reuters/CNN :
Many people were wounded in a blast at Riyadh’s international airport on Saturday, according to two eyewitnesses and two people briefed on the matter, and travelers were evacuated from parts of the facility.
One of the eyewitnesses reported seeing an explosion and then seeing multiple people lying injured on the ground inside the airport. More than a dozen ambulances were seen rushing to the airport .
Saudi authorities have been slow to acknowledge or officially comment on these attacks, or give much in the way of details. Clearly, anti-air defenses are failing to intercept all inbound missiles from Yemen, and Thursday's attack also saw missile debris fall on a medical center in the capital.
The WSJ report further underscores a major area of sensitivity for the royal family: "The continued missile attacks on airports in Riyadh and a number of southern Saudi cities threaten to choke off business travel and tourism just as the busy conference and travel season gets going ," it writes.
"A major test will come with the kingdom’s flagship Future Investment Initiative summit, which is expected to draw thousands of global executives and investors to Riyadh at the end of this month," the publication also notes.
"Conference officials said before the Saturday attack that safety is their top priority and that comprehensive safety measures will be in place," it adds.
The conference which gathers leaders from across the world is set for October 26 to 29, 2026 at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh. So far there's been no indication that authorities will either cancel or change the venue. The Houthis in neighboring Yemen are expected to keep up the pressure, also as Aramco sites get targeted, amid the ground war and fight for Red Sea coastal areas.
Tyler Durden Sun, 10/11/2026 - 09:15 Close
Dotsquares