Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s President Isaac Herzog have called for President Donald Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize after securing a historic ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, based on his 20-point plan. All Israeli hostages are expected to be released in the coming days.

“Give Donald Trump the Nobel Peace Prize – he deserves it,” stated Netanyahu’s X account Thursday morning. The same was echoed by Herzog on X. “There is no doubt that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for this,” he wrote.

“This is a morning of historic and momentous news,” Herzog added. “I give my full support for the agreement reached in Egypt. I express my thanks to Prime Minister Netanyahu and the negotiating team, the mediators, and all those involved in this vital effort.

“I wish to extend my deepest thanks to President Donald Trump for his incredible leadership toward securing the release of the hostages, bringing an end to the war, and creating hope for a new reality in the Middle East,” Herzog continued.

“There is no doubt that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for this. Should he visit us in the coming days, he will be received with immense respect, affection, and gratitude by the people of Israel.”

And he concluded, “This agreement will bring moments of indescribable relief to the dear families who have not slept for 733 days” as it “offers a chance to mend, to heal, and to open a new horizon of hope for our region.”

On the same day, Egypt’s President Sisi told President Trump in phone call that he ‘deserves Nobel Peace Prize’ – adding to the growing list.

At a moment street celebrations have broken out on both sides of the war, despite reports of some sporadic shelling still happening in Gaza on Thursday, there are these interesting and unexpected scenes:

Jubilant locals in both Gaza and Israel took to the streets early Thursday to celebrate President Trump for his role in the historic cease-fire deal — with many calling for him to get the Nobel Peace Prize.

Footage from both the streets of Tel Aviv and war-torn Gaza showed crowds of revelers celebrating what they hope will be the end of the two-year war as they hailed Trump for helping secure the deal.

“Donald Trump! Donald Trump!,” residents in Gaza could be heard cheering after the news broke Wednesday night.

Israeli farmers created a giant message to the world: Nobel 4 Trump

📷 Guy Sherry pic.twitter.com/uJl2lRhNdb

— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) October 9, 2025

The timing of all of this adds immense pressure to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, as Bloomberg reports Thursday:

Norway is bracing for the aftermath of the Nobel Peace Prize announcement on Friday as the Nordic nation has faced increasing pressure from Donald Trump and his administration to award it to the US leader.

Trump’s aggressive push to secure the prize, including public declarations he deserves it and calls to Norwegian officials, has intensified with a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and a possible peace deal. At the same time, the decisionmakers at the Norwegian Nobel Committee have signaled that this pressure has been futile.

The Norwegian government is meanwhile trying to make clear that it does not interfere with the committee’s decisions, and the latest Bloomberg reporting strongly suggests that Trump will not be named as a recipient:

His campaign has thrust Oslo into an uncomfortable spotlight, with media and observers worrying about the diplomatic and economic fallout for Norway should the independent five-member committee snub him. The latest comments from its head, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, to local media fell just short of confirming that Trump won’t get it at least this year — in line with past examples where pressure on the committee has been counterproductive.

Watne Frydnes told Norwegian tabloid VG that the decision on this year’s award was made Monday. He also indicated in comments to public broadcaster NRK that the possible peace deal in the Middle East would only count toward next year’s award.

Below: Critics have pointed out that the Trump administration only continued and expanded Biden’s policies of arming Israel and giving it billions, extending the war…

Trump and Nobel Peace Prize should never be under consideration for what he has enabled in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/oauDl3bJrJ

— Chris Rossini (@ChrisRossini) October 4, 2025

And yet he’s become a favorite to receive the Nobel among the bookmakers, according to betting markets and Oddschecker.

Nominations were due by Jan. 31, 2025 for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize; however, Trump’s nomination was reportedly filed by international supporters by that date – though it’s unclear if he was actually among a final list of nominees.

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and officials at the Department of Health and Human Services have changed recommendations and policy for multiple vaccines, including shots against COVID-19 and measles.

Here’s what has changed so far.

COVID-19 Vaccines

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now call for individuals to speak with a health care provider about risks and benefits before receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, a change approved on Oct. 6.

Kennedy wrote on X that the move amounted to “restoring informed consent.”

The CDC in May, under orders from Kennedy, stopped recommending COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women. But the agency still had near-universal recommendations in place.

The Food and Drug Administration later revoked emergency authorizations for the vaccines. The agency also approved four shots for narrower populations—those under 65 who have an underlying condition and all people 65 years of age and older.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) then told the CDC to update its recommendations to individual shared decision-making, which emphasizes that vaccinations are “individually based and informed by a decision process between the health care provider and the patient or parent/guardian,” Jim O’Neill, the CDC’s acting director and the deputy health secretary, approved the recommendation.

Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccine

President Donald Trump recently encouraged people to take separate vaccines against measles, mumps, and rubella. Standalone options, though, are not available as of now in the United States. O’Neill on Oct. 6 backed Trump and called on manufacturers to produce monovalent vaccines against the diseases.

Kennedy told a Senate panel on Sept. 4 that he did not expect a change with the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, known as MMR.

The United States in 2025 has recorded the most cases of measles since 1992.

Kennedy has said the vaccine limits the spread of measles and that people should get it, while raising concerns about side effects, which can include seizures and pneumonia.

Officials in Texas, the state that has recorded the bulk of the cases, announced on Aug. 18 that the measles outbreak there is over. New cases have been cropping up in other states, including South Carolina.

A tray of MMR vaccine vials at a clinic in Lubbock, Texas, on March 1, 2025. President Donald Trump recently encouraged people to seek separate vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella, although standalone shots are not currently available in the United States. Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images

Varicella Vaccine and MMRV

The CDC in an October update endorsed standalone varicella vaccination for younger children because they face an elevated risk of febrile seizures if they receive the measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (MMRV) combination vaccine.

The CDC’s immunization schedule lists a first dose against measles and varicella around a child’s first birthday. They are recommended to get a second dose when they are 4, 5, or 6 years of age.

The CDC previously recommended both the MMR and MMRV vaccine options. It still recommends MMRV vaccination for a child’s second dose, because the higher seizure risk has not been apparent for older children.

The update was based on advice from the reformed ACIP—of which all members were chosen by Kennedy after the removal of existing members.

Many pediatricians already promote the MMR plus varicella vaccine option. According to federal data, about 85 percent of children typically receive those vaccines as opposed to the MMRV vaccine for their first measles dose.

Hepatitis B Vaccine

The ACIP had been prepared to vote on advising the CDC to delay the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine from shortly after birth to at least one month of age, but advisers ended up tabling the motion. Some indicated they wanted to examine the entire hepatitis B vaccine schedule, while others said they wanted to keep the schedule as it is.

“We need to postpone that because we need to really have the data to address whether or not hepatitis B vaccine should be administered to children at all,” Dr. Robert Malone, one of the advisers, said later.

It’s not clear when the matter will be revisited.

Many other countries start the hepatitis B vaccine regimen at two or three months of age, if they have a regimen at all.

Trump said in remarks about vaccines that he thinks children should not receive the hepatitis B vaccine until they are adolescents, which was recommended in an Independent Women’s Forum report. Some other groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, support the current schedule.

Illustration of a baby after his first hexavalent vaccination, with a band-aid placed on his thigh, in a file image. Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reviewing the childhood immunization schedule, which has grown from five vaccines in 1995 to about a dozen today. Riccardo Milani/AFP via Getty Images

Influenza Vaccines

The ACIP recommended that the government keep in place its recommendation that people at least 6 months of age receive an influenza vaccine each year.

Advisers also said officials should stop backing influenza vaccines containing thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, because of concerns over cumulative mercury exposure.

With no CDC director in place, Kennedy over the summer signed off on both recommendations.

“Injecting any amount of mercury into children when safe, mercury-free alternatives exist defies common sense and public health responsibility,“ he said in a statement about thimerosal. ”Today, we put safety first.”

RSV Vaccines and Antibodies

Susan Monarez, the director of the CDC at the time, in August approved another recommendation from the advisory committee, to recommend an antibody for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to infants born during or entering their first respiratory virus season. The season starts in the fall.

The product, clesrovimab, provides an alternative to Beyfortus, an antibody that is already approved and recommended.

One of the advisers later said the data the panel heard appeared to be manipulated, while Monarez was later fired.

Kennedy over the summer also approved the panel’s advice to expand the recommendation for RSV vaccination from individuals aged 60 to 74 who face an increased risk of severe disease to people aged 50 to 74 who face an increased risk.

The vaccines continue to be recommended for adults 75 years of age and older, regardless of health.

Susan Monarez, nominee for CDC director, testifies during her Senate confirmation hearing in Washington on June 25, 2025. In August, Monarez approved an advisory committee recommendation to offer an antibody against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to infants born during or entering their first respiratory virus season, which starts in the fall. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

HPV Vaccine

CDC advisers had been scheduled to vote in June on whether to expand the recommendation for the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to children ages 9 and 10.

The vaccine is currently recommended for children aged 11 and 12.

The vote was removed from the meeting agenda after Kennedy replaced the panel’s members.

In meetings of the reformed committee, members have neither been presented with information about the HPV vaccine nor voted on altering the recommendation.

Chikungunya Vaccine

The FDA in August suspended one chikungunya vaccine because, regulators said, data indicated that it was no longer safe.

The data included reports of serious adverse events following vaccination.

The events included cardiac problems.

Another vaccine against chikungunya virus is still available in the United States.

A laboratory technician holds a mosquito at the World Mosquito Program factory in Medellín, Colombia, on June 4, 2024. Scientists have long released biologically modified mosquitoes to curb transmission of diseases such as chikungunya. Jaime Saldarriaga/AFP via Getty Images

Polio and DPT Vaccines

No changes have been made with the poliomyelitis, or polio, vaccine.

“I support the polio vaccine,” Kennedy said in his confirmation hearing.

Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine recommendations have also remained the same.

Like the polio vaccine, that shot is on the childhood immunization schedule.

Vaccine Schedule

CDC advisers are studying the childhood immunization schedule, which has risen from five vaccines in 1995 to about a dozen currently. The work includes looking “at interaction effects, or if it’s best to do one vaccine before another,” ACIP’s chair, Martin Kulldorff, said on Sept. 18.

The CDC says on its website that the immunization schedule “is safe and effective at protecting your baby.”

The recommendations are technically not requirements, but all 50 states and the District of Columbia require many of the recommended vaccines for school attendance, and virtually all cite the schedule.

The CDC is facing a lawsuit over the schedule, with doctors alleging that the agency has not adequately tested it.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta on May 21, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Vaccines During Pregnancy

A workgroup of the CDC vaccine advisory panel is examining vaccines for pregnant women.

“We always have to be very, very careful and considerate with not just vaccines but with drugs, or anything that we give to a pregnant mother, because of risk of, for example, birth defects,” Kulldorff said in the September meeting.

The CDC has not recommended COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant women since May.

No other recommendations for vaccines during pregnancy have been changed.

The CDC recommends whooping cough, influenza, and RSV vaccination for pregnant women.

Martin Kulldorff speaks during a meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in Chamblee, Ga., on Sept. 18, 2025. The federal vaccine advisory group, appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is to make recommendations on who should receive COVID vaccination and whether all babies should get vaccinated against hepatitis B at birth. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

Vaccine Injury Court

Kennedy is considering updating the list of vaccine injuries eligible for government compensation to include symptoms of autism, an adviser said on Sept. 25.

The list is used in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which was established by Congress to award money to people who did or likely did suffer vaccine injuries. The law that established the program also granted vaccine manufacturers broad immunity.

Kennedy told CBS that he would like to expand the table of injuries and broaden the definitions for seizures and encephalopathy, conditions from which some autistic people suffer.

Kennedy said the court was intended to be compassionate and sensible but has turned into “a disaster for the families of injured children.”

The program currently has a backlog of thousands of cases, officials say, and just eight special masters adjudicating the cases.

Katie Porter, the leading candidate to replace Gavin Newsom in California’s upcoming gubernatorial election, has thrown her campaign into chaos after a second viral clip of her berating a staffer emerged hours after she made headlines for throwing a complete temper tantrum in a CBS News interview. 

On Wednesday evening, Politico published the second clip of Porter screaming at a staffer. 

“Get out of my fucking shot!” Porter screeched at a masked staffer who appeared in the background of an online conversation between Porter and then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in July 2021. Porter’s staffer had interjected to correct something Porter said about electric vehicles – which earned the employee a reprimand.

“You also were in my shot before that. Stay out of my shot,” Porter said. 

Absolutely unreal video of Katie Porter screaming at one of her staffers

“Get out of my f**king shot” pic.twitter.com/OB7yauns2b

— Sarah Gallagher (@sgallz_) October 8, 2025

Here’s Porter getting nasty with CBS News correspondent Julie Watts over a simple question as to how she plans to woo the 40% of conservative California voters.

Since this 3min excerpt of 30min segment went viral, we decided to post it ourselves. But I’d encourage you to watch the full segment. https://t.co/wHQcHbybqF @CBSNews @kcalnews @CBSSacramento @KPIXtv pic.twitter.com/A80fBGiFxE

— Julie Watts (@juliewattsTV) October 8, 2025

“Is this a disaster? Yes,” Democratic strategist Gale Kaufman told Politico. “And the reason it’s a disaster is because it amplifies what her reputation already is.“

Reminder that we’ve known that Katie Porter treats staffers like garbage for a long time now. https://t.co/yjPHMrpsqp pic.twitter.com/kvOwD3Taho

— pragmatometer (@pragmatometer) October 9, 2025

Porter’s Democratic rivals seized and pounced on her cuntery, with Antonio Villaraigosa purchasing three-minute ads in the Sacramento market to run Porter’s tense exchange with Watts. 

Stephen J. Cloobeck released a digital ad highlighting Porter’s past bitchyness, while Xavier Becerra and Tony Thurmond both highlighted their own responses to Watts’ outburst. 

“As the last viable female candidate in this race, it matters to me that California’s first female governor be a trusted, respected leader we can all be proud of — not a viral embarrassment,” said Betty Yee. “Women in politics are still held to higher standards, and Katie Porter has clearly failed that test.”

The Porter campaign is defiant – insisting that the viral clips have had no effect on her frontrunner status.

“Californians are hungry for a governor who they trust can fight for them against Trump,” campaign spokesman Peter Opitz said in a statement. “They know from her work taking on powerful interests in Washington that Katie is never going to be shy about calling out bullshit, and that is why every poll shows Katie firmly in the lead.”

Yet, according to GOP consultant Rob Stuzman, “It hurts her significantly. This will be what a lot of voters hear about her or see about her for the first time,” adding “It’s not just that she appears intemperate and incapable of answering fair questions or subjecting herself to the interview. I just don’t think she comes across as very likable.”

As Politico reports further,

there was also a chorus of detractors from her own party, including palpable schadenfreude from operatives who had worked on rival campaigns or heard Porter was difficult to work with — or for.

“What people saw in that interview is a certain temperament,” said Marisol Samayoa, a consultant who worked for Adam Schiff’s Senate bid. “The way she handled herself on camera is an example of the type of leadership Californians don’t want to see.”

Porter, whose name identification far exceeds her rivals thanks to her national profile as a whiteboard-wielding anti-corporate warrior and her failed statewide bid for Senate last year, has consistently led in polls since Kamala Harris opted out of running for governor. She has scooped up some major endorsements, including EMILY’s List, which backs female candidates who support abortion rights, and statewide unions such as the National Union of Healthcare Workers and the Teamsters.

Bye Felicia?

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Authored by Charles Davis via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released a report in August that made me cringe. It detailed how Chinese money laundering networks (CMLNs) have quietly embedded themselves in the U.S. financial system.

The numbers were hard to ignore: more than 137,000 suspicious activity reports tied to CMLNs between 2020 and 2024, covering more than $312 billion in suspect flows. What caught me completely by surprise was the volume of student-linked accounts—ordinary checking accounts held by Chinese nationals studying in the United States—used as high-speed conduits for laundering cartel funds and sidestepping China’s currency restrictions.

The Mirror Trick

The opportunity is driven by the interplay between supply and demand. Mexican cartels are sitting on piles of U.S. dollars from drug sales. But Mexico doesn’t want those dollars in its banks, and China won’t let its citizens convert more than $50,000 worth of yuan into foreign currency each year. That’s where the arbitrage begins. Chinese buyers want dollars, and cartels want to offload them without a huge hit on the profits. CMLNs broker the swap, and the activities occur below the radar.

They use a method called a mirror flow. It’s not a wire transfer, and the transaction doesn’t require physically moving the money. Instead, for example, a cartel operative hands off cash in Los Angeles and a Chinese buyer pays the equivalent amount in yuan to a broker in Guangzhou. The dollars stay in the United States. The yuan stays in China. But the value moves—mirrored across two jurisdictions, excluding any formal banking trail that would connect the dots.

Echoes of Hawala

If this sounds familiar, it should. It’s a next-generation hawala system. For centuries, hawala networks have moved money across South Asia and the Middle East without touching a bank.

For example, a worker in Dubai gives cash to a hawaladar. That broker calls his counterpart in Kabul, who releases the equivalent amount to the worker’s family. No wires, no paperwork—just a ledger entry and an exchange.

After the Taliban returned to power in 2021, hawala became Afghanistan’s financial backbone—used for everything from humanitarian aid to opium proceeds.

CMLNs operate on the same principle, but instead of phone calls, they use encrypted apps. Instead of dusty notebooks, they use nested merchant accounts and long-established consumer-facing payment systems such as debit cards, mobile apps, and small-dollar transfers. These rails are built for convenience, not scrutiny. That’s what allows them to operate in the open.

The Student Who Didn’t Ask Questions

Picture Lily. She’s 22, studying economics at a university in Boston. Her parents wired her tuition, but she’s short on rent. A friend offers her $500 to “help move money.” She’s told it’s legal. She agrees.

Over the next week, Lily’s account lights up. Dozens of deposits—$200 here, $150 there—from strangers. She forwards the money to other accounts, some via Zelle and some via cashier’s checks. Meanwhile, in Guangzhou, a broker receives yuan from a buyer who wants to purchase U.S. dollars. Lily never meets the buyer. The cartel never sees the yuan. But the value moves. Her account becomes a hop in a mirror flow. The system sees a student splitting Uber or dinner, and the network sees the mule.

From the bank’s perspective, Lily appears to be any other student—making modest deposits and frequent transfers, which allows a college kid to live from check to check. Nothing criminal until you zoom out, and the pattern emerges: hundreds of accounts just like hers, all showing sudden spikes, shared device IDs, and synchronized activity. These are the red flags FinCEN wants banks to catch.

The Network Beneath the Surface

This isn’t fringe behavior; it’s the cornerstone of infrastructure. FinCEN’s advisory highlights accounts opened by students, retirees, and homemakers—profiles that pass Know Your Customer (KYC) checks easily, but later show six-figure turnover and proximity to cash pickup sites or money service businesses (MSBs).

Federal prosecutors have spent exhausting hours outlining how Chinese underground bankers in the United States partner with Mexico-based cartels to move drug dollars using informal value transfer. Student accounts are ideal: clean KYC, low scrutiny, high throughput.

Foreign media have helped confirm the demand side. Chinese nationals seeking dollars outside the foreign exchange cap fuel an underground banking system that pairs yuan payers in China with dollar sellers in the United States, using diaspora accounts to keep liquidity moving.

What’s the Impact

Every dollar laundered through a student mule keeps the fentanyl pipeline alive. Every mirror transaction undermines the banking system. And every misuse of retail rails erodes trust in the platforms millions rely on daily. The process also puts immigrant communities and universities under suspicion, chilling legitimate financial activity and complicating cross-border support. Laborers sending money home to Mexico, Honduras, or Colombia are not in the mix with illicit actions that use similar pathways.

The fix isn’t blanket bans or profiling. Government and banking institutions need to use precision. Banks need better telemetry—device data, velocity rules, and merchant codes that flag suspicious activity, such as money laundering. Regulators need to harmonize KYC across sectors, especially where student-linked funds touch real estate or shell vendors. Law enforcement needs access to interbank patterns that reveal the network, not just the node.

What’s needed now isn’t just better software or more training. We need a shift in how we see the problem. Student accounts don’t start out suspicious—they become suspicious through pattern, velocity, and context. That means smarter onboarding along with real-time coordination between banks, law enforcement, and intel fusion centers. The system needs to recognize when ordinary accounts start behaving like financial switchboards.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Update (1010ET): Let’s recap what unfolded during Wednesday afternoon’s Antifa roundtable at the White House, hosted by President Trump.

Several journalists shared firsthand accounts of being attacked by Antifa activists, but the real fireworks came from Seamus Bruner, Director of Research at the Government Accountability Institute, who briefed the president and his cabinet on a complex network of dark-money NGOs and activist groups fueling unrest nationwide via the permanent protest-industrial complex. 

“We have identified dozens of radical organizations, not just the decentralized Antifa organizations, but dozens of radical organizations that have received more than $100 million from the Riot Inc investors,” Bruner told Trump.

Elon Musk chimed in on X, commenting on a video featuring Bruner’s public briefing to the president about the dark-money NGOs, saying, “Way more than $100M of US taxpayer money.” 

Way more than $100M of US taxpayer money

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 8, 2025

Bruner’s briefing to Trump builds on the recent New York Times report, citing a Capital Research Center report, that “Soros’ Open Society gave $80 million to pro-terror groups“…

For the first time, millions of Americans heard about the dark-money network of NGOs fueling chaos. And this won’t be the last – investigations are now ramping up.

Related:

• Trump Calls For RICO Charges Against Soros Over Violent Protest Support; Gates Foundation Abruptly Severs Ties With Rogue Arabella Advisors

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Submitted by Peter Schweizer & Seamus Bruner of The Drill Down,

The Government Accountability Institute’s Director of Research, Seamus Bruner, has pulled the curtain back on a troubling pattern — how non-governmental funding networks are bankrolling protest and activist movements across the U.S.

According to GAI’s findings, the chaos now gripping cities like Portland, Chicago, and Los Angeles — especially the recent waves of anti-ICE violence — isn’t spontaneous. It’s organized, coordinated, and funded.

Bruner’s new research maps how progressive philanthropic networks intersect with activist groups that have escalated from demonstrations to riots. The report highlights how complex webs of charitable entities, donor-advised funds, and online platforms provide cover for financing activism that sometimes crosses into criminal behavior.

Organizations like Antifa, the Socialist Rifle Association (SRA), and the John Brown Gun Club operate decentralized chapters, making it difficult to track funding trails without subpoena power,” Bruner said on X. “GAI has identified multiple online fundraising platforms where accountability gaps can obscure who contributes and how funds are used. The leftist funding platform, Open Collective, still allows for crowdfunding for these groups.”

Bruner joined President Trump at the White House Antifa Roundtable to expose the funding web behind America’s unrest: Antifa.

“I think we know that this is not just a story about violence and chaos … this is a money story,” Bruner told President Trump. “And at the Government Accountability Institute … we follow the money, and we followed it to the top of what we call the protest industrial complex.”

.@seamusbruner Briefs President Trump on the Money Networks Behind Antifa👇 pic.twitter.com/0QnBkisbJW

— Government Accountability Institute (@Govt_Acct_Inst) October 8, 2025

Bruner continued: “And we found a network of NGOs. It’s not just the Soros network, the Open Society network, it’s other funding networks, the Arabella funding network, the Tides funding network, Neville Roy Singam and his network, foreign cash.” 

🚨The beginning of the end for Chaos, Inc.?
The Government Accountability Institute has mapped how non-governmental funding networks intersect with protest and activist movements across the US. The chaos and unrest spreading across this country, especially the ongoing anti-ICE… pic.twitter.com/IQlYwAKWuW

— Seamus Bruner (@seamusbruner) October 8, 2025

He added, “And it’s also big, left-wing funders … they’re pouring money into this entire ecosystem.”

Watch the clip.

How the White House can counter rogue NGOs:

GAI Recommendations to @WhiteHouse & Congress:
1️⃣ Intensify investigations into opaque funding networks.
2️⃣ End taxpayer subsidies to groups tied to unlawful conduct.
3️⃣ Improve disclosure for fiscal sponsors & bail funds.
4️⃣ Review nonprofit status compliance.
5️⃣ Strengthen…

— Seamus Bruner (@seamusbruner) October 8, 2025

. . . 

A federal grand jury in Eastern Virginia has indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on one count of bank fraud, multiple outlets are reporting. 

US Attorney Lindsey Halligan presented the case to the grand jury on Thursday, according to sources, one month after she was installed in her role. 

CNN: We have just learned that Letitia James has just been indicted by the DOJ pic.twitter.com/8oTmU1vAVm

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 9, 2025

As noted in August, a criminal referral was filed against James, alleging that she had “falsified records” to get home loans for a Virginia property that she claimed was her “principal residence” in 2023 – while she was serving as a New York state prosecutor.

Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte sent the missive to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy AG Todd Blanche, claiming that in late August 2023 – weeks before she launched her civil fraud trial against the Trump Organization for inflating the values of its properties.

In 2021, James also purchased a 5-family Brooklyn property, but has “consistently misrepresented the same property as only having four units in both building permit applications and numerous mortgage documents and applications,” the letter noted.

Loans secured for this property could have reduced her mortgage interest rate by as much as 1% – leaving James with lower monthly payments under the federal Home Assistance Modification Program (HAMP) since it was listed as containing just four units, according to Pulte.

Developing…

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Authored by Peter C. Earle via TheDailyEconomy.org,

Gold has crossed $4,000 per ounce just 200 days after it passed $3,000. What began as a slow march from crisis to crisis has transformed into an accelerated sprint that is reshaping how savers, investors, and policymakers worldwide view the world’s oldest monetary metal.

Beyond the simple symbolism of a round number, the current moment captures the increasingly uneasy intersection of macroeconomic stress, geopolitical instability, and feedback loops of momentum.

Several overlapping and reinforcing forces are driving gold’s surge:

1. Volatile trade policies, central bank division, and persistent fiscal dysfunction have fueled demand for safe assets. The US government’s repeated shutdown standoffs and spiraling debt dynamics make gold particularly attractive as “insurance;” particularly in the current shutdown, which seems likely to endure.

2. There is a tiresome critique that gold pays no dividend and has no yield, but that becomes an advantage when real (inflation-adjusted) rates turn negative. As the Federal Reserve has embarked upon an easing campaign, the opportunity cost of holding gold declines, giving the metal a fresh tailwind.

3. With the US dollar sliding, gold becomes cheaper for overseas buyers and more desirable as a reserve diversifier.

4. From Beijing to Brazil, central banks have been steadily adding to gold reserves. These moves are partly about diversifying away from the dollar and partly about hedging against sanctions or geopolitical shocks.

5. Exchange-traded funds backed by physical gold are attracting fresh capital. Some of this is retail money, but a large portion is institutional flows — allocations made with the intention of sticking through volatility.

6. Unlike oil or grain, gold production cannot be scaled quickly. Mines face capital shortages, political risk, and geological limits. Recycling adds some supply, but nowhere near enough to offset surging demand.

7. Rising public debt, unconventional fiscal policies, and questions about central bank independence are corroding faith in fiat currency. Each new episode of political dysfunction adds to the case for holding tangible assets.

8. For some investors, gold is not just an investment but a hedge against extreme scenarios: war, defaults, or sudden inflation spikes. These convex, “lottery ticket” flows add depth to the rally.

The result is a perfect storm of forces reinforcing one another. Gold is not rising for one reason; It is rising for many.

The temptation is usually to dwell on the neatness of round numbers: $4,000 per ounce is a record high: higher (obviously) than $3,000 per ounce with eyes already focused on $5,000 per ounce. 

But a more revealing story emerges when we consider how quickly gold has moved between these thresholds. Gold first crossed $1,000 per ounce in 2008, during the financial crisis. It would take until August 2020 — nearly 12 years, or roughly 4,400 days — before gold finally broke through the $2,000 per ounce level. The journey from $2,000 in 2020 to $3,000 per ounce in March 2025 took about five years, or roughly 1,700 days. The latest leap has been the most astonishing. Gold cleared $3,000 per ounce in March 2025 and crossed $4,000 per ounce by October 2025. That’s a span of only about seven months (roughly 200 days).

This contraction in “days per new-thousand-dollar-ounces” is dramatic: from twelve years, to five, to less than one. It suggests a regime shift: either an accelerating loss of confidence in financial systems, or an extraordinary momentum cycle that could itself become self-reinforcing. The speed of these price leaps offers a richer narrative than psychological milestones alone. In practical terms, it raises questions: if the time to each new level is shrinking, are we watching a bubble — or are we witnessing a structural repricing of gold’s role in the financial system?

Quantifying the intervals provides an investigative framework: one can map “days per new-thousand-dollar-ounces” against macro factors such as real yields, central bank reserves, or debt-to-GDP ratios. If gold’s acceleration lines up with deteriorating fundamentals, it’s possible that the price move reflects more than momentum; it signals a profound market reassessment.

Gold at $4,000 per ounce is more than a headline. It is the sum of overlapping uncertainties: inflation, currency instability, debt, central bank policy, and geopolitical turbulence.

But it is also a story told in numbers.

The shrinking intervals between each successive $1,000 price gain speak both of, and to, a world that is changing faster than before.

One where safe havens are sought not gradually, but urgently. It’s now quite clear that gold can reach $5,000 per ounce. The outstanding issue is how quickly it will take to do so, and what that speed tells us — if anything — about the evolving state of the global economy.

Have we learned nothing?

February 2018 saw the markets suffer what came to be known as ‘Volmageddon’ as a sudden surge in volatility triggered massive losses in short-volatility exchange-traded products (ETPs), such as the VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term ETN (XIV), losing over 90% of their value in a single day.

The S&P 500 dropped approximately 4%, and billions of dollars in investor capital evaporated as these leveraged products, designed to profit from low volatility, collapsed under the pressure of the unexpected volatility spike.

The event was driven by a combination of market concentration and the mechanics of hedge and leverage rebalancing.

A month ago we highlighted a note from BofA which warned “‘Volmageddon’-Triggering ETPs Are On The Rise Again“.

And this week, we may be seeing the first canary in the coalmine for next market structure crisis as GraniteShares was forced to shutter its 3x Short AMD exchange-traded product on Monday after shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. surged as much as 38%, wiping out its value.

The ETP – listed in London and Italy – aimed to offer three times the inverse return of AMD’s shares and had gathered about $3 million in assets before its closure, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

As Bloomberg’s ETF guru Eric Balchunas noted in a post on X:

“We got our first termination event. The GraniteShares -3x AMD ETP in Europe is no longer.  Forced termination, XIV-style…”

A notice on the GraniteShares website announced that “as the NAV is now zero, no redemption payments will be made. Trading in the affected ETP has been suspended and the securities will be delisted in due course in accordance with exchange procedures.” Will Rhind, CEO of GraniteShares, declined to comment.

Bloomberg reports that the product’s implosion comes days after GraniteShares – and a handful of other issuers, including Defiance ETFs, ProShares and Direxion – applied with the SEC for leveraged products designed to deliver three times the daily return of some of the market’s hottest trades.

Though such products already exist in Europe, they largely don’t trade in the US given volatility rules set by the regulator that cap how much leverage a fund can offer.

“I think this proves that blow-up risk is a real possibility for a 3x stock ETF,” said Bloomberg Intelligence’s Athanasios Psarofagis.

“But I doubt even such an event will deter investors.”

The filings come after 2x funds proved wildly popular with American investors.

“Single-stock blowups are practically inevitable, especially in today’s fast-paced environment,” said Todd Sohn, senior ETF analyst at Strategas Securities.

“The question is: when does it arrive in the US, a much larger market?”

While the scale of the GraniteShares ETF termination event is considerably smaller than that of XIV’s 2018 collapse, we suspect – given the level of levered retail participation in markets – that this will be the first of many (both long and short) levered ETF blowups to come.

With the Argentine Peso imploding in recent weeks – but not as fast as it would have had the Milei government not backstopped it with relentless central bank interventions which quickly drained the country’s dollar reserves – and the country’s bond market in freefall, the Latin American country was facing a full-blown market collapse if it didn’t get quick and generous access to a source of USD funding. It did just that moments ago when US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he had “finalized a $20 billion currency swap framework with Argentina’s central bank” adding that the U.S. Treasury “is prepared, immediately, to take whatever exceptional measures are warranted to provide stability to markets.” That much was expected, and was already discssed previously. More importantly, Bessent noted that today the US “directly purchased Argentine pesos” which will likely spark outrage among those wondering how bailing out Argentina is part of the “America First” agenda, especially when Argentina had been quietly exporting soybeans to China while US farmers are stuck nursing huge losses, now that China is no longer a key customer, and is instead purchasing from such countries rescued by the US as… Argentina. 

This is what Bessent wrote moments ago on X:

The @USTreasury has concluded 4 days of intensive meetings with Minister @LuisCaputoAR and his team in DC. We discussed Argentina’s strong economic fundamentals, including structural changes already underway that will generate significant dollar-denominated exports and foreign exchange reserves.

Argentina faces a moment of acute illiquidity. The international community – including @IMFNews  – is unified behind Argentina and its prudent fiscal strategy, but only the United States can act swiftly.  And act we will.

To that end, today we directly purchased Argentine pesos.

Additionally, we have finalized a $20 billion currency swap framework with Argentina’s central bank. The U.S. Treasury is prepared, immediately, to take whatever exceptional measures are warranted to provide stability to markets.

I emphasized to Minister Caputo that @POTUS @realDonaldTrump’s America First economic leadership is committed to strengthening our allies who welcome fair trade and American investment.

I continue to hear from American business leaders who, thanks to President Milei’s leadership, are eager to tie the American and Argentine economies more closely together. The Trump administration is resolute in our support for allies of the United States, and to that end we also discussed Argentina’s investment incentives, and U.S. tools to powerfully support investment in our strategic partners.

Minister Caputo informed me of his close coordination with the IMF on Argentina’s commitments under its program. Argentina’s policies, when anchored on fiscal discipline, are sound. Its exchange rate band remains fit for purpose.

We reviewed the broad political consensus in Argentina for the second half of President @JMilei’s term. I was encouraged by their focus on achieving fiscally sound economic freedom for the people of Argentina via lower taxes, higher investment, private sector job creation, and partnering with allies. As Argentina lifts the dead weight of the state and stops spending into inflation, great things are possible.

The success of Argentina’s reform agenda is of systemic importance, and a strong, stable Argentina which helps anchor a prosperous Western Hemisphere is in the strategic interest of the United States. Their success should be a bipartisan priority.

I look forward to the meeting between President Trump and President Milei on October 14, and to seeing Minister Caputo again on the margins of the IMF Annual Meetings.

In kneejerk response, Argentine dollar bonds extended earlier gains on Thursday, with notes rising more than 4 cents across the curve. Sovereign bonds due in 2035 rose gained 4.3 cents on the dollar to trade above 60 cents, the highest levels in two weeks.

Of course, Argentina was delighted with the outcome and minister Caputo promptly thanked Bessent for his “unwavering support.“

While Trump’s decision to bailout Argentina makes geopolitical sense – the country is the last bastion of Anti-Chinese sentiment in Latin America, a continent which is now almost entirely pro-Beijing – Trump is about to get an earful from both sides of the aisle why he is bailing out Argentine farmers (who are exporting soybeans to China) while neglecting to do the same with US farmers. 

As a reminder, with silos full and exports drying up, Beijing – fromerly the biggest buyer of US soybeans – has not purchased any this season, diverting orders to Brazil and Argentina instead. In retaliation for Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods, China imposed a 25% levy on American soybeans in April, further eroding their price competitiveness.

Beyond Beijing, top importers of US soybeans include Mexico, the European Union, Japan and Indonesia. Yet Trump’s team is pushing into untested markets such as India, already burdened by tariffs, as American farmers hunt for buyers from Vietnam to Nigeria.

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has proclaimed that he is “defending humanity” by resisting the Trump Administration’s efforts to restore law and order to the city with a federal law enforcement and National Guard surge.

Johnson made the remarks during an interview on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes, stating “To be very clear about what’s at stake and in order for our country to be a place of promise, hope, and opportunity for people around the globe who have called the city of Chicago their home, it is why we are so committed to ensuring that we’re protecting our democracy and defending humanity.”

Johnson further blurted that “What this president has instigated in what he has escalated is absolutely an egregious attempt to have complete control over all of our cities.”

Deranged Brandon Johnson claims he’s “defending humanity” from Trump. pic.twitter.com/R53bqe1y0y

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 8, 2025

And by “…humanity” he means criminals.

— Juno Who (@Junowhotoo) October 8, 2025

The only thing this lunatic should be defending is himself in a courtroom

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) October 8, 2025

He’s literally insurrectioning. Literally.

— Mr. Ant over lord secret burger (@chewyantz) October 8, 2025

Johnson has suggested that criminal charges should be brought against federal agents who violate his new executive order banning them from using city land to carry out their deportation operations.

Mayor Brandon Johnson says federal agents who break city law should be charged with crime https://t.co/6x9RyPaaq1

— Chicago Breaking News (@ChicagoBreaking) October 7, 2025

Johnson declared the establishment of ‘ICE free zones’ just one day after we learned that the city ‘waved off’ cops responding to a vehicle-ramming attack on Border Patrol agents over the weekend.

“The Trump administration must end the war on Chicago,” Johnson asserted, adding “The Trump administration must end this war against Americans. The Trump administration must end its attempt to dismantle our democracy.”

BREAKING – Brandon Johnson has just illegally established “ICE-free zones” across Chicago to prevent federal agents from enforcing the law, just days after ICE was pinned down by armed rioters and Chicago PD was blocked from assisting them. pic.twitter.com/2smGLfuw24

— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) October 6, 2025

Trump has called for both Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to face justice for their failure to protect ICE officers.

🚨 BREAKING: President Trump calls for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to be JAILED for their failure to protect ICE officers

Lock ‘em up! pic.twitter.com/frJYY26Ylp

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 8, 2025

He has also heavily hinted at invoking the Insurrection Act against locals in Portland and Chicago.

On Sunday, Pritzker said that he would refuse to comply with the Trump administration’s “ultimatum” to deploy Illinois National Guard troops – calling it “absolutely outrageous and unamerican.” 

“We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s invasion,” Pritzker, who is suing the Administration, continued.

The Governor also declared that the Trump administration is “the very same thing” as the Third Reich, just a week after declaring that it’s dangerous to label political opponents as ‘fascists.’

He has also continued to express a belief that Trump is militarising cities as part of a grand takeover in order to fix or cancel the midterm elections.

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