'While war engulfs the Middle East and surely spreads, all manner of legislation slips through Parliament.'

Anglo-American legacy media this week "quietly" announced an "end" to the Ukraine War, informing - correctly, for the first time since February 2022 - Western audiences that Kiev doesn't stand a chance militarily against Russia, that Zelensky is "deluded" and "messianic" about recovering the four provinces lost to Russia, and that American and European leaders have begun pushing him to enter negotiations with Moscow.

So, peace on Earth?!

Given current events in the Middle East, not least the Israeli obliteration of Gaza and the major deployment of US warships and forces in Israel and on the surrounding seas, it's more likely that the US Empire is 'pivoting' from Ukraine only because it considers the job there 'done' and now has bigger goals in sight.

This week on NewsReal, Joe & Niall outline the geopolitical contours of the next war for empire and its likely consequences for all. Also, what the heck is Dr. Jordan Peterson even talking about, telling Palestinians to 'shoulder responsibility' for the genocide being waged against them??


Running Time: 01:45:59

Download: MP3 — 72.8 MB

The Biden administration announced Thursday that it would indefinitely postpone a major oil and gas lease sale mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) pending an upcoming court decision.

The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) explained that it would delay Lease Sale 261 — which is set to span nearly 73 million acres across the Gulf of Mexico — as a result of legal uncertainty. Under the IRA, BOEM was ordered to hold the sale by the end of September, but it became the subject of litigation after the agency added last-minute environmental restrictions.

BOEM said in a statement:

"Until the court rules, BOEM cannot be certain of which areas or stipulations may be included in the sale notice. Potential bidders in Lease Sale 261 should not submit bids until BOEM provides additional instruction. BOEM will hold any bids already received and will hold the sale after it receives further direction from the Court of Appeals."

In late August, the fossil fuel industry group American Petroleum Institute (API), alongside the State of Louisiana and U.S. oil company Chevron, sued BOEM after the agency issued its Lease Sale 261 notice of sale, which made six million fewer acres available to oil and gas extraction than previously scheduled, as part of a settlement with eco groups. The agency also created multiple vessel restrictions for companies that obtain leases.

The New York judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's civil fraud trial expanded his gag order Friday to include Trump's attorneys.

Judge Arthur Engoron issued an order Friday barring Trump's attorneys from making "any public comments about court staff" referring to "confidential communications" between him and his staff. Engoron said the attorneys on Trump's legal team — Christopher Kise, Clifford Robert and Alina Habba — have made "on the record, repeated, inappropriate remarks" about his law clerk "falsely accusing her of bias against them and of improperly influencing the ongoing bench trial."

Engoron first issued a gag order against Trump in early October after he made a post on Truth Social referencing Allison Greenfield, Engoron's clerk, as Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's "girlfriend."

Engoron wrote in the order Friday:

"As I have stated, seemingly to no avail, my law clerks are public servants who are performing their jobs in the manner in which I request. This includes providing legal authority and opinions, as well as responding to questions I pose to them."

A transcript of a November 1 hearing before Judge Aileen Cannon regarding the Mar-a-Lago documents case has revealed Trump lawyers discussing "extensive" collaboration between the National Archives, Department of Justice, and the Biden White House prior to the indictment.

The statement, posted to X by journalist Julie Kelly, stated:

"We have seen communications between NARA and the Department of Justice and the White House and the Special Counsel that started way before what has been publicly disclosed and extensive meeting, extensive communications; and so we feel very strongly and expect that we will win on that.

"When we file the motion that NARA is absolutely part of this prosecution team and that the intelligence communities that they worked very closely with in determining the — well, from what we can tell - the particular documents that they chose to charge, so there is purportedly a tranche of documents that have classified headings on them, and then 32 that they decided to charge.

"That wasn't just done in a vacuum. They didn't just, you know, pick 32 documents out of a hat and say, 'we will go with these.'

"There was a lot of coordination that we can tell from the materials we do have with the intelligence community that ultimately led them to proceed the way they did."

Ireland's Sinn Fein has called for the envoy's expulsion for as long as Israel ignores demands for a ceasefire

Israeli ambassador Dana Erlich "should no longer enjoy diplomatic status in Ireland," Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald said on Friday. McDonald's party, which has deep historical ties to the Palestinian cause, has repeatedly condemned Israel's bombardment of Gaza.

"[The Israel Defence Forces] are engaged in a ferocious military offensive against a civilian population; breaking international law by targeting civilians, destroying civilian infrastructure, forcing mass population displacement and cutting off vital supplies of water, food, medicines and fuel," McDonald told reporters.

Erlich's presence in Ireland has become "untenable," McDonald continued, adding that the ambassador should "no longer enjoy diplomatic status in Ireland while Israel refuses the imperative for ceasefires and as the suffering and death toll grow."

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is the latest Democrat to express concern about No Labels's attempts to offer a third-party presidential ticket in 2024, claiming the group is working to jeopardize President Joe Biden's chances at reelection.

Pelosi told reporters on Thursday:

"No Labels is perilous to our democracy. I hesitate to say No Labels because they do have labels. They've called for no taxes for the rich. No child tax credit for children. They're called let's undo the Affordable Care Act."

Pelosi spoke at a breakfast hosted by Third Way, a centrist group that is one of several speaking out against No Labels's unity presidential ticket campaign. Third Way recently accused No Labels of working to prevent both Biden and former President Donald Trump from winning the White House.

The former speaker said she had ignored No Labels's efforts for a long time, even when the group considered launching a primary challenge against her in 2017, but the 2024 election has forced her to speak up.

Pelosi said:

"When they jeopardize the reelection of Joe Biden as president of the United States, I can no longer remain silent on that."

It is Tunisia's duty to stand with the Palestinians, its president has said...

The Tunisian parliament on Thursday began discussing a bill that would define any attempt to normalize relations with Israel as treasonous, citing support for the Palestinian cause.

The proposal defines "normalization" as "recognition of the Zionist entity or the establishment of direct or indirect ties" with it, and classifies it as a crime in the category of "high treason."

Any interaction with Israelis, including at "events, demonstrations, meetings, exhibitions and competitions," and in any context, whether "political, economic, scientific, cultural, artistic or sporting" in territory held or occupied by Israel, would be prohibited.

If adopted, the law would put Tunisian athletes hoping to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics at risk of facing a 10-year ban by the International Olympic Committee, or criminal prosecution at home.

Anyone found guilty of "normalization" could face 6-10 years in prison and a fine of up to 100,000 Tunisian dinars ($31,553), while repeat offenders could be locked up for life.

The "dueling" speeches of Hassan Nasrallah and Antony Blinken show both understand the Middle East escalation ladder

The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, delivered a much-anticipated speech outlining his organization's approach to the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel in Gaza. At the same time Nasrallah was speaking, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered some remarks of his own and took questions from the press about the Gaza conflict and the resulting humanitarian crisis that has gripped the Palestinians there.

In the leadup to Nasrallah's speech, Hezbollah had released several videos suggesting that something momentous was going to come out of his presentation. Many observers, angered by the ongoing slaughter of innocent Palestinian civilians - many of them children - through the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza by the Israeli Air Force, believed that this was the moment when Nasrallah would unleash the might of the Hezbollah resistance, exacting revenge on an Israeli nation that had operated outside the framework of international law for far too long.

Other observers believed that Nasrallah would fail to rise to the occasion and would offer the Palestinian people, whose cause he claimed to champion, nothing more than empty platitudes when they needed a second front.

Anyone who "undermines" the country's institutions or values could be targeted under controversial proposed regulations

The UK is considering adopting a new definition of "extremism" that includes anyone who "undermines" British institutions or values, The Guardian reported on Saturday, citing internal government documents.

"Extremism is the promotion or advancement of any ideology which aims to overturn or undermine the UK's system of parliamentary democracy, its institutions and values," reads the new definition, reportedly drafted as part of a national counterextremism plan announced by cabinet minister Michael Gove's Department for Leveling Up, Housing and Communities earlier this year.

The source documents, marked "official - sensitive," trumpet its potential to "frame a new, unified response to extremism." The lack of public debate or consultation regarding the new definition has worried activists, who fear it will effectively criminalize dissent.