https://www.sott.net Signs of the Times: The World for People who Think. Featuring independent, unbiased, alternative news and commentary on world events. en-us Original content Copyright 2026 by Signs of the Times/Sott.net. For other content, see our Fair Use Policy at www.sott.net. Thu, 05 Nov 2026 01:54:58 +0000 https://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net https://www.sott.net https://www.sott.net/article/509297-Ancient-measurement-system-linking-time-death-and-the-cosmos-discovered-in-Mexico The stone structures of the ancient city of Mitla in Mexico may have hidden a mathematical order unknown for centuries. A new study reveals that Zapotec architects used a distinctive system of measurement when designing their buildings. Furthermore, it appears that these measurements did not merely determine the dimensions of the structures but also reflected the cycles of time, beliefs regarding death, and the order of the universe within the architecture. The study, published in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica by Cambridge University Press, was conducted by Genevieve Lucet from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). By analyzing the doorways, columns, courtyards, and tombs of Mitla, Lucet reconstructed a previously undefined Zapotec measurement system. The findings suggest that variations previously interpreted as architectural irregularities may actually have been part of a deliberate plan. An Architectural System Born from Eight Centimeters At the core of the... https://www.sott.net/article/509297-Ancient-measurement-system-linking-time-death-and-the-cosmos-discovered-in-Mexico Thu, 05 Nov 2026 01:54:56 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509296-Blue-ish-Arizona-Yes-to-Democrats-no-to-transgenders-in-sports Arizona voters approved a ballot measure Tuesday restricting transgender athletes to competing in sports based on their biological sex while also reelecting their Democratic governor. Arizona voters approved Proposition 318, which forces athletics of any level to separate teams by biological sex and prevents students from accessing locker rooms or bathrooms meant for the opposite sex. Arizona reelected Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and other Democrats to statewide offices. While Arizona public schools are currently forced by law to restrict sports participation based on biological sex, the new proposition will expand the restrictions to private schools and collegiate athletics https://www.sott.net/article/509296-Blue-ish-Arizona-Yes-to-Democrats-no-to-transgenders-in-sports Wed, 04 Nov 2026 23:23:34 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509295-SOTT-Earth-Changes-Summary-October-2026-Extreme-Weather-Planetary-Upheaval-Meteor-Fireballs October gave the Sun one more burst before it settled back down. Active region AR4549 fired an M1.4 flare on the 6th, then an M6.7 on the 8th, the strongest of the month, which threw off a partial halo CME. A powerful coronal mass ejection hit Earth on the 10th and drove the geomagnetic field to G3, lighting up skies over the UK and northern Europe. The large sunspot region AR4551 managed only an M1.6 on the 19th, and a coronal hole stream pushed conditions to G1 late on the 21st. After that, the Sun went quiet... at least for now. While the Sun eased off, the Pacific kept discharging. NOAA's Climate Prediction Center reported on October 8 that sea surface temperature anomalies had topped +4.0°C in parts of the eastern equatorial Pacific. CPC now puts an 83 percent chance on October-December exceeding every El Niño on record since 1950, and the International Research Institute's mid-October outlook gives El Niño a 100 percent probability from October-December through March-May... https://www.sott.net/article/509295-SOTT-Earth-Changes-Summary-October-2026-Extreme-Weather-Planetary-Upheaval-Meteor-Fireballs Wed, 04 Nov 2026 23:03:15 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509294-Floridas-DeSantis-GOP-midterms-wipeout-as-close-to-an-extinction-level-event-for-Republicans Outgoing Florida governor says 'Democrats are unpopular' and results were a 'rejection of Republicans in Washington' Outgoing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that the Republican losses in the midterm elections are "close to an extinction-level event" for the party "in many parts of the country, as we have seen probably in the last 100 years." DeSantis spoke after Republicans lost control of both the House and Senate on Election Day. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Florida House Republican, won the contest for DeSantis' seat despite other GOP candidates losing their gubernatorial races around the U.S. "Here's the thing. Democrats are unpopular. They were able to win based off the sentiment that exists in the country right now. They did not earn a mandate to indulge all their left-wing fantasies. And they're going to be in there governing, and we'll see what ends up happening," DeSantis said. https://www.sott.net/article/509294-Floridas-DeSantis-GOP-midterms-wipeout-as-close-to-an-extinction-level-event-for-Republicans Wed, 04 Nov 2026 21:48:12 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509293-After-Ukraine-Poland-NATOs-next-frontline-against-Russia Poland's constitutional crisis unfolds amid massive rearmament and growing tensions with Moscow. As Ukraine's future remains uncertain, Warsaw risks becoming the focal point of Europe's next major geopolitical confrontation. Poland's domestic constitutional crisis has erupted into open confrontation just as the country deepens its role as NATO's eastern bulwark. Last week, senior judge Anna Korwin-Piotrowska suspended Constitutional Tribunal president Bogdan Święczkowski. Nawrocki returned to Warsaw, accusing the government of seizing the court, while Tusk insists his coalition is restoring legality after PiS judicial changes. Riot police guarded the court amid protests, with electoral stakes ahead of 2027. The dispute also arguably reflects geopolitical differences: Tusk favors closer EU integration and ties with Berlin - while Nawrocki and PiS emphasize sovereignty and alignment with Washington. Both sides treat Russia as a security threat and back military expansion. The fight... https://www.sott.net/article/509293-After-Ukraine-Poland-NATOs-next-frontline-against-Russia Wed, 04 Nov 2026 21:05:23 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509292-Trump-claims-funding-to-Israel-ending-in-2026-as-merger-of-Israeli-US-armies-looms The president's remarks precede the approval of the US 2027 annual defense budget, which could take place next month but may be delayed US President Donald Trump said on 3 November that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed that Washington would halt its billions in yearly aid to Tel Aviv after the end of this year. The US president told Fox News: "Now, as far as paying Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal that we give Israel $4 ​billion a year, and we made a deal months ago that we're stopping. "We've already agreed that by the end of this year ​we won't be paying Israel. Now we'll help Israel if they need it." He went on to say that Israel does not "need it." https://www.sott.net/article/509292-Trump-claims-funding-to-Israel-ending-in-2026-as-merger-of-Israeli-US-armies-looms Wed, 04 Nov 2026 21:04:17 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509291-Russia-Ukraine-humanitarian-truce-What-is-happening-in-Alyoshki Aid deliveries and civilian evacuations are underway under a ceasefire coordinated with US First Lady Melania Trump Russian and Ukrainian humanitarian teams have begun delivering aid and evacuating civilians from the frontline town of Alyoshki under a temporary ceasefire brokered with the help of US First Lady Melania Trump. Residents of the town in Russia's Kherson Region have faced months of severe shortages, with Ukrainian drone attacks and mines disrupting supply routes, according to Russian officials and evacuees interviewed by RT. An RT correspondent is on the ground covering the mission, which has brought representatives from both sides together to assist civilians. Here is how the agreement came about, what is happening on the ground and what residents have said about conditions in the town. https://www.sott.net/article/509291-Russia-Ukraine-humanitarian-truce-What-is-happening-in-Alyoshki Wed, 04 Nov 2026 21:03:03 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509290-Democrats-win-sweeping-landslide-in-midterms-as-Iran-says-US-citizens-voted-no-to-war First Muslim senator Abdul el-Sayed said US citizens do not want their money going to 'genocide, apartheid, and war' The Democratic Party has won a majority of seats in the Senate and House of Representatives following the midterm elections on 3 November, with Iran saying US citizens "voted no to war." The results have been described as a massive blow to US President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. According to the results of the election, the Democrats now hold 54 seats while Republicans hold 44. Donovan McKinney, who has called for an end to aid to Israel, won in Michigan's 13th Congressional District. The Democratic victory puts New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries in line to become the first Black speaker of the US House of Representatives. Democrat Abdul el-Sayed also won in Michigan, beating Republican Mike Rogers and becoming the first Muslim elected to the US Senate. https://www.sott.net/article/509290-Democrats-win-sweeping-landslide-in-midterms-as-Iran-says-US-citizens-voted-no-to-war Wed, 04 Nov 2026 21:01:10 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509289-Ukraines-hidden-torture-system-is-the-Wests-shame-too A scandal near Kiev has exposed forced conscription, extortion and torture - now watch Western backers look the other way. In Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, a fresh scandal has erupted. And while the Zelensky regime has a long and imposing record of spectacular misdeeds, this one has a quality all of its own. For what has happened in the town of Petropavlovskaya Borshchagovka, effectively a suburb of the capital, brings together several of the most cruel, venal, and unscrupulous practices of EU-NATO Europe's favorite gangster regime: mass kidnapping its subjects as military slaves for a Western proxy war against Russia, turning the same operation into a vicious extortion scheme, and using brutal violence - including torture and murder - to make it all go round. In essence, local people rebelled against all of the above by laying siege to a below-the-radar holding pen for men caught in 'busification' raids and those trying to escape the meat grinder war by going AWOL. 'Busification'... https://www.sott.net/article/509289-Ukraines-hidden-torture-system-is-the-Wests-shame-too Wed, 04 Nov 2026 16:49:56 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509288-A-new-mini-moon-for-Earth-Meet-2026-QQ8 Meet mini-moon 2026 QQ8 Earth's gravity has temporarily captured a mini-moon, named 2026 QQ8. On October 29, 2026, the Minor Planet Center reported that Krisztián Sárneczky had originally discovered the little space rock near Earth back on August 20, 2026. It seems this object entered orbit around our planet back in April. There's no need to worry about a collision: The closest that 2026 QQ8 will get to Earth is 0.0038 astronomical units (AU). That's about 1 and a half times farther than our actual moon is from us. The mini-moon is only about 3 feet (1 meter) in size, which wouldn't do much more than put on a fiery show if it impacted with Earth's atmosphere anyway. At first, there was debate over whether the object was of natural origin or a piece of junk, possibly from a rocket or old satellite. So astronomers took follow-up observations with the University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescope and the Lowell Discovery Telescope. With these additional observations, the Minor Planet... https://www.sott.net/article/509288-A-new-mini-moon-for-Earth-Meet-2026-QQ8 Wed, 04 Nov 2026 15:19:07 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509287-Freezing-France-November-opens-snowy-across-Europe-Siberian-snowpack-surges-past-5-feet-Global-grain-output-up-257-Cold-Pacific-PDO-tempers-strong-El-Nino Freezing France Widespread frost has swept France. On Nov 2, Arbent fell to -4.9C (23.2F), breaking its old Nov 2 record of -4.3C (24.3F), set in 2007, according to local reporting. The freeze persisted into Nov 3, with -4C (24.8F) reported at Die, -2C (28.4F) at Montluçon, -1C (30.2F) at Villefranche-de-Rouergue and −0.5C (31.1F) at Dax. Auch recorded its first frost of the season at -0.6C (30.9F), almost two weeks ahead of schedule. Further north, Nevers has now registered six consecutive freezing nights. An easterly to northeasterly airflow is maintaining the chill, which is set to persist. After a summer of fire-and-brimstone heat coverage from the MSM, France's early freeze has attracted rather less attention. https://www.sott.net/article/509287-Freezing-France-November-opens-snowy-across-Europe-Siberian-snowpack-surges-past-5-feet-Global-grain-output-up-257-Cold-Pacific-PDO-tempers-strong-El-Nino Wed, 04 Nov 2026 13:08:24 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509286-Queens-University-Belfast-Students-Find-Neptunes-Elusive-Trojan-Asteroids An international team led by researchers at Queen's University Belfast has made a discovery that has eluded astronomers for decades. Beginning in 1906, telescope observations revealed a population of asteroids leading and trailing Jupiter, which came to be known as the "Trojan" and "Greek" populations. Since then, astronomers have discovered similar "families" orbiting Saturn and Uranus, but not Neptune. Thanks to the Queen's-led team, the mystery of the missing Trojans has now been resolved! As detailed in a paper that appeared in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the team found these distant icy bodies by analyzing data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, the next-generation telescope perched high atop the Andes in Chile. Thanks to Rubin's sharp optics and ability to rapidly survey the night sky (the fastest of any ground-based telescope), the team identified two asteroids and a candidate as permanent members of Neptune's trailing Trojans. The team was led by Dr. Meg Schwamb, an... https://www.sott.net/article/509286-Queens-University-Belfast-Students-Find-Neptunes-Elusive-Trojan-Asteroids Wed, 04 Nov 2026 11:50:00 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509285-One-dead-one-missing-in-suspected-grizzly-bear-attack-near-Bella-Coola-British-Columbia The British Columbia Conservation Officer Service says one person is dead and another is missing after a suspected grizzly bear attack in the Bella Coola area. The service says one person was found dead in the Snooka West Trail area on Monday, and a search effort continues for the second person. Family members had reported the pair missing on Sunday. The service says it was called in after evidence at the scene suggested an animal may have been involved, and people are urged to stay away from the trail system "for their own safety" and to allow officers to conduct their work. It says efforts are underway to locate, trap and assess any bears involved. Bella Coola was the site of an attack by a grizzly on a group of about 20 elementary school students and teachers, leaving an adult and three children badly injured last November. The Canadian Press https://www.sott.net/article/509285-One-dead-one-missing-in-suspected-grizzly-bear-attack-near-Bella-Coola-British-Columbia Wed, 04 Nov 2026 10:38:40 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509284-Lightning-strike-kills-3-injures-3-in-the-Philippines Three people were killed and three others injured after lightning struck an open-sided nipa hut in Hacienda Manolo, Barangay DSB, Pontevedra, Negros Occidental, on Oct. 31, 2026. Police said the fatalities were aged 44, 35 and 60 and were residents of San Enrique and Pontevedra. Initial investigation showed that the six victims had just finished harvesting palay, or unmilled rice, and were taking shelter inside the hut when lightning struck. Authorities responded to the incident and rushed the victims to a hospital for medical treatment. The three fatalities were declared dead at the hospital. https://www.sott.net/article/509284-Lightning-strike-kills-3-injures-3-in-the-Philippines Wed, 04 Nov 2026 10:20:39 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509283-DC-judge-tosses-charges-against-former-F-B-I-officials-accused-of-lying-about-Hunter-Biden-laptop A federal magistrate judge on Monday dismissed the criminal complaint against two former FBI officials accused of misleading Congress in 2023 about the bureau's work on the Hunter Biden laptop investigation. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui said the case against Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides "cannot be described as anything other than weaponization." According to Faruqui, the investigation was rushed, overtly political and marked by "critical mistakes" - and was opened a day after a primetime speech by President Trump, while FBI Director Kash Patel was tracking it closely. His point? The DOJ could have brought the case at any time, but chose to do so two weeks before the midterm elections: "I will not bury my head in the sand and pretend that I cannot read a calendar." https://www.sott.net/article/509283-DC-judge-tosses-charges-against-former-F-B-I-officials-accused-of-lying-about-Hunter-Biden-laptop Wed, 04 Nov 2026 10:08:53 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509282-How-Significant-Is-It-That-Three-Polish-Ambassadors-Just-Resigned-In-Protest-Of-Tusks-Coup They importantly provoked Sikorski into the faux pas of comparing Tusk's judicial coup to Poland's martial law period, which can turn even more Poles against him than there already are. Another Polish Ambassador just resigned in protest of liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk's judicial coup, which is actually a German takeover of Poland by proxy to prepare Europe for war with Russia. Permanent Representative to the UN Professor Krzysztof Szczerski followed in the footsteps of Ambassador to China Jakub Kumoch and Ambassador to Romania Paweł Soloch on Friday. Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski isn't pleased with this development and made his feelings known in an X post. https://www.sott.net/article/509282-How-Significant-Is-It-That-Three-Polish-Ambassadors-Just-Resigned-In-Protest-Of-Tusks-Coup Wed, 04 Nov 2026 08:52:09 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509281-Jean-Baptiste-Lamarck-The-self-making-world Long mocked and misunderstood, Lamarck's radical idea that organisms shape themselves and their world is making a comeback The French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was 65 when his great treatise on the transformation of life was published. With Philosophie zoologique (1809), translated a century later as Zoological Philosophy, Lamarck intended to establish an entirely new science, one built on the idea that all living beings are constantly transforming themselves, from the tiniest microbes to the most complex mammals, gaining new forms and new abilities. It wasn't the bodily structures of organisms that determined their ways of life, Lamarck said, but just the opposite: their ways of life in response to their circumstances gave rise to their changing bodily forms. 'Can there be any consideration in natural history more important,' he demanded, 'or deserving of greater attention, than the one I have just set forth?' (My translation.) But if you've heard anything at all about... https://www.sott.net/article/509281-Jean-Baptiste-Lamarck-The-self-making-world Tue, 03 Nov 2026 22:41:45 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509280-When-the-security-umbrella-is-no-longer-enough-Why-Middle-Eastern-states-are-building-alliances-of-their-own In the Middle East, the power that once organised the regional order has itself become a source of uncertainty. The proliferation of regional alliances reflects more than weakening US guarantees or the return of traditional military blocs. It answers a vital need for redundancy in an architecture whose stability is no longer assured by any single centre. For regional states, these alliances are adaptive mechanisms designed to contain the spread of crises and restore a measure of control over deeply interdependent vulnerabilities. The End of a Certainty The premise was simple. The United States provided a security perimeter, the dollar anchored trade and Washington's signature guaranteed the continuity of commitments. With Iran contained, Middle Eastern states could preserve their rivalries while entrusting Washington with the decisive functions: intelligence, missile defence, maritime control, protection of energy routes and diplomatic arbitration. This arrangement was part of the... https://www.sott.net/article/509280-When-the-security-umbrella-is-no-longer-enough-Why-Middle-Eastern-states-are-building-alliances-of-their-own Tue, 03 Nov 2026 21:39:32 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509279-Germanys-attempted-takeover-of-Poland-by-proxy-is-to-prepare-Europe-for-war-with-Russia Just like Nazi Germany seized Czechoslovakia's gold and its robust military-industrial complex in the run-up to World War II, so too is today's Germany plotting to seize Poland's gold and subordinate European NATO's largest army to Berlin ahead of a possibly upcoming war with Russia by 2030. Polish conservative firebrand Dominik Tarczyński recently explained liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk's attempted judicial coup as being driven by him then wanting to seize control of the Central Bank, introduce the euro, and then finally transfer Poland's gold to the European Central Bank (ECB) in Germany. As it turns out, Poland has the world's 10th-largest gold reserves, and its 550 tonnes as of January were more than the ECB's 506.5. The ECB would therefore more than double its reserves in that scenario. That's a significant motivation for what was assessed here to be Germany's attempted takeover of Poland by proxy through Tusk's armed seizure of the Constitutional Tribunal with all that... https://www.sott.net/article/509279-Germanys-attempted-takeover-of-Poland-by-proxy-is-to-prepare-Europe-for-war-with-Russia Tue, 03 Nov 2026 21:39:05 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509278-Gulf-states-scramble-to-avert-another-US-Israeli-war-on-Iran-they-cannot-stop Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Türkiye sent top security officials to Tehran as fears grow of a renewed U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. With little leverage over Trump, the Gulf states face devastating consequences if the war resumes. The first of two elections that many believe are the final bell before all out war is resumed against Iran is now complete. Although it seems likely that the efforts to cobble together a governing coalition in Israel, if that is even possible, will take weeks, the American midterms are expected to be the last milestone before the United States and Israel launch a massive attack on Iran. There is no doubt that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is almost bursting with anticipation of the bloodshed to come. Donald Trump, as always, seems unsure of how to proceed, but seems very uncomfortable with the situation as it stands...while also being unwilling to make the concessions necessary to end this futile, destructive war he started for no good reason.... https://www.sott.net/article/509278-Gulf-states-scramble-to-avert-another-US-Israeli-war-on-Iran-they-cannot-stop Tue, 03 Nov 2026 21:37:50 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509277-The-EU-and-Germany-attempt-a-coup-in-a-member-state-and-fail At the first sign of possible peace in Ukraine and the disintegration of the European Union, the latter, aided by Germany, orchestrated a judicial coup in Warsaw. This is the first time that Brussels has organized such a coup in a member state. Even though it was just hours after a humanitarian corridor had been granted and respected in Olechky, the phone call that Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb took the initiative to make, lasting 90 minutes, on October 27, 2026, with Russian President Vladimir Putin, shook the European Union. It was an absolute rule the EU had set for itself: "Never speak with the Russian dictator!" Germany, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, and the Baltic states immediately disapproved of this move. No EU member state leader has had any contact with the invader since President Emmanuel Macron in July 2025. The President of the European Council, the Portuguese António Costa, who dared to indirectly contact the Kremlin in... https://www.sott.net/article/509277-The-EU-and-Germany-attempt-a-coup-in-a-member-state-and-fail Tue, 03 Nov 2026 21:37:10 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509276-AfD-hits-record-in-West-German-state-as-voters-dissatisfied-with-current-government-surge The AfD will deliver "technological openness and affordable energy" party co-chair Alice Weidel posted on social media. AfD has reached another milestone, this time in the German state of Hesse. The latest "Hessentrend" poll shows the party, co-chaired by Alice Weidel, at a record 23 percent, just two points behind the CDU/CSU, after the latter suffered a seven-point drop to 25 percent. This is the lowest result the CDU has ever achieved in this survey for Hesse, notes Nius. The Greens, meanwhile, reached 16 percent, the SPD 15 percent, and the Left Party 7 percent, the FDP 4 percent, and the Free Voters 3 percent, making a black-red coalition no longer possible. Weidel pointed out the news on her X page, posting: "Even in the West, more and more citizens are realizing that the firewall-CDU is governing the country ever deeper into the abyss with left-wing policies. A turnaround can only come with the AfD." https://www.sott.net/article/509276-AfD-hits-record-in-West-German-state-as-voters-dissatisfied-with-current-government-surge Tue, 03 Nov 2026 21:25:59 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509275-Epstein-Files-contain-information-pertaining-to-national-security 'CDs with classified materials...' Attorney General Todd Blanche has claimed that there are no national security secrets included in the "Epstein files" — the trove of documents the Justice Department holds on deceased multimillionaire sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein. "There's not some tranche of super-secret documents about Jeffrey Epstein that we're withholding," Blanche said around the time that the DOJ started releasing the Epstein files last winter. However, an inventory of the Epstein files shows that, contrary to what Blanche said, there is classified information included in the files. Government documents ostensibly can only be classified if their release would damage national security. https://www.sott.net/article/509275-Epstein-Files-contain-information-pertaining-to-national-security Tue, 03 Nov 2026 21:14:10 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509274-Despicable-Ukrainian-intelligence-just-tried-its-own-version-of-the-Israeli-pager-attack Ukrainian agents allegedly borrowed tactics from Mossad's operation to blow up Hezbollah fighters with explosive pagers Ukrainian intelligence agencies have attempted to provide Russian military supply chains with booby-trapped equipment into Russian military supply chains, exploiting volunteer organizations supplying troops, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has warned. The agency said on Monday that it had recently thwarted a series of attempted attacks on Russian drone operators involving first-person view (FPV) headsets rigged with explosives. It urged volunteer groups to scrutinize potential donors more carefully and outlined warning signs that could indicate a Ukrainian sabotage operation. The alleged tactic resembles a high-profile Israeli intelligence operation in Lebanon in 2024, when thousands of booby-trapped pagers infiltrated Hezbollah's supply chain and were subsequently detonated, killing and injuring members of the Lebanese militant group and others. The... https://www.sott.net/article/509274-Despicable-Ukrainian-intelligence-just-tried-its-own-version-of-the-Israeli-pager-attack Tue, 03 Nov 2026 21:02:37 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509273-Queen-Ursula-comes-to-Canada-with-velvet-handcuffs Trade, resources and digital 'cooperation' sound harmless - until you look at the fine print I'm trying to spend a few weeks back in Canada for some peace and quiet from the usual European drama. Just my luck that Queen Ursula would follow me here, circus and all. She hadn't even landed in Montreal for the EU-Canada Summit, and already everyone around me was saying that Canada's "associate membership" had been canceled. They'd heard that countries like France and Germany objected to the idea, even as Von der Leyen was saddling up her broom for a trip across the Atlantic. Someone even asked me if that meant that we're now kicked out of Eurovision. I had to explain that the title never existed in the first place. EU treaties refer only to association agreements. It's just the usual sort of branding that von der Leyen, the unelected EU chief executive, likes to roll out, much like her endless riffs about unity, as though dissent weren't an actual virtue in a functioning democracy. https://www.sott.net/article/509273-Queen-Ursula-comes-to-Canada-with-velvet-handcuffs Tue, 03 Nov 2026 19:01:49 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509272-Second-wave-of-cyberattacks-paralyze-supermarket-fridges-across-EU-weeks-after-gov-ts-urged-food-stockpiling Cyberattacks disrupted supermarket refrigeration systems across Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland and Estonia on Monday morning, forcing retailers to discard spoiled food and exposing the last mile of the food supply chain to major disruptions. The cyberattacks came just weeks after governments urged households to maintain emergency food supplies. Reuters reports that supermarket chains Ahold Delhaize and Colruyt reported cyberattacks affecting critical refrigeration systems in Belgium and Luxembourg. Carrefour said 15 Belgian stores were impacted, while Irish wholesaler Musgrave said refrigeration systems at 13 SuperValu locations were affected. "There has been a cyberattack and all our freezers reached 50 degrees (Celsius)," Engla Ingwall, sales manager at an ICA franchise store in Stockholm, told the outlet. Ingwall said the attack occurred around 0200 local time. https://www.sott.net/article/509272-Second-wave-of-cyberattacks-paralyze-supermarket-fridges-across-EU-weeks-after-gov-ts-urged-food-stockpiling Tue, 03 Nov 2026 18:54:15 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509271-Israel-intentionally-released-footage-of-Mossad-operatives-in-Iran-to-provoke-mass-arrests-ex-chief-says Former Mossad chief David Barnea has said Israel intentionally released images of their covert operation in Iran during the June 2025 conflict to provoke mass arrests and make it harder for Iranian forces to find real Israeli agents. "One of the reasons we immediately released an official video on the morning of Operation Rising Lion, with the Mossad logo, was to protect the agents who were there," Barnea said, according to comments The Jerusalem Post reported on 25 October. Barnea said the leak of the footage of Israeli operations in Iran was not just an attempt to showcase the Mossad's reach but also a strategy to overwhelm Iranian counterintelligence, causing them to make mass arrests, making it more difficult to distinguish operatives from ordinary citizens. "We wanted to make sure they arrested so many people in Iran that they wouldn't be able to distinguish the wheat from the chaff and would eventually release everyone," he said. https://www.sott.net/article/509271-Israel-intentionally-released-footage-of-Mossad-operatives-in-Iran-to-provoke-mass-arrests-ex-chief-says Tue, 03 Nov 2026 18:49:32 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509270-How-Oaklands-experiment-in-anarchy-is-going Though boasting many of the same natural advantages as San Francisco, the Bay Area city is awash in dysfunction, especially in enforcing public order and preventing crime. What would happen to a city if its government effectively stopped enforcing laws protecting public space and private property? Oakland, California, has been testing the proposition. Many have heard about Oakland's extraordinarily high violent-crime rate, which, despite recent declines, remains roughly four and a half times the national rate and the worst among California's big cities. But in recent years, the city has also struggled to enforce laws against illegal dumping, burglary, car break-ins, and squatting. https://www.sott.net/article/509270-How-Oaklands-experiment-in-anarchy-is-going Tue, 03 Nov 2026 18:40:29 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509269-Larry-Johnson-When-Yemens-Houthis-tell-you-their-plans-believe-them Riyadh has a simple method for dealing with Houthi claims. It announces that its air defenses intercepted something, says nothing about everything else, and hopes the world changes the subject. Aramco, a company that publishes its quarterly earnings to the decimal point, suddenly develops a vow of silence whenever someone asks whether its refineries are on fire. So let me try something different. For the length of this column, I am going to ignore the Saudi government and Aramco entirely and take Ansar Allah's military spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, at his word. Not because Saree is a paragon of precision. Military spokesmen everywhere, including in Washington, inflate their results. I do it because the exercise tells you what the Houthis believe they are doing, what they are aiming at, and what Saudi Arabia stands to lose if even half of it is true. Since October 10, the answer is: quite a lot. The target list Between October 10 and October 29, Saree issued at least... https://www.sott.net/article/509269-Larry-Johnson-When-Yemens-Houthis-tell-you-their-plans-believe-them Tue, 03 Nov 2026 17:05:12 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509268-IsraelA-Genocidal-Democracy Much has been written about the outcome of the Israeli parliamentary elections. One result should shock everyone — but it doesn't: The Israeli electorate is voting for genocide — democratically. Introduction The parliamentary elections in Israel were hyped up as a fight for Netanyahu's survival. The highly corrupt leader of the Zionists is not only a genocidal psychopath, but also takes advantage of wealthy Zionists around the world; he is corrupt to the core. This is not an allegation, but a matter of public record. Netanyahu has been on trial in Israel since 2020 on three separate corruption charges in court. The charges, depending on the case, include fraud, embezzlement/breach of trust, and bribery. Netanyahu will spend the rest of his life in prison if his office no longer grants him immunity. Netanyahu is well aware of the danger. A few days ago, he once again tried to convince the Americans to attack Iran — before the elections. Trump refused. He apparently saw a catastrophe... https://www.sott.net/article/509268-IsraelA-Genocidal-Democracy Tue, 03 Nov 2026 16:37:11 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509267-How-US-and-Israeli-money-turned-Latvia-into-a-drone-workshop-for-Ukraine RT traces the foreign money behind Latvia's drone factories, and the military industry taking shape before 2022 NATO's aggressive eastward expansion was one of the key reasons for the initiation of the military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. This is supported by RT's findings about a drone production cluster established by NATO-affiliated enterprises near Riga. The Baltic states had become a hub for developing combat drones as early as 2020. According to RT's findings, companies in Latvia generated €283 million in revenue from producing UAVs, robotics, and military aerospace systems in 2022-2025 alone. More than half of that revenue came from companies with foreign investment. The two largest factories are under US and Israeli ownership, while another is partly Ukrainian-owned. Several factories form a single industrial cluster near Riga. Experts say this suggests Latvia was preparing for a conflict with Russia well in advance. https://www.sott.net/article/509267-How-US-and-Israeli-money-turned-Latvia-into-a-drone-workshop-for-Ukraine Tue, 03 Nov 2026 16:25:18 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509266-Mayon-volcano-in-the-Philippines-belches-1600-meter-ash-column-days-after-earlier-eruption Mayon Volcano in Albay province on Tuesday fired another column of ash, just days after its eruption triggered evacuation of areas near the crater. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the volcano belched a 1,600-meter plume of ash at 8:22 a.m., which drifted southwest. https://www.sott.net/article/509266-Mayon-volcano-in-the-Philippines-belches-1600-meter-ash-column-days-after-earlier-eruption Tue, 03 Nov 2026 12:52:31 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509265-Giant-waterspout-formed-at-sea-in-Mugla-Turkiye In the Milas district of Muğla, a giant waterspout that formed at sea after heavy rain and a storm approached as far as Ören Beach. The waterspout, which advanced along the coast and reached the open waters off the harbor, caused fearful moments for nearby citizens, and those moments were recorded with cell phone cameras. Following the heavy rain and storm that were effective in the Milas district of Muğla, a giant waterspout formed at sea approached Ören Beach. The waterspout advanced along the coast and reached the harbor, causing moments of fear for the citizens nearby. https://www.sott.net/article/509265-Giant-waterspout-formed-at-sea-in-Mugla-Turkiye Tue, 03 Nov 2026 12:40:17 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509264-What-the-American-midterm-elections-say-about-America The American addiction to comfort has led to the abdication of citizenship-derived social responsibility and gave birth to Donald Trump. The mid-term elections will not solve this problem. Tuesday's mid-term elections hang over the heads of the American voters like an executioner's sword — halfway through President Donald Trump's second term in office, the elections are not simply a referendum on the state of the union, but perhaps more importantly, a hearing on the fate of the President himself. The first two years of Donald Trump's come back tour have not gone anything like the American people who voted him into office two years ago were led to believe: promised an end to the endless wars in the Middle East, the United States finds itself embroiled in an endless war in the Middle East which clearly did not need to be fought and, perhaps worse from the perspective of the psyche of the American voter, a war America is losing, badly. Failed military adventures in the Middle East and... https://www.sott.net/article/509264-What-the-American-midterm-elections-say-about-America Tue, 03 Nov 2026 02:44:41 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509257-The-War-that-Fell-from-the-Sky Comment: First published on the author's Substack - 'Letters From The Edge of Reality' - 02 November, 2026. What if the Trojan War was not, at its core, a war between armies — but a memory of destruction from the sky? Starting off with the discrepancies between Homer's world and the Greece that claimed him as their own, I follow the trail through Atlantic voyages, ruined Bronze Age cities, human sacrifice, and the tangled stories of Helen, Nefertiti, and the biblical patriarchs. I speculate about how memories of cosmic catastrophe became entwined with migrations, royal scandals, and religious upheaval, and whether later storytellers transformed those memories into accounts of heroic warfare, divine vengeance, and female guilt. The question is not simply where Troy stood, but what happened to the world that remembered it and how catastrophe became one of Western civilization's founding stories. https://www.sott.net/article/509257-The-War-that-Fell-from-the-Sky Mon, 02 Nov 2026 21:38:33 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509263-Historical-records-reveal-the-bitter-truth-about-17th-century-Transylvanias-climate For roughly five centuries from about 1300, Europe experienced periods of unusually cold weather and extreme conditions collectively known as the Little Ice Age. Transylvania, a historical region in modern-day Romania, was also affected, but information about just how severe things were had been scattered in old town records, church logs, travelogs and administrative and monastic diaries. In a study published in PLOS Climate, researchers detail how they pored over hundreds of centuries-old pages to see if they could piece together climate details for the 17th century. This period was already known as one of the coldest intervals of the Little Ice Age. The team, led by Ovidiu Răzvan Gaceu at the University of Oradea, Romania, collected 937 written accounts from 68 localities in Transylvania. As they read, they divided the information into several categories. These were explicit mentions of weather; indirect markers including delayed crop ripening and frozen rivers; and impacts such... https://www.sott.net/article/509263-Historical-records-reveal-the-bitter-truth-about-17th-century-Transylvanias-climate Mon, 02 Nov 2026 21:38:26 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509262-Lavrov-leaves-EU-diplomats-fuming-at-G20 As Russia's foreign minister got down to business in Atlanta, his German counterpart threw a tantrum over a group photo Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's presence at a G20 meeting in the US has angered European diplomats, with several reportedly threatening to boycott a group photo. Top German diplomat Johann Wadephul objected to being photographed alongside Lavrov, but ended up in the same frame as him. Lavrov arrived in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday for the two-day gathering, which precedes the G20 leaders' summit scheduled for mid-December in Florida. US President Donald Trump has expressed hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the summit, although Moscow has yet to decide whether to accept the invitation, according to the Kremlin. Lavrov's presence at the ministerial meeting has proved particularly contentious for several European delegations, which have opposed Washington's decision to invite Russian officials. https://www.sott.net/article/509262-Lavrov-leaves-EU-diplomats-fuming-at-G20 Mon, 02 Nov 2026 21:17:12 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509261-Qatar-signals-talks-breakthrough-as-Khamenei-warns-Irans-retaliation-will-have-no-geographical-limits-if-attacked Could this be the actual breakthrough coming after many months of prior claimed negotiation 'breakthroughs' and false starts? Just when the prospect of even getting back to the negotiating table seemed as remote as ever, Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed is reporting that planned direct talks are back on. Regional sources are indeed calling this a "breakthrough" in hitherto indirect negotiations between Washington and Tehran, with an American delegation soon expected to join Iranian officials for direct talks in Doha. The midterm election in the US is just a handful of days away, and President Trump has strongly signaled he might renew a major bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic. Picking up on the Saturday Qatari report, Times of Israel writes: "Citing sources close to mediation efforts led by Qatar and Pakistan, the report says the sides have agreed on preliminary measures concerning Iran's nuclear program, navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and financial... https://www.sott.net/article/509261-Qatar-signals-talks-breakthrough-as-Khamenei-warns-Irans-retaliation-will-have-no-geographical-limits-if-attacked Mon, 02 Nov 2026 21:16:21 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509260-Yet-another-financialised-initiative-from-the-Witkoff-Kushner-stable Instead of prioritizing stakeholder profit, the Witkoff-Europe combo should address Eurasian security architecture and NATO-Russia-China frontiers to gain traction in Moscow. Back in December 2025, U.S. commentator Sundance, writing in the Conservative Treehouse, wrote about Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner's new 'Money Diplomacy' solution for Ukraine that "require[d] [the establishment of] a system whereby the western opportunity for financial benefit continues". From this perspective, the U.S. negotiators would "propose a long-term plan for continued financial benefit". From their current language it appears that Witkoff and Kusher are still confident they can construct a financial reward system for western banks, investors, politicians and Ukraine officials that will retain the benefits of war without the ancillary ingredient of bloodshed. As Sundance noted: "If the U.S. delegation can pull this off, then Russia can gain the territory they want, corrupt Ukraine officials can keep... https://www.sott.net/article/509260-Yet-another-financialised-initiative-from-the-Witkoff-Kushner-stable Mon, 02 Nov 2026 21:15:36 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509259-Tel-Aviv-fears-US-will-abandon-war-on-Iran-before-Israeli-goals-are-met-Report Israeli planners are concerned that a 'quick campaign' by US forces will leave the Iranian government 'intact' Israel's military leadership fears that a swift US bombing campaign on Iran after next week's midterms could leave the Iranian government "intact" and fail to achieve Israeli war goals, Haaretz reported on 30 October. Israeli officials are concerned that US President Donald Trump could then strike a deal with Tehran following the strikes, leaving Iran more determined than ever to bolster its defenses, as it has in the last two rounds of attacks. The warning exposes a widening rift between Tel Aviv and Washington over what a renewed war on Iran should achieve. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made the collapse of the Iranian government and the complete destruction of its nuclear program his war aims, while Washington seeks nuclear concessions and guaranteed passage through the Strait of Hormuz. https://www.sott.net/article/509259-Tel-Aviv-fears-US-will-abandon-war-on-Iran-before-Israeli-goals-are-met-Report Mon, 02 Nov 2026 21:15:02 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509258-Bulldozers-glyphosate-white-phosphorus-Israels-destruction-of-South-Lebanons-olive-groves Lebanese farmers are losing their livelihood as Israeli forces uproot centuries-old trees, destroy olive groves, and demolish entire towns and villages, rendering them uninhabitable. On October 15, Israeli forces expelled residents and farmers from Azariel, an olive grove on the outskirts of Kfarshouba in South Lebanon, ordering them to return the following week if they still wished to harvest their trees. The next morning, an Israeli bulldozer, flanked by two army tanks, invaded the olive grove and uprooted the trees. A few days before the expulsion, Chebli, a farmer from Kfarshouba, had watched an Israeli bulldozer uproot 70 olive trees belonging to his neighbor. He told Mondoweiss: "I went over to him and found him crying. He spent more than 20 years plowing this land and pruning the trees, and he hadn't even harvested them yet." Following the partial ceasefire agreement that was signed in June of this year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military would remain in... https://www.sott.net/article/509258-Bulldozers-glyphosate-white-phosphorus-Israels-destruction-of-South-Lebanons-olive-groves Mon, 02 Nov 2026 21:07:25 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509256-Florida-flooding-photos-show-kayaks-in-streets-roads-resembling-rivers-6-INCHES-of-rain-in-just-an-HOUR National Weather Service officials issued urgent warnings for Brevard residents of "extremely dangerous and life-threatening conditions," as flash floodwaters sent water into homes, stalled out cars, flooded roads and left beachside canals swollen and schools closed. The heavy, persistent rains fell across Brevard overnight from Sunday into Monday, Nov. 2, leaving residents rattled from the south of the county to the north. Weather officials continuously extended flood warnings Nov. 2. Several inches of rain came down in some parts of south Brevard, weather officials reported. Multiple vehicles were stranded due to flooding along U.S. 192 in West Melbourne, Florida. https://www.sott.net/article/509256-Florida-flooding-photos-show-kayaks-in-streets-roads-resembling-rivers-6-INCHES-of-rain-in-just-an-HOUR Mon, 02 Nov 2026 19:55:40 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509255-Mandatory-evacuations-in-southwestern-Colorado-as-storms-bring-another-round-of-historic-flooding This is a developing story. Evacuations are underway in several southwestern Colorado counties where another wave of intense storms is expected to bring historic levels of flooding late Sunday through Monday morning, just a week after the last round of high water. The National Weather Service issued a Flood Watch that started at 5 a.m. Sunday morning for much of the Four Corners region, including Durango, Cortez, Ignacio, Silverton and Pagosa Springs. The watch will remain in effect until at least 11 a.m. Monday morning, with one to three inches of rain possible. Parts of the San Juan Mountains above 10,000 feet could see 12 to 18 inches of new snow. The San Luis Valley is under a flood watch beginning Sunday evening and stretching into late Tuesday. https://www.sott.net/article/509255-Mandatory-evacuations-in-southwestern-Colorado-as-storms-bring-another-round-of-historic-flooding Mon, 02 Nov 2026 19:36:34 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509254-Poland-Is-the-Symptom-and-Europe-Is-the-Patient The midnight brawl at Poland's Constitutional Tribunal is not a Polish problem. It is the local flare-up of a continental disease. Across Europe, when voters pick the wrong candidate, the establishment reaches for a judge, an intelligence service or the EU's checkbook, and calls the result "defending democracy." The Journal of Democracy wrote the textbook. Warsaw is the teaching hospital. ***** In December 2023, two months after Donald Tusk's coalition pushed Law and Justice (PiS) out of power, Jarosław Kuisz and Karolina Wigura of Kultura Liberalna published a how-to guide in the Journal of Democracy. The title says it all: "How to Dismantle an Illiberal Democracy." Consider the provenance. At the time, the Journal was the flagship publication of the National Endowment for Democracy, the outfit that does in daylight what the CIA used to do at night. It split from NED this year after DOGE cut off NED's funding in 2025, and it is now independent and partnered with Stanford's CDDRL.... https://www.sott.net/article/509254-Poland-Is-the-Symptom-and-Europe-Is-the-Patient Mon, 02 Nov 2026 16:57:03 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509253-Schrodingers-Poland-Coup-The-zoty-the-Tribunal-and-the-dual-Russophobic-racket Warsaw spent the weekend staging the kind of institutional theater that tells you more about the European project than any summit communiqué. Riot police sealed the Constitutional Tribunal. A judge aligned with Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, suspended the Tribunal's president, Bogdan Święczkowski, and his deputy, then declared herself in charge. The Tribunal's own account called it a coup. President Karol Nawrocki turned his plane around mid-flight to Senegal, forced entry past the woman who had just claimed the court and informed the assembled judges that they were not judges. Outside, Polish flags and demands that Tusk hand himself over. From Brussels, the familiar quiet endorsement of restored "rule of law." This is not yet a classical coup. There are no tanks in the streets and no suspended constitution. It is something cleaner and more revealing: a judicial pincer designed to remove the last institutional capacity of a large EU member state to say no.... https://www.sott.net/article/509253-Schrodingers-Poland-Coup-The-zoty-the-Tribunal-and-the-dual-Russophobic-racket Mon, 02 Nov 2026 16:07:51 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509252-New-research-resolves-the-mystery-behind-Van-Goghs-The-Starry-Night Starry Night, the iconic painting by legendary Impressionist Vincent Van Gogh, has inspired debate among art historians and astronomers for decades. Was the painting something that Van Gogh was spontaneously inspired to create in the early morning hours in July 1889, or did it present a realistic depiction of the night sky over Saint-Rémy (where he painted it)? According to a recent study conducted jointly by South Korean telescope manufacturer SLLAB and the School of Space Research at Kyung Hee University, it's the latter. For over a century and a half, scholars focused primarily on religious and symbolic interpretations of the painting. It was not until the mid-1980s that studies were presented that analyzed its astronomical aspects. These were conducted by UCLA art historian Albert Boime (1984) and Harvard astronomer Charles Whitney (1986), who examined celestial correspondences and proposed constellation identifications based on a mid-June date. However, the two reached... https://www.sott.net/article/509252-New-research-resolves-the-mystery-behind-Van-Goghs-The-Starry-Night Mon, 02 Nov 2026 15:45:47 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509251-Thai-golfer-Aeya-15-dies-after-tournament-lightning-strike Thai junior golfer Aeyavarin "Aeya" Pradubyart, 15, died on November 2, 2026, a day after being struck by lightning during a youth tournament in Chachoengsao. The incident occurred at about 4pm at a golf course on Ongkharak - Bang Nam Priao Road, Moo 8, in Don Ko Ka subdistrict, Bang Nam Priao district. A female caddie, Saithan, 31, was also injured and remained under close medical supervision. Aeya's family raised concerns about why the competition had continued despite earlier lightning strikes and alleged that the absence of an ambulance at the course delayed her transfer to hospital. Rescuers restored heartbeat at course Rescue workers found Aeya unconscious and without vital signs. They performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at the scene and restored her heartbeat before taking her to Bang Nam Priao Hospital. She was subsequently transferred to Buddhasothorn Hospital for further treatment. According to her family, her heart had stopped for nearly an hour before a pulse... https://www.sott.net/article/509251-Thai-golfer-Aeya-15-dies-after-tournament-lightning-strike Mon, 02 Nov 2026 14:25:57 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509250-At-least-60-vehicles-swept-away-in-Rhodes-Greece-after-17-hours-of-heavy-rainfall The damage caused by severe weather in the Archangelos area on the island of Rhodes is extensive, according to initial estimates, after torrents of floodwater swept away vehicles and inundated dozens of homes and businesses early on Monday. According to information obtained by the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA), at least 60 vehicles were swept away and damaged, while dozens of homes and commercial premises were flooded. The full extent of the damage has yet to be assessed, with initial estimates pointing to a particularly serious situation in the area. Rainfall continues on Rhodes, although with less intensity. The Fire Service, Civil Protection authorities and volunteers remain on alert across the island, as problems and hazardous conditions persist on the road network. For safety reasons, traffic has been suspended on sections of the road network in the areas of Kolymbia, Kalathos and Archangelos, on the eastern side of Rhodes. Civil Protection has advised the public to... https://www.sott.net/article/509250-At-least-60-vehicles-swept-away-in-Rhodes-Greece-after-17-hours-of-heavy-rainfall Mon, 02 Nov 2026 13:30:18 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509249-Arizona-flooding-triggers-evacuations-highway-closures Heavy rain and flooding triggered evacuations, road closures and emergency responses across parts of Arizona on Nov. 1. Residents were ordered to leave homes in Sedona as rising water threatened communities. Flash flooding in Oak Creek Canyon prompted evacuation orders and rescue operations as water surrounded vehicles and approached homes. More south and east, residents near waterways in Camp Verde and parts of Gila County were also told to evacuate. Flooding also forced the closure of several state highways as authorities warned drivers to avoid flooded roads, washes and low-water crossings. Flash flooding triggers evacuations in Sedona On Oct. 31, the National Weather Service office in Flagstaff announced on social media that overnight flood risks could be a possibility heading into Nov. 1. At 5:37 a.m. on Nov. 1, residents in northern Arizona received a flood warning due to the excessive rainfall that was expected. https://www.sott.net/article/509249-Arizona-flooding-triggers-evacuations-highway-closures Mon, 02 Nov 2026 13:14:42 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/509248-Wedding-in-China-goes-viral-Faith-in-humanity-restored A heart-touching story from China is taking the internet by storm! ❤️ 24-year-old Xu Chenghong, popularly known as Xiao Xiao Xu, invited strangers from across China to attend his wedding because he was worried that very few family members would be present. He posted an invitation on Douyin, expecting only 10-20 people to show up. But thousands of strangers responded to his invitation! People travelled from different parts of China, bringing gifts, food, household appliances and even livestock. Some volunteers also helped prepare food and arrange wedding cars for the couple. What started as a simple invitation turned into an unforgettable celebration of kindness, love and humanity. Can strangers become family? Watch this incredible story and share your thoughts in the comments! https://www.sott.net/article/509248-Wedding-in-China-goes-viral-Faith-in-humanity-restored Mon, 02 Nov 2026 08:01:51 +0000