Source: US News & World Report
“Iran’s parliament approved Mehrdad Akhlaqi Ketabchi as defence minister on Sunday, ending months of interim leadership at the ministry and placing a former defence sector veteran in charge of the country’s defence production and procurement apparatus. Akhlaqi replaces Majid Ebn al-Reza, who took over in an interim capacity after then Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh was killed by US-Israeli strikes in February. Akhlaqi has spent decades in Iran’s defence industry and has held senior roles in its aerospace and missile sectors. He is subject to US and EU sanctions over his work in Iran’s defence sector. In a programme presented to lawmakers, Akhlaqi pledged to rebuild the country’s military-industrial infrastructure, accelerate the development of defence technologies and expand cooperation with private-sector companies.” (10/18/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-10-18/irans-parliament-approves-mehrdad-akhlaqi-as-minister-of-defence
Source: CounterPunch
by Naomi Brockwell
“Late on the night of September 30, with the Senate about to leave town for a month, a bipartisan group of senators asked their colleagues to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) by unanimous consent. A single objection from Senator Rand Paul that thwarted the bill. For now. KOSA ostensibly aims to protect children by making platforms legally responsible for harms to minors. This sounds like something nobody could oppose, but it is a Trojan horse. If politicians really wanted to protect children, they would push for devices built specifically for kids and ask nothing of adults. Instead, KOSA is a step towards forcing everyone on the internet to verify their real identity, until we can’t read a digital book, watch a YouTube video, or chat with a friend without first proving exactly who we are.” (10/16/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/10/16/digital-id-will-change-the-internet-forever/
Source: Common Dreams
by Kirk Freudenburg
“I happen to live in a state where MAGA enthusiasms are relatively subdued, and where Republicans skew toward old-school conservatism rather than Q-Anon crazy. The old Prescott Bush world of Connecticut. The state’s senators and the representative of my congressional district do an ‘admirable enough’ job representing my interests and advocating for good causes, giving me just enough to complain about, but not too much. Given the times we live in, and with the midterms looming large, I rather wish I could cast a ballot in a state that where my vote might make a bigger difference; a state where senators and congressional representatives have gotten away with far too much, often for far too long. Mind you, I don’t want to live in such a place, I just want to vote there.” (10/17/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/7-tests-for-lawmakers
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that US President Donald Trump’s waiver of sweeping sanctions and tariffs on Russia would be a 60-day pause to ‘analyse’ their impact on the global economy. … US lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have sharply criticised Trump after he signed an executive order Friday that waived sweeping sanctions and tariffs targeting Russia – measures adopted by Congress last month. The law passed in September, and signed by Trump, included sanctions targeting Russian officials, oligarchs and financial institutions, and provided Trump with the authority to impose sanctions on major buyers of Russian oil and gas.” (10/18/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20261018-rubio-says-trump-russia-sanctions-waiver-designed-to-analyze-global-impact
