An economic downturn is near certain within the next 12 months, a model built by economists shows | The US economy is 100% certain to enter a recession in the next 12 months, according to an economic model devised by two Bloomberg economists and run based on 13 unspecified financial indicators on Monday. What’s even worse is that the apparently inevitable downturn might come even sooner than that – the model returned a 73% chance it would hit within 11 months and a 25% chance it would arrive within ten.

US warned of winter blackouts – WSJ (RT.con)

Following Russian Vladimir Putin’s statement that Türkiye is the most reliable route for transporting Russian gas to Europe, Türkiye and Russia are taking steps to start joint work for establishing an energy distribution center in the former’s Thrace region.

💬 “Thrace is seen as the most important place for this kind of a distribution center. We, with Putin, have instructed our respective energy ministries to start a joint work. This work will be done and a distribution center will be established in the most suitable place,” Erdoğan told journalists on his return from Kazakhstan on Oct. 14.

Erdoğan made these comments after his meeting with Putin who suggested that a major energy center can be created in Türkiye as the most reliable route for energy export to the European markets. [...] Ankara and Moscow have in-depth energy cooperation as the latter annually supplies around 65 percent of Türkiye’s hydrocarbon needs. The two countries are linked by two major natural gas pipelines, the Blue Stream and the TurkStream.

If Tel Aviv sends arms to Kiev, the move would send bilateral relations into a tailspin, Dmitry Medvedev said | Writing on his Telegram channel, Medvedev, who now serves as the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, denounced Israel’s potential decision to deliver arms to Ukraine as...

“💬 extremely reckless,” adding that “it would destroy all interstate relations between our countries.” ● “That’s not to mention that Bandera scum were and remain Nazis,” he stressed, referring to Ukrainians who have a soft spot for Stepan Bandera – a controversial Ukrainian national hero who collaborated with the Nazi regime during World War II.

Medvedev went on say that if Israel were to give arms to such people, it could go as far as to declare Bandera and Roman Shukhevych, another notorious Ukrainian Nazi collaborator, their national heroes. ● The ex-president’s comments came after Shai voiced support for propping up Kiev’s military. In a tweet on Sunday, the official, citing deliveries of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia – an allegation Tehran has denied – claimed there was “no longer any doubt where Israel should stand in this bloody conflict.”

Minister Wants Israel to Pick Sides in Ukraine Conflict (10/17/22)

As the United Nations positions for yet another military intervention into Haiti, Western media has ignored the massive demonstrations in the island nation against both Acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the possible arrival of new foreign troops.

Thousands have demonstrated in Haitian cities for months, calling for Henry’s resignation after he arbitrarily rejected the transfer of power to a provisional government and decided to stay in power after his mandate expired in February. Those demonstrations have intensified in recent days after Henry appealed to the international community to help him restore order. ● According to the protesters, the new intervention is not aimed at suppressing violent criminal gangs or at alleviating other public health issues, such as a cholera outbreak, but rather to keep in power their hand-picked successor to President Jovenel Moise, who was assassinated last year.

Minsk will host up to 9,000 troops as part of the build-up of a joint defense force with Moscow, a senior defense official said | Thousands of Russian troops will be posted to Belarus with some 170 tanks, up to 200 armored vehicles, and up to 100 artillery pieces, Valery Revenko, an aide to the Belarussian defense minister, said on Twitter on Monday. The troops will be hosted as part of the recently created joint military force. ● Earlier in the day, the Defense Ministry reported that Revenko had briefed 19 military diplomats on how the new joint force would operate. The official, who heads the foreign affairs department in the ministry, stated on Twitter that he had given the same details about the Russian forces to the foreign representatives. ● Minsk decided to bolster its security by hosting Russian troops after its attempts to de-escalate border tensions were rejected, Revenko claimed to have told the military attaches.

💬 Russia and Belarus perceive as threats the “deployment of NATO forces near [their] borders amid a lack of dialogue, increased NATO training with a focus on offensive action, [and] the encouragement of Belarussian radical elements to topple the legitimate government of Belarus,” he said.

Belarus is a long-time ally of Russia, with the two together forming what is called the Union State. The new defense force, the creation of which Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko announced last week, will operate under its auspices. Minsk cited increased aggression from Kiev and Western nations as the reason for agreeing to have more Russian troops on its soil.