BlackScalper

China turned rare earth exports into a weapon, one step at a time. The US ambassador just laid out the timeline.

David Perdue said this on Fox News: "Back in April of last year, China put the export regime process in place for rare earth elements and magnets. Then, on October 9th, they weaponized that by expanding that to the entire world. Now, they've weaponized it even further... where they can arrest people, prosecute criminally, seize assets, exit ban, and so forth."

Here's the actual escalation. In April 2025, China required licenses on seven rare earths after Trump's tariffs hit. By October, the rule expanded worldwide, requiring a Chinese license for any foreign product containing even trace amounts of Chinese-origin rare earths. In June 2026, China blacklisted 10 US companies, including Pentagon-backed MP Materials, from getting any of it.

Why this matters: China controls up to 90% of the world's rare earth refining and magnet production. These materials go into EV motors, wind turbines, F-35 parts, and missile guidance systems. There's no easy substitute.

The US is trying to rebuild its own supply chain, with a ban on Chinese-made defense magnets set for January 2027. But rebuilding takes years. The leverage is real right now.

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Burkina Faso has officially unveiled its first state-run gold refinery, built at a cost of $19 million.

The refinery can initially process up to 164 tonnes of gold per year and produce 99.99% pure gold.

Burkina Faso is one of West Africa's top gold producers.

Authorities say the refinery will help the country retain more value from its mineral wealth instead of sending raw gold abroad for processing.

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TRUMP'S WIN? 🇺🇸🇮🇷🔥The U.S. developing HELIOS Laser Systems capable of shooting down an Iranian drone with only $1 USD per $1 per shot ammunition.

❓Will Iran face huge missiles, drones or munition losses in a renewed long war with US?

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$550M Worth of Iran-Connected Assets Frozen by Tether Under Sanctions Enforcement Program

Tether has frozen an aggregate of $550M of USDT in 2026, particularly from financial networks connected to the Central Bank of Iran and the IRGC.

These enforcement actions were carried out with the US Treasury and OFAC, marking a strategic step up for Tether’s compliance program as digital assets emerge as a key subject in US sanctions policy under “Operation Economic Outcast.”

This puts the issuer’s history at over 2,900 global investigations, making Tether one of the lead enforcement partners for organizations like the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Secret Service.

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Saint Catherine's Monastery, officially known as the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai.

Core Information

• Location: Nestled at the foot of Mount Sinai (also known as Mount Horeb or Jebel Musa) in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt.

• Historical Significance: Built between 548 and 565 AD by order of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, it holds the title of the world's oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery.

• Religious Importance: The site is immensely sacred across three major monotheistic religions—Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. It is constructed directly over the location believed to be the biblical Burning Bush where Moses first encountered God.

• UNESCO World Heritage Status: The surrounding region was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002 under the title Saint Catherine Area. It was recognized for its exceptional Byzantine defensive architecture, its continuous monastic function, and its unparalleled cultural treasures.

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🇺🇸🇰🇷🔥Trump unveiled a $15 billion Steel Mill Project in Iowa state that could impact imports of South Korean Steel imports for the United States.

- U.S. Will reduce the imports of Steel from South Korea🇰🇷, China🇨🇳, Canada🇨🇦 by 2028.

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China just told the US to back off Cuba.
Not directly. Not by name. But the message was unmistakable.

Two days ago at the UN, Vice President Han Zheng said the "relevant country" should "immediately stop using threat of force against Cuba and immediately and completely lift the blockade and sanctions." Everyone knew who he meant.

Then on September 28, marking 66 years of ties, Guo Jiakun said China would "firmly support Cuba in exploring the socialist development path suited to its national conditions and in safeguarding national sovereignty and opposing external interference."

The backdrop: since January the US has choked off Cuba’s main Venezuelan oil route and threatened tariffs on anyone still shipping fuel there. Blackouts followed. Some outlets have called it the first effective blockade since the Missile Crisis. Trump has said Cuba will "fall pretty soon" and talked about "freeing" or "taking" the island. Recon flights near Cuba have increased. Cuban officials say they are preparing for possible "military aggression."

No new aid, weapons, or oil. Just political cover, two days after the UN warning.

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China's tax collectors are going after its billionaires. And some of the bills are retroactive.

Bloomberg reports that tax chief Hu Jinglin declared a "new era of taxation" in January. Since then, local offices have set up squads targeting individual billionaires, with hefty bills and vague calculations.

The centerpiece is a July rule on offshore family trusts. Chinese tax residents now owe 20% on gains when assets go into a trust, and 20% every year on trust income, even if none of it is paid out. The rule reaches back to assets placed in trusts since 2023. Owners have until about October 21 to declare and pay, or face daily surcharges and fines of up to five times the tax owed.

Market estimates of back taxes on already-received dividends and sales include roughly 2.5 to 3 billion yuan for Longfor's Wu Yajun and about 1.5 billion yuan for Dali Foods' Xu Shihui. Those are estimates, not official assessments.

Companies are not spared. More than 100 listed firms disclosed tax clawbacks totaling about 7.7 billion yuan in the first half. One got a bill equal to 120% of its 2025 net income.

Here's why now. Land-sale revenue, which local governments depend on, has fallen from about 8.7 trillion yuan at its 2021 peak to around 4.15 trillion after the property slump. Personal income tax receipts are up 13% or more.

Beijing calls it closing a loophole. But when the state is short of cash and the rules reach backward, the wealthy have little room to argue.

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US hits China interference of PH resupply mission at Ayungin Shoal

MANILA – The United States (US) condemned China’s interference on a Philippine humanitarian rotation and resupply (RoRe) mission at Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea earlier this week.

In a statement Sunday, US Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Lipton called out the China Coast Guard (CCG) and the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) “irresponsible maneuvers” that threatened a collision with a Philippine vessel and prevented a lawful and routine resupply mission to the shoal on Thursday.

“We stand by our Philippine allies and laud their professionalism and restraint,” Lipton said.

“We call on the China Coast Guard and PLAN to cease the use of escalatory tactics that threaten the freedom of navigation and a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) earlier said eight Chinese warships and coast guard vessels interfered in a Philippine Navy mission to deliver essential supplies to the Filipino crew aboard BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin.

The harassment took place from around 8:35 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday while the Philippine supply ship, the M/V Lapu-Lapu, along with three Philippine Navy and Coast Guard (PCG) support vessels, were approximately 60 nautical miles of Ayungin Shoal.

The Chinese side, according to the AFP, hindered the operations with continuous radio calls and monitoring, and got near the Philippine ships.

The PCG said the mission was called off at 11:08 p.m. for the safety of Philippine personnel.

The PCG’s BRP Malabrigo was deployed to “provide security assistance” during the Navy mission.

China continues to assert its ambitious claim over nearly the entire South China Sea, a claim that overlaps with the Philippines’ maritime entitlements in the West Philippine Sea under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

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Jack Doherty just made $213,000 rug pulling his coin

After investing $2,400 and promoting it on X & TikTok, he updated his thesis saying “we’re going to $10m”

1 minute later he sold his entire position

Up $213k + creator fees

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Vitalik Buterin unveils Ethereum’s next phase as a “cryptographic world computer.”

According to Buterin, Ethereum is evolving beyond a traditional blockchain by combining blockchain infrastructure with advanced cryptography to improve scalability, efficiency and privacy.

He expects next year’s Hegota upgrade to be Ethereum’s last “normal” upgrade, with future development increasingly focused on zeroknowledge proofs and quantum resistance.

By 2030, Ethereum could potentially reduce transaction finality to around 8 seconds, compared with roughly 200 seconds in 2015.

The next phase of Ethereum appears focused on making the network faster, more private and more cryptographically secure.

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JUST IN: Global money supply just hit a new all time high of $103.66 TRILLION.

Fed, ECB, Bank of Japan, and PBOC alone added $1 trillion in August, the 10th straight monthly increase.

More money printed means more money flowing into assets like stocks, gold, and Bitcoin.

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🇬🇧🇮🇱 EX-BODYGUARD OF FORMER HAMAS CHIEF HANIYEH ARRESTED IN UK OVER TERROR PLOT

British authorities arrested “Mr. X” after Mossad and German intelligence uncovered an alleged plot targeting Jewish community centers, Israeli diplomats and pro-Israel events in Germany and Austria.

A former personal bodyguard to eliminated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, "Mr. X" was granted asylum in Britain, became a UK citizen and lived quietly as an IT consultant — while remaining a key Hamas asset.

Investigators say he moved pistols and ammunition into a Vienna weapons cache, while an accomplice obtained a Kalashnikov, eight pistols and 600 rounds.

The alleged attack was being prepared for the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre.

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A Cave Sealed for 23,000 Years Was Hiding Something Extraordinary

Deep beneath the limestone cliffs of southern France, there is a cave where time seems to have stopped. The Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave was sealed by a rockslide roughly 23,000 years ago, leaving its hidden chambers untouched for thousands of years. When the cave was finally discovered, researchers found something almost impossible to believe: walls covered with artwork created around 32,000–36,000 years ago.

Inside, Ice Age animals seem to come alive from the darkness. Lions, woolly rhinoceroses, bison and other powerful creatures were drawn using charcoal and ochre, with careful shading and clever use of the natural curves of the rock. The artists did not simply draw flat figures—they used the shape of the cave itself to create depth, movement and the feeling that the animals were almost stepping out of the stone.

But perhaps the most mysterious part is not how old the paintings are. It is what they tell us about the people who made them. These were humans living in a harsh Ice Age world, yet they found time to enter deep darkness and create something beautiful, detailed and deeply meaningful.

For tens of thousands of years, their voices were silent. Their footprints disappeared. Their lives were forgotten. But their paintings remained, waiting in the darkness.

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Document Shows Hamas Taxing Gaza’s Poor as It Clings to Power

The document shows a vegetable seller billed roughly $3,000 for August despite reported monthly sales of only $300.

The bill illustrates how Hamas continues using its arms to extract undue tax revenue from impoverished Gazans while preserving its governing machinery and largesse amid the war.

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Houthis Seize Mocha and Mayyun: How Iran Gained New Leverage Over Bab al-Mandab

The Houthi movement’s capture of Mocha, Dhubab, Mayyun Island and other positions along Yemen’s western coastline represents far more than another battlefield victory in Yemen’s long civil war. It changes the strategic geography of the Red Sea by giving the Houthis physical control over territory directly overlooking one of the world’s most important maritime corridors.

The Houthis Now Have the Weapons and the Geography, Bab al-Mandab connects the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean to the Red Sea, Suez Canal and Mediterranean, making it essential to trade between Asia, Europe and the Middle East. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, around 8.1 million barrels per day of crude oil and petroleum products moved through the strait during the second quarter of 2026, underscoring how important the route has become as disruptions elsewhere in the region have reshaped energy flows.

The most important strategic consequence of the Houthi advance may be the way it complements Iran’s existing position around the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has long understood that it does not need to permanently close Hormuz in order to affect global markets. The credible threat of disruption is often enough to influence oil prices, shipping decisions, insurance costs and the calculations of governments that depend on Gulf energy exports.

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🔱 The Golden Shrine That Guarded a Pharaoh’s Secrets…

Hidden for over 3,000 years in the silent darkness of a sealed tomb, this mysterious golden shrine was never meant to be seen by human eyes again. When it was finally discovered, it stood like a silent guardian—covered in gold, glowing even in the dim light, and holding secrets that still puzzle historians today.

At the front of the shrine, a powerful scene unfolds. The goddess Isis stretches her wings wide, as if protecting something too sacred… or too dangerous… to be exposed. What was she guarding so fiercely? Inside, these shrines often held sacred objects, statues, or even the organs of the pharaoh, carefully preserved for the journey into the afterlife.

But here’s the chilling thought—ancient Egyptians didn’t just believe in protection… they believed in consequences. These shrines were not only symbols of divine safety, but also warnings. Disturb what lies within… and you may awaken forces never meant to return.

Even today, many of these treasures rest quietly in museums, far from their original resting place. Yet the mystery remains untouched. What secrets did this shrine truly protect? And were we ever meant to uncover them… or leave them buried forever?

The more archaeologists uncover, the clearer one thing becomes: Ancient Egypt has not finished telling its story.

And some of its greatest secrets may still be waiting in the dark.

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Japan just made it almost impossible to get a business visa, and Chinese nationals will feel it most.

The change targets the "Business Manager" visa, used by foreigners who run a business in Japan. Starting in October 2025, the minimum capital jumped from about $33,000 to $200,000. Applicants now also need a Japanese employee, a language test, and management experience.

The numbers show the impact. Monthly applications went from about 1,700 to roughly 70. Nearly 1,000 existing visa holders left Japan in the first half of 2026, four times the normal rate.

Chinese nationals hold more than half of all Business Manager visas, by far the largest group affected. Small restaurants and shops run by Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese and Nepalese owners are the hardest hit.

Japan says this is about "orderly coexistence" as public concern grows over rising foreign resident numbers. Permanent residency rules are getting stricter too, starting in October 2026, and Chinese nationals are also the largest group of permanent residents in Japan.

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China told the Philippines to “stop provocations.” A week earlier its coast guard hit a Philippine fisheries ship.

On September 18, near Sabina Shoal, China Coast Guard vessel 21585 struck BRP Datu Magat Salamat during a fuel run for Filipino fishermen. Manila released deck video and smashed starboard railings. Beijing said the smaller ship cut across its bow and offered no independent proof. That is the same playbook as years of ramming, blocking, and water cannon against Philippine boats.

Six days later, China intercepted a resupply to troops on the grounded navy ship at Second Thomas Shoal and stopped the mission. On September 25, Beijing demanded Manila “immediately stop all acts of provocation.”Then the script: Manila staged a collision and played victim. Japan should stop “sowing discord.” A drill near Scarborough Shoal was cover for “infringement.”

In every Chinese account, the other side provoked and China acted lawfully. The same week, Manila counted 35 Chinese navy and coast guard ships around four disputed reefs. Crowd the water. Make contact. Blame the smaller ship.

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15-year-old stood over a 9-year-old girl on a Homestead school bus and rained punches on her head while she tried to cover up.

Her 10-year-old brother got beaten trying to protect her.
Mom had already WARNED Coconut Palm K-8 about the bullying. School shrugged.

Principal even told her they were “overwhelmed” and she should pull her kids.

School cop’s first move? A civil citation. A slap on the wrist for beating a third-grader.

Public outrage exploded. Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle overrode it: the citation was “incompatible with the level of violence.” Criminal battery charges followed.

Soft policies almost let a violent bully walk. Only cameras and furious parents forced real charges.

This is why parents don’t trust the system.

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