Happy Thursday Everyone! Today’s newsletter: 1,238 words…4.7 mins
🗞 Today’s Edition: Manchester Terror Attack, Albania's PM Mocks Trump In Viral Clip, Greta’s Gaza Stunt Flops…Again, EU Summit Family Feud, Cuomo's AI Ad, Bari Weiss Takes CBS, Perplexity AI Drops Comet For Free & much more!
🚨 Watch For:
Hamas response on peace deal: This week
Senators slated to vote on Government funding again: Friday, Oct 3rd
📜THE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
🕯Manchester Synagogue Terror Attack: Yom Kippur Massacre
🚨 What happened: At 9:31 a.m. in Crumpsall, Manchester, a man rammed his car into worshippers outside the Heaton Park Synagogue.
Suspect then stabs the security guard as he tries to force his way in.
Two were killed, at least four seriously injured
Police shot him dead seven minutes after the first 999 call
Two others have also been arrested, although the Police has yet to reveal any details about the suspects at all.
💣 The scare: The suspect wore a vest that looked like an explosive.
Armed officers shouted “Get back! He’s got a bomb” before firing multiple rounds.
Bomb squads rushed in, triggering a citywide terror response.
🕍 Timing:
The attack hit on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar—meaning the synagogue was full. UK authorities instantly declared it terrorism.
👀 Fallout:
PM Keir Starmer raced back from Denmark to chair an emergency meeting, pledging more police at synagogues nationwide.
Statements of sympathy and condemnation—including from King Charles III—have come from across the British political spectrum and community organizations.
Jewish groups warn this is part of a surge in antisemitism since the October 2023 Hamas terrorist attack.
Muslim leaders condemned the violence, urging unity.
A vile individual committed a terrorist attack…
And while this is not a new hate…it is a hatred that is rising once again and Britain must defeat it once again.
💡Why it matters: As British Jews mourn their dead, the uncomfortable truth is that additional security funding and police presence, while crucial, won't eliminate the threat until the British government takes steps to address the sharp rise in extremism and ideological hatred fueling these attacks. The question isn't if copycats will emerge—but when and where.
♟️THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
Clockwise from top-left: Greta getting a sweater handed to her by the Israelis, One of many posts on social media mocking Thunberg, Bbottom-right and centre: Israelis actually taken hostage by Hamas, Bottom-left: Photo released by Israel of Greta and her fellow activists safe and warm as they claim being “kidnapped” and taken “hostage”.
👎 Greta’s Gaza Stunt Flops…Again
Israeli naval forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla—40 boats, 500 “activists,” starring Greta Thunberg. The ships were diverted to Ashdod, passengers detained (briefly), and now deported back to Europe.
Activists screamed "kidnapped!" and “taken hostage” on social media
Israel, Italy, Cyprus and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem all offered proposals to the flotilla to help deliver aid through appropriate channels like the Port of Ashdod.
Some suggested coordinating with Egypt and UAE to use the El-Arish port and transport aid to the Strip by trucks.
All offers rejected: The flotilla wanted to enter an international warzone through access points of their choosing.
Italy’s PM called the stunt “gratuitous, dangerous, irresponsible”.
The realities of war and realpolitik are not vanishing for a group of selfie activists who have no clue about how the real world works.
💡Bottom line: More time, money and resources wasted as Israel’s Navy was obligated to deal with this mess in the middle of war and on their holiest religious night of Yom Kippur. Gaza didn’t get bread, but Greta and her friends got their photo-op.
🇪🇺 🇩🇰 Copenhagen Summit: Europe’s Family Feud
At the European Political Community summit in Copenhagen, ~50 leaders sparred over Ukraine, Russia, and Europe’s defense future.
Zelensky begged for accession talks and warned, “Russia aims to divide Europe.”
Drama: German Chancellor Merz torched Hungary’s Orbán, accusing him of “standing with the Kremlin” after Hungary blocked Ukraine aid. Orbán shot back, saying “the EU has decided to go to war”. Poland piled on: “Whose side are you on?”
Big moves: A €140B “reparations loan,” a proposed EU drone wall, and joint air defense - all got broad support. A detailed roadmap will be delivered in two weeks and formal decisions will be made at the next summit.
💡Bottom line: Europe agrees Russia’s the enemy—just not on how to fight it.
😄Albania's PM Roasts Trump's Geography Skills at EU Summit
The setup: Albanian PM Edi Rama stood between Macron and Azerbaijan's Aliyev at the Copenhagen summit and dropped comedy gold:
"You should apologize because you didn't congratulate us on the peace deal Trump made between Albania and Azerbaijan."
The punchline: There was no Albania-Azerbaijan conflict. Ever.
Trump repeatedly confused Armenia with Albania while bragging about brokering the actual Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal.
Macron played along - "I'm sorry for that", Aliyev chuckled, and Rama doubled down: “He worked very hard.”
⚡Cue laughter, cheek pats, and a viral clip.
🗽THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
Bari Weiss and David Ellison
🧽 Cuomo’s AI Ad
NY Ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo dropped a $45K AI ad casting himself as a subway driver, stockbroker, and window washer before declaring: “A lot of jobs I can’t do, but I can be your mayor.”
His team hyped it as “positive AI,” but rivals mocked it as “slop” and “pathetic.”
Socialist Zohran Mamdani roasted: “In a city of world-class artists, Cuomo used AI—just like his housing plan.”
While Republican Curtis Sliwa mocked it saying, "He’s never going to be hip and happening".
⚡The race intensifies and even AI cannot help at this point.
📺 Bari Weiss takes CBS
Paramount Skydance is set to name Bari Weiss Editor-in-chief of CBS News as part of a $150M deal to acquire her site The Free Press.
Weiss, a contrarian voice and ex–NYT opinion writer, will report directly to CEO David Ellison — bypassing CBS News president Tom Cibrowski.
It’s a clear bid to pivot the third-place network away from alleged liberal bias and install a staunch anti-"woke" critic at its helm.
⚡ Insiders say the move could shake CBS’s old guard: “It’s like dropping a grenade in the newsroom.”
🤖 CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AI’s Black Mirror Moments
☄ Perplexity drops Comet For Free
AI upstart Perplexity just took its $200/month Comet browser and made it free worldwide.
The AI “personal assistant” can search, shop, draft emails, and juggle tabs, with millions already on the waitlist.
Move comes as Google (Gemini in Chrome), Anthropic, and OpenAI (Operator) push their own AI browsers.
⚡Free Comet = Perplexity’s bid to steal market share while stacking allies with CNN, WaPo & Condé Nast.
📲 OpenAI’s Sora goes viral
Invite-only AI video app Sora hit No. 3 on the U.S. App Store in just two days, pulling 164K installs despite being limited to the U.S. and Canada.
Day-one downloads (56K) beat Anthropic’s Claude and Microsoft Copilot, tying xAI’s Grok.
⚡Social AI video is hot, and Sora proves consumers want fun, snackable AI content—whether OpenAI intended it or not.
📺 FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
Peanuts Turns 75!
This day in history, Oct 2nd, 1950, the iconic “Peanuts” comic strip - written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, first debuted and forever transformed American pop culture.
It remains among the most popular and influential in comic strip history.