Day: October 3, 2026

“The U.S. and China are the two superpowers in the world. There is no third.”

Somewhere in Moscow, a very long table just got even longer.

Writer: Oliver
x.com/clashreport/status/210…
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Per anonymous sources, Xi’s team requested a private West Wing room to rest, accessible only to him and his wife, and declined a planned September 24th working lunch with Trump, the kind both leaders held in May. The result was roughly five hours of unscheduled downtime during a two day visit, including no evening activities on arrival and a roughly 10 minute National Archives visit, shorter than planned.

Dennis Wilder, a former NSC China director who organized past state visits, told WSJ on record the private-room arrangement was unprecedented and called the leaders’ formal session, roughly noon to early afternoon, unusually short for a summit of this stature.

WSJ notes Xi had just completed a 14 hour flight, and jet lag could explain some adjustments. The article reports no confirmed health condition, only scheduling and logistics choices.

Source:  wsj.com/world/china/xi-jinpi…

The broader data does show a huge recovery in crude flows through the strait, although regional exports as a whole have still been running below pre-war levels.

His argument is basically that air superiority has become oil infrastructure.

Keep the skies controlled, and the tankers keep moving.

Writer: Oliver
x.com/clashreport/status/210…
Video
 

And that territory sits just 150 miles from Yemen.

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says Somalia will not accept an Israeli military presence in Somaliland, the breakaway region that Israel is currently the only country to formally recognize.

According to Mohamud, Israel wants access to Berbera’s port and airport, giving it a potential military foothold directly across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen and much closer to the wider Gulf and Iran.

There is one major problem with that claim:

No Israeli base in Berbera has been confirmed.

In June, Somaliland’s defense minister denied both the existence of a base and negotiations for one, saying cooperation with Israel was limited to military training.

But Somaliland itself has left the door open.

Its president has openly offered Berbera to the United States and has not ruled out a future Israeli presence.

And geography makes that possibility considerably more explosive.

Berbera sits roughly 150 miles from Yemen.

The Houthis have already warned that any Israeli military presence in Somaliland would become a target.

So for now, the base exists only as a possibility.

But Somalia, Somaliland, Israel and the Houthis are already arguing over what happens if that possibility becomes real.

Source: Al Jazeera, Somali Guardian, The East African / Writer: Oliver