Day: October 22, 2026

Oil prices are nearing the highs we saw during the Iran war, as skyrocketing tanker rates lead to yet another energy squeeze. Brent’s sitting around $112, inching closer to that peak we hit in March. Meanwhile, VLCC rates are hitting about $1.4 million per day for routes from the

NEW: SPECIAL REPORT | How Hezbollah Is Preventing Its Disarmament, Again

Hezbollah supporters blocked roads in Beirut and protested the Lebanese government’s attempts to assert sovereignty on October 16 and 17, after a series of government internal security raids compromised Hezbollah’s weapons smuggling, illicit finance, and de facto statelets within Lebanon.

Lebanese government initiatives to disarm Hezbollah over the past two decades failed because Hezbollah repeatedly succeeded in coercing the government to abandon its course. Hezbollah is a formidable military organization even after recent setbacks. It has ample weaponry, some (albeit decreased) support among Lebanon’s Shia population, and an institutionalized role in the Lebanese government.

Hezbollah views efforts to deter it as an existential threat, and dismantling Hezbollah’s military organization would be akin to the destruction of Hezbollah. Hezbollah is not a political party; it is a military force that created a political party and social apparatus to protect itself.

The United States and international partners must support the LAF’s disarmament efforts and ensure that the Lebanese government outpaces Hezbollah’s reconstruction efforts to wrest popular support from the group.

There are two key areas where the United States can use limited resources to realize outsized gains:

1. Reconstruction Aid: The United States, Lebanon, and international partners must carefully manage and provide reconstruction aid to southern Lebanon through government institutions that Hezbollah has not infiltrated.

2. Military Advisers: A relatively small force of US advisers may be able to have an outsized effect on the capabilities of the Lebanese army.

🇺🇸 A top federal prosecutor says all 20,000 voters he flagged in California aren’t U.S. citizens

Bill Essayli says every one of them got a mail ballot this month, and he wants a court to make California set them aside.

He also calls 20,000 the bare minimum, with thousands more names likely on the way.

California says his list is full of mistakes, though. LA County checked 200 of those names and says 112 were already off the active rolls, so they never even got sent a ballot.

There’s one big problem, though. Once a ballot’s signature is checked, it’s pulled from its envelope and can’t be traced back to anyone.

With hundreds of thousands of ballots already processed in LA alone, this judge is racing the clock.

Source: Fox News / Writer: Daniyal