International
Putin prepares for a long war with a change of defense minister
Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing for a long war with Ukraine and the West, which would be due to his unexpected decision to replace his faithful Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, with an economist who will be in charge of modernizing the military industry.
“It is your right, if you want to (solve the crisis) on the battlefield, because it will be on the battlefield,” Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, said on Monday, when speaking before the International Affairs Committee of the Russian Senate.
The information bomb that exploded on Sunday night had a greater impact because of the name of its substitute, the gray economist Andrei Belousov, in charge of the Government for the production of drones, an aspect in which Kiev has a clear advantage.
Belousov, whose candidacy will be endorsed on Tuesday by the Senate, will now have to manage a war economy with a defense budget of 6.7%, similar to that of the USSR in the last years of the Cold War.
Putin always defended the criticism of Shoigu, who was vilified by the absence of a clear strategy on the battlefield, especially since the campaign stalled in July 2022.
Shoigu, who in twelve years in office also led the military operation in Syria, played a very useful role for the Kremlin, since he served as a parapet against attacks by hawks such as the late founder of the Wagner company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who accused him of “criminal negligence.”
The Russian leader made changes in the generalate after the withdrawals of Kherson and Kharkov, and the armed rebellion of Prigozhin in June 2023, but had patience with Shoigu.
What he didn’t forgive was corruption. Shoigu’s right-hand man, Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, was arrested on April 23 after being accused of large-scale corruption.
“The cleaning has begun in the Ministry of Defense, but it will continue,” said Sergey Mironov, a social democratic leader and friend of Prigozhin.
According to experts, since then the fate of the Minister of Defense was cast. He said goodbye when he directed the Victory Day military stop over Nazi Germany in the Red Square on May 9.
All Russia’s defense ministers since Putin arrived at the Kremlin in 2000 have been civilians, but Belousov was a more than unlikely candidate, since he has no military experience, according to the press.
In fact, in his first public appearance on Monday before the Senate defense and security committee, Belousov answered questions about the social problems faced by soldiers when they return from the front.
“He is a civilian, he is not a soldier. The military actions, the special military operation, the command, is directed by the General Staff under the command of the Supreme Commander. There is no change here, the work continues. No one should be worried,” said Valentina Matviyenko, president of the Senate.
It is an open secret that it is Putin and the Chief of Staff, Valeri Guerásimov, who set the military strategy and priorities on the battlefield.
The change in Defense coincides with the current Russian offensive in the Donbas and in the northeastern region of Kharkov, where Russian troops have opened a second front by conquering several Ukrainian localities.
Putin’s decision, a little friend of the purges within the government, adds to the surprising replacement of Nikolai Patrushev, one of the most influential figures in the hard core of the Kremlin.
Pátrushev, one of the ideologues of the narrative that Ukraine has no right to exist, ceased to be secretary of the Security Council, since he will now assume Shoigu.
The risk of technocrats like Belousov, not always supporters of the use of force, is compensated by their effective management of resources and their limited fondness for conspiracies, as happened with the generals who supported the Prigozhin uprising.
In fact, the new minister will have to strengthen the links between the Armed Forces and the defense industry, which will be the locomotive of the economy, since the victory in the war and the viability of social programs depends on it.
The weapons factories have hired more than half a million people “in just over a year,” as the new first deputy prime minister, Denis Manturov, admitted today.
According to the Russian press in exile and the Institute for the Study of War, everything indicates that Putin is preparing for a long military campaign that will require very careful management of state resources, as long as oil prices are above $60.
International
WMO predicts 55% chance of weakened La Niña impacting global weather this winter
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported on Thursday that there is a 55% chance that the La Niña phenomenon, typically associated with cooler temperatures, will affect global weather between December and February, though in a weakened form.
In its update released Thursday, the WMO clarified that while La Niña is usually linked to a temporary drop in average global temperatures, some regions could still experience warmer-than-normal conditions.
As 2026 progresses, the WMO expects the planet to shift toward neutral conditions, neither influenced by La Niña nor by its opposite, El Niño, which is associated with increased temperatures. The likelihood of neutral conditions is expected to rise to 75% between February and April, according to the agency’s regular bulletin on these phenomena.
La Niña occurs due to cooling of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean waters and is also linked to changes in tropical atmospheric circulation, including wind and rainfall patterns. The opposite phenomenon, El Niño, has not been observed by experts since 2024, which currently remains the warmest year on record.
International
Spain’s PSOE summons Mark Zuckerberg over alleged mass surveillance on Android users
The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) requested on Wednesday that the Congress of Deputies summon Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, to explain the alleged mass surveillance of Facebook and Instagram users via Android devices without consent.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had previously indicated that his party would demand answers from the tech company’s executives for allegedly tracking the web activity of millions of people in Spain and across Europe without authorization. Meta responded in a statement to EFE, saying it is willing to “cooperate constructively with authorities on this matter.”
In addition to Zuckerberg, the PSOE has also requested the appearance of Javier Oliván, Meta’s Chief Operating Officer, and José Luis Zimmermann, Director of Public Affairs for Spain and Portugal. The socialists expect them to appear before the Congress’ Committee on Economy, Trade, and Digital Transformation, alongside independent experts.
The investigation is based on findings from European academic institutions such as IMDEA Networks (Spain), the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), and Radboud University (Netherlands). These studies revealed that Meta implemented a hidden mechanism to track users’ browsing activities through its apps—even in incognito mode or when using virtual private networks (VPNs).
“In Spain, the law is above any algorithm or tech giant, and those who violate our rights will face consequences,” warned Prime Minister Sánchez.
According to the technical report, the system reportedly operated for nearly a year and allowed web activity to be directly linked to users’ personal profiles on Facebook and Instagram. The PSOE described these practices as “silent espionage without any explicit consent.”
If confirmed, Meta would have violated key European Union regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the ePrivacy Directive, the Digital Services Act (DSA), and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The tech giant is already facing class-action lawsuits in Germany, the United States, and Canada for similar cases.
International
New York Times sues Pentagon over new press restrictions, citing First Amendment violations
The New York Times announced on Thursday that it has filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon over new restrictions imposed on the press when reporting on the U.S. military.
The newspaper stated on its website that the Pentagon’s policy is “exactly the type of restrictive scheme on freedom of speech and the press” that the Supreme Court and the D.C. Circuit Court have recognized as violating the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment protects fundamental rights such as freedom of the press and expression.
On October 16, the deadline to accept the new rules, major U.S. media outlets—including journalists with more than thirty years of experience as Pentagon correspondents—returned their credentials in protest.
The lawsuit, filed by the NYT in the U.S. District Court in Washington, argues that the purpose of the policy is “to shut the doors of the Pentagon—areas that have historically been open to the press—to news organizations, like the plaintiffs, that investigate and report without fear or favoritism on the department’s actions and leadership.”
The newspaper is requesting that the court issue an injunction preventing the Pentagon from enforcing the press policy, along with a declaration that the provisions restricting First Amendment rights are unlawful.
The NYT noted that Pentagon officials have said that access to military facilities is a privilege subject to regulation, and that the new guidelines aim “to prevent leaks that could harm operational security and national safety.”
This past Tuesday, during the first press briefing held by the Pentagon since restricting access for most accredited national and international media following near-universal rejection of the new rules, influencers, bloggers, and reporters from so-called “new media” occupied the press room.
Several of the newly accredited journalists, such as Lance Johnston of the right-wing organization Fearless Media, boasted on social media that the desks “now belonged” to them—desks that had been used for decades by representatives of outlets like The Washington Post, The New York Times, and CNN.
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