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Alarm as US embassy in Moscow issues rare 'mass casualties' notice: 'You don't see this'

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow warned Saturday of a “credible threat” of an attack that could cause mass casualties at a popular park in the Russian capital. Observers noted the warning was strikingly specific.“The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has learned of a credible threat of an incident that could result in mass casualties TODAY, October 31, on the grounds of the Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve in Moscow,” the embassy wrote on X. It said the U.S. government “is coordinating response measures with the relevant authorities of the Russian Federation.”The embassy told Americans to avoid the park Saturday, stay away from large crowds, keep their phones charged and carry identification. Tsaritsyno is a sprawling former royal estate in southern Moscow that draws large crowds.The alert quickly drew comparisons to the March 2024 Crocus City Hall attack outside Moscow. In that attack, gunmen linked to the Islamic State killed more than 140 people at a concert venue, weeks after the U.S. Embassy publicly warned that extremists were planning to target large gatherings in Moscow.“Last time I remember this kind of specific alert it was before the Crocus City concert hall ISIS-linked attack in 2024,” wrote ABC News international correspondent Patrick Reevell, calling the warning “unusual.”Sarah Adams, a former CIA targeting officer and author of “Benghazi: Know Thy Enemy,” shared the alert with a brief comment: “You don’t see this everyday.”Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a Kremlin envoy who has taken part in talks with the Trump administration, cast the warning as a sign of improving relations.“In a spirit of goodwill, the US has informed Russian security services and issued a public alert about a possible terrorist attack in Tsaritsyno Park in Moscow,” Dmitriev wrote. “US-Russia security services cooperation is vital for global security.”The embassy did not say who was behind the threat or what kind of attack it anticipated. There were no reports of an attack as of publication.

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Iran's top leader hits US with dark new threat: 'Without geographical limitations'

Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has ordered the country’s top military commanders to answer any renewed U.S. or Israeli attack with a response “without geographical limitations," according to new reporting.Khamenei met with Iran’s three highest-ranking commanders and told them a new attack “must be met with an immediate and effective response, without geographical limitations” in order to achieve “maximum deterrence.” That’s according to a statement released after the meeting and reported by Axios correspondent Barak Ravid.“If the enemies once again launch military or terrorist attacks, it will be the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Armed Forces and the Iranian nation that determine when and under what conditions those hostilities will end,” Khamenei said, according to the statement.He also ordered that Iran’s “target bank” be updated “so that all types of the American-Zionist enemy’s material and non-material assets fall within the reach of the Armed Forces.” He praised the “intelligent steadfastness” of Iran’s proxies across the region.The meeting included Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Abdollahi, Army commander Maj. Gen. Hatami and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Maj. Gen. Vahidi. According to the statement, the commanders briefed Khamenei on military readiness along the Gulf coast, around the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, and on Iran’s northwestern and southeastern borders. They also reported a “several-fold increase” in the production of ammunition and combat weapons.The warning comes days after Republican strategist Karl Rove said he expects President Donald Trump to resume strikes on Iran after Tuesday’s midterm elections. The Pentagon has two aircraft carrier strike groups in the region, and a third is on the way.

Canada and EU announce new alliance open to like-minded countries

Alliance for the Future, unveiled at Montreal summit and open to other countries, conceived for world ‘shaken by new storms’Canada and Europe have announced a new alliance of like-minded nations to serve as both a “protective canopy under which our citizens can thrive” and a powerful hedge against the unpredictable nature of geopolitics, while welcoming other countries to join.Speaking to reporters on Friday from Montreal, the prime minister, Mark Carney, and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, called the new partnership the Alliance for the Future and said the “deepest possible partnership between Canada and the 27-member bloc had the potential to offer unprecedented stability and opportunity”. Continue reading...

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How crypto hacking funds isolated North Korea’s nuclear programme

Cryptocurrency theft is estimated to generate half of the country’s foreign currency incomeNorth Korea plays by its own rules. The isolated, secretive and autocratic country is largely cut off from the world’s economic system – but when it comes to generating foreign earnings it relies on some of the world’s most sophisticated hacking.Experts, such as TRM Labs, quickly attributed the extraordinary $6.3bn (£4.7bn) Binance cryptocurrency theft to TraderTraitor, an elite North Korean hacking unit that has also been known as the Lazarus Group. Though the link may not be proven yet, the pattern of behaviour is familiar. Continue reading...

Police probe the royal retreat at the center of cryptic Epstein emails

Scottish detectives are investigating time that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell spent at Balmoral, King Charles’ private estate in Scotland.Police Scotland said it had received “information” and that inquiries into the disgraced royal’s time there with the late child sex offender were at a “very early stage," reported The Guardian.The Daily Express has reported that the inquiries relate to claims that women were trafficked to the estate.“We have received information and active inquiries are ongoing, but these are at a very early stage,” a Police Scotland spokesperson said. “All inquiries are evidence-led, with the needs of victim survivors at the heart of those inquiries.”Photos previously released by the U.S. Department of Justice appear to show Mountbatten-Windsor and Epstein on a shooting trip at Balmoral.The estate also appears in a string of cryptic emails released last year as part of the Epstein files. In August 2001, someone using the name “the Invisible Man” sent four emails to Maxwell, who has since been convicted of sex trafficking. In one, the sender said their “valet” had recently died and that they had “left the RN,” shorthand for the Royal Navy. Mountbatten-Windsor left the Royal Navy the month before.Another email from the same sender, dated Aug. 16, 2001, said they were at “Balmoral summer camp for the royal family” before asking Maxwell: “Have you found me some inappropriate friends?”In March 2002, Maxwell wrote to the Invisible Man that she had passed along a message to an unnamed person, beginning: “I just gave Andrew your telephone no.” She added that “Andrew” would be “very happy” if the person did some “two legged sight seeing.”The sender of the emails has not been confirmed.Several other British police forces, including the Metropolitan Police, Thames Valley Police and Surrey Police, have live investigations linked to the Epstein files. The National Police Chiefs’ Council said there is no national investigation at present.Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office over allegations that he shared sensitive information with Epstein while serving as a U.K. trade envoy. He denies wrongdoing, and that investigation continues.