• The feds seized Anthropic shares last year from Sam Bankman-Fried's associates.
• Several months later, the government sold them for $627 million.
• If Anthropic IPO'd in November at $1.5 trillion, those shares would be worth nearly $4 billion.

Last year, the federal government made a windfall of $627 million when it sold Anthropic shares it had seized from associates of crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.

If it had held on to that stake, its windfall could have been a lot bigger.

The federal government last year sold shares of Anthropic that had belonged to Caroline Ellison and Nishad Singh, two co-conspirators in the FTX fraud case. The proceeds went to compensate victims of the fraud, a Justice Department spokesperson told Business Insider.

Anthropic's S-1 filing on Monday revealed how much the federal government made from the sale of those shares. The prospectus doesn't name Ellison and Singh specifically. It says the government in October 2025 sold 4,453,900 Series B shares of Anthropic that "had been forfeited by former holders in legal proceedings to which we were not a party."

The figure matches up exactly with the combined $50 million in shares that Singh and Ellison purchased for $11.2261 each in Anthropic's 2022 fundraising round, and later forfeited to the government.

The shares represent about a quarter of a percent of Anthropic today. But given the company's explosive growth, they are still worth a fortune.

Anthropic hasn't yet announced the stock price for its expected November initial public offering. At a $1.5 trillion valuation, the shares would be worth a total of about $3.94 billion. That would be six times as much as the government sold the shares for a year ago.

"One of the Justice Department's top priorities is returning forfeited funds to victims through the asset forfeiture program whenever the law allows," the DOJ spokesperson said.

The feds' stake in Anthropic

How the federal government came to own a chunk of Anthropic in the first place is a story involving a notorious fraudster and a complicated criminal forfeiture process.

Bankman-Fried participated in Anthropic's 2022 Series B fundraising round with Singh and Ellison. Singh purchased $40 million of the Series B shares, and Ellison acquired $10 million.

Singh and Ellison later pleaded guilty to crimes related to their work with Bankman-Fried and testified against him at his Manhattan federal criminal trial. The jury found Bankman-Fried guilty, and a judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison. The federal government took ownership of Singh's and Ellison's Anthropic shares by April 2025.

The US Marshals Service sold Singh's and Ellison's shares, rather than hold on to the red-hot Anthropic stock, Business Insider previously reported. The US Marshals Service Complex Assets Unit is typically tasked with dispensing shares of private companies acquired through criminal forfeiture.

Now we know that Anthropic purchased the stock from the feds in October 2025 at the price of $140.9676 per share, which is the same price Anthropic set for its Series F-1 stock in a fundraising round a month earlier.

Anthropic resold the shares to nine investors at the same $627 million total price it paid to purchase them from the federal government, so it didn't make a profit from the sale, according to the S-1 filing. It's not clear which nine investors purchased the shares originally owned by Singh and Ellison. Representatives for the US Marshals Service didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Anthropic shares owned by Ellison and Singh took a different path than the $500 million in Series B shares owned by Bankman-Fried himself. His shares ended up as part of FTX's bankruptcy estate, which sold them in 2024 to a few dozen buyers for a total of $1.3 billion.

The federal government sent the proceeds from the sale of Ellison's and Singh's shares to the FTX bankruptcy estate, the Justice Department spokesperson said. Bankruptcy court filings show that the Justice Department transferred $638 million to the bankruptcy estate in late 2025.

The money has gone to repaying creditors, including FTX customers and investors who were scammed by the former crypto wunderkind.

Update: October 26, 2026 — This story has been updated to include a comment from the Justice Department.

Correction: October 27, 2026 — The federal government transferred the proceeds of the sale of Caroline Ellison's and Nishad Singh's Anthropic shares to the FTX bankruptcy estate, according to a DOJ spokesperson. An earlier version of this story misstated whether the funds had been transferred.

Liliana’s blood pressure is dangerously high, a complication of her poorly managed diabetes. Her doctors are urgently concerned for her health, pointing to signs of liver failure and potential symptoms of recurring cancer.

Yet she is unable to get the care she needs. That is because Liliana, who I am referring to by her middle name to protect her confidentiality, has spent more than a year in an immigration detention center in Louisiana, more than 1,000 miles from her children in Maryland and from a community where she has built her life for almost a decade.

During that time, Liliana has missed the birth of her first grandchild. Now her daughter is pregnant again. And as yet another family milestone approaches without her, two independent physicians have warned immigration authorities that Liliana’s health is rapidly deteriorating.

I have been representing Liliana for the past year as she remains in detention. She has no criminal record. She has strong ties to her community, finds joy doing painting and remodeling work and spends her free time making arts and crafts.

As an immigration attorney, I have represented dozens of immigrants seeking humanitarian relief. After a while in this line of work, you believe you have mapped the full geography of our broken system. But working on Liliana’s case dismantled that certainty, showing me the depths of injustice our immigrant neighbors face.

Under the Trump administration, I have witnessed firsthand the devastating outcomes of shortsighted executive memos and the steady militarization of our immigration system. With recent reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has ordered its agents to increase the number of daily nationwide arrests by 1,000, we are likely to only see more detentions like this — detentions that protect no one, but inflict incredible harm on people and communities across the country.

Liliana should never have been detained in the first place. When her daughter survived human trafficking as a minor, Liliana supported her cooperation with U.S. federal law enforcement, leading to her daughter becoming a T-visa applicant. Through this specialized status established by Congress to protect trafficking survivors, Liliana is eligible for protection through a pending derivative T-visa application. In coming forward to help the U.S. federal government, their family entered into the government’s intended framework: assist law enforcement and receive protection from detention and removal while their case is pending.

Instead, a year ago Liliana was detained during a routine ICE check-in, after explaining she could not wear an ankle monitor for medical reasons related to her diabetes. Rather than accommodating her, the ICE officers laughed, she told us. Then they sent her across the country to Richwood Correctional Center, a detention facility in Monroe, Louisiana. Longtime immigration attorneys understand that transfers to the Fifth Circuit in Louisiana are not due to a lack of capacity in local facilities. More often than not, it is an intentional tactic to move a client across state lines, limit their access to counsel and keep them in due-process limbo.

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MS NOW EXCLUSIVE: Over 500 BABIES and TODDLERS have been detained by ICE under Trump’s rule June 9, 2026 / 10:44

According to the ACLU of Louisiana, the state’s detention centers have become a “black hole” for systematic human rights abuses, medical neglect and inhumane living conditions. Under the second Trump administration, detentions have skyrocketed, with nearly 13 % of all detained immigrants nationwide held in Louisiana-based facilities. And now the administration is seeking to potentially increase that number.

Richwood Correctional Center officials have largely ignored the urgent warnings from the two doctors who have evaluated Liliana’s condition and warned of her dangerously high blood pressure and early liver failure.At the same time, my organization, Ayuda, has partnered with Louisiana pro bono counsel Flavia Moody, who is admitted to the Fifth Circuit and is preparing an amended petition and a temporary restraining order in an existing habeas corpus case to challenge the lawfulness of her detention. The habeas process is actively moving forward, but the process is moving at a painfully slow pace, notoriously common within the state’s Fifth Circuit.

Under ICE’s own Performance-Based National Detention Standards, individuals with severe, deteriorating medical conditions, pending humanitarian relief claims and clean records are prime candidates for release on humanitarian parole or supervision. Any single one of these reasons are grounds for her release. Liliana has all three. And yet she remains miles away from her family, in limbo and under unimaginable conditions.

Through my weekly conversations with Liliana, I have witnessed her rapid deterioration. We have limited time together, which makes it even harder to get information, assess how she’s doing and see what can be done to help. Her health is spiraling on multiple fronts, aggravated by the systematic neglect at the Richwood Correctional Center. Her unmanaged diabetes is causing hypertension so severe, Dr. Sugarman warns it could trigger a stroke. Most recently, I learned her hand is discolored due to an untreated surgical wound from a recent procedure performed in detention.

I am also concerned since she has a history of cancer and has been showing symptoms pointing to a possible recurrence. At every turn, it seems like there is no reprieve for her health. Liliana tells me no one at the facility takes her or her needs seriously, and that she’s facing harassment from staff and another detainee. Along with Liliana’s family, I’m alarmed by her condition and deeply worried for her.

As a lawyer, a daughter dedicated to keeping families whole and an American citizen, I am appalled to witness our government inflict such suffering — not in the service of the law, and certainly not in defense of public safety, but out of a hollow impulse to wound the already wounded. Liliana’s ordeal is not an accident of bad luck or an isolated bureaucratic failure. It’s the deliberate architecture of our deportation policy, working as it is currently designed to, treating congressionally enacted protections as inconveniences to sidestep rather than binding law.

Since July 23, 2025, Liliana has been unlawfully detained, separated from her family and fighting for her life. We have exhausted every legal and humanitarian path. Her prolonged detention violates binding precedent (ICWC v. Noem), squanders taxpayer funds and actively jeopardizes her health and safety.

It is Liliana herself who best captures the sheer cruelty of the system holding her hostage. From inside the Louisiana facility, she told me, “There is a lot of injustice here, how they treat us, the food they give us is for animals and they don’t give us the medication we need to live. I hope there is justice for all the mothers who are here, who have kids back at home, who are sick, who have autism, who cry for their kids. The only thing I can say is that I hope there is justice for everything that is happening to us.”

Justice begins with ICE releasing Liliana today.

The post I’ve represented dozens of immigration cases in my career. This is the one that broke me. appeared first on MS NOW.

O resultado do segundo turno neste domingo, uma virada inédita do presidente Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva, demonstra que a política, como a conhecíamos, acabou de vez.

O resultado foi fruto de uma mobilização cidadã como nunca se viu desde que as redes sociais se tornaram onipresentes na vida dos brasileiros. A campanha digital, mobilizada especialmente por meio de um canal no WhatsApp que concentrou 5% da população — 1 em cada 10 eleitores de Lula — demonstrou que, na era digital, a política se faz com mobilização e participação. Este engajamento conseguiu dominar a conversa digital, saiu das redes e foi para as conversas no bar, em filas de supermercado. Conseguiu superar o boicote descarado da Meta, Big Tech que tem maior controle sobre a esfera de debate público no Brasil — são 110 milhões de usuários no Facebook, 130 milhões no Instagram e 160 milhões no WhatsApp. Foi também a mobilização da sociedade civil que levou essa empresa a ser questionada pela ONU, intimada pelo TSE e investigada pelo Ministério Público Federal.

Os jornalistas investigativos — em especial os de veículos independentes — trabalharam obstinadamente, incansavelmente. Do caso Dark Horse às ligações de Flávio com o Careca do INSS, foi graças ao trabalho de nossos colegas que o público foi informado sobre o passado do candidato do PL, fatos de interesse público fundamentais para o cidadão decidir seu voto.

Aqui na Agência Pública, revelamos as suspeitas de corrupção e omissão nos hospitais federais do Rio que eram o “feudo” de Flávio Bolsonaro durante o governo do seu pai; detalhamos laços do amigo de Flávio, Willer Tomaz, com o Careca do INSS; levantamos o estilo de vida de Eduardo Bolsonaro e Paulo Figueiredo nos EUA, descobrimos uma empresa que Eduardo abriu com o passaporte Italiano no Bahrein, apuramos as medidas da Meta para prejudicar postagens da campanha de Lula. Mostramos como o assunto que mais afeta os brasileiros — a segurança pública — impacta nossas vidas. Revelamos mensagens inéditas que evidenciam como Daniel Vorcaro, do Banco Master, mantém uma relação umbilical com figuras da direita brasileira, e também da imprensa. Foi nosso jornalismo que revelou ao Brasil a história da professora Vânia de Souza Borges, que perdeu seu filho, Rafael Borges, para o vício em Bets, no especial Jogo Perigoso: o Brasil das Bets. No meio da campanha eleitoral, Vânia foi pessoalmente pedir ao presidente Lula a proibição das Bets – e foi atendida.

Nosso trabalho resultou em ataques, intimidação e assédio digitais. Também enfrentamos o boicote da Meta — tanto pela redução do alcance do Instagram quanto pela censura descarada de pelo menos um post que denunciamos na véspera do segundo turno. Mesmo assim, as revelações que apuramos voaram: foram amplamente republicadas, embasaram episódios da série documental do Youtube Revelando, viraram postagens de influenciadores e memes.

André Janones transformou uma de nossas matérias em uma “missão” do Canal Exército do Lula, comandando a tropa a pesquisar a frase “FLÁVIO BOLSONARO ESQUEMA PANDEMIA”. O primeiro resultado a aparecer foi a investigação da Agência Pública. No último domingo, antes da votação, no debate da TV Bandeirantes, o caso virou um questionamento ao candidato do PL em rede nacional. ⁠

Neste momento, a recusa de Flávio Bolsonaro em aceitar a derrota e as denúncias de “golpe” por parte de nomes importantes da extrema direita vão fortalecer a narrativa de perseguição, de fraudes nas urnas e de uma suposta “ditadura”. Figuras como Nikolas Ferreira, Pablo Marçal e Eduardo Bolsonaro já começaram a dizer que a ampliação do período de votação constitui “roubo”. Os contra-ataques à eleição popular serão fortalecidos, ainda, pelo controle do Senado e da Câmara Federal, onde o partido PL obteve a maior bancada desde 1990. É uma bancada empenhada em desconstruir avanços como a proibição das bets, o fim da escala 6 x 1, a proteção do meio ambiente e dos direitos dos indígenas e a regulação das Big Techs.

O contexto pós-eleitoral se complica ainda mais porque o repuxo bolsonarista insere-se em um movimento global de forças antidemocráticas que querem matar justamente o tipo de mobilização cidadã que se viu no Brasil. Os EUA e seus aliados mais próximos no continente — como a Argentina de Milei — não reconheceram, até o momento, a eleição de Lula.

Neste contexto, nosso jornalismo será ainda mais necessário. Nosso compromisso é seguir investindo no jornalismo investigativo, ampliar nossa presença no Youtube para participar cada vez mais do debate que ocorre em vídeos nas telas de todos os brasileiros, além de fortalecer as redes de colaboração internacionais que distribuem nossos conteúdos e ampliam a vigilância sobre a democracia brasileira. Sabemos que o jornalismo cada vez mais faz parte de uma disputa que não se esgota na votação. Defender a democracia é, neste novo contexto, uma tarefa cotidiana que continuará a impulsionar nosso trabalho ao lado da sociedade civil e de movimentos organizados.

Há muito trabalho a ser feito. Vamos a ele.

A direção

Jornalismo investigativo é antídoto contra a desinformação. Ajude a garantir informação acessível e gratuita para mais pessoas. Faça um Pix para contato@apublica.org ou doe em apoie.apublica.org.

• Skydance, formed by the merger of WBD and Paramount, told employees to return to the office five days a week or take a buyout.
• Many Paramount employees had been working fully in person, while WBD staffers were generally at three days a week.
• Read the memo from Skydance's HR team detailing the standard buyout offer.

David Ellison's Skydance just shared its buyout offer for employees who don't want to return to an office five days a week.

Staffers across the company, which was formed by the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, were told on Monday that they'd soon have to work fully in person. The company didn't say if there were any exceptions to its new RTO mandate.

Eligible employees who aren't willing to work in person can opt to take a standard buyout package of two weeks of severance for every year they've been at Paramount or WBD, two people familiar with the offer told Business Insider.

Most eligible employees will receive that offer, a person familiar with Skydance's proposal said, though there could be exceptions on the timing or the amount received.

Staffers who've been offered severance must decide whether they're leaving the company by 11 p.m. ET on November 8, an HR email viewed by Business Insider said.

Paramount staffers assigned to an office had been required to work from an office five days a week since earlier this year, while WBD workers had been working in an office at least three days a week.

"We recognize that as we bring our teams together, not everyone will see their future here," Skydance's HR team said in an email to staffers.

Skydance's HR email said this buyout "is a one-time offer" and told employees that there are "no additional" offers planned.

Read the full email Skydance's HR team sent below:

As David and Ynon shared earlier today, we recognize that as we bring our teams together, not everyone will see their future here. For some, it may be the in-office policy or the pace of change. For others, it may instead reflect personal or professional goals. To give employees the option to decide what is best for them, we are offering a one-time Voluntary Buyout (VBO) Program to eligible employees.

A VBO gives an eligible employee the opportunity to volunteer to leave the organization in return for a separation package. You are receiving this email because you meet the eligibility criteria and may choose whether to participate in this program. We recognize this is an important personal decision. Please carefully consider the opportunity and notify us of your decision to accept or decline no later than 8:00 p.m. PT on November 8, 2026.

Before you decide, please keep the following in mind:

• Participation is entirely voluntary.
• This is a one-time offer; no additional BO programs are planned.
• If you do not respond by the deadline, you will be considered to have declined the offer.
• Once submitted, your decision may only be changed during your opt-in window.
• You may wish to consult a personal financial, tax, or legal adviser before making your decision.

Please click here to indicate your decision and to review additional information, including an estimate of your severance and benefits.

We value your contributions and we want you to feel supported and informed as you consider your decision. For FAQs related to the VBO and our return-to-office policy, please visit the Skydance Integration Hub. For additional questions about the program or your individual offer, please visit My Paramount.

The American Association of Jurists (AAJ) has demanded the immediate release of former Ecuadorian presidential candidate Luisa González, who remains in pretrial detention as part of the Labyrinth case—an investigation into alleged money laundering linked to the financing of the 2023 presidential campaign of the Citizen Revolution (RC) movement.

RELATED:

Ecuador Opposition Figure Luisa González Challenges Arrest

In a statement released on October 26, the organization described the opposition leader’s detention as arbitrary and questioned the precautionary measure, which was imposed just over a month before Ecuador’s local elections, scheduled for November 29.

The AAJ maintained that pretrial detention must be justified by specific procedural risks, such as the risk of flight or the potential to obstruct an investigation. According to the association, González had remained available to the judicial authorities since a raid conducted in January 2026; she had kept them informed of her international travel, returned to the country, and was subsequently arrested at her home.

“In the absence of a procedural risk, this measure functions as a preemptive sentence,” the organization stated, citing both the Ecuadorian Constitution and Inter-American jurisprudence to argue that the deprivation of liberty prior to a conviction should be an exceptional measure.

The AAJ also denounced the use of ongoing investigations—in which no verdict has been reached—as tools for electoral exclusion, noting that González’s detention occurs within a broader context of decisions that, in the organization’s view, restrict democratic competition.

The text reads, “The American Association of Jurists condemned the detention of @LuisaGonzalezEc and demanded her immediate release. The organization denounced the use of pretrial detention and investigations without a sentence as mechanisms of electoral exclusion and warned about the proscription of the opposition in Ecuador. The AAJ will bring the case before the IACHR and UN organizations.”

In its statement, the association linked González’s case to a series of actions taken against opposition organizations and figures. These include the temporary suspension of the Citizen Revolution, the deregistration of other political parties, the suspension of the AMIGO movement, and the rejection of González’s candidacy.

The organization also pointed to the raid on the Quito municipal government offices and the decision to move up the date of the elections. According to the AAJ, these actions constitute a pattern of suppressing the political opposition in Ecuador. The organization argued that the American Convention on Human Rights limits the restriction of political rights and prohibits the suspension—even during states of emergency—of the judicial guarantees essential for their protection.

Furthermore, the legal organization announced that it will bring the case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Additionally, it called on electoral observation missions to assess the conditions for fair competition in the elections scheduled for November 29. The statement was signed by Claudia V. Rocca, president of the AAJ Continental, and Vanessa Ramos, the organization’s secretary-general.

Lula vince il ballottaggio, gli studenti serbi mandano a casa Vučić, le piazze d’Europa scendono in strada contro la guerra: in un solo fine settimana il mondo ha prodotto tre esempi, e nessuno viene da Washington o da Bruxelles. A Levante, lunedì 26 ottobre 2026, Margherita Furlan dialoga con Alessandro Volpi, storico dell’economia, e Angelo D’Orsi, storico del pensiero politico e biografo di Gramsci, sui BRICS come esempio e non come blocco, sull’interregno in cui il vecchio muore e il nuovo non può ancora nascere, e su un’Europa che non sa più dare l’esempio a nessuno. Affrontiamo insieme: Brasile: Lula al 51,8%, oltre 64 milioni di voti, contro il candidato ricevuto nello Studio Ovale. L’ultimo grande Paese dell’America Latina a non essere di proprietà Il continente trumpiano: da Buenos Aires a Bogotá, da Santiago a La Paz, e il Venezuela sotto tutela dopo la cattura di Maduro Serbia: la Lista studentesca al 52%, affluenza al 70%, Vučić che ammette la sconfitta. Un popolo che cambia governo senza cambiare padrone Von der Leyen rivendica Lula e Belgrado in un’ora, ma né Lula né gli studenti serbi votano le sanzioni a Mosca Roma, Milano, Torino: «Fuori l’Italia dalla guerra», 4.292 identificati in un giorno, 110 minorenni in questura, idranti a Santa Susanna I BRICS come «carrello del giudizio»: non un’alleanza, non una moneta, ma la dimostrazione che un altro ordine è possibile Gramsci e l’interregno: «il vecchio muore e il nuovo non può nascere», e i fenomeni morbosi che abbiamo davanti Il Golfo che negozia la propria sicurezza senza Washington, il Pil saudita in caduta, Hormuz sotto veto iraniano Spesa sociale contro spesa militare: il Brasile vince con gli sgravi alle famiglie, l’Italia governa con due decreti e il riarmo al 3,5% La domanda dura: la piazza ha ragione anche quando fa cadere Vučić, amico di Mosca e Pechino? E la sinistra europea, che festeggia Lula, perché non ne produce uno? LIBRI DEGLI OSPITI Alessandro Volpi, La finanza è colpevole, Einaudi, 2026 Alessandro Volpi, La guerra della finanza, Laterza, 2025 Alessandro Volpi, I padroni del mondo, Laterza, 2024 Angelo D’Orsi, Gramsci. La biografia, Feltrinelli, 2024 Angelo D’Orsi, Gramsci. Una nuova biografia, Feltrinelli, 2017 CASA DEL SOLE TV | Informazione libera e indipendente Casa del Sole TV non ha editori privati né finanziamenti pubblici: siamo sostenuti da voi, il nostro pubblico. 35.000 euro entro il 29/11/26 DONA ORA Dona tramite bonifico bancario: IBAN IT63P0326822300052392596590, intestato a LA CASA DEL SOLE EDIZIONI, causale Erogazione liberale Casa del Sole TV Dona tramite PayPal: paypal.me/casadelsoletv Sostegno ricorrente: casadelsole.tv/sostienici Anche un piccolo contributo fa la differenza. Grazie di cuore! I LIBRI DI MARGHERITA FURLAN BRICS Scacco Matto (disponibile in italiano, inglese, russo) SEGUI CASA DEL SOLE TV YouTube: @CasadelSoleTVChannel Sito: casadelsole.tv #Levante #CasadelSoleTV #MargheritaFurlan #Geopolitica #Multipolarismo #Lula #Brasile #Serbia #BRICS #Gramsci #AlessandroVolpi #AngeloDOrsi

L'articolo 🔴IL VECCHIO MUORE | LEVANTE LIVE proviene da Casa del Sole TV.

Wie der arabischsprachige Sender Al Jazeera unter Berufung auf die Nachrichtenagentur Reuters berichtet, hat Jordanien in Sachen Aufklärung des Kirchenmassakers vom vergangenen Freitag einen Fahndungserfolg zu verzeichnen. Bei dem mit Schusswaffen ausgeführten Überfall auf eine griechisch-orthodoxe Kirche waren am vergangenen Freitag neun Teilnehmer einer christlichen Trauerfeier ums Leben gekommen.

Die Generaldirektion für Öffentliche Sicherheit in dem Haschemitischen Königreich erklärte heute Morgen auf ihren Social-Media-Plattformen, dass es den jordanischen Sicherheitskräften gelungen sei, drei mutmaßliche Terroristen festzunehmen. Es habe einen Schusswechsel gegeben, bei dem die Tatverdächtigen Verletzungen davongetragen hätten. Die Polizisten, die die Verhaftung durchgeführt hätten, seien unverletzt geblieben.

Den Verlautbarungen der Sicherheitsbehörde zufolge hatte die Razzia im Morgengrauen im Gouvernement Al-Karak stattgefunden, also in derselben Provinz, in der auch das Massaker verübt worden war. Koordinierte Sonderermittlungs- und Einsatzteams haben demnach die Region durchkämmt und die Tatverdächtigen in einem verlassenen Haus entdeckt, in welchem sie sich verschanzt hatten.

Die mutmaßlichen Terroristen hätten sich geweigert, sich zu ergeben und das Feuer auf die Sicherheitskräfte eröffnet. Daraufhin habe das Festnahme-Kommando mit dem Einsatz begonnen und die verwundeten Beschuldigten festgenommen. Bei der anschließenden Durchsuchung des verlassenen Hauses seien eine Reihe von Schusswaffen und Ausrüstung sichergestellt worden.

Die Behörde betont in ihrer Stellungnahme, dass Terrorismus keinen Platz im Haschemitischen Königreich haben dürfe. Die Sicherheitskräfte seien stets auf der Hut und würden "mit eiserner Hand, ohne Gnade und ohne Nachsicht gegen jeden vorgehen, der versucht, die Sicherheit Jordaniens und das Wohlergehen seiner Bürger zu gefährden."

Laut Informationen der oben genannten Medien handelt es sich bei den Festgenommenen um zwei Brüder und deren Schwager. Diese Information hatte Generalmajor Abdullah Al-Maaytah, Direktor der öffentlichen Sicherheit, bei einer Pressekonferenz veröffentlicht.

Eine namentlich nicht genannte Quelle aus dem Umfeld der jordanischen Regierung teilte Al Jazeera mit, dass die mutmaßlichen Terroristen bei dem Schusswechsel mit den Polizeieinheiten schwere Verletzungen erlitten hätten. Einer der Verdächtigen befinde sich in einem kritischen Zustand. Das Feuergefecht habe drei Stunden gedauert.

König Abdullah von Jordanien würdigte die Leistung der Einsatzkräfte. Auf seinem X-Konto schrieb der Monarch am Vormittag:

"Da sind die Tapferen, die sie bis in ihre Verstecke verfolgt haben. Wir sagten: 'Die Terroristen werden ihrer Strafe nicht entkommen, und kein Mensch, der zwischen einem Jordanier und einem anderen Jordanier unterscheidet, wird davonkommen.' Möge Allah den Märtyrern Barmherzigkeit erweisen, die Verwundeten heilen und unser Vaterland und unser Volk vor allem Bösen und Unheil bewahren."

Mehr zum Thema – Massaker in Äthiopien: 47 orthodoxe Christen getötet

ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday warned that drug prices must not be increased without valid justification and ordered a review of the existing pricing formula to ensure medicines are priced fairly without creating unnecessary hurdles for patients, importers or the pharmaceutical industry.

Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Cheema, who chaired a meeting of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap), directed officials to expedite the processing of pending drug-pricing cases after being briefed that their case-by-case evaluation was almost complete.

The minister appreciated the progress and acknowledged the efforts of Climate Change Minister Dr Musadik Malik and Drap officials in completing the evaluation.

Health Secretary Momin Agha, Drap Chief Executive Officer Dr Obaidullah Malik and other senior officials also attended the meeting.

The meeting was also informed that sufficient quantities of the trivalent influenza vaccine recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) were available in the market.

Drap had withdrawn the hardship case relating to the vaccine as its prices were controlled in the international market.

Officials told the meeting that Drap was reviewing the existing drug-pricing formula and examining provisions that could hinder the determination of fair and accurate prices.

Cheema suggested that Drap consider subscribing to specialised international databases on drug prices to strengthen independent assessment and provide more reliable benchmarks for pricing decisions.

“Public facilitation should remain the government’s top priority,” he emphasised, adding that any increase in medicine prices without valid justification was unacceptable.

The minister said price comparisons with other countries could provide useful benchmarks, but stressed the need for independent checks and balances in the pricing process.

Cheema ordered that the pricing mechanism should remain people-centred while avoiding unnecessary barriers for importers and pharmaceutical companies.

Pharma industry’s perspective

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) urged the government to engage industry in the formula review so that the outcome could be workable and sustainable.

PPMA Vice Chairman Usman Shaukat told Dawn that the pharmaceutical industry fully shared the government’s objective that medicines must remain affordable and accessible to every Pakistani.

“No responsible manufacturer seeks an unjustified price increase, and we welcome Senator Ahad Cheema’s direction to expedite pending pricing cases and to review the pricing formula. A fair, transparent and predictable mechanism serves patients and industry alike,” he said.

“However, affordability and availability go hand in hand. The real threat to patients is not a justified price adjustment but a medicine disappearing from the shelf.”

Shaukat noted that products become unviable when the cost of active ingredients, packaging, energy, freight and compliance rises — most of which is imported and relies on the dollar — and prices remain frozen for years.

“Manufacturers are then forced to stop production, which creates shortages and pushes patients towards costlier imported alternatives, smuggled stock or spurious medicines,“ he explained.

Shaukat said that the industry supports the use of international benchmarks and independent databases, provided comparisons account for the cost of doing business within Pakistan, high financing costs, exchange-rate exposure and the fact that Pakistani medicine prices are already among the lowest in the region.

“Benchmarks should be a tool for fairness, not a ceiling that ignores input costs,” he highlighted.

“PPMA proposes that the revised formula include a clear, time-bound and rules-based mechanism, including periodic CPI and cost-linked adjustments, so that hardship cases do not pile up and decisions are not delayed for years,” Shaukat added.

The US Air Force (USAF) is evaluating its bombers, including the next-generation B-21 Raider, for potential air-to-air combat roles, and they could also operate alongside Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones.

So far, the USAF has used its bombers, including the B-52 Stratofortress, B-1B Lancer, and B-2 Spirit, for a variety of missions, including conventional ground strikes, nuclear deterrence, maritime anti-ship operations, and close air support roles.

However, adding air-to-air missiles to bombers and pairing them with CCAs would also enable them to perform air-superiority missions in a contested environment.

The plans are part of the USAF’s latest fighter force structure report, submitted to the US Congress for approval earlier this month.

The report, titled “Long-Term USAF Fighter Force Structure,” also envisions a combat-coded fleet of 1,509 fighters by 2035, along with at least 500 CCAs.

The plan calls for adding hundreds of new fighters as the USAF increases its current fighter fleet from 1,288 aircraft, while also accounting for hundreds of F-16s, older F-15s, and F-22 Raptors due for retirement in the coming years.

The 2035 plan envisions a 60% stealth force, including 40% F-35A Joint Strike Fighters, 20% F-47s and F-22 Raptors, and 40% upgraded fourth-generation fighters, with an even mix of F-16s and F-15EXs.

The USAF will build the new fleet by procuring Lockheed Martin’s F-35s and Boeing’s F-47 and F-15EX fighters.

However, the report acknowledges that meeting its ambitious fighter procurement targets may not be achievable because of “fiscal realities and industrial production limitations.”

To meet the 2035 target, the USAF will need to add more than 70 fighters to its fleet each year for the next ten years.

The report therefore discusses other recapitalization options for the USAF, including acquiring an entirely new fighter, relying more on semi-autonomous drone fighters known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft, and giving bombers air-to-air roles and capabilities, Air & Space Force Magazine said after reviewing the report, which has not been released in the media.

“Accordingly, the USAF is also evaluating additional recapitalization options, including a new capacity fighter, increased reliance on CCAs, and developing air-to-air capabilities on bombers.”

As EurAsian Times reported last week, the new fighter could be Lockheed Martin’s upgraded F-16, termed F-16G, or Boeing’s already-in-production F-15EX variant. Lockheed Martin is also discussing adding new sixth-generation capabilities to the F-35 fighter.

However, the report’s most unusual suggestion is to add new air-combat munitions to the USAF’s bomber fleet, including the under-development B-21 Raider stealth bomber.

Air-To-Air Missiles For Bombers

The USAF’s fighters have long carried air-to-ground munitions, such as precision-guided JDAMs, laser-guided bombs, and Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs).

Bombers, however, have traditionally not carried air-to-air missiles, severely limiting their ability to conduct air-to-air missions.

For instance, during the recent Operation Epic Fury, the USAF employed B-2 Spirit, B-1B Lancer, and B-52H Stratofortress Bombers, but used them exclusively for long-range standoff ground strikes, penetrating stealth strikes, or stand-in ground strikes once Iranian air defenses were sufficiently suppressed.

These bombers therefore mostly flew in strike packages with F-35s and F-22s, as well as F-15s and F-16s, tackling aerial threats and conducting air superiority and SEAD/DEAD missions.

Adding air-to-air capability will allow USAF bombers to support air superiority missions.

Additionally, pairing them with CCAs will let the bombers serve as airborne nerve centers and communication nodes for a networked strike package, with a bomber aircraft at the center controlling multiple combat and reconnaissance drones.

The USAF plans to have at least 500 CCA drones in service by 2032.

The bombers, including the B-21 Raider, could therefore be programmed to launch air-to-air missiles and drones. Some of these drones could launch air-to-air missiles themselves, thereby greatly extending bombers’ combat range.

Given bombers’ size, payload capacity, and range, a single bomber could carry multiple air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, as well as drones, a capability that could be crucial over the long distances of the Pacific theatre.

For instance, a B-2 Spirit bomber could carry over 27,000 kg of weapons payload, more than three times the F-35’s maximum payload capacity (8,200 kg).

Similarly, the B-2 Spirit’s unrefueled range of 6,000 nautical miles is nearly five times that of the F-35 (1,200 nautical miles).

Adding long-range air-to-air missiles and pairing combat drones with bombers will further extend their combat range.

Notably, the US is already developing several very long-range air-to-air missiles.

The US Navy has already fielded the AIM-174B air-launched version of the Standard Missile-6 (SM-6).

While the exact range of the AIM-174B is classified, widely cited estimates put it at 130 to 250 miles.

Separately, the US is also developing another very long-range AAM missile, the AIM-424 Malice, expected to reach over 250 miles.

In June, the USAF issued a call for a new anti-air missile with a range of at least 1,000 nautical miles.

Integrating such very long-range AAMs with bombers could redefine air warfare.

In addition, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is working on the LongShot program to test the feasibility of an air-launched drone that can launch air-to-air missiles.

The air-to-air capability of the bombers could also include self-protection systems, such as carrying air-launched anti-missile interceptors. In fact, Northrop Grumman, the B-21’s prime contractor, has already patented an anti-missile defense system for stealthy aircraft that fires hard-kill interceptors.

Notably, this is not the first time the USAF has explored adding air-to-air munitions to its bomber fleet.

Former Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin signaled in October 2024 that the B-21 Raider stealth bomber could play a greater role in the service’s air-dominance plans.

At the time, the USAF was reviewing its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter program, which Boeing eventually won in 2025 and named the F-47.

When asked whether the air superiority review could give the B-21 a more prominent role, Allvin said, “We have not taken that off the table.”

However, the USAF force structure report has not detailed what the bomber fleet’s potential air-to-air role would entail. Nor has it specified which USAF Bombers will be programmed for air-to-air combat roles.

However, because the B-21 Raider is still in early production, the bomber is best suited to be paired with AAM and CCA drones.

While the USAF initially planned to buy 100 B-21 Raiders, later reports suggested the force could increase that number to 140.

Besides, the USAF also has about 76 B-52 Stratofortresses, 44 B-1B Lancers, and nearly 19 B-2 Spirits.

The 2035 Force Structure Report suggests that the USAF is hedging on multiple options to maintain its dominance and fighter numbers, including buying a new aircraft (possibly F-16G), “increased reliance on CCAs,” and considering new air-to-air roles for bombers.

All these plans will compete for US funding. The US Congress will only know which programs are approved and funded when it approves the Force Structure Report.

• Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern  History from the University of Sheffield, UK. 
• He can be reached at ahlawat.sumit85 (at) gmail.com

The post What If the B-21 Raider Could Shoot Down Enemy Fighter Jets? The U.S. Air Force Just Put the Idea on Table appeared first on EURASIAN TIMES.

An emergence in working-class turnout delivered Lula a historic fourth presidential term, and that outcome signals a shift in climate policy and Latin American integration.

The 2026 Brazilian presidential election ended in a runoff, determining the leadership of Latin America’s largest nation for the next four years.

RELATED:
Lula Thwarted Trump’s Strategy to Control Latin America

According to official data released by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers’ Party (PT) secured a fourth non-consecutive term after defeating Senator Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party.

The TSE’s final official count showed that Lula da Silva received 64,256,232 votes, representing 51.79 percent of the total valid votes. Flávio Bolsonaro garnered 59,826,041 votes, accounting for 48.21 percent of the valid ballots cast.

Voter turnout and participation figures underscored the civic engagement across the country, with total reporting reaching 100 percent of polling stations nationwide.

This electoral result marks a significant political milestone, occurring against a backdrop of intense political polarization in Brazil and the growing political influence of the far right across Latin America.

Lula’s victory sparked a wave of strong emotion in Brazil’s streets, eliciting a wide range of reactions, both positive and negative, to the outcome. In this in-depth article, we explore the discourse that has emerged following the confirmation of Lula da Silva’s win, which secures him a fourth term in office.

The text reads, “Lula’s electoral victory in Brazil redefines the geopolitical landscape and the balance of power in Latin America. Do you think Lula’s win could shift the political equilibrium in the region?”

Domestic Mobilization and National Reactions to the Election Outcome

Brazil’s highest electoral authority, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), announced the results of the presidential election runoff held this Sunday, October 25.

Following the official declaration, various reactions emerged within Brazil, reflecting the country’s political landscape.

Social organizations, trade union federations, and grassroots community networks gathered in major urban centers, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte, to await the election outcome.

Once the results were known, union leaders and civil society representatives emphasized that these elections, and Lula’s victory, demonstrate public support for the social welfare programs, minimum wage adjustments, expansion of public housing, and labor protections established during the current administration.

National media outlets highlighted the narrow electoral margin between the two candidates and its implications for the executive power exercise.

Market analysts noted that investor attention will focus on fiscal discipline targets, the management of public spending, and upcoming ministerial appointments for the new presidential term.

Is important to highlight that civic mobilization during the three-week interval between the first and second rounds played a decisive role in shaping voter participation.

Campaign committees focused on reducing voter abstention in metropolitan suburbs and organizing localized voter outreach efforts. Youth organizations and community groups conducted door-to-door awareness campaigns, while labor unions like the Unified Workers’ Central (Central Única dos Trabalhadores) coordinated transportation logistics to facilitate polling access for working-class voters in distant municipal sectors.

The national reaction also reflected broader debates regarding institutional stability and social cohesion. Differences emerged among religious organizations; even before the elections, the Catholic Church had issued statements noting that Flávio Bolsonaro’s proposals diverged from the Church’s social doctrine. Conversely, evangelical leaders have supported the claims of the defeated candidate by calling for the election results to be annulled.

Flávio Bolsonaro Response and Political Posture of Conservative Forces

In the immediate aftermath of the vote tabulation, Flávio Bolsonaro addressed his supporters and members of the press regarding the election results.

Bolsonaro and his campaign team requested that the TSE review procedures for voting hours at polling stations and the transmission of digital vote tallies in certain municipalities.

Candidate Flávio refused to acknowledge the election results that declared Lula the winner, stating: “It is impossible to recognize the outcome of these elections given the circumstances under which these events took place. We are going to request their annulment.”

Political analysts note that this post-election reaction aligns with common strategies used by conservative political groups in the region. Rather than immediately accepting the preliminary results, opposition leaders signaled their intention to maintain rigorous scrutiny over electoral authorities and administrative procedures.

Furthermore, Liberal Party representatives said that they will form an organized opposition bloc in the National Congress to oversee government actions, exercise legislative oversight, and challenge proposed changes to public policy throughout the legislative term.

The Executive Victory Address and Focus on Institutional Integrity

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva delivered his victory address in São Paulo before supporters, party leaders, and domestic and international news agencies.

Lula’s speech outlined the strategic direction for his upcoming presidential term, focusing on national unity, poverty alleviation, re-industrialization, and democratic institutions’ preservation.

A central focus of the president’s address was digital communication, social media platform operations, and election administration. President Lula highlighted the impact of algorithmic distribution networks and automated messaging systems during political campaigns, asserting that digital platforms must adhere to national legal frameworks to prevent the spread of disinformation.

Lula said: “Brazil is no one’s backyard. We will change the way we run this country; we will make people participate more in the decision-making process.”

In his speech, President Lula emphasized the urgency of implementing updated regulatory guidelines for foreign technology companies operating within Brazil.

Lula stated that national sovereignty encompasses digital infrastructure, data protection, and the integrity of public communication channels.

The administration announced plans to work within the National Congress and regulatory bodies to draft legal frameworks addressing content moderation standards, corporate transparency, and digital network accountability during future democratic processes.

International Reactions and Global Perspectives

International leaders and foreign governments issued statements following the announcement of the TSE election results. Despite the rejection of the results by Flávio Bolsonaro, leaders from Latin America, North America, and Europe weighed in on the outcome.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum congratulated President Lula and the people of Brazil. Meanwhile, Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi spoke with Lula by phone to congratulate him on the democratic process.

Even presidents with openly right-wing leanings, such as Noboa in Ecuador, Fujimori in Peru, and Kast in Chile, commented on the results and congratulated Brazil on Lula’s victory.

A common theme among these different heads of state was their emphasis on the importance of regional cooperation, economic integration through platforms like CELAC, and a shared vision regarding environmental sustainability.

In the United States, lawmakers such as Senator Bernie Sanders celebrated the election result, describing it as a reaffirmation of democratic governance and citizen participation in the hemisphere.

Meanwhile, Europe and Asia also reacted to the election result. French President Macron congratulated Lula on his fourth electoral victory and urged the deepening of the bilateral partnership between the two nations.

Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez described the win as a great victory via his social media channels, while Costa, the president of the European Council, spoke with Lula by phone to reaffirm the bloc’s ties with Brazil.

Additionally, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed Beijing’s full readiness to foster mutual development. Russian President Putin also sent his warmest congratulations via an official statement.

Legislative Challenges and Regional Implications for Latin America

President Lula’s fourth term will be shaped by institutional dynamics and broader regional shifts. Domestically, the executive branch faces a conservative-majority National Congress, where conservative and center-right coalitions hold substantial parliamentary seats.

Pushing forward key agenda items, such as tax reform, social welfare expansion, fiscal adjustments, and climate conservation policies, will require building broad legislative alliances across party lines.

For their part, followers and supporters of Lula da Silva have announced that they will be monitoring the promises Lula made during his campaign, such as safeguarding the Family Allowance (Bolsa Família) program, strengthening food security, and increasing the real minimum wage.

Regionally, Lula’s victory consolidates left-of-center leadership in two of Latin America’s largest economies, Brazil and Mexico. This alignment provides institutional support for regional integration efforts, sustainable development initiatives in the Amazon basin, and coordinated strategies on international trade and environmental governance.

The election outcome signals sustained continuity for progressive policy frameworks while requiring pragmatic negotiation to navigate economic constraints and political polarization both domestically and internationally.

Sources: Brasil de Fato – Agência Brasil – Gov.br – O Globo – Folha de S.Paulo – O Estado de S.Paulo – El País – CNN Brasil – EFE – Instituto Tricontinental – La Base América Latina – Diario Red – TeleSUR – Al Jazeera

This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Oct. 26, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.

“There is nothing inevitable about the far right,” said one former Obama administration official Sunday night as supporters of the left-wing Student List in Serbia poured into the streets of Belgrade and other cities across the Balkan country, celebrating their defeat of right-wing President Aleksandar Vučić, who has led the nation for nearly a decade and has been accused of corruption and autocratic rule.

The Student List’s victory coincided with that of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was also backed by a student-led movement that marched through Rio de Janeiro and other cities in recent weeks, as US President Donald Trump was accused of election interference on behalf of right-wing Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, Lula’s opponent.

Both countries reported high voter turnout in the pivotal elections, proving, as journalist Anne Applebaum said, “that voters can alter what feels like a historical shift.”

In Serbia, Vučić said it was “clear that we have lost the election,” as results showed his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) had won about 105 seats while the Student List had won at least 135.

The Student List movement, officially registered by the Republic Electoral Commission as “Studentska lista—Studenti pobeđuju” (Student List—Students Win) began in November 2024 after the concrete roof of a newly renovated train station in Novi Sad collapsed, killing 16 people. Students and other Serbians blamed corruption and negligence by Vučić’s government, and soon began blockades at a majority of the country’s higher education institutions.

Rallies in the coming year drew hundreds of thousands of people. The political movement that grew out of the sustained protests called for an independent judiciary, a special prosecutor to hold public officials accountable, independent reviews of major infrastructure projects, a higher minimum wage, and better funding for education, healthcare, and agriculture.

A cardiologist and professor from Novi Sad, Ilija Srdanović, topped the list of 250 candidates that the Student List put forward ahead of the snap elections on Sunday, but the movement has said Srdanović will not automatically be its choice for prime minister. The list of candidates for Serbia’s 250-seat Parliament includes doctors, farmers, activists, athletes, and actors.

“Never again tyrants in our country,” Srdanović said after the defeat of Vučić, who was prime minister before becoming president in 2017 and has been Serbia’s central political figure since 2012, developing a reputation for threatening his critics and cracking down on press freedom.

One Student List supporter, Sara, told The Guardian in Belgrade, “It’s very strange that on the very streets where the police beat us, on the streets where we retreated countless times in the face of the gendarmerie, we are now standing here as the victors.”

Nebojsa Cosic said to Reuters: “The people have won! The people defeated a dictator! The people will lead Serbia!”

In Brazil, thousands rallied ahead of the runoff election between Lula and Bolsonaro, the son of convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro, a close Trump ally who is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for orchestrating a coup attempt after his election loss in 2022.

Right-wing candidates won a significant number of seats in the earlier elections, which followed Trump’s push to secure partnerships across Latin America—stoking fears that Bolsonaro could win Sunday’s runoff and pushing students to lead pro-Lula rallies and marches across the country.

At a Copacabana Beach rally in Rio on Saturday, supporters carried a yellow and green banner that read, “We are going to turn this around!”

Isabella Graze, a retired teacher who joined a 10-million member WhatsApp group aimed at mobilizing pro-Lula voters, told The Guardian that “being a soldier in Lula’s army… means fighting for Brazilian democracy. This isn’t a normal election.”

The Serbian and Brazilian elections came two days before Israelis are set to vote, potentially ending the long-running term of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an accused war criminal whose US-backed government has waged war on Gaza, killing more than 74,000 Palestinians, and pushed to violently take control of more of the occupied West Bank.

They also came just over a week before the midterm elections in the US, with Democrats pushing for congressional control to rein in Trump for the final two years of his term. The campaign has been marked by openly racist, anti-Muslim attacks by Trump and his allies on Michigan US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, a Republican ad claiming that Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton lied about her abusive childhood, and persistent claims by the president that the cost of living is down, contrary to all evidence.

“Feeling so much hope from the results out of Serbia and Brazil,” said Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.). “This took tremendous people power, organizing, and grit. Now it’s time to turn our country around, too.”

Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, said Sunday was “a good day for democracy.”

“Israel could be next on Tuesday, then the US midterms the following week,” said Roth. “The best case against the autocrats is the autocrat.”

Student representatives dismissed the measures as insufficient and confirmed further protests and blockades.

On Monday morning, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu met with some students to brief them on measures he will announce during an afternoon meeting with high school student associations. The meeting, however, turned into a political setback for the administration of President Emmanuel Macron.

RELATED:

Police Violence Escalates During Mass Protests in France

Student representatives said Lecornu was attempting to divide the protest movement by holding a meeting attended by people who lacked legitimacy and did not represent the movement.

The prime minister announced a reform of the university admissions system, with partial implementation in 2027 and more far-reaching changes in 2028. However, implementation of the proposal will depend on the government that emerges from the April-May presidential election.

Lecornu pledged to create 15,000 places in higher education, establish a 1-billion-euro investment plan to renovate high schools, and provide 4 billion euros in loans.

The text reads, “In Bordeaux, protesters raise their hands to show they pose no threat; the police charge at them and brutally gas them. Across France, the grassroots movement has gained further momentum. Massive crowds have taken to the streets to demand a price freeze, the repeal of the Parcoursup system, wage increases, and the inclusion in the budget of the 10 billion euros requested by high school and university students to address their demands.”

These measures come against the backdrop of a government seeking to gradually reduce the maximum number of students in high school classrooms to 28 and implement an emergency plan that will affect students in the country’s most disadvantaged areas.

Student representatives who questioned the legitimacy of the morning meeting stressed that their demands were more ambitious and dismissed the announcements made in advance as “crumbs.”

They are calling for the repeal of the current university admissions system, which they describe as opaque, and the creation of 250,000 places in higher education. “Our demand is clear: We want 10 billion euros and 10 measures that we have been calling for in various ministerial meetings,” they also emphasized.

Student representatives confirmed plans for protests on Oct. 31. Later, on Nov. 2, when classes resume after the school holidays, students will continue their high school blockades. On Nov. 5, student organizations will also join the general strike called by France’s main labor unions.

The text reads, “’10 billion, 10 measures—no more, no less,’ declares Sabrine Kharbach, spokesperson for the Student Union. Representatives of high school and university students speak during a press conference held ahead of a meeting at Matignon.”

What French Students Are Demanding

In recent weeks, the High School Union (USL), the Student Solidarity collective, the National Union of Students of France (UNEF) and the Federation of General Student Associations (FAGE) have been the most determined groups in organizing mobilizations across France. They are demanding that the Macron administration implement the following 10 emergency measures:

1. An Emergency Plan to Renovate Schools and Universities

Launch an emergency plan to renovate dilapidated and unsanitary school and university buildings. Adapt educational institutions to the effects of climate change by installing air conditioning and cooling systems to cope with heat waves, as well as appropriate insulation and heating systems to withstand cold spells.

Ensure that every institution has the human and material resources necessary to maintain its facilities and provide clean, functional restrooms.

2. Mass Hiring of Education, Health, Support and Guidance Staff

Launch a large-scale recruitment plan for National Education personnel to guarantee, at a minimum, the following staffing levels at every institution: One nurse for every 500 students. One psychologist for every 500 students. One guidance counselor for every 500 students.

Create additional teaching positions rather than relying on contract workers, so that every class has a teacher and inequalities between institutions are eliminated. Also establish a formal employment status for support staff for students with disabilities (AESH) and create 800 additional positions.

3. Rethink School and University Schedules

Undertake a comprehensive overhaul of school schedules, building on the work of the Citizens’ Convention on Children’s Schedules for the National Education system, and launch a similar process for higher education to better respect students’ needs and well-being.

In particular, guarantee a lunch break of at least 1 1/2 hours so that every student can eat under appropriate conditions. Reverse the reforms of the baccalaureate and high school system.

4. End Selection Through Parcoursup and Mon Master. Create 250,000 Higher Education Places.

Eliminate selection through the Parcoursup and Mon Master platforms and create 250,000 additional places in higher education starting with the next academic year. This would allow high school students to access programs in their chosen fields without being subject to algorithmic selection and enable all students who wish to do so to continue their studies at the master’s level.

Retain centralized national application platforms to make available programs easier to identify, but eliminate selection. A high school diploma must guarantee access to a bachelor’s degree program, and a bachelor’s degree must guarantee access to a master’s program.

5. Overhaul High School Student Democracy to Ensure Genuine Participation in Decision-Making

Introduce list-based elections for the High School Student Council (CVL) and the Academic High School Student Council (CAVL) to ensure union representation, with representatives elected directly by all high school students in the relevant area. Increase the number of high school student seats on school boards. All high school students must be able to vote in CSE elections.

6. Increase Scholarships and Reinstate and Raise Housing Assistance for Everyone

Increase student scholarships by 200 euros per month, distribute them over 12 months and allow an additional 300,000 students to qualify for the scholarship system. Ultimately, establish a student autonomy income of 1,337 euros per month to guarantee every student the material resources necessary to pursue their studies. Abandon budgetary measures that reduce housing assistance for young people. Reinstate housing assistance (APL) for international students. Increase APL benefits and abandon changes to the calculation method that would deprive 147,000 students of this assistance.

7. Guarantee Effective Access to 1-Euro Meals for All Students

Guarantee effective access to 1-euro meals for students and provide the university services network with the resources necessary to meet demand.

8. Repeal the Welcome to France Plan, Which Introduces Differential Tuition Fees for International Students, and Eliminate the CVEC

Abolish the Welcome to France plan and its differential tuition fees for non-European students, which introduce a national-preference policy and a racist approach to higher education. Eliminate the Student and Campus Life Contribution (CVEC).

9. Freeze CROUS Rents, Make Rent Controls Permanent, and Massively Renovate and Build CROUS Housing

Reinstate the freeze on CROUS rents based on the rents frozen before 2023. Renovate unsanitary CROUS residences. Begin construction of 15,000 CROUS housing units starting in 2027. As an emergency measure, 10% of students must be able to obtain accommodation through CROUS.

10. End Repression and Police Violence Against the High School and Student Movement

End all forms of repression related to the high school and student movement. Ensure that law enforcement officers responsible for violence are prosecuted. Guarantee that absences related to mobilization are neither counted nor penalized.

More broadly, abandon all forms of repression in educational institutions and guarantee young people freedom of expression and freedom to organize, in direct contrast to the repression carried out in the struggle against the genocide in Palestine.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE – Union Etudiante

• Spark Capital is mentioned more than 50 times in Anthropic's S-1 filing, released Monday.
• The reason Spark gets the most mentions is because partner Yasmin Razavi has a board seat.
• Spark led the $450 million Series C round at a $4.5 billion valuation in May 2023.

Spark Capital's Yasmin Razavi has a reputation for refusing to make gut calls. Her methodical decision to invest in Anthropic is now set to generate one of the biggest fortunes in Silicon Valley history, as Anthropic prepares to IPO.

Many venture firms, including Lightspeed and Menlo Ventures, are major Anthropic investors, but Spark is the only traditional VC firm named in the filing. And it's not just a few mentions. Spark is named more than 50 times.

The reason Spark gets the most ink is because Yasmin Razavi has a board seat after being the first institutional investor in the company, leading the $450 million Series C at a $4.5 billion valuation in May 2023.

This was just six months after ChatGPT was released to the public, and the jury was out on whether a rival like Anthropic could catch up. Many balked at the price, calling it too expensive.

"It was a big leap of faith, but this was the team that built GPT-3," Razavi told Forbes.

The filing says that Spark has invested $777 million in Anthropic across six financings since then, including $75 million in the first pivotal round at $11.22 per share.

Spark was already known for making early bets on Postmates and Discord, but it was the Anthropic investment that transformed the firm's Silicon Valley reputation from a good venture firm to a great one.

Razavi said she has been continuously wowed by CEO Dario Amodei.

"Every year, he puts out outrageous numbers, but somehow they magically become true," Razavi told Forbes. "Dario never misses."

Soon, Amodei will face a greater test: the public markets.

Please send along your tips. Email Ben or Katie anytime or contact them on Signal at benbergman.11 and kroof.26. Sign up for Business Insider's weekly VC Insider newsletter here.

• David Ellison's Skydance is telling staffers to work in the office five days a week.
• Employees who aren't willing to work in person may be eligible for a voluntary buyout.
• Skydance was formed with the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery this month.

Skydance wants employees back in the office five days a week — and staffers who aren't willing to comply may be eligible for a buyout.

CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz informed employees at the media giant about the change on Monday afternoon. They said in a memo that the RTO order applied "across all of Skydance."

"We truly believe this is in the best interest of our company and our people," Ellison and Kreiz wrote in a memo to employees, which was viewed by Business Insider. "We've seen the benefits firsthand at Paramount, and we want every part of Skydance to share in them."

The memo did not mention whether there were any exceptions or say who's eligible for a buyout. It said employees who qualify for a buyout would get an "individual communication with their personalized details and terms, and a window to decide whether to accept this one-time offer."

Eligible employees can take a buyout package of two weeks of pay for each year they've been at the company. They must decide whether to take the offer by November 8 at 11 p.m. ET.

Skydance was formed earlier this month when Paramount completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. (The company previously went by Paramount Skydance.)

Most WBD employees have been required to work in person three days a week.

Paramount Skydance, for its part, had mandated that staffers in its New York and Los Angeles offices return to work in person five days a week in January. Staffers who weren't willing to work in person were offered a severance package. The company also called hybrid workers back in September for Phase 2 of its RTO policy.

Working in person will lead to employees "communicating openly and collaborating efficiently across every part of the organization," Ellison and Kreiz told staffers in the Monday memo.

"We believe in-person collaboration is vital to our culture and to the success of our business," Ellison and Kreiz said.

Read the full memo from Ellison and Kreiz:

Team,

At Skydance, our goal is to build the next-generation media and entertainment company, powered by creativity and technology. We are creative-first, audience focused, tech-forward and globally scaled. And in a world of endless choice and fierce competition for attention, we don't just want to succeed. We want to win.

To do that, we must be a strong, connected and agile company. Among our business and creative priorities, none matters more than building a strong culture, because it's the foundation of everything we want to achieve. Winning requires us to work as one team: one company, fully aligned. That means communicating openly and collaborating efficiently across every part of the organization.

In-Person Collaboration

We believe in-person collaboration is vital to our culture and to the success of our business. Especially in a creative company like ours, the best ideas come from people in the same room, sharing perspectives, challenging one another and solving problems. Being together isn't just about showing up. It's about inspiring one another, learning and coaching, forming friendships and having the casual conversations that spark something great.

With that in mind, we will adopt a five-day in-office policy across all of Skydance. We truly believe this is in the best interest of our company and our people. We've seen the benefits firsthand at Paramount, and we want every part of Skydance to share in them.

While many of you are already in the office five days a week, we understand this may be a significant change to the daily routines of others. To give you time to plan and adjust, we will take a phased approach by location. You will receive ample notice before changes take effect, and we will work closely with managers to support you through the transition.

Voluntary Buyout Program

As we bring our teams together, we recognize that not everyone will see their future here, and we respect that. To give eligible employees the option to move on in a way that works for them, we are introducing a Voluntary Buyout (VBO) Program. Those who qualify will receive an individual communication with their personalized details and terms, and a window to decide whether to accept this one-time offer.

We recognize this is a significant decision, and we want you to feel informed and supported. If this applies to you, please review your materials carefully and reach out to your leadership or HR representative with any questions. FAQs and other resources are available on the Skydance Integration Hub, and HR support is also available through My Paramount (legacy Paramount employees) or Ask Employee Connection on WBD One (legacy Warner Bros. employees).

Please know we don't take any of this lightly. We are clear about what we're building: a company that tells the stories people around the world love, embraces new ways to connect with audiences, and leads the next era of media and entertainment. We have the talent, the creative firepower and the ambition to do it, and we will get there together.

Thank you for your commitment, and for the creativity and passion you bring to your work every day.

Best,

David and Ynon

Ramallah - Driving in the occupied West Bank, motorists are confronted with a barrage of campaign billboards for the Israeli elections.

The messages are geared towards Israeli settlers in the territory, not the Palestinians barred from voting.

Many of the posters express support for National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s far-right Jewish Power party, as he draws his core voter base from settlers.

But there are also numerous posters for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud party, including an ominous ad along the road to Jerusalem featuring Zohran Mamdani and Ayatollah Khomeini, warning against the power of Palestinian allies.

Against this radicalised backdrop, Israelis will head to the polls on Tuesday in an election that many hope will spell the end of Netanyahu’s 19-year non-consecutive rule as prime minister.

The election comes in the wake of growing domestic resentment against Netanyahu over reports of his advanced knowledge of the 7 October attacks. 

Netanyahu’s Likud is seemingly facing an uphill battle against a bloc of four Jewish opposition parties that have joined forces to defeat him: the Yashar party, the Democrats, the Yisrael Beitenu party, and the Together alliance.

After the bloc’s establishment, the parties announced their goal was to “preserve and strengthen Israel as a Jewish and democratic state”. 

The elections are projected to be a near deadlock with no bloc winning an absolute majority. That outcome would trigger a period of negotiations and coalition building, where different parties must agree to come together to form a government.

But as settler violence reaches record levels in the West Bank, many Palestinians are left wondering: will any electoral outcome change the facts on the ground?

West Bank violence surges ahead of election

Approximately 750,000 Israelis live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem today, illegal under international law.

The settlers comprise a disproportionately powerful bloc in Israeli politics, despite accounting for around 7-8% of the total Israeli population.

Under Netanyahu’s current administration, which has brought settlers from the far-right fringes into a governing coalition, the settlers’ political influence has coincided with a rapid acceleration of settlement expansion.

But it’s unlikely that another government would slow the pace of settlement building.

“In order to ameliorate pressure from the settler lobby, the left often are tempted to expand settlements even more than the right,” Shaiel Ben-Ephraim, a political commentator and former Israeli diplomat, tells The New Arab.

“It [the opposition winning] might even lead to an increase in settlement construction in order to pay them off for concessions.”

As settlements expand, so does the pressure on Palestinians living nearby. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded an average of six settler attacks per day this year thus far.

Those numbers were released before the autumnal olive harvest commenced, when violence dramatically escalates as settlers launch coordinated attacks against Palestinian farmers in their olive groves.

And after two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on an Israeli checkpoint on 23 October, Ben-Gvir suggested that Palestinians should be barred from driving on the roads in the West Bank - or the land of Judea and Samaria, as he refers to it.

The Israeli army subsequently launched a collective punishment operation and began home demolitions across the neighbourhood where the shooters hailed from, displacing 400 families thus far.

Netanyahu has promised the biggest military occupation in the West Bank since 1967, though many experts say he may be bluffing to bolster support for Likud ahead of the elections. 

The election will now take place against a backdrop of expanding settlements, escalating settler violence, and increasingly severe restrictions on Palestinian movement, fuelling fears that tensions across the West Bank are near boiling point.

“There are a lot of people in the Israeli security forces who want Palestinians to have a better quality of life, just so that the West Bank doesn't explode into another Intifada,” says Ben-Ephraim.

Projected electoral outcomes

Netanyahu’s main rival, Gadi Eisenkot of Yashar!, is seen as the leading centrist alternative for Prime Minister.

Eisenkot has promised to rein in settler violence while firmly opposing a two-state solution. Once the Israeli army Chief of Staff, Eisenkot was the architect of the Dahiyeh Doctrine in 2006, which advocates "disproportionate force” against Israel’s perceived enemies. 

“None of the Israeli governments that would come is going to give a Palestinian state to the Palestinians, but change may come, depending on how you define change,” Muhanned Qafesha, a Palestinian journalist from Hebron, tells The New Arab.

An Eisenkot government could mean greater restrictions on settler violence and a slight change in settlement policy, without fundamentally interfering with the settler project.

Alternatively, if Netanyahu secures another term or temporarily heads a caretaker government if a stalemate arises, the settlers in his administration may feel their time is limited and accelerate their existing plans for the annexation of the West Bank.

As it stands, neither major political bloc is projected to secure the 61 seats needed for a majority in Israel’s 120-seat parliament.

While the opposition bloc has sworn not to form a coalition with either of the Palestinian parties on the ballot - the left-leaning Joint List and the United Arab List (Ra’am) - that pledge may not hold, as they could be a potential lifeline to forming a government.

“The two Arab parties can maybe win like 15 seats or something, and this will make a huge difference because if they can make a coalition with the opposition, they can kick out Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir,” Qafesha tells The New Arab.

“I do believe that the opposition in Israel is saying they won’t form a coalition with the Arabs because they want to get as many votes from the Jewish community as possible. But if they need the Arab parties to form a coalition to kick out Netanyahu, they might do it,” he adds. 

But any coalition will also depend on parties that oppose Palestinian statehood, and thus a fundamental shift in Israel’s approach to the occupation is virtually impossible.

Even if Eisenkot eventually forms a government, his fragile coalition across the ideological spectrum would struggle to agree on significant changes towards settlement policy in the West Bank. 

Will the opposition improve life in the West Bank?

The 3.4 million Palestinians living in the West Bank under military occupation cannot vote in Israeli elections, but Palestinian citizens of Israel can.

Arab voters have long boycotted Israeli elections, but there has been a recent push for their participation - with a record turnout for the group anticipated.

The vast majority of Palestinians in the West Bank want Palestinian citizens of Israel to vote in the elections to improve their daily lives, explains Qafesha, who himself cannot vote.

He believes an administration without settlers at the helm may alleviate some of the daily struggles in the West Bank.

“We live in hell. We just want to breathe,” Qafesha says. 

But if Netanyahu finally goes down, some Palestinians believe Western governments may attempt to rehabilitate Israel’s image under a new administration - and lift the recent round of European sanctions against settlements that were years in the making.

“The upcoming election is between fascists and ultra-fascists. If Netanyahu loses the chance to lead the next government, his loss can be used to alleviate the pressure that is just starting to build from the international community,” Mazin Qumsiyeh, Director of Palestine’s Natural History Museum in Bethlehem, tells The New Arab.

Yet Qafesha remains adamant that the reality on the ground is more important than the views of the international community, which could promote a new government as an example of Israel’s return to democracy.

“Over the past three years, Israel has killed more than 100,000 Palestinians in Gaza. What has the world done for us? Has anything changed in our life? I don't want the view of the world to change at the expense of the blood of Palestinian children, whether it's in Gaza, West Bank, or Jerusalem,” says Qafesha.

An opposition government less reliant on far-right parties could potentially curb some of the policies driving unchecked violence and forced displacement, ameliorating a few of the numerous obstacles to a dignified life under occupation. But any improvement would likely be limited in scope.

“If the opposition wins, the intensity of the ethnic cleansing will probably somewhat lessen, but it's only temporary,” concludes Ben-Ephraim.

“I think that the Israeli public opinion has turned so far in favour of genocide and ethnic cleansing that it will just be a respite at best.”

Kate McMahon is a freelance journalist and foreign correspondent focused on the Middle East and South Asia. She reports on environmental change, human rights, and geopolitical conflicts

Follow her on Instagram: @katemontanaa

Edited by Charlie Hoyle

Chissà se i pesci negli acquari sono a disagio. Sembra chiederselo spesso con il suo sguardo Kamei, adolescente di Okinawa che galleggia tra le sue giornate estive prima di scegliere il suo futuro. The Color of the Sun è l’opera prima di Xavier Tera. Ci apre lo sguardo su un litorale asiatico dove basi militari e angherie post-coloniali Usa limitano i rintocchi della vita fin dai rombi dei caccia, che tuonano dal cielo neanche fossero campanili. Kamei si destreggia tra le prime esperienze sessuali con una ragazza, suo primo amore, e le prove di coraggio con la nuova amicizia simbiotica di un ragazzo americano legato alle basi.

Mentre sullo sfondo Okinawa manifesta, ambisce all’indipendenza e sviluppa forte diffidenza verso l’arroganza stelle e strisce. Con un rapporto di silenzi tra il protagonista e una madre in affanno, l’istantanea realista su questa piccola frazione di mondo così lontana presenta virtù e fragilità di tante opere prime veraci e giovanilistiche. Da una parte vivida e vibrante anche nei respiri lunghi, e con un finale aperto a varie letture. Ha esordito alla Mostra del Cinema Venezia, Orizzonti, mentre ad Alice nella Città era in sezione Sintonie.

Il primo film in lingua inglese di Kantemir Balagov è anche ambientato a Newark, Usa. Butterfly Jam racconta di un giovane padre, Barry Keoghan, alle prese con un figlio adolescente con un talento incredibile e un futuro probabile nella lotta libera. “Io posso fare marmellata con qualsiasi cosa”, dice il personaggio di Keoghan quando cucina a dei tipi loschi interessati al suo ristorante in difficoltà. Il titolo del film è proprio “marmellata di farfalle”.

La famiglia che andiamo a conoscere fa parte della comunità circassa, etnia russo-caucasica, e in un sol colpo, questo regista tra i promettenti in circolazione cuce intorno a quel fenomeno di Keoghan una messa in scena palpitante che si sposta tra la crescita accellerata del ragazzo, l’ottimo Talha Akdogan, e il passo rischioso del giovane padre che metterà a rischio ogni cosa.

Il rapporto padre/figlio, la lotta alla sopravvivenza, il discorso sull’identità culturale dell’immigrato e la genialità attoriale di Keoghan – uno che anche stavolta inventa nuove espressioni e movenze per il suo ragazzo padre – sono i punti di forza di questo film dal ritmo pizzicato su musiche folk caucasiche. Il film ha aperto quest’anno la Quinzaine des Cinéastes del Festival di Cannes, è stato in concorso ad Alice nella Città e sarà nelle nostre sale dal 26 novembre. Da mettere in lista se amate registi come Arnolds e Baker.

Torniamo in Italia, anzi a Roma, dov’è ambientata questa liaison tra un ragazzo e una ragazza che negli anni ottanta si fiutano, si desiderano, ma si trovano troppo tardi. Poi diversi anni dopo, il nuovo incontro in età adulta li porterà su un terreno molto più complesso e imprudente.

Michela Cescon con Desiderio firma un’opera seconda ricca di dettagli precisi per la narrazione quanto preziosi per il transfer dello spettatore, e sceglie Enrico Borello e Romana Maggiora Vergano come protagonisti. Sfiorandosi l’anima come fossero piume, i due costruiscono piccoli momenti da Nouvelle Vague. Dal mood crepuscolare che solo certe storie d’amore incompiute regalano, per i nostalgici di Rohmer e Demy sarà un raggio di luce. Proiettato in sezione Grand Public alla Festa del Cinema di Roma, uscirà in sala nel marzo 2027 con Fandango.

Programmato invece come Special Screening, Il gioco del silenzio è tra i documentari italiani più coraggiosi degli ultimi anni. Ha sempre vissuto in un’hinterland del Nord Italia Vincenzo De Caro, circondato dalla sua numerosa famiglia siciliana che ha ricreato negli anni una micro-comunità del Sud senza mai tornare a casa. Nel suo film decide di scavare nelle sue origini, dove il fratello della sua amata nonna è Gaspare Mutolo, ex-autista di Totò Riina che testimoniò al Maxi Processo voluto da Falcone e Borsellino. Con candore e dignità il regista percorre sterrati difficilissimi da rivangare per i suoi cari, in primis per suo padre, che era un ragazzo emigrante negli anni ottanta, e per sua nonna, donna tutta d’un pezzo da giovane, poi vecchina coccolata da figli e nipoti negli anni recenti.

Documentario in prima persona che gioca a tutto campo tra migrazione interna, collaboratori di giustizia, memoria e cancellazione, verità e silenzio dei famigliari, fughe e ritorni (d)alla terra d’origine, con un suo stile pop e molta scorrevolezza anche visiva di tramonti pittorici e archivi di videocassette, tocca con delicatezza non scontata il contrasto tra la dignità e la vergogna.

Concludiamo con Brianza, opera prima di Simone Catania, in concorso Progressive Cinema. A nord di Milano e a sud della Svizzera si intreccia la vicenda sporca di un ricco negoziante d’armi prossimo al fallimento dal carattere ingenuo e serioso, Fausto Russo Alesi, e di un imprenditore in carburanti traffichino e narcisista, Paolo Pierobon. Tra loro la mogliettina viziata Marina Rocco e lo spezzapollici istrionico Giovanni Calcagno. L’incontro e il gioco per arraffare denaro farà scintille e continui capovolgimenti di fronte dall’inizio alla fine.

In questa provincia tra pistole e Caravaggio la morale ha sempre molti zeri, così il regista ci mostra con stile notturno tra western e crime una danza scomposta tra business di armi e benzina, presepi in cosmogonie quasi blasfeme e una corsa disperata alla salvezza economica da debiti contrapposta alla vergogna per la povertà, tutto condito da forze dell’ordine pure un po’ corrotte. Succulento meccanismo drammaturgico e personaggi per un bel Guy Ritchie all’italiana.

Con il suo luciferino faccendiere brianzolo Pierobon ha vinto come Migliore attore, ex aequo con Anthony Boyle per I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning. Il film però non ha ancora un distributore, speriamo arrivi presto, insieme a una data d’uscita. Lo dico per il film, ma pure per gli amanti di un cinema graffiante e pieno di ritmo. #PEACE

L'articolo Festa del Cinema e Alice nella Città: 5 film imperdibili di cui si è parlato poco proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Michel Foucault, sulle tracce di Adorno e Horkheimer ( La personalità autoritaria) ,
affermò che l’illuminismo fu il processo che liberò dall’ accettazione di ogni autorità. Per
lui la modernità è un atteggiamento più che un periodo storico, caratterizzato
dall’attitudine critica, giudicante, infine dissolvente nei confronti della realtà. L’esito che
abbiamo dinanzi è drammatico. Foucault riscoprì, da una prospettiva rovesciata, il
pensiero di Nietzsche, in particolare il nichilismo e il concetto di “morte di Dio”,
estendendolo alla morte dell’uomo. “L’uomo è un’invenzione di cui l’archeologia del nostro
pensiero mostra la data recente ( Le parole e le cose). “ Per Marcello Veneziani fu un ponte
sospeso tra Marx e Nietzsche, “ da rivoluzione a trasgressione, da masse a soggetti, da
rivendicazioni sociali a desideri individuali sprigionati”. Morte di Apollo, vittoria di
Dioniso; le vittime sono la civiltà, le comunità, i singoli uomini. Fu patrono di emarginati e
soprattutto degenerati: Nietzsche osservato da un cannocchiale capovolto. Oltre alle
carceri, considerava universi concentrazionari ospedali, manicomi, scuole, tribunali,
commissariati di polizia, poiché ogni istituzione è il Male.
L’ obiettivo – conseguito !- era la liberazione e l’intronizzazione dei pazzi, dei delinquenti,
dei malati, delle minoranze sessuali e di ogni genere di deviati. Fu incline al suicidio ed
abusò per tutta la vita di droghe e alcool. Centro del suo pensiero è la rivolta contro la
norma e la normalità. Conta per lui non la classe, la nazione, la società, ma solo il soggetto.
Fu il teorico della svolta individualista e nichilista del post Sessantotto , che traslocò dal
socialismo rivoluzionario al radicalismo libertario, basato sulla liberazione dei desideri
preconizzata da Marcuse e tematizzata da pessimi maestri, Gilles Deleuze e Fèlix Guattari,
ne L’Anti Edipo. La “micropolitica del desiderio” cui segue la “ liberazione dei flussi
libidinali”.
Foucault pensava che chi vuole opporsi a un ordine oppressivo deve fissare l’attenzione su
istanze di potere diverse dallo Stato per tessere reti di contropotere Quando parlava di
“microfisica del potere” descriveva l’atto con cui il potere penetra dentro gli individui e
diventa dispositivo. Se la nemica dei francofortesi fu la personalità autoritaria , fomite del
fascismo elevato a categoria eterna del male, Foucault si spinge oltre . Nemico assoluto
resta sì il fascismo, ma in quanto , come per Sartre, “ è già nello Stato”. Avversario di ogni
ordine, per Foucault la libertà coincide con l’alienazione, la fuoriuscita da sé, capovolgendo
Marx. Eppure comprese che, chiusi nella soggettività, gli esseri umani diventano più docili
e indifesi, addirittura complici del potere, un convincimento ripreso dall’ultimo Agamben.
Non riponeva speranza alcuna nell’azione collettiva o in rivoluzioni politiche: per lui la
(non) soluzione è l’ombra, lo spazio soggettivo in cui ognuno vive e accetta i propri vizi e
finanche le depravazioni in assenza totale di regole o limiti. La conseguenza è il tracollo
generale dell’uomo e del mondo. Ha scavato sotto le fondamenta come uno sciame di
termiti; impressiona che abbia goduto di tanto credito e di perdurante successo. Del resto,
l’Occidente terminale, woke, invertito, debosciato, orgiastico e senz’anima è in larga parte
un suo frutto. Se Paul Ricoeur, che definì Marx, Nietzsche e Freud maestri del sospetto, ne

avesse conosciuto l’opera, gli avrebbe attribuito la stessa qualifica. Foucault fu nemico
delle norme, ma lui stesso venne eretto a norma intellettuale; regna ancora su buona parte
della cultura contemporanea. Follia, prigione, sessualità, minoranze, diritti, dominio
biocratico: la sinistra postmoderna gli deve molti dei suoi concetti. Dopo la breve stagione
strutturalista, teorizzò la “morte dell’uomo”, con grande dispetto di Jean-Paul Sartre, che
intuì, nel rifiuto della storia come prassi, la fuoriuscita di Foucault dal marxismo.
In Sorvegliare e punire (1975) Foucault dà a questo approccio un'illustrazione esemplare.
Contesta l’idea che il potere appartenga allo Stato; al contrario, viene esercitato soprattutto
per mezzo della conoscenza, delle norme e delle pratiche quotidiane. Alain de Benoist
afferma che il pensiero di Foucault “si riduce a poche semplici idee: rimuoviamo i
manicomi e non ci saranno più sciocchi, rimuoviamo i medici e non ci saranno più persone
malate, tagliamo le prigioni e non ci saranno più delinquenti. “ Il guaio è che è stato
creduto. Nella Storia della sessualità applica lo stesso ragionamento all’ambito sessuale.
Parlare esclusivamente di repressione sessuale è un errore: sono piuttosto discorsi medici,
educativi e psichiatrici ad avere gradualmente standardizzato e medicalizzato la sfera
pulsionale. Per lui la sessualità è un oggetto su cui la società ha imposto agli individui di
“confessare” la propria verità soggettiva.
L’idea che lo ossessionò fu il governo ( o non governo) di sé. Verso la fine della vita, Michel
Foucault abbordò l’ anarcoliberismo. “Nulla di strano o imprevedibile: nemico dello Stato,
vide nel neoliberismo un'alternativa meno normativa e autoritaria rispetto alla sinistra
classica, che trovava totalmente obsoleta. “(de Benoist) . Ma se il potere è ovunque, in
nome di che cosa condannare una delle sue forme? E’ l’obiezione della femminista Nancy
Fraser e di Jürgen Habermas, mentre altri hanno criticato l’attacco alla nozione di verità
che riduce la conoscenza a pura relazione di potere. Altrettanto devastante fu l’abbandono
della critica sociale a favore di un’analisi centrata non sullo sfruttamento dell’uomo, ma
sulla repressione contro le minoranze, un’idea che ha disarmato la sinistra di fronte al
capitalismo.
Una critica serrata a Foucault viene da François Bousquet, esponente della Nuova Destra
francese. Il suo pamphlet è sulfureo sin dal titolo: Putain de Saint Foucault, archeologie
d’un fetiche (Fottuto San Foucault, archeologia di un feticcio). Fin troppo chiara la prima
parte, mentre la seconda rinvia alla categoria di feticcio nel senso originario di falso,
fittizio. Bousquet muove dal rifiuto del nome del padre, un parricidio simbolico molto
freudiano. Il ruolo paterno fu così descritto dallo psicanalista strutturalista Jacques Lacan:
il nome del padre crea la funzione del padre. Nulla di meno foucaultiano, ma la sconfitta
del padre è la crisi di una funzione recisa che collegava il simbolico e l’immaginario, per
unire più che vincolare, mettere in relazione piuttosto che legare. Foucault predicava il
contrario, un divenire mutante, il divenire animale dell’uomo.
Ammette sconsolato Bousquet : “raramente un pensatore ha prefigurato così intensamente
un momento storico”. Insegnò per anni al mitico Collège de France e le sue lezioni erano
autentici eventi. Un piede al Collège, l'altro all'inferno, o entrambi, giacché per il marxista
Pierre Bourdieu quell’istituzione è un luogo di sacralizzazione degli eretici. Veri o presunti,

ma sempre monumenti di se stessi. L’ Archeologie d’un fetiche di Bousquet è un catalogo
delle perversioni in cui sfilano tutti i vizi oggi considerati virtù, di cui l’autore di Follia e
irrazionalità era un simbolo intoccabile e peccaminoso. Una sintesi del suo tempo, che è il
nostro, l’epoca in cui “ l’obiettivo principale non è scoprire, ma rifiutare ciò che siamo,
dunque l’autonegazione, la morte del soggetto “. Ovvero Mefistofele, lo spirito che sempre
nega (Goethe). E che, nel caso di Foucault, cerca per tutta la vita di staccarsi da se stesso, di
perdersi, vagare, non per ritrovarsi, ma per cancellare tutto sino all’autodistruzione.
Distillato di nichilismo puro, pensiero e biografia diventano epitomi del presente tossico.
Dalla magniloquente proclamazione della morte del soggetto ( ossia dell’essere umano !)
alla deambulazioni omo e sadomaso americane, passando per il neoliberismo, lo sguardo
fisso su prigioni, manicomi, deviazioni , le stanze lussuose del Collège de France sino alla “
sessualità senza sesso”, l’opera di Foucault è un contenitore eterogeneo dal fascino simile a
quello esercitato da certi criminali. “ Negazione, perdita del centro, fuga da se stessi ( ma
non si può sfuggire !) : questi sono i grandi leitmotiv che punteggiano l’opera, il cui punto
d’arrivo è la cancellazione e la scomparsa” conclude Bousquet. L’ Ordine del discorso di
Foucault fornirà gli elementi linguistici della teoria di genere. Non ne fu certo l'inventore,
ma senza la sua aura intellettuale, il suo lavoro preparatorio, la sua contro-storia della
sessualità, l'intera ideologia di genere avrebbe avuto grandi difficoltà a uscire dal
fondamentalismo LGBT .
L’intera sua opera è una vasta, variegata, incandescente collezione di spunti da cui
attingeranno tutte le correnti dell’Occidente postmoderno. “ Oggi è la stella indiscussa dei
laboratori ideologici, il precursore della teoria di genere, il guru di Judith Butler, del Gay
Pride e degli educatori alla rovescia, l'autore più citato nelle discipline umanistiche, noto
quanto i Beatles. “Un santo, un fottuto santo , per usare l'espressione di David Halperin,
venerato su entrambe le sponde dell'Atlantico, che ha bruciato la candela da entrambi i
lati con la stravaganza di un vecchio saggio costretto a leggere Sade e a prendere l'LSD.
Premoderno e postmoderno, con un piede al Collège de France, l'altro all'inferno” ( F.
Bousquet).
E se Foucault avesse ingannato tutti? E’ giunto il momento di strappare le innumerevoli
maschere che gli hanno garantito una lunga immagine pubblica. Di lui, in negativo, vale il
giudizio che Alessandro Manzoni dette del cardinale Borromeo: la sua vita fu il paragone
delle parole. Anarchico, di sinistra, marxista, esuberante o riservato, nichilista,
antimarxista esplicito o velato, intellettuale di servizio del neoliberismo, pazzo o pervertito,
sotto quale identità San Foucault, il “fottuto San Foucault”, percorre il suo cammino

L'articolo Michel Foucault, geniale icona del male (parte II) proviene da Blondet & Friends.