Happy Birthday to the U.S. Navy who turns 251 today. On October 13, 1775, Congress authorized the formation of the Navy. 251 years later, the Navy operates roughly 290 ships, including 11 nuclear powered aircraft carriers, dozens of submarines and well over 100 surface combatants, along with thousands of aircraft. Those ships and aircraft are deployed around the world today.

At the time of writing, both Eisenkot’s and Netanyahu’s, have yet to gain a clear majority, as Eisenkot’s makes what can best be described as a victory speech to his base and allies. Eisenkot’s warned Netanyahu of using security matter for his political gain, warned the security establishment against blindly following Netanyahu, and touted his perceived win as a return to reason and representation for “all of Israel.”

Amidst reports that the U.S. may be considering loosening sanctions on Russia’s Direct Investment Fund, the Financial Times, citing people with knowledge on the matter, has reported that the Trump administration has discussed with the Kremlin the possibility of resuming eastward U.S.-Russia oil shipments between prime companies in a post-Russo-Ukrainian War dynamic. Per the report, the discussions were had when White House Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff visited Moscow, Russia in early September. Per one U.S. official to FT: “President Trump’s representatives have discussed economic proposals with both sides of the war — including a postwar economic framework to create long-term growth and investment opportunities for Ukraine, and potential opportunities for postwar economic collaboration with Russia.” “Economic agreements would be included in and subject to a comprehensive peace framework that stops the killing in this brutal war; nothing is finalised.”

The Trump administration is considering lifting sanctions on Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, according to The New York Times. A U.S. official confirmed the administration is assessing the fund’s application for removal “through established procedures” as part of an effort to “improve U.S.-Russia relations and help end the war.” A final decision has not yet been made. The Biden administration sanctioned the fund after Russia’s 2022 invasion, calling it a “slush fund” for Putin. People familiar told the Times that Russian officials pushed for relief in talks over the fund’s role in shipping Russian diesel to the U.S., after Trump suspended sanctions on Russian diesel October 9th. Treasury considers the fund already authorized to handle diesel and is running the normal removal process separately. This would follow earlier actions taken by President Donald J. Trump with respect to Russian sanctions. On October 16th, President Trump signed an order waiving the duties and most of the sanctions provisions of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act. On October 21st, as envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin, Russia released Stephen Hubbard, a 74 year old American held since 2022. President Trump wrote that the U.S. “was not required to give anything in return.” In remarks that day he said the U.S. “gave nothing in exchange.” In a Truth Social post just a few minutes later, he wrote that “if sanctions would have been placed, certainly those negotiations would have come to a complete and total halt." Source: nytimes.com/2026/10/27/us/po…

Early reports from Reuters, citing allies of Flavio Bolsonaro, have now said that the Brazilian political figure has fled the country for the U.S., following his opponent Brazilian President Lula’s decision to restrict his travel documents after his loss to Lula in the elections.

A U.S. Navy Chief Master at Arms waves U.S. and Republic of Korea flags as the Republic of Korea Ship ROKS Hansando (ATH-81) moors at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola's Allegheny Pier during a welcome ceremony on the installation October 26th. Hansando, and its embarked Cruise Task Training Group (CTTG) arrived at NAS Pensacola for a scheduled port visit. 📷- CPO Ian Cotter (DVIDS)

Traders on Polymarket.com give former Israeli Defense Force chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot a 64% chance of becoming Israel’s next prime minister, replacing Benjamin Netanyahu. Turnout reached 55.7% at 4 p.m., the highest ever recorded at that hour.

The Department of War, in coordination with Lockheed Martin and European allies, has selected Poland to host a European PAC-3 Missile Maintenance Facility, the Pentagon announced October 27th, on the margins of NATO’s Conference of National Armaments Directors. Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden will lead supply chain integration, according to the release. PAC-3 is the interceptor missile fired by Patriot air defense systems. The facility will conduct maintenance, repair and overhaul in Europe. It is not for building new missiles. The Pentagon says doing that work in the region will “dramatically shorten turnaround times” and give allies surge capacity in a crisis, but does not quantify either. Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey said allies are investing national resources “to establish this critical sustainment capability on NATO’s Eastern Front.” The decision follows a July 7th agreement, signed at the NATO summit in Ankara by the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden, to explore such a facility. Lockheed Martin said at the time it would support allies operating both PAC-3 MSE and PAC-3 Cost Reduction Initiative interceptors. Source: war.gov/News/Releases/Releas…

Turnout in Israel’s election reached 55.7% as of 4 p.m. local time, according to the Central Elections Committee, the highest ever recorded at that hour since tracking began in 1973. Polls close at 10 p.m. local time, and the committee says some polling stations will stay open past 10 p.m. because of the high turnout. It is Israel’s first general election since the October 7, 2023 attacks and is widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces former military chief Gadi Eisenkot in a tight race. More than 7.3 million Israelis are eligible to vote.

Voting has been underway today in Israel, as the high stakes election is set to have strategic reverberations throughout not only Israel but the wider region as well.

According to a release from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the claim by the IRGC-N that U.S. vessels have retreated from the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz is false, and U.S. forces continue to operate in the locality and the blockade of vessels traveling to and from Oran remains in effect. Per the last CENTCOM update on the blockade, which has now passed 100 days of operations, 138 vessels have been redirected since the renewed blockade began.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and then Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday, Reuters reports. Stubb’s office said the call with Putin related to upcoming meetings in Abu Dhabi. Zelensky said Friday that negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. agreed to hold technical level meetings there in early November. Stubb said the Putin call was “frank and substantive,” adding “We are neighboring countries to Russia. The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and broader European security. Ending the war requires direct discussions.” A Zelenskyy aide said the president spoke with both leaders afterward. The two said they took part as leaders of their own countries, not on behalf of Europe, and that Finland and Norway will continue supporting Ukraine. The report from Reuters notes that Western European leaders have mostly avoided contact with Putin since he launched Russia's full scale invasion in February 2022. Stubb and Støre met U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Zelensky in Oslo last week, a day before Witkoff met Putin in St. Petersburg. The Kremlin said afterward that it was willing to resume U.S. mediated peace talks with Ukraine in November, the first since February. Source: reuters.com/world/europe/nor…

Former FBI Director James Comey has been charged with two federal counts over the alleged disclosure of national defense information to a reporter in 2016. The criminal information was filed under seal October 5th and unsealed Today by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden at Comey’s request. Count one charges unlawful transmission of national defense information under 18 U.S.C. § 793(d) on or about October 5th, 2016. Count two charges conspiracy, alleging Comey, through one or more co-conspirators, directed an unnamed individual, "Individual 1", to disclose national defense information to a reporter for a national news publication. Comey has moved to dismiss, arguing the 10 year statute of limitations prosecutors say applies covers only indictments, not a criminal information, which was filed exactly 10 years after the alleged disclosure. Prosecutors say the law allows an information to meet the deadline and that his motion is premature. McFadden said he will address the issues “in due course.” Source: storage.courtlistener.com/re…

In a recent post, NATO’s Maritime Command announced that their Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) observed a Russian Kilo-class submarine operating in the “high north,” as NATO signaling surrounding the surveillance of Russian naval forces in the local region increases.

Same attack covered by @_MartinKelly_ earlier today.

According to a release from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre, they received a third party report of a vessel on fire 63nm southeast of Al-Faw, Iraq, following reports that Iran had again struck a number of vessels in the region.

Traders on Polymarket.com are placing Benjamin Netanyahu’s odds of remaining Israeli Prime Minister at just 27% ahead of tomorrow’s election, as former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot surges to 58%. Eisenkot, who led the IDF from 2015–2019 and served in Netanyahu’s wartime government after October 7th until his departure in 2024, heads the Yashar party and has emerged as Netanyahu’s main challenger. Israelis vote Tuesday, October 27th.

Talks between the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement nations and Iran begin today in Tehran, Iran, with Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan seeking to jointly find a way to resolve the conflict between the U.S. and Iran.

A vessel has reportedly been attacked near the Port of Basra, Iraq and is now on fire. Iran targeted a vessel in this area on October 20th, and is among the more than two dozen Iranian attacks on shipping since the beginning of October.