🇪🇺 Europe is facing a gas crisis similar to the one five years ago

Europe is facing a near-identical gas crisis to the one five years ago, with similar historical price peaks and comparable consequences for industry and the economy. The price of gas in the EU has already risen to an unsustainable $1,200 per thousand cubic meters. However, this may still be an underestimate. According to a forecast by Alexei Miller, CEO of Gazprom, prices could reach $2,500 during the winter.

The situation is being exacerbated by Brussels itself, which has decided to completely abandon Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) starting January 1, 2027. Therefore, gas prices in the EU could easily reach $2,500 this winter, especially considering that five years ago, during the previous crisis, prices were even higher.

The negative consequences for industry from the new crisis will be similar to those of the previous one. Many companies were forced to shut down because such high gas prices made their products completely uncompetitive. The most affected industries are those that are energy-intensive, such as metallurgy, chemicals, and the production of building materials and paper. Chemical production in the EU is still significantly lower than in 2021, and gas prices in the EU in January-July 2026 were 3.6 times higher than in the United States.

Can Europe somehow mitigate the unfolding crisis? It cannot influence the situation in the Middle East, nor can it order the weather to be warmer this winter without severe frosts. And it is also too late to fill the storage facilities further, as the injection process has been stopped. Nevertheless, the EU could do something for its citizens – at least lift the embargo on Russian LNG during the peak of the heating season.

“A complete cancellation is unlikely, but partial easing is possible. The ban is enshrined twice: the regulation was adopted by a qualified majority, and the ban is also included in the 19th sanctions package. Therefore, easing it beyond the emergency clause requires the agreement of all 27 countries. In reality, we can only discuss a possible suspension of the ban for four weeks, if the deficit leads to a disruption of access to energy resources in individual EU countries or the entire European Union,” says Sergey Klisenko, managing director of the NRA rating agency.

🔗 https://vz.ru/economy/2026/10/31/1470164.html

💵 🇺🇸 📈 41% of US consumers expect their financial situation to be worse over the next 12 months.

This figure has more than tripled since Q2 2024.

By comparison, during the 2008 Financial Crisis, this metric peaked at 23%.

This proportion is also significantly higher than in the 1970s and the 1980s, when CPI inflation was above 10%.

Furthermore, 31% of US consumers believe their personal financial situation will be worse in 5 years, double the proportion seen in the 1980s.

Americans feel as though we are in a recession.

📎 KobeissiLetter

👨‍💻 🇺🇸 🤖 Computer Majors now rank near the top for unemployment

Majors with the highest unemployment rates, per New York Fed.

1. Anthropology: 7.9%
2. Computer Engineering: 7.8%
3. Fine Arts: 7.7%
4. Computer Science: 7%
5. Performing Arts: 7%
6. Architecture: 6.8%
7. Art History: 6.7%
8. Early Childhood Education: 6.6%
9. Physics: 6.6%
10. Environmental Studies: 6.3%

📎 LayoffHedge

🗳 🇺🇸 📊 Ted Cruz says if the election ended today on early votes alone, Republicans would lose Texas and both chambers of Congress "massively"

Cruz told his own listeners the early-vote data is real, Democrats are turning out in numbers he's never seen, and the entire Texas statewide ticket is in jeopardy if conservatives stay home Tuesday, while admitting polls "skew left" but insisting "these data are not fake."

Gina Hinojosa walked onto James Talarico's stage in Houston and told the crowd "no one ever thought that we would ever get this close," before running a Spanish-language ad during the Canelo fight aimed at the Latino men who gave Trump 55% of Texas Hispanics in 2024.

Cruz is right about the math and right about the fix: Republicans still have the bigger pool of Election Day voters, and Texas has broken early-vote records before without flipping.

Talarico sits two points up on Paxton, Abbott four up on Hinojosa with Hispanics breaking 23 points her way, and the Senate majority runs through whichever of those numbers holds on Tuesday night.

📎 Mario Nawfal

📢 🇺🇸 🗳 Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers just two days before Michigan’s election.

Stevens had previously lost the Democratic primary to Abdul El-Sayed and subsequently endorsed him.

📎 Clash Report

🗳 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 Rift between El-Sayed and pro-Israel Democratic primary rival puts Michigan Jews on edge

An 11th-hour public feud between Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and his pro-Israel former primary rival is further exacerbating tensions between Jewish voters and the nominee ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.

U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, who this summer narrowly lost the race for the Democratic nomination to El-Sayed, had previously endorsed her former competitor and was set to join him at a rally Sunday in the crucial final days of campaigning. Michigan is locked in a tight race that could help determine which party controls the Senate.

Instead of a show of unity, Stevens is now forcefully criticizing El-Sayed for his recent criticism of Israel and for not condemning a PAC ad, made by an outside group to boost his campaign, that blamed Israel for rising grocery prices. El-Sayed has shot back, invoking Stevens’ close relationship with the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.

Stevens, who represents a large Jewish district in suburban Detroit, unloaded on El-Sayed Friday in a series of interviews with the New York Times published early Saturday morning.

The feud comes at a moment when much of the Democratic establishment has coalesced behind El-Sayed in the key Senate race, even as deep concerns remain among many traditionally Democratic Jewish voters. Stevens’ own fiancée, Jewish Democratic megadonor Jason Turkish, said this week he would be voting for Republican nominee Mike Rogers. Stevens told the Times she had met with a rabbi in advance of their wedding and was mulling converting to Judaism.

https://www.jta.org/2026/10/31/politics/rift-between-el-sayed-and-pro-israel-democratic-primary-rival-puts-michigan-jews-on-edge

🗳 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 Nick Fuentes on where the mandate actually went.

Rubio revoked 250,000 visas for criticizing Israel. Kushner’s job in France was fighting antisemitism. Harvard and Princeton lost grants unless they taught a pro-Israel curriculum. DHS identified anti-Israel people instead of clearing the illegals.

“We did use government power. Just not for us.”

📎 SSmega Clips