ISIS Tries To Create A Distraction While Spain Tries To Form A Government

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IN A NUTSHELL: MUST READ

ISIS: Hey, Look Over Here!

In an attempt to divert attention away from the Iraqi government’s offensive on Mosul, ISIS launched an attack in Rutba. From a strategic standpoint, Rutba would normally be seen as an inconsequential town in the Anbar province, but ISIS has been launching assaults, throwing tantrums and kicking dirt in other cities in hopes to distract from Mosul and show that they still have power. The strategy seemed to have worked in Kirkuk, where ISIS set fire to a sulphur plant and sparked two days of fighting, which forced the Iraqi government to draw some troops from their front lines in Mosul. In Rutba, ISIS insurgents were able to gain access to the city and several local policemen died in the attack. However, it didn’t seem to distract the government from continuing their efforts in Mosul at all. Kurdish Peshmerga forces continued to launch fresh attacks to the north-east of Mosul, encroaching on the city.

Pnut Read: What you need to know about today’s ISIS

AT&T To Buy Time Warner And Bring Crappy Cell Coverage To Westeros

Telecom giant AT&T announced that it would buy Time Warner Inc for $85 billion (~ the GDP of Ukraine) to create one of the largest telecom and media companies in the world. AT&T would take over all of Time Warner, including HBO, CNN and Warner Bros. The move is the latest in a series of consolidations and mega-deals: Comcast now owns NBC, Verizon owns Yahoo! and AOL, which includes Tech Crunch and Huffington Post. The deal wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms, stoking fears of a rising media oligopoly. It even brought Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton together, with Trump saying he would block the deal and both Clinton and Kaine expressing concerns about it.

Timeline: How AT&T Reinvented Itself Over Time  

NUTS AND BOLTS: SHOULD READ

Spain’s Socialists Might Throw Former Prime Minister A Bone

Spain had just completed its second round of failed elections when the Socialist PSOE party said they would never support then-acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, nor would they work with him on any attempts to form a government. But after nearly a year of the government stuck in limbo, people are feeling ready to compromise. The opposition party PSOE have voted to allow the conservative Popular Party under Mariano Rajoy rule as a minority government. Sure, PSOE only has 85 seats to the 137 won by the PP in June, but the conservatives don’t have a strong leg to stand on after losing the overall majority. The PSOE’s move means that the PP will no longer need to find 176 votes in the 350-seat parliament in order to form a government, and although that isn’t the shiny and powerful role they once held, Spain needs to get this show on the road. Nobody wants a third election.

‘Smart’ Thermostats And Cameras Take Down Twitter And Spotify

A massive cyber attack on Friday brought down popular sites like Twitter, Reddit and Spotify, confusing thousands of people who had nowhere to air their grievances with those sites down. Hackers used “smart devices” in your home like thermostats, refrigerators, cameras, and anything else connected to the internet and used them to attack those sites. Basically, just imagine if Terminator met all the talking appliances from Beauty and the Beast. The FBI is still investigating the attack to figure out who was behind it but we hope they find it soon. It’s one thing to hack Hillary’s emails, but we can’t just sit idly by when our twitter handle is down!

Europe Is Up In Arms Over A Military Defense Bill

More than 60,000 people have signed a petition against Preparatory Action for Defense Research, the European Union’s multi-million dollar military research project. If the budget gets approved, it will be the first time the EU has provided funding exclusively for defense research, and that obviously comes with controversy. One EU program officer called it “merely a military-industrial policy” for “liberalization of the arms trade and competition with the US.” And it would be an expensive one at that. The estimated cost to kick things off is €50-100 million between now and 2020, and would require a budget of at least €3.5 billion between 2021 and 2027. But it might make Europe feel… marginally safer? And you can’t put a price on maybe.  

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 KEEPING OUR EYE ON

Chicago Cubs: The “Curse of the Billy Goat” is finally over! The Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers and are headed to the World Series – for the first time since 1945.

Yemen: The ceasefire that never really happened is officially over. A Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes on Sanaa hours after the ceasefire ended. Both the government and the Iran-backed Houthis were accused of ignoring the UN’s ceasefire.

Cameroon: More than 70 people were killed and over 600 injured after an overcrowded train derailed while en route to Douala. Rescue workers rushed to the scene but are low on resources. The local hospital only has about 60 beds and is asking for donations and supplies.

PNUTTY VIDEOS 

SNL perfectly mocked the third presidential debate. And it featured Tom Hanks.

It turns out they’ll let anyone into the White House Briefing Room.

Only in America would there be a tradition of presidential candidates roasting each other weeks before election day. Check out some of the best jokes from Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, John McCain and more from past Al Smith Dinners.  

PNUT ORIGINALS

If you don’t know where Kurdistan is, you should read this.

Despite what Donald Trump says, the presidential election is not like Brexit.

LOOSE NUTS: FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT

Chilean President Forgot How To Vote, Had To Return To Voting Booth

Look, we all have busy schedules. Sometimes local elections fall on a day when you already had a lengthy to-do list, but the important thing is that Chilean President Michelle Bachelet still made time to vote. After her first visit to a polling station in Santiago, Bachelet forgot to grab her national identification card from poll workers and had to return. After she left for the second time, she realized she had to go back again because she forgot to sign a voter registry – as required by law – after casting her vote. Bachelet told reporters that a poll worker forgot to present her with the registry to sign, but some wondered why she was unfamiliar with the process. Bachelet maintained her sense of humor, at least. “I missed you all very much,” she said upon returning for the third time.