🇵🇭 The Philippine military is setting up a cyber command to improve defenses against the cyberattacks that occur almost daily and will relax recruiting regulations to ensure it can recruit online experts.

"Instead of recruiting soldiers for infantry battalions, this time we will recruit cyber warriors," Gen. Romeo Brawner told reporters.

Several government agencies, including the lower house of Congress, have reported recent cyberattacks, and the head of the armed forces said some of the near-daily attacks on the military come from abroad, particularly China.

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The Biden administration is preparing for the possibility that hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens will have to be evacuated from the Middle East if the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip cannot be contained, according to four officials familiar with the U.S. government's emergency planning, according to The Washington Post reported.

"This has become a real problem," one official said. "The government is very, very, very worried that this could get out of control."

Chinese President signs a decree dismissing Li Shangfu as State Councilor and Defense Minister of China.

Li Shangfu has been missing for two months.

MEDITERRANEAN – The USS Gerald Ford Carrier Strike Group spotted moving at high speed in the waters west of Cyprus on October 23.

The flotilla has moved away from its former position 500 kilometers from the coast of Israel.

Note: For the first time since the war began on October 7, rockets have been launched to the Haifa bay by Hezollah from Lebanon.

PRESS RELEASE
Eurosystem proceeds to next phase of digital euro project
18 October 2023
    Governing Council to start digital euro preparation phase following conclusion of two-year investigation phase on design and distribution of a digital euro
    Preparation phase will lay foundations for a potential digital euro, with work to include finalising rulebook and selecting providers to develop platform and infrastructure
    Preparation phase will pave way for potential future decision on issuing a digital euro
... The launch of the preparation phase is not a decision on whether to issue a digital euro. That decision will only be considered by the Governing Council once the European Union’s legislative process has been completed. The ECB will take into account any adjustments to the design of the digital euro that may become necessary as a result of the legislative deliberations.
The Governing Council of the European Central Bank

M2 money supply is contracting at the deepest levels EVER seen.

Bank credit has now entered contraction territory

Since 1974, this has only happened ONCE:

→ The Financial Crisis

Back then, this metric reached levels as low as -5%. At the current rate, a credit event is nearing quickly.

Germany has deployed special forces to Cyprus to potentially conduct a hostage rescue operation in the