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As somebody else stated further above, Twitter has never been a success as a social network. It is a useful source of news, though. Wouldn't know where else to go for info on the war in Ukraine. Certainly not the big media outlets.

Or cars.

Well.the WSJ article actually says the ammo won't go to Ukraine. Apparently it is to replace US-made ammo from the US's stockpiles that has been or will be sent to Ukraine.

Fun fact about the cost cutting. The $13 billion dollar loan Musk took to finance the takeover will cost Twitter (not Musk) one billion dollar interest a year.

The Russians have dig in and try to hold on to the territory they still occupy. The front line hasn't changed much over the last couple of weeks but the Russian losses have increased: https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1588452710697046018?s=20&t=v4CMD-kg0fGlP8XQelHvdg 840 Russians killed in a single day is a lot. Wonder how much longer they can sustain that. Looks like they definitely prepare to leave Kherson, though not without a fight.

By intimidation. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/27/canada-secret-chinese-police-stations-investigation

It appears that stealing children isn't enough. The Russians are now stealing corpses, too: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/28/europe/potemkin-remains-removed-kherson-ukraine-russia-intl/index.html

So we have a deal between FIA and Red Bull on the cost cap. Red Bull have accepted a penalty of $7 million (which doesn't count against the cap) and a 10% reduction of their wind tunnel time for 2023. And of course, the overspending was on stuff like catering and benefits for employees on sick leave, not car development.

Still no final verdict or deal over the (alleged) overspending. Meanwhile, Dietrich Mateschitz has died. There had been talk about his deteriorating health before, when the deal with Porsche was called off. One has to wonder what this means for the future of the F1 team. Marko is quite old, too, and one has to wonder how much clout he has left with Mateschitz gone.

The Chines Communist Party is holding its congress, which is expected to confirm Xi for another term. His predecessor was escorted out of the hall. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-63355950 I wonder if people fall out of windows in China or what kind of accident people have there.

$3 million definitely isn't Ferrari's development budget. I think the figure is from Mercedes, and it's what they spend on upgrade parts. (My understanding is it's the manufacturing cost of these parts.) And of course they could spend $5 million if they cut cost elsewhere. The budget cap doesn't cover anywhere near all of the team's expenses to begin with. https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-cost-cap-what-is-it-how-it-works/10379799/ Red Bull's "overspending" is probably the result of a dispute over what expenses fall under the cap and what don't. ETA: Mercedes spent about £300 million in 2021 according to their financial report.

Regarding Crimea, Ukraine's access to the sea will never be safe as long as Russia holds it.

Apparently Belarus is sending tanks to Russia. They appear to be T-72A (an old model) from storage. I guess that means they won't send troops.

What are they going to do, take away last year's championship a year after the fact? This year's? That would massively damage the sport. It would have to be a budget reduction for next year, or something like that (e.g. less testing). That always leaves the teams with the choice to sacrifice next next year for an advantage in the current season.

So FIA found that Aston Martin and Red Bull have violated the cost cap rules for 2021. Aston Martin hasn't exceeded the cost cap itself. Red Bull has, according to FIA, but denies it. Seems the amount is rather minor, though. Nothing about the consequences yet. I have always wondered how they are going to enforce the cost cap. Surely there a lot of accounting tricks the teams can play.

I don't know about Austria, but you definitely don't get Germany over the Winter on wind and photovoltaic. Both fail completely for prolonged periods (a day or longer) several times a year ("Dunkelflaute"). The Powers That Be, led by Merkel, decided that gas was to be the backup. Alternatives would have been coal and nuclear, both of which the Greens (whose votes in the Bundesrat have been necessary for any serious piece of legislation for decades now) heavily opposed.

It's Putin's way of throwing a tantrum. Shooting expensive missiles that are hard to replace (if they can do it at all under the sanctions) at targets without military value.

That's one of the downsides of the safety car. It's supposed to slow down the pack. But drivers will pit, then push to catch up again. Not ideal for safety. Max Verstappen has cinched his second title as the drivers were awarded full points despite the short race distance.

It wasn't about "leaving Russia." These territories had been part of Ukraine all along. It was about independence from the Soviet Union, of which Russia pretends to be the successor, but isn't.

What is that supposed to accomplish? It isn't as if the Ukrainians concentrate 10,000 troops in one place.

Apparently, Lyman is now encircled. Looking at the figures published by Ukraine, the number of dead Russians increases by 400-500 per day. That's a 9/11 every week. I wonder how much longer Russia can sustain that, mobilisation or not.

I think you have used the wrong gallons. That's why we have the metric system. Everybody had their own versions of the old units. With 1 gallon =3.785 litres, it's $1.69 /l. And probably not nearly as heavily taxed, if at all.

Which is what they did to Nordstream 1 weeks ago. They kept Nordstream 2 pressurized, telling the German government "You can have your gas, just authorize Nordsteam 2." That bait is gone now.

And Kazakhstan knows it's next on Putin's list of "fake countries."

Cars lose a lot of value over the first three years, so getting a new one that often would cost you a lot. Which raises the question if the tax of 12 % per year isn't a bit low. There's also the issue of social security. The employer saves a lot on that by not paying a higher salary. The whole thing is of course a big marketing machine for the carmakers. The German premium brands make more than half of their domestic sales this way.