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  • G7 to release 100 million barrels of oil and diesel, will it curb prices?

    G7 to release 100 million barrels of oil and diesel, will it curb prices?

    The Group of Seven (G7) countries have agreed to release 100 billion barrels of crude oil and diesel from emergency reserves over several months in an effort to reduce soaring energy prices after pressure from United States President Donald Trump.

    The US and Israel’s war on Iran, as well as Russia’s war on Ukraine, have triggered a spike in global oil and diesel prices.

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    “The emergency release by G7 members will put some downward pressure on prices, particularly global diesel prices. However, the impact would be short-lived given that this is just a temporary solution to the supply crunch,” Hamad Hussain, a climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics, told Al Jazeera.

    Oil prices ‌jumped on Thursday and settled up more than $4 a barrel. Global diesel prices also hit a record high last Friday with the average price for a gallon (3.79 litres) of diesel at $6.50, up from $5.61 a month earlier, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).

    In a statement on Thursday, the G7, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the US, with the European Union also represented, said there will also be a “substantial diesel release within the first 20 days” and discussions over “additional diesel releases as necessary” will be held in the coming days.

    Will the G7’s energy release stabilise the global energy market?

    Here’s what we know:

    What has the G7 announced?

    After a video conference of G7 leaders chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday, the group said in a joint statement: “Taking into account commitments that have already been fulfilled, we will implement our commitments with a coordinated release through the IEA of 100 million barrels.”

    Earlier this week, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol said that members had released about two-thirds of the 400-million-barrel agreement.

    The G7 energy release will begin immediately and last for four months and will include a substantial diesel release for 20 days. It is not clear how many oil and diesel stocks each member of the group will release.

    “We will convene in the context of the IEA in the coming days to discuss the possibility of additional diesel releases as necessary,” the statement said.

    “We will coordinate maintenance schedules across G7 refineries to prevent simultaneous capacity shutdowns and temporarily increase utilization rates where feasible,” it added.

    The G7 also urged member countries to refrain from imposing export restrictions on energy products among themselves.

    Earlier this week, the Trump administration had threatened to impose a ban on US diesel exports and also pressured Europe to release its emergency diesel stocks to help ease soaring diesel prices.

    Why are oil and diesel prices so high?

    Global energy prices have been soaring due to the US and Israel’s war on Iran, which has disrupted energy exports from the Gulf. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s attacks on Russian energy installations have also disrupted global energy supplies.

    The former head of the International Energy Agency’s Oil Industry and Markets Division, Neil Atkinson, told Al Jazeera that there are three key factors contributing to the decline in global diesel supply.

    First, “there isn’t diesel coming out of the Middle East to Europe, and Europe took quite a lot of diesel from Saudi Arabia and from Kuwait”.

    Second, “Russia has now ceased to export diesel at all” due to “the attacks by Ukraine on Russian refineries”.

    “And China is no longer exporting diesel,” he added.

    “We’re in a situation where demand remains relatively high and is likely to stay high because of the agricultural harvesting season.”

    According to data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the US is the world’s largest producer and exporter of diesel. It produces about 240.5 million tonnes and exports around 1.26 million barrels of diesel per day.

    Russia is the world’s second-largest diesel exporter, supplying 783,400 barrels per day (bpd) to the global market. Saudi Arabia is the world’s second-largest producer of diesel at 58.4 million tonnes, but it consumes a large portion of its diesel domestically.

    Will the G7 energy release bring prices down?

    After the G7 announcement, French President Macron, who had co-chaired the meeting, said the group’s move to release the oil will “bring down the prices of petroleum products, particularly diesel”.

    The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, briefly dropped below $100 a barrel after the G7 announcement, but rose to about $102 in the evening.

    Naeem Aslam, chief investment officer at Zaye Capital Markets, told Al Jazeera that the G7 energy release was “very much needed”, but the group’s announcement was just to ease off pressure on the energy market.

    “The actual structure changes about who is going to release [the energy stocks] and what and where the bans will be lifted, remains an important component in terms of the market,” he said.

    Aslam added that by Sunday night, especially before the markets open, the added pressure on energy prices will come off. “But going into Monday morning … we could potentially see the reversal in the market,” he added.

    Atkinson, the energy expert, said the G7’s fuel release is welcome but “doesn’t deal with the fundamental problem that the global supply remains lower than normal”.

    Atkinson told Al Jazeera that “seven months after this war started in the Middle East, we are still in a situation where the global supply of crude oil or products remains significantly below pre-war levels”.

    “We are now in a situation where the focus is on end use of products, mainly diesel, which is what we’re talking about here,” he added.

    What has Trump said?

    Soaring diesel prices have been a source of tension for the Trump administration and Republicans who fear this will cost them votes in the upcoming November midterm elections.

    Last week, Trump pressured Ukraine to stop attacking Russian diesel facilities amid the war.

    Then, on Thursday this week, the US president told reporters that his administration “may” ask European countries to release diesel stocks, shortly after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Europe to “immediately” tap its reserves.

    Trump also threatened to ban US diesel exports if Europe did not release emergency diesel stocks.

    But on Friday, Trump told reporters at the White House that Washington would not impose a diesel export ban. He said the plan was never really on the table.

    “Europe has a lot of diesel, and they’re going to be making a major world contribution, and so are we. And we’re not going to be doing the export ban. We’re going to be doing what we’re supposed to do,” Trump said.

    “Trump is scared by diesel prices above $6, which is a price jump of 70 percent compared to before he started the war. This is likely to get worse with US diesel inventories at their lowest seasonal level since records began in 1982.

    “So if there is not enough diesel being produced because of the US-Israeli war on Iran, and diesel reserves have been used up, the only way to bring more diesel to the US market is by exporting less,” Frederic Schneider, a nonresident senior fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, told Al Jazeera on Friday.

    After the G7 announcement, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “Europe has just agreed to release a massive amount of their heavily stocked Diesel Oil. The process will begin immediately.”

    The White House is also reportedly preparing an executive order to tackle record-high US diesel prices that could be unveiled as early as next week, two people familiar with the process told the Reuters news agency.

    Schneider noted that countries are also concerned about high energy prices since diesel and gasoline are important for economies and fulfil different roles.

    “While gasoline fuels cars, diesel fuels anything from trucks, freight trains, ships, tractors, harvesters, construction machinery, mining equipment and backup generators. This means gasoline is used more by consumers while diesel is mostly used by producers, meaning a diesel price shock spreads into the price of almost everything else, most prominently food, building materials and anything delivered by truck,” he added.

    Farmers are hit twice because diesel prices are rising at the same time as fertiliser prices, both of which have been pushed up by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

    “A higher diesel price therefore acts like a tax on production and logistics, while higher gasoline prices act like a tax on consumers directly. Like higher gasoline prices, higher diesel prices risk stagflation by pushing up inflation while simultaneously squeezing margins in transport and agriculture, meaning central banks find [themselves] in a dilemma between cutting rates [helping producers] and raising rates [cutting inflation],” he said.

  • DOJ Argues CNN & Other Outlets Can Be Banned From White House If Trump Determines They Didn’t Meet “Minimum Requirements Of Professionalism”

    DOJ Argues CNN & Other Outlets Can Be Banned From White House If Trump Determines They Didn’t Meet “Minimum Requirements Of Professionalism”

    The Justice Department argued that Donald Trump can legally ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House because he determined that they didn’t meet the “minimum requirements of professionalism.”

    Last month, a federal judge granted the three outlets a temporary restraining order that forced the White House to reinstate dozens of their reporters’ hard passes. The outlets are now asking the judge to extend that 14-day order for a longer term via a preliminary injunction, claiming that Trump’s ban is a violation of their First and Fifth amendment rights.

    U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, has said that he is bound by the precedent set in In a 1977 D.C. Circuit opinion, Sherrill vs. Knight, in which the judges ruled that “the protection afforded newsgathering under the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press requires that this access not be denied arbitrarily or for less than compelling reasons.”

    In a court filing on Friday, the DOJ claimed that the Sherrill case still would allow for the president to restrict the three outlets from accessing the White House grounds because the White House has a “compelling interest.”

    The DOJ lawyers claimed that the Sherrill decision does not “prevent the President from concluding that bona fide journalists would identify sources instead of relying on anonymous sources, commit to factual accuracy, and provide the White House an opportunity to comment, rather than ‘perform their duties in a way that … interfere[s] with the White House’s daily operations.’ …At a bare minimum, it is a significant violation of decorum to publish classified and sensitive national security information.”

    The news outlets’ legal team has rejected that assertion, writing in a filing earlier this week that Trump’s “statements also make clear he implemented the ban to coerce more favorable coverage from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, and to deter other journalists and news organizations from newsgathering and reporting that the President might view as negative. And his administration has continued to retaliate against Plaintiffs even after the temporary restraining order, only underscoring that Defendants’ motive is to punish and chill journalism they dislike.”

    Even as access to the White House grounds has been reinstated, the White House has continued to restrict CNN from coverage of TV pool assignments, including travel with Trump on Air Force One.

    The outlets’ lawyers, led by Theodore Boutrous Jr., also noted that Trump and other White House officials “overlooked that the First Amendment protects reporting on matters affecting national security.”

    Kelly has set a hearing for Thursday on the news outlets’ motion for a preliminary injunction.

    In granting a TRO, Kelly concluded that the White House failed to provide due process to the news outlets.

    The DOJ has pointed to letters sent to the outlets as evidence that they were given due process. But those letters were sent on Sept. 22, four days after Trump’s ban was started.

    The judge also has noted that some of the objectionable stories cited by the DOJ do not have to do with national security. Kelly wrote in his order that “even the justifications provided to Plaintiffs after this case was filed are ambiguous about the true purpose of the revocations: while Defendants’ letters to Plaintiffs mention national security concerns, they purport to identify reporting that ‘threatened national security and/or spread falsehoods’ leaving open the possibility that all the stories fall into the later bucket, rather than the former.”

  • ‘SNL’ Cold Open Goes Full MAGA Midterms Desperation With Hegseth’s “Schlong Donkeys”, Trump’s Rambles & A Sad VP

    Just a month away from the volatile midterms and a president way down in the polls, there was once again a plethora of political material ripe for this week’s SNL cold open, and the NBC late-nighter went full MAGA, with some Mitch McConnell on the side.

    Played by Mickey Day, the wheelchair bound 84-year-old Kentucky senator offered a premature “Live from New York” before being cut off by RNC ad consultants desperate to turn things around for the GOP. To that, there was a “He tricked us” (in Spanish) Marco Rubio, portrayed by the always on point Marcello Hernández, and a 2028 J.D. Vance (Jeremy Culhane) that no one wanted to actually put in a spot.

    Then there was Colin Jost’s Pete Hegseth, putting the fun in whack job Defense Secretary once again.

    “What’s up, schlong donkeys?” the Saturday Night Live Weekend Update co-anchor began in what might have been one of the greatest campaign ads ever (we’re talking 1954 Daisy level) if it was real. “Now listen up, okay, because I need all you patriots at home to do the gayest thing ever and vote. Thanks to me, the military finally has its priorities and sexuality straight.”

    Tossing in some slam poetry, Jost’s Hegseth added: “In conclusion, vote, I guess. And remember, even if you’re stationed overseas, you can still vote by mail, which is the only by mail I’m cool with.”

    Of course, this being a MAGA parody and being SNL, the joke had to go further. Having said that, unlike many too-long cold opens, this semi-morbid midterm skit work at the extra length – entirely because POTUS came to cook, base loathing and all.

    “I’m President Trump and I approve this ramble,” started a typically and wonderfully unhinged James Austin Johnson.

    Drawing from the fiction that is so much of Trumpland’s facts, he added in the fake ad: “We’re getting mogged out there, but not for long because I have a solution. If the Republicans win, I’ll give everyone $5,000, and that is not a bribe because I have no intention of following through on that promise.’

    “So, just pretend I’m on the ballot, okay? You have to use something called imagination. Imagination makes a MAGA nation. Wow, that’s pretty good. I can already see that written on the back of an obese woman’s booty shorts in dirty, disgusting Myrtle Beach. What a hell all this country is! It’s full of awful people.”

    Perhaps, but not in tonight’s spot-on cold open.

    Delayed a tad again on the West Coast like last week’s season opener thanks to college football, tonight’s SNL is the second show of the 52nd season.

    Verity star Dakota Johnson is hosting SNL for the third time. Coming off a big box office start for the Collen Hoover thriller, Johnson is joined by Turnstile as musical guest, the Maryland rockers’ SNL debut. Next week will see one-time dumped cast member Shane Gillis back for his third time hosting. The October 10 show will see the much-acclaimed Rosalía returning for her third SNL appearance.

  • Prison chief who oversaw five botched executions including Christa Pikes’ resigns

    Prison chief who oversaw five botched executions including Christa Pikes’ resigns

    Tennessee’s prisons chief has resigned after the failed execution of Christa Pike on 30 September.

    Frank Strada has stepped down from his post after Pike’s lethal injection attempts went wrong, leading to her to be taken to hospital where she remains ‘critical’.

    Strada will leave his role this month after being the residing commissioner of Tennessee’s Department of Correction for the past three years, and also in the role when the May execution of Tony Carruthers, was called off due to problems finding a vein for his lethal injection.

    Last year in October, the lawyer of convicted child killer Byron Black alleged he showed signs of ‘sustained cardiac activity’ two minutes after he was pronounced dead after his execution.

    Prior to his death, Black had a defibrillator implanted in his chest, which was the topic of concern for his legal team and the implications for a complication-free passing.

    Similarly, Pike’s legal team petitioned to stop her execution months before it was scheduled to go ahead due to her apparent thin veins and blood clotting disorder, which an expert recently described as being what potentially stopped her from dying even after the 50-year-old was given two doses of pentobarbital, a lethal drug.

    Shortly after Pike’s failed execution, an independent review was launched to find out what happened, per state governor Bill Lee.

    Currently, Pike is on a ventilator and unconscious, her lawyers say, with burns to her arms due to the effects of the legal injections.

    In a statement, Strada called his resignation ‘the best interest of Tennesseans’.

    “I believe this review is entirely appropriate and necessary, and I look forward to doing everything I can to help determine exactly what occurred,” he added of the review.

    However, per Sky News, Pikes legal team said his resignation ‘does nothing to help Christa now’, adding: “What happened to her Wednesday reflects a systemic failure that goes far beyond any one person.

    “We hope the governor’s call for a full, independent review will expose the profound problems within Tennessee’s entire death penalty system.”

    Strada took over the department in January 2023 after serving as deputy director of the Arizona Department of Correction – where similar concerns were made.

    Under Strada, there had been three botched Arizona executions.

    This includes the May 2022 execution of Clarence Dixon, the June 2022 execution of Frank Atwood, and the November 2022 execution of Murray Hooper.

    All allegedly were botched due to troubles finding a suitable vein to insert the drug.

    Christa Pike has spent 30 years on death row for the murder of a classmate (Knox County Sheriff's Department)

    Christa Pike has spent 30 years on death row for the murder of a classmate (Knox County Sheriff’s Department)

    Also under Strada, the Guardian reports Tennessee removed a key training requirement for those who inject the lethal injections, per Kit Thomas, a death row attorney.

    Thomas said: “No IV is inserted into the person playing the role of the inmate. He reduced the training requirements and we’ve seen disastrous results.

    He added. “He oversaw executions in Arizona which involved prolonged, torturous attempts to establish IV lines, and he brought a similar practice here.”

    Strada went on to change its lethal injection protocol one year after his hiring, and instead of a three-drug injection, they would only use pentobarbital.

    Pike has been the only woman on death row in Tennessee for 30 years and was set to become the first to be executed in the state in over 200 years.

    She was convicted in 1996 of killing her classmate, Colleen Slemmer, and ever since her date was set, Pike’s legal team have tried time and time again to stop the planned death from occurring.

    Pike was 18 at the time when she was convicted of killing Slemmer, with her then-boyfriend, 17-year-old Tadaryl Shipp.

    She was sentenced to death.

  • Footballer Andy Carroll names celebrity Kevin Adams as man who sexually assaulted him

    Footballer Andy Carroll names celebrity Kevin Adams as man who sexually assaulted him

    Andy Carroll has named former Fame Academy dance teacher Kevin Adams as the man who abused him in 2021.

    The former Newcastle United star revealed that a male celebrity had sexually assaulted him five years ago in his new memoir Owning It: In My Own Words, but declined to name the man in question.

    Now, an investigation by The Sun has revealed that Adams, best known for his work as a dancing coach on the short-lived BBC series, was the man in question – which Carroll has since verified.

    Speaking to the outlet after learning that Adams’ name was publicly available in court records, Carroll gave the following statement: “Now that Kevin Adams has been named in court documents as my abuser, I can confirm it.

    “Hopefully now I can finally start to put this chapter behind me.”

    Carroll went on to ask the public not to share images of Adam alongside him, adding that he doesn’t want to be reminded of him every time the story comes up.

    “I just ask that people don’t constantly share pictures of my abuser alongside me,” he said.

    Footballing ace Carroll played for teams such as Liverpool and Newcastle United during the height of his career (Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)

    Footballing ace Carroll played for teams such as Liverpool and Newcastle United during the height of his career (Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)

    “I don’t want to keep seeing his face or being reminded of him every time this story is spoken about. I’m ready to move forward. This had a devastating impact on my life and loved ones.”

    Adams, now 59, was found guilty of sexually assaulting Carroll in September 2023 at Chelmsford Crown Court and jailed for 20 months. He was also instructed to put his name on the sex offender register for 10 years and stay away from the village where Carroll lived.

    Carroll opened up about the impact the assault had on him and his family in his memoir, writing that it was ‘humiliating and horrendous’ to have to give evidence against him in court.

    The 37-year-old explained that he’d gone to bed after having a ‘few drinks’ before waking up to Adams, described in the book as a ‘celebrity pal’, sexually assaulting him.

    Reflecting on the trauma the assault left him with, Carroll wrote: “What happened to me affected every facet of my life.

    “I’d think about it every day, making it difficult to focus on anything else, including football… The trauma of what happened to me hasn’t gone away.”

    Kevin Adams worked as a dance coach on BBC series Fame Academy (BBC)

    Kevin Adams worked as a dance coach on BBC series Fame Academy (BBC)

    During her sentencing remarks, Judge Mary Loram accused Adams of believing his own lies when it came to the incident, telling him: “You spun a literally incredible tale in which you painted yourself as the victim.

    “In your narrative, you were the put-upon reluctant friend doing no more than helping out.

    “The end of your unbelievable tale was that you were the victim of the most serious sexual assaults yourself.

    “However incredible your account, it seems to me that you’ve actually started to believe your own lies.”

    Adams has since set all of his social media accounts to private since the news broke.

    LADbible has approached representatives of both Andy Carroll and Kevin Adams for comment.

    If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.

    Additionally, Male Survivors Partnership is available to support adult male survivors of sexual abuse. You can contact the organisation on their website or on their free helpline 0808 800 5005, open 9am–8pm Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays; 8am–8pm Tuesdays and Thursdays; 10am–2pm Saturdays.

  • Gypsy-Rose Blanchard opened up on ideal wedding with  Ken Urker months before his tragic death

    Gypsy-Rose Blanchard opened up on ideal wedding with  Ken Urker months before his tragic death

    Gypsy Rose Blanchard had spoken about her ideal wedding to Ken Urker just months before he died at the age of 34.

    Blanchard, 35, spoke to TMZ back in May, opening up about her plans for her wedding, and saying that she did not want it to be ‘quick’.

    “I don’t want to have a quick wedding,” she said, “I want to have the big wedding.”

    Blanchard had previously married Ryan Anderson in 2022 while still serving out her prison sentence for the second-degree murder of her mother Clauddine ‘Dee Dee’ Blanchard, though she would go on to separate from Anderson.

    Now, Blanchard had said that after her first wedding was behind bars she wanted the next one to be a big wedding.

    “I want to have the poofy dress, I want to have the family there, because my first marriage, I got married in the visitation room by the bathroom of a prison,” Blanchard told TMZ previously, adding: “I deserve my wedding.”

    Blanchard also previously spoke about feeling a pressure to get married, saying: “I feel like I don’t feel pressure from him, he doesn’t feel pressure from me, so we don’t pressure each other, but I feel like the world does.”

    Blanchard had released a statement after Urker's death (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images)

    Blanchard had released a statement after Urker’s death (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images)

    She added: “I feel like the world is just asking that question nonstop and it kind of sucks because, you know, what happens if we are one of those couples who, you know — we don’t want to get married right away. We don’t want to rush it.”

    Urker had met Blanchard after seeing an HBO docuseries Mommy Dead and Dearest in 2017, and wrote a letter to Blanchard while she was in prison supporting her.

    He would then propose to her in 2018, but they separated a year later. When Blanchard’s relationship with Anderson broke down, Blanchard and Urker reconciled.

    They have a daughter together, Aurora, who was born in December 2024.

    On 1 October 2026 Urker was found unresponsive at a residence in Louisiana at the age of 34.

    Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Urker had died, saying that officers had ‘responded to a residence’ when they received a called at 6:15pm.

    A statement released by the authorities after Urker’s death said that he was ‘found dead upon arrival’.

    Blanchard had previously married in prison, but the relationship ended (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

    Blanchard had previously married in prison, but the relationship ended (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

    “At this time, we are continuing the death investigation,” it added.

    Us obtained a report from Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office which said that in an interview that Anita Blanchard, the wife of Blanchard’s half brother Dylan Blanchard, had made a call to 911 after Urker did not answer either his phone or the front door of his apartment when she, Dylan, and Urker’s boss Justin Daigle when to check in on him.

    During the call, Anita reportedly told the 911 dispatcher that Dylan and Daigle entered the residence through a window after moving some blinds, and found Urker ‘cold to the touch’ and unconscious.

    The report added: “They stated Mr. Urker made comments of being depressed and upset.”

    Blanchard has also released a statement after Urker’s death, telling PEOPLE: “I’m in disbelief. I can’t think. I’ve screamed until my throat burns.”

    She added: “He was not in a good state of mind lately.”

  • XRP Liquidation Pressure Eases as Spot Demand Remains the Test

    XRP Liquidation Pressure Eases as Spot Demand Remains the Test

    The analyst described an imbalance in the latest readings that leaves traders positioned for further gains vulnerable:

    “In the current data, long liquidations appear to be higher than short liquidations, suggesting that long positions have been more heavily affected by recent downward price movements.”

    Binance $XRP long and short liquidations alongside the network value-to-transactions ratio, shown at 36.97. Source: Cryptoquant.

    $XRP Network Ratio Falls 69%, With Activity in Focus

    Alongside the reduction in forced selling, $XRP’s network value-to-transactions ratio, or NVT, declined 69.28% to 36.97 in the analysis. The measure compares market capitalization with onchain transaction volume expressed in dollars. These figures represent the total value of circulating tokens and transfers recorded on the blockchain, respectively.

    A lower reading can reflect increased transfers, reduced valuation, or both, so the analyst’s interpretation depends on the underlying changes. If more value moved across the blockchain while NVT decreased, network usage may have strengthened relative to its market value, potentially supporting prices.

    Network usage also drew attention during September’s advance, when blockchain analytics firm Santiment counted 1,917 large transactions and 3,647 new wallets as $XRP rose above $1.60 on Sept. 22. Those tallies show activity rather than verified buying: Large transfers can represent sales or internal movements, and new addresses do not necessarily identify new investors.

    Spot Buying Remains Central to Sustained $XRP Gains

    The distinction between blockchain transfers and purchases also applies to exchange activity, where spot buying involves acquiring $XRP itself. By comparison, perpetual futures provide price exposure without an expiration date and can be traded with leverage on centralized exchanges or decentralized platforms that execute trades through blockchain software.

    Fund flows offer another measure of $XRP demand alongside leveraged trading. U.S. spot $XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which hold the asset and offer exposure through shares, recorded $121.4 million in September inflows. For Oct. 2, Sosovalue figures reported Oct. 3 showed $3.28 million in net outflows, all from Bitwise’s fund. The ETFs held combined net assets of $1.658 billion.

    The analyst outlined the conditions for a lasting advance:

    “If spot market demand also accompanies these developments, it could provide a stronger signal. The decline in liquidations may offer some relief; however, for a sustained rise, spot buying, trading volume, and price structure would need to support the move.”

  • Taylor Swift Crashes Dakota Johnson’s ‘SNL’ Monologue as Her Breakup Therapist, Shows Travis Kelce Love with Cleveland Shoutout

    Taylor Swift Crashes Dakota Johnson’s ‘SNL’ Monologue as Her Breakup Therapist, Shows Travis Kelce Love with Cleveland Shoutout

    Predictions that Taylor Swift would make a cameo on “Saturday Night Live” with host Dakota Johnson came to fruition when the duo appeared together in the opening monologue.

    After Johnson joked about her failed relationships, she said “I have really good friends. They don’t judge me, they’re really supportive. Ladies and gentlemen, my literal therapist.”

    Swift then appeared onscreen — in what one Swiftie on X delightedly described as a “Taylor Swift jump scare” — and said, “I’m not your therapist, actually. You just show up once a week at my house with an empty bottle of wine and ask if I want some… You flop on my couch and overshare and every so often I say ‘Damn, that’s crazy,’” Swift continued. “And then you say…”

    “Sleepover, yay!” said Johnson.

    “Then I give you Pedialyte and my security drives you home,” Swift said.

    Then the subject returned to Johnson’s dating life. Earlier in the monologue, after jokes about her “tight-ass latex dress” and the failure of “Madame Web,” the actress said, “What else has happened since the last time I hosted? Well, I went through two very public, very lame breakups with two very awesome musicians,” referring to Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Role Model. “Looking for a third,” she added. Mentioning that her new film “Verity” is a “psychosexual erotic thriller,” she noted, “So is dating musicians. Some of them don’t wear shoes, some of them are terrible in bed, but all of them are in my DMs. It’s not my fault, though. Some people leave concerts with merch, and I leave concerts with a two-and-a-half-year relationship.”

    WIth Swift beside her minutes later, Johnson picked up the subject and continued, “Just quickly while we’re on the subject of musicians, I think actually I’m doing a public service by dating them, because, ladies, I am saving you a lot of money on Zoloft. So you’re welcome, America. And also England. And parts of Ireland. And Cleveland,” a reference to Travis Kelce, which led to the rejoinder, “Allegedly.”

    Swift then squealed “It’s her birthday!” — just slightly prematurely, as Johnson had earlier announced her birthday would be arriving at midnight.

    During the goodnights at the end of the episode, Swift brought a birthday cake out for Johnson.

    There was no question of Swift doing a musical number on the episode, since the musical guest had long since been announced as Turnstile. But the singer turning up at some point on “SNL” this season seemed like an inevitability after Swift participated in an Easter egg-laden “Law & Order SVU” sketch on the Emmys. Behind her in the skit, a large “Saturday Night Live” emblem was tacked to a bulletin board… not her subtlest clue ever.

  • Why Robert Kiyosaki Treats Bitcoin and Gold Like Insurance

    Why Robert Kiyosaki Treats Bitcoin and Gold Like Insurance

    He framed the argument around a conversation with a woman who reportedly questioned whether preparing for economic trouble was overly pessimistic.

    “Do you own any gold, silver, bitcoin?” Kiyosaki asked, then reiterated one of the central themes of his investment philosophy: “I only want money government cannot print.”

    His concerns are familiar, including the loss of purchasing power caused by inflation and monetary expansion. In his view, holding scarce assets outside government-issued currencies provides a degree of protection against those. Bitcoin fits that thesis particularly well because its supply is capped at 21 million coins, though scarcity alone does not guarantee the asset will preserve purchasing power over any specific period.

    Kiyosaki’s $BTC Bull Case

    It’s worth noting that Kiyosaki’s latest comments are significantly less apocalyptic than some of his other recent warnings, but the underlying strategy has barely changed.

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    As we previously reported, the renowned investor warned that rising debt, inflation, energy-related geopolitical tensions, and weaknesses in traditional retirement systems could converge into a much larger financial crisis. As usual, he proposed owning $BTC, gold, and silver, which he regards as alternatives to traditional fiat-based savings.

    He has also continued buying during periods of market weakness. After sounding the alarm a few months ago that the financial crash “accelerates,” the author said he was accumulating assets including $BTC and $ETH rather than retreating into cash. However, his public stance has changed a few times on the topic. In June, for example, he explained why he wasn’t buying the $BTC and $ETH dip yet, even though prices bottomed within a week or so.

  • Pete Hegseth Chugs ‘Spider-Man’s Non-Alcoholic B—- Beer’ in ‘SNL’ Cold Open That Mocks Tom Holland, Mitch McConnell and JD Vance

    Pete Hegseth Chugs ‘Spider-Man’s Non-Alcoholic B—- Beer’ in ‘SNL’ Cold Open That Mocks Tom Holland, Mitch McConnell and JD Vance

    In the Oct. 3 cold open on “Saturday Night Live,” Andrew Dismukes and Ashley Padilla play Republican strategists who have their work cut out for them building buzz for their party.

    Marcello Hernández comes in first as Marco Rubio, who speaks to constituents in Spanish, admits that Trump did not live up to expectations and his endless war is not making things better.

    Mikey Day then shows up as a frozen Mitch McConnell in a wheelchair, only able to give the peace sign and nearly derailing the fourth wall of the sketch when he mistakenly tries to say “Live from New York” too early.

    Vice President JD Vance stopped by, played by Jeremy Culhane, and his lack of charisma was mocked when he started his camera test by saying, “Hi, I’m JD Vance,” before getting dismissed.

    The sketch’s highlight was Colin Jost returning as Pete Hegseth, who immediately chugs one of Tom Holland’s Bero beers, which he refers to as “Spider-Man’s new non-alcoholic bitch beer.”

    The sketch, which parodied his unhinged “State of the Force” address this week, he also urges Republicans to do something shocking: “I need all you patriots at home to do the gayest thing ever and vote.”

    He also noted that, “I’m putting God back in war and it’s working. Our soldiers are praying a lot more than they used to.”

    Trump, played by James Austin Johnson, also dropped by, saying, “Let me cook.”

    He also made fun of his real-life strategy to reimburse American voters for a Republican midterm win, saying, “If the Republicans win, I’ll give everyone $5,000 and that is not a bribe because I have no intention of following through on that promise.”

    The episode’s host is Dakota Johnson and the musical guest is Turnstile.

    Watch the cold open below.