China's rapid naval buildup challenges US dominance at sea

Stanford strategist Oriana Schuyler-Mastro says China’s rapidly expanding navy is closely tied to Xi Jinping’s demand that the military be ready to reunify Taiwan by force. A full amphibious assault could land tens of thousands of troops, while a blockade is another possible campaign. The buildup also supports a broader strategy of reducing U.S. military influence in the Indo-Pacific. China is only about 80 miles from Taiwan, while the U.S. mainland is more than 6,000 miles away, giving Beijing a major logistical advantage in any conflict.

Mastro compares the U.S. and China to boxers, except the United States would have to run a marathon and complete a triathlon before reaching the ring. China faces the difficult task of sustaining troops after an amphibious landing, but it has been rehearsing that problem and reorganizing command structures under Xi. She says China has the surface advantage around its own coast, while the United States retains an underwater advantage. China’s scale is also formidable: overcoming its fleet could require hundreds of thousands of bombs, missiles, and torpedoes, plus tens of millions of drones.

Mastro rejects the idea that Washington can simply outspend China, recalling that U.S. Cold War strategy helped weaken the Soviet Union by encouraging it to overspend on its military. She argues that submarines, land-based missiles, and other asymmetric capabilities—not another enormous surface fleet—could counter China more efficiently. U.S. bases and access in the region are the key force multiplier, so alienating allies would be especially damaging. She also says China is building civilian ports and police and coast-guard relationships in more than 100 countries, creating “strategic strong points” for commerce, intelligence, and sensors without openly constructing a worldwide network of military bases.

A small group of Spanish youths adopted the French protest term “blocus,” but without the French movement’s clear political demands. In Barcelona, roughly 500 masked young people used online videos to smash luxury-store windows and steal clothing, electronics, and other goods. On Halloween, shops around Plaza Catalunya installed wooden shutters after TikTok and Telegram messages urged attacks on upscale stores and police. A peaceful housing protester named Juan said the looters nearly burned his car and tried to hide in the protesters’ camp, arguing that the vandalism steals attention from legitimate demands about high rents.

Heavy policing prevented a second Barcelona rampage: officers searched thousands of young people, detained a dozen minors carrying masks and weapons, and announced the arrest of a suspected 20-year-old organizer. Police also arrested two suspected Blocus participants in the southern resort town of Fuengirola. Online investigator Marga Herrero said organizers planned actions in several autonomous communities, at a national strike, in 12 cities simultaneously, and across Europe on November 20. Spanish authorities said they were working with Interpol so they would not have to mobilize massive police forces every time a threat appeared online.

Italian Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, 20, clinched the Formula One title by finishing third at the Mexico City Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen won and Lewis Hamilton also shared the podium. Antonelli’s points lead was unassailable with four races left, making him the youngest champion in F1 history; Sebastian Vettel had held the previous record at 23 in 2010. The sold-out race coincided with Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations, producing a colorful, noisy atmosphere. Antonelli thanked his family, friends, and supporters, calling the title an “incredible feeling.”

Guardian reporter Giles Richards said Antonelli’s father, a former racer who ran a team, brought home a racing simulator when Kimi was three. The child insisted on driving from his father’s lap and was karting by about age four. Mercedes scout Gwen Lagrue found him at 12 and recruited him to the junior program, recognizing both his natural car control and his unusual ability to learn from mistakes. Mercedes provided financial support and mentorship, and Antonelli met Lewis Hamilton while Hamilton was winning titles. When Hamilton left for Ferrari, Mercedes took the risky step of promoting Antonelli as his replacement.

In the West Bank village of Abu Falah, farmer Faiz Shuman said settlers uprooted 60 of his olive trees in October, amid a broader surge in settler violence since October 7, 2023. His son Rafa lost his Israeli construction job when his work permit was revoked; about 200,000 Palestinians previously worked in Israel. Palestinian Authority employee Ibrahim Hamail said he receives half his salary while tax revenues withheld by Israel have forced cuts to services and pay. Residents hope a government without Israel’s far-right coalition might improve conditions, but they doubt rival Gadi Eisenkot could survive politically if he confronted illegal settler outposts.

A study by Ahmadu Bello University surveyed 20,000 adults in northern Nigeria. Lead researcher Abdullahi Abduwahab-Yakubu said 85% experienced multidimensional poverty, 45.2% reported high psychological distress, and 18.5% screened positive for high-risk substance use, most commonly cannabis and the prescription opioid tramadol. Drought and shrinking resources have intensified farmer-herder conflict, while banditry, kidnapping, and Boko Haram-related insecurity keep people from safely farming. He recommends diversifying livelihoods through vocational training while preserving agricultural skills, and training primary-care workers to identify and refer mental-health patients because Nigeria has only about 300 psychiatrists for roughly 250 million people.

A Mexico City Day of the Dead parade features La Catrina, the elegant skeleton created by illustrator José Guadalupe Posada as satire rather than as a traditional holiday figure. Diego Rivera made her widely famous in the 1950s by placing her at the center of a mural, where she represents equality beneath class and wealth. A grandmother at the modern parade worried that street costumes were displacing intimate family altars. In Norway’s Rjukan, artist Martin Andersen spent 11 years developing three mountain mirrors that reflect sunlight into the dark winter town square. Installed in 2013, the mirrors now cover about 600 square meters and attract tourists while symbolizing the town making its own sunlight.