A weekly deep dive into the latest spy stories and intelligence updates from across the globe. We spotlight the hidden dynamics driving security crises, geopolitical maneuvering, and covert operations—all with a sharp, unvarnished perspective. From cyber threats to clandestine influence campaigns, this episode pulls together the week’s most critical developments, cutting through the noise and spin. Join us as we uncover the storylines shaping tomorrow’s conflicts, power plays, and intelligence battles.

Tensions, truce, and tech warfare — all in one explosive episode of The Restricted Handling Podcast. In “RH 10.31.25 | China Truce, Nukes, Cyber Spies & Taiwan Tension,” we break down the biggest global power plays in the last 24 hours — and trust us, the drama’s better than any streaming thriller.

President Trump’s “twelve out of ten” meeting with Xi Jinping in Busan turned out to be less of a peace deal and more of a one-year ceasefire. We unpack the details: tariffs are dropping from 20% to 10% on key Chinese goods, and China’s promising a flood of soybeans and a temporary thaw in its rare-earth chokehold. But the real story? Beijing got Washington to pause its national security export bans — something no Chinese negotiator has ever pulled off. That’s not détente; that’s a tactical win.

Meanwhile, Xi’s working the world stage like it’s his red carpet moment at the APEC summit, meeting Japan’s new hardline prime minister and Canada’s Mark Carney while Trump jets home for a Halloween photo op. It’s global theater with massive economic stakes — and everyone’s wondering if the “one-year truce” is just Act I of a much longer game.

We dive into China’s faltering economy — seven straight months of factory contraction, export orders in freefall, and a government now begging its citizens to spend their savings to keep GDP afloat. Trump’s global tariff blitz keeps ricocheting through allies from Canada to India, while Beijing counters by building new alliances in Riyadh, Southeast Asia, and even Ottawa’s backyard. The Saudi naval exercise “Blue Sword-2025”? Yeah, that’s not just a workout — it’s Beijing flexing global muscle where Washington used to dominate.

And then there’s the nuclear curveball: Trump just ordered an immediate restart of U.S. nuclear weapons testing — the first since 1992. Russia and China aren’t thrilled, and global arms control just got thrown into chaos.

Plus, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth inks a decade-long defense deal with India, Malaysia calls China’s “gray zone” ship tactics a “clear provocation,” and Taiwan’s pilots keep scrambling as Chinese aircraft cross the median line daily. F-16 delays, PLA intimidation, and information warfare — it’s all part of Beijing’s psychological game plan.

We also uncover Beijing’s growing cyber footprint — from Chinese hackers breaching European diplomatic networks to “Typhoon” cyber units embedding themselves inside U.S. critical infrastructure. Add in China’s new influencer law, Myanmar’s deepening police partnership, and British warnings about Chinese espionage in academia — and you’ve got a global influence campaign playing out in real time.

If you want the sharpest, fastest, and most unfiltered brief on how China, the U.S., and their allies are shaping tomorrow’s world — this episode is your must-listen. Power politics, tech warfare, and nuclear brinkmanship — all before breakfast.

Subscribe now to The Restricted Handling Podcast — where the headlines hit harder, the intel’s deeper, and the energy stays high.

It’s Halloween, and Moscow’s wearing its favorite costume: nuclear superpower with a side of chaos. In this episode of The Restricted Handling Podcast, we dive headfirst into the madness of October 31st, 2025 — a day packed with missile launches, espionage twists, and geopolitical standoffs straight out of a Cold War reboot.

President Trump has just announced that the United States is bringing back nuclear weapons testing for the first time since 1992, following Vladimir Putin’s chest-thumping over Russia’s new “superweapons” — the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile and the Poseidon underwater nuke drone. The Kremlin insists it’s all “routine,” but everyone else is sweating bullets. Meanwhile, Trump’s “on an equal basis” testing order is setting off global alarm bells and kicking the arms race into high gear.

But that’s just the start. We break down the collapse of the planned Trump–Putin Budapest summit, where Moscow demanded Ukraine surrender more territory and give up on NATO entirely — a deal Washington quickly torpedoed. As diplomatic drama unfolded, Russia launched over 700 missiles and drones in a single night, hammering Ukraine’s power grid and pushing the war into a new phase. Ukraine’s defenses managed to down 600+ of them, but several still slammed energy sites across Kyiv, Lviv, and Zaporizhzhia. Even Poland scrambled fighters as drones edged toward NATO airspace.

On the front lines, Pokrovsk is on fire — literally. Russian troops have forced their way deeper into the city, disguising themselves as civilians and flooding the area with drones, while Ukrainian forces fight building to building. Both sides are bogged down in brutal street warfare that’s turning the city into a symbol of resistance — and exhaustion.

Inside Russia, the rot is spreading. Reports confirm that Russian commanders are executing their own troops for refusing suicidal assaults. The Kremlin is papering over the cracks with new reservist laws, youth militarization, and volunteer militias near the Finnish border. It’s repression meets desperation, and Putin’s regime looks more paranoid than powerful.

We also unpack Moscow’s spy games — from a British ex-soldier caught passing intel to the FSB to Russian agents busted in Germany — plus Russia’s recruitment of Balkan mercenaries via shady Telegram channels. And just when you think the Kremlin’s stretched too thin, it resumes military flights to Syria, desperate to keep its Mediterranean foothold alive.

It’s nukes, drones, spies, and chaos — a front-row seat to the world’s most dangerous soap opera. Tune in to RH 10.31.25 | Russia: Nukes, Drones, Spies & Chaos for your unfiltered, unclassified look at the madness behind the headlines.