Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Japan is threatening China militarily which is "completely unacceptable", Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says, after Chinese jets aimed radar at Japanese aircraft. China has blamed Japan for sending aircraft to repeatedly approach and disrupt the Chinese navy.

• Powerful Senate President Hun Sen vowed that Cambodia would carry out a fierce fight against Thailand as a second day of widespread combat drove tens of thousands of people to flee border areas. Is full-scale war at hand?

• 200,000 people have fled eastern Congo in recent days, as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels march on the strategic lakeside town of Uvira on the border with Burundi, and battling with Congolese troops and local groups known as Wazalendo. Scores have been killed. Here, too, we’re on the watch for full-fledged war.

• A bid by Paramount Skydance Corp. for Warner Bros. Discovery is backed by notable investors like Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Qatar Investment Authority and a less known player, Abu Dhabi’s L’imad Holding Co., founded recently and fully owned by the government. If TikTok is a matter of national security, how about this?