Zero Rss

Vitalik Buterin Says Ethereum Is Betting Its Future On Quantum Security And AI

Authored by Jason Nelson via Decrypt.co,

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin says quantum resistance, privacy, and AI-assisted security have become greater priorities for Ethereum since he published his 2023 roadmap.

In a post on X on Monday, Buterin said he updated his 2023 roadmap to compare its original goals with Ethereum’s current “Strawmap”—a working outline of the network’s long-term technical priorities.

“What's most striking, however, is that some completely new things are in the strawmap that are not in this diagram, because they were not in the 2023 roadmap at all,” Buterin wrote. “These reflect changing priorities.”

Among those priorities are stronger privacy and scaling designed for a post-quantum world, alongside efforts to push the “lean-ification of the spec,” or simplify Ethereum’s technical specifications.

“A common theme in scaling, found in both state types and zkzk frames (both new ideas), is that instead of trying to maximally scale all Ethereum activity,” Buterin wrote.

“We try to create specialized mechanisms that have more restrictive properties that make them more scaling-friendly, while supporting the heaviest loads incurred by users and applications today (eg. token transfers, swaps) and tomorrow (eg. privacy protocols).”

According to Buterin, advances in AI are making it practical to apply the technique more extensively to Ethereum.

Buterin said Ethereum is increasingly relying on STARKs, a cryptographic technology used to verify computations, and AI-assisted verification, to check that the protocol works as intended.

“This can only be safe with formal verification, which is itself only feasible with modern AI tools,” he wrote.

Buterin’s post comes as Ethereum has accelerated preparations for “Q-Day” and the potential threat posed by quantum computers.

In January, Buterin urged developers to adopt quantum-resistant cryptography before the threat becomes immediate, and the Ethereum Foundation formed a dedicated post-quantum team.

In February, Buterin outlined a phased plan to replace four potentially vulnerable components of Ethereum’s cryptographic architecture.

In July, Buterin put quantum safety and privacy at the center of his proposed “Lean Ethereum” overhaul, which calls for replacing quantum-vulnerable cryptography with quantum-safe alternatives.

“Ethereum will be quantum-safe. Ethereum will put users' privacy first. Ethereum will be secure,” Buterin wrote.

“Ethereum will be censorship-resistant. Ethereum will be highly performant and scalable while satisfying the above. And Ethereum will be Lean.”

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 12:05

Strategic Autonomy Is Running Dry

By Bas van Geffen, senior macro strategist at Rabobank

Yesterday, my road cycling took me along the Lek River, which branches off from the Rhine. I frequently ride the path along this river, but the Lek was almost unrecognisable in the distance and what is normally part of the riverbed has now run dry.

It’s a very tangible reminder of numbers we’ve recently been watching on our screens: Upstream, at Kaub, the water level in the Rhine has fallen to historical lows. And a new heatwave that is due to hit Europe, is bound to make matters worse: current forecasts see the level drop to less than 5 centimetres above the station’s zero mark by the end of the week.

The Rhine fell to its lowest ever levels at points in Germany and the Netherlands as heatwave conditions continue

Ships were already forced to reduce the amount of cargo they carry, but soon they may be unable to sail the entire river. The drought is effectively splitting this key piece of infrastructure into two halves between Cologne and Frankfurt. Inland shipping costs have surged, and companies are scrambling to find alternative transport for resources and finished product. This, as diesel prices in Germany have largely rebounded in the last month.

Concerned about the impact for local industry, several German Bundeslander are suspending Sunday driving bans for trucks and lorries. Indeed, the hit to economic activity will be noticeable.

But these droughts also underline that a once-convenient shipping route is becoming unreliable. Higher shipping costs and possible disruptions of key supplies add to high energy costs and other headwinds facing German industry. And although Germany has earmarked billions for the revitalization of key infrastructure, this will probably be insufficient to remedy the issue.

That’s a problem for Brussels’ strive to regain strategic autonomy – and a physical challenge for European plans to revive key industries and build new ones on European soil.

European –and American– plans to move critical industries back home are increasingly causing geopolitical friction. This is, after all, a zero-sum game where China in particular stands to lose.

Beijing realizes this too. China recently broadened its travel restrictions to include experienced engineers with knowledge of critical technologies such as rare-earth processing, solar panels or battery technologies. Those who “may endanger technological security” can be barred from leaving the country. The tightened rules must prevent that these engineers help companies set up production lines in rival countries.

These restrictions may clash with the European Commission’s planned Industrial Accelerator Act, which requires that large foreign investments in Europe’s critical industries generate knowledge transfers and local research & development.

In markets, the joint Japanese-US intervention in the JPY exchange rate is starting to lose its grip on the currency. The prospect of further FX interventions continues to provide some support, but USD/JPY is gradually drifting higher, and the currency has and it has reversed about half of the peak-to-trough move versus both EUR and USD.

As we noted last week, these FX interventions may prop up the currency temporarily, but it will probably not last unless there are structural improvements in the yen’s fundamentals. Last week, we also learned that the government’s plans are unlikely to do this in the near-term.

Interest rate differentials are also weighing on the currency, and the central bank is signalling that it may remedy this to some extent. Sources within the Bank of Japan told reporters that policymakers could raise rates again in September. The comments follow a relatively hawkish write-up of the July meeting.

The Australian dollar also slipped briefly after today’s RBA decision. The central bank kept its policy rate unchanged as expected, but traders read some dovish language in the statement, and the downward revisions to the bank’s growth and inflation forecasts.

However, RBA Governor Bullock corrected that in her press conference. She commented that policymakers debated whether to hold or to hike, adding that it is “quite possible” that the RBA needs to hike rates again. Monetary policy is currently seen as “a bit restrictive” and domestic demand has slowed in line with expectations. But, according to the governor, the domestic economy is still operating above capacity. So, consumer spending growth and the economy need to slow further for capacity pressures to ease sufficiently to return inflation to target on the projected timeline.

As our Australia strategist noted prior to today’s meeting, the RBA seems to hope that the three rate hikes since the start of the year will be sufficient to dampen domestic demand. However, we are not entirely convinced that it is. Accordingly, we forecast that the central bank will have to raise rates once more, in November

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 11:30

Zelensky Claims North Korea Sending Up To 50K Troops To Russia, Presses Seoul To Send Missiles

Ukraine's President Zelensky has in fresh remarks warned North Korea against its deepening involvement with Russian in executing the war against Ukraine.

Zelensky's late Monday words alleged that Russia recently received additional ballistic missiles from Pyongyang and is preparing to deploy more North Korean troops, after already sending thousands to fight on the Russian side.

KCNA via KNS

While reports from the last couple years have estimated that North Korea has maintained up to around 10,000 troops in Russia related to the 'special military operation' in Ukraine, Zelensky is now floating a huge number of projected new DPRK forces.

It started on Saturday when Zelensky took to X to say - without evidence - that "a decision has been made for 30,000 ⁠to 50,000 North Koreans to be deployed on the territory of Russia,” a higher figure than his estimate of 30,000 in July." He didn't specify where he obtained the alleged data from.

He also said that Ukrainian intelligence had located some North Korean missiles in Ukraine's territory, without further elaborating. What is clear is the Moscow and Pyongyang do have a robust defense cooperation pact, which was signed in June of 2024.

On Tuesday Ukrainian officials said that overnight at least nine people were killed in new Russian ballistic missile attacks, and scores wounded.

Zelensky then newly said in reference to the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, "The city was struck with North Korean ballistic missiles, Zircons, and guided aerial bombs" - and he described "a vicious attack, calculated to,  inflict maximum damage specifically on civilian infrastructure."

But again, no proof of the North Korean origins of the missiles was forthcoming. "It ⁠is absolutely clear that North Korea will ​continue ⁠to build its experience in modern warfare, receive licenses from Russia, and receive all kinds of military tools from them," Zelensky has also said.

Interestingly, Zelensky is using this narrative to try and goad South Korea into changing its policy and export heavy weapons, including anti-air defenses, to Ukraine:

Zelensky said North Korea was gaining valuable battlefield experience through its cooperation with Russia and urged South Korea to provide Ukraine with air defense systems and other capabilities.

"They have a legal restriction under their Constitution. But we would like to have this cooperation and are counting on it. Our diplomats are in contact," Zelensky wrote.

🚨 Zelensky: Russia struck Zaporizhzhia with North Korean ballistic missiles

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia launched more than 120 drones at Ukraine overnight, most of them Shaheds. In Kyiv, a missile strike damaged an infectious diseases hospital… https://t.co/khmFsf7xcu pic.twitter.com/Xj2ORoM4S8

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) August 11, 2026

However, this new pressure campaign on Seoul prompted one senior South Korean official to tell The Korea Times, "South Korea's supply of defense materials to any country has always been carried out in accordance with domestic law."

The official made clear that there is no policy change in the works, and that South Korean weapons will not start flowing to Kiev anytime soon - or this is the official response at least.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 11:15

Wheat Futures Volatile As Black Sea Crisis And Hormuz Chokepoint Spark Concerns

Chicago wheat futures are coiling for a breakout (one way or another) as ongoing Russia-Ukraine attacks on Black Sea grain infrastructure and bulk carriers threaten exports from one of the world's most important breadbaskets.

Most-active Chicago wheat has been choppy in the last few days...

Hard red winter wheat gained as much as 2.7% to $7.505 a bushel.

Soft Red Winter wheat futures are poised for a much larger breakout if prices sustain a move above $7 a bushel.

Bloomberg noted Monday that Turkey temporarily suspended Black Sea transits by its cargo ships over the weekend amid ongoing maritime security risks in the critical shipping corridor. Ukraine warned that its agricultural exports for the 2026-27 season could be halved due to Russian attacks.

Joe Davis, director of commodities at brokerage Futures International, was quoted by the outlet as saying that potential supply disruptions had boosted US-grown hard red winter varieties more sharply because the grain is seen as a direct competitor to higher-protein milling wheat from the Black Sea region and Europe.

"While the disruptions don't necessarily translate into immediate additional US export business," Davis said, adding, "they do tighten the global exportable supply outlook and balance sheets, forcing importers to diversify origins and keeping support under higher-quality wheat values." 

With wheat prices inching higher and approaching $7, which could spark upside momentum, a gauge of global food prices tracked by the UN climbed to a three-year high in July.

Disruptions not only in the Black Sea but also in the Strait of Hormuz, combined with adverse weather conditions across key US and other key growing regions as El Niño risks rise, are certainly putting a bid under food prices, as the worst may be yet to come.

UBS analysts outlined five forces driving grocery bills higher in a note last week (report here). They asked a very important question: Is this the end of cheap food?

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 10:50

"Niceness As Whiteness": Professors Denounce Politeness As Privilege

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

We have previously discussed how many professors seem to compete in finding new forms of racism in every facet of society and education.

Astrophysics, math, runoffs, science, statistics, and meritocracy have all been denounced as racist. In this academic cottage industry, professors secure publications and speaking opportunities by identifying racism in the expressions, images, or entire fields. Even time itself has been declared racist.

Now, however, academics have found another undiscovered continent of white privilege: niceness.

When I saw a story in The College Fix on a study of “niceness as Whiteness,” I was skeptical and decided to take a look. The study by Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Research Fellow Abigail Beneke, Professors Benjamin Fisher (U. Wisconsin-Madison), F. Chris Curran (U. Florida), and Samantha Viano (George Mason) was first flagged by Dr. James Nuzzo.

The paper “Niceness as Whiteness in School Police Officers’ Perceptions of Student Arrest” addresses the “perceptions of arrest” by school resource officers, or SROs) in two school districts.

The officers appear to be precisely what you are looking for in an SRO: empathetic and reluctant to make arrests. The researchers admit that they try to avoid arrests. However, according to the authors, hidden behind those sympathetic approaches was, of course, a boiling caldron of racism in terms of the racial disparity of those arrested.

Indeed, the researchers realized that it was the niceness itself that was the evidence of oppressive “Whiteness.” Indeed, the officers may not want to be engines of racism and use “niceness” as a “coping mechanism,” but do so by deluding themselves and others that they are nice:

“Nice SROs did not want to arrest children. Nice police officers thought of themselves as well-meaning. Yet, they expressed being required to arrest children because of real or imagined mandates. They used niceness as a strategy for upholding a system of Whiteness that systematically privileges White people and excludes those who fall outside of Whiteness. Niceness hinders possibilities for the types of political, communal relationships central to authentic care.”

The paper makes it sound like everyone would be better off, or at least more honest, to return to hostile, racist-spewing officers. The reason is that niceness is an  “enduring component of Whiteness” which “allows predominantly White people to elide how their own actions contribute to inequality by maintaining a sense of their own benevolence.”

The evidence of niceness includes such findings as how officers work at “minimiz[ing] the negative impact of arrest by highlighting their own goodness.” (This includes saying things like “You want to listen to the radio? You want the window down? Is there a station you want to listen to?” after an arrest.)

Then there is the fact that these officers have good relationships and perspectives of the students. Again, it is just a shield of “whiteness”:

“SROs used niceness as Whiteness in their recounts of arrest … by highlighting the positive relationships they had with students they arrested…As with highlighting their own goodness, highlighting these positive relationships reframes violence (i.e., arrest) that contributes to racial inequality as a positive, since students still like the SROs. This strategy emphasizes the officer’s ability to retain his niceness—by virtue of the maintained interpersonal relationship—despite having arrested the student.”

The paper is an example of ideological screeds posing as academic research. Based on a few interviews, the researchers simply declare the empathy and relationships to be shields perpetuating “whiteness.” They cite other studies identifying niceness as a whiteness tactic:

“Prior research has demonstrated how primarily White women educators use niceness to uphold Whiteness in their work with children (Bissonnette 2016; Drake & Rodriguez 2022; Gardiner et al., 2023; Vlach et al., 2022; Wiborg, 2022). We found niceness was also present in the work of SROs, suggesting the potential for broader application of niceness to well-intentioned actors working in structurally violent systems. In addition to framing niceness as a means of excusing behavior that upholds Whiteness, we equally center the structural binds that delimit SROs’ capacity for providing care. In doing so, we identify niceness as a coping mechanism for arresting children.”

At these universities (Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, George Mason, and the University of Florida), these faculty members and their obvious agenda are viewed as ideal choices to teach their students.

With four kids, I found the SROs at their schools to be extraordinary and popular figures. They would routinely intervene with kids to see if they were having trouble or try to direct them away from trouble. It turns out that everything that parents valued in their SROs was a perpetuation of privilege, according to these researchers.

While the researchers insist that “we do not intend to demonize individual SROs,” they reward the cooperating officers by twisting their every comment as revealing their deep white privilege. Presumably, they conveyed to the SROs that this would be a fair, unbiased study. It was neither, and, perhaps reaffirming their own triumph over racism, they were not a bit nice about it.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 10:35

US Existing Home Sales Disappoint (Again) In July, Hover Near Record Lows

With mortgage rates rising and the 'low hire, no fire' economy leaving many anxious about their household finances, the ugly spring selling season has not been followed by a consistent rebound in existing home sales in the US.

After falling 1.4% MoM in June (revised up from a 2.4% MoM decline), US existing home sales fell again -1.7% MoM in July (worse than the -1.0% MoM exp). This dragged the annual increase in sales down to just 0.74% YoY...

Overall, existing home sales SAAR is holding very modestly off record lows, holding just above the 4 million mark...

“Home sales have been remarkably stable, even amid the rising mortgage rate environment of the past few months,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said in a statement.

He added that “there’s no doubt that the housing market would be thriving if average mortgage rates were to return near 6%.”

In recent months, home-financing costs and prices went in the wrong direction. Thirty-year mortgage rates have been climbing since the late-February start of the war in Iran, and recently reached a one-year high of 6.81%.

The median sales price increased 2% from a year earlier to $434,100.

That was the highest selling price for any July on record and extended a stretch of annual price gains that started in summer 2023.

Inventories of new homes for sale remain relatively high (and are thus pressuring homebuilders to choke back on additional supply)...

But, the inventory of existing homes for sale fell slightly (-0.6%) from a year earlier to 1.54 million - the first annual decline since Oct 2023...

By region, previously owned home sales in the South, the nation’s biggest home-selling region, decreased 3.1% to a four-month low. Sales in the Midwest fell 2%. They were unchanged in the West and up in the Northeast.

First-time buyers accounted for 29% of sales in July, down from 33% a month earlier.

One silver lining is the nation’s affordability crunch is easing when compared with last year as rising household income growth has generally outpaced home price appreciation, Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American Financial Corp., wrote in a recent blog.

However, even some of that improvement has been eroded lately because of rising mortgage rates.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 10:09

A Modest Proposal: Performance Reviews For Senators

Authored by Frank Miele via RealClearPolitics,

It seems as though only one thing motivates Congress to act - the threat of elections.

That's why both the House and Senate have moved to pass a continuing resolution to keep funding the government until December. Originally funding was going to run out on Oct. 1, the date that was decided during the last shutdown crisis.

But with virtually every member of the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate up for election in November, almost no one in Congress wanted to call attention to their own inaction by letting a new shutdown occur.

It's the political version of Pavlov's dogs. You know, the famous experiment by the Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov who trained canines to salivate at the sound of a bell because they associated the bell with the expectation of food being served.

The same thing happens with members of Congress when they hear that an election is scheduled within the next three months. Suddenly they want to be productive.

A representative can ignore constituents for 22 months and then suddenly rediscover them during the last two. And senators can become unresponsive to their voters for most of their six-year term, enjoying junkets and the other fruits of power while being under no obligation to get anything done.

Makes you almost sympathize with the Democratic Socialists of America, who have made abolition of the Senate one of their top priorities. Six-year terms have their virtues, but they also make senators especially prone to forgetting who they work for.

But maybe we could salvage the Senate if we could adapt Pavlov's experiment in a way that would hopefully train senators to do their job on the regular instead of just once in a blue moon.

Call this my modest proposal. Like Jonathan Swift's famous satirical essay proposing that poor Irish parents sell their infants as food, it isn't intended as a serious legislative recommendation. It's meant to expose an absurdity - in this case, a Congress that suddenly remembers how to govern only when voters are about to fire it.

Sadly, the proposal has little likelihood of being put into effect by those senators whom it would put on notice. Yet if its argument is accurate, then we can at least all agree that senators - and yes, all members of Congress - are little more than trained monkeys. If only we could train them well, perhaps they would do their job more consistently.

No doubt you are wondering how we could possibly accomplish such a remarkable goal. It's a relatively simple mechanism, akin to the bell that Pavlov taught dogs to associate with food.

Namely, the Senate can institute a rule that once a month, the citizen constituents of each state will be able to vote electronically on whether they wish to retain or dismiss their senator.

Now, before you worry about constitutional entanglements and the risk of meddling in the results of such digital ballots, understand that the votes will not be binding. Instead they will simply keep senators on their toes, just as the threat of real elections does today. The results will be widely publicized, and any senator who consistently fails to win majority support from his state's voters will be publicly humiliated.

But if it were taken seriously, it could have a much wider impact. Political parties could guarantee additional campaign support to senators who consistently earned the confidence of their state's voters. And the opposite would be true as well. Suppose a senator has only a 30% retention rate from the citizens of his or her state. Donors would flee. Challengers would emerge. Even the most complacent senators might begin to reconsider their inaction.

The genius of elections is not that they remove bad politicians. It's that the possibility of removal changes behavior long before Election Day. Congress doesn't need more elections. It simply needs to remember every month that one is coming. Perhaps Pavlov's bell could do the trick.

And then, instead of Congress passing a continuing resolution to fund the government for a month or two, we could return to regular order and watch appropriations bills passed for an entire year. What a revolutionary concept!

Frank Miele, retired editor of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont., is a columnist for RealClearPolitics. His book "The Media Matrix: What If Everything You Know Is Fake" is available from his Amazon author page. Visit him at HeartlandDiaryUSA.com or follow him on Facebook @HeartlandDiaryUSA and on X/Gettr @HeartlandDiary.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 09:45

Residents Storm City Council In Texas Over Islamic Center Approval

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

Outrage is boiling in North Texas after the McKinney City Council voted 7-0 to greenlight a major new Islamic center complex, brushing aside hours of public testimony that included a direct warning from an Iranian Christian who fled Sharia law.

Citizens packed City Hall for a marathon session that stretched past midnight. More than 150 people signed up to speak. The approved site plan covers roughly 5.5 acres at Virginia Parkway and Crutcher Crossing. It includes a 15,000-square-foot sanctuary, a 10,000-square-foot classroom building, and a 7,000-square-foot gym for the McKinney Islamic Association, which says its existing facility has been outgrown.

City staff insisted the revised plan met every zoning requirement with no variances, leaving the council little legal room to deny it. Council members framed the vote as purely procedural. Residents who showed up in force saw something far larger at stake.

? NOW: Outrage is ERUPTING after McKinney, Texas council votes to APPROVE a large Islamic Center

Countless citizens stormed the meeting to oppose it, including an Iranian Christian migrant who SURVIVED Sharia Law

"I'm a Sharia law survivor from Iran, an I'm here to tell you,... pic.twitter.com/j8VLFzv8tY

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 9, 2026

One of the most powerful moments came from an Iranian Christian migrant who identified himself as a Sharia law survivor. "I'm a Sharia law survivor from Iran, an I'm here to tell you, this is a dangerous ideology you're allowing in the country," he told the council.

Other residents voiced similar fears. "They forced their way into countries and forced their religion," one said. Another warned the project "may become a base where young men and women will be taught and trained to overthrow this great nation, a threat for which my forefathers fought with their own blood to build for the liberty of its citizens."

Attention also focused on the association's imam, Sheikh Mohammed Ajabali (also referred to as Mohamed AlGebaly), who holds a leadership role with the Islamic Tribunal of the Dallas area.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office has examined the tribunal, stating that the group has sought to replace actual courts of law, impose Sharia on disputes among Texas Muslims, and falsely represent its decisions as final judgments with the approval of the Texas judicial system.

State Rep. Keresa Richardson urged the council to pause action pending that investigation. U.S. Rep. Keith Self, who represents the area, told the room: "Child marriage, honor killings, don't tell me that can't happen here. There is no state cavalry coming to save you." He added that the freedom to choose one's faith "does not exist in political Islam."

Supporters of the project stressed religious liberty, the association's long presence in McKinney, and compliance with city rules. Association president Yasser Wardany said the group had redesigned the plan multiple times in response to earlier feedback and remained "committed to being a good neighbor." Some council members pushed back against the intensity of the opposition, calling elements of it election-year rhetoric. The vote still went through unanimously.

This fits a clear and accelerating pattern across North Texas that has already drawn intense scrutiny from state leaders and local residents.

Earlier this year, Congressman Keith Self laid out how Sharia-adherent Muslim-only enclaves have already taken root. He pointed to the East Plano Islamic Center operating for more than a decade as a parallel society immediately adjacent to law enforcement facilities, with a similar pattern emerging in Irving.

"Sharia is alive, well, and operating in Plano, Texas," Self said. "This is not a hypothetical or future threat. It is here, now and operational." He described the placement next to police training facilities as intentional intimidation.

State authorities have also moved against unauthorized institutions. Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to issue an immediate cease-and-desist order against the so-called Texas American Muslim University in Richardson.

The operation had been marketing itself as the first U.S. university offering STEM degrees embedded with mandatory Islamic Studies courses while lacking any state authorization to grant degrees or even use the title "university." Abbott made clear that illegal educational institutions would not be tolerated.

Public facilities have been pulled into the same orbit. A taxpayer-funded waterpark in Grand Prairie, built with tens of millions in public sales-tax money, advertised a "Muslim only" Eid event complete with burkini requirements, lowered-gaze rules, and other Islamic etiquette restrictions. Organizers later softened the public language after backlash, but the exclusionary character of the original promotion was unmistakable.

The same controversy intersects with the far larger "EPIC City" project, later rebranded The Meadow. The 400-acre master-planned development northeast of Dallas is designed to include more than 1,000 homes, a mosque, faith-based schools, commercial space, and related facilities.

Developers scored a legal win when a judge ordered a state agency to comply with prior agreements even as investigations by the Texas Workforce Commission, Attorney General Paxton, and federal partners continued.

NEW: 'Muslim City' in Texas gets legal win after a judge ordered that the state must comply with developers.

The East Plano Islamic Community (EPIC), which has now been rebranded to The Meadow, will feature 1,000 homes, a mosque, schools, and more.

Texas leaders are worried... pic.twitter.com/HoSvNeV307

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 30, 2026

Governor Abbott has repeatedly stated that Sharia law, Sharia cities, and "no-go zones" have no place in Texas. Residents and elected officials continue to warn that the project risks creating a parallel community structure.

McKinney's approval lands against this backdrop. Local officials repeatedly insisted their hands were tied by zoning compliance and First Amendment considerations.

Residents who lived under actual Sharia systems, along with those watching the steady expansion of parallel institutions next to police facilities, private tribunals under investigation, unauthorized universities, and large-scale residential projects, see a different picture: incremental infrastructure for an ideology that does not accept equal standing under a single constitutional order.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 09:05

Ex-DSA Member Blows Whistle Over "Mob Tactics" Used On Dissenters, Debates Over Levels-of-Leninism

Via RealClearPolitics,

Former Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) organizer Jake Altman argues that over the past 10-15 years, the organization has transformed from a relatively pragmatic working-class social-democratic group into a much more radical movement driven by younger activists and open to more extreme ideas.

He describes internal pressure against dissenters, increasing openness to communism, and a demographic shift toward younger and more affluent, less experienced, and more radical members during an interview with The Free Press.

"When I joined in 2013, it was much more social democratic. It was very old, very white. In 2015 in Boston, it was a few older men and I who were the core of the old DSA chapter," Altman explained. "It is night and day between DSA in even 2015 and now. It went from this, like you say, pretty moderate social-political group to a cultural juggernaut that it is today."

"By 2014, a group called the Left Caucus was formed that advanced a lot of extreme views."

"There were debates at the time about how much Leninism do we want to let into DSA. And these people, they eroded any resistance and any core of anti-communism that remained within DSA. Anti-communism became forbidden, right? This is a big evil thing, to be an anti-communist."

"And you can't hold this view without running all the old people who experienced the 20th century out of the organization. And I think that had to have been part of the calculus, that they didn't want any internal resistance," he said. "And so there were instances where people were - I think efforts were made to silence people who dissented."

"I can speak from personal experience that if you dissent, there will be efforts to silence you. They use mob tactics, basically," he said. "So if you speak out, they will coordinate and a bunch of people will jump on you and denounce you, smear you behind your back, do whatever it takes to try to discredit you if you speak out against them."

"There was a local union in Ann Arbor who said it's too far to vandalize and intimidate public officials, vandalize their homes and intimidate them. That is too far," Altman said

"Immediately they received a swarm of people online responding to that statement, essentially saying, 'You're supporting genocide. Shame on you.' Trying to turn their members against them and stir up animosity towards them with the effort of silencing them."

"DSA itself makes a distinction - an important distinction - between paper members, who are people who give the organization their credit card and never come to a meeting, and cadre, who are hardcore activist members who show up to all the meetings and do all the work," he said. "The cadre are incredibly radical. The paper members might be, you know, think AOC and Bernie Sanders are great and let's get Medicare for All."

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 09:00

Futures Jump, Oil Tumbles As Well-Timed Comments Spark Latest Round Of Hormuz Optimism

US equity futures were trading near session lows with bond yields at August highs of 4.74% and Brent rising above $90 for the first time in two weeks when - with just hours until the market open - we had the now standard double-whammy of well-timed "imminent deal optimism" thanks first to the Qatar foreign ministry, followed less than an hour later by comments from the Pakistan defense minister - a man repeatedly used by the Trump admin to spread market-moving propaganda - which sparked instant algo buying on hopes of, what else, an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. According to the Pakistani, the US and Iran "are close to some agreement" and "the situation is moving towards peace" which was sufficient to not only push futures immediately to session highs, and just shy of all time highs...

... but also dump oil more than $3 and send bond yields to session lows on what is the same song and dance the market has heard countless times before, even as strategic and commercial oil stocks and reserves are being rapidly depleted below operational minimum levels.

As of 8:00am, S&P futures climbed 0.2% and contracts on the Nasdaq advanced 0.4%. Ten-year Treasury yields were little changed at 4.71%, erasing an earlier move as high as 4.76%, as Brent crude erased gains to trade 0.4% lower at around $87 per barrel, rising above $90 earlier. Earlier in the morning, Intel announced a $20BN capital raise in an upsized share sale (orifinally $15BN) that drew more than $100 billion in demand. That deal followed hot on the heels of Nvidia’s plan to tap a group of Wall Street firms for $500 billion in funding commitments, which CEO Huang said will underwrite AI infrastructure costs for customers. Today's US economic data calendar includes ADP weekly employment change (8:15am) and July existing home sales (10am). Fed speaker slate includes Chicago Fed’s Goolsbee, unscripted on WIRED Tech Support on YouTube; Cleveland Fed’s Hammack and Richmond Fed’s Barkin have appearances slated Thursday.

In premarket trading, Mag 7 stocks are mostly higher (Nvidia +1.1%, Meta +0.3%, Tesla +0.5%, Apple +0.2%, Microsoft -0.1%, Alphabet -0.03%, Amazon +0.05%)

• ACV Auctions (ACVA), a digital marketplace to buy and sell cars, climbs 20% after people familiar with the matter said the company is exploring strategic options including a potential sale.
• Babcock & Wilcox (BW) jumps 35% after the maker of power generation equipment reported revenue for the second quarter that was far beyond the average analyst estimate.
• Cardinal Health (CAH) climbs nearly 2% after the distributor of healthcare products provided a year forecast for adjusted earnings per share that beat the average analyst estimate.
• Everpure (P) rises 7% after the computer storage company said it secured a design win and supply agreement with a second top-five hyperscaler.
• Fermi (FRMI) rallies 16% after the power company entered its first binding customer lease at its Project Matador campus with TensorWave.
• Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) is down 5% after the telehealth firm reduced the top end of its adjusted Ebitda forecast for the full year. The company also said it plans to enter the peptides market before the end of the year.
• On Holding’s (ONON) US-listed shares drop 15% after posting disappointing second-quarter sales, as the company held off from discounting older shoe models ahead of product updates in the US market.
• Plug Power (PLUG) rises 13% after the green hydrogen company reported net revenue for the second quarter that beat the average analyst estimate. The company also raised an outlook for revenue growth.
• Rapid7 (RPD) gains 6% after the software company raised its full-year forecast for adjusted earnings. It also increased the low end of its full-year revenue forecast.
• Riot Platforms (RIOT) climbs 17% after the Bitcoin mining company that recently began selling AI data center capacity was said to strike a $9.1 billion deal with Anthropic. The company also reported reported total revenue for the second quarter that beat the average analyst estimate.
• Rocket Lab (RKLB) falls 5% after the company gave an outlook for adjusted Ebitda that is weaker than expected. It also pointed to a potential new delay with its Neutron rocket.
• Sable Offshore (SOC) falls 6% after the energy company had charges due to displaced cargoes in the second quarter and faced oil sales constraints at the start of the third quarter.
• Upwork (UPWK) tumbles 19% after the online recruitment company cut its full-year forecast for both revenue and adjusted Ebitda. Analysts see the results as a sign that AI is weighing on the company’s business.

Risk appetite, which was near session lows around 6am, spiked up after comments from Pakistan’s defense minister, who said signals in recent days suggest the US and Iran are “close to some sort of arrangement.” Earlier, US President Donald Trump made sweeping new demands on Iran, dimming hopes for a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Away from the Middle East developments, investors are looking to the US consumer price index reading on Wednesday for fresh signals on the path for Federal Reserve interest rates after Friday’s softer-than-expected data tempered bets on an immediate hike. US CPI probably rose 0.1% in July following a 0.4% decline in the prior month, according to the median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists ahead of Wednesday’s Bureau of Labor Statistics release. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack struck a hawkish tone on Monday, saying it’s possible a number of rate hikes may be needed to bring inflation down to the central bank’s 2% target.

In the latest massive capital raise to fund the AI rollout, Intel raised $20 billion in an upsized share sale that drew more than allegedly $100 billion in demand. That deal followed hot on the heels of Nvidia’s plan to tap a group of Wall Street firms for $500 billion in funding commitments, which CEO Huang said will underwrite AI infrastructure costs for customers. The “bank of Nvidia” creates a protective financing moat for the chipmaker, while fueling credit risk by lending to customers, according to Panmure Liberum’s Mark Taylor. “Nvidia is cutting a lot of checks and a lot of commitments with finite free cash flow” to an industry “driven more by efficiency of the technology and struggling for meaningful monetization.” That brings focus back onto the circular deals underpinning the AI boom.

With earnings season winding down, analysts are pricing a streak of exceptional profit growth for the S&P 500, the likes of which has typically only been seen after deep earnings recessions. But among global markets, investors are now flocking to Europe, which has experienced not only a stellar earnings season but is also benefitting from more clarity on rates than the US.

S&P 500 companies are on track for about 32% year-on-year profit growth in the second quarter, following a jump of 30% in the previous three months, according to figures tracked by Bloomberg Intelligence. The next two quarters are also projected to deliver gains exceeding 20%. Such runs are rare, occurring only 10 times since 1936, according to Bank of America Corp. strategists led by Savita Subramanian. Debt-funded AI spending will continue to support earnings despite volatility, according to Barclays Plc strategists, who prefer US growth and large-cap stocks.

In the latest AI news, Anthropic struck a $9.1 billion compute capacity agreement with Riot Platforms. CoreWeave’s guidance after the close will be closely watched as another indicator of demand for AI infrastructure. The company, which rents cloud-computing power for AI, gets about 80% of its revenue from Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft. And check out today’s Big Take on how AI-dominated leveraged ETFs look set to join the list of products that got too popular for their own good.

Barclays strategists stick with factor preferences of US growth and large-cap stocks as AI spending supports earnings; in Europe, they continue to favor value stocks and say momentum may recover gradually after a sharp selloff. US and European markets have seen a recovery in positioning over the past week, putting shorts under pressure, especially for the S&P 500, according to strategists at Citigroup.

In Europe, equities also reversed earlier losses with the Stoxx 600 rising 0.1% on the Iran headlines, amid very low volumes in the August lull. Energy and technology firms outperformed for a second day while insurers lagged. Here are the biggest movers Tuesday:

• Alcon shares advance as much as 6.5%, the most since November 2025, as the Swiss eye-care company delivers second-quarter results ahead of expectations and lifts guidance for core Ebit margin and EPS growth
• Idorsia shares gain as much as 6.7%, outperforming the Swiss Performance Index on Tuesday morning, after the US Drug Enforcement Administration proposed reclassifying dual orexin receptor antagonists, including the Swiss pharmaceuticals producer’s insomnia treatment Quviviq
• Bell Food Group shares rise as much as 11%, the biggest intraday gain in 15 years, after the meat and convenience food company reported earnings ahead of expectations, according to Zürcher Kantonalbank
• Lion Finance Group shares jumped as much as 5% to a record high after second-quarter earnings beat expectations, helped by stronger net interest income and fees, while the lender raised its first-half dividend and announced a further GEL59 million buyback
• ISS gains as much as 4.8%, the most since July 2, after the Danish facility services group’s latest earnings were praised by analysts
• Legal & General shares fall as much as 5%, the most in three months. UBS and Goldman Sachs downgrade the stock noting recent outperformance, marking at least the third move to a sell rating this week
• Spirax drops as much as 11%, breaking its recent run, after the thermal energy and fluid technology specialist’s small beat in the first-half and reiterated guidance failed to propel shares higher
• IHG shares slip as much as 3% to the lowest level since May. The hotelier reported a small miss on Ebit in the first half, though analysts attribute the shortfall to a one-off incident
• International Workplace Group shares fall as much as 11%, the most in almost a year, after the office company’s first half results showed an unexpected drop in free cash flow
• Tecan shares fall as much as 13%, the most since October 2024, after the Swiss maker of laboratory automation components and systems saw its order intake decline in the first half of the year
• Genuit Group shares slide as much as 7.7%, the most since April, after the British building materials group reported a miss on profit in the first half
• M&G falls as much as 3.6%, the most since March 23, after UBS downgraded the stock to sell from neutral, citing the UK asset manager’s “high valuation relative to its own history and peers.”

Asian stocks erased earlier gains to trade little changed, as losses in China offset gains in tech names. The MSCI Asia Pacific index excluding Japan edged lower after climbing as much as 0.5%. Tencent Holdings and AIA Group were among the biggest drags on the gauge, while chipmakers Samsung and TSMC were the biggest boosts. Australian stocks rose after the central bank kept interest rates unchanged as expected, while markets in South Korea and Taiwan also advanced. Japan was shut for a holiday. Oil’s continued climb amid US President Donald Trump’s new demands on Iran has revived inflation concerns for regional economies. Sentiment is also muted ahead of the release of key US consumer price data that would offer clues on interest rate trajectory. Leading gainer Samsung shares climbed 4.1% on expectations for a massive shareholder return package during Samsung Group’s Asia conference starting Tuesday. Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s main tech stock benchmark is set for a revamp to include more companies representing the fast-growing AI and robotics sectors

“Higher oil prices and a stronger US dollar are weighing on sentiment in parts of the region,” said Mohit Mirpuri, a partner at SGMC Capital Pte in Singapore. “Investors are also fairly cautious ahead of the US CPI print tomorrow, which should give us a little more clarity on the Fed rate path.”

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index held steady as Brent hit $90 a barrel. AUD/USD fell as much as 0.2% to 0.7040; The RBA left rates unchanged and said financial conditions are “somewhat restrictive." NZD/USD fell over 0.2% to 0.5868, leading G-10 losses against the dollar; New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon summoned lawmakers to a meeting as questions over his leadership intensify. EUR/USD dipped 0.1% to 1.1531. USD/JPY steadied around 159.36. Bessent’s suggestion of a no-limits approach to helping Japan rescue the yen may be limited by his firepower to do the job, with the Exchange Stabilization Fund having holdings of less than $220 billion.

In rates, treasuries pared losses at the start of the US trading day as oil prices stabilize after comments by Pakistan defence minister stoked optimism for an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Focal points of US session include 3-year note auction, first of this week’s three Treasury coupon sales, indicated to draw highest yield since January 2025. Thanks to the diplomatic headlines noted above, yields are now little changed, erasing the entire move higher, with the curve slightly steeper; 30-year nearly reached its July 31 multiyear high 5.28% before retreating. First Treasury coupon auction cycle of the August-to-October financing begins with $58b 3-year note sale at 1pm New York time; 10- and 30-year new-issue auctions follow over next two days. WI 3-year yield near 4.33% exceeds comparable auction results since January 2025. IG credit new-issue calendar is blank so far, however seven issuers signaled intention on Monday, when 19 borrowers raised a combined $27.6 billion, more than half the anticipated weekly total; dealers predicted it would be front-loaded ahead of the July CPI report to be released Wednesday

In commodities, WTI crude oil futures are slightly lower after climbing 3% to the highest level since July 31 following comments from Qatari and Pakistani officials meant to boost risk sentiment. Precious metals are fading some of their recent gains, with spot gold down 0.4% after temporarily making its way onto a $4,400/oz handle during APAC trade.

Today's US economic data calendar includes ADP weekly employment change (8:15am) and July existing home sales (10am); ahead this week are July CPI, PPI and retail sales and August preliminary University of Michigan sentiment. Fed speaker slate includes Chicago Fed’s Goolsbee, unscripted on WIRED Tech Support on YouTube; Cleveland Fed’s Hammack and Richmond Fed’s Barkin have appearances slated Thursday.

Market Snapshot

Top Overnight News

• Iran’s new supreme leader, Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, is putting his own stamp on the country’s national-security policy amid a confrontation with the U.S. that could last months or even years. In a sweeping overhaul of the government’s top echelon on Sunday and Monday, Iran named seasoned hard-liners to run the country’s security policies and institutions of repression. WSJ
• Persian Gulf energy producers are concluding that Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz will become permanent, disrupting their oil and gas exports and global energy supplies indefinitely. The problem is they worry the alternative—going back to war—would be worse. WSJ
• The BoJ may be edging toward an early rate hike, but it faces a growing risk that any move to tighten policy will be offset by mounting political pressure to support the bond market. As government spending plans drive yields ‌higher, the BOJ is being drawn into an increasingly awkward battle to defend its push to normalize policy and resist calls to resume the very bond-buying it is trying to unwind. RTRS
• The Bank of Korea will likely need to raise interest rates further as strong growth feeds into underlying inflation, its outgoing senior deputy governor said, while adding that the stronger currency and recent stock market moves give policymakers some flexibility in setting policy. BBG
• The Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged on Tuesday but continued to warn that inflation remains too high, especially against the backdrop of war in the Middle East. WSJ
• UK retail sales rose an annual 1.3% in July, half the pace recorded a year earlier as consumers stayed at home during the heat wave. BBG
•  OpenAI is said to have bought back roughly $7 billion of employee shares at a valuation of $852 billion. BBG
• Intel Corp. raised $20 billion in an upsized share sale, a third more than it was targeting when it announced the deal Monday morning. The share sale drew more than $100 billion in demand, people familiar with the matter said, and was priced at $95 per share, representing a discount of 6.5% to Friday’s closing price: BBG
• Anthropic struck a $9.1 billion deal with Riot Platforms for 191 megawatts of data center capacity, people familiar said. Riot shares soared premarket. BBG
• Australia’s central bank chief Michele Bullock adopted a hawkish stance after keeping interest rates unchanged for a second straight meeting on Tuesday, warning it’s “quite possible” that further tightening will be needed: BBG
• Zohran Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax was temporarily blocked by a state court judge on Staten Island after a group of homeowners argued its introduction was mishandled. BBG

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks traded mixed following a lacklustre lead from Wall Street, where risk sentiment was constrained by higher oil prices and yields amid geopolitical uncertainty, while conditions in Asia were thinned due to the Japanese holiday closure. ASX 200 gained amid strength in energy and miners following recent upside in underlying commodity prices, but with upside capped after weak NAB business confidence and heading into the RBA which kept rates unchanged as expected and maintained its hawkish tone, although it was slightly less hawkish, with the central bank acknowledging that financial conditions in Australia appear somewhat restrictive and it also trimmed CPI forecasts. KOSPI climbed alongside a rebound in tech and with notable gains in Samsung Electronics. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were lacklustre after the PBoC opted for zero liquidity operations today, although the downside in the mainland was cushioned following prior reports that China issued the first new round of consumption vouchers aimed at boosting spending.

Top Asian News

• China's CPCA said China sold 1.47mln passenger cars in July (vs 1.651mln in June, -21.1% Y/Y); Tesla (TSLA) exported 66,330 vehicles in July (vs 36,000 in June).

European bourses trade mostly in the red, outside of the AEX and IBEX 35, as higher energy prices weigh on indices. The source of the move higher in energy came amid reports that a Saudi ship was reportedly targeted near Bab-al-Mandab. As a reminder, the Houthis have vowed in recent days to continue operations targeting Saudi oil tankers. Sectors have a negative bias. Energy is the only sector with clear gains, given the upside in energy benchmarks (Brent +2.5%). The sector laggard is Travel & Leisure, with Insurance and Construction rounding out the underperformers.

Top European News

• Swedish NIER Economic Forecasts: Raises 2026 GDP growth forecast to 2.4% (prev. 2.2%), maintains 2027 GDP growth; Maintains 2026 CPIF, cuts 2027 CPIF to 2.2% (prev. 2.1%).
• Italian Trade Balance (Jun) 4.232 vs. Exp. 4.74 (Prev. 4.793).
• UK BRC Retail Sales Monitor (Jul YY) 1.0% vs. Exp. 1.5% (Prev. 1.7%).

FX

• Quiet action across G10s sees most currencies flat against the Buck with geopolitics driving the little moves seen.
• DXY attempting to build on Monday's gains, now looking towards the 100.00 mark as elevated energy benchmarks continue to support the Greenback (see commodities), price action which has supported a couple more bps of tightening across Fed expectations. Focus this week is overwhelmingly on the CPI print, especially since FT sources before NFP suggested Warsh was focused on the inflation side of the mandate heading into the September meeting. Data scheduled today includes the weekly ADP release, while the Fed speaker slate is light.
• AUD broadly unchanged after the RBA left rates unchanged, in line with analyst/market expectations. Some immediate AUD weakness on the statement as it tweaked language around inflation vigilance ("prepared to increase the cash rate if required" -> "...if upside risks materialise"), added the description of policy as "somewhat restrictive", and revised inflation forecasts lower, points which reinforce the view the bank is comfortable and set to remain on hold until mid-2027 as markets expect. However, the hawkish presser, "Possible we need to hike again" saw a reversal of that kneejerk lower, leaving AUD/USD just 10 pips lower at 0.7050. Some banks still caution there are hawkish risks to the outlook, while ING, Westpac and MUFG are some of the banks maintaining calls for unch. in 2026; RBA market pricing reflects the same, steady post-announcement.
• Some continued strength in energy exporters against the Dollar as geopolitics lacks positive updates, with CAD (+0.1%) and NOK (+0.1%). The latter has passed 1.00 in the Scandi cross (NOK/SEK +0.2%) as SEK suffers as a net importer. Action elsewhere is quiet, GBP, JPY, CHF all flat against the USD; EUR also unch. vs. the Buck, though firmer against most CEE, HUF to the largest degree.

Fixed Income

• A bearish session for the space, after being relatively contained overnight despite the incremental upticks in energy seen after POTUS commentary and the general lack of progress.
• However, the bias became much more apparent in the early European morning, as energy lifted from a maritime incident in Bab al-Mandab (see Commodities for more details). Amidst this, USTs fell from 108-09 to 108-04, lower by 7+ ticks at most.
• Bunds and Gilts follow suit directionally, down to lows of 124.28 and 86.33 respectively. Lower by 21 and 53 ticks, respectively. The docket for both is light. The German Bobl auction was broadly in line with the prior auction, but it did result in modest upticks in Bund futures.
• Germany sells EUR 4.627bln vs Exp. 6bln 2.90% 3031 Bobl: b/c 1.48x (prev. 1.48x), average yield 2.93% (prev. 2.89%), retention 22.9% (prev. 24.1%).

Commodities

• WTI Sep and Brent Oct futures are on a firmer footing with upside this morning seen amid reports a Saudi ship was targeted near Bab al-Mandab. Rhetoric also remains tense, with US President Trump saying, regarding potential escalation with Iran, that it is certainly possible and still has the ability to escalate. Furthermore, US President Trump, responding to Iran's requests for compensation during the conflict, said he was demanding compensation from Iran. Market focus remains around the prospect of getting oil flowing through both the Hormuz and Bab el Mandeb, with a US-Iran deal proving elusive and the Iran-Oman Hormuz deal unfavourable for Washington. Brent resides in a USD 87.41-90.02/bbl after topping yesterday’s USD 87.93/bbl high. WTI trades towards the top end of a USD 81.91-84.46/bbl range, vs yesterday’s 82.38/bbl peak. Dutch TTF is flat after finding resistance around EUR 62.50/MWh but remains north of EUR 60/MWh.
• Precious metals are weaker as energy prices continue to edge higher, adding to inflationary and growth concerns. Spot gold resides around its 100 DMA (USD 4,389/oz) in a current USD 4,356-4,435/oz range, vs yesterday’s 4,395/oz peak, with the 200 DMA at USD 4,497/oz. Spot silver is similarly subdued towards the bottom of a USD 64.23-66.48/oz.
• Base metals are mixed/flat, with downside from energy cushioned amid ongoing hopes of Chinese stimulus. 3M LME copper resides in a narrow USD 14,103.00- 14,199.40/t range at the time of writing.
• Iranian Oil Minister said 95mln cubic meters of gas will return to the production cycle by the end of September.
• Romania said it is to shut down its second nuclear reactor in the next 48 hours amid low water levels at Danube.
• Chile's Codelco copper production fell 4.8% Y/Y to 114,400 tonnes in June, Escondida copper mine production rose 45.8% Y/Y to 111,400 tonnes, Collahuasi mine copper production rose 1.7% Y/Y to 34,900 tonnes in June, according to Cochilco.

Central Banks

• RBA kept the Cash Rate unchanged at 4.35%, as expected, with the decision unanimous, while it stated that inflation is still elevated and risks are skewed to the upside, but noted financial conditions appear to be somewhat restrictive and it trimmed its CPI forecasts. RBA stated that the Board will remain attentive to incoming data and the evolving assessment of the outlook and risks when guiding its decisions, while it remains focused on preventing high inflation from becoming entrenched and will continue to do what it considers necessary to return inflation sustainably to target, including raising the Cash Rate further if upside risks materialise. It also stated that inflation remains too high and is not expected to return to around the midpoint of the target range until late 2027, with upside risks to that projection. However, it also stated following three increases since the start of the year, financial conditions are now tighter than previously and the economy appears to be slowing as expected, as well as stated that financial conditions in Australia appear somewhat restrictive and the economy is expected to return to balance in 2027, a little earlier than previously forecast.
• In the post-policy press conference, RBA Governor Bullock said they see upside risks to inflation and that they will raise rates again if needed. She added that they did not discuss a rate cut at the meeting, only a raise or hold.
• The BoJ may consider an additional interest rate increase at its next policy meeting September 17th-18th, following a hike in June, in response to rising risks of higher inflation, according to informed sources cited by Jiji.

Geopolitics: Iran

• There was a maritime incident reported in Bab al-Mandab, with Fars reporting that a Saudi ship was reportedly targeted by the Yemeni army. In other news, Yemeni sources said a second missile targeted a ship while the coast guard was rescuing its crew in Bab al-Mandab.
• The UKMTO has received a report of an incident involving a tanker and military forces in the Gulf of Oman.
• Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said the world should hold the US accountable for the Hormuz block, while Hormuz security requires end to US aggression, according to Fars News Agency.
• Yemen military source said government forces launched a concentrated attack on militia positions in Harib, Shabwa, according to Al Arabiya.
• Explosions reported in Yemen's Marib, according to SNN.
• Lebanon and Israel are expected to hold the next round of talks in early September, according to Al-Arabiya.
• Israeli forces conducted new strikes in southern Lebanon, according to SNN.

Geopolitics: Ukraine

• Kyiv's mayor said there were explosions in the capital and that the city was under ballistic attack.
• Ukraine's Military said it attacked an oil refinery in Russia's Orsk.
• Turkey is said to be discussing a mechanism with Russia and Ukraine a mechanism to prevent attacks on ships in the Black Sea, RIA reported citing a Turkish cabinet source.

US Event Calendar

• 6:00 am: Jul NFIB Small Business Optimism, est. 97.5, prior 97.4
• 10:00 am: Jul Existing Home Sales, est. 4.05m, prior 4.09m
• 11:00 am: New York Fed Credit Report
• 12:00 pm: Fed’s Goolsbee Appears on WIRED Tech Support

DB's Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

Yesterday I was looking for something to cool us down here in Europe and, helpfully, it arrives tomorrow evening in the form of a solar eclipse. Totality is reserved for those in Greenland, Iceland, Spain (and a small part of Portugal), and northern Russia. Here in the UK, coverage should reach around 90-96%, with slightly lower percentages across much of continental Europe. So enjoy the brief dip in temperature and the chance to see daylight dim for a few minutes before the next heatbomb arrives on Thursday.

If the eclipse offers a temporary darkening of the skies, markets found a darker cloud in the inflation outlook yesterday, as oil prices rose again amid the absence of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, fuelling fresh speculation about rate hikes. In fact, Brent crude (+4.99% to $87.72/bbl) rallied past $85/bbl for the first time this month, whilst the 10yr Treasury yield (+6.2bps) unwound the entirety of its decline after Friday’s payrolls with September Fed hike pricing returning to above 50% ahead of tomorrow's CPI. So after last week when it felt like the doves were in the ascendant again, the latest news has pushed things in a more hawkish direction, with yields and commodity prices both moving higher. 

In terms of the latest from the Middle East, there was still no sign of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and we also saw an escalation in the rhetoric between the US and Iran. From the Iranian side, a spokesman for its foreign ministry said yesterday that, while negotiations with Oman were “progressing smoothly and constructive”, the reopening was “contingent on the US ceasing its illegal actions, lifting the siege, and compensating for damages”. This request for reparations drew a rebuke from Trump, who posted that he was “likewise demanding compensation from Iran” for people killed by Iran in conflicts as well as in quashing protests. He added that this demand would be put “firmly into any, and all, future negotiations”. This follows Trump’s interview with Axios on Sunday, where he said that “We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money." So there’s no sign of the gap between the two sides narrowing towards any imminent deal, while shipping via Hormuz remains at a virtual standstill.

The more pessimistic narrative meant that Brent crude oil (+4.99%) moved up for a 4th consecutive session yesterday, closing at $87.72/bbl. In addition, fears of a more protracted standoff were also gaining momentum, with the 6-month Brent future (+4.44%) also up to $80.24/bbl. So that helped to revive inflation fears on both sides of the Atlantic, with the 1yr Euro inflation swap (+12.6bps) back up to 2.39% yesterday. And that in turn led to mounting speculation about central bank rate hikes, with investors pricing in a more hawkish path for the months ahead. At the Fed, pricing for a September hike moved back up to a 52% chance, up from 44% last Friday. And at the ECB, a September hike was back up to a 90% chance, up from 85% last Friday.

That backdrop of higher oil prices and rate hike speculation meant it was a tricky session for sovereign bonds around the world. This was clear across the curve, with the US 2yr yield (+4.7bps) back up to 4.24%, the 10yr yield (+6.2bps) up to 4.71%, and the 30yr yield (+5.0bps) up to 5.25%. Moreover, there were even bigger moves in Europe where the economy is more exposed to the oil shock, with 10yr yields on bunds (+4.7bps), OATs (+6.4bps) and BTPs (+6.5bps) all posting a decent rise as well. So there was a consistent picture of yields moving closer back to the highs from late-July. 

With the move higher in oil extending as the session went on, risk assets struggled to get traction, with the S&P 500 (-0.06%) seeing a marginal pull back from Friday’s all-time high. The NASDAQ (-0.32%) and Russell 2000 (-0.56%) also lost ground, though energy (+4.63%) and health care (+1.68%) sectors helped limit the S&P 500’s decline. Leading yesterday’s losses were chipmakers, with the Phily semi index dropping -2.94% after its +9.25% rebound last week.

In AI news, Intel (-4.06%) is planning a $15bn offering of new stock, which would be the chipmaker’s first share sale since 1971. And then shortly after the US close we heard Nvidia (-2.86% yesterday) announce that it is teaming up with several investment firms to mobilize $500bn “to create dedicated pools of capital at significant scale at attractive rates for Nvidia customers”. After the softer US close S&P 500 (+0.14%) and NASDAQ 100 (+0.37%) futures are edging higher though.

In Europe, it was a marginally more positive story, with the STOXX 600 (+0.03%) inching up to a new record, having now posted 6 consecutive gains for the first time since May. That included a new record for the DAX (+0.02%) and the CAC 40 (+0.13%), but the FTSE 100 (-0.35%) slipped back.

Overall, risk sentiment so far this month has held up better than at the same time in recent years, as early-August has often gone hand-in-hand with downturn fears and a risk-off move. For instance, this time last year saw an underwhelming jobs report that set the stage for more Fed rate cuts in September. And two years ago we had the yen carry trade blowup, which led to huge (albeit brief) volatility before the Fed then delivered a 50bp rate cut in September. So the recent buoyancy in risk assets makes a change from the usual early-August pattern of the last few years and may have saved a few holidays, albeit with the situation in Iran still on a knife edge. 

In Asia the KOSPI is up +1.46%, but with mainland China broadly flat and the Hang Seng declining -0.60%. Japanese markets are closed today for a public holiday. In Australia the RBA has just left rates unchanged as expected as we go to press. 

Meanwhile in Japan, the yen is fairly flat after slipping back yesterday post the recent intervention, weakening -0.96% to 159.29 against the US Dollar as it fell against every other G10 currency. Over the past week the yen has now given up about half of the rally that saw it move from about 163 against the dollar just before intervention began on July 30 to an intra-day high of 155.23 on August 3.

Looking at the day ahead, it’s a quiet one on the calendar, but US data releases include existing home sales for July, and the NFIB’s small business optimism index for July.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 08:22

South America Just Rejected Socialism. So Why Is North America Buying It?

Authored by Kaizen Asiedu of Clear Thinker Academy, 

I've been in Colombia for the last three months.

Yesterday, right-wing Abelardo de la Espriella, aka "The Tiger," was sworn into office, succeeding left-wing self-proclaimed socialist Gustavo Petro.

This is what the streets of Medellín looked like when The Tiger won in June.

Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Honduras, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, El Salvador — all of these Latin American countries had explicitly socialist, far-left, or Marxist governments that they rejected within the last three years:

Bolivia. Last October, voters ended two decades of rule by a party named the Movement Toward Socialism.

Chile. In December, voters chose José Antonio Kast over a Communist Party candidate.

Honduras. In November, they voted out the democratic socialist party of President Xiomara Castro.

Ecuador. Rejected the heirs of Rafael Correa's socialist project for the second time in two years.

El Salvador. In 2024, the party of former Marxist guerrillas that governed for a decade — during which the country became the murder capital of the world — was wiped from the legislature entirely. Zero seats.

Peru. Two weeks ago, Keiko Fujimori was sworn in after defeating a leftist who served in the cabinet of Pedro Castillo, the Marxist president Peruvians impeached and imprisoned.

Argentina. The left-wing governments that ran the country for most of two decades nationalized the oil company, the airline, and private pension funds. Inflation passed 200%. In 2023 voters elected Javier Milei, who campaigned on reversing all of that.

Applying the socialist label can be tricky, because it's an abstract ideology.

Some will argue that a few of the examples I gave aren't socialism.

They're right — about the labels.

These movements went by different names.

Some called themselves socialists.

Some were Marxists who never used the word.

Some skipped labels entirely and just governed the same way — nationalizing industries, centralizing control.

Different branding. Same ideology: state control over the market, and wealth as something to seize and redistribute rather than create.

That's what I mean by "socialism" in this letter.

That's the worldview that the leaders of all of these countries had.

And it's what voters rejected.

It's an abstract ideology, with some variation.

I'll get more into what socialism technically is later to make things concrete.

But what wasn't abstract were the results these administrations produced: increased crime, gang violence, unchecked immigration, economic problems.

What wasn't abstract was the experience of voters who had to live with the actual results of abstract theories — and rejected them.

Meanwhile, in America — the country people fleeing socialism risk everything to reach — socialism is growing in popularity.

66% of Democrats now view socialism positively.

62% of Americans under 30 have a favorable view of socialism.

South America is moving away from socialism, after having tried it.

North America is moving toward socialism, having never tried it.

We shouldn't have to learn this lesson the hard way.

In my first month in Colombia, on my way back from Spanish class, I met a man who explains all of this better than any thinkpiece could — a deported Venezuelan who called Trump the modern-day Hitler.

But then thanked him in the same conversation.

More on that later.

Americans Don't Know What Socialism Actually Is

The problem with discussing socialism is that often when it's discussed, we're not all talking about the same thing.

Many of the Americans excited by socialism think it's defined by universal healthcare, affordable housing, free childcare.

That is incorrect.

Many Americans also think socialism is what Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark) do.

That is also incorrect.

In the words of Denmark's own prime minister, from a talk he gave at Harvard in 2015: "Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy."

AKA — capitalist.

The confusion is measurable.

According to Gallup polling: in 1949, 34% of Americans defined socialism as government ownership or control of the economy, and only 2% said "benefits and services."

The 34% were correct.

By 2018, government ownership had fallen to 17% while "equality" had climbed to 23% — the single most common answer.

The word has drifted from being understood correctly as a description of how an economy operates, to a vibe about fairness.

So let's restore the definition, because clear thinking requires clear definitions.

Socialism is defined by one thing: who owns the means of production.

The "means of production" are the infrastructure used to produce goods and services — factories, land, firms, capital. Whoever owns them captures the wealth they generate.

Under capitalism, private individuals own the means of production and keep the profits.

Under socialism, that ownership is through collectives, or the government.

In practice, it's almost always the government.

That's the dividing line. Not tax rates. Not government benefits. Not wealth inequality. Not social justice.

You can have a capitalist system with high taxes, high government benefits, and low wealth inequality — that's what Scandinavian countries are.

You can also have a capitalist system with low taxes, low government benefits, and high wealth inequality — like Singapore.

Or you can have America — which is in between.

And there are socialist countries where the state controls the money, benefits are generous on paper, and inequality is low. Venezuela. Cuba.

Countries where the taxes are high, but the money doesn't actually help people.

Countries where government benefits are high on paper, but low quality in reality.

Countries where there's low wealth inequality — because everyone is poor.

Fortunately for the Latin American countries that recently rejected socialism, they cut the socialism experiment short before it wrecked them.

Some countries, like Venezuela, weren't so fortunate.

The Venezuelan Who Called Trump Hitler — and Thanked Him

While in Medellín, I met a man who was born in Venezuela and brought to America by his parents when he was a boy.

He lived in America for 34 years.

He was deported by ICE and is now homeless on the streets of Medellín.

He asked me for money, so I gave him some.

We had a conversation about his experiences.

He described Donald Trump as the modern-day Adolf Hitler.

Now you might wonder — why is a Venezuelan-born man who was deported from America living in Colombia? Why not go back to Venezuela?

Because Venezuela has been ruined by socialists.

Most Americans who want socialism, have never spoken to someone who lived under socialism.

While in Colombia, I met a man who was born in Venezuela and brought to America by his parents when he was a boy.

He lived in America for 34 years.

He was deported by ICE and now is… https://t.co/HFuNTpkLxp pic.twitter.com/LDMovGIabq

— Kaizen D. Asiedu (@thatsKAIZEN) August 9, 2026

How bad must the effect of socialism be for a man who literally thinks Trump is the new Hitler to be grateful to him for invading his country of birth and removing its leader?

I've heard this story over and over from the many Venezuelans I've met here.

Because it turns out that there are many Venezuelans in Colombia.

Because they left Venezuela.

Because of socialism.

Venezuela, which used to be a thriving society — with a capitalist system, oil wealth, and a well-educated population — is just one of the many countries that fell victim to the false promises of socialism.

And in doing so, it's impacted other countries too.

Like Colombia, which has a large population of Venezuelans looking for a better life, and now has to deal with the challenges of integrating a large foreign population fleeing socialism.

While Colombia itself suffers from the effects of guerrilla violence, which increased under Petro.

Most Americans, especially those under 30, aren't well-educated on the actual impact of socialism in history or modernity.

I've had multiple Venezuelans tell me in frustration that they see Americans who don't know anything about Venezuela standing and protesting Trump's arrest of Maduro, while those who actually lived under Maduro are thrilled to see him go.

Venezuela followed a familiar pattern:

1. Socialists and Marxists promise people abundant free services and equity, and get in power.
2. They redistribute wealth — through taxes, seizures, and state revenues.
3. They replace private industry with government control.
4. Initially, things seem to be going well.
5. Over time, less wealth is created, because private industry is always better than government at creating wealth.
6. Over time, the public sector goes from being controlled by the people to being controlled by the bureaucrats.
7. Bureaucrats continue to seize control, because the people don't have economic leverage (the wealth has been seized) and don't have physical leverage (they don't have weapons).
8. Removal of the bureaucrats becomes impossible without force — which the people no longer have.

At least everyone is equal now — equally poor.

Socialism hasn't just "not been done right."

It almost certainly can't work, because it destroys the source of wealth it seeks to redistribute.

I say "almost" because there's a nonzero chance technology someday makes massive, efficient government possible.

Unless today's socialists have a secret AI model that can do this — that day is not today.

"But That's Not Real Socialism"

Most of these countries never completed the conversion to socialism.

That doesn't mean socialism wasn't tried. An ideology is tried whenever the people who hold it get power — and it's judged by what they do with it.

Petro said it plainly in 2025: "I am a socialist." He never made Colombia socialist. His worldview still ran the country for four years.

Mamdani is running New York right now. If the city declines under him, "but New York never became fully socialist" will not be a defense of socialism. A socialist with power, governing from a socialist worldview — that is socialism being tried, whether or not the conversion completes.

That's what happened across Latin America.

Voters didn't reject an abstract ideology.

They rejected its concrete results.

And the deeper the conversion went, the worse it got — Venezuela went furthest and fell hardest.

"It just needed more time" is not the lesson.

The reverse objection comes from the other direction: "Norway's government owns oil companies, so Norway is socialist."

No. Socialism is when public ownership is the rule. A few state-owned companies are the exception that proves the rule — Alaska has oil revenue too.

How to Talk Someone Out of Socialism Without Losing Them

I'm writing a lot about socialism because I think it's a bad idea.

That said, simply calling something a bad idea doesn't change people's minds.

Many of you have friends or family who find socialism appealing.

Here are some concrete instructions to help you in those conversations.

First. Never argue against socialism in the abstract. You'll both lose. Do this instead.

Step one: ask them to define it. "When you say socialism, what do you mean by that?" Nine times out of ten you'll hear: healthcare people can afford, housing people can afford, childcare, education.

Step two: agree with the goals. Sincerely — assuming you share them, and I do. "I want people to have healthcare and housing they can afford too." You've just converted a duel into a collaboration. Most political conversations die before this sentence gets said.

Step three: offer the actual definition. "Can I share what socialism technically means? It's about who owns the farms, factories, grocery stores, and companies that produce everything. Socialism moves that ownership from entrepreneurs and businesses to centralized control — usually the government. The question it answers is who owns production, rather than which services people receive."

Step four (if they bring up Scandinavia): "The countries you're pointing to are market economies with strong safety nets — funded by taxing private wealth creation. Their own leaders insist on this. So what you might want is better capitalism — and that, we can build."

Step five: only now, the evidence. Venezuela, where socialism went all the way. A continent's rejections everywhere it went partway. Presented as data to consider, rather than as a gotcha.

We practice conversational strategies like this in Clear Thinker Academy, and help people be honest without losing relationships.

If you'd rather train these skills than just read about them, that's what the Academy is for: clearthinkeracademy.com

The Fix: Revert to the Previous Working Version of Capitalism

The worst way to fight socialism is to defend the current version of capitalism. The current version is the recruiting poster for socialism.

What we're running now is captured capitalism.

Since Citizens United, outside political spending exploded from $574 million in 2008 to $4.5 billion in 2024.

A single billionaire matched the combined donations of three million small donors.

Corporations shipped labor abroad, institutional investors outbid families for starter homes, and the rules are increasingly written by the industries they're supposed to govern.

Young people conclude the game is rigged because, in the ways that touch their lives most, it is.

Socialism's appeal is a symptom. Captured capitalism is the disease.

And the cure isn't even theoretical.

We can start by just reverting to the previous working version of capitalism.

In 1996, socialism had no constituency in this country.

Because capitalism was delivering: rising wages, attainable homes, a middle class that could plan a future.

That system — markets that compete, a government that isn't totally for sale — was the last working version, and restoring it is a repair job: through campaign finance reform and smarter laws so more housing can be built.

The way to beat socialism is to give people a capitalism worth keeping.

Know a Tree by Its Fruits

You don't need history books to evaluate socialism anymore.

You don't even need a passport.

You can go look at the results in the present day — or talk to the people in America who escaped them.

The evidence is alive, it speaks Spanish, and for three years it has been voting — in country after country — against socialism.

An entire continent tried this worldview at every level of intensity and is climbing out of the hole.

America needn't stand at the edge of that hole, asking what would happen if we jumped in too.

Find more here on Clear Thinker... 

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 08:05

Democrats Shocked By The Cancel Culture They Built

Authored by Sasha Stone via SashaStone.com,

I've heard the new talking point on the Left trying to explain away Hasan Piker's truly vile comments on 9/11. Bernie Sanders, AOC, and Abdul Sayed have all used the term. The memo went out, and now they're repeating it like parrots. You can see for yourself in these videos [click on SashaStone's blog above to see a montage].

CNN: “Hasan Piker said America deserved 9/11. Are you comfortable with that?”

Bernie Sanders: “No, I think that was a dumb statement. But he has lots of followers. We have to get above cancel culture. We need a big tent.” pic.twitter.com/uk92aL1z40

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) August 5, 2026

El-Sayed on Hasan Piker: To sit here and play gotcha politics with a dumb thing somebody said out of context…I want to be held accountable for what I say and what I do rather than this idea that we're so stuck in cancel culture that all of us agreed was a bad idea back in 2020… pic.twitter.com/88OUSzIQLM

— Acyn (@Acyn) August 9, 2026

We'll hear it every time someone brings up Hasan Piker: "We have to get over cancel culture."

I almost fell off my chair. Now they're noticing cancel culture? Now they want to end it just so they can snuggle up to one of the most vile people in the influencer lane because he has a lot of followers?

Cancel culture is not over on the Left. I'm living proof as someone who was canceled and is still canceled. If they want it to be over, then let it be over - but it is most certainly not over. All of these monsters are still carrying pitchforks and screaming at the Right, calling them "racists" and "bigots" and "transphobes." None of that has gone away.

Why do they think no one showed up at the America 250 celebration or would play the Kennedy Center?

Taylor Swift allows her music to be played by everyone except you-know-who. She is saying that Trump and his voters can't be included in her world. They were celebrating on TikTok over it - another cancel culture battle won. And they mostly win them all.

They still have all of the cultural power, and they'll decide who gets to stay or who has to go. That decision will be based on one thing: conformity. If you go along with it, you can stay. If you push back, you have to go.

Sophie Cunningham made news recently just for stating that she believes in biological reality, and it turned into a major scandal driving the news cycle for weeks.

Even if she wasn't thrown out of the WNBA, which is progress, I suppose, that doesn't mean she hasn't been punished and will continue to be punished. They can't cancel J.K. Rowling either, but the enormous pressure she's been under for years proves exactly who these monsters are.

The Paramount/Skydance merger with Warner Bros. shows just how far and wide cancel culture is still used as a method of societal control on the Left. All of Hollywood, all the celebrities, the New York Times, and the trades are pummeling the deal for one reason and one reason only: Donald Trump.

The actor Geno Segers can sing. He can really sing.

But because some children spies went out and hunted down his comments on trans ideology - and the fact that he dared to mock Don Lemon - he was thrown out of Hadestown.

Don't tell me cancel culture is over. It is not. I am still on the outside of the Left's totalitarian Doomsday Cult, and it will likely stay that way until I leave this earth. They're not giving it up. They're just pretending to because now they have a "problematic" creep causing them problems.

It was, in fact, AOC who backed the whole concept of "deplatforming."

Hasan Piker likes to be controversial, just like Candace Owens, just like Tucker Carlson. They say things to provoke people for clicks and views. There is nothing new about any of this. The difference is that the Democrats are allowing this one guy to get a pass because if they turn on him, he'll turn on them.

And lest you start in with "there's cancel culture on the Right, too" - not really. It's true that people are attacked and sometimes exiled for their views, but the Right does not have the same kind of power the Left does.

I was canceled because of a joke on X that they deemed "racist" and for voting for Trump. These are not cancelable offenses in my view. But public shaming is sometimes necessary to push back on someone who, for instance, claims Israel murdered Charlie Kirk.

I would love it if cancel culture was really over, but it isn't. These Democratic Socialists are lying. They aren't giving up their most powerful weapon against the Right: that they own everything and run everything in most of our culture and our institutions.

They have been abusing that power for ten years. I, for one, am happy to see it splash back on their faces like toilet water. They deserve it.

If cancel culture is over, let it be over. Give up your power over all of us to decide who can say what and what people have to believe. Let's all be one country again. Every person who voted for Trump knows how they're treated by most of our cultural overlords every single day for ten years.

End it, and then we'll stop talking about Hasan Piker.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 07:20

China's Unitree Robotics IPO 5,526 Times Oversubscribed By Retail Investors

Unitree Robotics' initial public offering was heavily oversubscribed (5,526 times) by retail investors as China's first publicly traded humanoid robotics company prepares to enter the public markets. The IPO will help usher in physical AI to the equity market.

The Hangzhou-based humanoid robot maker raised about 6.1 billion yuan, or $904 million, after selling 40.4 million shares at 150.8 yuan each, according to Bloomberg.

The offering values Unitree at roughly 61 billion yuan, or $9 billion, ahead of its expected STAR Market debut this month. The IPO will make the firm China's first publicly traded humanoid robot manufacturer.

Top investors soaked up about 20% of the offering, including AI startup DeepSeek, a Tencent-affiliated investment vehicle, and investment arms linked to CNPC, China Southern Power Grid, and China Telecom. DeepSeek was allocated a 2.31% stake.

China Dominates The Humanoid Robot Race. Can Trump Close The Gap?

It should surprise no one that new data from Smart Analytics Global, cited by Bloomberg, shows that Chinese humanoid robot makers accounted for a staggering 97% of global shipments in the first half of 2026.

The figures come as the Trump administration increasingly recognizes that humanoids will be critical to the emerging physical AI era, creating an urgent need to build out America's robot supply chain, including motors, actuators, sensors, batteries, and AI models.

via Barclays.

Smart Analytics Global said global humanoid shipments tripled to 19,100 units in the first half from 5,100 a year earlier. The research firm expects deliveries to reach roughly 60,000 this year and climb to 500,000 by 2030.

The estimates are similar to those from major institutional research desks, including UBS, whose most bullish forecast projects nearly 400,000 global deliveries by the end of the decade.

via UBS. 

Our latest notes dissecting the humanoid robot value chain and examining how to profit from the key companies that manufacture critical components, such as motors and actuators, find that many of these companies are based in Asia, more specifically in China.

• Physical AI Faces One Critical Chokepoint, And Here's How To Profit
• Digging Deeper Inside Physical AI's Hardware Stack Powering Humanoids

China's dominance on humanoids reflects years of policy support and government funding aimed at accelerating robotics, drones, electric vehicles, and much more. The country's progress was on display at the World AI Conference in Shanghai last month, where dozens of companies demonstrated rapid advances in dexterity, speed, and autonomous capabilities. 

The US recently banned imports of new Chinese humanoid and quadruped robots, as well as certain components, citing national security concerns and cybersecurity risks to AI infrastructure. 

The Trump administration has yet to release a standalone executive order specifically aimed at supercharging the domestic humanoid robotics industry, but we expect that could be coming.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 06:55

Everything You Wanted To Know About Building A Cheap AI Setup (That Still Works) But Were Afraid To Ask

Authored by Christopher Penn via 'Almost Timely News' substack,

I’ve been putting together a new course for Trust Insights, AI for Writing (and Writers), which will be coming out August 25th, and during the process of creating that course, I realized I’ve never walked through setting up a discount agentic AI system.

For a while now, many of us who work in “corporate” have had access to what feels like unlimited amounts of AI (though that free ride is coming to an end at enterprise shops thanks to absurdly large bills). For the average person who doesn’t have the backing of a corporation, how could we tap into the power of agentic systems without tapping out our wallets?

This tracks back to a question from Leslie in the Analytics for Marketers Slack group:

“have you done a video or post with recommendations for a cheap second computer set up someone can use to build their separate AI machine?“

So this week, let’s get scrappy.

Warnings, Disclaimers, Disclosures

If you work at a company, please check with IT before installing software willy-nilly. As a former IT professional, we thank you.

Second, in this issue I’ll be talking about Chinese-made AI models like Qwen and DeepSeek. There is a HUGE difference between a Chinese model hosted by a company in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and a Chinese-made model hosted by a company outside the PRC.

It is manifestly unsafe to use any AI models hosted in the PRC for any kind of confidential information, period. Totally fine to use those models for things that are completely public, like research requests.

However, it is completely safe to use Chinese-made AI models on your own hardware, or in an infrastructure that’s trustworthy. There are many, many great inference providers that have things like Zero Data Retention (ZDR) hosting which are even safer to use than Big Tech models because the providers warrant that they don’t keep your data at all. (Most Big Tech providers have a “we hold onto your data for 30 days to prevent abuse” clause in their Terms of Service)

There is a lot of fear mongering about open weights models (including the Chinese ones) happening right now because Big Tech providers’ profits are on the line if these models continue to offer parity of capabilities at a fraction of the cost. Don’t believe the hype; open weights models are so safe that companies like HuggingFace have used them to do their own cybersecurity defenses.

Third, where I have commercial relationships, I’ll disclose them. I have an Amazon affiliate link in this week’s article, and obviously I work for my company, Trust Insights. I do not have a financial interest in the other companies mentioned as of the time of writing. (but I’m happy to, call me)

Part 1: The Model

We’ll begin our tour with what model to use. In general, you want models that are a blend of cost efficient with effective performance. One of my favorite sites for this is Artificial Analysis; there’s a nice little grid on their models page that shows cost versus intelligence. What we’re looking for in this grid is models that are at the top left corner - the vertical (y) axis is brains, where higher is better, and the horizontal (x) axis is cost, where to the left is lower.

The current winner here is DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731, which has a crazy low cost and lots of brains, on par with OpenAI’s newest model, GPT-5.6 Luna. On the far right is Claude Opus 5, which has about 15% more brains but 40x the cost. The worst quadrant to be in is the lower right - high cost, low brains.

For the purposes of building the cheapest agentic system, DeepSeek is going to be your daily driver model.

Now, it’s worth pointing out, as I have in my book Almost Timeless: 48 Foundation Principles of Generative AI that a daily driver may not be the smartest model, but in terms of day to day work, a model like DeepSeek v4 Flash is going to get the job done most of the time. Here’s a bit of retrospective, by the way, putting DeepSeek on the same scale as all of OpenAI’s major models over the years to see where it stacks up in terms of brains.

DeepSeek V4 Flash outcompetes all but the most recent releases of OpenAI’s models over the years; it is almost 50% smarter than last summer’s flagship model, GPT-5, and is only 17% less capable than OpenAI’s current flagship model.

Here’s the same chart from the Claude world:

DeepSeek V4 Flash is about on parity with Claude Opus 4.7 - which came out in April 2026, a scant FOUR MONTHS AGO.

Now, times change, tech changes, and what you should be doing is checking in on these kinds of charts over time to see which model is closest to that top left corner. This month, it’s DeepSeek V4 Flash. Next month, it might be completely different. It’s our responsibility to keep up with the charts and use the cheapest, best brains we can get a hold of.

Now that we know what model we’re aiming to use, we have to figure out where to use it.

Part 2: The Host

Just like web hosting companies host websites, model hosting companies - called inference providers - host models. There are so, so many of these out there, and they compete mainly on two things, speed and price. Some providers charge a premium but generate results (tokens per second) at ridiculous speeds, like Cerebras. Others offer a wide variety of models at slower speeds but are cheap (like DeepInfra).

Choosing a provider is straightforward: because you’ve decided the model already, it’s a question of pricing and availability. In Google AI Mode, modify this prompt to suit your needs:

Help me create a list of inference providers that match these criteria. First and most important, they MUST offer this exact model: {model}. This is immutable and non-negotiable; a provider that does not offer this model does not make the list. Second, identify the pricing for this model in three categories: cost per input tokens, cost per output tokens, cost per cached tokens. If a provider does not offer pricing for this model for cached tokens, disqualify them. Third, the provider MUST be a zero data retention (ZDR) inference provider. If ZDR pricing is additional, compute it as part of the token costs. ZDR capability is mandatory; if a provider does not offer ZDR, disqualify them. Fourth, if available, obtain the tokens per second for this model for each provider. Return your results as an ordered list in ascending order by lowest cost per tokens for each provider for our chosen model.

You might want to add specific additional needs like SOC 2 compliance, GDPR compliance, etc. To the prompt based on your needs, so customize it any way you like.

With any model you choose, be sure you capture the full model name; DeepSeek v4 Flash for example has an antecedent that lacks the 0731 suffix. Our exact model that we want is DeepSeek v4 Flash 0731.

When I stick this into Google, DeepInfra, Fireworks AI, and OpenCode Zen show up as good options. Which one you choose will be based on how much you prioritize speed versus cost. If you told me to pick one and only one, I’ve been a customer of DeepInfra for a couple of years now and have no complaints at all, BUT there is also a case to be made for OpenCode Zen. More on that in a minute.

What I like, for Leslie’s specific use case, is that pay as you go providers mean that you’re not paying if you’re not using the AI AND there’s a strong economic incentive for you to use AI as little as possible and be as efficient in its use as possible. One of the problems with token plans (which include things like Claude Pro/Max, etc.) is that if you haven’t hit your weekly/monthly limits, you’re wasting money - and thus you’re more likely to use AI frivolously. With pay as you go, you only pay for what you use.

Part 3: The Hardware

For a second computer setup that’s cheap, we have to think about how computers work. The graphical user interface we’re all used to on Windows or Mac or even desktop Linux, as well as on our phones and tablets, is an INCREDIBLY inefficient waste of compute resources. It takes enormous amounts of memory and processing power to draw and maintain the interface compared to pure text-based interfaces.

Now, the crusty old GenX computer nerd in me says that everyone should know how to use a text-based interface (often called a command line or command prompt or terminal), but that’s not realistic. However, there is one user that LOVES text-based interfaces.

Yup, you guessed it. That’s AI. AI is far, far more efficient at typing than it is using a mouse, so for our second computer as Leslie asked about, we’re going to aim for a super cheap box that can run a terminal, store things, and run an AI harness. At a price point of roughly USD 500, you won’t be running AI models directly on this hardware (hence why we searched for hosting providers in Part 2), but you’ll have a decent machine with good storage.

On the shopping venue of your choice, look for what are called gaming mini-PCs. These typically will have AMD Ryzen chips, a small hard drive (typically 256 GB or 512 GB SSD), and between 16 GB and 32 GB of RAM. The cardinal rule of computing is that you want as much RAM/memory as money can buy; a slightly slower processor with more RAM is better than a fast processor with not enough RAM. RAM is like highway lanes; a Bugatti stuck in traffic on a single lane dirt road will not go as fast as a Prius on an 8 lane highway with no traffic jam.

Google AI Mode is handy here as well. Modify this prompt to suit your needs, especially if there are some companies you would prefer not to do business with:

Help me create a list of vendors that offer gaming mini PCs for sale that ship to my location: {locale}. My criteria are that the machine cost less than {amount} inclusive of shipping and that it have a minimum of 16 GB of RAM and 500 GB of disk space, ideally with an SSD. 32 GB of RAM is preferred, and more disk space is always preferred. The system MUST be able to run Ubuntu Linux 26.06 in headless mode. The CPU can be any make or model that offers a base clock speed of 3 GHz; AMD, Intel, or other vendors are fine as long as they are fully supported on Ubuntu. Ethernet and Wifi are mandatory. USB-C, Bluetooth, and HDMI are preferred. eGPU support is preferred. The following vendors and resellers are preferred: {preferred list}. The following vendors and resellers are forbidden: {banned list} The use case for this device will be to run OpenCode and Ubuntu Linux, plus apps like PostgreSQL, Docker, SQLite, Apache2, and similar server-like systems for a single person. Arrange your results in ascending order by price as an ordered list.

I spotted some random Chinese computer on Amazon that was selling for USD 499 with 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD (affiliate link!) that has a name that resembles what happens if you stuff Scrabble tiles in your mouth and then spit them out on the table. It’s got a 2023 chip in it, the AMD Ryzen 7730U, which is plenty fast for what we’re doing.

Why these specs? You want the extra RAM and disk space so you can run multiple local applications together on the same box. For example, if you want to run Hermes Agent, chances are you’ll want it in something like a Docker container, and the RAM/disk space will REALLY help with that. Likewise, if you want to roll your own local apps, you’ll probably be running a server that has a database, maybe even a local webserver, and more memory and disk space will really help there.

And technically, though it’s a miserable experience, a mini PC like this CAN do local inference with small models. Using something like llama.cpp, koboldcpp, or Unsloth Studio, you COULD theoretically serve up a small model like Gemma 4 E4B and get a modest little AI server running that can do basic things like summarization.

Once you get your hardware, you’ll want to erase the operating system on it and install a version of Linux. Linux is the best choice for this kind of computer because it can run using very few system resources. I’d suggest Ubuntu Linux in LTS flavor - LTS stands for Long Term Support, and the Ubuntu Foundation warrants that a version of Ubuntu will be supported for 10 years from the launch date. The current version is 26.04 LTS, Resolute Raccoon.

One thing that’s nice about Ubuntu Linux is that you can start it up with a GUI for configuration and all the comforts of modern computing, and then once everything is all square, you can shut down the GUI to free up resources, running it in text-based interface alone.

Part 4: The Harness

AI models by themselves are smart but are prone to things like hallucinations. Model hosts can add some guardrails and some tuning, but the real magic happens when you put a good model in a great harness. Think of the model like the engine of a car. An engine isn’t much good by itself, and a car without an engine is a lawn ornament, doubly so if it’s on cinderblocks.

But a good engine in a great car? That’s where, quite literally, the rubber meets the road. And as with cars, sometimes you can do with a good engine but not a great one if the rest of the car is nice. Unless you’re driving NASCAR or Formula 1, a Prius doesn’t need a V8 engine.

Harnesses are the interfaces to AI. When you use ChatGPT on the web, OpenAI has put a harness around its models, and what you experience as ChatGPT is their tuned harness. The same is true for Gemini, for Claude, etc. - and different harnesses do different things. Claude Code, for example, has hundreds of words of specific language built into its system prompts to behave a certain way, plus a slew of deterministic rules that silently reject bad outputs from the Claude models before you ever see them as a user.

For our purposes, because we’re trying to build a scrappy AI setup, we want a harness that’s free and supports multiple providers. For that, there’s no better harness than OpenCode. OpenCode is Free Open Source Software, and it comes in 2 flavors, a command line version and a GUI version. What’s really nice about it is that the GUI version is built on top of the command line version, so you don’t have to do anything differently and you can configure it in GUI mode, then use it later in command line mode with no changes at all.

OpenCode also supports all the modern skills and plugins that other AI systems use, so if you see a cool skill that someone’s showing off in Claude Code, for example, you can install that same skill in OpenCode.

OpenCode also offers 2 paid coding plans to go with it, OpenCode Zen which is pay as you go, and OpenCode Go, which is a subscription plan. There are some free models in OpenCode Zen but those DO collect your data and are not zero data retention. Remember in the world of AI that if you’re not paying, you and your data are the product being sold to someone else.

If you want the convenience of not having to manage your AI hosting separate from your AI harness, OpenCode Zen is a great choice. If you want the lowest possible costs, then use OpenCode with DeepInfra.

Part 5: Wrapping Up, the Process in a Nutshell

So in a nutshell, here is the order of operations to get up and running - and you can put this list (or this entire newsletter, really) into your favorite chat-based AI tool to walk you through this process.

1. Choose a model.

2. Choose a hosting provider.

3. Choose a hardware box of some kind.

4. Install Linux on that box.

5. Install OpenCode on that box.

6. Connect OpenCode to your hosting provider.

With those six big steps, you’re ready to go! I would suggest also installing and configuring tmux on your new box, because that gives you the ability to remote control it very easily, and if you want to get FANCY, install Tailscale on it as well, to create a VPN of your computers together so you can access your new AI box from anywhere in the world. That’s probably best for another time, though your AI of choice can walk you through that pretty easily.

The key to remember here is that this machine is a self-contained little server. Once you have OpenCode installed on it and connected to your model of choice, one of the first tasks you can do is put it to work securing itself. Using your favorite deep research tools, ask for a best practices guide to securing your little computer and optimizing it for AI usage, especially with the most popular command line tools that will help AI save tokens and usage. Because you’re using a provider like DeepInfra, every request you make costs you a tiny bit of money, and the more you can reduce that, the more you save.

If you deploy this system as written, you’ll spend about USD 500 on the hardware, and probably USD 5 to 10 per month in AI inference costs for moderate usage, which I define as a major coding project per week, something where your AI is working with sustained effort for about 2 hours a day. Models like DeepSeek V4 and similarly capable models are incredibly capable and dirt cheap to use.

It’s worth pointing out that if you have a working computer today, you could skip the hardware purchase and install OpenCode on your computer as is, eliminating the hardware cost. For folks on limited incomes, this is a great way to get access to high end AI without high end subscriptions, like job seekers without stable income.

Enjoy running your own little AI operations center!

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 06:30

Russia's Only Anti-War Party Banned From Parliamentary Elections Over 'Foreign Funding'

It's been no secret that Russian authorities have increasingly cracked down on public speech which opposes the war in Ukraine, or as the Kremlin calls it - the special military operation. Any speech deemed 'unpatriotic' has also come under a legal microscope of late.

Currently, Yabloko (Apple) is the only officially registered Russian political party which openly oppose the war, calling "for peace and freedom". But the party has just suffered a huge setback, having been banned by the nation's top court from running candidates in upcoming parliamentary elections.

EPA

Russia's Supreme Court on Monday "upheld a suit brought by a pro-Kremlin nationalist party, stripping voters opposed to the four-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine of their last option on the ballot," France24 reports.

"The claims seeking to annul the registration of the federal list of candidates for the State Duma of the ninth convocation, nominated by the Yabloko political party, were granted," the ruling by judge Vyacheslav Kirillov indicated.

Some one hundred mostly young supporters of Yabloko demonstrated outside the courthouse chanting "Shame! Shame!" following the ruling. Yabloko leader Nikolay Rybakov has affirmed that the party is planning to appeal the decision.

The rationale for the ban is that the anti-war party is accused of receiving foreign funds; however, it has countered by saying rival political parties have also received such funding:

According to data from Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring), the Yabloko party had received funding from abroad, a Central Election Commission (CEC) representative said. The representative spoke during a court hearing on a lawsuit the Rodina party filed seeking to remove Yabloko from the State Duma election.

On Aug. 7, Rosfinmonitoring gave the commission a document stating that individuals on Yabloko’s federal candidate list had received foreign funding, the CEC representative said.

Several dozen of the party’s counterparties had also received this funding, according to Rosfinmonitoring.

Anti-Kremlin regional outlet Meduza has published the following from Yabloko party concerning its legal hot water situation:

Yabloko has attributed the foreign funding data to the sale of foreign shares, which the law requires candidates to sell off ahead of elections, the Telegram channel Varlamov News reports. Yabloko lawyer Gadzhi Aliev said the funds did not come to the party itself from foreign individuals, but from Russian citizens who had received money from foreign sources.

Russia has long been fearful over foreign entities making inroads into Russian society, a concern which stretches to well before the war started.

The future of Russia’s only registered party opposing the war in Ukraine hangs in the balance. Moscow’s Supreme Court is hearing a bid to remove Yabloko from September’s parliamentary elections, drawing hundreds of the party’s supporters to the courthouse. pic.twitter.com/yJGoHod0nv

— TVP World (@TVPWorld_com) August 10, 2026

It also worries that US and European intelligence could seek to manipulate parliamentary elections. In America, Democrats had starting long ago charged Moscow with interfering in US elections, which produced years of 'Russiagate' hanging over President Trump - yet with nothing close to a smoking gun.

Regarding the brutal war in Eastern Europe, common Russian families have continued to struggle and suffer quietly because of the conflict as more and more young men are killed in the fighting. On the other side of it, Ukrainian families are also suffering immensely - and tragically there seems no end in sight as peace talks have proven illusive. 

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 05:45

Trump Finally Responds To Iran's Demands, Counters US Is Owed "Compensation," Stops Short Of New Threats Summary

• Trump demands Iran compensate the US and families of fallen soldiers, but issues no new military threats.
• US again pivots to economic warfare: Trump says Washington is "low-keying it" and betting Iran's economic weakness will force concessions.
• Iran digs in on Hormuz: Tehran says the Strait will not return to pre-war conditions without major concessions.
• Hardliners gain influence: Former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaei is set to take Iran's top security post.
• Deal remains elusive: Tehran appears intent on prolonging talks and extracting maximum concessions from Washington.

//--> //--> //--> Strait of Hormuz traffic returns to normal by August 31?
Yes 4% · No 96%
View full market & trade on Polymarket

*  *  *

Trump Belatedly Responds to Iranian Demands

President Trump on Monday has very belatedly responded to the Iranians after they issued new demands over the weekend, or conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, after declaring a ban on all US and Israeli-linked vessels.

Noting that the Iranians are now asking for war compensation, Trump is seeking to turn it around and now demands compensation from Iran "for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts, for which they are famous...". He also asserted that American families of fallen soldiers should be paid.

Trump proclaims the strait as actually "open" right now:

🚨 REPORTER: When will the Strait of Hormuz open?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: It's open NOW! The only one that has control of the Strait is the US Navy. Our blockade is a STEEL WALL. We let people in who we want to let in. They're coming in and going out. It's ACTUALLY open now. We do not… pic.twitter.com/qBuvzLwkQN

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 10, 2026

Interestingly and tellingly, unlike many prior Truth Social posts related to Iran, Trump did not issue any new threats or ultimatums saying what he will 'do' to the country if it doesn't comply. This perhaps reveals he's out of answers or new strategy, and doesn't wish to escalate militarily. The statement comes on the heels of the president telling Axios on Sunday that the US is now "low-keying" it and primarily turning back to prolonged economic warfare to strangle the Iranian economy.

And he added something further within a short time after the initial post...

Trump "Low-Keying It" As Iran Doubles Down on Demands

After President Trump said Sunday that the US is now "low-keying it" with Iran and only "semi-negotiating" following a top Iranian security official having laid out multiple stringent conditions for the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, oil is edging higher on Monday.

"We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money," Trump told Axios reporter Barak Ravid in comments we analyzed earlier, signaling his return to an economic warfare focus. President Trump has fewer and fewer options and is being squeezed, with any opportunity to declare 'victory' and make swift exit more elusive than ever, given Washington would have to make huge compromises, including lifting sanctions and paying war compensation to Tehran.

"The Supreme National Security Council will not retreat from these demands, whether in war or in negotiations," the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr has said, in effect doubling down, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.

NurPhoto via AP Hardline IRGC Commander Moved to Top Security Chief Spot

But speaking of Zolghadr, its been widely reported that a 'hardline' former IRGC commander will take his place. The NY Times explains:

Iran is replacing its top national security adviser with a longtime military commander whose appointment could represent a further consolidation of power by the country’s old-guard security establishment.

Mohsen Rezaei, who led Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, will be the new secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, a spokesman for Iran’s president wrote on social media on Sunday. He had been serving as an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

Mr. Rezaei is replacing Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who stepped into the role when the council’s previous secretary, Ali Larijani, was killed in an Israeli strike during the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran earlier this year.

This is yet another likely sign that Tehran sees itself in the driver's seat, will not back off its demands and conditions for reopening Hormuz, and plans to make an exit from the conflict for Washington as painful as possible, extracting as much as it can while smelling weakness.

Ali Nikzad, Iran’s deputy speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, has emphasized that the Strait of Hormuz is not going to return to its pre-war condition, addressing the body on Monday.

He said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran tried to inform the aggressor and deluded enemy of the fact that the Strait of Hormuz is not going to return to the pre-war conditions during the days of the war."

WSJ: the feared oil crunch may not have been avoided, just delayed. The likely reason is that the world had more "hidden" oil inventories than analysts realized. But those stockpiles are finite. If Hormuz remains disrupted, prices could rise sharply once they're exhausted. pic.twitter.com/lKRvLnoiZG

— Sina Toossi (@SinaToossi) August 7, 2026

"Unfortunately, they tried to pretend not to know, but the passage of time is the greatest teacher for deluded people, and today the American-Zionist enemy, with a strong fist of armed forces, has practically realized that the opening of the Strait of Hormuz has no military solution and must submit to the new order in the region," Nikzad stated.

Return to Focus on Economic War

He went on to admit that a focus on reducing the country's economic challenges is at this moment the highest priority. This is where the US hopes to regain some leverage, with the aforementioned Axios interview including the following declarations by Trump:

• He stressed that Iran "is in very bad shape" economically and has no money to pay its troops. The U.S. naval blockade has exacerbated the Iranian regime's economic crisis, Trump said.
• At the same time, Trump said that with oil down to slightly over $75 a barrel, U.S. consumers are feeling less pain from the war.
• "It will work out. It always works out. It's like a chess game," Trump said of the back-and-forth with Iran.

However, the assumption that the Islamic Republic is ever on the verge of economic panic and collapse is the same talking point that existed at the very start of Operation Epic Fury - and there's as yet been no snowball. Instead in some ways the population and leadership may have 'toughened' and adapted amid wartime conditions.

"Iran is not overplaying. It’s just playing its hand."

Johns Hopkins scholar Vali Nasr tells host Tom Switzer that Washington’s fixation on Tehran “overplaying its hand” reflects disbelief at how dramatically the balance of power has shifted.

“Iran is not overplaying. It’s just playing its hand,” he said.

Iran sees a narrow window… pic.twitter.com/7sL9ryc5Jw

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) August 10, 2026 Three Scenarios of Iran's Strategy

Trita Parsi, who is co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and co-founded the National Iranian-American Council (NIAC), lays out three scenarios on Iran's potential strategy.

"The NYT reports that Iran has effectively rejected a deal on the Strait and presented a list of very hard-line demands in order for an agreement to be reached," he wrote over the weekend. "My understanding of what has transpired differs somewhat. I see three possible interpretations, some of which overlap with the NYT's reporting"...

1. There are divisions within the Iranian system in which hardline elements want to prolong the talks and have the current blockade inflict more damage on Trump and the global economy. Their narrative is that Iran agreed to the MOU too quickly, which contributed to the MOU's deterioration later. Tehran should have held out longer then, and it should also do so now, essentially. A variation of this explanation is what the USG is advancing: The lack of agreement is because of divisions in Iran.

2. Rather than a division, it may also be that a united system is seeking to prolong the talks to pressure the US. As such, a narrative of divisions in Iran may be seen as helpful, as it diverts from an arguably more problematic reality: The more flexible elements within the Iranian system also agree that talks should be prolonged.

3. The Iranian narrative, however, is that new elements were added to the talks at the last minute by the US and that Iran's on-the-surface hardened position is a reaction to what Tehran says is an attempt by the US to move the goalposts. Whether this is true or not, Tehran has tended to react in this manner (escalation) when it believes the US has shifted its position or added additional demands at the last minute. This is, however, not a denial of Zolghadr's list of demands.

Parsi concludes: "That list is an accurate reflection of Iran's broader goals, but ultimately, they won't be its demands for the immediate deal on the Strait. If the truth is closer to the third explanation, then a deal may still be within reach in the short term."

Majid Shakeri, Qalibaf's advisor: Trump will not reach an agreement with us. We are going along with him until his term ends.

مجيد شاكري، مستشار قاليباف: ترامب لن يتوصل إلى اتفاق معنا.
نحن نسايره إلى أن تنتهي ولايته pic.twitter.com/UNvghab4Ih

— Mohamad Ahwaze (@MohamadAhwaze) August 10, 2026 Weekend & Overnight Developments

• Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said Iran and the US are not engaged in talks, and Tehran will not allow them to start as long as Washington breaches the interim deal signed in June.
• Iran said it is very close to a deal with Oman regarding a new maritime transit route in the Strait of Hormuz, but it renewed a list of demands for the US to agree to before the waterway could open. It was separately reported that Iran warned it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz unless the US meets a series of conditions, including paying compensation for war damage, according to FT.
• Iran’s Supreme National Security Council issued six demands to the US, including total force withdrawal, end to proxy warfare, financial reparations, sanctions and asset relief, lifting the blockade and cessation of rhetoric.
• The wait for the Iran-Oman deal regarding the Strait of Hormuz dragged on, with Iran warning the US that any pact wouldn’t lead to an immediate reopening of the key waterway.
• UKMTO reported that a vessel near Oman was struck by an unknown projectile, which caused a fire on board but has been extinguished.
• Saudi Arabia put out a fire at its Jazan plant early on Sunday, while Yemen’s Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack on the refinery.
• It was separately reported that Houthis resumed attacking Yemen’s Mocha port using ballistic missiles and drones, with the attacks aimed at Saudi troop concentrations and weapon depots in the region.
• Israel again targeted Alia Al-Tahir Hill in the Al-Nabatiyeh a governorate in southern Lebanon with artillery fire, according to IRNA
• Israeli PM Netanyahu said Israel does not accept a US-backed 15-point plan for Gaza, under which Hamas would disarm in exchange for a phased Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, according to FT.
• US official said the White House is not bothered by Israeli PM Netanyahu's statement on Gaza plan and sees it as part of election season in Israel, according to Axios
• The Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on Sunday approved the general outlines of a bill to manage the Strait of Hormuz, according to ISNA.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 05:33

'How Can We Help You Kill More Russians?' German Reporter To Zelensky At Belgrade Meeting

It has never been a secret that much of the Western mainstream media "journalist and pundit class" are in reality warmongers and armchair interventionists and chickenhawks - or also activists and advocates operating under the guise of "objective reporting".

One German journalist was surprisingly open with his lust for blood at a press conference in Belgrade on Saturday. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung correspondent Michael Martens posed a surprisingly blunt question to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky,  and with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic looking on at the other podium. The journalist wanted to know how Europeans could concretely assist in "killing more Russians". Watch:

🇩🇪🇷🇺 German journalist who asked Zelensky how Europeans can "help kill more Russians" turns out to be the grandson of a high-ranking Nazi

Michael Martens's grandfather was a senior Wehrmacht command officer

He is now facing backlash, with a petition calling for his firing https://t.co/wDoGfUmBWd pic.twitter.com/xL6gUPC0dr

— The Other Side Media (@TheOtherSideRu) August 10, 2026

"Can you tell us Europeans what can we concretely do to help you to kill more Russians?" Martens asked.

He quickly checked himself, adding that he means "more Russian soldiers, of course." President Vucic is seen with a look of shock on his face as the question is being asked, raising his eyebrows in apparent disbelief.

Zelensky had responded to the question with the usual calls for more money, and more weapons, and to hit Moscow harder with Western sanctions. 

Vucic's answer was very diplomatic but also somewhat of a rebuke to the question, expressing his desire to see all killing come to and end:

"We did not discuss military cooperation today," the Serbian president said. "What happens when the war ends is another matter. And speaking about killing, I hope all killing will end."

The clip has gone viral in Europe, and has been highlighted in Russian and Ukrainian media - but has been curiously absent from Western mainstream press.

The Serbian leader's look says it all...

"Tell us, Europeans, what can we concretely do to help you kill more Russians?"

That was the question a German journalist asked Zelensky at a press conference in Belgrade

Vucic's face said it all pic.twitter.com/Y7dlMK9FxV

— The Other Side Media (@TheOtherSideRu) August 8, 2026

Amid the controversy, the outlet that Martens writes for, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, issued a statement expressing "regret" while still seeming to defend the exchange, only saying that its reporter's statement was "worded ambiguously".

Sadly, none of this is completely surprising - and the longer the Ukraine war drags on, the more bloodthirsty that "journalists" and pundits and some politicians are likely to become. Or rather, the masks are off and such sentiment is much more out in the open.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 04:15

Retired Syrian General Who Fought ISIS 'Disappears' Inside Embassy In Beirut

Via The Cradle

A retired Syrian general who commanded forces fighting ISIS was abducted by personnel from the Syrian embassy in Lebanon, Al-Akhbar reported on Saturday.

Adel Issa, an Alawite brigadier general from Tartous, entered the Syrian embassy in Beirut at 12:30 pm on Friday to arrange a power of attorney for a relative. His Syrian driver waited outside for him, but he never returned. As his driver waited outside, a car with several young men stopped and demanded that the driver hand over the retired general's phone, claiming they needed to register his passport.

Syrian Embassy in Beirut

The driver waited for Issa until 4:30 pm before going to the embassy entrance to inquire about him. A Lebanese guard prevented him from entering, telling him the embassy had closed an hour before.

After persisting, the driver was able to speak with an embassy employee who told him that Issa had left the embassy 20 minutes earlier. This surprised the driver, as Issa never came out of the embassy to have the driver take him home.

The driver then informed the general's family of the incident. They began making calls to locate him, but his phone was switched off after 3:30 pm.

The family contacted several Lebanese organizations for help in determining his fate, fearing he might have been illegally detained at the embassy, ​​given his status as an Alawite officer in the deposed government of Bashar al-Assad. There were also fears that he might be transferred to Syria and subjected to torture.

Since the fall of Assad's government in October 2024, Syria's new authorities, led by the former Al-Qaeda leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, have detained thousands of Alawite officers from the former army. 

Syrian authorities claim they are detained for committing war crimes during the 14-year war that began in 2011. However, in practice they are typically detained based on their religious identity as Alawites.

According to a December 2025 report by Reuters, Syria's prisons are overflowing with Alawite men who are held without trial and often tortured.

Al-Akhbar notes that Brigadier General Issa had retired more than six years ago. He continued to live in Tartous and move around Syria without being pursued by the new authorities.

He gave a statement before a Syrian court a few months ago regarding a financial dispute with someone without being arrested or prosecuted, as there was no warrant or legal case against him. However, roughly one month ago, a group of unknown armed men raided Issa's home and inquired about him.

#Syria/#Lebanon: Following the scandal reported by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar over the Syrian Embassy’s abduction and detention of Syrian citizens, the embassy admitted yesterday that retired officer Adel Issa had been held inside the embassy. Embassy staff then handed him… https://t.co/WEkW2aF9TW pic.twitter.com/IgDK7k0H9N

— Syria Justice Archive (@SyJusticeArc) August 9, 2026

Issa was unable to determine whether the armed men were from the official Syrian security forces or from an armed faction affiliated with the new government but operating outside the chain of command. As a result, Issa decided to leave Syrian territory for Lebanon.

The Syrian Justice Archive (SJA) noted that after news emerged of the detention of the retired general, an attempt was made to cover up his abduction at the embassy and make it appear as if it was part of a legal process.

Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat claimed that Lebanese authorities had arrested Issa and requested his judicial file from their Syrian counterparts to decide whether to hand him over to Syrian authorities. SJA notes that the evidence indicates that Issa was taken by Syrian embassy personnel, not by Lebanese prosecutors or police.

"If Syria wanted his arrest and extradition, the proper procedure would have been for the Syrian Prosecutor General to formally request his arrest and handover through the Lebanese authorities, not for him to be abducted while visiting the embassy after legally leaving Syria," SJA stated.

The Syrian embassy admitted later on Saturday that Issa had been held inside the embassy and that embassy staff then handed him over to Lebanese security authorities after he had spent more than a day detained inside the embassy.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Issa commanded the Syrian army's 17th Division. In 2015, he was given command of all Syrian ground forces in the eastern governorate of Deir Ezzor, which borders Iraq, before he retired in late 2016.

Under Issa's command, the 17th Division was responsible for protecting Deir Ezzor from ISIS, of which self-appointed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa's armed group, the Nusra Front, is an offshoot. The Nusra Front was later rebranded as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

Another scandal emerged last week when journalist Lindsey Snell reported that the Nusra Front member, Mohamad Qanatari, who had kidnapped her in northern Syria in 2016, had been named as charge d'affaires to the Syrian Embassy in Washington.

My interview with the Syrian chargé d'affaires to the US back when he was a member of Jabhat al-Nusra. pic.twitter.com/g0NSaH1WUp

— Lindsey Snell (@LindseySnell) July 28, 2026

In 2012, Nusra was designated as a terrorist group by both the UN and the US State Department, despite covert US support for the group. Since HTS and Sharaa came to power, the US government has openly embraced members of the former terror group, including Sharaa himself, who visited the White House to meet US President Donald Trump in November 2025.

SJA reports that another disturbing incident involving the Syrian embassy in Beirut occurred earlier this week when a Syrian social media influencer, Hussein Abdul Qader al-Ahmad, was abducted after making a video for social media in front of the embassy.

In the video, Ahmad criticized the new extremist-dominated Syrian authorities, including President Sharaa – who formerly went by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani and is well known for dispatching suicide bombers and car bombs to kill thousands of civilians in Iraq and Syria.

After his abduction at the Lebanese-Syrian border, Ahmad appeared on Syrian government media in detention with visible marks on his forehead, suggesting that he was subjected to abuse or torture. He is now detained on charges of “insulting state symbols” and “provoking the feelings of Syrians.”

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 03:30

Spy Cams On UK Navy Drones Secretly Transmitted Data To China

An investigation into surveillance equipment fitted to Royal Navy unmanned vessels has raised concerns over military supply-chain security after cameras containing Chinese-made components were found communicating with an internet address in China.

The camera on top of a K3 Scout uncrewed vessel, used by the Royal Navy in Portsmouth harbour. Parts of the camera were made in China. Via The Telegraph

The cameras were installed on K3 Scout unmanned surface vessels used by Royal Marines and other specialist British forces, according to a report by The Telegraph. The vessels form part of the Royal Navy's push to expand its use of autonomous systems for surveillance and maritime operations.

A technical assessment reportedly discovered that the cameras were sending routine electronic signals to an IP address located in China. The communications were described as "heartbeat" traffic - automated messages commonly used by connected devices to confirm that they remain online and operational. The Ministry of Defence said investigators found no evidence that classified information, military systems or other sensitive data had been accessed or transmitted abroad. Nevertheless, internet connectivity associated with the cameras was removed after the issue was discovered.

The episode has renewed scrutiny of the increasingly complex international supply chains behind modern defense equipment, where a system designed and assembled in one country can contain electronic components manufactured across several others.

Concerns over sensitive military locations

The K3 Scout vessels have been used by the Royal Marines since earlier this year and are capable of extended autonomous operations. Their surveillance equipment is intended to give military personnel greater awareness of maritime activity without requiring crews to remain aboard the vessels.

Security concerns are heightened by reports that the craft have operated around sensitive defense facilities and personnel.

One concern is whether connected cameras could potentially expose information about individuals, training activities or locations even when the main platform itself is not actively conducting a mission. Reports that some camera functions may have remained active while vessels were otherwise powered down have added to calls for closer examination of how individual subsystems operate.

The Ministry of Defence said its routine cyber-security procedures were responsible for identifying the vulnerability and stressed that its investigation found no evidence of a compromise of departmental information.

Internal Audit

The K3 Scout fleet was supplied by British defense company Kraken Technology Group, which obtained the cameras through a third-party supplier.

Kraken said the equipment had been considered compliant with relevant US defense procurement requirements but acknowledged that a small number of components inside the cameras originated outside the UK. Following an audit conducted with the Royal Navy, the company said it was satisfied that sensitive information had not been transmitted through unintended channels and that identified vulnerabilities had been addressed.

The distinction highlights a broader problem for defense procurement. A product can comply with rules prohibiting equipment from specified manufacturers while still incorporating individual components produced in countries viewed as potential security risks. Modern cameras, drones and communications systems can contain processors, sensors, networking modules and firmware originating from numerous suppliers. That makes establishing the provenance and behavior of every component increasingly important - and increasingly difficult.

The K3 Scout is designed for long-duration maritime missions and can carry a substantial payload. The platform has also been tested internationally and has attracted interest beyond the UK.

For the Royal Navy, such vessels are part of a wider strategy to combine conventional warships with autonomous and remotely operated systems.

Uncrewed platforms can conduct surveillance, patrol dangerous areas and provide intelligence while reducing the number of personnel placed directly in harm's way. Britain has committed billions of pounds to expanding military drone technology and accelerating the introduction of autonomous systems.

But greater reliance on digitally connected equipment also creates new vulnerabilities.

A conventional mechanical defect may prevent a vehicle from functioning. A compromised digital component could potentially create a less visible threat by transmitting information, receiving unauthorized instructions or revealing patterns of military activity.

Chinese technology remains a security concern

The discovery comes against a wider backdrop of British concern about technology and equipment with links to China. Successive governments have tightened restrictions on Chinese-made hardware in sensitive environments, while Huawei was removed from Britain's 5G infrastructure plans following national-security concerns. UK intelligence agencies have also repeatedly warned about Chinese espionage and efforts to obtain sensitive political, commercial and technological information.

The unmanned vessels were supplied by Kraken Technology Group, a major British defence contractor. Via The Telegraph Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 02:45

After Mass Migrant Invasion, 5 Girls Under 14 Reportedly Raped In Ceuta

Via Remix News,

Health sources have confirmed that Ceuta University Hospital has treated at least five girls over the past week for alleged rapes following the mass migrant invasion of Ceuta last month.

All the girls are Moroccan and were reportedly under the age of 14 when they were raped, with an emergency doctor verifying the cases and noting that many of these minors are sleeping on the street because of a shortage of places in shelters.

Susana Ascaso, an emergency-room doctor at Ceuta University Hospital, confirmed in an interview published by the Spanish outlet El pueblo de Ceuta that her service is dealing with cases of rape involving migrant girls.

She described the victims as 14-year-old minors who remain on the street because reception centers for minors have no available places.

“It’s not that we refuse to receive them, it’s that there is no room for them,” the doctor said.

In addition to the Moroccan girls, at least one boy was also reportedly raped, bringing the total number of underage victims to six. There may also be more cases that have not been reported yet, as there are more than ten cases involving sexual assault that have been handled by the hospital.

The Spanish National Police have opened an investigation into the alleged rape of a minor who entered Ceuta during the recent mass arrival of migrants. The child was taken to hospital, where injuries consistent with sexual assault were recorded. No arrests have been announced and the precise details of the case remain undisclosed as the investigation continues.

Judicial sources also added that several attempted sexual attacks were prevented by the intervention of local residents.

Ascaso described the entire situation as a “health disaster,” with her department receiving an average of “300 to 400 migrants a day” while operating with the same staff and resources that existed before the massive migrant crisis in July.

After being discharged from the hospital, most patients have nowhere to go. She also warned of the risk of epidemic diseases.

“We do not know if people arrive with tuberculosis, hepatitis or other types of diseases that, today, we will not be able to detect either,” she said.

Meanwhile, the people of Ceuta are also competing for medical care with the migrants.

Ascaso said the “population of Ceuta continues to get sick and go” to hospital as well, where medical authorities have established two different areas, one for migrants and another for Ceuta residents, who “also have the right to receive assistance,” according to the doctor.

Organizations such as Save the Children have highlighted the heightened risk of human trafficking and sexual exploitation facing migrant girls and adolescents in Ceuta, largely because of gaps in identification, accommodation, and support.

Jennifer Zuppiroli, a migration specialist with the organization, stressed that an adolescent girl left alone and outside the protection system can find herself in a situation of great vulnerability.

The National Police have given priority to girls and children under 13 in their identification operations. Meanwhile, the Minister of Youth and Children, Sira Rego, has acknowledged a change in the profile of minors arriving in the city, marked by an increased presence of girls and very young children.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/11/2026 - 02:00