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Cuba Expands Market Reforms As Socialist Economy Buckles Under Trump Pressure

Granma, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba's Central Committee, reported Wednesday that Havana is easing restrictions on private businesses and self-employed workers as it attempts to stabilize an economy battered by decades of failed socialist policies and renewed pressure from the Trump administration.

"The updated regulations eliminate restrictions, broaden the scope of business activities for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and cooperatives, and incorporate new opportunities in commerce, transport, industry, and services," Granma wrote in the announcement.

Under Decree 160, the government removed 46 of 125 previously restricted activities and modified another 35, opening more of the manufacturing, energy, transportation, trade, health, and education sectors to non-state participation.

Cuba now has more than 15,600 private small and medium-sized businesses, a figure the government expects to top 16,000 by the end of August.

The reforms mark a slight pivot toward market-oriented activity, even as Cuban officials insist the opening does not represent privatization or a transition to capitalism.

"This opening does not imply a privatization process," Lázara Mercedes López Acea, president of the National Institute of Non-State Economic Actors, told the local outlet, "but rather the strengthening of the national business system, maintaining the socialist state enterprise as the main actor, while expanding the participation of other economic actors to contribute to the growth of the economy and a better supply of goods and services for the population."

López Acea said the new measures respond to "the tightening of the economic, commercial, financial, and energy blockade imposed by the United States government."

This development comes after Cuba passed its broadest economic overhaul since the revolution, seeking to loosen state control as U.S. sanctions compound fuel shortages, prolonged blackouts, and a deepening financial crisis. The economic collapse was already well underway before President Trump launched his maximum-pressure campaign.

Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson of former President Raúl Castro, recently said Cuba must diversify its economy, business practices and investment channels while pursuing a distinctly Cuban development model.

Rodríguez Castro told USA Today in a recent interview that he is willing to negotiate Cuba's future with President Trump.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 22:15

US & Global Reliance On Fossil Fuel Unchanged In 25 Years

Authored by Edward Ring via American Greatness,

So far this century, worldwide energy use is up nearly 60 percent, and, as anyone living in Western industrialized nations knows all too well, we have spent trillions of dollars to “decarbonize” our economy. And guess what? Our dependence on fossil fuels is unchanged.

To make this assertion, we may cite the world’s most authoritative source for comprehensive information on global fuel consumption, the Statistical Review of World Energy. For more than 75 years, an updated annual report has been released, and with the 2026 issue now available, we have the latest information on what forms of energy are most critical for maintaining human civilization. And in 2025, 86 percent of global energy came from fossil fuels: 33 percent from oil, 25 percent from natural gas, and 28 percent from coal. Nuclear power added 5 percent, hydroelectric power added 3 percent, and all renewables—biomass, biofuel, geothermal, wind, and solar combined—contributed 6 percent.

What’s most remarkable about these statistics is how little they have changed in 25 years. The Statistical Review reported that total fossil fuel consumption in 2000 represented, get ready, 87 percent of the total. Our global civilization’s reliance on fossil fuels has declined by 1 percent over the past 25 years. That’s not even a rounding error.

In the United States, the shift is greater, but not anywhere close to the trajectory demanded by the net-zero lobby. In 2000 we relied on fossil fuels for 89 percent of our total energy, and in 2025 that percentage was still 83 percent. More notable, perhaps, was that total energy consumption in the United States actually dropped slightly, from 95.8 exajoules in 2000 to 93.8 exajoules in 2025.

As the table shows, there are many additional, and very big, nuances to this story. Perhaps the biggest is the contrast between trends describing energy use in the United States compared to what happened in the world over the last quarter-century. To begin with, as noted, even though the U.S. population grew from 282 million to 343 million and U.S. GDP in inflation-adjusted dollars nearly doubled from $13.9 trillion to over $24.1 trillion, total energy consumption actually dropped.

Overall, total world GDP increased from an estimated $79 trillion in 2000 to roughly $180 trillion in 2025, more than doubling, while global population grew by 33 percent, from 6.2 billion to 8.2 billion. At the same time, global energy consumption is up 58 percent in the past 25 years, from 381 exajoules to just over 600 exajoules. But where is this energy coming from?

In the U.S., while total energy use declined slightly, the energy mix changed significantly. Consumption of oil stayed about the same, only dropping 3 percent from 37.6 to 36.4 exajoules. But use of natural gas jumped by 35 percent, while coal consumption dropped by a precipitous 63 percent. In 2000, coal and natural gas contributed almost equally to U.S. energy consumption, at 24.4 exajoules and 23.7 exajoules, respectively. By 2025, the contribution of natural gas to total U.S. energy jumped to 32.9 exajoules, while the use of coal plummeted to 8.7 exajoules. Also during the previous quarter century, nuclear energy in the U.S. actually grew a bit, from 7.5 to 9.0 exajoules, while hydroelectric power generation fell dramatically, from 2.6 exajoules in 2000 to only 0.9 in 2025. Hydroelectric power generation, however, is volatile because it depends on annual rainfall and snowpack.

Which brings us to renewables, which in the U.S. grew from virtually nothing in 2000 to supply 6 percent of the energy used in 2025.

For renewables to go from 0 to 6 percent is impressive, but the big story here is the persistence of fossil fuels. In the U.S., while we reduced our use of fossil fuels a bit, as noted, from 89 percent to 83 percent, for the most part we just flipped sources. We replaced coal with natural gas. But worldwide, the consumption of fossil fuels as a percentage of total energy didn’t change at all, barely dropping from 87 to 86 percent, while in absolute terms the use of fossil fuels exploded. And how the total world mix of fossil fuels changed tells a very different story from what happened in the U.S.

Worldwide consumption of oil dropped in percentage terms, from 39 to 33 percent, but the industry logged huge increases in actual production. In 2000, oil was the dominant source of energy in the world at 147.3 exajoules, and in 2025 it retained that distinction with ease, with consumption rising to 201 exajoules. In absolute terms, the use of gas and coal also grew sharply. Natural gas consumption jumped from 90.3 exajoules in 2000 to 150.7 in 2025, an increase of 67 percent. Coal experienced even greater growth, increasing 79 percent from 92.8 exajoules in 2000 to 166 in 2025.

These are a lot of numbers, but they tell an unequivocal story. If we regard the basic proportions that matter, fossil fuels power human civilization as much in 2025 as they did in 2000, despite trillions of dollars invested in renewables. Compared to fossil fuels, everything else combined is still relatively insignificant. Worldwide, as noted, nuclear power offers 5 percent of global energy; hydroelectricity offers 3 percent, and all renewables combined add another 6 percent.

It is pertinent to wonder how renewables, all of them, can possibly be poised to rapidly replace fossil fuels. Over the past 25 years, renewable sources of energy altogether went from zero to delivering to humanity 35.4 exajoules of energy. During that same 25 years, just the increase in fossil fuel consumption was 187 exajoules; that is, it went from delivering 331 exajoules in 2000 to delivering 518 exajoules. As human population moves toward its predicted peak of 10 billion people around 2050, we are going to need more energy to ensure a prosperous civilization, even if our capacity to efficiently convert energy into wealth improves even more than the U.S. was able to do over the past few decades.

These basic proportions are undeniable and lead to an inescapable conclusion. Fossil fuels are indispensable and are going to be with us for a very long time.

It’s important to recognize that the growth in renewable energy, particularly solar (photovoltaic) electricity, has been impressive. The gains have been exponential. Worldwide photovoltaic output—converting terawatt-hours to exajoules—increased from 1.76 exajoules in 2024 to 2.32 in 2025. Photovoltaic energy output is eleven times greater today than it was only ten years ago. But do we have the resources to accommodate another few decades of exponential growth?

Equally pertinent, total global battery storage capacity, despite 60 percent per year growth over the past ten years, is still, as of 2025, only equal to 1.2 terawatt-hours (ref. page 65 in the 2026 Statistical Review, “Grid-scale battery energy storage systems”). In the context of world energy, that’s nothing. It takes 278 terawatt-hours to equal one exajoule. It’s worth reflecting on this fact.

It means that even if we increased our photovoltaic output by another two orders of magnitude—roughly what would be required to even begin making a replacement-level contribution to global energy production—could we also increase our electricity storage capacity by four orders of magnitude from what it is today? Even multiplying today’s worldwide storage capacity by ten thousand would equal only 45 exajoules. Notice those battery farms going in all over? Imagine 10,000 of them where one of them now stands. That’s what it will take, at a minimum, if the world’s energy economy electrifies and does it while relying on intermittent energy sources. Does the earth have the resources to sustain such growth, and what would be the environmental impact?

These are questions everyone must ask who advocates for a net-zero future. There may be answers to these questions, but to date we don’t know what those answers are. Continuing to develop renewable energy has to take into account its own environmental impact. Biofuel cannot possibly grow much beyond current production unless we want to convert millions of square miles of farms and forests into monocultures of sugar cane and oil palm plantations. Wind energy as well is problematic; it’s a resource hog, a visual and auditory nuisance, and it wreaks havoc on the local environment. Hydroelectric power generation also has limited potential to add much more to our energy mix. Geothermal is a wild card. There are other paths, but they will take time—advanced nuclear fission, artificial photosynthesis, space-based power, fusion.

Meanwhile, policies designed to rapidly phase out fossil fuels are based on wishful thinking, and everyone familiar with basic energy statistics knows this. If proponents of net-zero cannot moderate their position against using fossil fuels, then we must justifiably question their motives.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 21:50

US Measles Cases In 2026 Highest In 35 Years

The number of measles cases this year has become the highest since 1991, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on July 24.

Forty-five states have confirmed 2,318 cases through July 23, the CDC said this week.

That’s up from 2,289 cases in 2025 and the highest since 1991, when 9,643 cases were recorded.

Outbreaks are ongoing in central Virginia and Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

As Zachary Stieber reports for The Epoch Times, some doctors said the jump in cases stems from lower numbers of people receiving vaccines against measles.

“High vaccination coverage has protected even the un- and undervaccinated because of herd protection, keeping measles at bay for the past few decades,” Dr. William Moss, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a statement. “But in communities with pockets of susceptible individuals across a broad age range, measles has been able to take hold, infecting those who are susceptible and spreading rapidly.”

“Measles vaccines are extremely safe and effective,” said Moss, whose center helps build “knowledge and support for the value of vaccines,” according to its website, and partners with vaccine manufacturers.

“Getting you or your child vaccinated is the best way to protect against disease.”

The measles vaccination rate among kindergartners in 2024 and 2025 was 92.5 percent, down from 95 percent in 2019 and 2020. Rates for some states that have seen outbreaks in 2026, such as South Carolina, are less than 90 percent.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said during a hearing this week that the high number of measles cases was “due to deliberate attempts to undermine faith in traditional public health measures by those who know nothing but push their ignorance as fact.”

Of the patients this year, 93 percent either were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status, according to the CDC. The agency has not responded to requests for separate percentages for the categories.

Another 3 percent had received one dose of a measles vaccine, and another 4 percent had received two doses.

About half of the cases occurred among people aged 5 to 19, and another 31 percent were in adults aged 20 and older.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the CDC’s parent agency, told The Epoch Times in an email that Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. “has been clear that vaccination remains the most effective way to prevent measles infection” and that the CDC continues to recommend two doses of a measles vaccine.

“Under the Secretary’s leadership, HHS has mounted an aggressive outbreak response, providing more than $8.5 million to states and local partners, expanding technical assistance, and surging CDC personnel and resources to support containment efforts where needed most,” the spokesperson said.

“Currently, U.S. measles incidence remains below that of several peer countries. As of July, Canada’s measles incidence was 3.9 times higher than the U.S., Mexico’s was 13.8 times higher, and the United Kingdom’s was 1.9 times higher,” the spokesperson said. “HHS focused its response where it can have the greatest impact: rapidly supporting affected communities, strengthening state and local response efforts, and communicating the ways in which measles transmission can be slowed, including through MMR vaccination, and ways that measles can be treated.”

Seven percent of the patients have been hospitalized. No deaths have been recorded.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 21:25

Russia Charges Telegram Founder Pavel Durov With Aiding Terrorism, Issues Arrest Warrant

Authored by Guy Birchall via The Epoch Times,

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on July 29 that it had charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activities and issued an international warrant for his arrest.

Pavel Durov in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Aug. 1, 2017. Tatan Syuflana/AP Photo

The FSB Public Relations Center said in a statement that "Telegram's head of administration, P. Durov, has been charged as part of an ongoing criminal investigation on suspicion of an offense under Part 1.1 of Article 205.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, concerning assistance in terrorist activities. He is being placed on an international wanted list."

The FSB added that the charges related to Telegram's failure "in violation of Russian law," to remove "numerous channels, chats, and bots of this messenger, which are actively used by Ukrainian special services, terrorist, and extremist organizations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass murder, and cyber-fraud in the Russian Federation, the consequences of which have resulted in numerous human casualties, including women and children, as well as material losses amounting to billions."

Specifically, the FSB said that it had "identified and documented numerous instances of Ukrainian intelligence agencies using the popular youth chatbot 'Dayvinchik/Leo - Dating, Chat, and New Friends' on the Telegram messenger to lure Russian citizens into sabotage and terrorist activities through deception and psychological manipulation."

The intelligence service said that as a result of joint operations with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative Committee of Russia, it had identified and detained "46 Russian citizens aged 12 to 22 years" who had been using the chatbot and, subsequently, "committed armed attacks on law enforcement officers, arson attacks on transportation, energy, communications, and credit and financial system facilities," on the orders of the Ukrainian special services.

The detainees had also "acted as couriers delivering funds from defrauded citizens to crypto exchange points for crediting to enemy-controlled accounts," the FSB added, saying Ukrainian intelligence officers used the Telegram "Dayvinchik" dating bot, posing as women, to contact young Russian men, persuading them to share geolocations of meeting places (often shopping centers or key facilities) and pay for tickets or gifts via phishing links.

Later, individuals posing as Russian law-enforcement or Rosfinmonitoring (Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service) officers contacted the victims through other apps, claiming the money had funded Ukrainian forces and the coordinates had been used for missile or drone strikes, according to the FSB, then used threats of prosecution and psychological pressure to coerce them into committing armed attacks or arson under the guise of anti-terrorism checks or fake operational tasks.

The Epoch Times contacted Durov and Telegram for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Telegram's official X account posted an image of Durov making an obscene gesture shortly after the arrest warrant was announced on July 29.

The move by the FSB comes after Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor began limiting voice and video calls for Telegram users in Russia in August 2025 and, in February, announced it "will continue to impose successive restrictions in order to ensure compliance with Russian legislation and ensure the protection of citizens," on Telegram and other messaging apps not observing Russian law.

At the time, Durov said his app remains committed to freedom of speech and user privacy "no matter the pressure."

Telegram, an encrypted messenger app, says it has more than 1 billion users, and is widely used on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war, including by the Kremlin.

Third-party compiled data estimates there are around 35 million Telegram users in Russia - one of the largest national user bases globally.

While trying to restrict Telegram's use in recent years, Russia has promoted its own state-backed MAX messenger service. Critics have said MAX is a surveillance tool, a claim Russian authorities deny. The app integrates various government services, and the Kremlin says it is designed to simplify and improve citizens' lives.

Critics have said MAX is a surveillance tool, a claim Russian authorities deny. The app integrates various government services, and the Kremlin says it is designed to simplify and improve citizens’ lives.

Durov, who was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, but now holds Emirati and French passports, founded Russia's Facebook equivalent, VKontakte, before selling his remaining stake in 2014 amid pressure from Russian authorities. He founded Telegram in 2013.

French authorities are also investigating Durov over allegations that Telegram failed to adequately prevent criminal activity on the platform and did not sufficiently cooperate with law enforcement requests. Durov denies any wrongdoing.

A general view of the headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's main security agency, in Moscow on March 23, 2021. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 21:00

Red Sea Redux: Saudis Call For 'Coalition Of The Willing' To Protect Shipping From Houthis

Here we go again... after months ago President Trump urgently pushed for an international naval alliance to 'open' the Strait of Hormuz amid the Iran war, which was met with at the time with a collective cold shoulder from European allies, the Saudis are newly pitching the same to open up the Bab al Mandab Strait.

"Saudi Arabia is seeking to build an international coalition to protect shipping in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks, say two people familiar with the deliberations," Reuters reports Wednesday.

March 2024: Maxar Technologies image shows the sinking Belize-flagged ship Rubymar in the Red Sea after being attacked by the Houthis.

"The composition of the coalition has yet to be finalized and remains under discussion with dozens of countries, the sources add," the report continues.

The conflict has just hit the first day of month six of a 'little excursion' what the White House all the way back in February and March insisted would be a swift, limited, and successful action.

Fast-forward and now a key American regional ally pleads for a new 'coalition of the willing' focused on safe Red Sea passage as the Houthis take shots at Saudi vessels.

But these calls are again likely to merely fall on deaf ears, given few countries will likely want to send their navies up against an entrenched Houthis movement in Yemen which hasn't yielded after well over a decade at war with the Saudis, Emirates, and Israelis.

Also, Washington's global allies have likely long ago lost confidence in American 'plans' for reopening Hormuz and bringing the Iran war to a close. They don't see an articulated exit strategy, but instead a continual escalation ladder broken up for brief pauses and talks which have obviously collapsed.

The fact that Riyadh is now scrambling to find safe passage through the Red Sea for its ships speaks to the widening scope of this war. We earlier featured analysis from former MI6 intelligence official Alastair Crooke, whose words are apt here:

By adopting such uncompromising Manichaean language, Trump effectively has severed himself from any prospective diplomatic solution. By widening the war (Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq) he has severely complicated any diplomatic track. All elements are interrelated, yet they also have separate agendas. Thus a solution involves a complex matrix of issues, rather than a binary dispute between the US and Iran alone. 

Likely Washington will jump on board these Saudi calls for international patrols in the Red Sea. But the US is unlikely to lead the way or even directly participate, given this was already tried before in the context of the Gaza war, when the Houthis previously imposed a naval blockade.

"Although the Iranian stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz is a key contributor to increasing prices, there is now a second pressure point – a new threat posed by Houthi rebels to shipping in the Red Sea." Read this excellent piece from Nathan L. Owen, Colonel, U.S. Air Force… pic.twitter.com/D93FIpB3S4

— VoteVets (@votevets) July 29, 2026

Despite many rounds of major US and Israeli bombing campaigns over Yemen, the Houthis maintained their ability to target ships in regional waters, and the most advanced militaries and navies in the world seem powerless.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 20:35

Secret Service Agent Arrested In Hazing Incident

Authored by Susan Crabtree via RealClearPolitics,

Secret Service agent Marquez Pinder was arrested and charged Sunday with five felony counts in a near-fatal fraternity hazing incident that occurred this spring, according to court documents.

RealClearPolitics first reported in June that the agent was put on administrative leave while local authorities in Miami investigated him in connection with an April hazing incident that caused severe damage to a fraternity pledge's kidneys. The victim is a law student at the University of Miami and was undergoing an initiation process to become a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, a prominent historically black fraternity.

Pinder, 29, who was booked in a Miami jail Sunday, faces felony charges of hazing, attempted manslaughter, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Part of the hazing included paddling, which was allegedly so severe that the pledge's kidneys and skin were harmed, and he was rushed to the hospital.

Pinder's arrest marks the fifth known time this year that a Secret Service agent or Uniformed Division officer has run afoul of law enforcement.

• Last week, RCP reported that senior Secret Service agent Kenneth Premo, 50, who currently serves as a polygrapher, was arrested on July 6 and charged with a driving while impaired, assault on a law enforcement officer, and sexual battery in Virginia.
• In May, Secret Service Uniformed Division officer John Spillman was arrested in Miami after police responded to a complaint and found him naked and masturbating in a hallway.
• In March, Secret Service Uniformed Division officer Tristan Hale was arrested and faced charges for sending sexually explicit messages, images, and videos to a Lancaster County girl. Pennsylvania State Police charged Hale, 28, of Virginia with possession of child sexual abuse material, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of a minor, and disseminating sexual materials to a minor.
• A Secret Service agent on the vice president's detail had his home raided by the FBI late last year in a wide-ranging tax fraud probe first reported by RCP.
• In addition, a Secret Service agent serving on Vice President JD Vance's detail is under internal investigation for either purchasing or trying to sell drugs to an undercover police officer, according to multiple sources.
• On New Year's Eve, a new Secret Service agent recruit shot and killed his 16-year-old half-brother and may have been responsible for another bullet grazing a woman's face on New Year's Eve. The suspect has claimed self-defense while Florida police continue to investigate.

Many current and retired agents have argued that the agency's ongoing DEI issues and lowering of hiring standards, as well as manpower shortages in recent years, have weakened the agency's ability to prevent or respond properly to multiple assassination attempts against Donald Trump, and provide security for the president's cabinet and dozens of other protectees.

Last week, the Secret Service placed an agent on administrative leave who was suspected of leaking complaints about manpower issues on Vice President JD Vance's detail.

Michael Townsend, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Miami Field Office, where Pinder is assigned, said the agency "takes seriously any criminal misconduct allegations involving one of our employees."

"We are fully cooperating with the investigation," Townsend said in a statement. "The Secret Service remains committed to accountability, professionalism, and integrity, and any misconduct will be addressed swiftly and appropriately upon completion of the investigative and judicial process," he added.

The Secret Service safely protected a heavily fortified rescheduled White House Correspondents' Association dinner on Friday. Agency leadership instituted several new security measures and checkpoints never before used for that particular event, along with a scaled-back guest list of 700 compared to the usual 3,000 attendees.

The dinner, which President Trump also attended, was rescheduled after the original event ended abruptly early in the evening when would-be assassin Cole Tomas Allen shot past a security checkpoint and a magnetometer that was being dismantled at the dinner. Besides Trump, guests at that dinner included several Cabinet members and dignitaries, including Erika Kirk, who fled the dinner in tears while other guests hid under tables and an elite group of trained Secret Service agents pointed guns at the ground, searching for any additional suspects.

Secret Service agent Victor Gonzales, who was honored at Friday's White House Correspondents' dinner, shot at Allen five times but missed. Allen tripped before he was apprehended by the Secret Service 45 yards from the stairs leading to the ballroom where the dinner was being held.

Gonzales was hit in his protective vest by buckshot from Allen's gun, according to the Secret Service. The White House Correspondents Association on Friday presented Gonzales an award for exceptional service to its members and guests.

Shortly after the original WHCA's jarring episode, Secret Service officers shot and hit a soldier visiting Washington D.C. with his family while agents were trying to stop another man firing at them outside a White House checkpoint.

Army Private Benjamin Del Real, 25, is on leave from the military and says he plans to sue the Secret Service. He was hit in the abdomen and critically wounded during the May incident. He's still recovering after two surgeries. The Secret Service has yet to publicly admit to shooting Del Real.

While he was recuperating at Walter Reed National Medical Center, Del Real told NBC News that a high-ranking Secret Service official visited him in the hospital to see how he was doing. Del Real's attorney, Joseph Murphy, said he has respect for the Secret Service. Yet, he said, the agency has "dropped the ball here over the last few years in terms of protecting many dignitaries, including the president at the correspondents' dinner."

"It seems to happen more frequently than it ever has in the past, and it's time to take a serious look at what's going on inside the Secret Service," Murphy added.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn sent Secret Service Director Sean Curran a letter demanding a full, immediate audit of the Secret Service following the string of embarrassing incidents, including the Allen incident at the White House Correspondents' dinner.

Citing RealClearPolitics' reporting, the Tennessee Republican demanded an immediate audit of every employee on the agency's payroll, demanding that the agency "root out the rot." In her letter to Curran, Sen. Blackburn said, "It is blatantly clear that the Secret Service needs to be cleaned up."

"Unless you root out the rot, our nation will suffer the consequences," Blackburn warned.

Law enforcement experts, including Fox News contributor Paul Mauro, who served 24 years with the New York City Police Department, have questioned why the Secret Service didn't provide more details sooner about the May exchange of fire near the National Mall and the suspect's injuries. Federal prosecutors charged 45-year-old Michael Marx of Midland, Texas, with assaulting federal officers with a dangerous weapon, among other crimes.

"A press conference over this recent mysterious shooting in D.C. wouldn't be a bad idea either," Mauro remarked in an X.com post. "USSS involved in more shooting incidents than NYPD these days. And that's ... new."

Former veteran Secret Service agent Rich Staropoli said the string of arrests for serious criminal charges shows that the agents "who are supposed to be elite investigators have shown an inability to police themselves - allowing things to fester until outside police or intel entities get involved and bring incidents into the public forum."

"The place needs a house-cleaning at all levels," he said. "This agency will do better with people who truly are worthy of trust and confidence even if it means dumping half the personnel."

Staropoli places a lot of the blame on previous Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden and was forced to resign after the Butler assassination attempt on Trump.

"[Cheatle] followed the same DEI policies that the Biden crime family pushed - she bought into it as much as she bought into her own ability to actually do the job," he said.

The alumni and other senior fraternity members performing the paddling in the Florida hazing incident allegedly involving Pinder are referred to as NUPEs, which stands for "Negro Under Pressure Excelling," an acronym that Kappa Alpha Psi, a prominent historically black fraternity, has popularized. According to sources familiar with the fraternity scene the term refers to how diamonds are formed under pressure. Kappa Alpha Psi has championed the acronym as praise for black scholars, artists, and leaders who have responded to highly pressurized or historically restrictive environments by achieving "excellence" or success in their various fields.

Kappa Alpha Psi officially prohibits all forms of hazing. Nonetheless, several chapters have faced disciplinary action and suspensions from universities nationwide following allegations of physical and psychological abuse over the last 30 years.

In 2001 a Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University band member was beaten so severely his kidneys shut down, resulting in a $1.8 million lawsuit. In 2013, a Stevenson University student who became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi at Coppin State University-Powell claimed he was caned, paddled, and beaten so badly he needed days of hospital care, filing a $4 million lawsuit. A University of Mississippi chapter was suspended through 2025 after a student alleged repeated hazing incidents from spring 2019 through spring 2020.

Neither the Secret Service nor Kappa Alpha Psi's national headquarters responded to a request for comment.

The hazing incident underscores the continuing problems of college hazing. Earlier this year, three fraternity members at Northern Arizona University were charged in connection with the death of an 18-year-old student during a rush event. This month, Ohio State University revoked a fraternity chapter's status when a student was hospitalized after a hazing incident.

In 2019 Florida State University student Andrew Coffey died during an episode of fraternity-related drinking. Pinder was charged under a Florida law passed after Coffey's death that makes hazing a felony if it results in serious injury or death.

"Among some, fraternity hazing might be seen as a tradition creating a sense of belonging and brotherhood, but since 2001, hazing in Florida has killed Chad Meredith, Robert Champion and Andrew Coffey while seriously injuring others," Fernandez Rundle said in a written statement. "This case, with the victims requiring hospitalization, provide[s] clear-cut examples of hazing's danger. In Florida, hazing is abuse, and it is a crime," she said. "Its victims too often lie in their graves and in hospital beds."

Pinder's attorney, Justin Beckham, told the New York Times that his client was "grossly overcharged."

Also facing charges in the Miami hazing case are two other men whom authorities allege helped carry out the beatings. They are identified as Jared Lamar James, 26, and Elijah Delano Dyous, 29.

This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.

Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics' national political correspondent.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 20:10

California Democrats Attempt To Sabotage Voter ID Initiative

In November, California voters will have the opportunity to vote on Proposition 39. The measure, officially the Voter Identification, Citizenship Verification, and Registered Voter List Administration Initiative, would require Californians to show identification when they vote and force state officials to clean up the voter rolls and verify that the people on them are eligible citizens.

All signs suggest it will pass. A poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found in May that 71% of Californians support requiring proof of citizenship for first-time voter registration, and 54% want it required before every election. However, Attorney General Rob Bonta is trying to make sure it doesn't pass.

His latest move came on July 21, just months before the November election, when Bonta rewrote the official ballot title for Prop 39, replacing the language he himself approved last year with a new title that proponents say is engineered to make voters reject it.

The original ballot title for the bill, approved by Bonta last year, read:

ESTABLISHES ADDITIONAL VOTER IDENTIFICATION AND CITIZENSHIP VERIFICATION REQUIREMENTS. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. This measure would amend the California Constitution to further require that voters present government-issued identification at the polls or the last four digits of a government-issued identification number when voting by mail; the State provide voter identification cards on request; and elections officials annually report percentage of each county's voters whose citizenship they have verified.

That language sat on every petition that more than 1.3 million voters signed over a year of circulation to qualify the measure for the ballot.

Bonta's revised version reads:

PROHIBITS CITIZENS FROM VOTING UNLESS THEY PRESENT GOVERNMENT-ISSUED IDENTIFICATION. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Invalidates mail ballots that do not have last four digits of designated government-issued identification number written on envelope. Prohibits in-person voting without presenting government-issued identification.

Carl DeMaio, the Republican state assemblyman who chairs Reform California and serves as one of Prop 39's official proponents, called the rewrite a "blatant attempt to rig the November election."

"California politicians know that a supermajority of California voters support Prop 39's bipartisan solution for Voter ID - so now they are corruptly trying to rig the election by putting a biased and dishonest title on this common-sense measure," DeMaio said.

He also pointed out what he called the tell in Bonta's timing. "When Rob Bonta didn't think we could get the signatures on Prop 39, he provided a relatively fair ballot title - but now that the citizens have forced Prop 39 on the ballot, he decides at the last minute to corruptly try to rig the election against Prop 39 by changing the ballot title to a biased and dishonest one," DeMaio said.

Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, speaks Monday, March 2, 2026, outside the Riverside County Registrar of Voters at a news conference by backers of a voter ID measure for the November 2026 ballot. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)

On Friday, DeMaio announced he is filing a lawsuit against Bonta "to force him to restore a FAIR ballot title to our Prop 39 Voter ID Initiative!" He concedes the effort is a long shot, since politician-appointed judges have blessed this sort of title manipulation for years.

Bonta's office rejects the accusation, calling the change routine and legally required. A spokesperson said the office is reviewing the lawsuit and takes seriously "our duty to prepare a title and summary and ballot label," adding, "we are confident the court will agree we have faithfully executed that duty here." The office notes that California elections code expressly allows a measure's ballot title to differ from its circulating title, and that this year all nine voter-proposed initiatives that qualified had their titles changed, not only Prop 39.

Word Games

In 2018, then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is now running for governor, rebranded Proposition 6, the Gas Tax Repeal Initiative, as "Eliminates Recently Enacted Road Repair and Transportation Funding." Support collapsed from 65% to 45%, the repeal failed, and Californians now pay the highest gas prices in the country. The lesson Sacramento learned from that episode, critics say, was that word games work, and there is no penalty for playing them.

DeMaio still expects Prop 39 to pass in November. "We expected corrupt politicians like Rob Bonta to try to deprive voters of a fair election on Prop 39 - but this biased and dishonest ballot title takes election rigging to a whole new level even for California," he said. "These corrupt politicians are showing every voter why we need to enact Prop 39 to implement a bipartisan solution to Voter ID."

Despite his confidence, the California Democrats have shown they are willing to ignore the will of the people. When California voters passed Proposition 36, a tough-on-crime measure, by an overwhelming margin in 2024, the Democrat-controlled legislature refused to fund it, effectively sidelining the will of the voters.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 19:45

Chinese University Accused Of Sending Students To Factory Jobs Under Mandatory Labor Program

Authored by Michael Zhuang via The Epoch Times,

A Chinese university has come under scrutiny after an alleged internal safety agreement surfaced online alongside claims from a self-identified graduate that students were required to work on farms and in food-processing factories as part of a mandatory academic program while being denied basic workplace protections.

A seeder working a cotton field in Tumushuke, Xinjiang region, China, in an aerial photo taken on March 24, 2021. STR/CNS/AFP via Getty Images

The controversy centers on Xinjiang Agricultural University, which allegedly has for years required students to participate in a "Rural Support Labor Practice Course."

According to the graduate, students were sent to farms, state-run agricultural settlements, and tomato-processing plants for weeks of manual labor as part of their coursework.

Documents circulated alongside the online allegations appear to show an agreement between workers and a tomato-processing company stating that workers must assume full responsibility for workplace accidents, waive the right to seek compensation from the company, and acknowledge that the employer has no obligation to provide social insurance.

Critics interviewed by The Epoch Times said the arrangement raises questions about whether educational programs are being used to supply businesses with low-cost seasonal labor while shielding employers from legal liability. They spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.

Safety Agreement Raises Labor Concerns

On July 25, someone claiming to be a graduate of Xinjiang Agricultural University posted on Zhihu, a Chinese question-and-answer platform, describing the university's long-running labor practice program.

According to the post, second-year students typically suspend regular classes for about 20 days at the beginning of the academic year before being transported by the university to farms, agricultural units operated by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which has been sanctioned by the United States since 2020 due to its human rights abuses.

The Epoch Times could not independently verify the online allegations or the authenticity of the leaked documents.

Students allegedly perform seasonal work including harvesting cotton, peppers, grapes, and tomatoes, as well as operating on production lines in tomato paste factories.

Among the materials shared online was what appeared to be a safety management agreement between workers and a tomato processing plant. The agreement lists an employment period from July 28 to Oct. 30, 2024, with positions including packaging, material handling, and boiler assistance.

Those jobs are part of the factory's production process and involve industrial equipment, heavy lifting, and high-temperature working conditions, rather than short-term educational observation or training activities.

According to the agreement, workers must disclose any health conditions before beginning work. If they conceal medical information, the company may terminate the agreement without compensation.

Another provision states that the relationship is a "temporary labor service relationship rather than an employment contract," adding that the company bears no obligation to provide any insurance coverage.

The agreement also states that if a workplace accident occurs during the employment period, the worker "shall bear full responsibility" and may not seek compensation from the company in any form.

It further provides that the company may terminate the agreement without compensation if the worker violates company rules, safety regulations, or management directives.

A sociologist from Xinjiang University told The Epoch Times that the agreement appears inconsistent with Chinese labor regulations and reflects an imbalance of power between universities, employers, and students.

"Universities control students' coursework, academic credits, disciplinary records, and graduation eligibility," the sociologist said. "When a university assigns students to these placements, they have little practical ability to refuse."

He said the agreement characterizes factory work as an educational practice while transferring workplace risks onto students.

"The company determines wages, while students are expected to bear responsibility for workplace injuries," the sociologist said. "Educational authority is effectively being used as a tool to supply businesses with inexpensive labor."

He added that although the agreement requires workers to follow company management and safety rules, it places responsibility for accidents, medical costs, and compensation entirely on the individual worker.

"The company controls job assignments and has the authority to terminate the agreement, while workers are effectively required to waive their right to seek compensation in advance," the sociologist said. "These standard contract terms clearly reflect unequal bargaining power."

Questions Over University's Labor Program

The agreement does not identify Xinjiang Agricultural University or specify the worker's identity. However, the company named in the document, the factory positions described, and the seasonal employment period correspond with the graduate's account of students being assigned to tomato-processing plants.

The materials have prompted questions about the safety arrangements, compensation, and relationship between the university and participating companies.

According to information published on Xinjiang Agricultural University's website, the school says it has organized more than 80,000 students and faculty members to participate in agricultural work-study programs over the past 25 years. The university says those programs have generated nearly 4 billion yuan ($591 million) in direct economic benefits.

The disclosure has renewed debate over the relationship between labor education and commercial interests.

In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has expanded labor education requirements in schools, promoting manual work as part of collective education, character building, and social practice.

A Xinjiang resident told The Epoch Times that he believes requiring students to perform production work through academic requirements resembles what he called a "Xinjiang education camp."

"In Xinjiang, schools, businesses, and local authorities all hold power over students," he said. "Schools place great emphasis on obedience. Students who repeatedly fail to comply with school requirements can face expulsion."

The resident alleged that many businesses seek partnerships with schools to gain access to low-cost labor.

"If you go online and expose unfair treatment in Xinjiang, it's not just a matter of having your account suspended," he said. "Police may summon you for questioning."

The allegations have drawn particular attention because they come from Xinjiang, where Beijing has faced years of international scrutiny over the use of coerced labor. Since 2017, the CCP has detained large numbers of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in what the CCP described as "vocational education and training centers."

As of publication time, Xinjiang Agricultural University had not publicly addressed whether it assigned students to work at the factory identified in the circulated agreement, whether financial arrangements existed between the university and the company, or how participating students were compensated for their labor.

The Epoch Times reached out to Xinjiang Agricultural University for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 19:20

Jack Reacher Star's Latest Movie Flops After Unhinged Anti-Trump Rant

The Jack Reacher series, launched in 2022, received widespread acclaim for avoiding most of the woke tropes slathered all over the majority of streaming series and movies at the time.  For those with short memories, in 2022, the idea of a project featuring a 6'3" 240 pound white guy as the main protagonist seemed impossible.  The series felt like a refreshing callback to the 1980s and the action/thriller apex era of Stallone and Schwarzenegger.

Solving big problems with unfiltered masculine violence is something audiences love, but Hollywood usually hates.  If the hero is not a 90 pound wheelchair-bound minority lesbian boss babe kicking patriarchal ass, Tinsel Town usually isn't interested.  It was a miracle that Reacher was greenlit.     

That said, just because an actor plays a cool character on screen does not mean they're also a cool person in real life.  

Enter Alan Ritchson, who smartly kept his mouth shut through most of the filming for Jack Reacher.  Unfortunately, Hollywood has a way of energizing people's worst impulses and a lot of actors feel compelled to loudly virtue signal in order to stay in the good graces of industry elites.  Ritchson has been increasingly unhinged in recent months and his latest rant went off the deep end into violent territory when it comes to Trump and conservatives.

Alan Ritchson has decided the best use of his time is to attack Trump, and to throw a few jabs in at Catholics for some reason😂

You’d think he’d be smart enough to keep his mouth shut because fans of Reacher happen to also be right-wing. But nope. pic.twitter.com/JNCwgRRziU

— Kevin Sorbo (@ksorbs) July 28, 2026

Ritchson now attacks Trump and MAGA voters regularly on issues ranging from immigration to the Epstein Files, and falsely accused Trump of assaulting a 13-year-old girl (an anonymous and baseless accusation that conveniently popped up in 2016 just as Trump was beginning his campaign for the presidency). 

But where was Ritchson's steroid fervor during the Biden years?  Where was the big, tough actor back then when it came to the trans grooming of children or Biden's bizarre hair sniffing habit?  It's fascinating that celebrities only seem to find the voice to speak up when Democrats are out of power. 

Ritchson was raised Catholic and voted Republican in his early years, until, he says, he had an "awakening" on the "black and white" nature of the church.  Catholicism as an institution has also been overrun with progressive ideology in recent decades (nearly 50% of Catholics vote Democrat, 60% support legalized abortion rights and 75% support "trans rights", for example). 

This would explain Ritchson's position that abortion is "spritiually wrong" but he still supports legalization.  It also explains his argument that Christians who oppose immigration are going against the Bible.  Being raised Catholic definitely doesn't ensure a conservative mindset. 

It is a common tactic of progressives within the church to assert that conservative policies are "anti-Christian"; as if open borders, transgender acceptance, pacifism and killing babies are Biblical requirements.  At bottom, the spread of these concepts would effectively mean the death of the Christian West, but hey, they're the good guys because they're "empathetic".  

Some critics argue that Ritchson's continued affiliations with Christianity are a ploy to keep his large conservative audience intact, but if that's the case, then he has failed miserably.  The actor has been on a tour of interviews to promote his latest movie "Motor City" and Reacher Season 4, but his comments have alienated a huge portion of his fans.  Motor City opened last week to resounding crickets. 

Although it was released in over 1600 theaters, Motor City grossed a dismal $1.6 million in its debut. Its per-screen average was a only $1,015, placing it 18th in the per-screen-average derby.  Motor City’s production budget alone was $30 million, there is no reported information on the marketing budget (likely around $10 million).  In any case, the film is a financial disaster.  

Get Woke, Go Broke prevails again.

As for Ritchson, the collapse of his latest film suggests a dwindling fan base for future projects.  When will Hollywood celebrities learn to shut up and keep their Reddit inspired political opinions to themselves?  Probably never, but at least it's easier than ever for movie goers to figure out who and what these people are before spending their hard earned cash.    

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 18:55

xAI Sues Minnesota Attorney General Over Anti-Deepfake Law

Authored by Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times,

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence platform is challenging a Minnesota law that says companies can be held liable if users "nudify" real people by altering an existing photograph or video.

The screen shows Grok app in this photo illustration. Oleksii Pydsosonnii/The Epoch Times

Musk's company xAI, maker of the popular Grok AI tool, is suing Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to block the law, which is set to kick in on Aug. 1. Violators can be fined up to $500,000 for each image.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, approximately 117 million people had used Grok as of March 1 this year. If 100 of those users violated Minnesota's law, it could cost the company $50 million in fines.

xAI said it would disable Grok's image-editing feature for Minnesotans. Ellison said he will "see X in court."

"There are plenty of worthy debates to have about AI. This is not one of them. AI nudification robs the target of their dignity and could cause them immense harm on many levels," Ellison responded to the lawsuit in a social media post on July 28.

Grok's terms of service already prohibit users from "nudifying real persons, or otherwise altering a real person's image or likeness to depict them in an intimate or sexual context."

But xAI's lawyers argue that the language of Minnesota's law is too vague, and companies may be on the hook for pictures that are harmless.

The complaint stated that the law "punishes AI platforms that allow users to alter images of real people to depict an 'intimate part.'" According to Minnesota law, that includes things such as the inner thigh, or part of a breast or buttock.

In its court filing, the company references a viral AI-generated photo posted by President Donald Trump to his Truth Social account on May 1. The photo depicts Trump, Marco Rubio and JD Vance, along with an unidentified woman, sitting in the Washington Memorial Reflecting Pool, which was undergoing renovation ordered by the president at the time. All are wearing bathing suits.

"People routinely wear shorts in public that expose some or all of their inner thighs; men may go shirtless in public, exposing their breasts; a woman's swimsuit may expose some or all of her inner thigh; men and women wear Speedos, bikinis, or other types of swimsuits or apparel that expose their breasts and buttocks, at least in part," the complaint said.

Aside from being overbroad, xAI argues, the law violates the company's First Amendment free speech rights, and those of its users. Other laws also make the new statute unnecessary.

"Minnesota law and the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act already prohibit and provide remedies for the knowing, nonconsensual dissemination of deepfakes" showing nudity, the complaint says.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 18:30

MSFT Spikes After Leaving CapEx Outlook Unchanged

Update (1800ET): As this evening's conference call went on, we finally got to the meat of the matter as Microsoft kept its CapEx forecast unchanged on Wednesday, ...becoming one of the first hyperscalers to hold the line on the market's insatiable AI spending spree.

Against expectations to spend $190 billion on capital expenditures this calendar year, Microsoft tonight maintained this spending outlook (due to an accounting change, this CapEx guidance is now $175 billion, but, in reality, Microsoft is keeping its AI capex plan the same for this year).

This is a major step for the AI trade. MSFT is up 8% on the comment...

Given the after hours spike, and if it continues, then other hyperscalers may be forced to hold/cut their CapEx as it is clear that investors are willing to give credit to that idea.

And with that the hyperbolic narratives underpinning the entire compute shortage edifice.

*  *  *

Microsoft walked into tonight's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report carrying the most bearish positioning it has seen in more than a decade, and it does so on an afternoon when the Fed - now run by a chairman who has made a point of telling markets nothing - triggered significant volatility in stocks and bonds.

The positioning data tells the story first. According to S3 Partners data reported by CNBC, roughly 92 million Microsoft shares are now sold short, or 1.27% of the public float - the highest short interest as a percentage of float since May 2015, and the largest short-interest build anywhere in the Magnificent Seven. More telling than the level is the behavior: S3 says there has been virtually no short covering into the print, which means the bears are not taking profits on a stock that is already down more than 18% year-to-date and, as GeekWire notes, sitting near a one-year low despite consistently beating estimates. They are holding, and they are holding into the report.

The reason is not mysterious to anyone who watched last week.

Alphabet delivered what would once have been a triumphant quarter - revenue up 24%, cloud up 82% - then raised its 2026 capex forecast by roughly $15 billion to as much as $205 billion, and for its trouble watched the stock fall 7% the next day and slip below its prior $4 trillion valuation.

Crucially, the lesson from GOOGL is that the market has stopped rewarding hyperscalers for spending money, which is inconvenient for companies whose entire strategic posture is spending money.

"Alphabet's capex boost increases the odds of similar behavior" from Microsoft and Amazon, Evercore ISI's Mark Mahaney wrote in a client note last week, which is precisely what the shorts are betting on.

And so, with all that in mind, what did MSFT report?

The headline is a strong top-line beat out of the gate:

• Microsoft Q4 Revenue was $90.01 billion, up 18%, and better than the consensus $87.7 billion.

• Q4 diluted earnings per share jumped 23% (on a non-GAAP basis) to $4.74 (but this is not entirely comparable to the $4.25 consensus thanks to $3.2billion gain from their investment in Anthropic and 7c/share loss from OpenAI's investment)

Under the hood, MSFT's cloud unit posted a larger-than-expected increase in sales, suggesting that the company’s computing infrastructure and artificial intelligence services continue to make inroads with businesses.

Azure cloud-computing revenue increased 43% during the fiscal fourth quarter, the company said Wednesday in a statement. That exceeded analysts’ average growth estimate of about 40%. 

Nadella highlighted progress on the “cost-to-outcome curve” and noted two major milestones

“We are advancing the frontier on the cost-to-outcome curve, ensuring every customer can turn tokens into business results," said Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft.

“This year, Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time, and Microsoft 365 Copilot reached over 30 million paid seats, reflecting the confidence customers are placing in us to power their AI transformation.”

All units beat on revenues:

• Microsoft Cloud Q4 revenue $59.3 billion, estimate $58.71 billion, up 27% YoY

• Intelligent Cloud revenue $39.31 billion, estimate $38.17 billion

• Productivity and Business Processes revenue $37.85 billion, estimate $37.27 billion

• More Personal Computing revenue $12.85 billion, estimate $12.17 billion

Net income was $35.8 billion and increased 31% on a GAAP basis, and was $35.3 billion and increased 22% on a non-GAAP basis

Finally, and perhaps most crucially, Capital expenditures (including assets acquired under finance leases) increased 70% to $41 billion in the quarter, which is notably less than the $42.5 billion expected, on track to meet their roughly $190 billion annual guidance, but Capital-spending details on the conference call are more important, given the metric exceeds 50% of calendar 2026 sales.

Following an afternoon of pain (thanks to Warsh), MSFT shares are bouncing modestly after hours - up around 3%...

Tonight closes the books on a fiscal year in which Microsoft guided capital expenditures and finance leases to roughly $190 billion - up 61% from the prior year - including, per CFO Amy Hood's April guidance, a $25 billion hit from higher component prices as the global memory crunch feeds straight into the cost of building AI infrastructure.

The forward-looking problem is worse: BNP Paribas analysts are already penciling in $262 billion of capex for fiscal 2027. Cloud gross margin, guided to roughly 64% for the quarter, has been grinding lower as data-center depreciation piles up, meaning the spending is now visibly eating into the earnings it was supposed to eventually justify.

Along those lines, Bloomberg's Brody Ford reports that Microsoft added more than $130 billion in new data center leases in the past quarter, signaling an accelerating pace of spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The company’s total commitments for leases that have not yet commenced were $329.1 billion as of the quarter ended June 30, Microsoft said Wednesday in a regulatory filing. That’s up from $196.6 billion in the prior period.

“That’s really a signal of the continued demand strength that we see,” Jonathan Neilson, Microsoft investor relations chief, said in an interview.

“These leases are going to be there to serve demand for many many years.”

The future costs, which come on top of active leases, won’t appear on Microsoft’s balance sheet until it begins making payments on them. The company said they are “primarily” for data centers and some are “subject to certain contractual conditions being met.”

This represents Microsoft’s largest quarterly jump in data center leasing by far.

The software giant continues to be held back by a lack of data center capacity after taking a pause on its leasing activity through much of 2025.

However, as we detailed earlier, simply put, until MSFT demonstrates some more tangible progress in AI (Copilot progress, proprietary LLM, proprietary chip, etc. as OpenAI potentially steals institutional share), it will likely remain on the battleground.

Microsoft will give its sales outlook for the current quarter, its fiscal Q1, as well as details on actual FY2026 CapEx on the conference call with analysts tonight.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 18:10

Guess Who's Funding Barricades And Porta-Potties At Madison's Marxist-Antifa Encampment

Far-left foot soldiers linked with Black Lives Matter and Antifa have established a two-block autonomous zone along Williamson Street in Madison, Wisconsin, following the death of 38-year-old Corey Durrell Ruiz.

Good morning from Madison, where an encampment at Willy and Baldwin Sts is in its 7th day. pic.twitter.com/iR4kVl1hCQ

— Laura Schulte (@SchulteLaura) July 29, 2026

Ruiz, who had reportedly been released from prison (read report) shortly before the incident, was approached by police while riding a bicycle after allegedly attempting to enter several vehicles. Far-left activists have since designated the occupied area the Corey Ruiz Autonomous Zone, or CRAZ.

The encampment appears designed to demonstrate control over public space while creating conditions in which any police intervention could be framed as state repression. However, reporting from local media and anti-communist commentator Karlyn Borysenko suggests the local government is accommodating, and potentially enabling, the occupation rather than moving to dismantle it.

"So who's funding the barricades and the porta-potties in the BLM/Antifa autonomous zone (the CRAZ) in Madison, Wisconsin? You're not going to believe the answer. And I provide the receipts to prove it," Borysenko wrote on X.

Borysenko pointed to reporting from local outlet WMTV 15 News that says the municipal government is funding part of the CRAZ.

So who’s funding the barricades and the porta-potties in the BLM/Antifa autonomous zone (the CRAZ) in Madison Wisconsin?

You’re not going to believe the answer.

And I provide the receipts to prove it. https://t.co/LkGZRaz91S pic.twitter.com/UMz5dGD1vm

— Karlyn Borysenko, anti-communist cult leader (@DrKarlynB) July 29, 2026

Here's more color :

District 6 Alder Davy Mayer said he has heard from more than 100 constituents in recent days. He said the city has been working on basic services, including a plan to use city salt trucks as street blockades in place of the seized trash cans. The city has also placed portable restrooms in the area.

Mayer said a homeless population has also moved into the zone, adding to disruptions.

"There certainly have been poor interactions like that," Mayer said. "There's also a large number of our homeless neighbors have come in and have been taking up living in this area too. That's something that causes disruption."

Mayer said the group has implemented some self-regulation, including a 10 p.m. curfew for children and overnight quiet hours. He said he could not offer a timeline for a resolution.

"I don't think the city wants to see a permanent takeover of this intersection," Mayer said. "But we also don't want to see a violent clearing of it either. So it's working with all these parties to find a resolution, which is difficult, which takes time."

Mayer said he hopes the city can begin pushing barricades back to reopen parts of the street, but said planning is being done hour by hour. He also said he went door to door to nearly all homes in the area on the first day of the closure and has posted updates to his blog. Some residents said they have not received communication.

New as of yesterday afternoon, the city has placed a few trucks to help shield the intersection. pic.twitter.com/VtYRgjhPKY

— Laura Schulte (@SchulteLaura) July 28, 2026

Borysenko: "So who is funding CRAZ and the leftist takeover of several city blocks? The city, the taxpayers..."

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 18:05

HHS Unveils Policy To End Funding For 'Dangerous Gain-Of-Function Research'

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on July 28 unveiled a new policy that would end federal support for "dangerous gain-of-function research," an experiment in which scientists genetically modify an organism to enhance its characteristics.

Workers next to a cage with mice inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on Feb. 23, 2017. Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

In a statement, HHS said the policy would prohibit federal funding for dangerous gain-of-function research conducted in the United States and abroad.

It would establish stricter oversight of certain life sciences research that the government deems could pose "significant risks" to public health, biosecurity, or national security. The policy would also restrict federal funding for research conducted in countries or institutions that lack sufficient biosafety and oversight standards, according to the department.

"The federal government has a duty to protect the American people - not fund research that could put them at risk," Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in the statement. "Today, we are ending federal support for dangerous gain-of-function research and replacing weak oversight with clear, enforceable safeguards."

The policy followed President Donald Trump's May 2025 executive order directing federal agencies to stop funding gain-of-function research in countries of concern, such as China and Iran, that lack research oversight.

According to a White House fact sheet, the order seeks to prevent federal funding from being used for foreign research that will likely cause another pandemic.

Trump's order will halt U.S. research involving infectious pathogens and toxins until a safer and more enforceable policy can be implemented, the White House stated.

"Dangerous gain-of-function research on biological agents and pathogens has the potential to significantly endanger the lives of American citizens," Trump said in his order. "If left unrestricted, its effects can include widespread mortality, an impaired public health system, disrupted American livelihoods, and diminished economic and national security."

In December 2024, the Republican-led House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released a 520-page report detailing findings from a two-year investigation indicating that the COVID-19 virus likely originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China.

The report found that the U.S. National Institutes of Health funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), and that EcoHealth Alliance Inc. used U.S. taxpayer dollars to facilitate this research at the lab.

The committee said COVID-19 possesses biological characteristics not found in nature and that data indicates that all COVID-19 cases stemmed from a single introduction into humans. This differs from previous pandemics, where there were more spillover events.

The report said that in January 2021, the U.S. State Department published an unclassified fact sheet that says: "The U.S. government has reason to believe that several researchers inside the WIV became sick in autumn 2019, before the first identified case of the outbreak, with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illness."

An aerial view shows the P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, on April 17, 2020. Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 17:45

China To Arm Iran With Hundreds Of MANPADS Despite Trump Warnings: Report

President Trump has repeatedly said that China's President Xi Jinping has directly assured him that Beijing will not supply Iran with weaponry or military support.

But this week these 'assurances' have been called into question by an Reuters investigation. "Iran is expected to receive within weeks a first shipment out of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defense missile launchers, three sources familiar with the deal told ​Reuters, as it rebuilds its defenses amid war with the United States," the fresh report says.

via Asia Times/X

"The purchase, valued at $60-70 million, is one of Tehran's largest-known efforts to strengthen its short-range air ‌defences since the outbreak of its war with the U.S. and Israel, which exposed gaps in Iran's ability to protect military sites and strategic infrastructure," it adds.

The fresh report cites three anonymous sources and did not receive comment from the Iranian side. Some of the assertions of the Reuters report are surprisingly specific, such as in the following:

The contract covers the purchase of between 300 and 400 man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), including Chinese-made QW-12 and FN-16 missiles, the sources said.

The deal was signed with Zhongqing Baoshang International Investment, a Hong Kong-based company that the sources said was acting as an intermediary between the Iranian ​side and the Chinese supplier.

The reporting even explores options being considered for delivery of the weapons, at a moment Iran is urgently seeking to replenish its air defense supplies after months of grinding tit-for-tat conflict with the US military.

"Two Western intelligence sources and an Iranian official said Tehran had also explored the use of overland routes to move Chinese military supplies and dual-use components ⁠more discreetly and ​reduce the risk of disruption," Reuters continues.

MANPADS could prove especially dangerous for US helicopters and other low flying aircraft, and for Iran can serve as layer of short-range protection.

The opening days of Operation Epic Fury saw much of Iran's anti-air units get taken out, especially across the Western part of the country, giving US-Israeli jets air superiority. However, at times the Iranians have claimed to shoot down some aircraft, and since then the US has seemed to operate from further afar.

Trump wrote on Truth Social just last week that "President Xi, at our recent meeting in Beijing, China, told me that he would not, under any circumstances, give or sell Weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran — And that statement included Chinese Companies."

"Considering our relationship, I take him at his word and, besides, l am doing him very big favors, also. Likewise, President Putin … told me that he would not sell Weapons to Iran," he stated. Trump continued, "Therefore, two major Countries that people speak of often in terms of Iran are, in my opinion, not participating. If they did, it would be very bad for them — Certainly not in their best interests."

As for Reuters' findings, Beijing as expected has blasted them as lies. China's Foreign Ministry said in response: "The relevant reports are completely groundless. China has consistently played a role ⁠in promoting peace and ending the conflict."

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 17:25

Anatomy Of The 'Islamophobic' Shooting That Wasn't

Authored by Andrew Bostom via RealClearInvestigations,

On Nov. 17, 2023, Mustafa Ramos, a Muslim man wearing a turban and a robe, was shot in the buttocks while selling Islamic paraphernalia adjacent to the Islamic Center of Rhode Island mosque in Providence.

The 52-year-old man was treated and released from the hospital in two hours. The incident, however, which happened just six weeks after Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attack targeting Israeli citizen non-combatants of all ages, quickly became national and international news as the latest example of an "Islamophobic hate crime."

Following the lead of the initial report in the Providence Journal - which described Ramos as "a big, jovial man with a giant smile" - the Boston Globe, CNN, the U.K. Guardian and U.K. Daily Mail, among others, reported that the shooting was a hate crime while quoting people connected to the Center who felt that they and the larger Muslim community were the real targets.

As the influential albeit Hamas-linked Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) urged the Providence police to investigate the shooting's potential "bias motive," the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and the Board of Rabbis of Rhode Island issued a joint statement on Nov. 20 denouncing "Islamophobia," while acknowledging that "a motive has not yet been made clear."

That uncertainty was reinforced on Nov. 27 when the Providence Journal reported that Maj. David Lapatin, commanding officer of the Providence Police Investigative Division, cautioned, "To say the mosque was targeted would be premature."

After that, coverage of the shooting all but ended - although the Rhode Island House featured the "Islamophobic shooting" in a resolution it passed in February 2024 condemning "Islamophobia." "It is believed," the resolution stated, "that Mr. Ramos was a target based solely on his faith."

Now, 32 months after the shooting, RealClearInvestigations can report exclusively that the Providence police have concluded that Ramos was not targeted because of his faith. In response to the latest set of queries posed to the police as part of RCI's 18-month-long review of the case, Maj. Lapatin stated in a July 20, 2026, text that while the criminal investigation of the shooting remains "open," and no arrests have been made, his department has determined that Ramos was not the victim of an "Islamophobic hate crime."

RCI's reporting also shows that even as the Islamic Center's "spiritual leader" in Providence, Imam Sackor, and the national organization CAIR, cast the incident as part of a growing trend of anti-Muslim bias both locally and nationally, sermons preached at the mosque repeatedly espoused hateful rhetoric that demeaned and even threatened non-Muslims.

The Shooting

The official Providence Police incident report on the shooting does not reveal how or when Dean Scott Ramos adopted the name Mustafa. It does report that the Maine resident made frequent trips to the Providence mosque where he would set up a table to sell Islamic merchandise. On Nov. 17, 2023, the mosque's surveillance video footage shows a masked man lurking nearby for about 20 minutes before firing four or five rounds at Ramos from a moving car that he was driving. One of the bullets struck Ramos in the buttocks.

Three days later, Ramos, who said he spent two hours in the hospital getting treated for superficial wounds, told a detective during a phone follow-up interview that "he was feeling better and confirmed that he had been shot one time." Ramos also insisted that "he still believed he was targeted due to his religion [Islam] and the [Muslim] clothing he was wearing."

Ramos amplified this claim in an appearance in a December 2023 appearance on the local Providence area "Club Ambition" podcast. Asked if the shooting was related to his faith, he responded, "Of course it is. You know, of course it is. I wouldn't think it would be anything else. … As a Muslim dressed as a Muslim looked like a Muslim. … In front of the masjid (mosque). You know, I mean what would make that, what would it make it different for me, than it would for anyone else? What would be that element?"

He also suggested a fact confirmed to RCI by the police that he was not cooperating fully with the official investigation. "I'll be honest with you," he told the podcast host, "I'm not really interested in their investigation. That's their job. I shouldn't have to tell them to do their job. That's what they get paid for."

Ramos did not tell the podcaster that he had a criminal record. Court records show that Dean Ramos served five years in prison in the early 2000s (commuted from a 20-year sentence) for illegal manufacture and distribution of schedule I/II controlled, potentially addictive substances (examples of schedule I include heroin and ecstasy; examples of schedule II include Fentanyl and OxyContin).

The Investigation

That record might be relevant as the police investigation has revealed that the lone suspect in the shooting has an extensive criminal record. Although no one has been charged in the case, that suspect appears to loom large in the police department's conclusion that Ramos' shooting was not a hate crime. Maj. Lapatin told RCI last week, "After extensive investigation, given the background and behaviors of the lone suspect, we made that logical determination."

According to the incident report, a search warrant was executed, and items "belonging to Nasir Dupont" were "photographed and seized." Although Dupont's religious affiliation is not known publicly, Nasir is a Muslim name derived from the Arabic word "nasir," which means "to help, to aid, to defend."

Public records do show that Dupont, who was born in 2003, is a recidivist criminal, with a history that includes illegal gun possession, robbery and drug-related crimes. He is currently in prison awaiting trial on drug and weapon charges.

The Providence police incident report and supplements indicate their investigation has been stalled by several limitations. These included the fact that the gunman was wearing a mask; their inability to find the getaway car; Dupont's apparent destruction of his text messages on his phone and phone archive; and Ramos's unwillingness to assist with the investigation.

Like Ramos, Dupont has not cooperated with the police investigation. Such lack of cooperation with law enforcement occurs frequently when there are crimes involving victims who have criminal records themselves. Accordingly, a mere 5-19% of non-fatal shootings in urban centers such as Chicago and Boston, for example, result in the perpetrators being arrested. Victim non-cooperation is common in those settings.

RCI's efforts to contact Dupont's family members to find out whether the two men had any previous connection were unsuccessful.

The Providence Police told RCI that it has not received any follow-up inquiries from the media outlets that initially reported the shooting since December 2023. RCI did not receive any responses to its requests for comment from local reporters who covered the incident.

Incendiary Rhetoric

Although news outlets repeated suggestions and claims from Ramos, the Islamic Center's leader Imam Sackor, and CAIR that the shooting was a hate crime directed at all Muslims, none reported on the incendiary rhetoric frequently preached at the mosque, including the weeks and months after the attack on Ramos.

While decrying legitimate hate crimes and acts of bias, experts who track such rhetoric argue that many Muslim leaders advance the idea that their community is under siege to divert attention from the inflammatory language, especially against Jews and Christians, espoused in mosques around the country. The goal, they said, is not just to protect their people but to cast scrutiny of their own words as "Islamophobia." Daniel Greenfield, an investigative journalist who has covered the phenomenon extensively, said the promotion of alleged "Islamophobic incidents" is "a diversion from genuine antisemitic Islamic religious incitement in U.S. mosques, and Muslim violence against American Jews."

The Providence mosque and CAIR did not respond to requests for comment.

RCI's analysis of sermons posted on Facebook that were delivered at the Providence mosque after the shooting attack preached jihadism and hatred toward non-Muslims, especially Jews, but also Christians. Examples include:

• On Dec. 22, 2023, three days before Christmas, it was preached that the Muslim Jesus ("Isa") will destroy Christianity, and in the same sermon, the imam invoked Qur'an (17:4-10 and 2:61/3:112) while accusing Jews of "genocide in Gaza," and reminding Muslims that Jews are "corrupters" to be "punished" and "prophet killers."
• On Jan. 12, 2024, the imam, noted Qur'an 1:7 (which pious Muslims repeat 17-times daily) means it is the Jews who have "incurred Allah's anger," and observed they are "cursed" (Qur'an 5:78), while again accusing "prophet killing" Jews - not the Israel Defense Forces, or Israel - of committing "genocide in Gaza," because of their inveterately evil Qur'anic nature.
• On Jan. 3, 2025, just two days after an armed Muslim man with an ISIS flag in his car killed 14 people and injured 57 others on Bourbon Street in New Orleans the mosque's Imam instructed his followers to treat non-Muslims harshly (citing Qur'an 48:29), and concluded with an Arabic supplication to "fight the disbelievers and polytheists," consistent with the jihad war proclamations of the 9th Quranic sura, or chapter (9:5, 9:29, 9:73, 9:111, etc.).
• On Friday, May 30, 2025, the Islamic Center's sermon, ostensibly about Islam's Hajj pilgrimage to Muslim-only Mecca, evolved into a celebration of jihad conquest, specifically, the "cleansing" of Mecca's pagans (in 630 C.E.), and not long afterward, the attack on Syria's and Iraq's Christians (634 C.E.), all given Islamic religious sanction from the Qur'an's 9th sura, a series of timeless war proclamations. Also in that triumphal vein, the mosque's imam quoted the Qur'an (verses 3:67 and 3:68) to teach that Judaism's patriarch was a Muslim:

"Ibrahim [Abraham] is not a Christian or a Jew. He is someone who worships only one God [Allah]. He is a Muslim." [Q 3:67]…And the people who have the greatest claim to Ibrahim are those who follow his and this Messenger [Muhammad], and those who believe [Muslims] and Allah is the protector of the believers" [Q 3:68]

The imam segued from that traditional Qur'anic supremacism into a derision of Christianity, and an ugly, contemporary blood libel against Jews, and Judaism:

"One group, the Christians, can't articulate what they really believe, what their tawhid (monotheism) means. And the other group (the Jews) has reduced their religion to an ethnic identity that they use to justify a slaughter of innocent people."

The Providence mosque's leaders did not respond to RCI's queries about whether these and other statements were hate speech. They have removed all the mosque's sermons since Oct. 7, 2023, from the center's Facebook page, and no longer live stream them on Facebook each Friday. Ibrahim Hooper, the National Communications Director for CAIR, which decried what it claimed was a surge of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hate after the October 7 attack, declined to comment on the specific examples of the mosque's sermons provided above.

Local politicians, the police, and Jewish and Christian religious leaders did not respond to similar queries.

Providence Mosque Not An Outlier

The failure to report on or respond to the inflammatory sermons is notable because the Rhode Island mosque is not an outlier.

A landmark study whose results were published in two academic journals in 2011, "Sharia and Violence in American Mosques," evaluated the associations between Sharia-adherence, the presence of violence-sanctioning materials at a mosque, and the advocacy of jihadism by the mosque's leadership, in a nationally representative, random statistical sample of 100 U.S. mosques. Eighty-one percent of these representative U.S. mosques were deemed as moderately (30%) to highly (51%) supportive of promulgating jihad violence to impose Sharia. Additionally, only 4.7% of Muslim worshippers attended mosques where jihadist materials were not provided because Sharia-compliant mosques promoting jihad were the most heavily attended.

More recently, a painstaking investigation by the scholar Mansour Al-Hadj of "hundreds of Friday mosque sermons" across the U.S. following Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, jihad carnage targeting Israeli non-combatants found a similar message as the bloodshed was cast as an act of faith:

"…almost all the sermons amplify(ied) a single narrative which justifies Hamas's attack as a legitimate act that is based on the command of Allah and the teachings of the prophet Muhammad. Therefore, they did not condemn or hold Hamas responsible for killing and abducting civilians, including children and the elderly, and sexually assaulting women…for starting a war…using the Gazans as human shields, or causing the death of thousands of Palestinians…Instead, their sermons, focused on highlighting the similarities between Hamas' attack and the wars fought by the prophet and his companions, demonizing Israel, narrating historical antisemitic stories attributed to the prophet Muhammad and citing verses from the Qur'an that characterized Jews as corrupt, treacherous, untrustworthy, and the killers of prophets."

Researchers at MEMRI TV, which monitors broadcasts from the Arab and Muslim world, report that anti-Christian rhetoric is common at U.S. mosques. The anti-Christian sentiments preached at the Islamic Center of Rhode Island echo hateful Islamic themes about Christians sermonized across the U.S. since Oct. 7, 2023, including:

• On Dec. 8, 2023, Imam Hanif Fouse of Philadelphia maintained Christians were complicit with, and supportive of the Jews, "with whom Allah is angry (Qur'an 1:7) because they killed the prophets (Qur'an 2:61, 3:112). The Christians insult Allah because they claim he has a son," he emphasized.
• Prayers to Allah "to annihilate" the Christians were recited at the Northwest Indiana Islamic Center on Dec. 8, 2023, and June 21, 2024, at the Islamic Center of Lafayette, Louisiana.
• In Fort Lauderdale, FL, on April 19, 2024, an Islamic scholar intoned that while "the Jews orchestrated everything against the Muslims" throughout history, it was the Christians "who executed" those schemes.
• California Pakistani Islamic scholar Qazi Fazlullah, in a video posted on YouTube on Oct. 25, 2024, invoked Quran 5:51, repeating, "Oh believers, do not take the Jews and Christians as allies." He added: "Make them not protectors, or friends, secret keepers, depending on them, or trusting them," because (citing Qur'an 5:51) "they are the allies of one another." Imam Fazlullah concluded that befriending them "goes against Islam and Muslims," and is "not allowed."

FBI statistics show that hate crimes are committed against members of many religious groups, but there is no evidence that the United States is suffering an epidemic of Islamophobia. For the period July 15, 2021 to July 15, 2026, for example, the bureau recorded roughly 60,000 bias-related incidents, of which 1,163 were classified as anti-Muslim.

The Rhode Island mosque incident suggests a concerted effort by some Islamic organizations to portray their community as under siege and that many media outlets actively reinforce this narrative, while ignoring the often hateful speech routinely uttered in mosques across the country.

"This seems to be yet another incident that was hyped by officials and the media as 'Islamophobic' but turned out to just be a criminal act," Greenfield said. "False allegations of Islamophobia are not only politically damaging; they endanger the public and destroy trust in police departments" and among members of the communities in which the charges are made.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 17:05

Energy Department Issues Emergency Order To Secure Power Grid In 17 US States

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued an order to tackle an energy emergency situation across 17 U.S. states triggered by hot weather conditions.

An aircraft takes off from Los Angeles International Airport behind electric power lines in El Segundo, Calif., on Aug. 31, 2022. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

The July 26 emergency order was issued by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright to Southwest Power Pool Inc. (SPP), the regional grid operator for the 17 states.

According to the order, SPP is expecting hot weather conditions through Aug. 3. The operator requested the department to allow specific power generation units to run beyond their operating limits in order to ensure grid reliability. It also sought authority to unlock and deploy backup generation resources at data centers and other industrial and commercial customer sites to counter any risk to the bulk power system.

Wright determined that statutory emergency situations exist in certain regions, serviced by the SPP, owing to sudden increases in demand, "a shortage of electric energy, a shortage of facilities for the generation and transmission of electric energy, and other causes," the order said. Homes and local businesses in the affected areas could lose power, presenting a risk to public safety and health.

The energy secretary allowed SPP to dispatch power-generating units "as needed to maintain reliability," according to the order. In addition, SPP is authorized to use backup resources to operate as a last resort before issuing an Energy Emergency Alert 3 - the highest level of energy emergency action.

The emergency order applies from July 26 to Aug. 3.

In a July 26 statement, DOE said the order would stabilize the power grid and mitigate blackout risks, highlighting that outages cost American people around $44 billion annually.

"The Trump Administration is tapping into an abundant supply of unused backup generation to maintain affordable, reliable, and secure power for hardworking American families and businesses," Wright said in the statement.

The department estimated the total nationwide unused power generation to be at over 35 gigawatts.

The emergency order comes as the National Weather Service (NWS) predicted in a July 28 post on X that "dangerous and extreme" heat would remain across portions of the central United States this week.

In a July 28 forecast, the Weather Prediction Center said the southern United States is expected to see above-normal temperatures for the next few days, with afternoon highs reaching upper 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

High heat combined with high humidity can result in widespread "Major to Extreme HeatRisk levels," with people lacking adequate cooling or hydration at risk of heat-related illnesses, according to the center. By the end of this week, the "dangerous heat" is forecast to expand into the Southwest and Intermountain West, the center said.

Strengthening Power Grid

Amid high heat conditions, other major power grid operators have also issued operational alerts.

On July 28, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which serves 15 states, released a hot weather alert update as temperatures in the region are expected to hit 103 degrees Fahrenheit. The alert is effective till the end of this month.

On July 15, PJM Interconnection, the nation's largest electric grid operator that serves 13 states, had declared a hot weather alert that remained in effect through July 17. Such an alert is issued to prepare power generation facilities and personnel to meet a jump in electricity demand.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, the DOE announced $1.9 billion in funding opportunities to strengthen the U.S. power grid, with the funds coming from a five-year grid resilience program.

The funding will prioritize projects that expand grid capacity, replace existing power lines with higher-capacity conductors, improve overall system security and reliability, and lower prices for consumers.

According to Katie Jereza, assistant secretary at the DOE's Office of Electricity, the funding will stabilize and optimize America's grid operations, strengthening it for rapid growth.

Wright said in the statement that for too long, "important grid modernization and energy addition efforts were not prioritized by past leaders."

"Thanks to President [Donald] Trump, we are doing the important work of modernizing our grid so electricity costs will be lowered for American families and businesses," Wright said.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 16:35

Lemonade Crashes As Customer Growth Miss Spooks Wall Street

Lemonade shares crashed early in the US cash session after the technology-focused insurer reported fewer second-quarter customers than Wall Street expected and announced a transition of its chief financial officer.

The company, which provides renters, homeowners, auto, pet and life insurance in the US and parts of Europe, plunged 18%, marking its steepest intraday decline since July 31, 2024.

The shares are down 30% this year, rapidly reversing a rally that catapulted the stock from about $20 in late 2024 to nearly triple digits. Lemonade peaked at around $96 earlier this year.

What traders focused on was that customers in the second quarter increased 23% to 3.31 million, short of the Bloomberg Consensus estimate of 3.33 million. Revenues in the quarter surged 79% to $294.4 million, beating expectations, while the adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed to $18.7 million from $40.9 million a year earlier. The gross loss ratio improved to 60%, better than the 64.8% estimate.

2Q Earnings Snapshot (courtesy of Bloomberg):

• Loss per share 56c vs. loss/shr 60c y/y, estimate loss/shr 56c
• Revenue $294.4 million, +79% y/y, estimate $290.9 million
• In force premium $1.43 billion, +32% y/y, estimate $1.43 billion
• Gross earned premium $332.4 million, +32% y/y, estimate $329.6 million
• Adjusted Ebitda loss $18.7 million vs. loss $40.9 million y/y, estimate loss $20.4 million
• Customers 3.31 million, +23% y/y, estimate 3.33 million
• Premium per customer $433, +7.7% y/y, estimate $428.39
• Gross Loss Ratio 60% vs. 67% y/y, estimate 64.8%

Lemonade raised its full-year revenue forecast to $1.21 billion to $1.22 billion but maintained an adjusted EBITDA loss outlook wider than consensus.

Nick Stead, currently senior vice president of finance, will succeed Tim Bixby as CFO on Jan. 1, with Bixby transitioning to the board. The company provided no color on the rationale behind the leadership change.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 15:45

US State Department Issues Travel Advisory For Caribbean Tourist Destination

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

The State Department updated its travel advisory for the Bahamas, highlighting the risk of crime, including sexual assaults, in the Caribbean nation.

Violent crimes, such as sexual assaults, armed robberies, and burglaries, can occur anywhere in the country, the department said in a July 28 update.

“Most crime occurs in Nassau and Freeport on New Providence and Grand Bahama islands. Stay alert in the ‘Over the Hill’ area in Nassau, south of Shirley Street, where gangs have killed residents. Stay alert in vacation rental properties, especially where private security is not present,” the department said.

Located on New Providence Island, Nassau is the capital of the Bahamas.

The Bahamas has been designated as a “Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution” classification.

The advisory specifically warned about jet skiing and boating activities in the Bahamas, highlighting that these are not well regulated in the country. Deaths and injuries involving such activities have been reported. In some instances, jet ski operators have allegedly committed sexual assaults.

The U.S. government has banned its employees from using or renting jet skis and personal watercraft from independent operators on Paradise Islands and New Providence due to safety risks. Some watercraft operators may not be licensed or insured, and may ignore weather forecasts, according to the advisory.

In a June 15 alert, the U.S. Embassy in Nassau had warned Americans about jet ski risks in the Bahamas.

According to the embassy, at least two Americans have reported being sexually assaulted in the Bahamas this year by jet ski operators. Two such reports were registered in 2025, while three were reported in 2024.

Some of the victims alleged that operators had solicited them for rides from the small islands east of Paradise Island, downtown Nassau, and Paradise Island beaches, including areas stretching from Junkanoo Beach to Saunders Beach and Cabbage Beach.

The victims said they were assaulted on isolated islands near Nassau, according to the embassy.

In its latest advisory, the State Department warned travelers to the Bahamas to be aware of their surroundings and stay alert in public restrooms. Sexual assaults have occurred on or near beaches in downtown Nassau.

The department advised people never to swim alone and to be aware of watercraft or jet skis operating close to the shore.

In 2024, roughly 85 percent of the around 11.2 million visitors to the Bahamas were from the United States, according to data from the International Trade Administration.

In addition to the Bahamas, the State Department has issued travel advisories for other nations in the Caribbean.

A July 10 travel advisory updated the alert level for Saint Lucia to Level 2, warning about the risk of crime in the country.

American citizens and other foreigners in Saint Lucia have reported being victims of assault, armed robbery, rape, and burglary. In some instances, U.S. citizens have been killed, the advisory said.

Tourist resorts have been targets of violent crimes. Moreover, response times of local police are not as fast as in the United States.

In April, a State Department advisory warned of crime and terrorism risks in Trinidad and Tobago, designating the country with a “Level 3: Reconsider Travel” classification, the second-most severe travel advisory.

The department advised avoiding beaches, downtown Port of Spain, Fort George, and Queen’s Park Savannah after dark, warning that tourists are vulnerable to armed assault at these sites.

Meanwhile, a “Worldwide Caution” security alert was issued on July 22 by the State Department for Americans due to the heightened tensions in the Middle East.

U.S. diplomatic facilities, within and outside of the Middle East, have been targeted by rivals, with the Iranian regime and its supporting groups likely to target other American interests overseas. Targets may include locations linked to the United States and U.S. citizens anywhere in the world, such as businesses and institutions, according to the department.

“Americans currently in the Middle East should exercise caution and heightened vigilance and should be prepared for flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures, and potential travel disruptions,” the alert said.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 15:30

Houthis Signal Red Sea Shipping Tolls In Mirror Image Of Iran's Hormuz Plan

Houthis have entered the chat...

Already multiple Saudi vessels have been targeted in the Red Sea region, forcing a number of tankers to U-turn, and now Yemen's Houthis are seeking to introduce their own 'toll system' for the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

"Yemen's information minister said intelligence confirmed IRGC advisers were directly involved in designing a Houthi-enforced toll system for the Bab el-Mandeb, mirroring Iran's contested claim to charge fees in the Strait of Hormuz," European media reports Wednesday.

Source: Winward

"The Houthi armed group is working with Iran to charge ships to transit the Bab el-Mandeb in the Red Sea, threatening another waterway after Tehran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a minister in Yemen's internationally recognised government said on Wednesday." 

The scheme is to be a mirror image of that Tehran is seeking to enforce in the Strait of Hormuz, where it continues to insist that it will settle for nothing less than its own vision of management, including fee collection for "navigation" "environmental" and safety assurance. According to more via Reuters:

Yemen's Houthi group is considering imposing fees on commercial ships sailing through the southern Red Sea, a week after declaring a naval blockade ​on Saudi Arabia, regional sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The Iran-aligned Houthis on July 20 declared a maritime embargo against Saudi ‌Arabia, opening a new front against the U.S. and its allies in the Iran war and expanding attacks on tankers carrying global energy and other supplies to waters beyond the Gulf.

The US and Saudi backed government in Yemen, which has for over a decade been at civil war with the Houthi rebels, has described the move as "a dangerous escalation aimed at transforming one of the world's most strategic maritime corridors into a permanent source of funding for the militia's military and terrorist activities," according to Yemen's Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani.

The pro-Saudi axis has said it recently obtained "confirmed intelligence" indicating that Iran's IRGC were helping to manage the toll initiative.

"The intelligence indicates that IRGC experts and advisers are directly involved in designing the technical and administrative framework of the project," Eryani added.

Eryani stated this would include "the establishment of a dedicated entity responsible for collecting payments from shipping companies and commercial vessels".

Iran has been pledging to support its ground proxies in Iraq and Yemen, as both since last weekend appeared to begin launching attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities.

Overnight saw a rare joint US-Saudi response with attacks on Iraqi militias. In the case of Yemen, there's not much the coalition can do given the Houthis have remained entrenched even after years of massive bombing campaigns, including strikes conducted solely by the Israeli Air Force at times.

China is said to be in direct talks with the Houthis to allow for passage of Chinese vessels, also based on prior precedent wherein the Houthis allowed Russian and Chinese ships to pass without incident, connected to the prior Gaza war.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 15:15

Garmin Boosts Full-Year Forecast As Wearables Earnings Jump

Garmin shares jumped as much as 9.6% in premarket trading after the GPS-device maker delivered a broad beat on second-quarter earnings and raised its full-year outlook.

Garmin produces GPS-enabled electronics and wearable technology across five main markets:

• Fitness: smartwatches, running watches, cycling computers and activity trackers
• Outdoor: hiking watches, handheld GPS devices, satellite communicators and dog-tracking systems
• Aviation: cockpit displays, navigation systems, avionics and flight instruments
• Marine: chartplotters, sonar, radar, autopilots and fish finders
• Automotive: vehicle navigation systems, cameras and technology supplied to automakers

The company attributed the outperformance to "strong demand for advanced wearables," particularly within its fitness segment:

Revenue from the fitness segment increased 25% in the second quarter with growth across all product categories, led by strong demand for advanced wearables. Gross and operating margins were 64% and 37%, respectively, resulting in $277 million of operating income.

During the quarter, we launched the Forerunner 70 and Forerunner 170, easy-to-use GPS running smartwatches designed to help runners of all levels reach their goals. In addition, we celebrated Global Running Day and Global Cycling Day with the release of our running and cycling data reports, highlighting how athletes around the world are recording runs and rides. More recently, we announced the CIRQA Smart Band, a screenless wearable that offers rich wellness and fitness insights without requiring a subscription and further expands our addressable market for wellness devices.

Hottest watch on the golf course is the Garmin Approach S70 Golf GPS Watch: 

Here's a snapshot of second quarter results:

Pro forma EPS $2.81 vs. $2.17 y/y, estimate $2.28

Revenue $2.02 billion, +11% y/y, estimate $1.92 billion

• Aviation net sales $268.7 million, +7.8% y/y, estimate $265.4 million
• Fitness net sales $756.8 million, +25% y/y, estimate $670.5 million
• Outdoor net sales $482.7 million, -1.6% y/y, estimate $477.6 million
• Marine net sales $341.4 million, +14% y/y, estimate $322.4 million

Operating income $615.5 million, +30% y/y, estimate $486 million

• Fitness operating income $277 million, +40% y/y, estimate $196.8 million
• Outdoor operating income $163.6 million, +3.5% y/y, estimate $142.3 million
• Aviation operating profit $72 million, +14% y/y, estimate $66.7 million
• Marine operating income $100 million, +59% y/y, estimate $66.6 million

Gross margin 62.4% vs. 58.8% y/y, estimate 58.8%

Here's a snapshot of the full-year forecast:

Sees pro forma EPS $10.00, saw $9.35, estimate $9.62 (Bloomberg Consensus)

Sees revenue about $8.05 billion, saw about $7.9 billion, estimate $7.99 billion 

Sees gross margin 59.7%, saw 58.5%, estimate 58.8%

The report offers a positive outlook on consumer hardware demand, with folks increasingly gravitating toward wearables. It also highlights a growing divergence within the technology sector: while the AI selloff pressures memory-chip producers and hyperscalers, consumer-device companies with strong demand and earnings momentum continue to outperform.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/29/2026 - 15:00