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A travel influencer shares a fistful of California locales that are near-dupes of popular European destinations.

Some traders are reeling from heavy losses after a brutal correction in South Korea's stock market.

In a twist, the board's latest plan calls for additional wording: "Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.”

Putin's First Ever Visit To Japanese-Claimed Islands Provokes Outrage In Tokyo

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday made a provocative visit to the far-eastern Kuril islands for the first time ever. Japan immediately lodged a "strong" protest given it also has long claimed the territory, resulting in an avalanche of denunciatory headlines in Japanese press.

Putin held a meeting there "on ensuring the security of Russia's eastern borders," state RIA Novosti said. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi shot back: "The Northern Territories are an inherent part of Japan's territory both historically and under international law, and the government of Japan strongly protests this visit."

Kremlin Pool via AP

More importantly, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi blasted the trip by Putin as "absolutely unacceptable" and stated it "hurts the feelings of the Japanese people."

Japan deems the island chain its own Northern Territories since World War II, during which time they were seized by the Soviet Union, in 1945. Japan's claim on the territory ultimately stretches all the way back to the 17th century, the country's officials maintain.

Another provocation was that Putin oversaw Russian naval exercises while on the island of Sakhalin. He also visited a fish-processing plant in Iturup, the largest of the Kuril Islands, where he was given caviar, Kremlin-published videos showed. The Russian military has had a presence on the islands going all the way back to WW2.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvdev had actually been the first Russian leader to have stepped foot on the islands back in 2010.

Medvedev has chimed in aggressively, in response to the Japanese prime minister's statement. "Takaichi can prattle on all she likes about the Kuril Islands being ‘historically Japanese,’ but this chatter won’t change a thing. They were, are, and will remain Russian land," he said on X.

"Anyone who fails to understand this will face the monstrous consequences of their delusion," Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, added.

Meanwhile, the NY Times points out that this highly symbolic move by Putin is fundamentally in protest of Japan's stance on Ukraine, which has worsened relations between Tokyo and Moscow:

Mr. Putin used the visit to reassert Russia’s territorial claims and to protest Japan’s ongoing sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine. A day before the visit, he said that Russia’s claim to the islands was a "reality" that had been "enshrined in international documents."

"We are not threatening Japan. We have absolutely no claims against it," Mr. Putin said. "On the contrary, Japan has territorial claims against our country."

Während seines ersten Besuchs auf den Kurilen-Inseln probierte Wladimir Putin in einer Fischfabrik auf der Insel Iturup Kaviar aus der Region Sachalin.

Er hatte den Unternehmern aus dem Fernen Osten im Jahr 2024 einen Besuch der Kurilen-Inseln versprochen. https://t.co/0A9cLrl2xf pic.twitter.com/PLrWaNlbjA

— RUSSNiUS 🇷🇺 (@vladi2726) August 13, 2026

Just ahead of the visit, Putin had said: "Japan, our neighboring country, has used the events in Ukraine as a pretext, without examining the causes of the conflict, to pursue an unprovoked policy against Russia."

Takaichi for her part, has warned Russian leaders to stay away from the islands - but clearly to no avail. Instead, Putin kind of rubbed it in... "Look at this great weather, it’s like a resort!" Putin said said in video footage, to which a local woman responded that the climate is usually windy and foggy. "The weather is smiling on you," she said.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/13/2026 - 18:00

The celebrity blogger's sister exclusively spoke to Page Six in a new interview.

The celebrity blogger's sister exclusively spoke to Page Six in a new interview.

The regular season begins on Wednesday, September 9, when the Seahawks host the Patriots!

It’s the heavyweight bout we’ve been waiting for. 

There's something new on the menu for Big Apple eateries.

Aaron Donald may be moving closer to a return to the Los Angeles Rams, but if he comes back, it apparently will not be for anything short of an all-in role.

The reality star reportedly died suddenly Tuesday.

The reality star reportedly died suddenly Tuesday.

Just when we thought that year-round, roadway-hogging, vermin- and drug addict-welcoming outdoor dining sheds were toast, the City Council brought them back on Thursday.

Malik Nabers was so excited to have an increased workload Thursday that he inadvertently busted open his receiver coach’s lip.

Violent Crime Rate Drops In Major US Cities

Authored by Timothy Frudd via The Epoch Times,

A new report shows that violent crime dropped in many of the United States’ largest cities during the first half of 2026, and there was a more than 17 percent decline in the number of homicides.

A Major Cities Chiefs Association survey, which gathered data from 66 of the largest cities in the United States, was released on Aug. 5.

It showed that levels of multiple categories of violent crime decreased from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2026, compared with the same period in 2025.

The number of homicides dropped by 17.2 percent during the first half of 2026, and the number of robberies fell by 16.6 percent, according to the Aug. 5 report.

Additionally, the number of rapes decreased by 6.2 percent, and the number of aggravated assaults dropped by 5.7 percent.

The combined totals for the four categories in the cities included in the survey represented a decrease of about 8.3 percent, about 14,200 fewer violent crimes.

The data shared by the Major Cities Chiefs Association showed that homicides dropped by 43.9 percent in Washington; 43.7 percent in Memphis, Tennessee; 64.7 percent in Newark, New Jersey; 63.6 percent in Raleigh, North Carolina; 52.4 percent in Boston; and 60 percent in Arlington, Texas.

The number of homicides also decreased by 60 percent in Baltimore County, Maryland; 58.8 percent in Aurora, Colorado; 50 percent in Miami; and 58.8 percent in Suffolk County, New York.

Laura Cooper, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, told The Epoch Times that the think tank’s latest violent crime survey demonstrated an “encouraging trend.”

“The declines are significant, and I believe reflect the sustained efforts of MCCA member agencies and their partners to address violent crime through targeted enforcement, intelligence-led strategies, and community engagement,” she said.

The Major Cities Chiefs Association noted that the statistics included in the report were based on preliminary data, not on a final report from the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System.

The report came after President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard last year to multiple cities across the United States, including Washington, in an effort to reduce crime.

The White House credited the drop in violent crime to the Trump administration’s crackdown on crime.

“President Trump promised to make America safe again, and the data proves he has done just that,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told The Epoch Times on Aug. 11.

She said that Trump would “always stand with ... law enforcement officers and deliver safer American neighborhoods.”

A report released by the Council on Criminal Justice in July found that homicides were down 18 percent in 30 reporting cities during the first half of 2026 compared with the same period of 2025.

“Murder and other crime rates are falling across the map, in cities with different political leadership, housing and economic conditions, policing and prosecution strategies, violence reduction models, and levels of federal enforcement activity,” Council on Criminal Justice President Adam Gelb said.

“Local policies and programs surely matter, but the striking consistency of the decline suggests that macro-level forces are exerting enormous influence as well.”

The Council on Criminal Justice reported that homicides were down 31 percent in the first half of 2026 compared with the first half of 2019 after increasing to 39 percent higher in 2022.

The think tank reported that the numbers of aggravated assaults and assaults with firearms also dropped after increasing during the final year of Trump’s first administration and the early years of former President Joe Biden’s administration.

A previous council report indicated that the homicide rate was on pace to drop to four per 100,000 residents.

The think tank said that if the drop was confirmed by the FBI’s final statistics, it would be the largest single-year percentage drop for homicides and would be the lowest homicide rate in at least 126 years.

The White House attributed the drop in violent crime in many of the United States’ largest cities to the “Trump effect.”

“The results are especially striking in Democrat-run cities where the Trump administration has aggressively surged federal resources and National Guard support after years of soft-on-crime failure,” the White House said on Aug. 11.

The White House said federal support for policing and coordination with local agencies have increased and policies aimed at deterring crime have been advanced under Trump’s administration.

It stated that crime has also been reduced as a result of the administration’s border security policies.

However, some crime experts have pushed back on the White House’s comments, noting that the impact of the National Guard deployment to major cities in the United States, particularly Washington, was difficult to gauge.

“Crime statistics are not a good measure—they have been going down since well before the deployment, and there is nothing to indicate the Guard did anything during their presence that was directed toward crime,” Darrel Stephens, a policing expert with 50 years of experience, previously told The Epoch Times.

FactCheck.org also reported in June 2025 that FBI data and other crime statistics showed that crime began to spike in 2020 and then started to drop after 2022, before Trump was elected to his second term in 2024.

Last month, the Center for American Progress released an analysis of the impact that Trump’s National Guard deployments had on crime.

The analysis found that the deployment of guardsmen had “no measurable effect on violent crime trends.”

On Aug. 10, Chandler Hall, associate director for public safety at the Center for American Progress, reiterated the think tank’s analysis that violent crime was already decreasing in major cities before the National Guard deployments.

“Across multiple cities, multiple datasets, and multiple time windows, we find no effect that violent crime actually did change post the National Guard deployment in any of the cities,” he said.

In response to Hall’s comments, Trump said the think tank’s report was “just another Radical Left SCAM” and indicated that he was going to file a lawsuit against the organization.

“Crime is way down since I took Office, and they know it. Liars, at this level, must be held accountable!” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

Addressing the president’s lawsuit threat, Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, said on Aug. 11 that the think tank would “not be intimidated.”

“The Center for American Progress stands firmly behind its research and its staff,” Tanden said.

In August 2025, Trump deployed the National Guard to Washington. At the time, he said the nation’s capital was “under siege from violent crime” and that the local government had “lost control of public order and safety.”

Last month, War Secretary Pete Hegseth credited National Guard members serving as part of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force for helping reduce crime, which he said had “dropped in staggering amounts.”

The Pentagon confirmed last month that the mission for which National Guard troops were deployed in Washington would continue until Jan. 20, 2029, or until terminated by the president.

In addition to deploying the National Guard to Washington, Trump deployed the National Guard to Memphis, Los Angeles, and New Orleans in 2025 to address crime and illegal immigration.

Trump also attempted to deploy the National Guard to Chicago and Portland, Oregon, last fall before facing legal challenges.

A district judge blocked Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Portland in November 2025.

The Supreme Court later ruled in December 2025 that Trump could not deploy the National Guard to Chicago to protect federal immigration agents.

Following the rulings, Trump announced the withdrawal of National Guard troops from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland on Dec. 31, 2025.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/13/2026 - 17:40

The 64-page report, titled "Wolves in White Coats," documents what the agency calls irreparable "harm to America's youth."

Two months after NJ mom Brooke Hanlon was stabbed to death in her Chester home, her family is backing police as the homicide remains unsolved.

The Sultan of Brunei stripped his daughter-in-law, Pengiran Raabi'atul Adawiyyah, of all of her royal titles after she allegedly disrespected him with behavior "unbecoming" of the royal family.

"No Rock Left Unturned": Tether Completes Independent Audit Of Reserves With KPMG

Stablecoin giant Tether has announced that KPMG U.S. completed the first independent audit of its reserves after years of struggling to get a Big Four accounting firm to do so.

The San Salvador-based company, which issues the largest stablecoin in existence, USDT, said the audit was “the largest inaugural financial audit in history.”

Tether Completes the Largest Inaugural Financial Audit in History

Read more: https://t.co/vWG0fFSUxH

— Tether (@tether) August 13, 2026

As Bitcoin Magazine's Mathew DiSalvo reports, Tether for years was criticized for being coy about its reserves and not having an independent audit of what it holds behind its flagship token.

Tether said over the years that it was eager to work with a Big Four firm for an audit. 

“For years, some detractors said an audit of Tether could not be completed,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a statement. 

“They said the Company refused to subject itself to the most rigorous scrutiny. We have once again proven them wrong. Completing our financial statement audit sets a new standard for the industry and reflects the leadership we’ve brought to this market from the start.”

Tether did not mention its Bitcoin holdings in its statement, nor did it immediately respond to questions from Bitcoin Magazine. 

But it said that KPMG “physically counted and inspected every individual gold bar held by Tether, verifying the existence and identifying information of each bar rather than relying solely on reports from custodians or counterparties.”

Tether added that all assets and statements were subject to “independent substantive testing and verification.”

As Ardoino noted: 

"No rock was left unturned.

Tether has all the gold it says it has.

Now reviewed by KPMG.

How many financial institutions or governments can actually say that? "

The company has in recent years upped its gold buys, holds more U.S. treasuries than some countries and has nearly $60 billion in Bitcoin in its reserves, according to data from Arkham Intelligence. 

“Tether has evolved from a disruptive stablecoin issuer into one of the most financially significant and operationally sophisticated private companies in the world,” continued Ardoino.

“This audit demonstrates that our financial infrastructure and governance have evolved alongside that responsibility.”

Tether’s USDT product has a market cap of over $183 billion, making it the third biggest cryptocurrency in existence.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/13/2026 - 17:20

A new study reveals some juvenile great white sharks flee in fear when storms approach.