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Insiders claim judges bypass strict rules by declaring candidacy yearly, allowing them to donate perpetually to party events.

Is your racing heart a sign of panic — or something more serious? Wellness Editor Carly Stern sits down with NYU Langone Health cardiologist Dr. Sunil Rao to break down what can cause your heart rate to spike, and when it may be time to seek medical attention. Plus, Dr. Rao explains why it can...

A Florida couple were hit by lightning while walking hand in hand – and they hailed a quick-thinking group of Good Samaritan hikers who helped save their lives.

Venezuela's Oil Revival Faces "Decade Or Two" Climb Back To Record Output, Piper Sandler Warns

President Trump's "Donroe Doctrine" positions energy security in the West as a key pillar of US national security. 

The removal of socialist Nicolás Maduro and the subsequent massive Venezuelan oil deal represent the opening act in a longer-term effort to rebuild production and secure supplies closer to the Gulf of America. 

Piper Sandler global energy strategist Jan Stuart's view, however, highlights the time required for these new Venezuelan supplies to ramp up: any meaningful recovery in Venezuelan output could take years, with a return to historic production highs potentially requiring a decade or two. That timeline clashes with the view that additional Venezuelan barrels could provide near-term relief to US refiners amid the global diesel crisis.

"We'll stay tuned but suspect that reaching the old record highs will take a decade or 2 and oodles of good fortune," Stuart wrote in a note. 

Trump described the US-Venezuela deal as the "biggest oil deal in history" and said it would amount to control of 65 billion barrels of oil reserves.

North American Blue Energy Partners is set to develop the oil fields, with the Department of War holding a 35% stake in the venture and rights to a portion of its production. Venezuelan royalties and taxes could total roughly $200 billion over 25 years.

A Reuters report last week said ExxonMobil was negotiating a return to Venezuela's Orinoco Belt for the first time in nearly two decades.

Venezuelan bonds have rallied around these developments but the risk to investors is for a prompt revival. 

Beyond energy supplies, Venezuela reportedly prepared its first aluminum shipment to the US in years last week: 15,000 metric tons from state-owned Venalum, facilitated by Mercuria Energy Group and Heeney.

The cloud hanging over Venezuela's resources revival is the outcome of the US midterms. Stuart questioned whether US military backing for the oil deal would survive the next US election. Rebuilding production could take a decade or two. Investors now have to ask whether Trump's commitment can last that long.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/21/2026 - 05:45

Jack Osbourne and wife Aree are raising five kids with no nanny, finding a rhythm while the family navigates grief after Ozzy Osbourne's death.

Jack Osbourne and wife Aree are raising five kids with no nanny, finding a rhythm while the family navigates grief after Ozzy Osbourne's death.

Utah Valley University Faculty's Sickening Post-Assassination Emails About Charlie Kirk Exposed

New public records indicate that faculty members at Utah Valley University sent hostile messages regarding Charlie Kirk to the university's administrators in the weeks following his assassination on the UVU campus, even though the university had previously issued public statements advocating civility and free expression.

Utah Valley University campus

Judicial Watch obtained the 133 pages of emails and text messages through a Utah Government Records Access and Management Act request. The records went to then-UVU President Astrid S. Tuminez and other administrators.

Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated on the UVU campus while launching a nationwide campus speaking tour. University administrators spent the following months talking about healing and dialogue. Some of the correspondence flowing into the university president's inbox tells a different story.

On September 22, 2025, a UVU instructor wrote to Tuminez, framing Kirk as a threat to "students we are trying to educate." Kirk "appealed to the worst of us," the instructor wrote, adding that he "spoke his prejudices openly, not to test free speech, but to shape minds," and that he "targeted impressionable youth, feeding on their fears and anxieties."

The email continued:

The hidden message in his rants was clear: hate is natural, and to resist it is to deny who you are. Hate masquerading as justice is nothing of the sort. True justice seeks fairness, accountability, and protection for all, while hate targets, divides, and destroys....

That is why we must resist any effort to memorialize him or turn him into an icon.... Charlie Kirk did not stand for civility, compassion, or truth. There was nothing civil about him.

The instructor closed by warning that "to memorialize him would be a grave mistake."

A second email, dated November 4, 2025 and signed as a "faculty member," escalated the anti-Kirk venom.

I've had a hard time dealing with the aftermath of the shooting on our campus, and in particular, I cannot understand how people could support or mourn someone who was so divisive and spewed such vituperation in his "debates." I regret that he was invited to UVU at all, and wish you had rethought the decision to allow him a forum on our campus.

That faculty member then turned to the proposed campus memorial, warning administrators that the Utah legislature holds "enormous power" and predicting a mass faculty exodus if UVU honored Kirk.

"Should a memorial to him be erected on our campus, I fear you will lose many faculty members, including myself," the email said. The same faculty member closed with a threat dressed as principle, writing, "I would not work at a university that supports Charlie Kirk's ideals in any way."

Nine days after the assassination, someone whose name Judicial Watch redacted from the release pitched the university on a different project. The pitch called for a $1 million fundraising drive named "Our Better Selves for a Better America."

"I would like to raise $1 million for this proposal," it read. "I have one pledge for $100k. I would like to raise the other $900k quickly."

UVU ran with it. The university launched Our Better Selves for a Better America as an official presidential initiative built around civil dialogue, conflict navigation, and peacemaking.

"The killing of Charlie Kirk on September 10, 2025, was a grievous tragedy that reverberated through the Utah Valley University (UVU) community and nation. It challenged civility, respectful disagreement, and freedom of speech - core freedoms written in the United States Constitution," the university's webpage about the initiative reads. "In the wake of this tragedy, UVU President Astrid S. Tuminez, Ph.D., asked, 'What is this moment asking of us? Of UVU? Of the nation?'"

While the university publicly promoted civility and open discourse, the correspondence landing in its president's inbox ran the other way.

"Charlie Kirk was assassinated while exercising his right to speak on a college campus," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. "These records reveal that, even as Utah Valley University publicly called for free expression and civil discourse, some faculty members were making hateful and vicious comments about him, objecting to his invitation to campus, and threatening to leave if his memory were honored."

Charlie Kirk's family moved this month to put Utah Valley University and state officials on notice that it intends to sue, accusing the school of security failures that let his assassination happen.

"Placing a politically controversial figure like Charlie Kirk in an outdoor event in the quad surrounded by tall buildings and other elevated observation platforms is accurately described as walking him into a fishbowl," the notice of claim read.

🚨🚨🚨NEW this morning: Charlie Kirk’s family has filed a notice of claim against UVU, the state of Utah and some current and former university leaders over security failures that they allege allowed Charlie’s murder to happen.

Among the allegations is that campus TPUSA… pic.twitter.com/jj9k77yLqi

— Michael Ruiz (@mikerreports) September 16, 2026

"Through a series of stunning failures and reckless decisions, the UVU Parties created a foreseeable danger to Charlie," the document continued. "Those decisions ultimately rendered Mr. Kirk helpless to the rooftop shooter in an assassination that could have been avoided had the UVU Parties only taken reasonable steps to plan and oversee a safe event, steps outlined below that have been standard practice for other universities hosting controversial speakers."

* * *

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/21/2026 - 05:15

College Walk — the stretch of 116th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue — has been open to pedestrians since at least 1953, when the city sold it to Columbia with an easement guaranteeing public access.

European Central Bank President Blocked Binance's EU Entry: Report

Authored by Mathew Di Salvo via Bitcoin Magazine,

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde stopped Binance from operating in the European Union, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The newspaper on Thursday reported that the top crypto exchange was on the cusp of operating in the trading bloc but then was told it couldn't after the central bank chief waded in.

EU law requires that local Crypto-Asset Service Providers (CASP) have a MiCA license.

Binance does not.

Binance in June withdrew its MiCA application in Greece.

"Lagarde wanted to keep the controversial crypto exchange, which pleaded guilty to financial-crime violations in the U.S., out of the European Union," the newspaper report said, citing interviews with officials.

Lagarde has long been anti-Bitcoin and pro-central bank digital currencies. Back in 2021, Lagarde said that the leading cryptocurrency was "a highly speculative asset" used for money laundering. She also criticized cryptocurrencies as a whole and said central banks would never hold bitcoin.

On CBDCs, though, Lagarde takes a different approach.

A CBDC is a digital form of fiat money, like the US dollar or euro; nations around the world are in different stages of researching and releasing them.

The EU under Lagarde is fast moving forward with a digital euro. Lagarde has described the digital euro as key to Europe's financial autonomy while taking aim at privately issued stablecoins.

CBDCs have been criticized by bitcoiners and others in the crypto industry who think they could be used to surveil citizens.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning CBDCs when he took office.

The WSJ report added, citing various interviews, that Lagarde was worried Binance would embed the dominance of dollar-based stablecoins in Europe, instead of encouraging euro counterparts.

Binance is the world's biggest crypto exchange and billions of dollars in stablecoins are traded on its platform daily.

A controversial company, Binance and its CEO, Chanpeng Zhao, in 2023 pleaded guilty to anti-money-laundering violations and paid a record $4.3 billion fine.

Binance in June said it was still working to pursue MiCA authorization in another EU Member State.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/21/2026 - 05:00

Three South Korean military officers were hospitalized after an unexplained explosion inside the DMZ during an operation near the border.

These Are The Countries Where Bond Yields Are Rising Fastest

The 10-year Treasury briefly poked above 5% this week - peaking at 5.04% on Bloomberg's tape, the highest since 2007 - before backing off. It's the first time it has been there since the October 2023 spike, and this time it arrived with company: Japan's 10-year is above 3% for the first time in three decades, Bunds are at their highest in a decade and a half, gilts are at a post-2008 high, and a Bloomberg gauge of G7 sovereign debt started the month yielding its highest on average since 2000.

The drivers are familiar: oil-fed inflation impulse, massive deficits, and bondholders who have finally started charging for the privilege of holding the long end. The surprise is the geography: the US 10-year has repriced 97 basis points higher over the past twelve months, and that doesn't even make the top four - South Korea is up 178, Japan 145, Australia 114, France 102.

As Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld explains further, government bond yields are climbing across major economies as investors contend with higher oil prices, inflation pressures, and growing government borrowing needs.

This graphic compares 10-year government bond yields across major economies, based on Bloomberg market data as of September 15, 2026.

Borrowing Costs Reach Multi-Decade Highs

Long-term borrowing costs are reaching levels not seen in decades, with the U.S. 10-year Treasury briefly hitting 5.04% on September 15, its highest level since 2007.

Still, yields have risen faster in South Korea, Japan, Australia, and France than in the U.S. over the past year.

Country Sept. 2025 Sept. 2026 Change (bps) 🇰🇷 South Korea 2.81% 4.59% +178 🇯🇵 Japan 1.58% 3.03% +145 🇦🇺 Australia 4.27% 5.41% +114 🇫🇷 France 3.48% 4.50% +102 🇺🇸 U.S. 4.04% 5.01% +97 🇬🇷 Greece 3.33% 4.28% +95 🇮🇹 Italy 3.48% 4.42% +94 🇩🇪 Germany 2.69% 3.54% +85 🇵🇹 Portugal 3.09% 3.91% +82 🇨🇦 Canada 3.17% 3.96% +79 🇬🇧 UK 4.63% 5.40% +77 🇪🇸 Spain 3.24% 4.01% +77 🇳🇱 Netherlands 2.85% 3.61% +76 🇸🇬 Singapore 1.76% 2.51% +75 🇲🇽 Mexico 8.80% 9.54% +74 🇳🇿 New Zealand 4.30% 5.03% +73 🇧🇷 Brazil 13.74% 14.45% +71 🇨🇭 Switzerland 0.19% 0.55% +36

Japan's rise marks a significant shift from the ultra-low-rate environment that defined its bond market for decades. Its 10-year yield has crossed 3.0%, reaching its highest level in 30 years as markets anticipate further monetary tightening from the Bank of Japan. Higher yields could also add pressure to Japan's already large government debt burden.

The sell-off has also spread across Europe. Germany's 10-year yield reached its highest level since 2009 on September 15, while U.K. borrowing costs have climbed above 5.0%.

How Higher Yields Affect the Economy

Government bond yields act as benchmarks for borrowing costs across the economy. As they rise, financing can become more expensive for mortgages, corporate debt, and other forms of credit.

Governments face pressure as well. Higher yields make refinancing debt more expensive at a time when public debt levels are already elevated across many advanced economies.

The implications also extend to stocks.

With 10-year Treasuries yielding around 5.0%, investors can earn higher returns from relatively safe government debt, raising the hurdle for riskier assets such as equities. Global fund managers now rank turmoil in bond markets as their leading market risk.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/21/2026 - 04:15

Presley Gerber spoke candidly about how he was trying to overcome his addiction battle just six months before his death at a rehab center – revealing he was facing what he “had been running from.”

Presley Gerber spoke candidly about how he was trying to overcome his addiction battle just six months before his death at a rehab center – revealing he was facing what he “had been running from.”

Meloni: Italy Set To Ban Face Coverings In School, Limit Foreign Students Per Class

Authored by T.J. Muscaro via The Epoch Times,

Italy is moving to ban face coverings in schools and limit the number of foreign students per class, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced at a youth event on Sept. 19.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni waits to welcome Austria's chancellor at the Palazzo Chigi in Rome on Feb. 10, 2025. Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images

The event was hosted by her political party, Brothers of Italy. It marks a push by her government to respond to the continuing influx of non-European immigrants, especially those from the Islamic world, with the goal of ensuring these children can better assimilate into Italian society.

"For us, anyone who comes to Italy and wants to build their future here must learn our language, understand our culture, and respect our rules," she said to a standing ovation. "It is the only serious way to welcome them."

One major element of this education reform will be making learning Italian mandatory.

"If there is only one child in a class who doesn't understand Italian, that child will likely be able to learn the language and integrate quickly with the help of classmates and teachers," she said. "However, if the number of children who don't understand the language becomes large - or even the majority - that is no longer integration; it is neglect."

Meloni declined to specify what that limit would be. But according to research institute Fondazione ISMU, currently 11.6 percent of students in Italian schools are foreigners, nearly 12 of every 100 students.

The banning of face coverings was included in the push for increased assimilation.

"You must go to school with your face uncovered, and in Italy no one, in the name of a real or supposed tradition, can decide that a young woman must hide herself," Meloni said.

She did not mention hijabs, traditional headscarves that do not cover the wearer's face, in her address.

If approved by the government, this measure will need parliamentary approval within 60 days.

Meloni's government has made an effort over the years to curb illegal immigration, winning legal battles to fast-track deportation and keep out illegal immigrants who may have entered Europe illegally through its territory but were caught outside of it

Italy has also taken measures against Spain, citing a "high risks to internal security" and a possible terrorist-infiltration threat, after tens of thousands of Moroccan nationals overran Spain's North African enclave, Ceuta, between July 30 and July 31.

Meloni recently reached a historic milestone by becoming the longest-serving uninterrupted Italian prime minister since World War II.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/21/2026 - 03:30

Paris Hilton has paid tribute to her longtime pal Presley Gerber -- whom she described as a "beautiful soul" -- following his death at the age of 27. 

Paris Hilton has paid tribute to her longtime pal Presley Gerber -- whom she described as a "beautiful soul" -- following his death at the age of 27. 

Only 12 commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, down from 35, as tensions persist between the US and Iran.

America Spends More On Defense R&D Than Any Other OECD Country - By A Mile

On the OECD's yardstick - defense R&D budget allocations per $1,000 of GDP - the United States spends $3.64. The next country on the list, South Korea, spends $2.06, and nobody else clears a dollar.

Britain is third at $0.97, Germany fourth at $0.79, France fifth at $0.50. The average across the 20 countries ranked is $0.58; the median is $0.27. Greece, at the bottom, spends nine cents.

The gap is about to get wider: the Department of War's request for fiscal 2027 is $1.5 trillion, 42% above this year's funding.

As Visual Capitalist explains further, defense research and development is one way countries invest in future military capabilities, from advanced weapons systems to emerging technologies.

This visualization ranks selected OECD countries by defense research and development (R&D) budget allocations per $1,000 of GDP. The data comes from the OECD Economic Outlook, Volume 2026 Issue 1, with figures covering 2024 or the latest available year as of August 2026.

Defense R&D has also historically played an important role in shaping civilian technologies. Research tied to national security has helped support breakthroughs in fields such as computing, aerospace, satellites, medicine, and advanced materials. However, the link between military spending and innovation is not automatic, as secrecy can impede knowledge diffusion, among other factors.

The U.S. Leads by a Wide Margin

The United States ranked first, with defense R&D budget allocations equal to $3.64 per $1,000 of GDP. In absolute terms, the U.S. is also the world's highest military-spending country by a wide margin, with 2025 spending totaling $954 billion and accounting for one-third of global military spending that year.

The U.S. allocation was nearly 1.8 times South Korea's and more than 3.7 times the United Kingdom's, which ranked second and third, respectively.

The table below shows defense R&D budget allocations per $1,000 of GDP for selected OECD countries:

Rank Country Defense Budget R&D Allocation per $1,000 of GDP 1 United States $3.64 2 South Korea $2.06 3 United Kingdom $0.97 4 Germany $0.79 5 France $0.50 6 Poland $0.49 7 Japan $0.42 8 Slovenia $0.35 9 Norway $0.30 10 Netherlands $0.28 11 Australia $0.26 12 Sweden $0.26 13 Spain $0.23 14 Estonia $0.19 15 Türkiye $0.19 16 Finland $0.18 17 Latvia $0.15 18 Belgium $0.10 19 Hungary $0.10 20 Greece $0.09

Although U.S. military spending as a share of GDP decreased in 2025 compared with the annual average between 2015 and 2022, the Trump administration's U.S. Department of War announced in April 2026 that its Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) Defense Budget would request an unprecedented $1.5 trillion, a 42% increase compared with 2026 funding.

Included in that amount are plans to increase defense R&D spending from $16.6 billion in 2026 to $18.7 billion in 2027, with a stated focus on a general science and technology fund.

South Korea and Europe Round Out the Top Five

Allocating $2.06 per $1,000 of GDP to defense R&D, South Korea ranked second, making it the only other OECD country above $2.

South Korea has emerged as one of the world's fastest-growing arms producers and exporters, supported by sustained government investment in its defense industry.

Reflecting this growth, four South Korean companies appear in the SIPRI Top 100 list of global arms producers with the largest arms sales revenues in 2024. Their combined revenues increased by 30% from 2023 to 2024.

Following South Korea, the ranking drops quickly. The United Kingdom placed third at $0.97 per $1,000 of GDP. Between 2019 and 2024, the UK's Ministry of Defense tripled its net expenditure on R&D from £1.02 billion to £3.07 billion.

Germany followed in fourth place at $0.79 per $1,000 of GDP, while France ranked fifth at $0.50 per $1,000 of GDP. France and Germany are the European Union's largest and second-largest defense R&D spenders, respectively.

Most Countries Spend Far Less on Defense R&D

Across the 20 OECD countries shown, the average defense R&D allocation was $0.58 per $1,000 of GDP.

The median was much lower, at $0.27 per $1,000 of GDP, showing how much the top spenders skew the average.

Within the top 20, the drop-off is steep. The U.S. allocation of $3.64 per $1,000 of GDP was more than seven times fifth-ranked France's $0.50 and more than 40 times 20th-ranked Greece's $0.09.

Defense R&D intensity varies considerably among wealthy economies because countries may prioritize procurement, active personnel, operations, or research differently.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/21/2026 - 02:45

 A murder trial began Monday for the former husband and in-laws of Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi more than three years after the discovery of parts of her dismembered body at a house shocked the city where violent crime is rare.

A 2,000-year-old Roman mosaic unearthed in Turkey depicts a family's beloved pets: a cat named Emerald and a dog named Ocean.