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The 17-year-old girl charged over the deadly Islamic Center of San Diego massacre has been identified as North Carolina student Sarah Lindsey Santiago. Santiago faces three counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, according to WBAL-TV. Sarah Lindsey Santiago, 17, appears in a police booking mugshot released by the...

G20 Plans "Death By A Thousand Cuts" For China's Economy

By Benjamin Picton, senior market strategist at Rabobank

The Natural Equilibrium

G20 finance ministers, central bank governors and a handful of high-profile CEOs gathered in Asheville, North Carolina, yesterday. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held court, telling allies that the only way out of heavy debt loads is growth, and that they needed to do more to confront China on its structural trade imbalances.

The latter point is particularly salient as Bessent prosecutes new restrictions against trade with Iran under Operation Economic Outcast. China has been Iran’s most important trading partner and the major market for cut-price Iranian oil that had given Chinese industry a cost advantage over buyers observing existing sanctions. Bessent is now telling allies that they will need to examine their terms of trade with China. The “or else” post-script to that message is left unsaid for now, but just ask a Canadian trade negotiator whether the US is developing sharper elbows on this point in recent times.

Even without US pressure, the realization seems to be dawning that Ricardian comparative advantage isn’t actually a utility-maximising strategy when not everyone plays by the rules. Ursula von der Leyen recently said that if trade negotiations do not materially reduce the EU’s record trade deficit with China, the former will need to solve the problem via regulatory tools, including its famed ‘trade bazooka’ anti-coercion instrument. There are no free traders in a foxhole.

There are other signs of deathbed conversions among hitherto free trade evangelists. Australia just imposed new tariffs on Chinese-manufactured train wheels to protect local industry, while an alliance of aluminum extruders in New Zealand are furiously lobbying the government to restrict imports of Chinese aluminum products that they say are being dumped into the local market at prices well below cost of production ever since other markets (the USA, EU and Australia) placed tariffs on those goods to protect their own industry.

Combined with the US’s systematic shutting down of China’s low-cost energy flows from Iran and Venezuela, the promulgation of barriers to entry for Chinese goods is starting to look like death by a thousand cuts for China’s economy. Bessent yesterday pointed to China’s trade surplus equivalent to 1% of global GDP, saying that China is trying to export its way out of a problem of weak domestic demand. Official PMI figures released yesterday showed a slight improvement in China’s manufacturing sector but further deterioration in non-manufacturing, and both sectors remained below the threshold between contraction and expansion.

Unofficial figures released today showed manufacturing expanding and at a faster rate than anticipated by surveyed economists. If that is a true reflection of what is going on, China’s problem with weak domestic demand and a large exportable surplus that needs to be soaked up by demand elsewhere is only exacerbated. If it is not a true reflection, even the export engine is seeing the walls closing in and the official growth target is in serious question.

While recent trade restrictions imposed by other developed nations looks like a meeting of minds, it would be a mistake to interpret this as G20 countries all being on the same page. As much was clear when a number of European finance ministers claimed that they were blindsided by the attendance of Russian finance minister Siluanov and threatened to boycott the ‘family photo’ unless the Russian was excluded. Very clearly, points of divergence remain in the perceived interests of Western nations, which was perhaps highlighted further by a vote in Iceland rejecting a proposal to restart talks on joining the EU even as Canada attempts to deepen EU ties and rebuffed a recent US trade deal to leave itself the option of preferential trade with China.

Another possible point of friction emerged when Bessent seemingly urged the Bank of Japan to get busy raising interest rates even as the Japanese government has been keen to discourage haste. The Treasury Secretary said that he wasn’t going to tell the BOJ what to do, but then indicated that he thought the reflationary policies of Abenomics have run their course and that coordinated intervention in FX markets could only go so far. “I can’t affect the natural equilibrium. What I can do is send a signal and, as I’ve said, I have information that the market doesn’t have.”

Meanwhile, 10-year borrowing costs in Australia just hit their highest levels since 2011 only a day after 10-year yields in France hit their highest level since 2008. 10-year Treasury yields are making new multi-decade highs and the yield on the 30-year is once again threatening the level that it reached before Bessent jawboned it lower by indicating that the Treasury would at least double the size of long end purchases, presumably funded by higher short-end issuance that will require Kevin Warsh and the Fed to provide an assist to keep US borrowing costs relatively low.

In a de-globalising world the West is facing a security-driven imperative to re-industrialize with national debts already at wartime levels and commodity supply chains are increasingly subject to statecraft power plays. These interventions mean that commodity supplies can either be very constrained (as is currently the case for oil and refined fuels) or in a glut, or sometimes both simultaneously in difference parts of the world with new trade barriers preventing goods from flowing and markets from clearing. Glut conditions are currently the case for China-backed nickel processing in Indonesia, and may be the case for US energy in the future if the recent deal to secure control over Venezuelan oil supplies delivers on its promise.

In this environment of market dislocation finding a “natural equilibrium” is going to be harder to do, and it will be impossible for anyone who leans exclusively on models assuming free trade while forgetting to factor in power politics.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/01/2026 - 10:40

The dueling chains are fighting for chicken dominance.

Rapper Nicki Minaj and actor Dean Cain will join a “Shark Tank”-style White House event later this month as five American entrepreneurs compete for a share of a $1 million prize pool. 

For the first time in his career, Patrick Mahomes looked human.

Fields, who was arrested Sunday, was allegedly not happy that Ezukanma was outplaying him in practice, which resulted in the alleged altercation.

The "American Idol" judge also spoke about his dehydration issues onstage before he checked himself into a local hospital.

The "American Idol" judge also spoke about his dehydration issues onstage before he checked himself into a local hospital.

“Heated Rivalry” hunk François Arnaud stunned fans by speaking fluent Spanish in a viral promo clip from his new romantic film, “Abril.” The Instagram Reel posted by the movie’s director, Hernán Jiménez, has racked over 1 million views, and it inspired some hilariously feral reactions from social media users. After a night out at Chateau...

“Heated Rivalry” hunk François Arnaud stunned fans by speaking fluent Spanish in a viral promo clip from his new romantic film, “Abril.” The Instagram Reel posted by the movie’s director, Hernán Jiménez, has racked over 1 million views, and it inspired some hilariously feral reactions from social media users. After a night out at Chateau...

Judge William Sullivan told the panelists to continue deliberations

Is there something mo' hiding in your cuppa joe?

Russia Turns Up The Heat On Ukraine's Odesa As Port Strikes Intensify

Throughout most of the more than four-year long Russia-Ukraine war, Russian forces have largely held off from any sustained and large-scale attack against the key southern port city of Odesa, but this restraint has clearly changed.

Odesa since Monday has been getting pounded, with Ukrainian officials describing that Ukrainian port infrastructure and a border crossing with Romania was targeted overnight. This vital economic, food, grain, and trade lifeline to the outside world is under threat - and is the result of leaders in Kiev deciding to recently escalate long-range drone attacks against Russian territory.

Destruction from Monday Russian drone strike on Nova Poshta’s terminal in Odesa region, via State Emergency Service of Ukraine

President Zelensky also said the strikes "deliberately damaged a border crossing point on the border with Romania, as ​well as export infrastructure."

One person was confirmed injured in the attack, which also resulted in a fire at a residential building as well as energy infrastructure coming under fresh attack.

Specifically, the strikes damaged a checkpoint for ferry services at ​Orlivka on the ​border with Romania. "Processing ⁠of citizens and vehicles through this checkpoint has been temporarily suspended," Ukraine's border service announced in a statement.

The tempo of strikes on Odesa has most definitely escalated this month, as Reuters details, "The ​Odesa region faced more than 300 air-raid alerts ​in August, ⁠lasting a combined 238 hours, according to a monitoring service."

Ukrainian-bound cargo ships also continue to be attacked off the coast in the Black Sea. Some new weapons systems are reportedly being demonstrated with deadly effect there.

"Behind the strikes is Russia’s new Banderol cruise missile, which has turned Ukraine’s Black Sea coast into a deadly no-go zone for cargo ships and hammered its ports since it entered serial production at the end of last month," writes The Telegraph.

"Cheap, fast and carrying a 114kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead, Banderols are launched from Russian-occupied Crimea, often by Mi-28 attack helicopters," the report describes. According to more of its specs:

Translated as “small parcel” in English, it can reach speeds of up to 400mph and can hit targets more than 300 miles away. They are stored at Dzhankoi district, Kirovske airfield, and Simferopol airfield in Crimea.

Another result of the overnight attack on Odesa was more widespread power outages in the region, amid a broader increasingly national infrastructure strain headed toward winter.

Odesa is under a Russian combined attack involving Banderol cruise missiles and Geran-2/4 loitering munitions, causing power outages and disruptions in parts of the city. pic.twitter.com/Snz5pxRksX

— OSINTWarfare (@OSINTWarfare) August 31, 2026

More broadly across Ukraine and especially the capital region, Russian drone and missile strikes have been sustained for at least five consecutive days, leading to significant casualties nationwide:

At least 16 people were killed and 54 others injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day, according to local authorities.

The heaviest toll was reported in Kyiv and the surrounding oblast, where Russia’s fifth consecutive day of attacks killed at least 12 people and injured 21 others.

Six of those killed were Ukrainian Railways employees, who died when a ballistic missile struck railway facilities, the company said.

So clearly Russia is continuing to hammer away at Ukraine's national energy, power, and logistics/transport infrastructure.

Footage showing the impact of two Russian S8000 Banderol cruise missiles at the Odesa Thermal Power Plant last night.

Power outages occurred in multiple districts of the city following the strikes.

Impact coordinates: 46.50325, 30.71415 pic.twitter.com/UgvdwA2IW0

— AMK Mapping 🇳🇿 (@AMK_Mapping_) September 1, 2026

While this tactic is nothing new, there does seem to be a ramped-up ferocity, which the Kremlin sees as retaliation for the Ukrainians escalating in the same way - likely with the help of Western intelligence. Zelensky has recently boasted that he is in effect 'taking the war to Russia' and its population, hoping to pressure Putin to make deep compromise at future negotiations.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/01/2026 - 10:20

New Orders Drop But US Manufacturing Surveys Still Signal 'Solid' Growth In August

Despite sustained relative weakness in US 'hard data', US manufacturing operating conditions improved solidly again in August, according to the latest PMI data from S&P Global, but it's not all rainbows and unicorns...

• August S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI beat, flat at 53.9 from July's print, but up from the flash print of 53.2 and better than the 53.4 expected.

• August ISM US Manufacturing PMI miss, down from 55.6 to 54.6 (below 55.2 expectations).

Still, despite the miss, ISM still printed near four year highs, with growth moderating only slightly.

However, ISM saw New Orders and Employment dropped in August (with Prices only flat month over month)...

“Growth in the US manufacturing economy remained welcome," said Usamah Bhatti, Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, but he warns "the August data point to some cracks in the sector’s health."

Data covering most of the second quarter and the period to August indicated that stock building was a key driver of sustained growth in manufacturing output and demand.

Moreover, Bhatti notes that "both output and new order growth slowed in August amid concerns that further price rises and material shortages would weigh on the sector."

Indeed, although purchasing activity and pre-production inventories increased further, "manufacturers continued to report difficulties sourcing and receiving raw materials because of supply delays and price rises."

These pressures were commonly linked to the war in the Middle East, which has exacerbated existing supply and inflationary pressures from tariffs.

There were, however, areas of encouragement for US goods producers.

Business expectations for output over the year ahead improved from July to a three-month high, partly reflecting hopes for an end to the war and a smoother domestic policy path.

Firms also noted that "greater stability in conditions were likely to support business expansion and customer retention plans."

In response, businesses raised employment at the strongest rate seen so far this year.

So choose your own adventure again -  both ISM and S&P Global saw orders drop, but ISM saw employment drop and prices flat while S&P Global saw prices drop and employment improve...?!

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/01/2026 - 10:10

NASA’s new flagship astronomical observatory was launched into space from Florida on August 30 on a mission to probe some of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics and cosmology. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a roughly $4 billion project, was carried aloft from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The telescope...

One of the all time greatest comedy shows is now streaming.

An enraged Wisconsin parent was cited for tripping a 9-year-old football player during a youth league game when he became “upset over a play,” as the child’s coach declared it the “most cowardly act I’ve ever seen. Shocking footage captured the dad, who was supporting the Milwaukee Colts, taking matters into his own hands when...

Former Rep. Eric Swalwell was surrounded by FBI agents at San Francisco International Airport as he deboarded a plane, leading to the seizure of his cellphone and laptop as part of a federal criminal investigation, newly obtained video shows. The California Post obtained surveillance footage of the Aug. 15 encounter, providing the first look at...