Update(2030ET): The Wall Street Journal has late in the day Wednesday revealed the reason for CIA John Ratcliffe's surprise visit to Moscow yesterday where he met with top Kremlin intelligence leaders, citing officials. It was to warn against attacking NATO countries, says the Journal:
The surprise visit by the director of the Central Intelligence Agency to Moscow this week was to deliver a warning to Russia not to attack NATO countries, according to people briefed on the visit.
The trip was spy-agency chief John Ratcliffe’s first publicly known visit to the Russian capital. It followed new U.S. intelligence assessments, reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal, that Russian President Vladimir Putin could try to test the resolve of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with a limited assault on an allied country in the next few years.
U.S. officials are concerned that Putin, squeezed in Ukraine and under pressure at home, could launch an assault ranging from a cyberattack to a small-scale land incursion, likely on a Baltic nation, the Journal reported.
Some pundits have suggested a weaker Baltic nation like Estonia, which has long issued provocative anti-Moscow statements of its own, could come under some kind of limited attack.
The report further suggests Putin could be ready to seize on NATO's munitions supply weakness - given the drain amid the Iran war and after over four years of constantly supplying Ukraine.
"A shortfall in critical Western munitions, driven by expenditures in the Iran war, also could factor into Putin’s thinking," the report continues. "The U.S. has degraded its stockpile of certain weapons because of transfers to Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 invasion, as well as the Iran conflict."
CIA chief urgently flew to Moscow in the middle of America’s losing war against Russia’s ally Iran, and the reason had nothing to do with a desperate attempt to turn Russia against Iran, but rather “Putin could try…limited assault on an allied country in the next few years”? 🤔 https://t.co/WmNYnGstfo
— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) August 26, 2026But it also remains that for years Western officials have issued hyped statements claiming Russia wants to somehow invade or take over parts of Europe beyond Ukrainian territory, but there's as yet been no such action, nor any evidence of such intent.
I am sorry, but the Director of the CIA doesn't fly to Moscow unexpectedly to deliver a message telling Russia "Don't do what we think you were going to do".
Putin and Trump have a direct line. If Trump wanted to warn Putin not to do something, he would of just called him.… https://t.co/0Ian6CDLdJ
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Update(1505ET): In the wake of yesterday's unusual visit by the Director of the CIA to Moscow for mystery 2-hour talks, Bloomberg says that President Putin is preparing for a major escalate against Ukraine:
Russia is preparing to escalate attacks on Ukraine after concluding that negotiations for a peace deal have reached a dead end, according to three people close to the Kremlin.
For now, Russia is weighing an intensification of powerful conventional ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv, including the center of the capital, and infrastructure targets in other Ukrainian cities, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is sensitive.
While the original Bloomberg TV reporting appears just speculation based on what already seemed the current trend on the ground, oil had climbed back on the news:
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An IRGC spokesman has announced Wednesday that Iran and Oman have reached agreements on their share of the Strait of Hormuz and its revenues, according toTasnim news agency. So essentially the "fee" scheme has been set. There's talk of reopening the strait on an "interim" basis, Bloomberg says.
"We entered into negotiations with Oman about a month ago and have reached results that have been accepted by both sides," the official said. "Agreements have been reached on the share of each country in the waters of the strait and the share of Iran and Oman in its revenues," the statement continued, while also alleging that negotiations were previously delayed only due to the US obstructing negotiations.
via ReutersTehran is still insisting on the United States lifting its naval blockade of the country's ports. However, it seems that for now at least Tehran is open to some level of negotiations, or at least seems content to see where this current period of rare calm leads.
This is evident in the latest words of Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who argued Wednesday that any negotiations with the US don't equate to retreat from Iran's demands.
"Negotiation, in my view, has neither intrinsic value nor is it a taboo; it is neither absolutely good nor absolutely evil," he wrote in a letter responding to more hardline critics, IRNA reports.
He insisted this does not mean abandoning resistance to US-Israeli aggression. "If necessary, dialogue, too, according to this logic, is the same arena of struggle and resistance; neither a replacement for it nor a sign of retreat from it," he said.
Ghaliban further suggested this is being done by the Islamic Republic from position of strength while holding on to the nation's "dignity, wisdom and interests."
Meanwhile, it seems Washington is also in no mood to rush back into military action, following the Monday announcement by Scott Bessent of the Economic D-Day action against Iran, which is to including secondary sanctions on any country found not complying.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told several foreign officials in recent days that "for the time being" the US is not planning to initiate any new strikes against Iran, but instead the focus is on other means of pressure, especially the sanctions initiative, Axios reports. According to more:
Also on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi confirmed their further work on the “interim framework” aimed at resuming shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a joint statement.
State television has indicated Iran and Oman agreed that the new transit corridor would enter through Iranian territorial waters, with part of the exit route also passing through them. The corridor will span roughly seven miles.
On this and other headlines, oil prices continue to fall...
A busy day in the Gulf of Oman, where there are at least fifteen sets of STS transfer sessions taking place. We count 25 million barrels of crude oil; plus some refined products. The oil originates from almost every country in the region, minus Iran.#OOTT #IranWar #Tankers pic.twitter.com/TAba26mJiW
— TankerTrackers.com, Inc. (@TankerTrackers) August 25, 2026The day prior, on Tuesday, President Trump hinted that military options are still on the table. While announcing the new claim that all mines had been detonated or removed from international waters of the Strait of Hormuz, he said the US Space Force was watching "every square inch" of the Strait, and that "There is a Zero Tolerance policy on mine placement in full force and effect." But Iran is still asserting that the strait remains "closed".
Tyler Durden Wed, 08/26/2026 - 20:32Apple is set to unveil its first foldable iPhone at the company's September 9 product event at 1300 ET.
Ahead of what could be Apple's biggest handset launch in many years, technology market research firm International Data Corporation, better known as IDC, issued a new forecast estimating just how many foldable iPhones Apple could ship during the device's first year.
Bloomberg first reported IDC's estimate that the $2,500 foldable iPhone could generate more than 10 million shipments during its first year.
JUST IN: Apple sets September 9 for its next major launch event, where it is expected to unveil the first foldable iPhone.
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) August 26, 2026Apple's entry into foldable smartphones, a segment of the handset industry first pioneered commercially by Chinese manufacturer Royole with the FlexPai nearly a decade ago, is forecast to help the foldable-phone market grow 12.6% this year, followed by an 18% increase next year. The iPhone maker could capture about 40% of global foldable shipments by 2027, IDC said.
Samsung Electronics launched the first mainstream foldable smartphone seven years ago. The complexity of these handsets commands premium pricing, making the category an attractive revenue stream.
Apple's foldable iPhone launch comes as IDC expects global smartphone shipments to decline by a record 16.7% this year. The industry is battling surging costs tied to a shortage of memory chips.
"The components that make AI possible are the same ones in short supply, and their cost is being passed straight through to the shelf," IDC's Francisco Jeronimo said.
Alleged Foldable iPhone Motherboard Photos Surface Online https://t.co/C9n3M48X4C pic.twitter.com/yd6E2jKKTc
— MacRumors.com (@MacRumors) August 26, 2026Jeronimo added, "The era of the cheap smartphone has ended."
Polymarket:
//--> //--> Will Apple release a foldable iPhone before 2027?However, consumers have not necessarily shunned expensive handsets, in part because carrier financing now commonly spreads payments over 24 to 36 months.
A $2,500 foldable iPhone would cost about $104 per month over 24 months or $69 per month over 36 months, before trade-in credits.
Whether the expensive foldable iPhone becomes a smashing success will largely depend onconsumers'’ willingness to upgrade. Recent GSMA research found that consumers are keeping their smartphones for an average of three years.
For iPhones, research firm Counterpoint found that Pro model owners replace their devices after an average of 2.75 years, while buyers of standard models wait about a little more than 3 years.
Tyler Durden Wed, 08/26/2026 - 20:30