PARIS, Aug 21 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Andy ‌Burnham and German Chancellor Friedrich ‌Merz will co-chair a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing group of pro-Ukrainian countries on Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will be at the meeting in Kyiv, ‌which will be ⁠attended both in person and remotely, Macron's office said on ⁠Friday, without specifying who will be there in person. The Ukrainian capital has come under heavy bombardment recently, and Zelenskiy has ‌pleaded with his allies to do more to help his country.
European Council President Antonio Costa will attend the meeting in person and NATO Deputy Secretary ‌General Radmila Shekerinska will participate remotely, NATO and the EU said in separate statements.
"The leaders ‌will reiterate their determination to strengthen their support for Ukraine so that it can defend itself against Russian aggression," Macron's ‌office said in a statement.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Alison Williams and Hugh Lawson)

#meeting #office

BRUSSELS, Aug 21 (Reuters) - NATO's top commander convened a videoconference earlier this week to facilitate possible ‌contributions to support freedom of navigation in ‌the Strait of Hormuz, his spokesperson told Reuters, adding that this is not a NATO mission.
"Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe hosted a meeting of interested Allies at the chief of defence level on Wednesday, 19 Aug 26, in order ‌to facilitate their ⁠possible contributions to support freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz," a spokesperson ⁠for the alliance's top commander U.S. Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich said on Friday.
"To be clear, this is not a NATO mission. But given NATO's unique strengths in its ‌ability to bring together Allies and understand the capabilities they bring to bear, it makes sense for NATO to facilitate in this way," the spokesperson added.
NATO allies have sought to avoid direct involvement in the Iran conflict, ‌instead focusing on plans outside the alliance to reopen the strait, which before February carried about a fifth of all ‌traded oil.
France and Britain have led efforts to build a coalition among roughly a dozen countries to guarantee safe passage through the strait once tensions ease or ‌the conflict is resolved, though any long-term arrangement would ultimately require Iranian acquiescence.

#allies #reuters #hormuz #possible

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other major indexes rose Friday, as the stock market looked to rebound from the previous session's sell-off stoked by geopolitical concerns. With risk appetite rising, bitcoin climbed to a three-month high and thrust crypto-linked companies higher on stock market today. The cryptocurrency's price has spiked up roughly 20% for the week.
Just after Friday's open, the Dow industrials rose 0.5%, as the S&P 500 gained 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite also bounced 0.4% in morning trading. On Thursday, the Dow industrials tumbled 700 points, or 1.3%, and the S&P 500 moved down 0.9%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 1%, and the small-cap Russell 2000 fell 1.3%.
Bitcoin surged nearly 6% to roughly $76,700 and sparking big rallies in crypto stocks Coinbase Global (COIN), Circle Internet (CRCL) and Strategy (MSTR). All three were up nearly 5% or more in recent action. Optimism about the Clarity Act crypto bill's passage in Washington helped push bitcoin higher.
Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude futures inched higher to around $86.90 a barrel. The 10-year Treasury yield rose 2 basis points to 4.72%.
Among exchange traded funds, the Invesco QQQ (QQQ) was up 0.5%, as the State Street SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) rose 0.4% after Friday's opening bell.

#Bitcoin #market

As Perez Hilton focuses on his recovery, his family is stepping in to provide stability for his three young children. The blogger's mother has reportedly been granted temporary custody, though Hilton has not been cut off from his kids and is allowed supervised visits. The arrangement comes amid a challenging period for the celebrity blogger as he works toward recovery and his family rallies around him.
Perez Hilton, born Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr., remains hospitalized following his suicide attempt on August 4. As The Blast previously reported, the celebrity blogger's family is stepping in to care for Hilton's three children, 13-year-old Mario, 11-year-old Mia, and 8-year-old Mayte. His mother, Teresita Lavandeira, filed for temporary custody of the kids, which his son consented to.
A judge has granted the request, and Teresita is now in charge of doing "all things necessary for the care" of her grandchildren. Per Us Magazine, the ruling highlighted that Hilton remains the children's legal parent, and the arrangement with Teresita is temporary.
"[Teresita] shall have authority to consent to all necessary and reasonable medical and dental care for the children, including nonemergency surgery and psychiatric care," the ruling noted. Furthermore, Hilton's mother will be responsible for decisions regarding the kids' schooling.
MEGA

#family #mother #year #perez

The dollar index (DXY00) tumbled to a 2.5-month low on Wednesday and finished down by -0.80%. The dollar retreated on Wednesday after the US Treasury boosted liquidity and announced plans to increase buybacks of long-dated bonds. Lower T-note yields on Wednesday also weakened the dollar's interest rate differentials.
The US Treasury announced on Wednesday that it will at least double the maximum size of its liquidity support buyback operations for longer-dated nominal coupon sizes to at least $4 billion per operation, effective September 9.
Dollar Slumps and Gold Rallies as US Treasury Ramps Up Buybacks
Dollar Supported by Weak Stocks and Rising Bond Yields
Dollar Edges Higher as Stocks Slide

#treasury #buybacks #yields #least

Webull rallies 7% into Q2 earnings as ******* ysts project 16% revenue growth, while Vlad Tenev drives Robinhood 7% higher lobbying for tokenized stock approval.
Coinbase surges 11% on Bitcoin's rally but remains down 35% YTD, pulling ARKF up just 4% in a bounce rather than a trend reversal.
Act now: the ******* yst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Robinhood didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Retail brokerage stocks are rallying midday Wednesday as Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) surges and two separate company stories converge on the same crypto catalyst. Webull (NASDAQ:BULL) shares are up 7% to $8.49 ahead of the company's Q2 2026 earnings report after the close, while Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) shares are climbing 7% to $98.45 as CEO Vlad Tenev pushes U.S. regulators to approve tokenized stocks.
Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) shares are up 11% to $163.32, extending a sharp bounce for the largest U.S. crypto exchange. Bitcoin is trading around $68,500, up 6% over the past 24 hours.

#Crypto #webull

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signed into law a measure that would introduce a conditional pardon for thousands of Kurdish militants as part of a government peace effort with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
The measure was published in the Official Gazette on Tuesday. It will only come into force after Turkey's National Security Council confirms that the group has fully dissolved itself and disarmed.
Parliament approved the bill overwhelmingly last week. It would suspend certain prison sentences for convicted PKK members and postpone ongoing investigations and trials against others for five or 10 years, depending on the severity of the crime. Authorities would drop the cases against the individuals if they don't re-offend during those periods.
The legislation also establishes a committee to oversee the group's disarmament, with its first meeting expected next week.
Last year, the PKK — considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies — announced its decision to disband, following a call by its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan. Ocalan and other key PKK figures are excluded from the pardon.

#recep

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he had urged GOP Rep. Cory Mills to drop out of his Florida primary race before the embattled Republican lost Tuesday to former news anchor Ryan Elijah.
"I told Congressman Cory Mills of Florida, a friend of mine, to get out of the Race, but he wouldn't listen. He thought he could win, so who can blame him?" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
Trump endorsed Mills in February and never publicly rescinded his support, despite the Florida congressman facing significant scrutiny over accusations of **** ault, potential campaign finance violations and an ex-girlfriend alleging that he threatened to release **** ually explicit images and videos of her. Mills has denied any wrongdoing.
However, the congressman was conspicuously absent from a list Trump posted earlier this month of Florida Republicans he endorsed. The president also did not participate in tele-rallies on his behalf, which he's done for several lawmakers he supports.
Mills wouldn't be the first embattled GOP congressman who Trump leaned on to quit. The president told Ohio Rep. Max Miller — whose ex-wife has accused him of abuse — in a previously reported call that he was going to lose his election and lose for the Republican Party if he kept up his reelection bid, according to two sources briefed on the call. CNN previously reported that Trump had expressed that sentiment to some allies, but not that the president said as much to Miller directly.

#mills #president

Charlotte Knights 9, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 8 (10 innings)
The Knights (65-56) struck first in the second inning. Edgar Quero led off with a double, and Caden Connor drove him in for a quick 1-0 edge. Shane Smith, still lost, flooded the basepaths with traffic in the bottom half and let the RailRiders swipe the lead right back. Jairo Iriarte took over in the third and immediately served up a two-run homer. By the fifth, Tanner McDougal was getting shelled for four unearned runs, and Charlotte was buried, 8-1. Ouch.
Apparently, though, the Knights offense wasn't interested in going quietly. Charlotte finally came alive with three runs in the eighth, highlighted by a two-run bomb from Junior Perez and four walks, before erupting for four more tallies in the ninth. Mario Camilletti delivered the big blow with a bases-clearing double, and Andy Weber added an RBI single to complete the surge and knot things at 8-8. Jaden Woods kept the RailRiders off the board in the ninth to send it to extras, where Rikuu Nishida started at second as the ghost runner. Michael Turner moved him to third with a ground out, and Ryan Galanie brought him home with a sacrifice fly for the 9-8 lead. Garrett Schoenle handled the bottom of the 10th, working around a walk to finish off a remarkable comeback win for the Knights.
MVP
Mario Camilletti: 1-for-4, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB, 2B
MVP Runners-Up
Ryan Galanie: 1-for-4, 2 R, RBI, SF
Edgar Quero: 2-for-3, R, 2B, K
Junior Perez: 3-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2 K
Andy Weber: 2-for-5, RBI, K, E
Aidan Anderson: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, K
Jaden Woods: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 3 K, W
Garrett Schoenle: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, S
Cold Cat
Jairo Iriarte: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K

#charlotte #jairo #iriarte

We want your predictions for UFC Fight Night 285. Our staff picks feature includes the consensus picks from MMA Junkie readers. Simply cast your vote for each bout below, and we'll use the official tallies that are registered by Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).
Those reader consensus picks will be part of the main card staff predictions we release ahead of UFC Sacramento (Paramount+), which takes place Saturday at Golden 1 Center in California's capital city.
Make your picks below.
Records: Dyer (7-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), Reed (8-5 MMA, 4-5 UFC)
Division: Women's strawweight

#fight #night #junkie #simply

Interested in TMC the metals company Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better.
The Metals Company faces a licensing delay to October, but investors had anticipated it, so shares showed little price reaction to the news.
Licensing approval remains the key catalyst for TMC stock, potentially unlocking institutional investment, revenue as early as Q4 2027, and short-covering rallies.
Analysts rate TMC a Hold with a bullish bias, though regulatory pushback and ongoing cash burn remain significant risks to the company's mining plans.
The Metals Company (NASDAQ: TMC) is a speculative deep-sea mining play that is advancing its strategy and gaining traction.

#hold

A mother and daughter from Georgia attending the Indiana Fever's victory over the Atlanta Dream on Sunday, Aug. 17, in Atlanta say they were "made to cover up" their T-shirts by league security staff at the arena.
Video captured inside State Farm Arena and posted on social media shows Kasey Thomason and her daughter Annie covering up their XX-XY shirts with shirts provided by the Dream.
XX-XY Athletics, which bills itself as a brand "here to protect women's sports and ***** es," was founded by former gymnast and former Levi Strauss chief marketing officer Jennifer Sey. XX-XY has also organized rallies around WNBA games this season in "Support of Sophie Cunningham" after the Fever star made comments about transgender athletes participating in women's sports.
In a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports, the WNBA said the fans shouldn't have been made to cover their clothing.
"The WNBA is aware of interactions at last night's game in Atlanta in which fans were asked by league security to cover their shirts," a league spokesperson said. "This should not have happened."

#shirts #cover #league #daughter

Gianni Infantino is facing a battle to stay afloat as Fifa president after his botched bid to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors resulted in a significant loss in support.
The Republic of Ireland and New Zealand have become the latest to officially pull their support for Infantino, joining England, Wales and other European nations have led the charge in withdrawing their endorsement of the Swiss-Italian for re-election in March 2027, while Uefa ******* erted that its boycott of Fifa competitions still stands in a bid to oust him from power.
The global players union, Fifpro, have also turned on Infantino, accusing him of a "profound abuse of presidential power" in an explosive statement.
However, Infantino's allies are beginning to surface, with the likes of Mexico and Argentina joining Caf, the African football governing body, in reaffirming support for the under-fire president.
As dominoes continue to fall, here is every country and confederation to have expressed their opposition or support for Infantino:

#support #power

With tens of millions of players across the world, Fantasy Premier League is back ahead of the new Premier League season, which starts on Friday as defending champions ******* nal kick off against Championship winners Coventry City.
As always, FPL players are tasked with building a ******* le-winning side with a fixed budget of £100m. Within that, players must get the balance right between the expensive premium picks who are likely to top the points tallies at the end of the 38-game season, along with the hidden gems that could make the difference over the campaign.
To start with, read the 10 things every FPL manager should consider before the new season, then dive into our expanded watchlist...
Forwards
There is only one premium forward option in the game. Unsurprisingly, that is Erling Haaland (£15.5m), who starts the season as the most expensive FPL player of all time. The Manchester City striker guarantees goals and is usually on fire at the start of the season (although this will be the first time he's returned from a major tournament, and he only played an hour in the Community Shield on Sunday). He is owned by almost 75 per cent of FPL managers and will be the most popular captain most weeks, too, so going without him is a huge risk. That said, the additional budget could open up some interesting possibilities....

#budget

By Michael Martina
WASHINGTON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. is preparing to tell dozens of countries they must pick sides in the artificial intelligence race with China, warning they will be excluded from a U.S.-led AI coalition if they also sign up for Beijing's competing framework, ‌according to a U.S. official and an internal draft reviewed by Reuters.
Washington last year launched the Pax Silica initiative aimed at securing supply chains ‌for AI models, semiconductors and critical minerals, amid a fierce technology rivalry with Beijing.
About two dozen countries have joined, including Kazakhstan, a key potential source of critical minerals that has also joined China's coalition, as well as close U.S. allies such as ****** an, Australia and South Korea.
The draft letter, prepared by the State Department, is addressed to the 35 signatories of a U.S. "AI Opportunity Statement" signed in June, which includes members of the non-binding Pax Silica framework and other countries that have expressed a desire to align cooperation on AI with Washington.

#coalition #critical #minerals

Who has the best high school cheerleading squad in the Montgomery area?
It's time to let the fans decide in a poll presented by The Vance Law Firm.
We're asking readers to vote for the Montgomery-area high school cheerleading squad they believe stands above the rest. Whether it's the energy on the sidelines, the precision of its routines or the way the squad rallies its school and community, this is your chance to show your support.
The poll will open Sunday, Aug. 16, giving fans across the Montgomery area the opportunity to cast their votes. Voting will remain open through Thursday, Aug. 20.
AHSAA STATE ***** LE PICKS: Picking eight preseason 2026 AHSAA football state ***** le winners

#squad

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — American special operations forces are ready to step up warfighting-readiness exercises with counterparts in the Philippines and other countries in Asia to further strengthen a security alliance and help deter a major conflict in the region, a U.S. military official said Thursday.
Adm. Frank Bradley, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, is in the Philippines after a trip to South Korea. He will then head to ***** an for talks with military officials.
He is the latest American military top brass to visit key Asian allies in recent weeks to reassure them of Washington's commitment to the region given the U.S. preoccupation with the war in Iran.
Bradley's command, which has about 80,000 personnel and is based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, undertakes the U.S. military's most sensitive and dangerous covert operations. The majority of his forces are deployed in more than 80 countries worldwide, Bradley said.
He discussed with Filipino counterparts the Philippine military's continuing effort to modernize, intensify combat exercises with the U.S. and other allies and broaden an arc of security alliances to deter China's increasingly hostile actions in the South China Sea.

#philippines #command #forces #exercises

There was a particularly distinguished passenger on a distinctly unglamorous airline. Rodri was on the Ryanair flight to Liverpool and part of the surprise for some was that, via Merseyside, he was returning to Manchester at all. The subject of bids from Barcelona, Rodri's future may lie in his native Spain rather than at Manchester City.
It is so far unknown if he incurred Ryanair's infamous fines for bringing the World Cup's Golden Ball in hand luggage or whether he stowed it under a seat. Enzo Maresca saw the man who lifted the most prestigious trophy of all briefly and gave him a big hug, he said. They would talk later. City's new manager coached Rodri when his goal clinched the Champions League and thus the treble in 2023. Whether he will ever manage him remains to be seen; minor back surgery would always have ruled Rodri out of Sunday's Community Shield against **** nal.
Man City are open to letting Rodri return to Spain but only if it helps fund his replacement (PA)
But with Barcelona expected to return with a third offer, Maresca may have to contemplate forging an entirely new midfield. His inheritance from Pep Guardiola was an enviable one in many respects, but if he is the continuity candidate, there will be change at the centre of the pitch. Rodri has a year left on his deal but seems to have decided to go. Bernardo Silva left when his contract expired; Guardiola's own departure made it a still more natural endpoint for one of his closest allies. Tijjani Reijnders is heading for the exit, too, off to Al Qadsiah for £51m, and if the Dutchman lost his place as Guardiola preferred an axis of Rodri and Silva, it was nevertheless the case that only six players made more appearances for City last season.
Guardiola famously said that, if he could pick 11 midfielders, he would. There were times when he had a surfeit of options: in 2019-20, for instance, he had not merely Rodri and Bernardo Silva but also David Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and Fernandinho.

#silva #Barcelona

WASHINGTON (AP) — The battle over the Kennedy Center's future escalated Thursday as President Donald Trump's allies on the board took new steps to commemorate him with physical changes to the iconic performing arts institution that could defy a federal court order.
During an hourslong meeting that was conducted virtually, the board voted to add Trump's name to the building's facade so it would read "The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump." The plaza in front of the building would be named after Trump and most of the ****** e at the venue would be closed for two years to allow for substantial renovations.
The changes, described by Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who is an ex-officio board member, and her lawyers, amount to a dramatic test of U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper.
He ruled in May that letters affixed to the building that spelled out Trump's name were added illegally and he ordered their removal, a decision that the Republican administration failed to persuade courts to overturn. At the same time, Cooper blocked a two-year closure that was set to take effect July 5, saying an earlier board vote authorizing the shuttering was "ill-informed and seemingly preordained."
"This latest development is a transparent effort to circumvent the Court's ruling, and flies in the face of the statutes that Congress passed," Beatty said in a statement. "I will continue to fight for this treasured national monument."

#changes

MP Materials surged 8% and USA Rare Earth jumped 9% Friday on trader speculation about U.S. tariff support, with no confirmed catalyst.
Rare earth stocks price in tariff probability before any announcement, rewarding holders if policy lands but punishing them sharply if it doesn't.
Act now: the **** yst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and MP Materials didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Shares of U.S. rare earth and critical minerals producers are broadly higher in Friday's midday session. MP Materials (NYSE:MP) is up about 7.8% to roughly $60.02, USA Rare Earth (NASDAQ:USAR) is up about 8.5% near $20.20, and NioCorp Developments (NASDAQ:NB) well up big earlier in the day is still hovering around 2%.
Here is the read: no rare earth specific news has been confirmed today. The only verifiable same-day trade item is a 15% tariff rate on qualifying EU drone imports, which is not a rare earth story. Traders appear to be positioning for further tariff and industrial policy support for domestic critical minerals, and this group reliably rallies on that expectation. That framing is speculative.

#NASDAQ

Gianni Infantino is facing a battle to stay afloat as Fifa president after his botched bid to sell off stakes in the World Cup to private investors resulted in a significant loss in support.
The Republic of Ireland and New Zealand have become the latest to officially pull their support for Infantino, joining England, Wales and other European nations have led the charge in withdrawing their endorsement of the Swiss-Italian for re-election in March 2027, while Uefa ******* erted that its boycott of Fifa competitions still stands in a bid to oust him from power.
The global players union, Fifpro, have also turned on Infantino, accusing him of a "profound abuse of presidential power" in an explosive statement.
However, Infantino's allies are beginning to surface, with the likes of Mexico and Argentina joining Caf, the African football governing body, in reaffirming support for the under-fire president.
As dominoes continue to fall, here is every country and confederation to have expressed their opposition or support for Infantino:

#joining #gianni

Archer Aviation surged 11% Tuesday as earnings-call details revealed Boeing's Insitu subsidiary generates $200M+ annually and can fund Archer's operations independently.
JOBY shares dropped 2% and EH stayed flat, indicating that the rally is Archer-specific and not a broad eVTOL sector move.
Despite back-to-back double-digit rallies, ACHR remains down 10% year to date, with an ******* yst target of $10.50 implying meaningful upside potential.
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Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR) stock is climbing 11% to $6.93 Tuesday morning, extending Monday's 12% deal-day pop as investors continue to digest details from Archer's Q2 2026 earnings call. The move follows Monday's coverage of the Boeing (NYSE:BA) tie-up with Archer Aviation and reflects Day 2 follow-through on the same story.

#aviation #earnings #back

ANKARA, Aug 8 (Reuters) - A defence pact signed between Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is technically the same as NATO's Article 5 mutual defence agreement, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said ‌on Saturday, adding the accord was not targeting Iran.
Fidan also said Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan ‌wanted to see the alliance expand, and that Egypt was a potential candidate to join, among others.
The regional powers signed the "Mecca Joint Defence Agreement" on Friday, wedding Sunni Muslim U.S. allies alarmed at a regional conflagration that has brought Iranian missile fire onto Gulf oil exporters.
In a joint statement, they said the accord intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that an armed attack against any of the three would be regarded as an ‌attack on all.
Speaking to the state-run Anadolu ⁠news agency, Fidan said the new alliance was not directed against Iran or any other country, but rather served as a general pledge to support the three allies' ⁠security.

#defence #regional

Aug 9 (Reuters) - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have attacked Saudi Aramco's Jazan refinery, they said on Sunday, two days after the kingdom signed a defence pact with Turkey and Pakistan in response to growing regional instability from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
The alliance with Sunni Muslim U.S. allies, ‌Turkey and Pakistan, is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that an armed attack against any of the three ‌would be regarded as an attack on all.
It was not clear whether or how either Pakistan or Turkey would join in any Saudi response to the latest attacks.
The Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea last month, citing what they said was a Saudi siege on them, an allegation Riyadh denies.
The Saudi energy ministry said a fire had broken out at the refinery but was later extinguished with no injuries and authorities were dealing with the incident, without giving a cause.

#Iran #refinery

EASTERN UKRAINE (AP) — The commander leading Ukraine's drone war says his country's recent strikes in Crimea are the first phase of a campaign aimed at rendering the peninsula — illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 — unusable as a staging ground for Russian forces.
Maj. Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, one of Ukraine's most prominent commanders among a new generation of soldiers, said his forces could strike seven times more military targets in Crimea if the money pledged by Western allies came faster.
"Crimea falls within the key conceptual pillars on the path to ending the war," Brovdi told The ****** ociated Press in an interview.
Despite that shortfall, Ukraine's summer campaign in Crimea has already inflicted significant damage: striking rail bridges, oil depots and power infrastructure to disrupt supply lines and blind Russian air defenses as drones fly in.
Brovdi said his forces are equipped at just 14% of what they would need to carry out the Crimea campaign at full capacity.

#russian #eastern #magyar

After a sharp pullback, Meta Platforms is testing a price floor that has held strong on seven prior occasions. The business arriving this time is different, setting up a classic standoff between history and today's reality.
Meta Platforms (META) connects 3.6 billion people through its family of apps and sells advertising against that attention. After a 13% slide from its recent high, the stock now trades around $589 a share, a price zone where buyers have repeatedly stepped in to halt declines. This floor between $560.41 and $619.40 has been successfully defended seven times before. History says buyers show up here. Will they this time?
The pattern is striking. Since late 2024, every significant test of this price level has been met with a sharp rebound. Most of these are not minor rallies; the average peak gain following a successful defense has been 21%. The bounces have varied in speed and scale, from a swift 20% gain in just eight days in January 2026 to a more sustained 38% climb over 103 days starting in May 2025. This history creates a powerful precedent, suggesting a level of psychological and technical importance for the stock.
Peak Gain After Holding
Days To That Peak

#peak #price #seven

Courts have blocked President Donald Trump's earlier attempts to use existing laws for his trade war, but Congress is advancing a new law that would provide broad discretion to impose steep tariffs.
In an 86-to-11 vote, the Senate passed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026 on Friday, with the House expected to approve the bill with similar bipartisan support next month.
It sanctions Russian President Vladimir Putin and senior Kremlin officials while also targeting the country's energy sector to cripple the economy amid its war on Ukraine.
The bill would let Trump impose fresh tariffs as high as 100% on the top five importers of Russian oil and gas. While that could include U.S. allies like the European Union, South Korea, ******* an as well as top trading partners like China and India, the president also has the ability to issue waivers if he deems it "in the national interest of the United States."
Despite the overwhelming support, Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., tried to remove the bill's tariff authority, but failed.

#russian #bill #like #courts

The Strait of Hormuz is, by some accounts, named for a Zoroastrian deity destined to emerge victorious after a 9,000-year standoff with an adversary.
Iran's leaders feel their own victory is at hand and won't require the same epic patience.
They are betting that military pressure will ultimately force the United States to accept their control over the crucial waterway for global energy — and that time is on their side.
They know about the diminishing stockpiles of key U.S. weapons such as advanced missile interceptors. They know the war is deeply unpopular with Americans. They know that as long as the strait is largely closed, the price of gas and other goods will stay high ahead of U.S. congressional elections in November. They know that trying to open it by force would be costly and may require American ground troops. They know their Houthi allies in Yemen could widen the war and disrupt another major trade route.
By that logic, U.S. President Donald Trump has no choice but to capitulate.

#united #americans

By Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - U.S. House Democrats preparing for a possible return to power are developing a broad investigative strategy targeting companies and financial firms surrounding President Donald Trump, instead of trying to impeach him immediately, according to four people familiar with the discussions.
Senior Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives and committee aides have discussed using hearings, subpoenas and document ‌requests to obtain records from entities tied to Trump's political and business orbit, the sources said. It is a bet that investigating private companies and outside financial players will prove more fruitful than directly ‌confronting a White House they expect to resist oversight, they said.
The approach reflects both Democratic caution and a lesson many in the party say they learned during Trump's first term: that impeachment proceedings can consume Congress while allowing Trump to cast himself as the victim of a partisan campaign.
Instead, Democrats involved in the planning envision using House investigative powers after November's midterm elections to scrutinize the administration's decision-making and examine whether Trump used his power to benefit himself, allies or donors.

#instead

I've never seen a documentary about Girl Scout Cookies before, so I went into Alysa Nahmias's "Cookie Queens" figuring that it might include, among other things, a tantalizing history of this beloved American institution — a rundown of the nine current varieties of Girl Scout Cookie (my favorite: Samoas, obvi! With Tagalongs a close second), a survey of some of the dozens of discontinued flavors (Rasberry Rallies, we hardly knew ye), and — more to the point — a look at how Girl Scout Cookies came to be, how the Girl Scout Cookie season developed into a wholesome Middle American pastime, and what Girl Scout Cookies have meant, through the decades, to those of us who hungrily consume them and to all the girls who've devoted themselves to selling boxes of them.
But no! "Cookie Queens" includes none of that stuff. The movie unfolds entirely in the present and never gives you even a fleeting sense of the past, of how Girl Scout Cookies rose in prominence to become the phenomenon they are today. (In case you're wondering, they were launched in World War I to raise money for U.S. soldiers.) The opening credits, set to the Julie Ruin's "Cookie Road," which sounds like a great lost track from the B-52's, play over black-and-white photographs and old film footage of Girl Scouts from bygone eras. But once the credits are over, the movie gets down to its single-minded theme and obsession: how Girl Scout Cookies, once a quaint piece of Americana, have lurched into their late-capitalist phase, with the girls who sell them vying to become champions by fashioning themselves into 12-year-old entrepreneurial go-getters.
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