The tech industry is struggling to make sense of President Donald Trump's surprise announcement that he is creating an artificial intelligence task force and appointing a czar to oversee the administration's approach to the technology.
Trump, in alengthy Truth Social poston Saturday morning, said he was forming the government body and would also soon name an AI czar to lead it. He offered few details, leaving members of the tech world unsure what the task force would do, who would be involved or how it would operate.
Four representatives for the sector, who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, told POLITICO that the industry was not widely informed of Trump's decision prior to the Truth Social post.
"Nobody knows what the idea even is," one of the people said. Another said that feedback on the idea was not widely solicited within the industry.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

#task #widely #idea #president

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed legislation to increase security for the state's voting systems and protect Californians' ability to cast ballots in an effort to guard against potential interference in the Nov. 3 election, including by the Trump administration.
Newsom pointed to the Trump administration's recent effort to restrict mail-in voting through the U.S. Postal Service, which was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the presence of federal monitors at California polls last year as evidence that Trump "will continue his efforts to interfere with the November election."
"Donald Trump won't stop until he can exert dictatorial control over your free vote and disenfranchise millions of people this November. California will stop him at every opportunity," Newsom said in a statement. "We have no bigger task than fighting to protect the right to vote from interference and meddling — the future of democracy is on the line. These bills today build upon the wall California has built to safeguard our electoral process."
The governor signed the package of bills at the ****** anese American National Museum in Little Tokyo, where a year earlier federal agents gathered outside a political rally he was hosting. Then-Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino, who had been leading the immigration operations in California, was among those outside the event, joined by agents in helmets, camouflage, masks and holding guns. Newsom described their presence as political intimidation.
One bill Newsom signed Saturday cites efforts to "weaponize law enforcement authority for political purposes," including Republican "Sheriff Chad Bianco's seizure of ballots in Riverside County," and the election monitors sent by the U.S. Justice Department to polling sites in five counties during a 2025 special election on redistricting.

#political

A home Medicaid excludes from **** et tests during life becomes fully exposed to estate recovery after death, potentially consuming most of an inheritance.
Transfers of a home within 60 months of a Medicaid application trigger a penalty period, and a stroke can eliminate the legal capacity needed to act.
Penalty-free exceptions exist, including spousal transfer, caregiver-child, and protected-relative rules, but qualifying circumstances must be in place well before a crisis.
Two retirees, same $1 million, same 4% rule, buy one finished with $1.4 million, the other hit $0 in 12 years. Our free reader guide explains the flaw that separated them, and the income-first method built to avoid it.
An 82-year-old widower has a stroke. From the hospital he moves to rehabilitation, then to permanent nursing-home care. His paid-off house is worth $340,000. His daughter asks the elder-law attorney whether they can deed her the house or drop it into an irrevocable trust before Medicaid pays a dime. The answer is the one no family wants to hear: probably not, because Dad no longer has the capacity to sign, and his durable power of attorney authorizes bill payment but not gifts or trust transfers.

#home #stroke #free

FleetCor and CEO Ronald Clarke agreed to a $100 million payment resolving Federal Trade Commission litigation. The settlement follows years of court action over hidden charges involving commercial fuel cards. Harm reached tens of thousands among small-business customers seeking lower operating costs. Regulators say promised savings disappeared beneath undisclosed billing practices.
Federal regulators accused FleetCor, which now operates as Corpay, of imposing unauthorized fees totaling hundreds of millions. Investigators found improper late penalties despite timely remittance or company barriers that prevented payment. Officials cited misleading claims about gas savings, fraud controls, plus card-related expenses. Those practices harmed operators across the United States, according to a 2019 complaint.
Regulators found FleetCor often waited several billing cycles before adding many charges. Delayed timing made extra costs harder for customers to notice. Invoices omitted fee disclosures, pushing account holders toward separate management reports. Even those documents obscured some amounts among unrelated details or excluded them entirely.
"FleetCor deceived its small business customers by promising fuel savings that never materialized," Christopher Mufarrige said. He directs FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. Agency officials also criticized hidden and unauthorized charges. Settlement terms channel restitution toward harmed account holders.
In 2023, one federal district court granted summary judgment to the FTC on every count. Its ruling found hidden charges and false representations involving savings, fees, plus fraud-control features. Permanent injunction terms barred FleetCor from billing without informed consent alongside clear disclosures. That order also prohibited deceptive fuel-card claims or hiding material information behind hyperlinks.

#fleetcor #savings

A column of black smoke has been seen near Riyadh's international airport hours after air raid alerts were issued in the Saudi capital.
It was the first time residents had been given an alert and urged to stay indoors since a recent escalation in the conflict with Iran-backed Houthi militants in neighbouring Yemen.
A number of apparent explosions have since been heard in the capital and major problems reported at King Khalid International Airport, with the tracking website FlightRadar24 reporting long delays and cancellations.
One report suggested a fuel tank had been set on fire near the airport. There has been no official comment from Saudi authorities.
An AFP journalist reported that firefighters could be seen trying to extinguish the flames of a burnt-out fuel tank belonging to state oil and gas company Aramco.

#since

XRP serves three live functions: cross-currency payment settlement, collateral at Ripple Prime, and streaming payments for AI software agents via Stripe's Machine Payments Protocol.
XRP's native Payment Channels enable streaming micropayments in one settlement transaction, a capability Ripple's own RLUSD stablecoin cannot yet match.
Agent payments remain in beta with zero live commercial volume, while payments and collateral already handle real institutional capital.
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XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) serves three key functions. It facilitates payment settlements between currencies, acts as collateral for positions at prime brokers, and more recently, it covers expenses for software agents. The latter function was introduced through a standard co-authored by Stripe and Tempo, using XRP in a way Ripple's own dollar stablecoin has yet to achieve.

#payment #live #settlement #Streaming

Google on Friday disclosed the first known instance of its artificial intelligence software, Gemini, carrying out an undirected computer hack, weeks after similar disclosures by AI firms Anthropic and OpenAI raised security alarms about AI models going beyond the instructions of their human creators.
Google said in a statement that in May its AI model gained unauthorized access to three outside systems during a test by either guessing login information or using login credentials it found in a public repository.
Heather Adkins, a Google vice president for security engineering, said in the statement that the AI model thought that the outside computer systems “were part of the test,” but she said in all three instances, the model stopped before doing anything further with its access.
“In a standard evaluation, the model found public information online and guessed credentials to access websites it thought were part of the test,” she said.

#outside

Trump signed the legislation into law on Friday, the White House said.
LONDON -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday thanked President Donald Trump for signing into law a bill championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, which allows for the expansion of sanctions on Russia related to Moscow's ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Trump signed the bill on Friday, the White House said in a statement, after the legislation passed both the House and Senate with strong bipartisan backing. The legislation "authorizes and expands statutory sanctions, tariffs and prohibitions on Russia and extends existing sanctions on Iran," the White House said.
The bill's passage came about two months after Graham died suddenly following a tear in his aorta. Graham had long been an advocate of U.S. support for Kyiv and more stringent measures on Russia and the regime headed by President Vladimir Putin. In 2024, Russia's state financial monitoring agency added Graham to its list of alleged "terrorists and extremists."
In a post to Telegram on Friday night, Zelenskyy thanked Trump for signing what he called "critically important legislation," extending his thanks to "all the senators and members of the House of Representatives who supported it."

#legislation #white #Russia #zelenskyy

Financial services company Enova International (NYSE: ENVA) seemed headed for the investor doghouse late Thursday. The company, which focuses on lending to underserved individuals and small businesses, withdrew its applications for banking licenses.
As investors considered this a defeat for the company, they promptly and vigorously sold the stock. As of Thursday evening, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, its price had fallen by nearly 20% week to date.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
In December 2025, Enova announced it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Grasshopper Bancorp, the holding company for a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-insured online lender Grasshopper Bank. Around that time, Enova submitted a clutch of applications to federal and state authorities for it to provide banking services as Grasshopper's would-be owner.
Enova said the decision was in the best interests of the company and its investors. It cited a lack of clarity in the authorization process as a roadblock for its ambition.

#signal

Data center developer Crusoe said Thursday it raised $3.9 billion in a Series F round that pushes its valuation to $30.9 billion. The massive round was co-led by Atreides Management, Mubadala Capital, and Valor Equity Partners. Founders Fund, GIC, Nvidia, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Radical Ventures, and TPG also participated, according to Crusoe.
Crusoe also announced three new board members, including Cloudflare CFO Thomas Seifert; Bill Stein, partner and CIO at Primary Digital Infrastructure; and Redwood Materials founder and CEO JB Straubel, who also sits on Tesla's board. Straubel already has ties to Crusoe; he personally invested in the company in 2021, and Crusoe later became the first customer of Redwood's energy storage business.
The eight-year-old company's fresh capital infusion will help finance existing data center projects, including a large site in Abilene, Texas, used by OpenAI, as well as smaller, modular AI factories that can be transported by truck and connected to large power sources almost anywhere.
By manufacturing these modular data centers, called Spark, at its own facilities, Crusoe can deploy compute capacity quickly and without the need for large construction workforces. The smaller centers could also help Crusoe sidestep, at least in part, another major obstacle facing data center developers: backlash from local communities protesting massive complexes near their neighborhoods.
Crusoe co-founder and CEO Chase Lochmiller, who is pictured above, said in a statement he believes AI will usher in an era of abundance, but to get there will mean "controlling the infrastructure from electrons to tokens, and we're grateful to have investors who share that conviction."

#straubel #round

Logistic Properties of the Americas (NYSEAMERICAN:LPA) moved closer to selling Parque Logístico Lima Sur after Peru's antitrust authority, INDECOPI, approved the transaction on September 11. FIBRA Prime would acquire the entire 1.3-million-square-foot logistics park for $145 million. Customary administrative closing matters remain outstanding.
Management expects approximately $85 million of net proceeds after debt repayment and before taxes, with Mexico the intended destination. Approval advances the financing of that expansion, while the investment case rests on replacing an established income stream.
Lima Sur generated $10.3 million of cash net operating income, or cash NOI, during the 12 months ended March 31, 2026. Cash NOI is a company-defined non-IFRS measure of property income after operating expenses, adjusted to remove straight-line rental accounting. It excludes corporate overhead, financing costs, income taxes, and other non-property items.
Logistic Properties of the Americas (NYSEAMERICAN:LPA) has demonstrated an ability to develop, lease and operate logistics ***** ets. Second-quarter revenue increased 26.1% to $14.7 million, while stabilized portfolio occupancy reached 100% as of June 30.
Mexico already contributes revenue. Two properties acquired in Puebla in August 2025 generated approximately $0.5 million during the second quarter. That provides an operating foothold for deploying proceeds.

#cash #logistic #nyseamerican #Mexico

In late 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT, and within months the bottom rung of the tech-industry career ladder started to disappear. Graduates who majored in computer science and other AI-exposed fields are increasingly missing out on the jobs they trained for, and a chunk of them are landing behind restaurant counters and retail registers instead, according to two Census Bureau papers.
An April 2026 Census paper tracked matched employer-employee records and found that hiring of workers ages 22 to 24 fell sharply in the industries most exposed to AI, while hiring in less-exposed industries held steady. Employment for early-career workers in the most AI-exposed fifth of industries dropped 12% over the ten quarters after ChatGPT's release. Lee Tucker, one of the coauthors of the paper, said "the decline in hires is the primary cause" of that rate of unemployment, not people losing jobs they already had.
That mattered most for one type of graduate. The most AI-exposed industries, Tucker found, cluster heavily around software and information-technology work, which are the very fields computer science and other highly AI-exposed majors are built to feed into.
A second paper from last week, also coauthored by Tucker, follows the graduates of the most AI-exposed decile of college majors. Their odds of holding a job one quarter after graduation fell by five percentage points, and full-quarter initial earnings dropped 13% following ChatGPT's release. A 13% earnings decline is roughly the size economists would expect from graduating into a severe recession—except there wasn't one, since the rest of the labor market held up fine.
Young grads still need to work and still have jobs, even if they've received highly exposed degrees. So the decline in earnings is less about a lack of employment and more about pursuing lower-wage occupations to make ends meet.

#graduates

The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has exercised a hold on a $2.8 billion weapons sale to Israel, The Hill has learned, allying with her counterpart in the House and underscoring deep mistrust with the Trump administration and Israeli government.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) has expressed frustration that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has done nothing to address concerns from, specifically, Democratic lawmakers over the high civilian death tolls in Gaza, Israel’s bombing in Syria and escalating violence against Palestinians by extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
The weapons package includes 40,000 one-ton bombs, munitions that the former Biden administration held back from sending to Israel for its indiscriminate destruction, contributing to the high death toll in the Gaza Strip.
An estimated 70,000 Palestinians were killed over the course of the three-year war between Israel and Hamas, according to Palestinian health officials, but that does not distinguish between militants and civilians.
Shaheen, as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations panel, has authority to hold back the Trump administration from moving ahead on weapons sales over a certain dollar amount. It’s generally an informal consultative process, where the State Department works to address a lawmaker’s concerns and get the green light before moving ahead on the arms sale.

#Israel #israeli #weapons #democrat

DANA POINT, California – Natalie Driessen drove down Beach Road on a mission, past neighbors whose houses fell into the sea and others now scrambling to prevent their property from collapsing next.
She had a video from March that she wanted everyone to see. When she spotted an Orange County supervisor outside what was left of one mangled kitchen and living room, Driessen pulled out her phone to play the clip of the California Coastal Commission — the powerful state agency tasked with preserving beaches — discussing a home in her gated community.
California beaches are considered public beyond a certain high tide line, the commissioners warned, and that waterline was rising. “I wonder,” one of the commissioners said, “how many years before I’m allowed to just pull up a chair — sit in their, you know, front deck porch and watch TV because it’s public land. … I don’t think we’re that far away from this, right?”
Storms and high tides — fueled by a near record-breaking El Niño — have battered the California coast in recent weeks, destroying homes and eroding beaches. The fallout has supercharged years-long tensions between the owners of coveted oceanfront property and the authorities they say aren’t doing enough to protect them.
The damage has intensified a bigger debate playing out around the coast: What can or should be done to save private property in the most vulnerable communities?

#years

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A shooting at a high school in the southern Philippines on Friday left two 14-year-old students and the teenage gunman dead and wounded at least eight people, local government and police officials said.
The shooting at Banga National High School in the South Cotabato town of Banga is under investigation, the Philippine National Police said in a statement. Police officers secured the campus and coordinated with school officials and medical responders, the statement said.
South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo said the two students killed were a boy and a girl, both 14. He said the gunman also shot himself and died.
Banga Mayor Albert Palencia told DZBB radio that the gunman hit 10 students in the classroom next to his, two of whom died while eight were wounded. A person who was hyperventilating was also brought to a hospital, according to the governor.
Tamayo said the gunman's best friend told officials that the teenager was a member of an online "true crimes community." Authorities were investigating the account and whether it had any connection to the shooting, he said.

#students #south

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) reported on September 9, 2026, that revenue for fiscal Q1 2027, ended August 1, 2026, increased 6% to $480.5 million. Funded backlog reached approximately $1.5 billion at quarter-end, up from $1.2 billion at April 30, 2026. This represents remaining work under firm customer orders with funding already appropriated, providing a concrete base for future revenue.
Non-GAAP adjusted diluted earnings were $0.59 per share, excluding acquired-intangible amortization, purchase-accounting adjustments, acquisition expenses, and net gains and losses on equity-method and equity-security investments. Adjusted EPS retains net interest income. The GAAP result was a $5.1 million net loss, or $0.10 per diluted share. The question is whether the expanding order base can produce stronger operating earnings and cash generation.
Bookings reached $683 million, producing a book-to-bill ratio of 1.4, calculated as bookings divided by revenue. Bookings measure authorized contract awards and modifications and can include work whose funding has not yet been obligated. The ratio indicates that new business exceeded revenue recognized during the quarter.
AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) is also translating demand into sales in Autonomous Systems, where revenue rose 21% to $346 million. That provides operating evidence behind the opportunity in unmanned aircraft and precision-strike systems.
Management maintained fiscal 2027 revenue guidance of $2.125 billion to $2.225 billion, and non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA of $305 million to $325 million. Adjusted EBITDA excludes net interest income or expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization from net income and further adjusts for stock compensation, acquisition expenses, cloud-computing amortization, net gains and losses on equity-method and equity-security investments, and other specified items.

#Equity

Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE:CRCL), issuer of the dollar-backed USDC stablecoin, announced on September 8 an agreement to acquire Singapore-based Tazapay, which serves payment providers and financial institutions.
Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE:CRCL) agreed to pay approximately $400 million in Class A common stock, subject to adjustments for debt, cash, and transaction expenses. Separately, the agreement provides for $25 million of post-closing employee restricted stock unit awards.
As of July 31, 2026, Tazapay had more than $25 billion of annualized payment volume, over 60 banking and fintech partners, and payout capabilities across more than 100 markets. Approximately 60% of transaction volume involves stablecoins; USDC's share was not specified. Payment volume represents funds processed, not revenue.
Closing is expected in 2027, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals, including approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Tazapay would strengthen the connections between digital dollars and local bank payments. Within the Circle Payments Network, originating institutions can convert funds into stablecoins for settlement, while receiving institutions convert them into local currency and pay recipients. Merchants can benefit without requiring every customer or supplier to hold tokens.

#tazapay

This story was originally published on Construction Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Construction Dive newsletter.
The combined application of six artificial intelligence-enabled levers can cut project costs by 17% to 20% while trimming schedules by 22% to 25%, according to an ***** ysis of a sample, 180,000-square-foot multifamily project by Suffolk Construction and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Suffolk and MIT published a white paper that tags six interrelated construction processes where AI can spur productivity gains.
The study's authors cite improvements in AI models, the tech's ability to sift through mounds of construction data and economic pressures to adopt AI as the driving forces behind the industry's increasing focus on AI.
The paper, ***** led "Construction in the Age of AI," defines the six key levers as:

#suffolk #published #levers #institute

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images
OpenAI on Wednesday disclosed six new incidents in which its models concealed mistakes, sought unauthorized credentials, uploaded files to the public internet or communicated across supposedly isolated training environments.
Why it matters: It's increasingly clear that the Hugging Face breach wasn't a one-off incident, as AI models become more capable of finding unexpected ways to work around the guardrails meant to contain them.

#illustration #grillo #axios #openai

The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bipartisan bill aimed at shielding Americans from increased electricity costs **** ociated with data centers being built across the country.
The Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed with an overwhelming 417-3 majority, "ensures American families are not left footing the bill for the grid upgrades and new energy generation required to operate large data centers," Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, one of the bill's sponsors, said ahead of the vote.
The bill now moves to the Senate, where its prospects of passing are uncertain.
The Ratepayer Protection Act is the first major piece of legislation taken up by Congress to address the growing public discontent over the mass buildout of data centers among the American public. Even if it passes, though, it won't directly set the rates that data center operators pay for their electricity.
Congress doesn't have the power to compel utilities to set higher rates for the facilities. Only states have that authority. What the Ratepayer Protection Act would do is compel state utility regulators to consider adopting a federal standard under which large data centers would cover the extra costs of upgrades. The bill is comparable to a proclamation signed by President Trump earlier this year that established a similar voluntary pledge for tech companies.

#passed

On August 14, the Pentagon announced framework agreements with The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) and RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) to increase component production for the SM-3 Block IIA and SM-3 Block IB interceptors. Both agreements are intended to increase the output of a group of ship-fired, surface-to-air interceptors that serve as the foundation for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, the sea-based shield used by the US Navy to intercept ballistic missiles.
The announcement had little impact on the shares of both companies, with The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) down around 0.4% and RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) down about 1% during the day.
RTX Corporation (NYSE:RTX) alone inked five separate Pentagon deals earlier this year to greatly boost output of Tomahawk cruise missiles, AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, and the Standard Missile family, with Tomahawk production expected to increase sixteenfold, from approximately 60 to 1,000 units per year.
Congress has provided financial support for the effort. The 2026 defense spending bill provided multiyear procurement authority for eight critical munitions and more than $6.3 billion for 13 critical munitions, while the Pentagon's fiscal 2027 budget request calls for roughly $95 billion in missile procurement.
Rising tensions with Iran have added urgency to rebuild US missile inventories. During the June 2025 12-day Israel-Iran war, US forces reportedly used more than 150 THAAD interceptors. This highlights the pressure that sustained conflict can place on American missile-defense stockpiles.

#missile #corporation #missiles #pentagon

Oil prices spiked on Tuesday, climbing back toward recent highs as headlines from the Middle East — in particular, Saudi Arabia — intensified growing pressure on the physical market.
Futures on Brent crude (BZ=F), the international benchmark, picked up more than $2.80 to cross back over $108.50 a barrel and approach the $109 mark seen on Monday. Meanwhile, those on US benchmark WTI crude (CL=F) jumped by roughly $3.50 to trade above $104.50.
Worries about oil exports from the Persian Gulf continued to grow on Tuesday, with Saudi Arabia in focus as market watchers attempt to ****** s damage to the kingdom's oil infrastructure, critical to moving oil out of the Persian Gulf while the Strait of Hormuz remains wracked by the US-Iran conflict.
Saudi Arabia has faced a series of attacks on critical energy infrastructure from the Yemeni Houthi militia group and other Iran-backed proxy forces operating in Iraq, the most pressing of those being strikes that over the weekend forced Saudi authorities to shutter the kingdom's East-West pipeline.
The East-West line carries oil to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, where it is loaded onto tankers that can take oil south through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which runs along Yemen, or north to the Suez Canal and the adjacent SUMED pipeline to the Mediterranean Sea.

#gulf

Brent crude climbed above $108 a barrel on Tuesday as traders grew increasingly uncertain about when Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline would reopen, with fresh Houthi attacks on the kingdom and suspended oil loadings at its Red Sea export terminal adding to supply fears.
By 1:00 p.m. ET, Brent futures had climbed 3% to $108.88 per barrel, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate up 4.7% at $106.12. A close at those levels would mark the highest settlement for either contract in close to four months, according to Reuters. Prices have risen around 20% this month as fighting in the Persian Gulf has escalated.
According to shipping industry sources who spoke with Reuters, crude loadings at the Yanbu terminal on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast had been halted as of Tuesday. Separately, sources told Reuters that Saudi officials had notified European buyers that certain crude shipments scheduled for late September would not proceed.
Saudi Arabia shut down the East-West Pipeline after drone attacks originating from Iraq struck it last week, forcing the kingdom to halt the export route it had been using to bypass the Strait of Hormuz during the U.S.-Iran war. The pipeline can move up to 7 million barrels per day. Saudi officials have described the closure as a precautionary measure but have not provided a damage ******* sment or a timeline for resuming operations. U.K. authorities fear the pipeline may remain mostly shut for six weeks, according to Bloomberg.
Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen carried out additional strikes on Saudi Arabia on Monday. According to a spokesperson for the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen, the group fired drones and ballistic missiles targeting the cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha, and Taif. According to Reuters, the Houthis claimed to have struck a military air base in Khamis Mushait, with their stated targets including hangars, radar installations, runway infrastructure, and stores of ammunition.

#west #east

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Valneva SE (NASDAQ:VALN) reported on August 14 that the European Medicines Agency has validated the Marketing Authorization Application for PF-07307405, the companies' experimental Lyme disease vaccine candidate, and will now begin the official review.
For a vaccine candidate first proposed in a 2020 collaboration deal between Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and French biotech Valneva SE (NASDAQ:VALN), this represents the formal transition from years of clinical development into European regulatory review.
The application is based on the Phase 3 VALOR trial, a placebo-controlled, randomized study of 9,437 participants aged five and older from high-incidence Lyme disease locations in US, Canada, and Europe. Participants got four doses on a phased schedule: one at months 0, 2, and 5-9, followed by a fourth dosage around a year later, shortly before the start of the next Lyme season. Topline data released in March 2026 demonstrated efficacy of over 70% in reducing confirmed Lyme disease cases, with the vaccine generally tolerated and no safety issues detected. However, the statistical picture was less clean than the headline efficacy suggests. The first prespecified **** ysis, which served as the primary endpoint, showed 73.2% efficacy but failed the trial's predefined statistical criterion because the lower bound of the 95% confidence interval was 15.8%, below the required 20%. A second prespecified **** ysis showed 74.8% efficacy and did meet that threshold.
Valneva SE (NASDAQ:VALN), the smallest of the two partners, views the vaccine as a clean competitive setup. According to the company, PF-07307405 is the most advanced Lyme disease vaccine candidate currently in clinical development, a rare spot in the vaccine industry where new entrants often face competition from existing treatments. Under the terms of the 2020 partnership and license agreement, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) will have exclusive rights to produce and commercialize the vaccine if it is approved, while Valneva SE (NASDAQ:VALN) will benefit as a development partner.
The institutional stance is very different between the two companies, reflecting their very different sizes. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) is still a strong name in the institutional **** e, with hedge fund ownership stable at 83 funds in the second quarter of 2026, the same as the first quarter, reflecting its position as a large, diversified pharmaceutical holding, rather than a name driven by a specific pipeline event. Valneva SE (NASDAQ:VALN), however, has little hedge fund exposure, with only 4 funds holding a position in the second quarter, up from 1 in the first quarter, reflecting the continued lack of visibility of the smaller partner among institutional investors.

#vaccine #pfizer #NYSE

Broyhill ***** et Management, a Charlotte-based firm, issued its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, which is available for download here. The Broyhill Equity Composite gained 8.8% in Q2, trailing the MSCI All Country World Index's 15.1% and the MSCI ACWI Value Index's 10.8%. For the first half, the Composite returned 2.3%, versus 11.5% for the Index. The letter highlights that a significant portion of the shortfall occurred in April due to market dynamics and geopolitical events, with tech, particularly semiconductors, driving recent gains. Broyhill notes its lack of direct semiconductor exposure but acknowledges potential interest in the sector if opportunities arise, maintaining its investment philosophy focused on capital protection in fragile market conditions. Also, check the fund's top five holdings to see its best picks in 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Broyhill ***** et Management highlighted Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS). Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS), a US-based home improvement and building products manufacturer, contributed positively to performance this quarter. On September 14, 2026, Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS) closed at $69.41 per share. Over the past month, Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS) declined 5.41%, but its shares are down 5.31% over the past year. Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS) has a market capitalization of $13.69 billion, and its stock has traded within a 52-week range of $58.16 to $83.64.
Broyhill ***** et Management stated the following regarding Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
"Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS) gained 37%, the best result in the portfolio, and was initiated in the first quarter as one of two investments in the depressed housing sector. The quarter was plumbing-led and, more to the point, volume-led, with the strongest volume growth since the end of the pandemic and pricing intact. Management raised the topline outlook, took out delayed-draw leverage to repurchase stock, and increased the buyback guide by $200 million, to more than $800 million against a $2 billion authorization. Earlier in the quarter, our investment team also attended Masco's investor day and was able to interact with management at the event."
Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS) is not on our list of the 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. According to our database, 46 hedge fund portfolios held Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS) at the end of the second quarter, compared to 42 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

#corporation #letter

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Valneva SE (NASDAQ:VALN) reported on August 14 that the European Medicines Agency has validated the Marketing Authorization Application for PF-07307405, the companies' experimental Lyme disease vaccine candidate, and will now begin the official review.
For a vaccine candidate first proposed in a 2020 collaboration deal between Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and French biotech Valneva SE (NASDAQ:VALN), this represents the formal transition from years of clinical development into European regulatory review.
The application is based on the Phase 3 VALOR trial, a placebo-controlled, randomized study of 9,437 participants aged five and older from high-incidence Lyme disease locations in US, Canada, and Europe. Participants got four doses on a phased schedule: one at months 0, 2, and 5-9, followed by a fourth dosage around a year later, shortly before the start of the next Lyme season. Topline data released in March 2026 demonstrated efficacy of over 70% in reducing confirmed Lyme disease cases, with the vaccine generally tolerated and no safety issues detected. However, the statistical picture was less clean than the headline efficacy suggests. The first prespecified **** ysis, which served as the primary endpoint, showed 73.2% efficacy but failed the trial's predefined statistical criterion because the lower bound of the 95% confidence interval was 15.8%, below the required 20%. A second prespecified **** ysis showed 74.8% efficacy and did meet that threshold.
Valneva SE (NASDAQ:VALN), the smallest of the two partners, views the vaccine as a clean competitive setup. According to the company, PF-07307405 is the most advanced Lyme disease vaccine candidate currently in clinical development, a rare spot in the vaccine industry where new entrants often face competition from existing treatments. Under the terms of the 2020 partnership and license agreement, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) will have exclusive rights to produce and commercialize the vaccine if it is approved, while Valneva SE (NASDAQ:VALN) will benefit as a development partner.
The institutional stance is very different between the two companies, reflecting their very different sizes. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) is still a strong name in the institutional **** e, with hedge fund ownership stable at 83 funds in the second quarter of 2026, the same as the first quarter, reflecting its position as a large, diversified pharmaceutical holding, rather than a name driven by a specific pipeline event. Valneva SE (NASDAQ:VALN), however, has little hedge fund exposure, with only 4 funds holding a position in the second quarter, up from 1 in the first quarter, reflecting the continued lack of visibility of the smaller partner among institutional investors.

#disease

Robert Kiyosaki isn't pulling punches this time. The "Rich Dad Poor Dad" author said on X early Tuesday that the "biggest crash in history has started," pointing to turbulence in Europe and **** an as the opening act of a global downturn he says he predicted more than two decades ago.
Kiyosaki tied his warning to his 2002 book, "Rich Dad's Prophecy," which he said was written to help people "profit and not be victims" of a massive stock and bond market collapse.
He argues that the crash is now unfolding in 2026, driven by a mix of AI mania, geopolitical tensions including the war in Iran, excessive debt levels, and the retirement of the Baby Boom generation.
"In 2026, that crash started, in Europe and **** an and is spreading across the world. It's caused by many factors, the AI frenzy, war in Iran, too much debt, and a retiring Baby Boom generation," he wrote on X.
For investors with 401(k)s, IRAs, or similar retirement accounts, especially those over 40, the message is stark: you may be in trouble unless you act.

#started

Tributes began pouring in Wednesday after a news helicopter crashed in Los Angeles, leaving three people dead.
The crash occurred just before 7 p.m. local time Tuesday in the Chatsworth area of the San Fernando Valley, as the news chopper was covering a road traffic accident.
Angel City Air operated the helicopter, which was providing news coverage for NBC Los Angeles.
The victims aboard the helicopter were identified as Eliana Moreno, a journalist familiar to viewers of the station and its Spanish-language sister station, Telemundo 52, and pilot George Marciniw. The pair began flying together in 2023.
A pedestrian on the ground was also confirmed to have died at the scene, officials said. Authorities identified the third victim as Edy Gutiérrez Mejia, 29.

#wednesday

Wednesday’s Senate confirmation hearing wasn’t the first time much of the American public met Dr. Nicole Saphier and heard her perspective; President Donald Trump’s nominee for US surgeon general is a health and wellness influencer who has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers through her podcast and social media platforms.
In some ways, the surgeon general position – often referred to as the nation’s doctor – is the original health influencer, tasked with translating science into terms that are easy to understand and guiding the public on ways to improve their health.
“For a decade, I have specialized in translating complex, fast-evolving medical information on various media platforms into content that millions of Americans can understand and use, including during the uncertainty of the global pandemic,” Saphier, a radiologist and Fox News contributor, said in Wednesday’s hearing.
“I realized then how badly this country needs public health communication that is straightforward and grounded in the best evidence available,” she said. “My years of communicating directly with the public have prepared me to explain complex topics in a way that they can understand.”
But experts say that social media has changed how people receive health information, with increasingly blurred lines as to who is considered to have authority and expertise – and that bringing an influencer into the role of surgeon general presents both opportunities and challenges.

#public #saphier #hearing

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Every month, Washington releases a closely watched number intended to show Americans how quickly their living costs are changing.
But "Rich Dad Poor Dad" author Robert Kiyosaki says that number is not simply another piece of economic data. In his telling, it is evidence of a quiet theft that has already taken place.
Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one
A record 45% of central banks plan to grow gold reserves — and many investors are following suit. Get your free gold IRA guide from Priority Gold

#moneywise #poor