On:

Good morning, it’s finance editor Jeff John Roberts pinch-hitting for Allie. Term Sheet readers of a certain age may recall when a young and still up-and-coming company called Google went on an acquisition spree for the ages. In a four-year span starting in 2003, the search giant hoovered up two ad tech firms, DoubleClick and AdSense, that gave it a full suite of digital advertising tools. And for good measure, it acquired the firm that built the tech behind Google Earth as well as two little startups called Android and YouTube. That shrewd run of M&A is a big reason why Google, now Alphabet, is today one of the dominant companies on the planet.

I raise all of this because Stripe has been on a shopping spree of its own that, if things go right, could one day prove as successful as what Google pulled off 20 years before. Leaving aside its aborted play for PayPal (more on that in a moment), Stripe has since late 2024 acquired two crypto players, Privy and Bridge, that were leaders in the fields of wallets and stablecoins respectively. The fintech giant has also purchased a firm called Ourum that specializes in account verification and bank transfers, as well as Metronome, which handles usage-based billing. For good measure, Stripe this month closed on a deal worth around $7.5 billion for the buzzy AI distribution service OpenRouter. 

Put it all together and Stripe, like Google before it, is strategically absorbing firms that will help it consolidate its existing lead in its core service, while also building capacity in two fields—in this case blockchain and AI—that will define the next decade of technology. 

That brings us to the aborted PayPal deal. The would-be acquisition, which was cooked up this spring, came undone this week after a recent uptick in PayPal’s share price suddenly made Stripe’s original offer of $60.50 per share look too cheap. Had the deal worked out, it would have added a critical additional piece to Stripe’s growing empire: A massive consumer-facing business to complement its existing merchant-heavy customer base.

According to James Wester, a research director at Javelin Strategies, the PayPal deal falling through may have been for the best. Wester points out that it would have been a tough cultural fit for Stripe, which he says is defined by a developer-focused ethos, and has little in common with a lumbering older brand like PayPal.

Wester also notes that Stripe can only bite off so much since, as a private company, it is relatively constrained in how much capital it has to throw around. Google, by contrast, carried out two of its major acquisitions—DoubleClick and YouTube—when it was flush with cash from its 2004 IPO.

As for the quality of Stripe’s acquisitions, and any forthcoming ones, it’s hard to predict how they will pan out.  Looking back at Google’s purchase of its ad tech stack, the obvious reaction is “OMG, what a steal, how did regulators let that go ahead?”—but that’s with the benefit of hindsight. It remains to be seen whether Stripe’s purchases will prove as prescient. As one competitor to whom I made the Google comparison pointed out, Yahoo made a lot of acquisitions in that era too—only to flame out and get bought by the phone company a decade later. Wester, though, thinks it’s unlikely that will be Stripe’s fate.

“As much as the analyst in me wants to look at these latest acquisitions for AI and stablecoins with a jaundiced eye, I can’t help but think they’ve been pretty good at this so far,” he said, adding that Stripe has been a master of anticipating where the payments landscape is going next.

In addition to a penchant for M&A, Stripe has another attribute that invites comparison to early era Google: Its knack for public relations. Even as the company has grown into a behemoth, its charismatic founders have preserved a down-home Irish image, burnished by the company’s “Cheeky Pint” video interview series. 

And unlike most fast-growing companies, Stripe makes no unforced errors. This can’t go on forever, of course. Just as sheer size and media glare forced Google to drop its “Don’t Be Evil” corporate logo, Stripe is likely to show sharper elbows in coming years. Then, there is the matter of antitrust, which became one of the few forces to slow Google down. Stripe is still not of the scale to worry about that yet—and antitrust seems to be out the window in the Trump era in any case—but don’t be surprised if all those acquisitions cause legal trouble down the road. 

For now, though, Stripe can enjoy its current sweet spot of being powerful and likable at the same time, just as Google did long ago.

See you tomorrow, 

Jeff John Roberts
X: @jeffjohnroberts
Email: jeff.roberts@fortune.com

Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here. Subscribe here.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Billionaire investor Leon Black refused to appear for a sworn deposition before Congress on Thursday and instead sued the House Oversight Committee, asking a federal court to block subpoenas issued as part of its investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The House Oversight Committee served Black with two subpoenas during a closed-door voluntary interview in June after lawmakers said he refused to answer questions about nondisclosure agreements. One subpoena demanded Black produce NDAs and other documents, while the other compelled him to return for a deposition before the committee.

Black’s lawsuit argues the subpoenas exceed the committee’s authority by seeking private information unrelated to Epstein or any legitimate legislative purpose. It asks a federal judge to declare the subpoenas invalid and prevent the committee from enforcing them.

“The Committee is on a fishing expedition that oversteps its authority and completely ignores its responsibility,” Black’s attorney, Susan Estrich, said in a statement. “This is no longer about finding the truth about Epstein. It is about trying to destroy Mr. Black.”

Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said Congress “must hold him in contempt immediately.”

“By refusing to testify today, Leon Black is now defying two congressional subpoenas,” Garcia said.

Black is the co-founder and former chief executive of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management. He stepped down in 2021 during the fallout over his ties to Epstein.

He is among a number of influential figures to appear in the investigation into Epstein and the web of wealth and influence around him. Other figures to have appeared for the investigation include former Democratic President Bill Clinton, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

Black is mentioned repeatedly in files that the Justice Department has released related to the Epstein investigation. He also appears in a collection of birthday messages sent to Epstein that were released by the House committee last year, including a poem attributed to Black that refers to “Blond, Red or Brunette, spread out geographically.”

Before the June 26 appearance before the committee, Black maintained that he was not aware of Epstein’s “nefarious activity” until 2019 and that he paid Epstein for legitimate purposes, in part due to his “unrivaled network of relationships” with influential figures.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Abdul El-Sayed, an epidemiologist-turned-politician, has no particular background in the treasury markets. Yet, Wednesday morning, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan offered his armchair analysis of the bond rout on X, writing that it was a “ringing alarm bell,” that investors’ confidence had been undermined by inflation, the war with Iran and pressure on the Fed. President Donald Trump, El-Sayed argued, was risking the economy in order to give it a “temporary sugar high through the midterms.” 

The post is just one in a fleet of partisan spin that El-Sayed and every other Senate candidate might make. And the forces driving the bond market are considerably more calculated than his post suggested.

But the political danger he identified is real: with the midterms a mere two months away, rising Treasury yields are threatening to make an Affordability 2.0 crisis flare up. 

Long-term bonds have been selling off across the most advanced economies, but it’s usually taken years. More of a  “slow burn” than a sudden shock, Robin Brooks, senior economics fellow at Brookings, wrote in a Substack published Wednesday. After years of ultra-low interest rates during the pandemic, followed by an intensive hiking cycle and unmoored fiscal spending, rates are in a melt-up in essentially every Western economy save for Switzerland and Sweden, which have kept their deficits low, Brooks notes. 

What’s new is that the selloff has spread to the 10-year treasury—the benchmark for mortgages, loans for cars and corporate spending—which started to also push up. The 10-year yield climbed above 4.8% this week, its highest level since October 2023, and the five-year sits right below 4.6%, up from below 4% in March.

“Sustained higher interest rates can translate into the balance sheets of households fairly quickly,” Stephen Kaplan, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University who has studied how bond markets constrain governments around elections, told Fortune. “And that can have repercussions during elections.”

Kaplan argued that voters are less likely to point fingers at Treasury Secretary Bessent than they are  to blame Trump. He compared it to how voters talk about inflation; they don’t necessarily care whether inflation is above the Fed’s 2% target, or PCE vs CPI, but they do certainly notice when beef and eggs start to cost more. By that same token, they notice when interest rates push up, making a house purchase untenable; or when companies stop hiring to save money from higher rates. 

The Trump administration has paid close attention to long-term rates. New York Post reporter Charles Gasparino reported last month that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was prepared to “put the fear of God” into bond vigilantes. Bessent has already announced Treasury buybacks and renewed reliance on short-term borrowing, in an effort to prevent long-term yields from climbing further. On Wednesday, at the G20 summit, he argued that the economy remains “very, very strong” and that interest rates should fall once the U.S. gets “on the other side” of the Iran conflict. 

Bessent also repeated a line that Warsh has used: that artificial intelligence will become “extremely disinflationary” once the productivity benefits hit, even within six months, he argued. 

But six months would be too late to bring down the numbers before the midterms. And voters are already judging the economy on its pressure points: in a Reuters poll conducted last week, nearly half of registered voters named the cost of living as the most important factor in their vote. And 71%of Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of the cost of living, compared to just 22% who approved. 

It’s the economy, stupid 

Broader political science literature suggests that those perceptions matter during midterms. Political scientist Edward Tufte famously described the midterm vote as a referendum on both the president’s performance and his administration’s management of the economy. Looking at elections from 1938 through 1970, his seminal 1978 study found that changes in presidential approval and voters’ real purchasing power were strongly associated with the national vote received by the president’s party. It truly is the economy, stupid. 

But that is also what makes the bond market such a weird adversary heading into a midterm election. Investors are not only adjudicating on inflation or the Fed. They are confronting an enormous supply of government debt, wondering if Washington has the political plan to stabilize it. 

“I don’t think anyone doubts the economic capacity of the United States,” Kaplan said. “It’s more this question of political will.” All the austerity options—cutting spending, reforming entitlements or raising taxes are measures politicians are reticent to embrace before an election. America’s reserve-currency status gives Washington more time than most countries to resolve that conflict, Kaplan said, but not indefinitely.

For now, Kaplan said, this is far from a U.S. debt crisis, or a Liz Truss affair. Kaplan described the current move more as a market nod to policymakers than an immediate act of discipline.

“Markets are giving a check,” Kaplan said. “The market’s kind of saying, okay, we’re concerned about inflation. We’re concerned about the economy. People are concerned about affordability. It’s a check: okay, what’s being done about it?”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Gloria Steinem, the celebrated author and activist who became one of the most visible symbols and potent voices of the U.S. women’s movement and a fierce advocate for feminist causes for over six decades, has died. She was 92.

With her trademark streaked hair parted down the middle and large aviator glasses, Steinem, a co-founder of Ms. Magazine, was a hugely recognizable presence wherever she went. And she went everywhere: Much of her life as an advocate was spent on the road, speaking at college campuses and community centers, at rallies and marches.

“You can’t do it on the phone or on the web,” she told The Associated Press in a 2015 interview. “You have to be there with all five senses. It should be obvious that people can’t empathize with each other unless we’re in the same room.”

Steinem, who had been in declining health, died Wednesday at her home in New York City, according to a post on her social media page. She had recently completed a memoir, to be released this fall.

“Gloria’s greatest gift was her ability to listen to others, to make others feel seen and heard,” the post said. “Her words, actions, and example gave people permission to be their truest selves.”

Though Steinem had recently become more frail physically, her wit and humor remained totally intact. Her friend and fellow activist, Abigail Disney, said she’d visited Steinem’s Manhattan home a bit over a week ago, as those close to her gathered by her side. “She was just as funny and just as sharp as I have ever known her,” Disney said. And, she said, generous.

“Everything Gloria did was rooted in kindness,” Disney said. “It flowed through her political activism.”

Steinem changed her career path after a start as a journalist

Steinem began her career as a journalist, notably reporting in 1963 on degrading conditions in Hugh Hefner’s Playboy empire — an undercover assignment she came to later regret. She credits a meeting six years later, where women spoke out in favor of abortion rights, with changing her career path.

“That speak-out was the beginning of activism for me,” Steinem, who had undergone a secret illegal abortion herself at age 22, told the AP in an email in 2022, reflecting on the reversal of Roe v. Wade. “Either our control over our own bodies is equal, regardless of sex or race, or we’re not living in a democracy.”

Those who watched Steinem denounce discrimination for so many years likely never suspected that she’d had to overcome a deep fear of public speaking. She would have simply stuck to writing, she said, if only editors at the time had been willing to let her write about the women’s movement.

But they weren’t interested, she told the AP in 2015. “So I ended up going out and speaking, which was my nightmare,” she said. “I mean, I was terrified. But I’m grateful, even though I still get scared even now.”

Steinem’s visibility endured throughout her life

Time hardly slowed Steinem down; through her 80s, she was traveling the globe and speaking out on issues of importance to her. These included everything from genital mutilation to Korean reconciliation, but it was equality for women that took precedence. “Being a feminist means that you see the world as whole instead of half,” she once said. “It shouldn’t need a name, and one day it won’t.”

As the years went on, Steinem’s visibility endured. A few days after her 85th birthday, she was leading a women’s “talking circle” at an off-Broadway play celebrating her life, where one by one, women in the audience — many fighting tears — rose to thank her and tell their own stories of discrimination. In 2020, her life was the subject of a feature film, “The Glorias, A Life on The Road.”

And at 91, she collaborated on a picture book with Liberian peace activist and Nobel laureate Leymah Gbowee aimed at inspiring young people to change the world. “Rise, Girl, Rise: Our Sister-Friend Journey. Together for All” was published in February.

The constant visibility came with a price; even into her older years, Steinem expressed frustration that despite her accomplishments, she was often described as beautiful or glamorous. A 1992 Vanity Fair profile even noted her “spectacular racehorse legs.”

“Nobody ever called me beautiful until I was publicly a feminist, and that was in my mid-30s,” she told AP in a 2011 interview. “It was clear that label was being assigned to me. The most hurtful part is that you work very hard, and people say it’s because of your looks.”

Steinem often responded to hostility with humor

Of course, Steinem also had to deal with hostility — sometimes from surprising places. Appearing on Larry King’s talk show on CNN in 1990, she was visibly stunned when a female caller greeted her cheerfully, then told her to “rot in hell” because she had ruined “the beautiful American family.”

But by then, she noted, at least people were taking feminists seriously. That wasn’t the case in 1972 when she co-founded Ms. Magazine and many commentators — especially male — dismissed it as ridiculous, predicting an early demise.

Among Steinem’s detractors was President Richard Nixon, who was caught on an Oval Office tape ridiculing both her and the “Ms.” title. The ridicule was mutual: In a 1972 National Press Club speech, Steinem called Nixon “the most sexually insecure chief of state since Napoleon.”

It was just one example of Steinem’s trademark wit. Before she married at 66, she often explained her singlehood by saying “I can’t mate in captivity.” Laughter, she wrote, was “the only free emotion — the only one that can’t be compelled.”

Steinem led an unconventional childhood

Gloria Marie Steinem was born on March 25, 1934, in Toledo, Ohio. Her father was a traveling antique salesperson; she spent her early years on the road with her parents, not attending regular school. “I just read everything I could get my hands on,” she told an audience at Manhattan’s 92NY earlier this year.

In 1944 her parents divorced, and 10-year-old Gloria was left to take care of her mother, a once-promising journalist who struggled to combine her work with running a household and who eventually suffered a nervous breakdown.

As a young girl she excelled at tap dancing — it was even going to be her “ticket out of Toledo,” she said. That particular career did not materialize, though, and she attended Smith College in the 1950s — a time when, she said, women were being educated to be mothers and wives.

But marriage was not on Steinem’s mind. “I was engaged to a very nice man. It wasn’t his fault, but I just didn’t want to get married,” she told her 2026 audience. Instead, she took a modest fellowship to travel to India. After that, Steinem headed to Manhattan, where she couldn’t rent her own apartment because landlords assumed if a single woman “could earn enough, you must be a hooker.”

She wanted to write about politics. But editors gave her assignments on food, fashion, and, in what she jokingly called “the lowpoint of my life,” an article about textured stockings. Even more demoralizing was her experience with an editor who, she said, gave her a choice one day: Spend the afternoon in a hotel with him, or mail his letters on the way out.

She chose to mail the letters. “There was no word for sexual harassment then,” she has said. “It was just life.”

But one assignment in 1963 sounded compelling: posing as a Playboy Bunny for an exposé in the now-defunct Show magazine. Steinem auditioned, assuming she’d be weeded out. But she was given her bunny costume — “so tight, it would give a man a cleavage” — and worked at the job for about a month.

“I could not have made a bigger mistake,” she told the AP in 2011. “It was personally and professionally a disaster. In the short term, it was much harder to get assignments, and in the long term it’s been used to ridicule me.”

Steinem’s writing became more political in her 30s

Steinem was in her 30s when she joined the editorial board of New York magazine, and her writing became more political. In 1969, she went to cover an abortion rights hearing. She had never told anyone about her illegal abortion at 22, in London. That was the moment, she has said, that triggered her career as a women’s rights activist.

Steinem founded the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971 along with Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm and Bella Abzug.

Unlike her friend Abzug, however, Steinem was not comfortable in front of a crowd. Gradually, with her early speaking partner Dorothy Pitman Hughes, a Black feminist and child welfare advocate, she found her footing. The two formed a powerful partnership at a time when feminism was viewed as largely a white, middle-class movement. In an iconic photo, the two raise their right arms together in the Black Power salute.

As she grew more famous, Steinem drew attention not just for her work but for a glamorous Manhattan life. Asked once about her streaked hair and aviator glasses, she explained that the hair was inspired by Holly Golightly, the free-spirited character in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

The glasses? They were “more about hiding,” she said.

When reaction was hostile, Steinem would try to reason that it was a step above ridicule. But sometimes it stung, like a snarky Esquire profile in the early ’70s, so hurtful that she cried, and colleagues called a news conference to defend her.

Steinem co-founded Ms. Magazine and stayed with it as an adviser

Then came Ms. Magazine in 1972. “I was so obsessed with the fear that it would fail and be a disgrace to the movement,” Steinem said later. And opponents hoped that would happen. TV newsman Harry Reasoner, an especially tart critic, later apologized on air. Steinem continued with Ms. until it was bought in 2001 by the Feminist Majority Foundation, and remained an adviser.

Steinem never had children, and said she never regretted it. “No, not for a millisecond,” she told the AP. “It’s important that some of us not have children, to show that we have a choice.”

In 2000, Steinem made a choice she’d never planned to: She got married, at 66, to British activist and businessman David Bale, whom she met at a fundraiser. Bale was the father of actor Christian Bale.

“I thought, ‘I haven’t changed, marriage had changed,’” Steinem said. “David and I wanted to be together, we loved each other. He needed a green card.” They married at a Cherokee ceremony in Oklahoma. Several years later, he became ill with brain lymphoma, and Steinem cared for him until his death in 2003.

Steinem said she had few regrets in life, but did miss being present when her father died. She received word that he’d been in a serious car accident, but did not respond in time, and he died alone. “I had taken care of my mom as a child, and I feared I’d never come back,” she explained. She was also sorry that she didn’t become closer to her mother. “I was so fearful of becoming her,” she said in an HBO documentary, “Gloria: In Her Own Words.”

Steinem’s many books included ‘A Life on the Road’ — though she never learned to drive

Steinem’s books included the 2015 road memoir “A Life on the Road” — but she wryly noted at the time that she’d never learned to drive. It would have taken away, she said, from her ability to converse with hosts who picked her up from airports or train stations. And, she noted, she always loved to chat with taxi drivers.

On Jan. 21, 2017, when hundreds of thousands of women gathered in Washington in their pink “pussy hats” for the historic Women’s March, it surprised nobody that the keynote speaker, and the most rousing, was Steinem.

“We are linked,” she told the crowd. “And this is a day that will change us forever because we are together.”

For many women, Steinem was the galvanizing voice that day. She would go on to advocate fiercely. But, though many saw her as a singular figure in history, she often liked to say that if she hadn’t come along, someone else would have accomplished the same things.

By the same token, she said, it was less important that younger people listen to her, and more important that they listen to themselves.

“The primary thing is not that they know who I am,” she said, “but that they know who THEY are.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

The world’s richest have amassed an eye-watering stockpile of $15.1 trillion—and their heirs are set to take over a third of the global billionaire fortune in the coming decade. Women and Gen Xers are set to take home the largest slice of the pie. 

About 5,000 spouses and adult children will inherit $6.6 trillion of billionaire wealth by 2035, according to a recent report from wealth-intelligence firm Altrata. 

More and more billionaires are inheriting part of their wealth thanks to the growing frequency of inter-generational estate transfers and family gifting. And within the next 10 years, new billionaire records could be broken as thousands more receive wealth from the current group of 3,795 billionaires—an all-time record. 

Looking ahead, women stand to gain the most from the great wealth transfer. Only 13% of current billionaires are women—but as men over the age of 60 dominate the ultra-rich cohort, more than 1,235 female spouses (representing 90% of billionaire partners) will inherit a sizable chunk in the next decade. Altrata says the mega-wealthy gender gap will narrow over time, and as their fortunes grow, there will be “greater diversity” in decision-making and ownership.

“[Rising female billionaire representation] could also spur more entrepreneurial activity and venture capital involvement among the wealthy female class, drive an expansion of female-focused wealth management services, and influence large-scale philanthropic endeavors,” the report says, adding that billionaire women are more involved in non-profit sectors than men are. 

Thousands of others stand to ride the wave of the trillion-dollar wealth transfer, including billionaires’ siblings, grandchildren, and organizations tied to philanthropic endeavors like non-profits and education institutions. 

But their adult children will be some of the biggest beneficiaries—especially Gen Xers.

Gen X children will be among the biggest inheritors

Baby boomer billionaires spent decades grinding it out and stockpiling their successes—and now, their grown-up children are getting in on the action. Altrata found that 23% of expected adult child heirs, typically aged around 48, already work with their ultra-rich parents in the primary family business. That means the latchkey generation is now poised to inherit a massive share of that wealth.

“Attention is often focused on young millennial and Gen Z heirs, but the Gen X demographic is by far the most numerous in line to inherit from their wealthy parent(s),” the Altrata report says. 

Rather than simply receiving cash deposits, adult heirs are set to take on a combination of real estate and shares in listed companies, private businesses, and investment portfolios. 

Then there’s carrying on their parents’ entrepreneurial legacy: Some billionaire children will lead family businesses that have passed down through generations, from manufacturing and consumer goods to finance and retail. 

And when wealth falls into their laps, these billionaire heirs are expected to shake things up. 

Young and middle-aged inheritors are more digitally savvy and activism-oriented than older generations. New technologies, responses to climate change, and “impact investing” could be huge areas of interest for these rich adult children, Altrata explains, which could run awry with how their older parents want to spend their fortunes. 

Geopolitical tension and AI will shape the great wealth transfer

As thousands of spouses and adult children step into wealth in the coming decade, they’ll be up against major headwinds. 

Altrata predicts that “further erosion of the global rules-based order,” climate pressures, tech transformation, and changes to the global economy in the AI era will shape the years ahead. 

“This substantial transfer of family wealth is set to occur in a world of rising complexity, tense geopolitics, and major environmental and technological change,” the report says. “A more unpredictable multipolar world, with shifting centers of power and influence, will complicate the succession-planning and wealth-preservation strategies of the global billionaire class.”

However, there is still opportunity in the chaos of the great wealth transfer. Altrata says that volatility gives next-gen billionaires new opportunities in business, investing, and philanthropy. 

As trillions of dollars change hands, inheritors won’t just take on their family fortunes—they’ll also have the chance to reshape how that wealth is invested, spent, and put to work.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said Thursday he could support leaving interest rates unchanged at the Fed’s September meeting if upcoming inflation data confirm that price pressures are finally moving lower.

That is an important shift.

Markets had moved sharply toward expecting another rate increase after higher oil prices and renewed inflation concerns rattled bonds and pushed Treasury yields higher.

Waller is now saying a September hike is not automatic.

His decision will depend heavily on the inflation data arriving before the Federal Open Market Committee meets on September 15 and 16.

What Waller Is Seeing

Waller acknowledged that inflation remains meaningfully above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

But he also said recent data are showing something policymakers have been waiting for:

Signs that inflation may finally be cooling again.

That distinction matters.

The Fed does not need inflation to already be at 2% before it stops raising rates.

It needs confidence that inflation is moving convincingly toward 2%.

If August inflation data continue that trend, Waller said maintaining the current federal-funds target range of 3.50% to 3.75% could be appropriate.

If inflation comes in hotter than expected, however, he remains prepared to support another rate increase.

Why Waller Matters

Waller is only one member of the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting committee.

But his comments matter because they show that policymakers are not united behind another hike.

Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh has taken a tougher tone on inflation, warning that the central bank must respond if price pressures remain too high.

Waller is emphasizing patience.

That debate will become increasingly important over the next two weeks.

The Fed is trying to determine whether the recent inflation pressure is becoming embedded throughout the economy or remains largely connected to temporary shocks such as energy prices and tariffs.

Oil Complicates Everything

The biggest new problem is energy.

Oil prices have jumped as conflict involving Iran has disrupted normal shipping through the Gulf.

Higher energy prices can quickly reach businesses and consumers through gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, transportation and electricity costs.

The Fed cannot produce more oil.

Raising interest rates does not reopen a shipping lane.

But policymakers worry that if higher energy costs remain in place long enough, businesses will begin passing those expenses into broader prices.

That is when an energy shock can become general inflation.

Waller appears willing to wait for evidence that this is actually happening before voting for another rate increase.

The Labor Market Gives the Fed Room to Wait

The employment picture is also giving policymakers conflicting signals.

Layoffs remain relatively low.

Weekly unemployment claims released Thursday were just 206,000, suggesting companies are not broadly cutting workers.

But hiring has slowed substantially.

That creates what economists increasingly describe as a no-hire, no-fire economy.

Businesses are holding onto the workers they already have but are becoming more cautious about adding new ones.

For the Fed, that matters.

If policymakers raise rates too aggressively while hiring is already cooling, they risk weakening the labor market unnecessarily.

Why Friday’s Jobs Report Matters

The next major test arrives Friday with the August employment report.

Investors will be watching:

  • How many jobs the economy created
  • Whether unemployment increased
  • How quickly wages are rising
  • Whether previous months are revised

A surprisingly strong labor report combined with stubborn inflation could strengthen the case for another hike.

A weaker employment report combined with cooler inflation would make a pause much easier to justify.

Rates Are Already Restrictive

Waller also noted that interest rates are already restraining the economy.

The federal-funds rate currently stands at 3.50% to 3.75%.

That means the question facing policymakers is no longer whether monetary policy should be tight.

It already is.

The question is whether it needs to become even tighter.

Every additional quarter-point increase makes mortgages, business loans, credit cards and other financing more expensive.

That can slow investment and consumer spending.

What It Means for Businesses

For business owners, Waller’s comments reduce — but do not eliminate — the risk of another immediate jump in borrowing costs.

Companies financing equipment, inventory, real estate or expansion have been watching Treasury yields and bank lending rates move higher as markets anticipated another Fed increase.

If the central bank pauses in September, some of that pressure could stabilize.

If inflation comes in hot and the Fed hikes again, borrowing conditions would tighten further.

That makes the next inflation reports unusually important.

The Fed is no longer simply fighting inflation.

It is trying to decide whether the inflation problem is serious enough to justify putting additional pressure on an economy where hiring is already slowing.

Waller’s message Thursday was essentially:

Do not raise rates simply because markets expect it. Wait for the data to prove another increase is necessary.

For businesses and investors, that makes September’s Fed decision much less settled than it appeared only days ago.

JBizNews Desk | Washington

© JBizNews.com All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or distribution without written permission is prohibited.

On:

On Wednesday, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced the company will be cutting 3,300 jobs, a tenth of its workforce worldwide.  It’s the biggest cuts since Covid, when the ride-share app cut 14% of its workforce, amounting to 3,700 jobs. 

“This wasn’t a decision we made lightly, because it will have a real impact on our teammates and friends who have worked hard for Uber,” Khosrowshahi wrote in a letter to employees. “It’s important to say that these changes are about how we’re organized and what we’re prioritizing, not about anyone’s contributions to Uber, which we will always value.”

Khosrowshahi said that the cuts were not because of a downturn in the economy—in fact he acknowledged Uber “has grown by orders of magnitude” in the past five years. Instead, it was simply because Uber had gotten too big to manage, and the cuts would help the company run it “faster and smarter.”

Uber made a 20% reduction in the number of employees who were seven layers or more removed from the CEO. The company also cut the number of “micro-teams” (those with only one or two direct reports) by half, and combined each delivery operations team in the restaurant, retail and direct sectors into one big team. 

“The outcome is a simpler org chart geared toward building versus managing,” he wrote. “Running these three businesses separately made sense in their early days, but that structure is no longer serving us at scale.”

Khosrowshahi said the decision was informed by conversations with employees who indicated that the company spent too much time coordinating instead of “building, shipping or serving customers.” 

Uber shares were up 1.61% at $76.45 on closing time. 

Khosrowshahi said the expected savings from making Uber leaner will be reinvested “in growth, innovation, and the capabilities that will matter most over the coming years,” one of which is putting more self-driving cars on the road in Uber’s network. 

“Our opportunity from here is enormous: we have the chance to bring Uber to hundreds of millions more people; to invest even more in drivers, couriers and merchants; and to innovate across our core businesses and build the autonomous future,” Khosrowshahi wrote. 

Uber’s president and chief operations officer Andrew MacDonald  said that nobody will own a car in the next 15 to 20 years because it’s a depreciating asset that sits idle most of the time, and that other forms of transport like self-driving cars and bikes will fill the void. 

“I think autonomous vehicles will be part of that,” MacDonald said last month. 

Uber’s ongoing $10 billion bet on self-driving cars 

Uber originally launched its autonomous vehicle unit Advanced Technologies Group in 2020—an over $7 billion valuation that accounted for more than 10% of its $61 billion market cap at the time. But Uber ended up selling the research unit of it to a startup by the end of the year, recognizing that it didn’t have the money to develop its own robotaxis. 

But the company didn’t give up on self-driving cars, pivoting to deploying them with partners like Rivian, Baidu, and Pony.ai in the Uber network. The ride-share app now expects to commit $10 billion to help bring them to market at scale, with 120,000 cars committed by partners. 

Khosrowshahi described the goal on the Q2 2026 earnings call as making Uber the “world’s leading commercialization platform for autonomous vehicles.”  

“Those results give us the ability to continue investing from a position of strength,” Khosrowshahi said. “We also continue to invest behind one of the largest opportunities in Uber’s history: autonomous vehicles.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

MK Karine Elharrar announced on Thursday that she will not run in the next election on behalf of the Yesh Atid party.

Elharrar is one of the party’s longest-serving Knesset members and has been with it since its establishment in 2012.

“Dear friends and partners, yes, yes, it’s my turn to issue a dramatic announcement,” Elharrar wrote.

“Fourteen years ago, Yair Lapid added me to the founding list of Yesh Atid and opened the door for me to the exciting world of politics, and for that I will always be grateful to him. Yair was and remains a friend and partner, a true leader who sees people as equals and always keeps the good of the country before his eyes.”

Elharrar also expressed her pride in being part of establishing “the best centrist party there is.”

MK Karine Elharrar speaks during a vote at the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset, in the Israeli parliament on March 12, 2025. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

“Over the years, I served both in the coalition and in the opposition, chaired Knesset committees, served as energy minister, and took part in national and international initiatives,” she wrote.

“I advanced significant legislation for children and young people at risk and for promoting women’s rights. I met and worked alongside partners on the journey who are truly among the best and most committed to changing and improving the country.”

Elharrar emphasized that, although she would not run on the Yesh Atid list for the next Knesset, she would remain in the party and continue to participate in the ongoing election campaign.

Yesh Atid sees broad changes in makeup ahead of 2026 elections

Elharrar’s announcement comes after a wave of departures from the party led by Yair Lapid.

On Wednesday, Debbie Biton and Tatiana Mazarsky also announced that they would not run in the upcoming election, joining a long list of Knesset members and senior figures who have left the party in recent months.

Among those who have departed are Meir Cohen, Mickey Levy, Elazar Stern, Ron Katz, Yoav Segalovitz, Orna Barbivai, Boaz Toporovsky, Yoel Razvozov, and Idan Roll.

Ahead of the unveiling of the new party list, Yesh Atid is facing a major change in its composition, with harsh assessments of its situation already being heard in the political system.

“Look at what is happening there,” a political source familiar with the developments said. “This is a party that was established in 2013. In its first election it won 19 seats, and in the last election it won 24, and it is simply coming to an end.”

Lapid criticizes media for claiming MKs left party

In his response to Elharrar’s statement, Lapid emphasized that she, along with several of the other party members who have announced their decision not to run in the upcoming election, would remain members of the Yesh Atid party.

“In recent days, five Knesset members from Yesh Atid announced that they will not run in the next elections. Meir Cohen, Mickey Levy, Karine Elharrar, Debbie Biton, and Tatiana Mazarsky,” Lapid wrote on X/Twitter.

“All five issued orderly statements in which they emphasized, ‘We are not leaving Yesh Atid. We remain members of the party. We believe in the path and the people; we will continue to work and do everything to help in the election campaign.'”

Lapid criticized the media for claiming that the party members had left Yesh Atid entirely, saying that he doesn’t “want to try to guess why the media keeps repeating a headline that is factually incorrect and just hurts both them and the party.”

Tzvi Jasper contributed to this report.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday the deaths of six more military personnel from US strikes this week, bringing the military death toll to at least 13.

The US strikes on Tuesday were the most extensive for weeks. In the latest report on military deaths, Tasnim said six members of the regular military, including three pilots, had been killed in southern Iran. It gave no additional detail on the location.

Tasnim had earlier reported that Tuesday’s strikes had killed three members of the paramilitary Basij on Lavan Island in the Gulf, with their funeral taking place in southern Iran on Wednesday.

The strikes also killed four members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps‘ (IRGC) Aerospace Force in western Iran, according to a statement by the guards published on Wednesday.

Iranian military casualties in the conflict that began in late February have been reported periodically, without official confirmation of overall tolls.

Smoke rises from explosions at an unknown location, following what US Central Command (CENTCOM) said were strikes on Iran in response to an Iranian drone strike on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, in this screen grab from video released June 26, 2026. (credit: US CENTRAL COMMAND/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

The war, which began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, has left thousands of people dead, the vast majority of them in Iran and Lebanon.

Iran highlights civilian toll amid ongoing conflict

On Wednesday, an Iranian health ministry official said on X that from August 30 to September 2, 18 people had been killed, including four people attending a wedding, and 142 had been wounded, drawing renewed attention to the civilian death toll.

Tasnim has also reported that US strikes on southern Iran on Sunday, which followed a month-long lull in clashes, had killed three people. Two were identified as members of the IRGC Navy by Iran’s Nournews outlet.

The US has reported 18 military personnel killed ​and more than 750 wounded in the war.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

The Islamic Republic’s ability to surveil the Strait of Hormuz and lay mines in the vital waterway has likely been significantly degraded by US attacks, the Institute for the Study of War assessed, noting that increased oil flows through the strait on September 1 suggest Iran is having difficulty preventing some commercial vessels from using the southern route.

US officials told Axios on Wednesday that approximately 40 vessels carrying millions of barrels of oil transited the Strait of Hormuz on September 1. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright also confirmed that oil tankers transported more than 17 million barrels of oil through the strait on August 31, the highest volume of oil exports through the waterway since the start of the US-Israel-Iran war.

The 17 million barrels is close to pre-war levels, which averaged 21.6 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2025.

These developments, according to ISW, suggest that Iran is having difficulty preventing some commercial vessels from using the southern route.

Additionally, ISW reported growing indications that Iranian forces are facing operational constraints that are preventing them from efficiently identifying vessels and laying mines in the strait.

Missiles are displayed during a military parade held by the Houthis, who are armed primarily by the IRGC. (credit: KHALED ABDULLAH/REUTERS)

IRGC turns to alternative methods as Hormuz surveillance is degraded

According to ISW, the IRGC recently attempted to use shore-based rocket launchers instead of fast-attack craft to deploy mines. It has also reportedly used fast-attack craft to physically identify vessels because Iran has only a few functioning radars capable of covering the southern route. ISW assessed that these less-optimal methods suggest that US strikes have degraded some of Iran’s maritime surveillance and mine-laying capabilities.

Though the IRGC has repeatedly claimed that vessels are striking naval mines in the strait, ISW assessed that the claims likely form part of an effort to preserve the perception that the southern route remains dangerous. US Central Command previously reported that US forces had cleared naval mines from the strait.

CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said last week that US forces had cleared an effective pathway for ships to leave the Persian Gulf, adding that the mines had been “highly degraded.”

However, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, an Iranian military officer and spokesperson, claimed on Wednesday that new mines had been laid.

“During last night’s operation, more naval mines were laid along the illicit routes south of the Strait of Hormuz; The only thing CENTCOM could do in response was rename the Strait using Photoshop,” he wrote on X. “Problem solved! You can just use Photoshop to get the oil tankers through, too!”

Iran appears to be investing in rebuilding its radar systems, ISW noted, citing a claim by US President Donald Trump that Iran had nearly rebuilt some of its radar systems before the US struck them again on September 1.

CENTCOM September 1st strikes Iranian targets

CENTCOM confirmed that its strikes on September 1 targeted Iranian air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites. ISW assessed that Iran is likely to continue attempting to reconstitute these capabilities because control of the Strait of Hormuz remains one of Tehran’s core objectives.

With its radars degraded, ISW suggested Iran would seek alternative ways to attempt control over the strait. An unnamed American source told Saudi-based Al Arabiya on Wednesday that CENTCOM’s Tuesday night strikes were a preemptive response to Iran considering disabling undersea cables.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Fund management giant Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, led a $27 million investment round into Israeli cybersecurity startup Huskeys, the company announced on Wednesday.

The company was founded in 2025 by IDF’s Unit 8200 alumni Itai Gafni (CEO) and Roy Weisfeld (CTO) and focuses on reducing the risk posed by agentic traffic (traffic produced by artificial intelligence models rather than humans).

The company explained that, according to their estimates, 70% of the internet traffic will be generated by AI agents as of 2027, with organizations needing to start to differentiate between legitimate customers using agents and malicious attacks.

“Artificial Intelligence has changed the way the internet operates, bringing enormous opportunities alongside new security risks and the potential for lost revenue,” said Gafni.

“We believe that in the near future, most identities operating on the web will be autonomous agents, and organizations will need a new infrastructure capable of identifying, securing, and managing them,” he added.

Huskeys' team. (credit: NETANEL TOBIAS)

Company offers solutions to AI internet threats

The company explained that its Virtual Patching system allows Huskeys to identify when an AI agent is trying to breach a system and generate a rapid response within minutes, while a development team can work on it afterward, once the situation is under control.

Additionally, the company currently works on the development of an intelligent platform that centralizes all the security solutions and products of their clients and allows for rapid monitoring and response.

“Huskeys has built a platform designed to operate across any enterprise network, from the smallest and simplest to the largest and most complex, while advancing a new category for modern internet traffic,” said Adam Fletcher, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Blackstone.

The company said the Blackstone investment marked its first Early-Stage cybersecurity investment, alongside strategic investments from Okta and Zscaler, and participation from Shlomo Kramer and Yishai Yuval’s Skinos Ventures and Merlin Ventures.

Senior executives from Cloudflare, Palo Alto Networks, Intel, Check Point, AWS, Microsoft, and Google, actor Assi Cohen, and mentalist Lior Suchard also invested in the company.

“We believe the company is well positioned to redefine how organizations manage network security, and we are pleased to support Huskeys as it continues to develop its product in this important category,” Fletcher added.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

UK Green Party leader Zack Polanski has announced his intention to stand as a candidate for MP of Holborn and St Pancras following Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation on Tuesday.

Polanski told the Camden New Journal on Thursday that he will stand in a by-election for the London constituency, which he said “represents so many of the things that make London so special.”

“I am so excited by the prospect of representing this place in Parliament,” he said. “Holborn and St Pancras has everything that’s the best of our country and so much potential.”

To become the official Green candidate for the seat, Polanski has to be selected by local party members. Polanski’s party currently has 5 MPs, but has never won a parliamentary seat in the capital.

Additionally, Holborn and St Pancras has been a Labour seat since the 1980s, first under Frank Dobson and then Starmer.

Leader of the Green Party, Zack Polanski, takes part in a march against far-right extremism from Park Lane to Trafalgar Square, organised by the Together Alliance, a coalition of unions and civil society groups, in London, Britain, March 28, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/HANNAH MCKAY)

Polanski acknowledges struggles of Green Party with Labour government

Polanski acknowledged this, telling the Camden New Journal, “It’s a clear fight between Labour and the Green Party.”

“We know that people are struggling – that the things we used to afford are increasingly out of reach – and this is a chance to send a very clear message that we won’t sit by as we get poorer and extreme wealth is concentrated at the very top.

“What voters in Holborn and St Pancras will get with me as their MP is someone totally dedicated to standing up for them. Put simply, I will use my place in Parliament to force the current Labour government into making life more affordable for the people who live here.”

Polanski is the first Jewish leader of the Green Party. He is a vocal critic of Israel, identifies as anti-Zionist, and frequently participates in pro-Palestinian events.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Syria acting as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz would be “great.” He commented after a headline at The Washington Post noted that Syria was “eyeing role as Middle East hub, offers options to bypass Hormuz.” This comes as US and Iran tensions grew this week with the US carrying out airstrikes and Iran attacking Jordan, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait and other countries.

The White House has been signaling that it is not interested in a deal and doesn’t trust Iran. However, reports also say the US prefers the conflict to remain contained and not escalate too much. This means that the US has to walk a narrow line between appeasing Iran and not carrying out massive strikes again. Meanwhile, in Israel, officials are warning of possible escalation and warning Iran not to attack Israel. As such, the region continues to sit atop a potential volcano, with many sensitive issues relating to Iran remaining unresolved.

There are increasing plans for Syria to serve as a way to transfer oil to the Mediterranean. However, a recent report from Reuters noted that “Iraq’s plans to export oil via a pipeline through Syria to avert future disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz will likely require four years of construction and cost at least $15 billion, sources with knowledge of the project told Reuters.” The report added that the idea was receiving “initial support for feasibility studies from a consortium including Chevron.”

In June, Syria’s Syrian Petroleum Company signed a deal with ConocoPhillips and energy firm Novaterra to rehabilitate gas fields in Syria. The deal also covers developing a new gas field. In July, ConocoPhillips posted that it had “announced it has agreed to terms with BP to acquire a 42% interest in BP Energy Company of Kirkuk Limited (BP ECKL), supporting the ongoing redevelopment of four large-scale, currently producing oil fields in the Kirkuk area of northern Iraq. The agreement is expected to be signed as part of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s official visit to Washington, D.C.”

There is an old pipeline from 1952 that links Iraq’s Kirkuk with Baniyas in Syria on the coast of the Mediterranean. However, it will take time to repair it and make it relevant. Until then, Iraq and other countries need to ship energy supplies overland via truck. The Washington Post noted that “day and night, 5,000 hulking trucks carrying oil from the Persian Gulf rumble across this stretch of barren desert as if in a caravan snaking its way toward the Mediterranean Sea.”

US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with travel executives in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, September 2, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/EVELYN HOCKSTEIN)

Damascus seeks international partnerships amid reconstruction push

This week, Syria focused on economic advancement and continued outreach to other countries. For instance, around fifty companies from Saudi Arabia participated in a fair in Damascus. “Around 1,000 entities and companies from 60 countries are participating in this year’s Damascus International Fair, which runs through Sept. 4,” Syrian state media noted.

In addition, Syria met with delegations from Denmark and Germany. “Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani met Wednesday with a delegation from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, headed by State Secretary Niels Annen, to discuss ways to strengthen economic and development cooperation between Syria and Germany and support national recovery and reconstruction priorities,” SANA state media added.

Syria’s President also met the German delegation. “President Ahmad al-Sharaa held a roundtable meeting at the People’s Palace in Damascus with Niels Annen, State Secretary at Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and a number of heads and managers of German companies and members of the Syrian-German Business Council,” SANA added.

Syria is also working to rehabilitate Mezzeh airport and use it for civilian aircraft. Mezzeh had been used by the Assad regime’s military in the past.

Regarding the energy trade, the article in The Washington Post added that “the trucks began shuttling between the refineries of southern Iraq and the Syrian port of Baniyas in April, initially as an experiment by Iraqi oil exporters seeking to circumvent the Strait of Hormuz after cargo traffic in the waterway was stopped by the US-Israeli war with Iran.”

The article quoted Ahmad Qubbaji, the deputy chief executive of Syrian state-owned Syrian Petroleum Corporation. It notes that this company will operate the new pipeline and that Qubbaji noted that the “final contract is expected to be signed in September by a consortium that includes Houston-based Chevron, TotalEnergies of France, and Syrian and Qatari investors. The group is discussing security measures, including using drones and other advanced surveillance technology, to monitor the pipeline, which will also have security backing from the United States, Qubbaji said.”

From Venezuela to Syria, Trump pursues new energy corridors

US President Trump’s support for Syria as an oil transfer hub comes in the wake of a major deal in Venezuela. The White House posted on August 31 that “in the biggest oil deal in world history, President Donald J. Trump has secured US majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela – vastly expanding our current US territorial proven reserves of roughly 46 billion barrels. This deal secures our energy dominance for the next century – all at zero cost to the United States.” The White House added that “the deal, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, gives the US government powerful governance rights, economic ownership, and guaranteed low-cost off-take from a new private Venezuelan oil champion, which will be the second-largest private oil company by reserves in the world.”

This comes as the US is also involved in helping tankers move through the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command is trying to keep the straits open despite Iran’s threats. Gulf News reported on September 3 that 40 ships had been able to move through the Strait. “CentCom escorts record 18 million barrels of oil through Hormuz as US-Iran strikes flare.”

This illustrates how the White House is focused on enabling trade through the Strait of Hormuz while securing energy deals in Venezuela and potentially in Syria that could pave the way for the future. 

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

You’re reading the web edition of D.C. Diagnosis, STAT’s twice-weekly newsletter about the politics and policy of health and medicine. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

My new colleague Margaret Manto pointed out this odd art from HHS’ children’s book about the harms of screen time. The eye chart reads like a shriek, and the teddy bear has extra limbs. Send news tips and AI slop to John.Wilkerson@statnews.com or John_Wilkerson.07 on Signal.

‘Sound familiar?’

Former top U.S. infectious-disease expert Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that Americans have “selective amnesia” about the Covid-19 pandemic, which has distorted how they now think of pandemic mitigation measures like masking and lockdowns.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Want to stay on top of the science and politics driving biotech today? Sign up to get our biotech newsletter in your inbox.

Today, a crushing Phase 3 failure for Ultragenyx in Angelman syndrome, a new accelerator from Nobel laureate David Baker to use AI to map nature’s design rules, and more.

The sniffly 5-year-old in my bed is coloring a remarkable green-blue rainbow at present. Visionary, truly.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Nvidia is making one of the biggest acquisitions in its history, agreeing Thursday to buy Hugging Face for $12.93 billion in a deal that gives the world’s dominant AI-chip company control of one of the most important software platforms in artificial intelligence.

The price alone makes the deal significant.

But strategically, it is even bigger.

Hugging Face has become one of the central gathering places for the open-source AI community, where developers, researchers and companies share models, datasets and tools used to build artificial intelligence systems.

Nvidia already dominates the hardware side of AI.

Now it is buying much deeper into the software and developer ecosystem.

What Nvidia Is Actually Buying

Hugging Face is not a chip company.

It is a platform.

Developers use it to discover, test, distribute and collaborate on AI models.

That makes it similar, in some ways, to what GitHub became for software development.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the acquisition will allow the companies to scale Hugging Face’s platform, improve infrastructure and expand access to AI tools around the world.

Importantly, Nvidia said Hugging Face will remain open and developers will not be required to use Nvidia chips.

That commitment matters because Hugging Face’s value comes partly from being a neutral platform used across the AI industry.

If developers believed the platform would suddenly become Nvidia-only, much of that value could disappear.

Why Nvidia Wants It

Nvidia’s biggest strength has been its hardware.

Its GPUs power many of the world’s most advanced AI systems.

But the AI industry is changing.

Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta and other large technology companies are increasingly designing their own chips.

That means Nvidia cannot assume that every large customer will remain completely dependent on its hardware forever.

Buying Hugging Face gives Nvidia something different:

direct access to the developers building the next generation of AI applications.

Instead of only selling the machines that run AI, Nvidia now gets a much larger role in the software ecosystem where those AI systems are created.

That makes the company harder to bypass.

The Developer Network Is the Real Prize

Hugging Face has built a massive community around open AI models.

That community is valuable because the companies that control developer ecosystems often gain enormous influence over how technology evolves.

Microsoft understood that when it bought GitHub.

Google understood it with Android.

Amazon understood it with AWS.

Now Nvidia is making a similar bet.

If developers build, test and distribute AI through a platform Nvidia owns, Nvidia gains insight into what kinds of models are growing fastest, what infrastructure developers need and where future demand may be heading.

That information is enormously valuable.

Why This Is Bigger Than a Normal Acquisition

Nvidia has already become one of the most valuable companies in the world because AI companies need its chips.

But chips are only one layer of the AI economy.

There are models.

There are developer tools.

There is cloud infrastructure.

There is data.

There are applications.

Owning Hugging Face gives Nvidia a much stronger position in several of those layers at once.

It also gives the company a hedge.

If customers eventually reduce their dependence on Nvidia GPUs, Nvidia could still remain deeply embedded in how AI is built and distributed.

Could Regulators Push Back?

A nearly $13 billion acquisition by the dominant AI-chip company is likely to attract attention from competition regulators.

Nvidia already holds enormous power in AI infrastructure.

Adding one of the world’s most important AI-development platforms could raise questions about whether the company has too much influence over both the hardware and software sides of the industry.

That does not mean regulators will block the deal.

But they are likely to examine whether Nvidia could favor its own hardware, restrict competitors or use Hugging Face’s position to strengthen its dominance elsewhere.

Nvidia’s early promise that Hugging Face will remain open appears designed partly to address exactly that concern.

What It Means for Businesses

For companies using AI, the deal shows how quickly the industry is consolidating.

The biggest technology companies are no longer competing only for chips or cloud customers.

They are competing to own the entire stack.

That includes:

  • The chips
  • The servers
  • The cloud
  • The models
  • The developer tools
  • The applications

For startups, that can bring advantages.

A larger Nvidia-backed Hugging Face could mean better infrastructure, more reliable services and more investment in open AI tools.

But it also means yet another important part of the AI ecosystem will belong to one of the industry’s largest companies.

Nvidia spent the first phase of the AI boom selling the picks and shovels.

With this deal, it is buying part of the marketplace where everyone using those tools comes together.

And at $12.93 billion, Nvidia is showing how valuable that marketplace has become.

JBizNews Desk | Silicon Valley

© JBizNews.com All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or distribution without written permission is prohibited.

On:

Nvidia announced Thursday that it will buy AI developer platform Hugging Face in a deal valued at approximately $12.9 billion.

The chipmaker is betting that growing demand for the open-source AI models hosted on Hugging Face will fuel future growth, even as some of Nvidia’s largest customers develop their own chips to reduce their dependence on the company.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Hugging Face will remain an open-source platform. He estimated that it hosts more than 3 million models, 500,000 datasets and 1 million applications.

“Open models let startups, businesses, universities and public institutions build on advanced capabilities without training every model from scratch. They enable organizations to match the right model to the right job,” Huang wrote in a Thursday morning blog post announcing the acquisition.

MASSIVE AI BOOM PUTS ONE OF AMERICA’S OLDEST MANUFACTURERS ON PATH TO DOUBLE IN SIZE, CEO SAYS

“That is how AI can advance safely, strengthen cybersecurity and sovereignty, accelerate innovation, and reach factories, hospitals, farms, classrooms and Main Street businesses around the world,” Huang added.

Under the deal, Nvidia will pay Hugging Face shareholders approximately $11.9 billion, while setting aside up to $1 billion in equity-based retention awards for Hugging Face employees who join the company, according to Nvidia’s latest Form 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Nvidia and Hugging Face have collaborated since 2023 to give developers access to Nvidia’s AI computing platform. 

Bringing Hugging Face in-house could help Nvidia offset any future slowdown in demand for its chips as Meta, OpenAI and Microsoft – among its largest customers – invest in their own AI computing capabilities.

OPENAI CO-FOUNDER WARNS AI MODELS ARE BECOMING HARDER TO CONTROL AFTER ITS MODEL HACKED ANOTHER FIRM

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027, according to the filing.

Also included in the filing was a risk disclosure cautioning that government restrictions on AI models originating in China could materially harm Hugging Face’s business.

Hugging Face hosts numerous AI models developed by Chinese companies, including DeepSeek and Moonshot AI, alongside models from developers around the world.

Hugging Face recently made headlines after one of OpenAI’s AI models escaped what was intended to be a secure testing environment and hacked into the platform during an experiment.

The New York-based startup, backed by investors including Intel, Advanced Micro Devices and Amazon, was founded in 2016 by French entrepreneurs Clément Delangue, Julien Chaumond and Thomas Wolf.

This post was originally published here. 

On:

As executives race to boost productivity and automate work with AI, workers have been left to ponder an existential question: How much work will actually be left for humans? But if you ask Jensen Huang—the CEO of the world’s most valuable company, Nvidia—the answer is plenty.

“Don’t forget the chip plants that are being created—packaging, computer plants, and all of the AI factories being created—hundreds of thousands of jobs are being created as we speak,” Huang said on Fox Business last week. 

The billionaire was responding to newfound concerns from Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates about AI’s disruption of the workforce. Gates warned in a letter last week that the technology is being underestimated and could ultimately lead to massive unemployment. Huang, meanwhile, has remained optimistic that AI will create more jobs than it eliminates.

“Everybody’s job changes,” Huang said. “Some jobs will be eliminated. Many new jobs will be created. If you go back and look at history and technology, revolutionary technology comes along, incredible advances come along.”

Huang added that white-collar jobs aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, while predicting a major boom in the skilled trades. The massive infrastructure buildout fueling the AI boom is already driving demand for hundreds of thousands of skilled plumbers, electricians, technicians, and other six-figure earning workers needed to build and maintain the technology.

“Having a large population of skilled labor and people who build things, that make things with their hands, is tremendous for the United States,” the 63-year-old said.

Huang has been bullish on the skilled trades

Huang, who has an estimated net worth of $180 billion, has been calling for greater attention to the skilled trades for months.

“If you’re an electrician, you’re a plumber, a carpenter—we’re going to need hundreds of thousands of them to build all of these factories,” Huang told Channel 4 News in the U.K. in September 2025. “The skilled craft segment of every economy is going to see a boom. You’re going to have to be doubling and doubling and doubling every single year.”

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this past January, Huang added the world is on the cusp of what he calls the “largest infrastructure build-out in human history,” which will create “a lot of jobs.”

While Huang often frames that buildout as beneficial for the broader U.S. economy, it is also increasingly critical to Nvidia’s own growth. The company’s chips power the data centers at the heart of the AI boom, and building those facilities requires far more than advanced semiconductors. It takes thousands of skilled workers to get power plants, electrical systems, and cooling infrastructure online. 

In early August, Nvidia committed up to $105 billion for the credit and commitment for a new OpenAI data center in Piketon, Ohio, which has been billed as one of the world’s largest data centers.

SB Energy, a SoftBank Group company, is leading the project’s development and is hiring for a range of roles, including skilled positions that pay well above the local average. One power-generation project manager position, for example, lists a salary of $140,000 to $170,000. That’s more than twice the median household income of roughly $55,000 in the area, where the population is fewer than 27,000, according to regional nonprofit OhioSE.

As Jensen Huang highlights skilled-trade opportunities, a talent gap persists

Huang isn’t alone in highlighting the opportunities emerging in the skilled trades.

Earlier this year, Jon Gray, president and chief operating officer at Blackstone, said there is likely to be a “huge boom in blue-collar employment certainly over the next five years.”

One of Blackstone’s portfolio companies, QTS, operates or is developing more than 75 data centers worldwide. Roughly 10,000 workers were on QTS job sites a year ago. By the end of 2026, that number is expected to quadruple to 40,000—a 300% increase.

“Between the energy, the physical infrastructure, the data centers, the reindustrialization—something very powerful [is] happening,” Gray said.

But the country faces a major challenge in filling those jobs: There aren’t enough skilled workers to meet the demand.

An estimated 2.1 million skilled trades jobs could go unfilled nationally by 2030, ranging from the estimated 130,000 additional electrical workers needed by 2030 to the more than 350,000 new auto technicians needed by 2029. 

Leaders at BlackRock, Carhartt, Ford Motor Company, and Google recently announced the Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades, a partnership aimed at expanding skilled-trades training across 30 states, with plans to eventually reach workers nationwide.

“No single company or industry can prepare a country for this opportunity on its own,” the executives, including Ford’s Jim Farley, said in a Fortune commentary piece. “However, we can help address these challenges and strengthen pathways to opportunity for people and their families – if we act together.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Readers of The Jerusalem Post are very familiar with the byline of Yonah Jeremy Bob.

As the senior military analyst and correspondent for the paper over the last half-decade (and before that, its legal correspondent), his stories have encapsulated and explained the dizzying pace of events the country has endured in recent years and have helped readers understand the implications and intricacies of the wars, campaigns, negotiations, and dilemmas that are a constant part of Israel’s landscape.

If we abide by the 1943 adage by American journalist Alan Barth that “news is only the first rough draft of history,” then the new book by Bob, together with Wall Street Journal editorial writer Elliot Kaufman, In The War Room: The Inside Story of Israel’s Fight Against Hamas and the Iranian Axis, is a final sculpted treatise that is a must-read for anyone who cares about the pivotal developments that led up to the cataclysmic events of October 7, 2023, and resulted in the ongoing battle against Iran and its proxies in Gaza and Lebanon.

It reads like a gripping, yet almost improbable espionage novel at times, and the proof in the pudding of Bob and Kaufman’s ability to weave an intriguing tale is that although we know what transpired in each successive development in the unbelievable timeline of events – whether the beeper and pager campaign against Hezbollah or the cataclysmic attack by Israel and the US on Iran’s nuclear facilities – readers feel compelled to turn the page such that it is as if they’re discovering the details all anew.

In the War Room provides an inside account of how Israel came back from its darkest hour after Oct. 7 to decimate Hamas and Hezbollah and command the skies over Tehran.

Satellite imagery from Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility June 22, 2025. (credit: MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES/VIA REUTERS )

Inside the war room

The recurring focus of the book that provides the insider coverage most spectacularly is the ongoing meetings taking place between the masterminds of the Israeli campaign to change the post-Oct. 7 regional landscape and fight a multi-pronged war – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-defense minister Yoav Gallant, and then-war minister Benny Gantz.

Bob and Kaufman place the reader as a fly on the wall as the contentious trio makes fateful decisions, constantly switching allegiances, opinions, and strategies – with one eye on the war and the other eye on each other.

The prose shows the war leaders expressing both doubt and conviction about how Israel should proceed and maneuver amid Hamas intransigence, growing US opposition to Israel’s policies, internal pressure due to the ongoing hostage situation, and damning world opinion.

Doves became hawks and hawks became doves depending on the situation and the decisions to be made. One can almost feel the perspiration under their military-chic black buttoned-down shirts as they deliberated in tense sessions in the “Kirya,” where day and night don’t exist.

“Gantz, the supposed dove, along with Gallant and [then-IDF chief of staff Herzi] Halevi, once again pressed Netanyahu to green-light an invasion. They told the prime minister that there was no way to get additional Israeli hostages back from [Yahya] Sinwar without cornering the Hamas leader to a point where he would fear being caught. They also noted that so long as Khan Yunis was in the hands of Hamas, the terrorist group would retain the strength to operate as a national military organization.”

THE AUTHORS state that later in the war, after Netanyahu fired Gallant and Gantz quit, the war room transformed into the prime minister’s personal domain.

“For all the war room’s dysfunction and small-minded rivalries, for large portions of the war, Netanyahu, Gallant, and Gantz balanced each other’s views. This may have helped Israel avoid major errors and kept its relations with US Democrats and Western Europe from collapsing.”

Once Gantz quit and Netanyahu fired Gallant, the prime minister had no war room of substance to push back on his ideas – or those of his coalition partners. He did not think he would miss Gantz or Gallant, but on this, he did.”

Bob and Kaufman had unprecedented access to the actors, and the writing is based on two years of private interviews and briefings with the Israeli triumvirate, meetings with the top Israeli military and intelligence officials, and trips to combat zones on four fronts: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank.

In addition, they interviewed top Biden and Trump administration figures, including former US National Security advisor Jake Sullivan and Trump administration envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.

But instead of just a “then they said” account, the writers utilize their vast backgrounds and expertise to put you inside the heads of the main players and help the reader understand their motives amid the global chess game taking place, like this passage on Gallant:

“In the days after October 7, however, Gallant mainly was trying to decide – and then convince a notoriously hard-to-pin-down prime minister and cabinet – what Israel’s policy should be against Hezbollah.

“Armed by Iran with an extraordinary missile arsenal, the US-designated terrorist group had long cowed the Lebanese Armed Forces and shared Hamas’s goal of destroying the Jewish state. In support of Hamas’s invasion, Hezbollah started shooting rockets at northern Israel the very next day, on October 8.

“Gallant still believed, as he did before the war, that Hezbollah, not Hamas, posed the larger, perhaps existential threat to Israel.

“During his sleepless night, he came to two conclusions. First, Israel needed to execute a devastating strike against Hezbollah right away.

“A combination of intelligence, sabotage, artillery, and air power could cripple the terrorist group before it could use its well-trained troops and tens of thousands of sophisticated missiles to follow up Hamas’s attack with a far more powerful assault of its own. This would allow Israel to regain the initiative, shock the Iranian terror axis, and isolate Hamas in Gaza.

“Second, Gallant concluded that Netanyahu, his Likud party leader and boss in Israel’s coalition government, though renowned for his hawkishness, would be dead set against his proposal.”

The authors deliberately shy away from the non-military aspects of the war and how they dominated the Israeli discourse for over two years while the agonizing hostage saga played out.

There’s none of the anguish of the families, the protests against the government (except in how public pressure affected or didn’t affect decision-making), the tragic personal stories of the war or the drama and trauma the country went through watching on TV as hostages were released in gruesome Hamas-led ceremonies and then were reunited with their families. That’s the topic of another book.

The hostages are mentioned perfunctorily, as in this passage:

“From November 23 to November 30, 2023, the fighting paused. Hamas would return around 100 hostages in exchange for the release of more than three times as many Palestinian security prisoners from Israel. This deal – or ransom – was hammered out by Mossad Director David Barnea and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, two men who influenced the course of the war from the shadows.”

Writing from an Israeli perspective

What’s also lacking in the book, to its great benefit, is a sense of even-handedness. Bob and Kaufman start from a belief that Oct. 7 was an atrocity that had to be answered. It’s written from a Zionist perspective and surely won’t be used as required reading in a US liberal arts Middle Eastern studies course.

Writing about October 17, 2023, the authors state:

“That day, Hamas said an Israeli air strike on Gaza City’s al-Ahli Arab Hospital had killed at least 500 Palestinians. That would be the headline in The New York Times and across the world. By the next day, however, it would turn out that the attack wasn’t Israeli, it wasn’t an air strike, it didn’t hit the hospital, nowhere close to 500 people were killed, and Hamas knew it.

“Israeli intelligence indicated that the culprit was a rocket launched by Islamic Jihad from a cemetery. It had fallen short, as the terrorists’ rockets often did, and landed in the hospital’s parking lot. President [Joe] Biden affirmed that finding less than 24 hours after the incident, a key early moment of support for Israel.”

But in the half-day period of uncertainty, the media leaped to echo the Hamas report. The BBC explained that the Israelis “said they are investigating, but it is hard to see what else this could be, really, given the size of the explosion, other than an Israeli air strike, or several air strikes.”

The world received the story essentially as Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the Michigan Democrat, put it on social media: “Israel just bombed the Baptist Hospital killing 500 Palestinians (doctors, children, patients).” The damage was done. The Oct. 7 attack was only 10 days old, but a new narrative was already forming.

WITHIN THE context of presenting the events from an Israeli perspective, and with Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran portrayed for what they are – bloodthirsty elements aimed at Israel’s destruction – they manage to provide a subjective account of what transpired, without bringing in their own political biases or opinions.

Discussing the prickly subject of whether Israel could have ended the war and brought the hostages home earlier, the authors just present the facts, ma’am.

“Israel had opportunities to conclude the fighting at earlier junctures. In the summer of 2024, after the invasion of Rafah. In March 2025, extending the second hostage deal. In each case, the prime minister refused, deciding to fight on for better terms.

“Gallant, Gantz, and Halevi had reservations, but were willing to accept the terms of the deals on the table. Halevi believed that Netanyahu had not sufficiently invested in negotiations about the second phase of the January 2025 hostage deal, involving the shaping of postwar Gaza.”

And:

“Critics will say the prime minister fought on only to keep power. Netanyahu would say that after October 7, Israel needed total victory to restore security and deterrence. The debate would then go on in endless circles about whether total victory was even possible, and whether the interest being pursued was national or personal.

“For a time, pushing forward worked to Israel’s advantage. Even against great pressure, Netanyahu prevailed to maintain the war to keep open the possibility of invading Rafah, defeating Hezbollah, and destroying the Iranian nuclear program and proxy axis should the right opportunities arise for him.

“But continuing beyond that? The quest to end the fight in Gaza on a similarly convincing victory would drain Israel – and cost it severely on the world stage.”

Israel-haters who will bristle at the stingy use of the word “genocide” in the prose may eschew the book as just some more Israeli propaganda. But for historians, diplomats, and anyone who’s passionate about Israel and the continuation of the Zionist endeavor, In the War Room will indeed be required reading.

Bob and Kaufman have written one of the definitive, in-depth, and easily readable accounts of one of the most amazing periods of Israeli history that will continue to reverberate around the region for decades to come.

Their ability to synthesize and analyze the big events and put them into perspective will be a valuable resource for scholars and researchers in years to come. And they never lose sight of the main reason that the book exists.

“Despite all the successes and theatrics Israel would pull off in Iran and Lebanon, October 7 remains the day of this war which has seared deepest into the Israeli mind. Hamas invaded from Gaza and packed an entire intifada’s worth of slaughter into a single day, setting everything else into motion.” ■

The reviewer is the former managing editor of The Jerusalem Post.

IN THE WAR ROOM: THE INSIDE STORY OF ISRAEL’S FIGHT AGAINST HAMAS AND THE IRANIAN AXIS
By Yonah Jeremy Bob and Elliot Kaufman
A Wicked Son Book/
Post Hill Press
352 pages; $32.50

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Police detained 16 minors and adults in Yavne’el on Thursday over suspected involvement in illegal child marriages, marking the second major operation in the Lower Galilee town in three months.

Dozens of officers raided several locations after investigators received information indicating that minors had recently married, or that concrete preparations had begun for illegal wedding ceremonies, police said.

The adults questioned were described as members of the minors’ immediate circles.

This is a developing story. 

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Supreme Court President Isaac Amit warned on Wednesday that verbal attacks by public officials and on social media can pave the way for physical violence against judges and lawyers, calling for restraint as Israel’s election campaign intensifies.

“The path to physical violence first passes through verbal violence,” Amit told a special Israel Bar Association conference in Tel Aviv, convened following the killing of attorney Arbel Feldman at his Rishon Lezion office last month.

Violence against legal professionals does not occur in isolation, Amit said, arguing that degrading public discourse about judges inevitably reaches courtrooms and the lawyers working within them.

The conference had originally been intended to mark the opening of the legal year, Amit said, but was repurposed after Feldman was shot dead on August 4.

Amit described the killing as part of what he characterized as a wider period of verbal and physical violence directed at lawyers and other legal professionals because of their work.

Police escort suspect in lawyer murder case, August 4, 2026. (credit: ISRAEL POLICE)

Such violence risks damaging more than the individuals targeted, he said. Lawyers serve as the link between citizens, the law, and the state, and threats may deter them from taking controversial or difficult cases, meeting clients alone, or representing them effectively.

Amit said some courts had closed proceedings to the public and used live broadcasts because of concerns about disturbances. In more serious cases, he said, court security personnel had escorted lawyers and litigants to their vehicles.

He also cited the June riot outside the Alon Shvut home of Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg, where protesters damaged the house and Sohlberg’s car while members of his family were inside.

Dozens were detained following the disturbance. Amit said the incident had been intended to intimidate Sohlberg and other judges over their judicial work.

He also referred to recent verbal attacks against Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court Deputy President Oren Silverman and Nazareth-Nof Hagalil Magistrate’s Court Deputy President Ruth Spielberg-Cohen, although he did not identify the speakers or statements involved.

Election campaign necessitates careful action by public figures

Amit placed particular emphasis on the election campaign, warning that heated political disagreement increased the responsibility of public figures and others to choose their language carefully.

“An election campaign is, by nature, a period of disagreement, criticism, and struggle over ideas and the direction of the country,” he said. “But precisely during such a period, we all bear greater responsibility to act with restraint.”

At the end of the conference, the Bar Association and five other professional organizations signed a joint charter under the title “Workers Without Fear.”

The organizations agreed to establish a permanent forum addressing violence against workers and professionals, promote legislative changes and reporting mechanisms, and coordinate with the government, Knesset, police, and other enforcement authorities.

The signatories included representatives of teachers, nurses, social workers, public-health physicians, and public-transportation drivers. They also committed to responding collectively to serious attacks against members of any one of the participating professions.

Israel Bar Association head Amit Becher called Feldman’s killing the most severe expression of what he described as an expanding pattern of threats and violence against lawyers.

“Harming lawyers is harming the rule of law,” Becher said, calling for faster enforcement, deterrent penalties, and measures to protect lawyers facing credible threats.

The Bar Association will seek legislation equating an assault on a lawyer with an assault on a public servant, he said. 

Representatives of the other organizations said the problem extended well beyond the legal profession. Teachers, nurses, social workers, doctors, and bus drivers described workers facing threats and assaults while providing essential public services, often without adequate staffing or protection.

Suspect indicted for murder of Arbel Feldman

Feldman, a father of three, was killed after a former client allegedly entered his office and shot him several times, according to police and prosecutors.

A prosecutor’s statement was filed on August 25, formally notifying the court that charges were being prepared. The following day, the Central District Attorney’s Office indicted Ahmad Alargov, 24, of Ramle, in the Central District Court in Lod.

Alargov was charged with murder under aggravated circumstances, carrying a weapon and ammunition, destroying evidence, and obstructing justice.

According to the indictment, Feldman represented Alargov in civil proceedings involving an approximately NIS 18,000 insurance claim following a road accident. Prosecutors allege that Alargov became dissatisfied with the pace of the claim, armed himself with a loaded semiautomatic handgun, and fired six shots at Feldman at close range.

The indictment describes a dispute between Feldman and a former client and does not allege a political motive. Amit nevertheless used the killing as the starting point for a broader warning about violence against legal professionals and the effect of hostile public discourse on the justice system.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Germany was investigating a suspected arson attack outside a defense firm in Munich on Thursday, days after two sabotage attempts on the power grid and a month after an airport drone attack that Berlin and its allies blamed on Russia.

Police arrested two people suspected of throwing incendiary devices and causing a fire at a construction site at the headquarters of Rohde & Schwarz, whose products include radar systems to detect, track and jam drones.

The suspects, a 28-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man, both Bulgarian, were arrested at a nearby petrol station, police in the state of Bavaria said.

Germany on alert after attempts on power grid

The fire caused no significant damage, and no one was injured, according to officials. Rohde & Schwarz confirmed a police and fire brigade operation near its premises. Bulgarian Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev promised cooperation but declined to give details.

Germany has been the focus of European fears about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure this week.

Police vehicle on site after explosive devices have been found at a substation near the Jaenschwalde power plant in Turnow-Preilack, Germany, September 1, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/AXEL SCHMIDT)

Allies rallied round after Germany blamed a drone attack in August at Leipzig/Halle airport on Moscow as part of hybrid warfare meant to intimidate and divide countries that have supported Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

While investigations continue and the European Union weighs more sanctions, Russia strongly denies involvement and on Thursday said it would close Germany’s Goethe-Institut cultural centers, reciprocating similar moves from Berlin. Poland and Britain summoned Russian diplomats, as other European allies had.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul welcomed an “impressive display of solidarity” as he met Polish and French counterparts, adding: “I believe that its impact has not gone unnoticed in Moscow, either.”

This week, police investigated two attempts to sabotage the electricity grid within 24 hours in the states of Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Interior minister warns of foreign powers using extremist group as proxies

The authorities have said they cannot rule out either foreign involvement or domestic left-wing extremists. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has said foreign powers could also use extremist groups as proxies for sabotage operations.

On Sunday, a closely watched election takes place in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the far-right, Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany (AfD) holds a commanding lead in surveys.

At the meeting with Wadephul in Weimar, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Warsaw had summoned the Russian ambassador to express a “strong condemnation of Russian state terrorism”.

In Germany’s northern neighbor Denmark, the national security and intelligence service PET said Russia was recruiting Danish citizens to help plan sabotage against Danish defense firms with ties to Ukraine.

The PET has uncovered examples of Russia trying to recruit Danes on social media and gaming platforms for tasks such as taking photos of companies or infrastructure that could be used in planning sabotage, a statement said.

German investigators are also still pursuing leads in Poland and Serbia related to the Leipzig drone attack, the Spiegel magazine reported on Thursday, citing security sources.

One suspect was linked to another act of sabotage at a hardware store in Lodz, Poland, in July 2024, Spiegel reported.

Investigators are also examining links between the Leipzig attack and the discovery of a drone and explosives at the Serbian-Hungarian border, Spiegel said.

The Federal Criminal Office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. A court in the Serbian city of Subotica said proceedings were under way against two suspects.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Israel’s parties are racing to finalize their Knesset lists by early next week, and the scramble of mergers and defections is exposing real cracks in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc, Knesset and political correspondent Keshet Neev said on the latest episode of The Deep Dive.

Likud has slid in the polls, from the low 30s toward 21 seats, while Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition leads as the largest party in most surveys, Neev told host Jacob Laznik. Netanyahu has urged voters to avoid smaller right-wing parties, warning that splintered votes could hand the opposition the first shot at forming a government.

Much of that pressure targets the “third bloc” of emerging right-wing parties, led by Ofer Winter’s new list, which drew a massive launch and features bereaved families from October 7 and activist Yoseph Haddad at number two. The right remains split, with Itamar Ben-Gvir rejecting a merger with Bezalel Smotrich, while on the center-left, Eisenkot is in talks with Benny Gantz.

The most consequential shift, Neev argued, may be the least noticed: Mansour Abbas is running Ra’am alone and is expected to place a Jewish former police chief at number two, a first for the party, positioning it as a possible coalition partner. She also cited a recent interview in which Naftali Bennett softened on a pardon for Netanyahu, conditioned on his leaving politics, while ruling out sitting in a government with him.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Israel released five Lebanese detainees on Thursday, who were arrested in recent months, in order to further the return of Lebanese Jewish community heads’ remains, the Prime Minister’s Office announced.

A year ago, Israel also released five Lebanese detainees, who were captured during fighting, as part of negotiations with Lebanon.

The released detainees are not members or affiliated with Hezbollah, and are civilians who were detained during fighting, the PMO announced.

Israel, Lebanon negotiating exchange of civilians with remains of Jews buried in Lebanese cemeteries

Hezbollah-linked Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported on August 10 that a “civilian prisoner exchange deal” was being negotiated between Israel and Lebanon, with Israeli officials raising the possibility of transferring the remains of Jews buried in Lebanese cemeteries to Israel.

According to the report, the issue arose during discussions over Lebanese prisoners and detainees held by Israel, and was specifically in relation to people classified by Israel as civilians whose affiliation with Hezbollah was not known, but who nevertheless posed a threat to IDF troops and were therefore detained.

The Beth Elamen Jewish cemetery at Damascus Road in the Achrafieh quarter of the Lebanese capital Beirut, taken 2021 (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

The Israeli representatives specifically referred to what Al-Akhbar described as a significant number of remains buried in Jewish cemeteries in Beirut and Sidon.

 The latest report on the talks between Lebanon and Israel was described by sources to The Jerusalem Post as “positive,” with both Israeli and Lebanese military personnel attending the negotiations in Rome.

Idan Kweller and Shir Perets contributed to this report.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Hello there from STAT’s Andrew Joseph, writing to you from London and filling in for Mr. Pharmalot for the day. We just picked up a new bag of coffee beans that boasts notes of cola, cherry, and grape, so we’ll have to see if we pick up on any of that when we grind them up for tomorrow’s cup of stimulation. For now, though, perhaps some headlines will suffice … 

An experimental gene therapy for Angelman syndrome from Ultragenyx failed in a Phase 3 study, STAT reports. The medicine showed no benefit compared to a sham treatment in the rare disease, which causes severe intellectual disability and developmental delays. The drug, called GTX-102, had shown powerful results in early trials, raising the hopes of families affected by the devastating condition. The trial failure is also a significant blow to Ultragenyx’s business, and the company said it’s now planning “significant expense reductions.”

Just a week after the landmark U.S. approval of a game-changing drug for advanced pancreatic cancer, the same therapy is showing promise against the world’s biggest cancer killer, Nature tells us. In a small trial in non-small cell lung cancer, the drug, Revolutions Medicines’ Rasonque, shrank tumors in more than 30% of participants. Each patient had tumor-promoting mutations in a member of the RAS family of proteins, and had previously tried other therapies. A larger study in which participants with non-small cell lung cancer are randomly assigned to receive either the drug, also called daraxonrasib, or standard chemotherapy is underway.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

This post was originally published here. 

On:

You’re reading the web edition of STAT’s Health Tech newsletter, our guide to how technology is transforming the life sciences. Sign up to get it delivered in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday.

Good morning health tech readers!

Today, a look at how some generative AI medical devices are getting on the market quickly. Plus: OpenEvidence’s new AI models and some hubbub about OpenAI and Epic.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Israel has always been a country of immigrants, olim who arrived from around the world determined to build a new life in their ancestral homeland. 

In the state’s earliest years, aliyah was essential to strengthening the population and building the country we know today. Over the decades, waves of immigrants arrived from different countries, each bringing their own skills, experiences, and aspirations, and each confronting the challenges of becoming Israeli.

One of the most significant waves, from the former Soviet Union, transformed not only Israeli society but its entire political system, ultimately giving rise to parties specifically focused on representing Russian-speaking Israelis, most notably Yisrael Beytenu.

Yet few new political movements centered on aliyah have emerged since then, and this is even more striking when it comes to English-speaking immigrants, who today number 250,000-300,000. Despite their significant contribution to Israeli society, Israel’s political establishment has largely ignored aliyah from the English-speaking community as the national priority it deserves to be.

That is a missed opportunity for the entire nation.

Arab Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad joins the Amcha Yisrael Party on August 25, 2026. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Representing English-speaking immigrants

Anglophone olim have already demonstrated the unique value they bring to Israel. When the BBC or CNN needs an Israeli commentator to defend the country’s politics, security, or society, an English-speaking Israeli is often among the voices they turn to. They have served as ambassadors, diplomats, government advisers, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and policy experts. They understand Israel – and they understand the world in which Israel must operate.

So why aren’t they better represented in government itself?

Large political parties rarely reserve realistic positions on their electoral lists for immigrants. When they do, such positions are often symbolic rather than genuinely competitive. The Knesset Aliyah and Integration Committee is too often treated as a consolation prize rather than a strategic national priority.

Meanwhile, much of the work of supporting aliyah and absorption has effectively been outsourced to private organizations. Olim are left to navigate a maze of government bureaucracy – from professional licensing and credential recognition to driving requirements and accessing basic services. New immigrants can spend months moving from ministry to ministry simply to establish the foundations of their new lives.

And sometimes the obstacles begin long before they arrive. Jewish families can wait years to receive approval to make aliyah.

Statistics on immigration

In Israeli society, we regularly discuss the Israelis who choose to leave the country. Perhaps it is time we pay far more attention to those who are instead choosing to come.

In 2025, Nefesh B’Nefesh recorded more than 4,000 new immigrants from North America. Since 2023, approximately 12,000 North American olim have made aliyah, and the number continues to grow. 

Over the past decade, total annual aliyah has averaged approximately 32,000, despite fluctuations caused by war and other external factors.

These olim arrive with determination and a desire to contribute. They build businesses, strengthen our economy, serve in the IDF, fill critical professional needs, and raise children who will grow up as Israelis. They are not simply people whom Israel needs to absorb. They are people Israel should actively recruit.

As Israel becomes a global leader in technology, AI, and cyber, the need for highly skilled talent will only grow. Olim bring professional expertise, international experience, languages, networks, and connections to global markets. Israel needs doctors, teachers, programmers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and countless other professionals – and olim are ready to contribute.

The government needs to start viewing English-speaking immigrants not as an absorption challenge, but as the talent acquisition strategy that Israel needs.

That requires a fundamentally different approach: active engagement in Diaspora communities before aliyah; educational programs that prepare children for Israeli schools; streamlined and digitized government processes; faster recognition of professional qualifications; stronger educational support for the children of olim once they arrive; and notably, representatives in the Knesset who have their backs, both as individuals and as a community.

As the world becomes increasingly dangerous for Jews, the potential for aliyah is greater than ever. But potential will become reality only if Israel demonstrates that it is ready to welcome those who choose it.

People of Israel (Amcha Israel) is committed to giving those olim a voice. Our movement brings together immigrants from different countries and backgrounds, with representatives who collectively speak at least five languages. We understand what it means to leave behind family, friends, careers, and communities – and to choose Israel not simply as a destination, but as home.

Olim are not a burden on Israel. They are an investment in Israel’s future.

It is time for the government to recognize the talent standing at our door – and open it wider.

Yoseph Haddad is an Israeli-Arab public diplomacy activist and the founder and former CEO of Together – Vouch for Each Other, an organization dedicated to strengthening the integration of Arab Israelis into Israeli society. In 2026, Haddad announced his candidacy as No. 2 on the People of Israel list, led by Ofer Winter, and is slated to serve as public diplomacy minister.

Fleur Hassan-Nahoum is an Israeli politician, diplomat, and former Jerusalem city council member and deputy mayor (2016-2024). She currently serves as Israel’s special envoy for trade and innovation at the Foreign Ministry. In 2026, Hassan-Nahoum announced her candidacy for the 26th Knesset as part of the People of Israel list.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

By 8 a.m. Eastern Time today, oil had reached $99.38 per barrel, measured using the Brent benchmark. That’s $3.27 more than it cost yesterday morning and about $31.50 above its price a year earlier.

Oil price per barrel % Change
Price of oil yesterday $96.11 +3.40%
Price of oil 1 month ago $87.96 +12.98%
Price of oil 1 year ago $67.85 +46.47%

Will oil prices go up?

Oil prices are inherently unpredictable. While many variables come into play, the basic push and pull of supply and demand is what ultimately matters. In times of heightened concern about recession, war, or other major disruptions, oil can swing suddenly.

How oil prices translate to gas pump prices

Each gallon you pay for at the pump bundles together several costs. Crude oil is one piece, but you also pay for refineries, wholesalers, government taxes, and the price markup set by gas stations.

Because crude oil usually accounts for more than half of the price per gallon, it tends to move the needle the most. Sharp increases in oil almost always show up quickly at the pump. Declines in the price of oil, on the other hand, often translate into slower, more delayed drops in gas prices—the “rockets and feathers” effect.

The role of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve

When an emergency arises, the U.S. has a reserve of crude oil called the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Its chief function is to secure energy during disasters like sanctions, severe storm damage, or war. It can also help take the edge off brutal price spikes when supply gets hit.

It’s not a solution for the long haul. It’s more of an immediate safety net to support consumers and keep crucial sectors of the economy running (think key industries, emergency services, public transportation, and the like).

How oil and natural gas prices are linked

Oil and natural gas are two of the main fuels that keep the world running. A big change in oil prices can end up affecting natural gas. As an example, if oil prices increase, some industries may sub natural gas for certain areas of their operations wherever possible. This can increase demand for natural gas.

Historical performance of oil

The oil market typically tracks two benchmarks:

  • Brent crude oil (the main global oil benchmark)
  • West Texas Intermediate (WTI) (the main benchmark of North America)

Between the two, Brent offers a clearer view of global oil performance because it prices much of the world’s traded crude. It’s also often the preferred gauge for tracking historical oil trends. In fact, the U.S. Energy Information Administration now uses Brent as its primary reference in its Annual Energy Outlook.

Looking at the Brent benchmark over multiple decades, you’ll find oil has been anything but stable. It’s seen sharp rises due to factors like wars and supply cuts, along with steep declines tied to global recessions and oversupply (called a “glut”). For example:

  • The early 1970s saw the first major oil shock when the Middle East slashed exports and placed an embargo on the U.S. and others during the Yom Kippur War.
  • Prices fell in the mid-1980s for reasons including lower demand and the entry of more non-OPEC oil producers.
  • Prices jumped again in 2008 with increased global demand, but then plunged alongside the global financial crisis.
  • During the 2020 COVID lockdown, oil demand collapsed like never before—bringing prices below $20 per barrel.

Bottom line, oil’s historical performance has been anything but smooth. It’s hugely affected by wars, recessions, OPEC whims, evolving energy initiatives and policies, and much more.

Energy coverage from Fortune

Looking to stay up-to-date regarding the latest energy developments? Check out our recent coverage:

Frequently asked questions

How is the current price of oil per barrel actually determined?

The current price of oil per barrel depends largely on supply and demand, including news about potential future supply and demand (geopolitics, decisions made by OPEC+, etc.). In the U.S., prices also move based on how friendly an administration is to drilling, as it can affect future supply. For example, 2025 saw the Trump administration move to reopen more than 1.5 million acres in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas leasing, reversing the Biden administration’s policy of limiting oil drilling in the Arctic.

How often does the price of oil change during the day?

The price of oil updates constantly when the “futures” markets are open. A futures market is effectively an auction where people agree to buy or sell oil in the future. As long as people and companies are trading contracts, the oil price is changing.

How does U.S. shale oil production affect the current price of oil?

In short, shale is rock that contains oil and natural gas. Think of shale as energy yet to be tapped. The more shale the U.S. accesses, the more energy we’ll have—and the more easily oil prices can keep from spiking as much thanks to a greater supply.

How does the current price of oil impact inflation and the broader economy?

When oil is expensive, it tends to make everyday items cost more. This can be related to energy (your heating, gas utilities, etc.), but it’s also due to the logistics involved with making those items accessible to you. Shipping, for example, can affect the price of things at the grocery store, as it’s more expensive to get those products from warehouses and farms onto the shelf.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

When a company that builds fire trucks, rail-maintenance machinery, or electric vehicle chargers is invited to bid on a big contract, the request that lands in its inbox can run to thousands of pages of technical specifications. Developing the bid is traditionally a slow and stubbornly manual process: sales engineers, technical specialists, lawyers, and commercial staff pass documents back and forth for weeks, sometimes months, before a price can be quoted.

Atira, a Munich-based startup, wants to use AI to automate that work—and it has just raised $17.5 million in venture capital funding to make good on that vision.

The company said it has closed a $15 million seed round led by Accel, along with a previously undisclosed $2.5 million pre-seed. UVC Partners, Fortino, and BOOOM also invested, alongside individual investors that included, among others, Whirlpool chairman and CEO Marc Bitzer and Bastian Nominacher, co-founder and co-CEO of process-mining company Celonis. Atira declined to disclose its valuation following the funding.

Atira estimates that industrial “sales engineering”—the work of turning a customer’s request into a technically viable, priced bid—accounts for more than $128 billion in annual labor spending worldwide. “Sales engineering is one of the largest workflows in manufacturing that software has never truly automated,” Atira cofounder and CEO Florian Diegruber said.

Diegruber previously worked as a commercial lead at Palantir, where he spent much of his time serving one of Germany’s large automotive manufacturers. He and August DuMont Schütte, a former machine learning software engineer at Google, began working together in mid-2024 on a broad thesis about reindustrializing Europe and the U.S. Half a year later they settled on quoting software, a category Diegruber notes “sounded very unsexy back then, which is always a good place to start a venture.” They incorporated Atira in Munich in November 2024.

His argument is that industry has focused on automating factory processes and ignored the “front of house” work needed to create industrial orders in the first place. “When you need six months for your sales cycle to go from request received to final proposal out, it’s great that you’ve automated a week or a month of your factory floor,” he told Fortune. “But the big chunk is on the front door.”

Atira’s platform plugs into a customer’s existing customer relationship management (CRM). enterprise resource planning (ERP), and configure-price-quote systems and deploys AI agents that read incoming requests, highlight key requirements, flag specifications the company cannot meet, then generates the technical documentation, configuration proposals, and pricing options that make up a bid.

Since launching commercially in November 2025, the startup has signed about 15 customers, Diegruber told Fortune. He said that all these customers are now using the system in full production, rather than simply experimenting with pilots, and that five of them have over 100 users each on Atira’s platform.

Among Atira’s customers are ABB E-mobility, the EV charging business that is majority-owned by European engineering giant ABB. Another customer is Chiron Group, the German industrial parts manufacturing firm, has more than 70 people using Atira’s software and reports that it’s able to process inbound quote requests 80% faster than before. (Markus Flik, a former Chiron Group CEO, is among Atira’s investors.) Meanwhile, railway equipment maker Robel says that Atira’s software is saving 95 hours of sales and engineering time per quotation request.

Several other companies are working on similar AI systems that speed up complex quotation processes, including Salesforce and ServiceNow. The major consulting firms are also helping their clients implement similar AI tools and the enterprise sales teams of AI companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, and Mistral are also looking to snag industrial customers. There are other startups in the hunt too, including Roadrunner, which recently raised $27 million from Silicon Valley venture firms Kleiner Perkins and Founders Fund.

But Diegruber said that he is not afraid of this competition. For one thing, he said, the business model of the consulting firms means that they often offer expensive software solutions that require a lot of time to implement. Other software, he said, can’t capture the tacit knowledge that exists within most industrial firms that is essential to getting quotes right. Atira’s AI agents ping human experts over Microsoft Teams to resolve questions no document can answer.

“I always like to joke, if you give Claude to 20 sellers, you still get 20 different answers,” he said, referring to Anthropic’s chatbot. “So it’s really that aspect of scalability across the org versus just solving it for a single person.”

On accuracy—a persistent worry for enterprises deploying large language models—Diegruber said Atira builds dedicated front ends for different types of agents, and that when users review the agents’ answers, the software shows its sources and requires a human to confirm each one. “You can’t just deploy an agent and say the agent now does the work that you’ve previously done manually,” he said.

Harry Nelis, a partner at VC firm Accel, said in a statement that developing quotes for complex manufacturing “involves huge amounts of unstructured information, technical judgement and knowledge spread across different people and systems,” which makes it hard to automate with conventional software. “AI changes that equation because it can understand that context and orchestrate work across the entire process,” Nelis said.

Atira’s traction is notable given the received wisdom that European industrial giants are slower than American ones to buy from startups. Diegruber thinks attitudes among European industrial executives are shifting and that they are increasingly willing to take a risk on a startup’s software. He also said that it helps that Atira uses a deployment model that gets customers up and running within a day or two and lets them cancel after a month. “Luckily, so far this has never happened,” he said, referring to the later scenario.

The money Atira has raised in its latest venture capital round will go mostly into engineering and the company’s first non-founder commercial hires, Diegruber said. Atira had just four employees at the start of the year and has about 15 now, with nine more due to start soon. The company is also eyeing the U.S., where it has a first customer in a pilot, he said. 

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Good morning. After nearly a decade helping steer Charter Communications’ cable and broadband business, CFO Jessica Fischer is leaving for a Blackstone- and Google-backed venture investing billions to meet soaring demand for AI computing capacity.

The move puts an experienced Fortune 500 finance chief at the center of one of corporate America’s biggest investment booms. It also reflects how the AI infrastructure buildout is pulling capital and senior talent from established industries as companies race to add computing capacity.

“I’m embarking on an exciting new opportunity in the AI infrastructure space, joining the newly formed joint venture between Blackstone and Google in October,” Fischer wrote on LinkedIn Monday. A Blackstone spokesperson confirmed to CFO Daily that Fischer will become CFO of the venture.

Blackstone and Google announced the venture in May, with plans to build a U.S.-based company providing computing infrastructure for AI models and applications. Blackstone is committing an initial $5 billion in equity. The company is targeting 500 megawatts of capacity by 2027 and plans to expand substantially beyond that. Google will provide its AI chips and related technology, while longtime Google infrastructure executive Benjamin Treynor Sloss will serve as CEO.

Fischer will step down from Charter on Oct. 15. Kevin Howard, a Charter veteran and its EVP, chief accounting officer, and controller, was appointed interim CFO on Monday. Charter will search for a permanent finance chief.

Fischer, age 41, joined Charter as corporate treasurer in 2017, later becoming EVP of finance and CFO in 2021. Before Charter, she was a partner in EY’s national tax department. Charter CEO Chris Winfrey called Fischer a key member of the executive team and credited her with helping build Spectrum into the country’s largest broadband and video provider.

Her departure comes as Charter, No. 85 on the Fortune 500, grapples with steeper-than-expected broadband subscriber losses amid intensifying competition from fixed-wireless providers. Charter said in an SEC filing that Fischer’s resignation did not stem from a disagreement with the company and was unrelated to its operations or financial reporting.

Fischer is moving between two capital-intensive industries at very different points in their growth. Charter is competing for subscribers in a mature connectivity market. Her new employer is preparing to spend billions building computing capacity as demand for AI infrastructure accelerates.

That environment also raises the stakes for the CFO. Building AI infrastructure requires huge upfront investments and decisions about how quickly to add capacity when future demand and returns remain uncertain. Fischer brings experience overseeing finance at a large public company accustomed to making long-term infrastructure investments.

Her move reflects a broader shift in where corporate capital and executive talent are flowing. As billions pour into the infrastructure behind AI, finance chiefs with experience managing large investment programs are becoming central to how quickly the industry can grow and whether those investments ultimately pay off.

Sheryl Estrada
Sheryl.Estrada@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

“Europe has been worrying about slowing growth since the start of this century,” Mario Draghi said in 2024. “Various strategies to raise rates have come and gone, but the trend has remained unchanged.” 

There is a tendency for gloom to descend when thinking about Europe’s economic and business prospects. In comparison with America, the Gulf and Asia, the mature markets of the EU and the rest of the continent have languished. Since the financial crisis, GDP growth in the euro-area has averaged 0.9% a year. In the U.S., it is above 2%. 

Being European, overdoing the downsides comes naturally. We are a broadly skeptical and conservative bunch, not overly impressed by flamboyant displays of confidence. 

Admittedly the continent has labored as the AI hyper-scalers of America and China have produced products (and valuations) that make the eyes pop. Progress towards a European capital markets union is lumpy. The effects of the U.K. leaving the EU are still being felt. The EU’s Digital Markets Act has been criticized for being both anti-consumer and anti-growth. 

There are, though, plenty of bright spots. On September 16, we will reveal our annual Fortune 500 Europe, the list of the 500 largest companies across the continent by revenue (here’s a link to last year’s list). These are the powerhouses of the European economy, led last year by Volkswagen, Shell and Glencore. The 2026 index will be a treasure trove of statistics on profits, revenues and growth—with many lessons from the successes of those listed. 

On the same day, C-suite leaders from across Europe and the Middle East will be gathering in London for Fortune CEO Forum to talk about growth and share successes and best practices. Leaders from Anthropic and OpenAI will be in the room with the CEOs of Ferrari and Volvo Cars U.K. The U.K. chairman of energy giant EDF will sit alongside board members from NatWest and the in-country CEO of Société Générale. Defense sector policymakers will discuss infrastructure investment with the likes of Honeywell and Tech Mahindra. Entrepreneurs from banking, AI delivery and telecoms will talk about future opportunities. From Microsoft to Shell, C-suite executives representing nearly $2trn of wealth will be in the room. 

On September 16 C-suite leaders from across Europe and the Middle East will be gathering in London for Fortune CEO Forum to talk about growth and share successes and best practices.

Alongside the data from the Fortune 500 index, there are other reasons for optimism. Europe’s Innovation Scorecard, a test of research and investment trends compiled by the European Commission, revealed that innovation performance has increased by 11.6 percentage points since 2019. The U.K., Europe’s second-largest economy, sits happily above the EU average by more than 30 percentage points. “Europe continues to perform well,” the most recent scorecard said. 

The continent boasts some of the greatest universities in the world, is an AI-intellectual powerhouse, has booming financial centers of which many are rightly envious, best-in-class manufacturing from cars to windmills and leads the way on energy sustainability research and non-fossil fuel production. Global leaders flock to Europe for its unique position, geographically and politically, between China, the rest of Asia, the Gulf, and America. Education and healthcare systems are in the top tier. The U.K. wants to see closer co-operation with the rest of the EU. 

In a research note at the end of July, Goldman Sachs said that Europe’s economic growth had been “more resilient than expected’ given the energy price shock which followed the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.  

“We see several reasons for this resilience,” the note said, “The economy’s energy dependence has declined. Fiscal policy supports growth [with] rising defense spending across Europe. Real household income growth remains robust, and labor markets have remained resilient despite sub-potential growth, with the unemployment rate at an all-time low.” 

As a continent keen on saving, consumer confidence remains positive despite stubbornly high inflation. Most families are comfortably liquid and spending is continuing to rise. Incomes are up without the deleterious effects on wealth equality seen in the U.S. 

“We estimate that broad financial conditions—including bank lending conditions and the European Central Bank’s policy stance—point to a positive impulse to growth,” the bank said. 

Business leaders want to turn that impulse into a trend and know that collaboration across the continent and globally is key. Policy makers will also need to play their part. 

“We must take a new stance towards cooperation,” Draghi said. “In removing obstacles, harmonizing rules and coordinating policies, our confidence that we will succeed in moving forward should be strong.” The plan is clear. Now it is time for the execution phase. 

For the latest coverage and updates from Fortune CEO Forum, as well as insights into the companies on our list, visit this page.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

You used to make yourself the breakfast of champions: some coffee, eggs, toast, maybe some yogurt and berries, along with some screentime. But as soon as you go to take a bite of those scrambled eggs, you stop: you saw a post saying eggs have been recalled for salmonella. Not to worry, you turn to your toast—but now even bread has been recalled for containing metal. Those berries? Recalled for e. Coli. Your breakfast has now become a wearily-drunk glass of water and doomscrolling about the latest recalled food item. 

If you’re feeling weary about your food, you’re not alone: the majority of Americans have lost confidence in the American food system. And there’s a good reason: in August alone, the Food and Drug Administration announced 26 food recall notices. Add in drug notices, and the agency posted 46 recalls for the month. According to a consumer survey commissioned by GS1 US—the nonprofit standards group best known for creating the UPC barcode that’s seen in products in your grocery cart—94% of U.S. adults say they’re concerned about how frequently food is being recalled. 

And within those warnings lies a growing tension: A recall means a potentially dangerous product has been identified and pulled from the market, one of the mechanisms designed to keep unsafe food away from consumers. Yet as the notices pile up, Americans are losing confidence in that system, with the share of adults who believe recalls effectively protect public health and safety fell to 80%, from 85% last year.

According to the survey, more than two-thirds (67%) of consumers say they’ve avoided an entire food category after a recall, up from 60% last year. Nearly as many, 66%, have hesitated to buy the same product or brand again. And 59% have thrown away recalled food even when their state or region wasn’t affected.

So why are there so many recalls right now, and do more recalls actually mean America’s food is becoming unsafe?

Recalls after recalls 

According to The New Republic’s tally of FDA recall notices, the agency announced 18 food recall notices in August 2025 and 19 in August 2024. But two years later,  that number rose to 26, excluding pet food. Salmonella accounted for a sizable share of August’s food recall notices, with 12 of the 26 recalls referencing potential Salmonella contamination, as compared to just two in July, and one in August of each of the previous two years, according to The New Republic.

The affected products were all over the grocery aisle: radishes, mangoes, alfalfa sprouts, granola and jalapeños have all been recalled over potential Salmonella contamination. 

Sometimes the reasons for recalls were due to mislabeled products or foreign substances. With Halloween right around the corner, those looking for a sweet treat might get the trick, too: chocolate eyeballs were recalled for undeclared milk, meaning milk was left off the label. Ready-to-go baked spaghetti instead? Watch out for aluminum slivers. Craving a fruit bar in this summer heat? Careful, glass got your tongue. Vegan frozen dessert sandwiches? Surprise: they may contain egg. An almond and cocoa spread may come with unlisted cashews, pistachios and hazelnuts, too.

The list has gotten so long that people took to X to keep track. “America, welcome to the wheel of misfortune,” one X user wrote after the tofu recall, joking that this week’s spring had landed on tofu contaminated with ink. 

But counting recall notices isn’t the same thing as counting outbreaks or illnesses. Recalls can happen for vastly different reasons, from bacterial contamination and undeclared allergens to foreign objects such as glass, metal or plastic. They can also vary dramatically in scale and severity.

A single contamination event can also trigger multiple recall notices as ingredients move through the supply chain. One Salmonella outbreak linked to jalapeños this summer, for example, resulted in several downstream recalls of products containing the recalled peppers, according to the FDA.

“There isn’t one single factor driving the number we’re seeing,” Melanie Nuce-Hilton, Senior Vice President of Customer Success at GS1 US, told Fortune. 

Some recalls carry far greater consequences than others. Midwest Poultry Services recalled nearly 1.6 million dozen eggs—almost 19 million eggs—after detecting a potential Salmonella contamination at two Texas farms. The outbreak sickened at least 98 people across 17 states and hospitalized 26. Nuce-Hilton said recalls can be evidence that food-safety systems are identifying problems and removing affected products from the market. However, Vineet Dubey, a Los Angeles-based environmental attorney, told Fortune they can also expose weaknesses in the system.

“People could argue that numerous recalls mean better detection, but they can also expose weaknesses,” said Dubey. “The real question isn’t simply why we’re recalling more food; it’s why contaminated food is making it far enough through the supply chain to require a recall.”

Food agencies have fewer eyes on the problem 

Those concerns are arriving at a time when the federal agencies responsible for food safety have also undergone significant staffing cuts. More than 20,000 employees left the Department of Agriculture last year, while the FDA lost thousands of employees amid the Trump administration’s push to shrink the federal workforce. Reuters reported that staffing cuts disrupted some of the FDA’s food-safety work, including a quality-control program for laboratories that test food for contaminants. The USDA’s National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods, which provided scientific advice on foodborne pathogens, was also terminated.

“We cannot ignore the impact of government staffing cuts on food safety,” Dubey said. “The FDA has lost a significant portion of its workforce, giving Americans fewer eyes watching the products we consume.”

Dubey cautioned that does not mean every recall is the result of staffing cuts. And the higher August count alone doesn’t establish that America’s food supply has suddenly become less safe.

The FDA did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

One recall can scare shoppers away from an entire aisle

Whatever is driving the increase, consumers aren’t always limiting their reaction to the products regulators actually tell them to avoid.

“Consumers are making a category-level decision about a product-level problem,” Nuce-Hilton said.

Most recalls are much narrower, affecting certain products, lots, batches or regions during a particular timeframe. But when shoppers respond by avoiding the entire category, Nuce-Hilton said, companies whose products were never involved can lose sales and perfectly safe food can end up in the trash.

Part of the problem is figuring out whether the food sitting in the refrigerator is actually part of the recall.

Consumers may have to find the recall alert, inspect the packaging and match a lot code that can itself be difficult to read, Nuce-Hilton said. Faced with that process, some simply throw the food away as a precaution. Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed said they’ve discarded recalled food even when their state or region wasn’t affected.

Tracing the food itself isn’t always simple, either. Nuce-Hilton explained how fresh produce can be particularly difficult to trace because of how many hands it can pass through before reaching consumers. A single shipment may contain produce from multiple fields or growers before moving between packers, distributors, processors and retailers. Along the way, products can be repacked or combined with other lots, making it harder to preserve information about exactly where a particular item came from.

When that information gets separated from the food, companies can have a harder time isolating exactly what needs to be recalled and may end up pulling more product than necessary, she said.

When every recall sounds urgent

The food industry and regulators are trying to make that process more precise.

The FDA’s Food Traceability Rule requires companies that manufacture, process, pack or hold certain foods to maintain additional records as those products move through the supply chain. Those records are intended to help regulators identify and remove potentially contaminated food faster and must be provided to the FDA within 24 hours when requested. The rule was originally set for compliance in January, but Congress has directed the agency not to enforce the rule before July 20, 2028, giving companies more time to implement the new requirements.

GS1 US is also working with brands to transition from traditional UPCs to two-dimensional barcodes capable of carrying more detailed batch- and item-level information. One goal, Nuce-Hilton said, is for shoppers to eventually scan a package and determine whether their particular item is part of a recall instead of guessing.

The bigger risk is that as recall notices pile up, they all start to sound the same. Nuce-Hilton said consumers need to quickly understand how serious a recall is, whether the product they have is affected, and what they should do about it.

“When a shopper can get those answers quickly, the urgent recalls are perceived as urgent,” she said. “When they can’t, every recall carries the same weight, and eventually it’s possible that none of them do.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

He might be the second-youngest mayor in New York City history, but 34-year-old Mayor Zohran Mamdani didn’t have AI in school, and he wants to make sure city kids don’t either.

The digital-native politician, who said he doesn’t use AI himself, announced on Wednesday alongside Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels a one-year moratorium on student-facing generative AI for children in 2-K through eighth grade, covering nearly 600,000 students in the country’s largest public school system and banning companion chatbots across every grade.

“The tech industry wants us to believe that AI in early education is not only inevitable, but that it is necessary. We do not see it that way,” Mamdani said at a news conference announcing the ban.

“I have yet to see a study showing that AI is beneficial for students in elementary and middle school, with the exception, of course, of research sponsored by the very corporations that stand to profit.”

City Hall is calling it the most expansive student-facing AI policy in the country. “The tech industry wants us to believe that A.I.-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary. We do not see it that way,” Mamdani said in a statement announcing the policy, and at the conference, he added that the city would “embrace new technology, but only when it serves our students.”

“Kids need to learn to think for themselves, they need to work alongside their peers, they need to learn how to ask better questions, and they need to learn what it feels like to not know the answer,” Mamdani said. “This is what learning is all about, and it is what city government is determined to protect.”

But back in April, over 250 education experts exclusively told Fortune they were calling on the mayor to instill a five-year moratorium. At the time, the city’s AI guidance for schools was still the permissive “traffic light” version, which sorted AI uses into barred, cautioned, and allowed categories but left student use it in a vague, use-with-caution middle tier. Leonie Haimson of the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy at the time told Fortune: “He said he himself doesn’t use AI, which is good, but why is he foisting it on New York City public school students?”

Now, the city’s policy is stuck between two worlds: education advocates are asking for more, while proponents of the AI believe a moratorium even of one year will adversely affect students.

The ask and the outcome

In April, when that coalition of more than 250 doctors, child development experts and advocacy organizations called for a five-year moratorium on generative AI in pre-K through 12 schools, the worry was about teaching kids how to learn. “We just don’t want to waste another 10 years in which our kids’ education is undermined,” Haimson said. “It took more than 10 years to ban cell phones from schools. We can’t afford that again.”

Two months later, a majority of the City Council signed a letter asking Mamdani and Samuels to “immediately pause” AI in schools for two years, citing risks to student privacy and critical thinking. Parents, teachers and artists rallied at City Hall over the summer pushing the same two-year figure. The administration landed on one year on Wednesday.

Fairplay, a child advocacy group that led the coalition back in April, released a statement following the mayor’s moratorium announcement, in which Campaign Director David Monahan called the policy “a step in the right direction” that nonetheless “raises serious concerns.”

“AIM has been saying all along that New York City Public Schools need a two-year pause on AI to craft the most democratic and durable policy for students and the community,” Monahan said, using the coalition’s own name for itself, the AI Moratorium for NYC Schools. “It’s not too late to heed their call.”

In April, a DOE spokesperson told Fortune: “We know we must design educational spaces that never lose sight of original thinking or human-centered learning while advancing AI literacy safely and responsibly.” This week, Samuels used nearly identical framing: “We’re standing firmly in our belief that innovation does not mean more technology.”

Samuels later acknowledged the March policy “missed the mark,” and Wednesday’s one-year moratorium replaced it, five months on.

The case against the pause

Not everyone thinks a moratorium is the right call. The most visible pushback comes from Bill Ackman, the hedge fund manager behind Pershing Square Capital Management, who has spent the past year promoting Alpha School, a private network that condenses academic instruction into two hours a day using AI tutoring software and has a campus a few blocks from City Hall. Ackman has called it ‘the first truly breakthrough innovation in K-12 education’ since KIPP Academy, arguing that classrooms ‘haven’t fundamentally changed in 200 years’ while AI is transforming everything else.

He’s not alone. More than 250 CEOs—including the heads of Microsoft, Adobe, Dell, AMD and IBM—signed an open letter through the nonprofit CSforAll’s Unlock8 campaign calling for mandatory computer science and AI education in every U.S. high school, arguing that early, universal exposure is what prevents a widening skills gap rather than causes one.

“In the age of AI, we must prepare our children for the future—to be AI creators, not just consumers,” the letter states. President Trump signed a related executive order in April 2025 directing federal agencies to expand AI training grants and classroom resources for K-12 students, framing early AI literacy as a matter of economic competitiveness.

That argument surfaced inside Mamdani’s own announcement. Julie Samuels, president and CEO of the tech industry group Tech:NYC, was one of the outside voices quoted in the city’s press release, and her praise came with a pointed caveat: citing a CBRE report showing New York now has more tech jobs than the Bay Area, she said the city should “expand this access beyond one hour per week in the future” for high schoolers using AI career-readiness tools, rather than treat exposure to the technology as something to ration.

Even the mayor addressed the city’s decision to allow AI in schools—but only for high schoolers.

“Whether we like it or not, our teenagers are growing up in an AI-saturated world. We cannot pretend that that world does not exist. It would be irresponsible not to prepare our children for the fast-evolving technological future that lies ahead,” Mamdani said at the conference. “So, in high school we will teach our students about AI, its opportunities and its pitfalls, its building blocks and its biases.”

“But I want to be very clear: In no way, shape or form will AI replace student-teacher interaction,” he said. “It is the foundation of our students’ educational experience. That will not change.”

It’s also not the first time the city’s own school system has made the workforce-readiness case for AI over caution. In 2023, then-Chancellor David Banks reversed an earlier ChatGPT ban, writing in a Chalkbeat op-ed that the “knee-jerk fear and risk overlooked the potential of generative AI to support students and teachers” and that students would enter a workforce where understanding the technology was essential.

A few miles away, a different bet

Just a few miles from the Brooklyn school where Mamdani made the announcement is the Alpha School, a private network at 180 Maiden Lane in the Financial District, which condenses academic instruction into two hours a day using AI-driven tutoring software, then spends the rest of the school day on workshops—leadership, entrepreneurship, life skills. There’s no homework. Staff are called “guides.” Tuition runs close to $65,000 a year.

Alpha claims its students rank in the top 1 to 2% nationally, and as a private network, It faces no requirement to report outcome data to the state, making the claims hard to independently verify. Internal documents obtained by 404 Media earlier this year showed the network’s AI-generated lesson content included poorly structured material and illogical multiple-choice questions, Futurism reported in July.

A spokesperson from Alpha told Fortune that Alpha’s AI-powered learning platform was built with input from learning scientists, including Carl Hendrick, a King’s College London PhD who has published on evidence-based teaching methods. Alpha’s model compresses two hours of AI-driven instruction into the morning, well above the 98-minute daily average U.S. students spend on school-issued devices.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Allies of the US will support the country’s efforts to “economically asphyxiate” Iran, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Tuesday morning.

Iran is in “economic death throes,” and will soon be ready to make a deal with the US, he added.

Speaking at the conclusion of the G20 meeting, Bessent explained that he used the opportunity to push allies to join the American effort to completely isolate Iran’s economy through Operation Economic Outcast.

The operation has been met with “a great show of support,” Bessent told reporters. “What I can tell you is many of our allies came forward and said we will do whatever is necessary.”

He didn’t provide further details as to what the support would look like.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh attend a plenary session as finance ministers and central bank governors from G20 countries meet in Asheville, North Carolina, US, August 31, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/SAM WOLFE)

Chinese cooperation on Operation Economic Outcast

The treasury secretary said that conversations with Chinese officials had been “productive.” He emphasized that the US and China agree on more than they disagree on with regards to Iran, adding that both wish to prevent Iran for obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Bessent said that discussions with Chinese officials were “intentionally quiet.” 

Although both parties want free trade to resume in the Starit of Hormuz, Bessent made it clear that they had not yet reached a specific agreement regarding the strait.

He also emphasized that the US doesn’t need Chinese support for Operation Economic Outcast to succeed, telling reporters that the US will block Iran from converting Chinese yuan into USD.

“When that money cannot be converted to dollars, then the Iranian regime will starve.”

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

The Gulf of Aden is only about a hundred miles wide at its narrowest point.

Yemen sits on one side.

Somalia sits on the other.

And the armed groups controlling territory along both shores are increasingly cooperating in ways that could make one of the world’s most important shipping corridors even more dangerous.

American and United Nations assessments describe a relationship between Yemen’s Houthis and Somalia’s al-Shabaab that has moved beyond shared hostility toward the West and into something more practical:

weapons, training, money and smuggling.

The Houthis have missiles, drones and battlefield experience.

Al-Shabaab has cash, manpower and deep smuggling networks across East Africa.

Each side has something the other wants.

And for global shipping, that is the part that matters.

What Has Changed

The Houthis have spent years attacking commercial and military vessels in and around the Red Sea using drones, missiles and other weapons.

Al-Shabaab, meanwhile, has mainly focused its operations inside Somalia and East Africa.

But U.N. reporting and U.S. assessments indicate that members of al-Shabaab have traveled to Yemen for training in drone operations and explosives.

The Houthis have also reportedly supplied armed drones, while al-Shabaab has sought more advanced weapons, including guided missiles.

That would represent a major escalation.

Until now, al-Shabaab has used drones mostly for surveillance and battlefield intelligence.

A group capable of accurately striking a moving commercial vessel at sea would be dealing with a completely different level of firepower.

Why the Geography Matters

The Gulf of Aden feeds directly into the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints.

Ships traveling between Asia and Europe use the route to reach the Red Sea and then the Suez Canal.

That means everything from electronics and clothing to machinery, food and energy passes through the area.

Until now, much of the military threat to commercial shipping has come from the Yemeni side.

If armed groups on both shores gain the ability to threaten vessels, there is effectively no safe coastline to favor.

That creates a much more complicated security problem for shipping companies.

Somali Piracy Is Also Returning

The danger is not limited to missiles and drones.

Piracy off Somalia has also begun rising again.

Several vessels have been seized this year, and criminal groups have again demanded multimillion-dollar ransoms from shipowners.

At its peak in 2011, Somali piracy cost shipping companies and governments roughly $7 billion a year through ransom payments, security costs, rerouting and higher insurance premiums.

The difference today is that piracy is returning at the same time that warships in the region are also dealing with missile and drone threats.

That divides naval resources.

A destroyer watching for incoming missiles cannot simultaneously patrol every stretch of coastline for small pirate boats.

What It Means for Shipping Companies

The immediate commercial response is familiar.

When the Red Sea becomes too dangerous, shipping companies send vessels around the Cape of Good Hope instead.

That route is much longer.

It can add roughly ten days to a voyage between Asia and Europe.

It also means more fuel, more crew time and higher insurance costs.

Every extra day at sea costs money.

Those costs eventually work their way into freight rates and, later, into the prices paid by businesses and consumers.

Two Chokepoints Are Under Pressure at Once

The timing is especially important because the Red Sea is not the only major maritime route under pressure.

The Strait of Hormuz is also under strain because of the broader conflict involving Iran and the Gulf.

That means two of the world’s most important shipping chokepoints are facing elevated risk at the same time.

Hormuz affects oil and gas shipments.

Bab el-Mandeb affects traffic moving between Asia, Europe and the Mediterranean.

Pressure on both creates a much bigger problem for global trade.

Why This Partnership Matters

The Houthi-al-Shabaab relationship is dangerous not because the groups suddenly became ideological allies.

They are not.

The Houthis are Shiite and backed by Iran.

Al-Shabaab is Sunni and affiliated with al-Qaeda.

Their cooperation appears to be transactional.

That can actually make it more durable.

They do not need to agree on religion, politics or long-term goals.

They only need to agree that weapons, money and training are useful.

What It Means for Businesses

For importers, retailers and manufacturers in the United States and Europe, the key risk is higher transportation costs.

Longer shipping routes mean higher fuel bills.

Higher risk means more expensive insurance.

Delays mean inventories arrive later.

And companies that rely on just-in-time supply chains have less room for error.

The Red Sea was already one of the most fragile parts of global trade.

If the threat expands from one coastline to both, the economics become much harder.

The question is no longer only whether a ship can safely get past Yemen.

It is whether the entire corridor between Yemen and Somalia can remain reliably open.

That is a much bigger problem.

JBizNews Desk | New York

© JBizNews.com All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or distribution without written permission is prohibited.

On:

In a world of infinite information, trust is the scarcest resource.

In 1999, I co-founded Epinions, one of the first user-generated review sites, and helped pioneer the reviews economy. The premise was that anyone could review anything, and the collective judgment of the masses would sum to something useful.

Epinions succeeded. We sold the company to eBay. But it, along with the review sites that followed, set an industry in motion that would eventually be gamed. Today’s online reviews are a mix of the genuine and the fabricated: real experiences sitting next to anonymous ratings that can be manufactured or bought, often indistinguishable from the real thing. It got bad enough that in 2024, the Federal Trade Commission finalized a landmark rule making deceptive review and testimonial practices illegal.

I had a stake in that fight in 1999, and I find myself with one again now. I co-founded Nextdoor, a neighborhood network built on real identity and local trust. A large part of how neighbors use Nextdoor is to gather local advice and recommendations — reviews, in effect — on local businesses and service providers. My co-founders and I didn’t set out to get back into the reviews business. But here we are, and the timing works in our favor: in today’s world, who’s behind the review matters more than ever.

The platforms at the center of this problem aren’t oblivious to it. They’ve built out enforcement teams, sued fake-review brokers, and removed hundreds of millions of fraudulent reviews over the past year alone. The fake and manipulated share of reviews kept growing anyway. That’s not evidence the effort isn’t real. It’s evidence that policing anonymous content after the fact can’t keep pace with how cheap it’s gotten to fake it in the first place.

Eighty-five percent of consumers now suspect online reviews are fake, and eighty-eight percent say they can’t tell which ones are real. None of that has killed the habit. People still want reviews and still act on them. What’s eroding is their ability to tell which ones deserve their trust. What they actually want to know is who’s telling them this, and why they should believe them.

What makes a recommendation trustworthy?

What the latest issues with the review industry have shown us is that any trust signal is only as durable as what it costs to fake and what you lose when you’re caught. Star ratings fail both tests. There’s no way to know who’s behind the rating, or what their bar for five stars even is. An anonymous rating costs nothing to manufacture, and no one pays a price when it’s exposed.

An accountable written recommendation passes both tests. When a neighbor recommends a contractor under their real name, you know exactly who’s vouching for them, and what that neighbor stands to lose, in reputation and relationship, if the contractor wrecks your kitchen. The reviewer has skin in the game. The star never did.

Early research fielded this summer by the consumer-insights platform Echo points in the same direction: nearly half of respondents said they’d suspected a fake or manipulated review in the past year, and 81% said they’d trust a recommendation more if the person making it were held socially accountable.

When a machine answers instead of a person

Ask a model today to name the best pizza place in town and you’ll get a confident, instant answer for free. But abundance always changes what’s scarce. Information used to be scarce. Now it’s free and instant. Provenance isn’t.

The machines giving those answers are trained on the same reviews we already can’t trust. It turns out they’re no better than we are at telling which ones are real. A 2025 study out of Nottingham University Business School found that AI-generated fake reviews are now indistinguishable from real ones, to human readers and to other AI models alike. This reality just creates more unreliable confusion for the end consumer.  

And AI presents problems for the businesses being reviewed. They have no way to influence the answers the LLMs produce, and even more problematic, many of them have been targets of “AI bombing”, the practice of using generative AI to rapidly create and post large volumes of fake, misleading, or low-quality reviews about a business, artificially manipulating its online reputation.

A competitor, a bad actor, anyone with a prompt, can now bury a business under thousands of reviews it never earned, and no model, human or otherwise, can reliably tell the fake from the real. When reputation can be manufactured at scale, provenance stops being a nice-to-have. It becomes the whole business.”

A simple test you can use

What I started with Epinions became an industry all its own, one that’s still serving, and potentially costing, the consumers who rely on it today. Before you act on a recommendation you find online, ask who’s telling you this and what they have to gain or lose. That question hasn’t changed since 1999. What’s changed is how much the industry profits when you don’t ask it.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Questions are mounting over whether Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will again postpone Palestinian Legislative Council elections, or whether the long-delayed vote will finally take place, bringing an end to the council’s 16-year-old expired mandate, according to expert analysts and reports in Arab diaspora media
.
Yoni Ben Menachem, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, wrote earlier this week that senior Fatah officials were under the impression that Abbas would be likely to postpone the election again, over concerns that Mohammed Dahlan’s camp would be handed significant political control.

Officials told Menachem that Hussein al-Sheikh, deputy chairman of the PA, was pushing Abbas to postpone, and use the justification that the Central Elections Commission cannot hold elections in the Gaza Strip or in east Jerusalem.

Despite this apparent justification for postponing the elections, European officials have begun pushing to see some type of mission to see the election carried through. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot is reportedly going to ask the European Union to send a collective to monitor Palestinian elections scheduled for November, according to The National.

Abbas had vowed last year to finally carry out elections as part of a deal with France and 10 other countries to recognize a Palestinian state.

A man drives a tuk-tuk past portraits of late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (C) and former Fatah security chief in Gaza Mohammed Dahlan (R) in Beirut's Burj al-Barajneh camp for Palestinian refugees on May 14, 2024; illustrative. (credit: JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)

Dahlan had talks with Hamas in Cairo last month, and The Jerusalem Post confirmed earlier this week that Dahlan was seeking to unify Palestinian factions, including Hamas. Menachem noted that this development could give Hamas and its allies the opportunity to seize significant political power, or even for a Dahlan-Hamas camp to create a new center of power outside Abbas’s control.

Menachem: PLC elections could allow for PA leadership referendum 

Menachem also noted that the PLC elections could allow for a referendum on the PA and its leadership, which have frequently polled as unpopular among the Palestinian public and are widely regarded as corrupt.

Abbas could also use the time during the postponement to make internal arrangements within his divided faction before Palestinians ever have the opportunity to vote. Senior PA officials told Menachem that internal reconciliation within Fatah is the real test.

Fatah officials meet to mend party rift 

Fatah officials Sheikh and Jibril Rajoub, who have repeatedly come to blows, met last weekend as part of efforts to mend the rift, according to Arab media reports. These efforts are also reportedly being pushed along by a number of Arab states, who fear that a weakened PA would threaten the political framework needed to address a post-war period.

Adding to the pressure to hold the election as planned, Menachem noted that the ongoing PA legitimacy crisis would make any postponement appear as if Fatah fears the election’s verdict. 

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Five migrants were found dead aboard a boat rescued off Spain‘s Canary Islands, maritime rescue authorities said on Thursday, while a migrant rights group reported that survivors said dozens more had died during the crossing.

Three survivors were in serious condition and were airlifted to hospital, while another 41 disembarked at the port of Arguineguin on Gran Canaria in the early hours of Thursday, Maritime Rescue said in a statement. 

Helena Maleno, founder of Walking Borders, said on social media that survivors reported that 83 people, including three women and a baby, had died during the crossing. The boat had left The Gambia 27 days earlier.

Reuters could not independently verify that figure. Maritime Rescue said it could confirm only that five bodies were aboard the vessel when rescuers reached it. The bodies could not be recovered because of adverse weather conditions.

Migrants wait to be assisted by the Red Cross after disembarking from a Spanish coast guard vessel at the port of Arguineguin, on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, September 3, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/BORJA SUAREZ)

Regional leader calls for state policy on migration

Canary Islands regional leader, Fernando Clavijo, said the tragedy underscored the need for a state policy on migration, especially after a deadly migrant surge in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta in July.

“It is intolerable that lives continue to be lost. The Canaries cannot get used to or accept as normal the fact that the Atlantic continues to be a death trap,” he said on X.

The vessel had been spotted on Wednesday by a rescue aircraft about 65 nautical miles southwest of Arguineguin.

The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the world’s deadliest migration crossings. Thousands of migrants attempt the journey each year in overcrowded boats seeking to reach Spanish territory despite the risks posed by rough seas, strong currents and long distances.

The number of migrants reaching the Canary Islands from West Africa has fallen so far this year by 57.4%, according to official data.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Less than a year ago, Texas Governor Greg Abbott hailed Texas as the “epicenter of AI development.” Now, in his bid for re-election, he is calling for sweeping new restrictions on data centers.

And he’s hardly alone.

Across the country, as Democrats ride a wave of local opposition to data centers ahead of the November elections, Republicans are increasingly breaking from US President Donald Trump’s pro-AI agenda.

Republican candidates in at least five states – including Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania – have recently adopted tougher rhetoric on data centers or proposed restrictions on their development, creating a new fault line within the party.

The debate is “pitting pro-growth instincts and the push to beat China in the AI race against a populist backlash over affordability,” said Brad Dayspring, a Republican strategist with Purple Strategies.

In an aerial view, the Stargate Oracle AI data center campus is seen on August 26, 2026 in Abilene, Texas. (credit: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

The most striking shift is happening in Texas, a conservative, oil-rich state that has worked for years to reinvent itself as a national tech hub. Abundant and business-friendly regulations have attracted leading tech companies like SpaceX and Oracle and lured wealthy entrepreneurs like Elon Musk.

Even there, though, public sentiment has turned sharply against data centers, which opponents say drive up electric and water bills, pollute the night sky with lights, and don’t create enough tax revenue or jobs to justify the incentives states have paid.

An August poll by the Texas Politics Project found only 30% of respondents would support a data center in their community.

Big tech companies are trying to play catch-up, pouring more than $300 million into the midterms, according to election records, company and committee disclosures, and rolling out a massive ad campaign to educate consumers about the benefits of data centers.

But as the backlash spreads, Abbott is calling for expansive new regulations on data centers, the repeal of tax incentives for their construction and restrictions on development in rural communities. A state audit he announced on August 3 has effectively paused approvals for new grid connections.

Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, locked in a tight Senate race, has also hardened his stance on AI, unveiling a plan late last month that his campaign says will keep America competitive while stopping the “negative impact of data centers.”

Abbott and Paxton’s rhetorical pivot puts them at odds with Trump, the leader of their party, who warned in a Truth Social post Monday that Americans fighting data centers risked ending up “backwards and poor.”

Republican officials have downplayed the split with Trump.

“We’re going to advise our candidates to do what’s best for them and their communities,” said Natalie Baldassarre, national press secretary for the Republican National Committee. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.”

Jockeying for position

Texas is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing markets for AI-related data center development, hosting OpenAI’s flagship Stargate campus in Abilene, among other major projects.

Paxton once embraced AI data centers as an engine of job creation and economic growth. As a state senator in 2013, he voted for a tax incentive that later became a major driver of data-center investment in Texas.

In February, local commissioners in Hood County, Texas, requested Paxton’s opinion on whether they had the legal authority to temporarily halt development of data centers. Half a year later, the request is still pending, according to the attorney general’s website.

Paxton’s opponent, Democrat James Talarico, has accused him of political opportunism, pointing to campaign contributions he’s accepted from the tech industry.

“He’s scared his ties to big data center companies will lose him the election, so he’s making a sad attempt to reverse course,” Talarico said in a statement.

The Paxton campaign did not respond to questions about his shifting position on data centers, but accused Talarico of taking money from some of the same corporate interests and voting for a sales tax incentive for large data centers as a Texas state senator in 2023.

“He’s a hypocrite who’s bought and paid for by his coastal billionaire donors,” Paxton’s campaign said in a statement.

Both candidates trying to position themselves as populists standing up to deep-pocketed donors is a sign, analysts say, of how much the ground has shifted.

For Republicans especially, who have long positioned themselves as champions of corporate America, there is growing recognition that “it’s important to put some distance between themselves and the big tech companies behind these data centers,” said David Karol, a political scientist at the University of Maryland.

In the governor’s race, Abbott’s Democratic opponent Gina Hinojosa has called data centers “the fight of this election season.”

“Everybody knows that his temporary pause on the approval of new data center developments ends November 4, the day after the election,” Hinojosa said in an interview.

Eduardo Leal, press secretary for Abbott’s campaign, said in a statement that the governor “has directed Texas regulators to ensure data centers do not take water needed by communities or power needed by the Texas grid… lower electricity costs for consumers, and pay for their own electricity infrastructure.”

Big tech plays catch-up

That data centers have become such a prominent feature of this year’s midterm elections is a product of big tech being slow to respond to public backlash, observers say.

“Two years of local opposition and the industry wasn’t necessarily engaging at the level they needed to,” said veteran political strategist Kevin Madden, a former adviser to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Leading AI companies are trying to rectify the mistake.

Two super PACs with ties to Anthropic have so far spent more than $2.6 million in Texas, while super PACs linked to OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman have spent more than $4.8 million across the state, federal election filings show. Meta has given about $1.4 million to a super PAC focused on candidates for state office in Texas, according to tax filings.

But changing the conversation will be an uphill battle for data center supporters, who now face resistance from Democrats and Republicans alike.

“It’s striking at a time when the parties seem to disagree on everything, and there’s been bipartisan movement against data centers,” Karol said.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

The full Central Elections Committee will decide by 5 p.m. Sunday whether polling-station representatives may relay to parties identified, real-time information about who has voted, under an arrangement approved by the High Court of Justice on Thursday.

The arrangement bypasses, for now, the dispute over whether committee chairman and Supreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg had the authority to prohibit the practice alone. Instead, the full committee will make a fresh operative decision on the underlying question of whether the reporting should be permitted.

That decision will not necessarily be the final legal word. The High Court will resume hearing the petition on Wednesday at 8 a.m., after the parties update it on the committee’s decision.

The court ordered that Wednesday’s hearing proceed as though a conditional order had already been issued. In practical terms, that allows the case to move directly into the substantive stage without requiring a separate preliminary order directing the respondents to justify their position.

The Thursday decision was issued by a panel comprising Justices Yael Willner, Alex Stein, and Khaled Kabub after all sides accepted the court’s proposed arrangement at the end of Wednesday’s hearing.

A sign of Israel’s Central Elections Committee is seen ahead of the upcoming general elections, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, August 27, 2026. (credit: CHAIM GOLDBERG/FLASH90)

Request to be sent to full committee under agreement

Under the agreement, the original request submitted by attorney Shahar Ben-Meir to Sohlberg will be transferred to the full committee, which will decide it “as it sees fit, on the basis of all the information.”

Sohlberg’s August decisions prohibiting the transfer of the information will be placed before the committee as his legal opinion. The committee, rather than Sohlberg alone, will then make the operative decision.

The court emphasized that all sides’ arguments remain preserved, both before the committee and after it issues its decision.

Placing the underlying request before the full committee may allow the authority dispute to be avoided. Once the committee has made its own decision, the immediate question will become whether that decision – permitting or prohibiting the reporting – is lawful.

During Wednesday’s hearing, the justices had distinguished between two issues that had previously been treated together: whether Sohlberg could impose the prohibition alone, and whether transferring identified voting information infringes voters’ privacy.

The justices expressed difficulty with the first question while appearing receptive to the privacy concerns underlying Sohlberg’s position. The agreed arrangement allows the full committee to address the practice itself before the court considers what legal questions remain.

The committee has 31 members allocated according to the strength of the factions in the outgoing Knesset, including 18 coalition representatives. Likud has eight members, making it the largest faction on the committee.

That composition creates the possibility that the committee could reverse Sohlberg’s position, although it does not determine how its members will vote. His legal opinion will be placed before them as part of the committee’s consideration.

For several election cycles, party representatives serving on polling-station committees or as observers have reported voters’ arrival in real time. Campaigns could compare that information with their databases and focus calls, messages, visits, and transportation efforts on supporters who had not yet voted, often using applications such as Elector.

The information shows whether an individual has voted, not how that person voted, which remains secret.

Sohlberg ruled on August 4 that polling-station representatives may not transfer identified information about a person’s presence at a polling station, whether the person voted, or the circumstances of the vote, regardless of how the information is sent.

He found that representatives receive access to voter information to administer and supervise the election, not to supply political parties with data for campaign operations. The fact that the practice had continued for several election cycles without being stopped, he ruled, did not make it lawful in the absence of legal authorization.

As an alternative, Sohlberg directed the Central Elections Committee to publish aggregate turnout figures for every ordinary polling station at least four times on Election Day. Those figures would show how many people had voted without identifying them.

Likud maintains that aggregate figures cannot replace identified reporting because they do not tell campaigns which supporters have yet to vote. It has also argued that the prohibition would severely disrupt a turnout operation developed over several election campaigns.

If the committee upholds the prohibition Sunday, Likud can continue challenging it when the High Court reconvenes. If the committee permits the reporting, its decision may face a challenge based on the privacy and legal concerns raised during Wednesday’s hearing.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Iranian university professors have threatened to strike and suspend academic activity at universities across the country if their wages continue to go unpaid, according to a statement published by the Iran Academic Faculty Trade Union.

The union has given the Islamic Republic until the end of the Iranian month of Shahrivar, September 22, to restore faculty members’ salaries and make all outstanding payments. If the payments are not made, the union said professors would begin striking on October 1.

Although the legal procedures had been completed and new salary orders issued granting academics a pay raise, the union said many faculty members still face difficulties receiving the full increase, blaming the Planning and Budget Organization for implementation delays.

Claiming that the union had made attempts over the past few months to resolve the issue without disrupting universities, it said that the negotiations held with the relevant officials have not translated into change.

Administrative and Financial Affairs Vice Minister of Science Mehdi Pendar said on August 19 that funding for the resolution’s implementation had encountered obstacles, and that a meeting was convened with the Iranian president and relevant budgetary authorities to resolve the dispute.

An Iranian flag is seen at the entrance of Tehran University on March 28, 2026 in Tehran, Iran; Illustrative. (credit: Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)

Noting that Iran has lost many of its academic leaders to emigration, informally known as Iran’s “brain drain,” the union warned that continuing to neglect the financial needs of professors would cause long-term damage to the country’s higher education system and encourage more to look abroad for opportunities.

In 2023, the director of Iran’s Migration Observatory warned that 67% of employees in the country’s high-tech industry were in various stages of the immigration process, and the Financial Times reported that the number of Iranian students abroad reached record highs in 2024.

Iran’s economy suffers from war, sanctions, internet shutdown, Hormuz blockade

The issue of unpaid salaries comes as Iran’s already struggling economy has come under further pressure from the war with Israel and the United States, new sanctions, an internet shutdown imposed by the regime, and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s economic turmoil led to mass protests in December, which were violently suppressed in January. Human rights groups estimate that upwards of 30,000 people were killed by Iran’s security forces in the streets and hospitals.

Despite the violent suppression in early 2026, the economic hardship has led to some renewed demonstrations across Iran, though nowhere near the scale of those seen earlier in the year yet. Iranian jobseekers protested in Gachsaran, Ahvaz, and Tehran earlier this week, according to human rights groups.

Iranian judiciary chief threatens forceful crackdown on renewed demonstrations

In response to the renewed unrest, Iran’s judiciary chief, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, threatened a more forceful crackdown on any renewed demonstrations.

“If they once again make the mistake of thinking they can create unrest and riots, they can be certain that they will face a very strong and firm response from the police, security, and intelligence forces, as well as the judiciary,” Ejei said, adding that the response would be “far more decisive than in all previous periods.”

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

We could’ve predicted the reactions to the enforcement mission at the former UNRWA compound in Jerusalem.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement expressing his outrage over Israel’s actions. The UN spokesperson condemned the operation by Israeli security forces during his press briefing. A number of foreign ministers, most of them from Europe, voiced their disapproval.

It was never a question of if this would happen, but when. Recently, Israeli authorities completed their mission.

This move was not a matter of choice. It was a matter of necessity.

Exposing UNRWA

Over the past few years, we have exposed UNRWA for what it truly is. It has become increasingly clear that the UN agency established to assist Palestinian refugees functioned, in practice, as an active arm of the Hamas terrorist organization.

Israeli Police raise a flag over the Jerusalem headquarters of UNRWA on Dec. 8, 2025 after the UN agency failed to pay taxes for several years. (credit: Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS-IL)

UNRWA employees participated directly in the October 7 massacre, including acts of murder and kidnapping. Throughout the war, Hamas terrorists operated from UNRWA schools, using the agency’s facilities to store weapons and conduct military activities. 

Even deep into the conflict, UNRWA continued employing thousands of individuals who simultaneously held positions within Hamas’s military wings. They taught in classrooms that incited hatred against Israel by day and planned terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians by night.

Even before October 7, UNRWA had become the problem rather than the solution. Instead of helping resolve the Palestinian refugee issue, it perpetuated it and fueled the conflict. Numerous reports documented the incitement and hatred promoted in UNRWA schools, shaping another generation of Palestinians through anti-Israel indoctrination. But after October 7, the agency’s conduct crossed every possible line.

And, yes, Guterres did not condemn the terrorist acts carried out under the auspices of the organization he leads. Nor did we hear any unequivocal statements from the UN spokesperson during the daily press briefing about it.

A controversy for Israel

When it comes to Israeli actions, there is no shortage of outrage and headlines. But when legitimate criticism is directed at the United Nations, the response is silence.

The Knesset was right when, by an overwhelming, cross-party majority in 2024, it passed legislation prohibiting UNRWA from operating within Israel. Israeli authorities were equally justified in acting decisively in every UNRWA facility in Jerusalem, Israel’s capital.

The action in east Jerusalem was the most recent enforcement action.

Secretary-General Guterres, let me make one point absolutely clear: this property is not owned by the United Nations. Furthermore, following the termination of the Comay-Michelmore Agreement in January 2025, UNRWA has no legal authority to operate in Jerusalem.

The United Nations itself has acknowledged the grave failures within UNRWA. Recently, it quietly dismissed  70 UNRWA employees because of their involvement in terrorist activities.

However, unlike UNRWA, we are not trapped in the past. We are focused on the future.

The Jerusalem Municipality is now turning this building into a new school for east Jerusalem. Instead of a facility associated with incitement and extremism, Israel is investing in an institution that will offer hundreds of children in the neighborhood the opportunity for a better future.

Soon, children in east Jerusalem will attend a quality educational institution that is part of Israel’s education system. They will be taught respect, tolerance, science, and history.

UNRWA belongs in the past. Our focus is on building a better future.

The writer is Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Southwest Airlines on Wednesday unveiled plans to debut its first-ever network of airport lounges, with work underway on the first lounges due to open in late 2027.

The airline announced that four Southwest lounges will open in late 2027, with those locations including Austin, Baltimore, Honolulu and Nashville.

Southwest’s announcement also included the news that it will partner with Chase to build off the financial service provider’s Chase Sapphire Reserve Lounge Network, offering dining options, amenities and travel benefits through the network.

DELTA, SOUTHWEST HIKE CHECKED BAG FEES AS AIRLINES FACE SURGING FUEL COSTS

“Southwest Airlines has built one of the most trusted brands in travel by delivering authentic hospitality that customers value. Our lounges will be a natural extension of that experience, offering customers a place to relax and experience the Southwest brand in a new way,” said Tony Roach, EVP and chief customer and brand officer at Southwest Airlines.

“The introduction of a lounge network represents a strategic investment in Rapid Rewards and deepens our 30-year partnership with Chase,” Roach added.

RETIRING SPIRIT PILOT WHOSE FINAL FLIGHT WAS CANCELED GETS TRIBUTE FROM COMPETITOR AIRLINE

Customers will be able to access Southwest’s lounge network with a new Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card issued by Chase that is planned to launch in 2027.

Southwest Airlines said in the announcement that the first four lounge locations that are set to come online next year represent the “beginning of a border footprint across the Southwest system, with at least seven more lounges planned to open over the next several years across high-demand business and leisure networks.”

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES OFFICIALLY ENDS LONGSTANDING OPEN-SEATING MODEL, BEGINS PLUS-SIZE PRICING CHANGE

In September last year, Southwest Airlines indicated that it was exploring the creation of a network of premium airport lounges that would boost the airline’s loyalty revenue, according to a Reuters report at the time.

Data from J.D. Power study released in December 2025 showed that about 47% of lounge users plan their routes based on access to lounges, while 82% choose airlines based on whether they offer lounge access.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

FOX Business’ Sophia Compton contributed to this report.

This post was originally published here. 

On:

The family of a 32-year-old Bank of America vice president fatally stabbed in an apparently random Times Square attack earlier this week is remembering her as a devoted new mother who had just returned from maternity leave the day she was killed.

Erin Piacenti was killed Aug. 31, the same day she returned to work after spending five months at home with her newborn daughter, Madison, according to a GoFundMe organized by her brother-in-law in consultation with her husband Frank and other family members.

“Becoming a mother was Erin’s lifelong ambition, and Madison gave her the greatest possible joy,” the fundraiser states.

Piacenti and her husband had recently celebrated their second wedding anniversary and returned from a family road trip, according to the fundraiser.

BANK OF AMERICA VP KILLED IN TIMES SQUARE STABBING ATTACK

“They were preparing to build a life together with their new daughter,” the family wrote. “That life changed incomprehensibly in an instant.”

Piacenti was stabbed near West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan during what New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described as an apparently random and unprovoked attack.

A 68-year-old man was also stabbed and taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, according to police.

SOCIALIST PLAN COULD FORCE AMAZON TO FLEE NYC

Police identified the suspect as Pamela Cisneros, 49. Officers responding to the scene encountered Cisneros holding two large knives, according to the NYPD.

Police said Cisneros advanced toward officers before officers shot her. She was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division is reviewing the police shooting.

Piacenti worked as a vice president on Bank of America’s Business Selection and Conflicts team and joined the bank about 18 months earlier, according to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters.

“We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague,” Bank of America said in a statement to Reuters. “She was a valued teammate who will be greatly missed. Our hearts go out to her family and all of her loved ones.”

“To the people who knew and loved her, Erin was a thoughtful daughter and sister, a loyal friend, a devoted partner and companion in every aspect of Frank’s life, and, most recently, an incredibly loving mother to Madison,” the family’s GoFundMe states. 

In a separate statement reported by media outlets, Piacenti’s family said they were “devastated” by her death and asked for privacy.

The GoFundMe was established to support Piacenti’s daughter as she grows up and to help preserve stories and memories of her mother, according to the family.

CLICK HERE TO GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO

“Erin’s life was defined not by the circumstances of her death, but instead by the way she lived,” the fundraiser states.

This post was originally published here. 

On:
  • In today’s CEO Daily: How leaders are contending with AI slop.
  • The big leadership story: Trump’s salary freeze prompts worries about worker retention.
  • The markets: Mixed globally amid more fighting between the U.S. and Iran.
  • Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.

Good morning. What’s your take on AI slop? I now get multiple AI-generated PR pitches every day. The format is comically uniform, from the greeting to the bullet-point topics, and I think it’s a disservice to the person being pitched. We all crave that human touch. More than 1 million people have clicked LinkedIn’s “seems like AI slop” button, and Graphite reports that AI now generates more online articles than humans do.

The explosion of AI-written content is sparking debates over how to handle op-eds like the one that investor Stan Druckenmiller wrote for the Wall Street Journal using AI, which sparked a response from his editor, and much debate about what’s appropriate. (My take, with strong caveats, is that editors are to blame if a piece feels manufactured, predictable, and devoid of personality. I also debated the topic yesterday on BBC’s The Media Show.)

I’ve been asking people how AI is shaping what they consume and create. At a party for David Booth’s terrific book Stay Calm earlier this week, a prominent academic told me he’s now using AI up to 10 hours every day, admitting he’s both obsessed and worried about what it can do. 

But Booth, a pioneer of index investing and founder of Dimensional Fund Advisors, is a fine example of what doesn’t change. His book tells a story that only he can tell—how he went from a shoe salesman in Kansas to a $1 trillion asset manager—and it synthesizes a philosophy of investing that he’s discussed and shared for decades. 

Did he use a ghostwriter or AI? If he did, you wouldn’t know it.

What’s emerging from my conversations:

AI leaves leaders craving a good read. CEOs tell me they’re reading fewer books and reports because of AI, and that worries them. They’re not alone. About 40% of Americans didn’t read a book last year. One CEO in financial services told me that they’re now trying to read more the old-fashioned way. “I’m paid to think,” they told me, “and I realized I’m losing the nuance and originality of an argument when I read these summaries. A slower read, a deeper read, gives you more time to digest and come to your own conclusions.” 

We value human creativity. I spoke yesterday with Andy Hunter, CEO of Bookshop.org, which acts as an e-commerce platform for 90% of the country’s 3,400+ independent booksellers—a category that’s booming, by the way. He uses AI for code review but not customer recommendations. He worries less about slop than fraud, as he’s seeing a lot of AI-generated books created on the spot to capitalize on search trends. “There’s a lot of garbage content being created to trick people into buying it; I don’t think Amazon is doing a good enough job of protecting their customers from that,” he told me. “We want human beings to recommend books to other human beings. That’s what independent bookstores do. The solution to AI slop is human curation, human creation.”

When everyone’s better, it’s hard to be the best. The baseline for content and communication is now around B+. Anyone can tell a coherent story. But having the tools to create a Hollywood movie on an iPhone doesn’t make you a great director any more than the ability to spit out a column makes you a great thought leader. AI expands the mushy middle, where nobody wants to be. As David Meadvin, CEO of One Strategy Group, puts it: “I think the right question to ask here is whether AI is making you a little bit more ordinary.”

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Good morning. On Fortune’s radar today:

  • The White House’s misleading stats on oil shipments from the Gulf.
  • There was ‘near-zero employment growth in August,’ Vanguard says.
  • Markets: We’re having an up day.
  • Chart: How Elon Musk’s Starlink dominates space.
  • Foldable iPhone Ultra will be Apple’s most expensive handset ever.
  • Women and Millennials want their dates to earn way, way more than average.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

The USS Abraham Lincoln crew received their first rest-and-recuperation day on Wednesday after 286 days at sea, deployed in the Middle East, with photos showing significant surface rust amid reports of mental health concerns, deteriorating onboard conditions, and a possible redeployment until 2027.

The ship was docked in eastern Thailand, with busloads of sailors and Marines wearing civilian clothes, many smiling and waving, arriving hours later at a hotel in the resort city of Pattaya, about 150 km (93 miles) southeast of Bangkok.

The US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln sails toward Laem Chabang Port before docking for a rest stop following a long deployment in the Middle East, in Chonburi province, Thailand, September 2, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa)

On the eve of the Lincoln’s arrival, Pattaya street vendors near the city’s infamous “Walking Street” nightlife zone were excited by the prospect of a boost in sales.

“It’s been so quiet these days,” said clothes seller Kadsalin Ketpa, 43. “I hope with their arrival they would drive my sales up.” 

Food seller Saroch, 45, told Reuters that port visits by the US military were good for business. “They’re here for drinks, having fun, and letting loose,” Saroch said.

Captain Dan Keeler, USS Abraham Lincoln's commanding officer, gives a souvenir to Pattaya Mayor Poramase Ngampiches as members of the U.S. military arrive at Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya for a welcoming ceremony, in Pattaya, Thailand September 2, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa)

“Our arrival in Laem Chabang provides a well-deserved opportunity for our Sailors and Marines to rest and recharge,” the commander of Carrier Strike Group 3, Rear Admiral Robert E. Loughran, said in a statement.

“What this strike group has accomplished is truly historic. I could not be prouder of the exceptional professionalism and expertise demonstrated by every member of this team during our operations.”

Concerns of mental health amid reports of a new deployment

Shakeira Fairfax flew in from New Jersey and was waiting outside the Pattaya hotel to meet her 25-year-old daughter Jade, a crew member on the Lincoln.

She explained how there were moments during the long deployment after the start of the Iran war when morale was low, when contact was limited, and she feared for her daughter’s safety.

“There was a period of silence,” she said. “It was an uncertain time; it was a scary time. It was difficult, it was definitely difficult, but she has a support system,” she told reporters.

“I just can’t wait to see her smile. I can’t wait to hear ‘Mom’; I know that’s the first thing she’s gonna say,” she said.

Pentagon expected to extend deployment amid supply chain disruptions report

And while the crew is expected to rest while the ship undergoes maintenance, a report by The Wall Street Journal revealed that the Pentagon plans to extend deployment in the Middle East until at least 2027.

Sources said the military presence is intended to preserve President Donald Trump’s ability to choose between continued economic pressure, limited military operations, and broader escalation.

The US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln sails toward Laem Chabang Port before docking for a rest stop following a long deployment in the Middle East, with the Pattaya skyline in backdrop, in Chonburi province, Thailand, September 2, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa)

Some aides have warned Trump that expanding the conflict beyond the recent exchanges of strikes could hurt Republican candidates in the November midterm elections, according to the report. Trump has maintained that electoral considerations are not guiding his military decisions.

The decision also comes amid reports by The New York Times about problems in the logistics chain to supply troops in the Middle East, with strikes on critical bases in the region forcing the US to use naval routes for resupply missions.

According to the report, the operations in the region require some 420,000 meals per week, which are brought to the soldiers using some 30 million liters of fuel.

The report noted that the strikes on a key logistical base in Bahrain forced the US to use the island of Diego Garcia (located some 3,500 kilometers from the conflict zone) and Singapore (6,000 kilometers away) as logistical points.

Shir Perets contributed to this report.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

The son of Iran’s former vice president received over $2 million in contracts from the Canadian government as he worked to further the regime’s missile program and help it evade sanctions, Global News reported on Wednesday, citing obtained documents.

According to the report, 45-year-old Mohammad Reza Ghafouri Fard, son of Iranian politician and former vice president Hassan Ghafouri Fard, operated under the pseudonym Sal Ghafouri while living in Edmonton.

He received the government contracts while participating in an official Canadian trade mission to Latin America, Global News reported, with the intention of the funds being to help Fard “propose legislation” to Canada’s government.

Fard is already the subject of a long-running investigation by the Canadian government into his suspected ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the report added.

Global News cited a recently declassified Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) report, which said Fard was “involved in the research and development of Iranian military technologies.”

(illustrative) A missile is launched during an annual drill in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman and near the Strait of Hormuz, Iran. (credit: REUTERS)

Specifically, he assisted the regime in its attempts to “confront American aircraft” through the development of an anti-aircraft missile system and jamming system, having participated in a “covert procurement structure” designed to procure components for such projects.

Canada: Fard admitted to participating in activities beneficial to regime

The CSIS report cited by Global News further claimed that Fard “admitted to active participation in procurement activities that benefited the Iranian military, including the IRGC.”

CSIS noted in its report that Fard had traveled to Iran in 2015 to meet with members of Iran’s Intelligence and Security Ministry on two separate occasions, during which he “provided details of his employment in Canada.”

“During the second meeting, he was given detailed instructions and warnings, as they related to police or intelligence services approaching him while living in Canada,” CSIS was cited as saying.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

The first Israeli to play in the NBA, Omri Casspi, announced on Thursday that his venture capital firm, Swish Ventures, raised $250 million and reached $800 million in total funding.

The money will be used in the firm’s third fund, which will focus on some 12 high-tech companies in their initial stages – mainly seed or Series A -, while the average investment will be valued at $20 million.

Swish Ventures has already invested in top companies such as Cognition AI, Applied Compute, EON, and Wonderful, while eight of the 20 companies the firm has invested in have already become unicorns.

According to the firm, this new fund will focus on startups operating across cybersecurity, technology infrastructure, Physical AI, defense, AI for industrial applications, and government technology.

“Closing our third fund in a short period of time, with the support of some of the world’s leading institutional investors, is first and foremost a vote of confidence in the founders we back and the credit they deserve,” said Casspi in a statement.

Omri Casspi's firm announced a new $250 million fund. (credit: ILYA MELNIKOV)

Casspi’s portfolio exceeds $60 billion in little more than a year

The firm was founded in early 2025 and has built a combined valuation of its portfolio companies exceeding $60 billion.

Casspi has operated as the sole managing partner and has brought in new backers for this third fund, including US pension funds, leading American universities, family offices, and Sequoia Capital.

“For us, the new fund is a direct continuation of our focused strategy. We want to be the most meaningful partners to the world’s leading entrepreneurs,” Casspi said. 

“We believe in carefully selecting a small number of exceptional founders each year, allowing us to serve as true partners to them throughout their journey,” he added.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Feminist activist and journalist Gloria Steinem died on Wednesday at age 92, a post on her official Instagram page stated. 

She “passed away peacefully at her home in New York City, surrounded by some of the many who loved her,” the post read. 

This is a developing story. 

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

An Iranian attack on Israel would release the IDF “from any restrictions,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday during a speech to Defense Ministry employees ahead of the upcoming Rosh Hashanah holiday, Walla reported.

“We will destroy all national, military, and civilian infrastructure in Iran, including energy infrastructure,” Katz threatened. “We will return Iran to the Stone Age.”

Katz emphasized that the Iranian regime “knows very well” why it has recently avoided attacking Israel.

“We attacked them with force,” said Katz. “We destroyed their nuclear program, we assassinated (former supreme leader) Khamenei, and we severely damaged their strategic capabilities.”

He added that the heavy economic pressure being applied by US sanctions against Iran is “likely” to push the regime “to the brink of destruction.”

“Israel is prepared for defense and attack,” added Katz. “The IDF is ready to carry out the mission.”

His comments came following a statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu on Wednesday that an attack by the Iranian regime would be “one of their last decisions.”

This is a developing story.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

This story first appeared in Adam’s Biotech Scorecard, a subscriber-only newsletter. STAT+ subscribers can sign up here to get it delivered to their inbox.

Biotech M&A activity is off the charts, yet the French drugmaker — developer of obefazimod, a treatment for ulcerative colitis with blockbuster commercial potential — remains unbetrothed. We’re nine months into a year in which a takeout of Abivax for $20 billion (give or take a few billion) was deemed likely to happen any day. The absence of said transaction has caused the stock’s investor fanbase much grief and consternation.

Without visibility into the actual sale process, there is no way to pinpoint exactly what’s happening between Abivax and its Big Pharma suitors. We can guess, of course, starting with the most facile explanation I’ve heard: Abivax is French and the French don’t work in August.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Welcome to this week’s Fortune Gulf Brief. We’ll be covering:  

  • Saudi’s $15 billion tech deals put AI ambitions on show 
  • Dubai airport’s wartime fightback 
  • Washington turns the screws on UAE banks over Iran 
  • Syria’s ‘Coffee Visa Swipe’ signals a financial comeback 
  • And, the three things we enjoyed reading this week   

LEAP, Saudi’s biggest tech conference, kicked off on Monday with $15 billion worth of planned technology investments and strategic commitments being unveiled, helping make up for lost time after the event was delayed by four months due to the Iran war.  

San Francisco-based AI cloud platform Together AI signed an agreement with Saudi-backed HUMAIN to build a 250 Megawatt (MW) AI data center in the kingdom.  It is expected to yield over $5 billion in gross annualized revenue in its first year.  

Also notable is Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) expanded partnership with HUMAIN—the key vehicle for Saudi’s AI ambitions which aims to provide up to 50 MW of capacity in the kingdom’s first AI Zone by 2028. 

Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s xAI announced plans to build its first data center outside the U.S., initially targeting 50MW of capacity before scaling to 500MW.  

Riyadh is increasingly competing with its Gulf neighbors, most notably the UAE, to become the region’s AI hub.  

In a clear endorsement of its ambitions, LEAP 2026 has seen senior leaders from global tech behemoths, including NVIDIA, Google, Roblox, Uber, Meta, Lenovo, Nokia and Luma AI, fly in for the event despite the ongoing geopolitical instability.  

Since LEAP launched in 2022, Saudi Arabia’s digital economy has grown by 69%, from $118 billion to $199 billion, according to the kingdom’s Communications and Information Technology Ministry. 

This year’s event features 1,800 global technology brands exploring the future of AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, smart cities, fintech, healthcare, space, gaming, and mobility. And, of course, the now seemingly mandatory robots to showcase the latest technological advancements.  

Melissa Hancock

As ever, thanks for reading, and do keep in touch with your thoughts and ideas.
melissa.hancock@fortune.com 

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Pope Francis spent much of his papacy pushing the Catholic Church to treat climate change as a moral issue in addition to a scientific. Now, the Holy See’s plan is putting money behind that morality and looking to make the Vatican the world’s first carbon-neutral state.

Vatican City, which covers about 44 hectares, or 109 acres, will put roughly 100 million euros ($117 million) toward an agrivoltaic plant expected to power the microstate within two years, sources told Reuters.

The plan builds on what Pope Francis first ordered in 2024. Pope Leo has spent the past year moving it through the bureaucratic steps needed to build it by creating a foundation, a memorandum with an Italian utility, and a joint commission. What’s new is that this is the first time a dollar figure has been attached to the plan. And it also puts into context what we’re doing stateside.

The Vatican is roughly an eighth the size of Central Park. It’s smaller than a single data center campus like Meta’s Hyperion data center project in Louisiana, which is on track to draw as much as 5 gigawatts of power by 2030. Home to roughly 800 residents and nearly 3,000 commuting lay workers, it’s the smallest country on Earth by a wide margin.

It’s so small that the plant won’t fit within the country’s 109 acres: It’s being built on the roughly 1,050-to-1,100-acre Santa Maria di Galeria estate the Vatican owns outside Rome, land close in size to the campus for OpenAI’s Stargate data center in Abilene, Texas. But where Stargate’s footprint is built to support 1.2 gigawatts of AI computing, the Vatican’s similarly sized site is expected to generate just 80 to 90 megawatts of capacity, per Reuters, or roughly a dozen times less power on similar acreage. But that’s because it’s built to run a few hundred residents’ worth of lights and a radio transmitter, not racks of GPUs.

At risk of power shortages

A single large AI data center now consumes as much electricity as a city of 80,000 people, Khosla Ventures founder Vinod Khosla wrote in Fortune this year, and companies are building hundreds of them at once. Data centers accounted for roughly half of all new U.S. electricity demand in 2025, and globally, data center electricity use is projected to more than double by 2030 to around 945 terawatt-hours, equivalent to Japan’s entire current electricity consumption.

The buildout is reshaping the U.S. utility business, too. NextEra Energy’s $66.8 billion deal to acquire Dominion Energy in May was driven largely by AI data center demand clustered in Virginia, rather than residential growth. American Electric Power plans to spend $78 billion through 2030 to keep pace. Goldman Sachs projected the AI buildout will push US electricity costs up 6% between 2026 and 2027, with a further 3% increase by 2028, increasing neighboring homeowners’ utility bills. By contrast, the Vatican’s entire planned plant would generate less power than a single mid-sized AI campus, let alone the industry racing to build hundreds more.

The new plant would also dwarf what the Vatican currently produces. Its only existing solar installation—2,394 panels on the roof of the Paul VI Audience Hall, installed in 2008—generates about 300 megawatt-hours a year. The new plant’s 80- to 90-megawatt capacity alone is hundreds of times larger than that. The Vatican’s 2023 climate pledge to the UN sets a 20% emissions cut from 2011 levels by 2030 and a “zero emissions” goal by 2050.

Trump at odds with the Vatican

The Church’s position on climate traces to Francis’s 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’,” which argued that wealthy nations bear disproportionate responsibility for emissions and called for a shift away from fossil fuels. Pope Leo XIV has continued holding that stance since Francis’s death, calling for “urgent” climate action at a UN conference this year and saying that God’s creation is “crying out.” He’s also labeled new technology, including AI, a moral concern: Leo has said he chose his papal name partly in reference to Pope Leo XIII, who wrote about protecting workers during the first Industrial Revolution, and is applying that same lens to AI’s effect on labor today.

That stance puts the Vatican at odds with the current U.S. administration: President Donald Trump has called climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” and the U.S. skipped this year’s UN climate conference entirely. Trump and Leo have also clashed more publicly over Trump’s military actions in Venezuela and Iran and his administration’s immigration policies, with Trump at one point suggesting Leo’s election as pope was illegitimate. Fiscally, the U.S. ended a 2025 federal credit for residential solar as the EPA canceled a $7 billion low-income solar program in August. A BlueGreen Alliance tally found 223 clean-energy projects, worth $82.8 billion, canceled or stalled since the policy shift.

After Francis formalized the Vatican’s plan in a June 2024 letter called “Fratello Sole,” Leo kept it moving, visiting the site in June 2025 and calling it “a wonderful opportunity.” Italy agreed to the plan in July 2025, and the Vatican formalized ties with the Italian utility ACEA in June 2026 to build it jointly. Sources told Reuters the full build is expected to take 18 to 24 months.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Israel’s most technologically advanced submarine, the INS Drakon, is on its way from Germany, expanding the navy’s operational capabilities for years to come.  

Israel’s submarine corps has long been the most discreet arm of the IDF, operating far from public view and even farther from the country’s shores. Over the past three decades, the fleet has evolved from the original Dolphin class into the larger, more capable Dolphin II platforms, and now, the recently delivered INS Drakon. 

The INS Drakon is Israel’s sixth submarine and is expected to arrive at Haifa Port within weeks.

It was built along with German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and is equipped with “innovative and advanced technologies that place Israel at the forefront of global military technology and will enhance the Israel Navy’s operational flexibility for years to come,” the military said.

INS Drakon during its naming ceremony in Germany, November 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)

The foundation of the country’s submarine fleet was laid with the three Dolphin-class submarines delivered between 1999 and 2000: the INS Dolphin, INS Leviathan, and INS Tekumah. Built in Germany and customized for Israeli requirements, these diesel-electric boats were designed around a compact hull, modern sonar systems for their era, and a mixed battery of torpedo tubes. 

The Dolphin II class boats are the most expensive single assets operated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The INS Tanin and INS Rahav entered service in 2014 and 2016.

INS Drakon represents the most substantial evolution within the Dolphin II line. Although officially categorized as a Dolphin II submarine, Drakon is visibly distinct. 

What is the ‘Drakon’?

According to foreign reports, the Drakon is approximately 73 meters long, around 4.5 meters longer than the earlier Dolphin II submarines.

TKMS has confirmed that it is a “further development” of the class, and photographs released during its launch show a longer hull and a significantly enlarged sail. While nothing has been confirmed by either country or TKMS, the size and shape of the enlarged sail may indicate internal volume for additional mission systems, perhaps vertical launchers (VLS), advanced sensors, unmanned underwater vehicles, or something else entirely.

But due to the secrecy of the technology and the platform, neither Israel nor Germany have disclosed the exact configuration, or any specific new payload. 

Nevertheless, the Drakon was designed to expand Israel’s long-range covert capabilities, providing greater flexibility for intelligence gathering and special-operations support. With VLS capabilities, the Drakon would be able to store missiles vertically – increasing the submarine’s weapons flexibility and perhaps even larger or newer missiles to be carried alongside the traditional torpedoes and missiles.

The propulsion system remains diesel-electric with fuel-cell AIP, and the torpedo-tube arrangement is understood to be unchanged. According to a report in Janes, the submarine is equipped with six 533-mm. and four 650-mm. torpedo tubes that can fire up to 16 torpedoes and five missiles. 

According to foreign reports, Israel’s submarines had capabilities that were more advanced than other diesel-electric submarines, and are reportedly able to deploy heavy torpedoes, anti-ship missiles, mines, and even special-operations personnel and equipment. 

The enlarged sail may also hold new technical systems such as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance equipment, communications and electronic systems, or even systems to deploy unmanned underwater vehicles or other payloads. These sorts of capabilities would fit the sort of missions carried out by Israeli submarines.

Their missions, as described in official statements and long-standing reporting, are centered on intelligence collection, covert patrols, and support for special forces. They established Israel’s ability to operate quietly and persistently across the Mediterranean, into the Red Sea, and perhaps even further away.

Graduating naval officers of the Israeli Navy during a graduation ceremony in Haifa Naval Base, Northern Israel on September 4, 2019. (credit: FLASH90)

‘Dakar’ line

With the Dolphin AIP program completed, TKMS is already building the Israel Navy’s next generation of submarines under the three-vessel Dakar program. 

Oliver Burkhard, chief executive officer of TKMS, said in a press release marking the send-off of the Drakon that the new Dakar class will be the continuation of the long-standing partnership with Israel, “which is continually evolving in line with the changing requirements of the maritime environment.” 

“With the departure of the INS DRAKON, we are successfully concluding a challenging program that was characterized over many years by trust, technological expertise, and shared responsibility. Israel is an important partner for us in the maritime sector. With the DAKAR class, we are continuing our collaboration and demonstrating that TKMS not only develops complex naval programs but also reliably brings them to fruition,” he said.

Now, with construction underway on the Dakar class, Israel is entering a new phase in its undersea posture, one that will be defined by greater endurance, expanded mission flexibility, and long-range strategic operations.

Like the Dolphin class, with most details about Israel’s submarine fleet under heavy guard and rarely publicized, in February of this year, Elbit Systems released a strikingly vague statement about the beginning of joint work in Israel with the German maritime vessel manufacturing giant TKMS (the successor company to an expanded ThyssenKrupp and the producer of this submarine) to produce “structural components” for future submarines.

As part of the cooperation, Elbit said at the time that it would establish a new manufacturing facility for underwater GRP (Glass Reinforced Polyester) components for submarines.

A bridge for troubled waters

The INS Drakon, on its way to Israel from Germany, appears to be a bridge between two generations of submarines. While it is officially part of the Dolphin class, it is nevertheless moving toward the new Dakar-class fleet. By incorporating new technologies and concepts, it is representing the broader technological transformation of Israel’s most secretive fleet.

In November 2024, at the submarine’s naming ceremony, Salama described the platform as a “force multiplier that would strengthen Israel’s ability to operate in distant and hidden realms for extended periods.”

With the Drakon and soon the Dakar line, Israel’s submarine fleet is entering a new era. The Dolphins established the foundation followed by the Dolphin II subs that extended Israel’s reach, and now the Drakon is possibly introducing new structural and mission-system possibilities and the Dakar class will formalize those advances in a purpose-built design. 

In a region where maritime routes are increasingly contested and intelligence requirements are expanding, Israel’s undersea force is becoming one of its most strategically consequential assets – one that is quiet, distant, yet central to its long-range security posture. 

Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Amir Heshmatpour was young when he left Iran for the United States, too young to have known that the country of his birth was about to change beyond recognition.

His father, a successful businessman who owned movie theaters and hotels in Iran, had secured visas for Heshmatpour and his two eldest sisters before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The intention was education and opportunity in America. His father subsequently returned to Iran, where the revolution intervened.

“He went back to Iran, and then the revolution started,” Heshmatpour told The Jerusalem Post during a visit to Israel this week. After the Shah was overthrown and the new Islamic regime took power, his father was arrested, imprisoned and tortured.

It was an experience, Heshmatpour said, that “took a lot of years off of his life.” His father died at 46, leaving Heshmatpour, then around 19 and the only son among five children, to assume responsibility for his mother and sisters.

“Losing my father was probably the worst day of my life,” he said. “But it also has made me who I am today.”

More than four decades after leaving Iran, that history has left Heshmatpour with two missions that at first appear to have little connection.

One is fighting brain cancer. The other, as he sees it, is fighting what he regards as a cancer afflicting Iran itself.

“I’m fighting cancer on two fronts,” he said. “One for the brain and one for the Iranian people.”

‘Iran deserves better’

Heshmatpour grew up in Pennsylvania at a particularly difficult time to be the only Iranian child in his school. Shortly after his arrival, revolutionaries in Tehran seized the US Embassy and took 52 Americans hostage.

At home, however, his family maintained its Iranian culture. He describes the family orientation of Persian society as something familiar to Israelis and other peoples of the Middle East. At the same time, the family had to begin again in America after having enjoyed considerable success in Iran.

Today, Heshmatpour lives in Los Angeles and has built a business career spanning telecommunications, investment and biotechnology. But his assessment of what happened to the country his family left remains uncompromising.

“There’s so much resources there. There’s so much human capital there, [a] very highly educated population, very resourceful,” he said.

He compares the Islamic Republic’s stewardship of Iran to a management team destroying a potentially successful company.

“You couldn’t have asked for a worse management than what we have over there,” he said. “It’s just devastating what is happening there.”

Heshmatpour is equally certain that the current system will not last.

“I 100% believe there’ll be a change,” he said. “And that change is going to be for the better.”

That conviction is personal. What happened to his father, he said, has made helping to bring about change in Iran “a mission of mine.”

The other cancer

Heshmatpour’s second mission is more literal.

He is chairman and CEO of NeOnc Technologies Holdings, a Nasdaq-listed biotechnology company developing treatments for brain cancer. He acquired the company’s technology from the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine and said its portfolio includes 179 patents relating to brain-cancer drugs and drug delivery.

His involvement is personal here, too.

Heshmatpour normally manages his family’s investments rather than taking day-to-day control of individual companies. NeOnc was different. His wife’s brother died of brain cancer at just six years old.

“I felt there was a calling for me to run the company myself,” he said. “I’m all in. I’m fully committed.”

The company’s lead asset, NEO100, is administered intranasally using a nebulizer, an approach designed to bypass the blood-brain barrier, one of the major obstacles in delivering drugs to the brain.

Heshmatpour said the company’s Phase 2a data for patients with recurrent high-grade brain tumors showed an average progression-free survival of 26.1 months, compared with the six-to-nine-month figure he cited for the current standard of care. He also said 24% of the trial sample experienced total tumor remission.

Those remain company-reported results from an experimental treatment, and Heshmatpour is careful not to describe the drug as a cure.

What he does believe, however, is that it could change the standard of care.

Israel is intended to be part of that effort.

Heshmatpour said NeOnc is preparing trials involving approximately 450 patients across some 30 hospitals in the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Israeli approval remains pending, but he said he hopes trials will begin here shortly.

During his current visit, he was also due to meet the family of an eight-year-old boy with brain cancer who is expected to travel to the US to receive the treatment. Heshmatpour hopes that approval in Israel will eventually allow such patients to receive continuing care closer to home.

For a businessman who has spent most of his life in America, Israel was an obvious place to expand.

“Israel is, I think, on par with the US,” he said of the country’s biotechnology sector. “The talent, the human capital and the resources here are on par with the US.”

Iran, Israel and the future

There is another reason Israel occupies an unusual place in Heshmatpour’s story.

His wife is Jewish, as was his first business partner, while Jewish friends, partners and investors have played a significant role throughout his career. Members of his extended Iranian family have also married Jews.

“We’re all the same,” he said. “Just some people like to fan the fire, divide cultures and religions.”

Heshmatpour’s visit also included a Torah dedication at the Western Wall connected to Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, with whom he has developed a close relationship.

His combination of Iranian roots, American success and Jewish connections inevitably brings the conversation back to what Iran could become after the Islamic Republic.

Heshmatpour believes the Iranian diaspora will have a responsibility to return its expertise and resources to the country when that day arrives.

“I think every one of us has the obligation, once that regime changes, to do whatever necessary to make that country how it was during His Majesty’s days,” he said.

He envisages a future Iran attracting investment from its diaspora and working with countries it currently regards as enemies, including Israel.

“You’re going to have a lot of people that will put in their time, effort and resources to make that country flourish again, to partner with the right countries like Israel and Abu Dhabi,” he said.

For Heshmatpour, that possibility connects the two seemingly separate battles that now consume much of his time.

One is being fought in laboratories and hospitals, against a disease that took a six-year-old member of his wife’s family. The other began when his father returned to revolutionary Iran and never truly recovered from what was done to him there.

Nearly half a century later, Heshmatpour believes both can be beaten.

“I think it’s time for this part of the world [to have] real peace,” he said. “Once you eliminate the cancer, everything will change.”

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Shas leader Arye Deri claimed that the IDF “doesn’t want haredi (ultra-Orthodox) soldiers” and prefers a secular army, during a podcast interview on Thursday.

“The army doesn’t want haredi soldiers, get that into your head,” said Deri, adding that the idea of ultra-Orthodox soldiers gives the IDF “a very big headache.”

Deri added that he doesn’t need to call on haredim to enlist, saying he will “let the army deal with it.”

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, chairman of the Together party, responded to Deri’s comments later on Thursday, saying that the Shas chairman is “harming IDF soldiers.”

“Aryeh Deri cannot sit in one more government in Israel,” said Bennet. “The IDF is desperate for soldiers, and Deri is lying and making excuses.”

B'Yachad party head and former prime minister Naftali Bennett on August 20, 2026. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

“Those who are not partners in defending the country will not decide on its security matters,” he added.

Bennett: Netanyahu ‘spreading blood libels about IDF commanders’

Bennett further claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “spreading blood libels about IDF commanders,” following earlier comments by Netanyahu that the IDF avoided waking him up on the morning of the October 7 Hamas attacks.

“They were afraid that if they woke the prime minister, I would activate the air force, and I would wake the entire IDF, and I would not let anyone get close to the fences – because we would kill them immediately,” Netanyahu claimed. “If they had woken me, everything would have looked different.” 

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

The new British government plans to announce in the coming weeks a comprehensive package of economic sanctions and other measures designed to prevent the Israeli expansion of West Bank settlements. 

Overall, the UK needs “a comprehensive reset of our policy” when it comes to the West Bank, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told the House of Commons on Tuesday. He spoke during his first question-and-answer session with lawmakers since he and the government he represents were sworn into office in July.  

Miliband added that the new measures would include a ban on goods produced in the settlements and targeted sanctions on British institutions and individuals.

“We are looking, indeed, at our wider economic relationship with the occupied territories, and the different tools we have to tackle it,” Miliband explained. “We do not want British companies financing, constructing, or advertising new settlements. The work we are now undertaking is how we can stop that.”

Britain's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband arrives to attend a cabinet meeting after the summer recess at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, September 1, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/TOBY MELVILLE)

Sa’ar warns of potential Israeli retaliation

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar warned Tuesday that if the UK acted against his country, the Jewish state would take retaliatory steps against Great Britain.

“We are prepared, and I hope they will not make the mistake of doing this. If they do, there will be a reaction,” Sa’ar said in a podcast interview with the Hebrew news website Ynet.

Tensions between Israel and the UK have been escalating in light of Israeli military actions in Gaza and the West Bank following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack. 

The UK’s decision under the last government to recognize Palestinian statehood in 2025 inflamed the situation, which is expected to get worse should Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu win the October 27 election in Israel. 

Any government that Netanyahu forms is expected to be right-wing and to continue the policies of the existing government, just as the UK under Miliband and the new Labour prime minister, Andy Burnham, are more willing than their predecessors to go head-to-head with Israel on the issue. 

Miliband already floated the idea of targeted sanctions after Israel’s Lands Authority opened bids for 1,234 homes in the largely underdeveloped E1 section of the West Bank settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim in August, a move that he said would undermine any two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Miliband went further on Tuesday when fielding a number of questions from lawmakers frustrated about the lack of UK response to Israeli actions in the West Bank, such as terror activity by Israelis against Palestinian civilians and continued settler building. This includes the opening of E1 bids last month.

The foreign secretary explained that his words reflected the policies Burnham had considered even before he entered Downing Street in July, such as a ban on trade for goods produced in the settlements. “We are obviously working across government and with our allies on these measures,” Miliband said.

Israel has said that it has a right to build settler homes in Area C of the West Bank, which is under Israeli military and civilian control and where all the settlements are located. Under the Oslo Accords, the West Bank was divided into three areas, with sections A and B under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority. 

ICJ issued advisory against construction in Area C

The International Court of Justice in 2024 issued an advisory opinion explaining that such construction in Area C is illegal, affirming a long-held stance of the UN and many nations, including the UK

Concern has been particularly high with regard to the E1 project, which would add 3,400 homes to the municipal boundaries of the city of Ma’aleh Adumim by building on an underdeveloped hilltop. The Palestinian Authority and the international community, including past US administrations, have warned that the project would block contiguous Palestinian development in that area and thus make a Palestinian state untenable.

Miliband referenced that viewpoint when speaking to the House of Commons on Tuesday, explaining that E1 development had long been considered a “red line,” because the project “cuts through the heart of the West Bank and risks making a Palestinian state unviable.”

He affirmed the UK’s commitment to a two-state resolution, explaining that his government would not stand idly by while that vision was being destroyed by Israeli actions on the ground in the West Bank.

In a harshly worded attack on the UK and Miliband in August, Sa’ar on X warned that the UK’s statements on Israel were fueling antisemitism in Great Britain and emphasized that the Jewish people had a right to build anywhere in their ancestral homeland.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

A West Bank resident was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the violent settler attacks on the Palestinian village of Kusra, the Israel Police announced on Thursday, marking the first suspect to be arrested in regard to the attacks.

According to the police, the 19-year-old suspect was arrested following a joint investigation with the Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) involving the collection of testimonies and evidence using “various technological tools and capabilities.”

Police added that they aim to bring “everyone who took part” in the Kusra attacks to justice, noting that they plan to request an extension for the suspect’s detention during his upcoming court hearing.

The Palestinian village has been the site of several recent violent attacks by extremist Israeli settlers, with the IDF responding by declaring the area a closed military zone.

Despite the designation, fifteen settlers entered the Palestinian village on August 15, though they did leave after the IDF arrived and explained the order to them, Army Radio reported at the time.

Israeli soldiers stand in front of an Israeli settler who entered onto the property of Palestinian-American Loui Ridi, in Kusra, August 18, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/Ammar Awad)

On Wednesday, an IDF commander was fired after he was filmed praying alongside Jewish extremists who had been involved in the Kusra attacks, with the commander’s soldiers not punished for participating, as they believed they were following a lawful order.

The attacks have been described as a siege on the village, leading to an increased response by the IDF.

Settler leaders, Netanyahu condemn violent attacks in Kusra

Settler leaders have condemned the violence, saying on August 13 that the attacks in Kusra “are not our way.”

The leaders, including the heads of the Yesha Council and Beit El Council, warned that the attacks were seriously damaging to Israel and the settlement movement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also condemned the attacks, describing them on Saturday as “harming Israel’s standing in the world.”

His comments were followed by an interview with Channel 14’s “The Patriots” broadcast on Sunday, during which Netanyahu claimed that  the “small handful of young people” involved in the attacks face “all kinds of hardships from home.”

Corinne Baum, Shir Perets, Reuters, Yonah Jeremy Bob, and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Spain has found no evidence to conclude that July’s deadly border rush from Morocco into its enclave of Ceuta was orchestrated or carried out by Moroccan authorities, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told lawmakers on Thursday.

Sanchez’s comments in the lower house of parliament followed a police report that emerged this week saying that the mass entry into Ceuta was not a spontaneous migration event but a planned and phased operation designed to overwhelm border controls.

“I can assure you that no institution – not the diplomatic service, nor the European Commission, nor any international body – has provided the Spanish government with any solid evidence that Morocco planned or carried out the incident. None whatsoever,” Sanchez said.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a session to address the mass crossing of migrants into the enclave of Ceuta in late July, at the parliament in Madrid, Spain, September 3, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/SUSANA VERA)

However, he said Morocco’s Gendarmerie police allowed crossings during a key 10-hour period on July 30, when migrant arrivals peaked. Spanish authorities had yet to determine whether this was due to inaction or inability to contain the influx, Sanchez added.

Police report claims Moroccan security forces weakened, did not attempt to stop emigrants 

The police report, seen by Reuters, alleged that Moroccan security forces were initially deployed in smaller numbers than usual near the Tarajal breakwater separating the enclave from the North African country and did not make a serious attempt to disperse the crowds.

Some uniformed Moroccan officers gave directions towards the crossing point, while other unidentified people appeared to guide or monitor the flow of people, the report said, but it did not identify individual officers or provide independently verified evidence of orders from Moroccan authorities.

Moroccan officials have denied enabling the crossing. 

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

As the Food and Drug Administration wrestles with how to regulate medical devices that rely on generative artificial intelligence to make decisions about care, it’s provisionally allowing some developers to launch their products on the market.

AI products from Cadence and Limbic are among four devices recently accepted into the agency’s TEMPO pilot program that will allow digital health companies to release their products without marketing authorization. 

The pilot is intended to beef up the number of technologies available for the Medicare ACCESS model, an experiment in paying for technology to help beneficiaries manage chronic conditions. But it also offers the agency and companies the opportunity to experiment with AI regulation in the real world.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Back in June 2025, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., then just months into his tenure as health secretary, revealed on a podcast that he had received unproven stem cell treatments in the Caribbean to treat his throat condition. At the time, I worried that it signaled clinics selling questionable stem cell treatments in the U.S. would escape Food and Drug Administration scrutiny moving forward.

Much to my surprise, the FDA has done well so far during Trump 2.0 on two big fronts related to the problem of unproven stem cell clinics. In a time of ideologically and politically driven decision-making in medical regulations, the FDA’s recent science-based successes here are all the more surprising, worth discussing, and even celebrating a bit.

The U.S. has a major problem with stem cell clinics and related firms selling a variety of unproven and non-FDA-approved cellular products. The best estimate, drawn from a paper counting clinics a few years ago, is that there are more than 2,000 such firms across the country.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

This post was originally published here. 

On:

I was standing in an operating room waiting impatiently for the abdominal prep to dry before an urgent cesarean delivery following a failed trial of labor after cesarean. 

The room was filled the quiet urgency that comes just before incision. The scrub tech was counting instruments. Anesthesia was checking the epidural level. In the corner, the NICU team was prepping the warmer. Everyone was focused on the same thing: getting the baby out safely.

Read the rest…

This post was originally published here. 

On:

LAKEVILLE, Mass. — She didn’t have any trouble with her current pediatricians in Fall River. Really, she didn’t. She liked them. They were kind. They were great with her newborn daughter. They had helpful answers to most of her new-mom questions. 

“My only issue was the vaccines. They push ’em,” she said, rocking her 6-week-old’s carrier. “They’re like, ‘Well, she needs them all by 2 or we can’t keep her as a patient. And I’m like, ‘OK, I understand that, but at the same time, like, why?’ And they’re like, ‘It’s our protocol.’”

Read the rest…

This post was originally published here. 

On:
Healthy exports and rising public investment lifted expectations for the country’s economic growth this year, and the institute now expects 2027 growth at 1.2%, compared with 0.8% it predicted in June.

This post was originally published here. 

On:

While Sri Lanka is not an obvious priority in Israel’s Asian policy, with India, Japan, and Singapore receiving far more strategic attention, it has considerable potential because of its location, its development needs and the direction its relationship with India is heading. 

During my recent visit, this became particularly clear. The island sits close to major sea lanes and within India’s immediate maritime security environment. For New Delhi, Sri Lanka is not simply another neighbor. Access to its ports and maritime infrastructure carries significance beyond bilateral relations. 

Indian concerns about China’s research and survey vessels illustrate this sensitivity. The issue is not simply Chinese commercial investment. New Delhi is also attentive to the possibility that external actors could gain access to ports, infrastructure, or oceanographic information with potential dual-use applications close to India’s coastline. 

Sri Lanka should not be reduced to another arena of India-China competition. Colombo has strong reasons to maintain relations with multiple partners, including China. Any Israeli strategy framed primarily around containing Beijing would misunderstand Sri Lanka’s interests and risk narrowing the space for cooperation. 

The new Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Israel, Saman Kumar Chandrasiri, pictured before meeting with President Isaac Herzog on August 3, 2026. (credit: Oz Shechter)

India’s own approach has become broader. During Sri Lanka’s economic crisis in 2022, New Delhi provided some $4 billion in assistance. Since then, the relationship has moved beyond emergency support toward longer-term cooperation in energy, infrastructure, digital connectivity, trade, and security. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s April 2025 visit marked an important step. The two countries signed agreements on electricity interconnection, digital transformation and development, and, for the first time, a formal memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Defence Cooperation. 

India, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates also agreed to cooperate on developing Trincomalee as an energy hub. 

The defense agreement did not create bilateral security cooperation: India and Sri Lanka already had substantial ties in training, naval visits, exercises, and capacity-building. Yet the MoU gave this relationship a more formal framework. Cooperation includes joint exercises, maritime surveillance, hydrography, capacity-building, and the provision of defense platforms and assets. 

SLINEX is a regular bilateral naval exercise, and in April 2026 the two navies conducted their fourth bilateral diving exercise in Colombo, including complex underwater operations. Sri Lankan personnel have also participated in India’s wider IOS Sagar initiative.

Taken together, these developments suggest that India is progressively embedding Sri Lanka within a wider Indian-led maritime security architecture. This does not mean that Colombo is surrendering its strategic autonomy or that India is constructing a formal alliance system. India continues to prefer flexible partnerships. But New Delhi increasingly sees regional security as something built through training, maritime domain awareness, interoperability, capacity-building, and institutional cooperation. 

For Israel, this creates an opportunity that deserves attention. 

For years, Israel-India relations have been viewed primarily through defense cooperation, technology, and an expanding strategic convergence. Those ties remain important. But as India’s regional role grows, Israel should consider whether that partnership can also provide a basis for selective cooperation with third countries. 

Sri Lanka offers a useful test case; there is evidence of Sri Lankan interest in expanding relations with Israel. In August 2026, Sri Lanka’s new ambassador to Israel identified agricultural technology, defense, and trade as areas in which Colombo would like to deepen cooperation. 

Agriculture is an obvious starting point. India and Israel have spent years developing Centers of Excellence that combine Israeli agricultural technology with Indian institutions, local adaptation, and training. A similar trilateral initiative could bring together Israeli technology, Indian implementation experience, and Sri Lankan development priorities. 

The potential goes further. 

Maritime security is one area where Israeli capabilities could complement rather than compete with India’s regional role. Israel has relevant experience in sensors, electro-optics, unmanned systems, and maritime infrastructure protection. Cybersecurity and artificial intelligence are also important as ports, energy facilities, and digital systems become connected and vulnerable. 

Israel’s comparative advantage lies not in establishing a military presence in Sri Lanka but in providing niche capabilities, technology, and practical solutions. India brings geographical proximity, political weight,and military-to-military engagement. Israel can contribute specialized expertise in maritime surveillance, cyber defense, AI, and critical-infrastructure protection. 

This does not require a formal India-Israel-Sri Lanka strategic triangle. A more realistic model would be functional trilateralism: concrete projects addressing Sri Lankan needs. The India-UAE-Sri Lanka cooperation around Trincomalee provides a useful precedent, illustrating that third-country participation can complement Indian interests rather than challenge them. 

Israel must also recognize Sri Lanka’s political sensitivities. Colombo has historically supported the Palestinian cause and continues to support a two-state solution. Treating Sri Lanka merely as another market for defense technology would therefore be politically shortsighted. A broader relationship combining agriculture, water, technology, trade, and carefully calibrated security cooperation would be more sustainable.

The larger lesson extends beyond Sri Lanka. As India becomes more influential across the Indian Ocean, Israel should think about India not only as a bilateral strategic partner but also as a platform for regional cooperation. 

For decades, the focus has been on what India and Israel can do together. The next question is what their accumulated experience and complementary capabilities might allow them to do together elsewhere. 

Sri Lanka may be one of the best places to begin.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not speak to then-IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi on October 7 until three hours after the Hamas attacks began, KAN News reported on Thursday.

According to the report, Netanyahu only spoke to Halevi at 9:45 a.m. that day during the situational assessment, despite receiving two separate phone calls about the ongoing terrorist attack at 6:29 a.m. and 6:40 a.m., and the prime minister did not ask to speak with Halevi during or immediately after either call.

The report follows comments by Sara Netanyahu that the Democratic Party chief, Yair Golan, had prior knowledge of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack in which over 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered and that launched the war that continues to this day.

“You claim to have been a fighter on October 7,” said Sara Netanyahu. “You were there early in the morning, dressed and ready. At a very early hour, when others did not know, such as the prime minister.”

Later, in an Instagram post, the prime minister claimed that IDF officers deliberately did not wake him for over an hour because they knew he would prevent the massacre.

IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi seen during an exercise in northern Israel, July 31, 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Netanyahu: Everything would have been different ‘if they had woken me’

“They were afraid that if they woke the prime minister, I would activate the air force, and I would wake the entire IDF, and I would not let anyone get close to the fences – because we would kill them immediately,” he claimed.

“If they had woken me, everything would have looked different,” he added.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Foreign weapons, military technology, fighters and logistical networks are helping sustain Sudan’s conflict and expanding the warring parties’ ability to strike deep into civilian areas, a United Nations fact-finding mission said in a report published on Thursday, warning that some attacks may amount to war crimes. 

Sudan’s war erupted in April 2023 following a power struggle between Sudan’s military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule. The conflict has devastated the country, displaced more than 14 million people and created what the United Nations has described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The UN mission said investigators found reasonable grounds to believe that a transnational network involving individuals and entities in the United Arab Emirates, Chad, Libya and Somalia supplied the RSF with weapons, military equipment, logistics, training and foreign personnel.

The UAE, Chad, Libya and Somalia, the RSF and Sudan’s military did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

UAE, Chad deny allegations

The UAE rejected allegations that it had provided military, logistical, financial or political support to the RSF, and Chad said it remained neutral in the war and denied knowledge of weapons transfers through its territory, according to the report.

A general view shows large plume of smoke and fire rising from fuel depot after what military sources told Reuters is a Rapid Support Forces (RSF) drone attack in Port Sudan targetting fuel storage facilities in Port Sudan, Sudan May 5, 2025. (credit: Sudan Ministry Of Energy And Petroleum/Handout via REUTERS)

The UN mission also said it obtained evidence that Colombian contractors played a significant role in operating and maintaining drone systems and other advanced weapons used by the RSF. It estimated the total number of Colombian contractors involved could approach 2,000 and said some were present during operations around al-Fashir in Darfur.

Colombia told investigators it opposed mercenarism and was taking steps to address the participation of Colombian nationals in foreign conflicts.

Mass killings of non‑Arab communities when the RSF captured al‑Fashir bore hallmarks that point to genocide, the UN mission said in a previous report in February.

In the past, the RSF has denied such abuses, saying the accounts have been manufactured by its enemies and making counter-accusations against them.

The mission said its investigation into external support for Sudan’s military was at an early stage but had found evidence that foreign-supplied combat drones and loitering munitions, which can hover over an area before striking a target, had expanded the army’s long-range strike capabilities.

It said some of those weapons were used in attacks on civilian locations, including Yabus Market in Blue Nile State.

Drone warfare violated international human rights law, UN says

The report found both sides committed serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in their drone operations, with some conduct amounting to war crimes. Both sides have previously denied allegations of human rights abuses.

Expanded range, persistence and increasingly sophisticated capabilities enabled Sudan’s military and the RSF to strike far beyond immediate front lines, and evidence points to both sides carrying out drone attacks that killed civilians and hit hospitals, schools, markets and displacement sites.

More than 1,000 civilians were killed in drone strikes between January and May 2026, according to figures cited by the report.

Between May and July 2026, repeated RSF drone attacks damaged electricity and fuel facilities in the North Kordofan capital of El Obeid, which was under SAF control as RSF pressure intensified in June this year. Strikes disrupted water supplies, healthcare, transport and other basic services in a city already under severe strain and partial siege, the mission said.

Among the cases highlighted in the report were SAF strikes on Ad-Da’ein Teaching Hospital in East Darfur that investigators said killed at least 70 people and left the facility non-functional.

The mission reiterated calls for enforcement of the Darfur arms embargo and urged the UN Security Council to extend it across all of Sudan.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Iran has warned the United States that it would respond forcefully to an Israeli offensive on a mountainous ridge in southern Lebanon where Iranian military personnel are holed up alongside Hezbollah terrorists, three officials briefed on the message told Reuters.

The message, delivered last month, highlights Iran’s continued direct involvement in the ground fighting in southern Lebanon and its readiness to retaliate against Israeli attacks there as the regional war enters its seventh month.

Hezbollah is believed to have built an underground command center and weapons stores within the Ali al-Taher ridge, which has a commanding view of southeastern Lebanon, according to Lebanese security sources, and has become one of the most contested pieces of ground in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Hezbollah has said in public statements that it controls the hill and will confront any Israeli advances. Its officials have referred to a “facility” there, but have declined to provide details.

The IDF has occupied swathes of territory to Ali al-Taher’s south and has identified the ridge as one of its “primary operational focuses” in public statements.

IDF strikes Hezbollah, southern Lebanon, August 27, 2026 (credit: SECTION 27A COPYRIGHT ACT)

In its message to Washington, Tehran threatened that any full-fledged Israeli offensive on the ridge would be met with a large-scale Iranian attack, said the three officials in the region, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Hezbollah declined to comment on whether Iranian forces were present in Ali al-Taher. In response to Reuters questions about the message, or whether the US had put pressure on Israel not to attack Ali al-Taher, a White House official said, “this is not accurate.” There was no immediate comment from Iran’s permanent mission in Geneva, the US Defense Department, or Oman’s foreign ministry. The Israeli military declined to comment.

IRGC forces holed up, officials say

Two of the officials said the message was delivered via Oman, which has played a mediating role. Those two regional officials, briefed by Tehran, said over a dozen members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, including at least two senior officers, were with Hezbollah fighters.

The third source, a foreign official with direct knowledge of the message, said it was delivered around mid-August and that as a result of US pressure, Israel had put off storming Ali al-Taher.

Contacted by Reuters, Hezbollah’s media office neither confirmed nor denied Iran’s message but said it was a “natural conclusion” that such a warning would have been sent about the ridge.

“Iran considers any Israeli move on the ground in southern Lebanon, especially territorial expansion, a major violation of the Islamabad Agreement,” Hezbollah’s media office said, referring to the June US-Iran memorandum of understanding that included a Lebanon ceasefire.

Iran fired missiles towards Israel in early June in retaliation for attacks on Hezbollah on the Lebanese capital’s outskirts.

Israel seeks to besiege Hezbollah fighters

Despite a ceasefire announced in June, the Israeli military has said Hezbollah is still operating around the ridge and twice over the last week launched explosive drones towards Israeli troops near the ridge.

In July, it said it had launched an air strike on a Hezbollah fighter near an access shaft to the underground site at Ali al-Taher and vowed not to allow Hezbollah to operate in the area or pose a threat to Israeli soldiers.

An Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters in June that Hezbollah fighters were stuck underground without food or water. Israeli newspaper Maariv, citing a military source, said on Thursday that the Israeli military assessed there were no IRGC forces in Ali al-Taher and that some Hezbollah fighters had died without food and water.

The third official said Israel’s military was trying to smoke out Hezbollah and IRGC personnel by besieging them, shooting down attempted drone deliveries of food and water to the ridge.

“What we have seen over the past month is Israeli pressure to besiege Ali al-Taher in order to impose a reality within this facility that renders it uninhabitable. This approach, and the absence of a large-scale attack, means that it is possible a message was conveyed through several countries — this is a natural conclusion,” Hezbollah’s media office told Reuters.

Hezbollah threatens retaliation

A Lebanese source briefed by Hezbollah said the group’s fighters can still access their positions through the ridge’s northern side.

Reuters could not independently confirm the military situation at Ali al-Taher, which Israel’s military has included in a self-declared security zone occupied by its troops and off-limits to Lebanese.

Despite Iran’s warning, the Lebanese source and a senior Lebanese security official said an Israeli military operation to capture the ridge was still possible in the coming weeks.

Hezbollah said any large-scale attack on Ali al-Taher would mean a return to full-blown war, and could see missiles landing on northern Israeli communities.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Tim Cook may be giving up Apple’s top job, but the company isn’t letting its longtime CEO fall far from the tree just yet.

Cook, who handed the CEO title to longtime hardware chief John Ternus on Tuesday, will stay on as executive chair for the tech company, earning an annual salary of $2 million effective Sept. 26. As chair, Cook will continue assisting with certain aspects of Apple, including “engaging with policymakers around the world,” the company said in April when it announced his new role.

Part of the reason Cook may stay on at Apple is that during his 15 year tenure, he became a sort of “Trump whisperer” in navigating the company’s relationship with the president. Cook earned the nickname “Trump whisperer” for his ability to strike deals and keep things smooth with the president, as seen through both his tariff negotiations and this year’s CEO transition.

Cook even said he’d continued to manage the company’s relationship with not only Trump but also the Chinese government, according to Bloomberg. Those relationships have become increasingly important to Apple as its sprawling Asian supply chain puts the company in the middle of Trump’s push to use tariffs to bring more manufacturing to the U.S.—and leaves it navigating tensions between Washington and Beijing.

His package won’t be limited to the $2 million annual comp either—he was approved for an equity award with a target value of $45 million, according to a regulatory filing.

Cook leaves the CEO job after 15 years at Apple’s helm, having taken over shortly before cofounder Steve Jobs’ death in 2011. During his tenure, Apple’s market capitalization grew from roughly $347 billion to $4.6 trillion, all while increasingly navigating government alongside products and operations.

How Tim Cook became the ‘Trump whisperer’

Cook figured out relatively early how to get Trump’s ear.

“He’s the one that calls me,” Trump told reporters in 2019 when he was asked why he had a good relationship with Cook compared with other tech executives. At the time, tariffs were a problem. Trump said Cook had argued that levies on Apple’s China-made products could put the company at a disadvantage against South Korean rival Samsung.

That relationship would be tested again after Trump returned to the White House. In February 2025, Apple announced it would spend $500 billion in the U.S. over four years, including plans to hire 20,000 workers. 

But Cook’s access to Trump did not mean Apple always got what it wanted. By May 2025, Trump was publicly criticizing Apple as the company expanded iPhone production in India, as part of its efforts to reduce its reliance on China.

“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump said at the time, recounting a conversation with the Apple CEO.

Trump said he told Cook that he didn’t want Apple expanding production in India and wanted the company to manufacture more in the U.S. Days later, the president threatened Apple with a tariff of at least 25% on iPhones sold in the U.S. but manufactured elsewhere.

Three months later, Cook was back in the Oval Office standing beside Trump, and he arrived with a customized “Made in USA” glass plaque mounted on a 24-karat gold stand for the president. 

Last August, Apple announced another $100 billion commitment to U.S. manufacturing, bringing its planned domestic spending to $600 billion over four years. 

The timing mattered. Trump was preparing to impose a roughly 100% tariff on imported semiconductor chips, but said during the Oval Office event that companies building in the U.S. would not have to pay the levy. 

That work extends well beyond the White House. Apple remains heavily dependent on Asia for manufacturing even as it has shifted some production away from China, leaving the company exposed to the relationship between the world’s two largest economies. Cook has spent years navigating Apple’s relationship with Beijing, and earlier this year, he was among a group of U.S. executives expected to accompany Trump on a trip to Beijing as the president prepared to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump has offered his own explanation for why the relationship endured. When Cook announced in April that he would step down as CEO, the president recalled receiving his first call from the Apple executive during his first administration.

“When I got the call I said, wow, it’s Tim Apple (Cook!) calling,” Trump wrote on his social media app, Truth Social, a nod to when he years earlier referred to Cook as “Tim Apple.” Trump called it the beginning of “a long and very nice relationship.” He said Cook continued calling him over the years—but “never too much”—and that he would help the Apple CEO where he could.

“What I do is I interact on policy, not politics,” Cook told ABC’s “Good Morning America” earlier this year in March. “I focus on policy.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

President Donald Trump is taking action to ensure most federal workers do not see a pay increase next year and denying concerns about its impact on employee retention and agency productivity, despite warnings to the contrary.

Trump’s 2027 fiscal budget proposal did not mention pay increases for civilian federal employees, who include air traffic controllers, IRS tax auditors, and food safety inspectors. In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson last week, Trump confirmed that these employees would not see a pay increase for next year. Meanwhile, members of the military would see between a 5% to 7% pay increase, part of an effort to “rebuild our military’s readiness and capabilities.”

The president noted that a pay freeze for most employees was a result of increased inflation levels during the Biden administration. Inflation has increased from 3% to 3.4% since Trump took office in January 2025.

“Such a large raise for Federal employees while most Americans still struggle with the consequences of the Biden Administration’s giant inflation spree is unacceptable and would be unfair,” Trump wrote.

Trump insisted the move would not impact workforce levels, arguing, “This decision will maintain fiscal responsibility without harming the government’s ability to recruit and retain well qualified employees.”

The Office of Management and Budget did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment and inquiry into why some government employees would receive a raise and others would not.

Federal workforce retention has been a concern for years, with policy think tank RAND finding in a 2014 analysis that permanent pay freezes between 2011 and 2013 decreased workforce retention among Department of Defense civilian employees with bachelor’s degrees or higher by 7.3%.

For many agencies, retaining employees has become more urgent following DOGE, or Department of Government Efficiency-led job cuts, which have been associated with increased burnout and decreased job engagement among still-employed workers. That’s to say nothing of the 271,566 workers who have left the federal government since the beginning of the Trump administration, according to the Office of Personnel Management.

The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, noted in a report last month that the deferred resignation program (DRP) carried out by DOGE, in which employers were offered the chance to resign in exchange for a period of full pay and benefits, may have already had adverse impacts on the workforce. DRP was responsible for about 40% of departures from the U.S. government last year, according to the report, and often resulted in a position being refilled by a more junior employee with less expertise and institutional knowledge.

“While it is impossible to fully quantify this loss of institutional knowledge and capacity, one thing is clear,” the report said. The DRP has made it harder for agencies across the government to serve the public.”

Federal workers, legislators sounding the alarms   

Unions representing federal employees warned the pay freeze will indeed lead to more attrition of the workforce, as well as ultimately cost the U.S. government more money in having to rehire and retrain for specialized roles.

“This ‘more work for less pay’ policy will only drive the most valuable employees out of federal service, costing Americans in degraded services,” NARFE National President William Shackelford said in a statement. “Without a meaningful increase, more high-performing, undervalued employees will likely leave public service, and it will be more difficult or more expensive to hire and train replacements. Without adequate staffing, federal government operations and services on behalf of the American people will suffer.”

The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), which represents 11,000 Federal Aviation Administration employees at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), expressed concern that a pay freeze will lead to slowed recruitment efforts, which would hamper the organization’s ability to modernize its air traffic control systems. 

The FAA has grappled for decades with a shortage of air traffic controllers and outdated systems that has the agency buying spare parts from eBay to repair old equipment. Earlier this year, the Department of Transportation launched a recruitment campaign targeting Gen Z gamers, hiring 2,000 air traffic controllers since its kick-off.

“As workers fall behind in compensation, fewer will accept positions with the FAA, and experienced employees will have less of an incentive to remain at the agency. This will likely slow down the progress of implementation,” PASS National President Dave Spero said in a statement. “Aviation safety inspectors and other critical employees will begin to retire and the recruitment of these aviation safety professionals will suffer.”

There’s a chance these fears won’t come to fruition, as Congress may supersede the proposal through its own appropriations legislation. In 2019, a Democrat-controlled House overrode Trump’s proposal to freeze pay for federal workers with a 1.9% pay increase retroactive to the beginning of the year, that Trump signed. Democratic legislators Rep. James Walkinshaw of Virginia and Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii have introduced the FAIR Act that would give a 4.1% federal pay raise next year.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

It’s no secret AI giants are racing against each other to build data centers across the country. With the AI boom skyrocketing in the 2020s, the U.S. has grown to nearly 5,000 data centers across all 50 states to date, with hyperscalers driving much of that expansion. But with that growth comes tax incentives that seem to scale further than market competition.

According to a report from JLL, a commercial real estate and investment management company, the global data center sector will likely expand at a 14% compound annual growth rate through 2030—and it notes “hyperscalers will remain a key driver of sector growth.” And with that growth comes significant savings for the hyperscalers: nearly three-quarters of all states employ tax incentives for data center development—which include exemptions from sales and use tax, property tax and “financial transactions” tax. 

The eligibility of these exemptions differ state by state, however. Some states like Texas require a substantial—at least $200 million—capital investment in the data center project, others such as Maine require a certain amount of square footage to be eligible, and a few states also require employment metrics to be met. Certain states, like New York, have no minimum investment requirement—and to sweeten the deal further, the tax exemptions are applicable for a wide range of data center expenditures.

Such measures are evident in the New York Department of Taxation and Finance structure, for example, in which data center tax incentive eligibility covers property, services, equipment and contracts. The incentives for the data centers themselves lie in the inherent replacement cycle required for upgrades and system life. 

Capital expenditures like electrical systems, batteries and structures have usable lives in excess of 20 years—but other types of equipment such as cloud computing operations often have lives of as short as three years due to the high strain of AI computing. Based on the nature of equipment churn, the Tax Foundation found that a $5 billion data center could “easily spend more than a billion dollars a year on machinery and equipment,” making sales taxation a “significant” consideration when choosing development.

Data centers, assuming they meet the minimum threshold required to be eligible depending on the state, are exempt from paying sales tax on equipment and machinery for years following their construction. States that already do not employ sales tax, such as New Jersey, incentivize data center development through property tax abatements and tax credits instead. This effectively means states are passing up billions in tax revenue to further cultivate the AI boom.

And that’s creating a real financial problem for some states.

According to an investigative report by Good Jobs First, at least 14 states failed to disclose tax abatement revenue losses suffered from data centers. Illinois isn’t one of those 14, but it does have a related issue—the state has historically “published evidence [which] shows soaring revenue losses.”

“The number of data center projects awarded the sales and use tax exemption in the Prairie State increased from six in 2020 to 27 by 2024,” the report read. “The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s annual Data Center Investment Program report stopped providing an annual revenue-loss number in FY 2023.”

Qualified data centers in Illinois receive exemptions from state and local sales and use taxes on “tangible personal property essential to operations,” according to the Illinois Data Center Investment Program. The equipment property eligible includes servers, computers, data storage devices, electrical systems, network and telecommunications infrastructure, software, climate control systems and building materials incorporated into the facilities. The state also offers a 20% income tax credit on wages paid to construction workers involved in building the center. These exemptions are valid for up to 20 years within renewable five-year increments, and are contingent on continued investment from the data center. This has caused states to roll-back on previous aggressive tax incentives for data center development.

But don’t think of these exemptions as a free gift for tech giants looking to build more property. Illinois requires a minimum capital investment of at least $250 million to be eligible for the tax exemption—and other states have minimum investments in the millions as well. Virginia, colloquially named “data center alley,” hosts nearly 35% of global total hyperscale facilities—and requires $150 million in capital investment with at least 50 new jobs located at each data center paying over 150% of the local average wage.

Across the country, minimum investment eligibility measures range from up to $450 million in Kentucky to as low as $2 million in parts of Maryland.

Is the juice worth the squeeze?

With all this, it’s still up in the air if this investment and tax incentives are truly stimulating the economy. 

A Georgia Tech study from July posits the capital investments of these data centers may help spur the local economy in the short-term, but long-term benefits have less measurable benefits. Based on the findings, employment rose about 3.5%, wages by 5% and household income by 2% when a data center opens. But the researchers also found that the “gains are much smaller than what might be expected from a large investment,” and “they’re not evenly distributed.”

The study also found that was a trade-off to the slight bump in economic development. The researchers found electricity prices rose about 5% after a data center began operation, mainly due to the large power consumption necessary to keep one running. This tracks with moves made by grid operators across the country, showing signs of the electricity bill attached with AI buildout.

“When the benefits to communities are small, even downsides like higher electricity prices that strain infrastructure will be felt by locals,” the study read.

Evidence from Brookings, a public policy thinktank, also found that data centers create local jobs—but not as much as industry advocates had claimed. According to its report, wages were unaffected by data center development, and “subsidies may matter more for precisely the facilities that generate the smallest employment benefits.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Nothing has the Democratic Party more split than taxing billionaires. San Francisco Democrats have broken with their statewide party over California’s proposed billionaire wealth tax, rejecting Proposition 40 in a lopsided vote that exposes a growing divide over whether taxing extreme wealth is worth the potential economic consequences. The San Francisco Democratic Party voted 17-4 to oppose Proposition 40—with five members abstaining, five members absent, and one member with no endorsement. Nancy Pelosi chose not to endorse the measure. This comes just weeks after the California Democratic Party endorsed the measure in August after a contentious vote that succeeded above the 60% threshold. 

California already depends heavily on wealthy residents for tax revenue, and a tax that encourages a portion of them to leave could undermine the state’s existing revenue base—and poses a consequential idea in San Francisco, where the technology industry has produced a large concentration of founders, investors and executives whose wealth has amassed in stock rather than cash. Six billionaires have already ended their California residency ahead of the January 1 deadline. 

“A unique feature of these 10b startups is that even if they raise a billion, little, if any of that money goes to the founders, who are now worth billions of dollars overnight,” Mark Cuban wrote on X regarding how the billionaire tax would affect startups in California. “They are the definition of cash poor, stock rich.”

Proposition 40 would impose a one-time tax of 5% on the net worth of people who were California residents on January 1, 2026, with more than $1 billion in assets. About 200 billionaires would be affected by this proposal—and they hold over $2 trillion in total assets. Taxpayers could spread their payments over five years, although doing so would cost more. Ninety percent of the resulting revenue would be directed toward healthcare services. The state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates the measure could generate tens of billions of dollars in temporary revenue over several years.

“This temporary increase in state tax collections would be spread across several years. Exactly when and how much the state would collect is very hard to predict for many reasons,” the office analyzed. “For example, it is hard to know what actions billionaires would take to reduce the amount of tax they pay. Also, much of the wealth is based on stock prices, which are always changing.”

Revenue potential vs. billionaire exodus

That revenue potential is the central thesis from Prop 40’s supporters. SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West placed the initiative on the November ballot, and the California Labor Federation, the Teamsters, and progressive politicians including California Representative Ro Khanna and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders back it.

According to a poll from the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, 48% of potential voters would support the billionaire tax proposition, compared to 41% that would oppose it. 

But the proposition does not come with ways for California billionaires to dodge the tax. California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office says some billionaires could respond by leaving the state or changing their behavior in ways that reduce the amount of income tax they pay. The office estimates those responses could reduce ongoing state income-tax revenue by less than $1 billion annually. The state would also incur tens of millions of dollars in administrative costs over several years to assess and collect the new tax.

And the ultrawealthy are not just looking to leave. Billionaire-backed Propositions 41 and 42 would also effectively void the billionaire tax—funded through political organization Building a Better California. Proposition 41 would require state audits of programs funded by new special taxes, making it harder for the state to use funds raised by the billionaire tax. Proposition 42 would outlaw retroactive taxation, directly countering Proposition 40 and killing the wealth tax. 

Multiple high-profile billionaires have backed these measures, including Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen—who gave an extra $10 million. Other billionaires include Google co-founder Sergey Brin and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who have contributed over $118 million in total.

Khanna, a Silicon Valley Democrat and one of Proposition 40’s most prominent political supporters, took to X earlier this month championing the policy. During his X campaign, Khanna proposed a mechanism under which founders could pledge shares to the state and receive a government loan to pay the tax—which, according to the Rep., would be nonrecourse. This sparked backlash from billionaires in California and beyond, with ultrawealthy businessman Mark Cuban and Anduril Industries founder Palmer Luckey among those who entered a grudge match with the California representative. 

The dispute also helps explain why San Francisco Democrats were willing to break with their statewide organization. According to the party’s 2020 endorsement page, it could not endorse state propositions—noting it was “the role of the California Democratic Party.” But earlier this summer, the local party changed its bylaws to allow it to depart from California Democratic Party endorsements. The Prop 40 vote became the only statewide ballot proposition on the group’s agenda—and it came back 17-4.

The San Francisco Democratic Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fortune.

The political split is also broader than San Francisco. California Governor Gavin Newsom has also openly opposed Proposition 40, as does gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra.

“It became certain that a wealth tax would be placed on the November ballot in California,” Newsom wrote in a Substack post in June. “I’m voting no.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Norway has seized a Russian ship in the Arctic to enforce a $4.22 billion compensation claim won by Ukrainian energy firm Naftogaz over Moscow’s seizure of its assets when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, officials said late on Wednesday.

The vessel, the Professor Molchanov, was seized off the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard after a 24-hour standoff with the Norwegian Coast Guard, according to Covington, the US law firm representing Naftogaz.

Russian state news agency TASS quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesperson as saying the Norwegian action was “piracy.”

Naftogaz has been pursuing legal action against Russia since 2016 to seek compensation for the expropriation of its property in Crimea.

A tribunal in The Hague in April 2023 ordered Russia to pay Naftogaz $4.22 billion plus interest and legal costs, but Moscow has not done so.

A drone view shows the Russian-flagged tanker Bratsk, which is under U.S. sanctions for links to the Russian state-owned shipping company Sovcomflot, near the Baniyas oil terminal, in Baniyas, Syria, April 8, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/KHALIL ASHAWI)

“Russia cannot evade responsibility simply by refusing to comply with an international arbitral award,” said Naftogaz Acting CEO Sergii Fedorenko.

Covington tracks the Professor Molchanov for months

Covington, the law firm, said it had been tracking the Professor Molchanov, a Russian-owned vessel that is used for commercial cruises, for months.

Anticipating the ship’s arrival in Svalbard en route to Barentsburg, a Russian mining settlement, Naftogaz’s lawyers applied to a Norwegian court for the vessel to be arrested there and subject to a compulsory sale.

The application was approved by the Nord-Troms and Senja District Court on Monday. In its ruling, it required the governor of Svalbard to enforce the order, supervise the vessel, and ensure that it is not moved.

The governor’s office issued a statement confirming that the ship had been seized and would be held in Svalbard. 

Naftogaz has said it is coordinating enforcement measures across multiple jurisdictions, including the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Finland, where Russian assets have been frozen. Russia is appealing the process, saying no notice was given.

“We will continue to pursue Russian assets around the world until the compensation awarded to Naftogaz and other Naftogaz Group companies is paid,” the Ukrainian company said.

Russia calls Norway’s seizure of its ship ‘piracy’, TASS reports

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday called Norway’s seizure of a Russian vessel at the request of Ukrainian state firm Naftogaz “piracy.”

The Ukrainian company has been pursuing legal action against Russia since 2016 to seek compensation for Moscow’s expropriation of Naftogaz property when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Norway seized the ship on Wednesday, after Moscow failed to pay Naftogaz $4.22 billion plus interest and legal costs to compensate for assets it seized in Crimea following a 2023 ruling by a tribunal in The Hague.

Alexei Chekunkov, Russia’s Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, said Moscow would challenge the ruling, saying the seizure of the vessel, “Professor Molchanov,” was “another example of Western countries’ legal nihilism and lawlessness,” according to the Interfax news agency.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

In June, a secretive unmanned Chinese spaceplane closely monitored by US military analysts released a small satellite hundreds of miles above Earth in an orbital region crowded with commercial and military satellites. The object then looped around another Chinese satellite before returning towards the spaceplane, according to US  space-tracking firm LeoLabs.

Little is known about the satellite or the mission. But the US military operates a similarly secretive spaceplane resembling a small shuttle, also with no crew. Both programs reflect the rapidly evolving field of military space operations as Beijing and Washington prepare for the possibility of conflict extending into space, according to a Reuters review of documents, space-tracking data and interviews with current and former military officials.

Chinese researchers linked to the military are developing technologies ranging from satellites designed to pursue and even capture other spacecraft to systems that could extend fuel supplies while doing so, according to a Reuters review of patent-related documents, procurement notices and academic papers. And the United States and Britain conducted their first joint military operation in space in the path of a suspected Chinese spy satellite, according to commercial space-tracking data.

“The Chinese are rapidly developing capabilities,” including ground- and space-based weapons designed to interfere with or destroy targets, US Space Force’s Chief of Space Operations General Chance Saltzman said in July. The threat from China is “substantial,” added Saltzman, who is retiring.

Astronauts Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Lai Ka-ying, who is the first astronaut from Hong Kong, gesture as they attend a press conference before the Shenzhou-23 spaceflight mission to China's Tiangong space station, at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China, May 23. (credit: MAXIM SHEMETOV/REUTERS)

Satellites have become indispensable to modern warfare, as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have demonstrated. For decades they have provided communications, navigation and intelligence services to armed forces on Earth, and once placed in orbit typically remained on fixed paths. Increasingly, however, militaries view them as active weapons platforms capable of launching attacks by disrupting a satellite’s operations through jamming or laser dazzling, or even capturing enemy spacecraft.

Disruption of US space capabilities would “cripple our massive military in the terrestrial sphere,” affecting everything from surveillance to missile defense, said Everett Dolman, a former professor at the US Air Force’s Air War College. Spaceplanes, because they are agile and capable of deploying satellites or carrying cargo, could appear to opponents as potential “space fighters,” he said.

Allies join the US effort

The growing competition comes as Earth’s orbit becomes increasingly crowded. SpaceX, which recently debuted on public markets, operates about 11,000 Starlink satellites and plans a constellation of larger AI-enabled data centers in space. China is building rival networks, while US President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense program envisions space-based interceptors.

The United States is also refining capabilities that could prove important in a future conflict.

In the joint US-British operation in September last year, US space forces working from a base in Colorado directed a US military satellite to swoop in close to a U.K. one as China’s Shiyan 12-01 satellite passed about 83 kilometers beneath them, according to space intelligence company Slingshot Aerospace. At that altitude, specialists consider the distance relatively close.

Three space experts with military backgrounds told Reuters it appeared intended as a signal to Beijing, including at space-tracking firm COMSPOC. Andrew Turner, a retired senior British air force officer who is now a space consultant, said it was “almost certainly a strategic signal to China” to demonstrate allied unity, capability and a warning to not interfere with the UK satellite.

The US and Britain publicly announced the operation, the first known one between two members of the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance, but did not disclose its proximity to a Chinese spacecraft. Much of what occurs in space remains classified because of its intelligence implications.

US Space Command told Reuters the mission demonstrated the ability to work with allies in space. Britain’s defense ministry said space is increasingly important to military operations and the UK and its partners were conducting advanced orbital operations to protect their national and military interests. Neither commented on the operation’s proximity to the Chinese satellite.

The US Space Force’s next chief of space operations, Lieutenant General Douglas Schiess, had been involved in the operation. In an interview shortly after, he said operating close to another spacecraft could help verify whether an allied satellite is functioning properly or determine whether an adversary is “doing something it shouldn’t.” He declined to say at the time whether another country’s satellite had been nearby.

Britain recently disclosed that the mission was conducted alongside a maritime deployment to the Indo-Pacific region.

Using space not only to support military operations on Earth but also to influence their outcome is “really, really important,” then U.K. Space Command chief Major General Paul Tedman said in April at a conference. He has since retired from the military.

China’s foreign ministry said it was not familiar with the specific details of the US-British operation. More broadly, Beijing opposes the weaponization of space and supports its peaceful use, the ministry said, while accusing Washington of stoking an arms race through efforts including the missile defense system Golden Dome and potential space-based weapons.

Asked about Shiyan 12-01 and the Chinese spaceplane, the ministry said it had no information. State news agency Xinhua has described Shiyan 12-01 as conducting space environment surveys, and the spaceplane as an experimental craft supporting the peaceful use of space.

US Space Force says its own spaceplane is carrying out a range of tests and experiments.

Space Weapons

US Space Command head General Stephen Whiting has repeatedly emphasized the importance of space to modern warfare, warning that adversaries are developing capabilities to deny the United States access to key systems and reduce military effectiveness. He has said adversaries would likely seek to target US space assets early in a conflict.

To counter such threats, the US must adopt a more active warfighting posture in space, Whiting argues. That means not only protecting US systems but also being prepared to threaten or strike hostile assets if necessary. He has called for orbital interceptors and other weapons.

“We must be well-prepared for conflict in space. And if deterrence fails, we will fight and win,” he told a conference in April.

Western officials warn of a range of threats, including ground-based lasers, electronic jammers, cyberattacks and anti-satellite missiles.

In orbit, the United States, China and Russia all operate maneuverable satellites capable of approaching and inspecting other spacecraft. Such systems could be adapted to carry weapons, including lasers or projectiles. Western officials say Beijing and Moscow have demonstrated technologies that could be used to threaten US and allied satellites.

The US has also accused Russia of developing an anti-satellite capability involving a satellite designed to carry a nuclear weapon. Moscow has denied that it is developing a space-based anti-satellite nuclear weapon.

The U.K.’s Tedman, in an interview last fall, said militaries now see satellites as “weapons systems” that need to maneuver and fight. The West is “working hard to retain our strategic advantage in space,” he said.

Some specialists note that disrupting satellites remains easier from Earth than through spacecraft-on-spacecraft attacks.

In a rare disclosure about its own capabilities, the US Space Force announced in June that it had introduced an earthbound electromagnetic weapon from L3Harris Technologies designed to disable or disrupt adversary satellites.

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off carrying NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., August 30, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/JOE SKIPPER)

“Dogfighting” and hunter satellites

Although the United States remains the world’s leading space power, China is rapidly expanding both the number of satellites it operates and the complexity of its missions.

Chinese satellites have demonstrated what US officials describe as orbital “dogfighting,” which includes multiple satellites moving in a synchronized way in proximity. Chinese spacecraft have also shown the ability to capture a defunct satellite and move it into a different orbit.

Last year, China conducted what was likely an on-orbit refueling attempt, according to a US Space Force official. Refueling would be a major breakthrough because satellites are normally constrained by the fuel they launch with. The ability to replenish fuel could determine whether a spacecraft remains a hunter or becomes the hunted.

Chinese institutions continue to pursue new capabilities. Patent-related documents show the maker of some of China’s most advanced military aircraft acquired technology that allows satellites to autonomously calculate fuel-efficient maneuvers while pursuing another spacecraft.

Meanwhile, a technology-transfer notice published by the National University of Defense Technology described a mature system capable of managing hundreds of satellites simultaneously for both defensive and operational purposes.

Researchers at another major Chinese university with close military ties have also been developing pursuit satellites, including concepts involving multiple spacecraft using nets to capture targets, according to patent-related documents.

The institutions and the People’s Liberation Army did not respond to requests for comment. On-orbit capabilities such as refueling and capturing another satellite could have non-military uses.

China’s official military newspaper, PLA Daily, said in a 2022 editorial that controlling space was essential for safeguarding national security, seizing the strategic initiative and achieving victory in war.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

The head of the powerful Badr militia, Hadi al-Amiri, appears to have admitted that his group was behind the killing of thousands of protesters in Iraq in October 2019. For years, it was known that Iranian-backed militias were likely unleashed by the government to suppress the protests. However, there was a lack of confirmation and evidence for the role of the militias. Now, the head of the powerful Badr militia. In Iraq, social media is focused on this story.   

In 2019, Iraq was in a transition period. Adil Abdul-Mahdi was prime minister. He was relatively weak and ineffectual. Powerful Iranian-backed militias that had been empowered by the war on ISIS were increasing their control across Iraq. Instead of Iraq receiving a kind of “peace dividend” when the war on ISIS largely ended in 2018, Iraq transitioned to new rounds of violence and economic stagnation. Militias also began targeting US-led Coalition forces. 

Tishreen movement

This led to protests in October 2019. The protests have often been called the Tishreen movement. Amnesty International noted in 2025 that “Iraqi authorities continue to persecute activists and protestors while failing to deliver meaningful justice and accountability for the killings of hundreds and the maiming of thousands of protesters by security forces and militias or to reveal the fate and whereabouts of those disappeared, Amnesty International said today.”

A video of Hadi al-Amiri giving a speech began to make the rounds in Iraq on August 31. In the speech, the head of the powerful Badr Organization says that “the resistance stood bravely in the face of (the October fitna, as it was dubbed) and preserved the state and political system.” It’s worth understanding the terminology here. He uses the term “resistance” to refer to the Iranian-backed militias. These groups are part of the government paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces. Some of them are also formally part of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. Most of the militias have been sanctioned by the US as terrorist groups. Badr is among the most powerful, and it has not been sanctioned.Iraqi anti-government protesters burn debris as they take cover from security forces firing tear gas to keep demonstrators from storming the Green Zone, which hosts government offices and foreign offices, on October 28, 2019 in Baghdad. (credit: AFP/via Getty Images)

Amiri uses the word “fitna,” which has a number of meanings but essentially accuses the protesters of sedition and heresy. It accuses the protesters of undermining the state and trying to create civil strife. Amiri was basically admitting that the Iranian-backed militias, such as Badr, massacred hundreds or thousands of people. He was accusing the protesters of being traitors who were then put down.

Amiri’s speech comes as Iraq is seeking to disarm and rein in the militias. Several of the most powerful militias have said they will not disarm or have presented new conditions to placing their arms under state control. These include Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba, Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada. Badr is not usually seen as one of the most extreme militias. However, Amiri has long played a role as a power behind the throne in Iraq, with Badr as an enforcer of Iran’s agenda.

Lawyer submits report to Prosecutor General

Amiri’s comments have now led to controversy in Iraq. Some social media have been circulating images from the October 2019 protests showing the protesters being oppressed. A report on September 2 said that a lawyer has now submitted a report to the Prosecutor General of Wasit Province, demanding an investigation and lawsuit into Badr and the comments by Amiri. Al-Sharqiya TV in Iraq described the lawyer as seeking to sue Amiri after his statements.

There is debate in Arabic media in the region now about what Amiri said.

Has he revealed the “true face” of the “resistance” by appearing to admit the mass killings? “Was it a slip of the tongue by Hadi al-Amiri, head of the Badr Organization and one of the most prominent leaders of the Coordinating Framework that runs the sectarian power structure in Iraq?” another report asks. One question is whether his statement is actually a threat today that the militias could use force again against protesters or against a government that seeks to disarm them.

Asharq al Awsat in Arabic notes that “the wave of anger and popular criticism against the head of the Badr Organization, Hadi al-Amiri, continues, following statements in which he admitted the involvement of what he called the ‘resistance’ in the events that accompanied the ‘October Movement’ of 2019, which lasted for about two years and during which more than 600 demonstrators were killed and more than 20,000 others were injured.” Families of victims now say they will file lawsuits. There are calls to prosecute Amiri.

This is important because unlike some of the other militia leaders, Amiri has always been able to avoid sanctions and controversy. Badr has been the one major Iranian-backed militia in Iraq that is not sanctioned by the US. Most of the others are seen as Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Terrorist Groups. As such, Badr has a unique role. It continues to play a major role in the Interior Ministry and other parts of Iraq.

The role of the militias in the massacres is very similar to the IRGC’s role in Iran in massacring protesters. In January 2026, Iran was accused of massacring tens of thousands of people. It has done this before, and it has exported this model to Iraq and other countries. The militias have also kidnapped journalists and assassinated people. They have also attacked Americans and targeted the Kurdistan Region.  

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

It seems like so long ago, but in the not-so-distant past, all of us were roaming the supermarket aisles for the last roll of TP, cursing at those who began stockpiling the rolls, and blaming the relative who brought a bidet back from Japan for not bringing one back for you as well. While the days of reaching for the last TP under a “limit one roll per customer” sign shoddily taped to the rack may be over, the thought of a shortage possibly returning to haunt the same president six years later isn’t far-fetched.

After trade talks between the U.S. and Canada broke down in late August, Washington imposed a 50% tariff on roughly $20 billion of Canadian goods under a section of the Tariff Act of 1930—a Depression-era law that lets the president retaliate against countries seen as discriminating against U.S. commerce. In response, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to match the US “dollar for dollar,” and unveiled retaliatory tariffs on close to 900 American products, set to take effect next week, on Sept. 8. Chief among them? Toilet paper and paper products.

“Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar,” Carney said two weeks ago. “Because we were attacked. Like, you’re at war when you get attacked.”

Paper goods are among the hardest hit. Canada’s retaliation puts a 25% duty on U.S. toilet paper and facial tissue, and a 50% duty on paper towels, napkins, and raw wood pulp. Canada is also charging 50% on American dairy products (except cheese, which gets 25%) and 25% on American fish and seafood, including frozen lobster. It’s in response to U.S. tariffs, including a 25% tariff on Canadian cars and auto parts—and Trump is now threatening to double that to 50% if no deal is reached by Jan. 1, 2027.

A Covid-era toilet paper shortage

On March 12, 2020, U.S. toilet paper sales surged 734% compared with the same day the year before, making it the top-selling grocery item that day. By the time the panic subsided, roughly 70% of the world’s grocery stores had run out of toilet paper at some point. Shelves that normally held Charmin and Cottonelle sat bare for weeks as retailers imposed purchase limits, and bamboo-paper startups saw Amazon sales jump more than 5,000% month over month as shoppers hunted for anything they could find. Researchers who studied the episode afterward found no actual break in production. Mills kept running. Hoarding, not a supply failure, created nearly all of it.

Eight months later, due to a confluence of the COVID-19 pandemic and his administration’s handling of the virus, President Donald Trump lost the presidency to Joe Biden. Toilet paper didn’t decide that election, but it became a small symbol of an economy that felt like it was slipping out of a president’s control, just as voters decided whether to give him another term.

Americans make up just 4% of the world’s population but use more than 20% of the world’s tissue supply, burning through an average of 141 rolls a year. Six years after the pandemic, Trump is again facing affordability and kitchen table prices, just as the midterms campaign season kicks into high gear.

The toilet paper supplier and tariffs

Trade talks between the US and Canada broke down in late August 2026. In response, Washington imposed a 50% tariff on roughly $20 billion (C$27.6 billion) of Canadian goods under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930—a Depression-era law that lets the president retaliate against countries seen as discriminating against US commerce. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to match the US “dollar for dollar,” and Ottawa unveiled retaliatory tariffs on close to 900 American products, set to take effect September 8.

Paper goods are among the hardest hit. Canada’s retaliation puts a 25% duty on US toilet paper and facial tissue, and a 50% duty on paper towels, napkins, and raw wood pulp. The dispute doesn’t stop at paper: Canada is also charging 50% on American dairy products (except cheese, which gets 25%) and 25% on American fish and seafood, including frozen lobster, a move that drew criticism from Maine Senator Susan Collins. The US, for its part, has also placed a 25% tariff on Canadian cars and auto parts, with Trump threatening to double that to 50% if no deal is reached by January 1, 2027. To soften the blow at home, Ottawa announced a C$7.5 billion relief package for small and medium Canadian businesses hurt by the standoff.

Americans make up just 4% of the world’s population but use more than 20% of the world’s tissue supply, burning through an average of 141 rolls a year—the highest rate globally, just ahead of Germany’s 134.

In 2024, Canada supplied $328 million worth of toilet paper to the country, more than any other country, just as retailers like Costco source much of their private-label paper stock from Canadian mills. The supply chain complicates this as American factories rely on northern bleached softwood kraft pulp, or NBSK, harvested from Canadian forests, which makes up roughly 30% of a standard American toilet paper roll and close to half of U.S. paper towel production. U.S. mills buy about 2 million tons of Canadian NBSK a year.

Procter & Gamble, which makes Charmin, said tariffs are creating a roughly $0.25-per-share earnings headwind and is raising prices on a chunk of its lineup. Americans are paying 96% of the cost of Trump’s tariffs, and Federal Reserve research showed tariffs are now seeing “full pass-through” to consumer prices.

The American Forest & Paper Association, which did not respond to Fortune’s requests for comment, argues that any shortages would be localized rather than become national. It’s still urging consumers not to stock up ahead of the September 8 deadline.

All of this is posing a problem for Trump: Ahead of the midterms, his economic standing has slipped further than the White House would like. Just 39% of Americans approve of his job performance, and only 30% approve of his handling of inflation, with a 31% plurality naming inflation and prices their top concern — 17 points ahead of the next issue, jobs and the economy. Even Marc Short, who served in Trump’s first administration, said it’s hard to argue his tariffs aren’t contributing to the affordability problem. Goldman Sachs research found that the cost of living is voters’ top issue at a higher share than heading into the 2024 election.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

The previously unknown author of a postcard sent to Israeli songwriter Naomi Shemer praising her song Yerushalayim Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold) has been revealed to be Six-Day War veteran Aharon Bar-Oz, the National Library of Israel announced on Sunday.

Yerushalayim Shel Zahav was first performed by Israeli artist Shuli Nathan on the eve of Independence Day in 1967. Three weeks later, on June 5, the Six-Day War broke out. 

The next day, while traveling to perform for troops stationed in the Sinai Desert, Shemer heard over the radio that the IDF had recaptured the Old City of Jerusalem. 

Inspired, she quickly penned the iconic fourth verse of the song in her small address book:

“We have returned to the cisterns, to the market and the marketplace; a shofar calls out on the Temple Mount in the Old City.” 

The small address book in which Naomi Shemer wrote the final verse, after the recapture of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Western Wall, August 31, 2026. (credit: ARDON BAR-HAMA)

That same day, writing from the frontlines of the war, Bar-Oz sent Shemer a postcard praising the song. He was later wounded fighting in the Golan Heights.

Shemer, Bar-Oz exchange letters

“Well done! And well done again,” Bar-Oz had written at the outbreak of the war, on behalf of a reconnaissance unit in northern Israel. “Your song Yerushalayim Shel Zahav has become part of our life in the outposts.”

“Our guys don’t stop singing and appreciating it, because a song like this becomes iconic, especially these days when the nation is fighting and winning.”

“At this very moment our aircraft are bombing the Golan Heights, and your song is playing on the radio,” he wrote. “Tuesday, 9:35.”

Shemer saved the postcard, and nine days later, after the war ended, wrote back to Bar-Oz. 

“I’m glad that you and the entire unit can now be congratulated on your victory,” she’d written back to him. “And it’s nice to hear that I could help you from afar, at least by way of the song.”

Bar-Oz, now 89, had kept the response letter framed and hung on the wall of his home. 

Letter of response written by Naomi Shemer to Aharon Bar-Oz (L) and Aharon Bar-Oz's original postcard to Naomi Shemer (R). (credit: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF ISRAEL)

During a recent tour of the National Library’s exhibit featuring a collection of items from Shemer’s personal archives, which included Shemer’s address book, an early draft of musical notations, and the postcard, a participant approached the guide excitedly. 

The participant, Bar-Oz’s daughter, had recognized her father’s handwriting in the displayed postcard, solving the mystery of the letter’s after nearly 60 years.

 Bar-Oz donates Shemer’s response

In mid-August, Bar-Oz donated Shemer’s framed response with the National Library to be preserved, finally reuniting the two pieces of history. 

“There wasn’t even a table or chair,” Bar-Oz recalled to Ynet. “I had another soldier stand in front of me and used his back as a writing surface. That’s how I wrote the postcard and sent it to Naomi Shemer’s home in Kibbutz Kvutzat Kinneret, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.”

“What surprised me was that out of hundreds of thousands of mobilized soldiers, everyone was singing ‘Jerusalem of Gold,’ and nobody had written Naomi Shemer a letter of thanks and appreciation. I wrote it simply because it felt right, as we were singing the song all the time.”

He told Ynet about how he had framed the letter, showing it to “everyone who came to our home.”

“Now the time has come for it to be at the National Library,” he said to Ynet. “It must be there, especially for the grandchildren and for those who say, ‘We’d rather die than enlist.’”

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that oil from a recently struck deal with Venezuela will be used to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, adding that the “topping out” process will begin shortly. But it’s not that easy, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright hinted as much on Wednesday while visiting Venezuela. 

“We’ll swap you a barrel of heavy crude for a barrel of light or medium United States crude,” Wright said during an interview on CNBC, calling oil markets fluid.

Venezuelan crude’s high sulfur content and dense nature are largely unsuitable for the US emergency stash, traders and analysts said. A swap, however, may be the best option for helping refill the reserve.

Refilling the emergency stash is crucial to the Trump administration‘s energy dominance agenda after Washington recently began releasing millions of barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a global effort to calm markets during the war with Iran. The major release – up to 172 million barrels from the United States – and low levels of inventory now have raised concerns about cavern damage and how quickly the US can respond in a supply crisis.

With the reserve now at a 44-year low and Washington set to gain access to billions of barrels of Venezuelan crude, one solution would be to pump those barrels back into the stash. But stark quality differences between Venezuelan crude and the current specification for SPR crude make that idea unlikely, traders and analysts said.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaks with Kit Miyamoto, CEO and Structural Engineer of Miyamoto International, while touring an area damaged by the June 24 earthquakes, in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, Venezuela September 2, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/Fausto Torrealba)

Instead, the US government may swap Venezuela‘s dense, high-sulfur crude for light- or medium-density American oil to fill the reserves, Wright said on Wednesday, a move that would help it circumvent quality challenges and replenish the key supplies.

The US SPR is the world’s largest emergency oil stockpile, and the crude is held in a series of underground caverns on the Texas and Louisiana coasts.

Why do sulfur and density matter?

While the reserve contains a number of domestic and foreign crude grades, they typically contain a maximum of 1.99 mass percent total sulfur, according to the DOE. Venezuela’s popular oil grades, Merey-16 and Boscan, both contain higher amounts of sulfur than limits defined by the SPR, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

The two grades of oil are also denser than the oil largely contained in the reserve.

This would pose a challenge as refiners are typically configured to process oil with density and sulfur falling within set ranges. Levels above or below that range can impact operations, the yield of refined products and margins.

“The majority of the crude grades Venezuela exports would be incompatible from a quality perspective with SPR caverns,” said Jeremy Irwin, global crude lead for analytics firm Energy Aspects.

The SPR does not contain heavy crude oil, and the DOE found that heavy oil storage costs outweigh the benefits, according to a report by the department to Congress in 2016.

Storing heavy oil would present considerable operational difficulties, the report said, adding that the current inventory mix provides the department with fungible crudes that maximize the flexibility of the reserve during a crisis.

How does the swap work?

Exchanges have been used in the past by the government to release and acquire oil. Currently, oil from the SPR is being released in loans ​that companies will return with a premium of extra barrels. A swap of Venezuelan crude for domestic barrels could be similar.

Typically in an exchange, an oil refiner borrows SPR crude oil for a short time period, due to events such as hurricanes or temporary supply disruptions, and later replaces it in full, along with a premium of an additional quantity of oil.

However, while US refiners could take some more barrels of Venezuelan heavy crude, the appetite may be limited as processing heavy oil requires specialized units that have a set capacity, experts have said. Building new units can be expensive and time-consuming.

The US government had in January denied a Reuters report that the Trump administration was exploring a plan that would deliver Venezuelan oil to US refineries in exchange for US-produced crude. 

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

A court in Vietnam sentenced 11 people to death in one of the country’s largest drug trafficking cases after an investigation that began when four flight attendants were caught carrying narcotics hidden in toothpaste tubes in 2023, state media reported on Thursday.

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court handed down the death sentences to 11 defendants convicted of drug trafficking in a case that involved 227 accused people in total, online newspaper VnExpress reported.

The case stemmed from the discovery in March 2023 of more than 10 kg (22 lb) of drugs concealed in 157 toothpaste tubes carried by four Vietnam Airlines flight attendants arriving from Paris at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat airport, VnExpress reported.

Authorities later determined the women had unknowingly transported the drugs, according to the report. Investigators subsequently uncovered what prosecutors described as a transnational trafficking network that smuggled narcotics disguised as consumer goods from France into Vietnam.

Prosecutors said members of the network used encrypted messaging platforms, bank accounts registered under other people’s names, and delivery services to distribute drugs across southern Vietnam, VnExpress reported. 

A police officer stands in front of red flags used to decorate a street, in Hanoi, Vietnam, August 30, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/ATHIT PERAWONGMETHA)

Details of the lawyers representing the 11 sentenced to death were not immediately available.

At least 20 other defendants have been sentenced to life imprisonment in the case, according to the report.

Vietnam considers changing use of capital punishment

The verdicts come as Vietnam considers some changes to its use of capital punishment. Last month, the government proposed abolishing the death penalty for six offenses, including drug trafficking, as part of a revision to the criminal code. However, the proposed changes have yet to take effect.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Chief Rabbi of Israel Kalman Meir Ber called on Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir on Wednesday to reconsider the punishment of religious soldiers from the Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion who refused to board a Namer armored personnel carrier with a female paramedic during an operational mission in the Gaza Strip.

In a letter addressed to Katz and Zamir, Ber said the issue had become a matter of broad public importance and warned that the military’s handling of the case could have consequences beyond the soldiers directly involved.

The soldiers had initially said that boarding the APC conflicted with Jewish law and with understandings concerning the service conditions of religious troops.

At least seven soldiers were subsequently sent to military prison following disciplinary proceedings, according to reports published earlier this week.

Ber argued in his letter that military decision-makers should consider not only formal regulations but also the broader ramifications of disciplinary decisions involving religious soldiers.

Tank crews from the Seventh Brigade's 75th Battalion train with their new Merkava Mk. 4 tanks (credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT)

He wrote that Jewish tradition had established principles for the conduct of a Jewish army, citing the biblical phrase, “Your camp shall be holy.”

The chief rabbi questioned whether sufficient weight was being given to the rights of observant soldiers whose religious commitments restrict their participation in certain mixed-gender settings.

Bar: Religious soldiers should be granted a voice regarding mixed-gender service

Ber compared the matter to longstanding IDF accommodations for religious observance, including kashrut and Shabbat, arguing that religious soldiers should similarly be given a meaningful voice regarding mixed-gender service.

He called on Katz and Zamir to change the relevant directives so that they would be compatible with the religious lifestyle of observant soldiers.

Ber also expressed concern about the possible effect of the disciplinary action on graduates of hesder yeshivas and other observant Israelis who volunteer for demanding military service.

He described those soldiers as people who willingly risk their lives for the defense of Israel, and argued that their religious convictions should not become an obstacle to their service.

Bar requests that soldiers not be forced to choose between service, religion

The chief rabbi asked the military leadership to reconsider the disciplinary decision and warned against creating a situation in which soldiers felt they had to choose between military service and adherence to their religious beliefs.

Ber concluded his letter by saying he was writing “with a painful heart and out of responsibility for the people of Israel and the unity of the nation,” and asked Katz and Zamir to reconsider the decision.

“The holiness of the people of Israel and its purity are part of the secret of our existence throughout the generations and of our uniqueness, in our holiness,” he wrote.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Officials in the Trump administration have once again begun speaking openly in recent days about the possibility that military and economic pressure on Iran could ultimately lead to an internal uprising or even the fall of the regime.

At the same time, US President Donald Trump is discussing with his advisers the possibility of declaring the war over.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the pressure on Tehran could lead to an uprising by the Iranian public or even to divisions within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“Maybe the people will rise up. There is 100% inflation, queues, the military isn’t getting paid. The central bank governor was in a panic last week,” said Bessent, echoing Trump’s position that the previous agreement collapsed because Iran was still not ready for a deal.

The remarks directly echo messages Trump delivered on Wednesday. After posting a call on Truth Social for Iranians to rise up and fight, the president was asked whether that meant he was prepared to send the CIA to arm Iranians seeking to overthrow the regime.

US President Donald Trump arrives for an end of summer barbecue event with Republicans in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 2, 2026. (credit: Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

Trump did not rule out the possibility.

Trump contemplates how to end US-Iran conflict

At the same time, as Trump discusses the prospect of an internal uprising, he is also considering how to bring the current military campaign to an end.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Trump has been holding closed-door discussions with senior advisers about whether to declare that the war in Iran is over. US officials said Trump himself has expressed support for the idea.

According to the report, Trump believes that once the military campaign ends, the heavy economic pressure being applied by the United States could achieve the remaining objectives, foremost among them the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program.

Under the assessment attributed to Trump, the pressure could leave the regime with two choices: abandon its nuclear program or risk internal collapse.

Even so, US forces have continued to strike Iranian targets in recent days. Trump has also threatened that any further response from Tehran would be met with even greater force.

US Vice President JD Vance is also expected to address the issue on Thursday.

After nearly two months without a regular White House press briefing, and following the departure last week of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Vance is expected to appear in the briefing room and answer questions from reporters.

Iran is expected to be at the center of those questions, alongside domestic political and economic issues in the United States.

Vance’s appearance is also noteworthy from an Israeli perspective.

The last time he appeared before reporters there, on June 18, he directed unusually sharp public criticism at the Israeli government after Israeli ministers opposed an agreement with Iran. He later pushed back against the claim that Israel could resolve all of its threats through military means.

Later, in an interview with The New York Times, Vance referred to criticism from ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir and said:

“Israel’s problem is not Donald Trump, and anyone in Israel who thinks the president is their biggest problem needs to wake up and understand the reality that the country is in.”

US options on Iran include declaring victory, tightening economic pressure

As Vance returns to face White House reporters, the central question will be not only how the administration intends to continue its campaign against Iran, but also whether Washington is beginning to move from the war phase into the next stage.

That could mean declaring victory, tightening the economic pressure on Tehran and waiting to see whether the pressure brings Iran to an agreement or drives the Iranian public to revolt.

Another question is whether Vance will continue leaning, as some have suggested he has been doing recently, toward Israel, particularly as a potential 2028 presidential bid draws closer.

Bessent said the pressure on Tehran could lead the Iranian public to rise up against the regime or cause the IRGC to turn against itself.

Trump, who called on Iranians to rise up and fight, declined to say whether he would send the CIA to arm them. At the same time, he has been discussing with his advisers the possibility of declaring the war over.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

US President Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday to campaign aggressively for Republican candidates ahead of November’s midterm elections, saying he has planned extensive travel to states with high-stakes races.

At a White House dinner for congressional Republicans, Trump touted his success campaigning for the party and promised a busy schedule of appearances in the final month, similar to his own non-stop 2024 campaign.

“I will be with you 100% all the way to November,” Trump told the crowd, which included Republican lawmakers such as Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Tom Barrett, who represent some of the most competitive districts. 

“It’s all about 35 races …. We are going to see if we can get everyone elected,” Trump added, referring to congressional contests.

The president faces weak approval ratings over the Iran war and persistent inflation. That worries Republicans who are fighting to ​preserve their party’s narrow congressional majorities in the November 3 votes.

People fill out ballots as a poll worker makes a phone call on Election Day for the midterm primary on June 9, 2026 at Dreher High School in Columbia, South Carolina. (credit: SEAN RAYFORD/GETTY IMAGES)

Iran war lowers Trump approval

Just 33% of Americans approved of Trump’s performance in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on August 31, the lowest of his political career and the third straight month at that level.

Trump’s Iran war has disrupted global oil supplies, raising US energy prices and deepening a US cost-of-living crisis. The conflict has entered its seventh month with no imminent diplomatic efforts to end it in sight. Washington and Tehran havein the past days exchanged their biggest barrage of fire since July, renewing concerns of full-fledged war.

Trump has in recent weeks traveled to Texas, where he headlined a fundraiser for state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for US Senate. The president also went to South Carolina to campaign for Darline Graham in a US Senate primary runoff, which she won. She seeks to win the Senate seat of her late brother, Lindsey Graham, in November.

“I’ll be making a lot of stops,” Trump told reporters earlier Wednesday in the Oval Office. Among those will be a campaign visit to Alaska on behalf of incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan. He added that he will also stump for “a few governors.”

“I love the governors, but we’re interested in the Senate, and we’re interested in the House,” Trump said.

The president is now set to speak on both nights of ‌the Republican Party’s unusual midterm convention next week, a change that some insiders attributed to concerns over the Republican National Committee’s ability to attract members and activists to the event.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

US President Donald Trump signed a funding bill on Wednesday to avert a government shutdown before the midterm elections after the legislation was passed by the House of Representatives a day earlier and by the Senate in August.

The White House said he signed the bill into law.

By a vote of 370-48, the House passed the extension of current spending through December 11 on Tuesday. The Senate passed the measure on August 8.

The bill will keep federal agencies operating beyond October 1, when existing funds are due to expire with the start of the new fiscal year.

The temporary measure was needed because Congress so far has failed to finish work on any of the 12 spending bills that fund government programs for the full fiscal year that runs through September 30, 2027. Those programs range from homeland security and federal law enforcement to energy, housing, and defense.

In 2008, Congress codified the promise to ensure Israel’s qualitative military edge, guaranteeing Israel ‘superior military means.’ (credit: SHUTTERSTOCK)

Republicans, Democrats clash in Congress

Since the beginning of Trump‘s second term, Congress has been consumed by contentious fights between Republicans who control Congress and the Democratic minority in the House and Senate.

The result has been three partial government shutdowns, totaling an unprecedented 161 days, as the two parties fought over health insurance subsidies and checks on federal immigration enforcement.

This time, neither Republicans nor Democrats wanted a fourth shutdown hanging over them as they run for re-election, potentially enraging voters who are upset about high prices, the months-long US-Israeli war on Iran that has raised oil and gas costs, and tariffs on foreign goods that have hit farmers particularly hard.

The stopgap bill fails to address any of the country’s major fiscal problems after the national debt crossed the $40 trillion threshold last month; Washington has failed to address voters’ top concern of affordability.

Furthermore, with the legislation delaying decision-making on spending priorities for another 15 weeks, Congress in December faces a potentially arduous task of writing and passing the 12 full-year spending bills.

The results of the November 3 congressional elections – with party control over Congress at stake – will be a major factor in whether Republicans or Democrats have the upper hand in those negotiations. 

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

The US military is extending deployments across the Middle East as the Trump administration prepares for the possibility that its conflict with Iran could continue well into 2027, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

At the same time, US officials told the WSJ that US President Donald Trump has privately discussed with senior aides whether he should declare the Iran war over, arguing that sustained economic pressure could eventually compel Tehran to dismantle its nuclear program or bring about the collapse of the regime.

“I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing,” Trump wrote on social media.

What Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth originally presented as a short, decisive military effort has grown exponentially, with Washington now maintaining about 50,000 troops in the region, along with 19 warships, fighter squadrons, air-defense units, and paratroopers, according to the report.

Sources said the military presence is intended to preserve President Donald Trump’s ability to choose between continued economic pressure, limited military operations, and broader escalation.

The USS Boxer departs from Naval Base San Diego, March 18, 2026. (credit: Screenshot/Youtube/SanDiegoWebcam)

Some aides have warned Trump that expanding the conflict beyond the recent exchanges of strikes could hurt Republican candidates in the November midterm elections, according to the report. Trump has maintained that electoral considerations are not guiding his military decisions.

Some aides have warned Trump that expanding the conflict beyond the recent exchanges of strikes could hurt Republican candidates in the November midterm elections, according to the report. Trump has maintained that electoral considerations are not guiding his military decisions.

The Pentagon’s sizable regional deployment is designed in part to keep alternative courses of action available.

Trump was briefed last month on potential military options that included intensified airstrikes and deploying ground troops to capture Iranian islands near the Strait of Hormuz, according to the WSJ. Another potential target was Pickaxe Mountain, the site near Natanz that US and Israeli officials have spotlighted over concerns about possible Iranian nuclear activity.

The possibility of such operations requires the US to retain significant offensive capabilities in the region even while Trump tests whether economic pressure can produce a diplomatic result.

Longer deployments cause intense strain on US troops overseas

The deployments are increasingly straining US service members, their families, and military equipment, however. Extended missions are contributing to maintenance delays that could take years to resolve, according to the report.

The strain is most felt by Army air-defense personnel responsible for intercepting Iranian missiles and drones, whose standard deployment period has increased from nine months to 12 months, one person familiar with the matter told the WSJ.

Some units originally assigned to Europe or the Pacific have already spent more than a year deployed after being redirected to the Middle East.

Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, warned that the increased operational tempo could exhaust personnel, postpone maintenance and interfere with longer-term modernization efforts.

Pressure on US Navy continues to grow as well

The Navy is facing similar pressures, as 19 US warships are currently operating in Middle Eastern waters, including two aircraft carriers and 13 guided-missile destroyers, according to a Navy official cited by the WSJ.

Destroyers including the USS Delbert D. Black and USS Spruance, which were deployed for the opening stages of the Iran war, are now helping enforce the blockade. Some of the ships, with crews of roughly 300, are spending several consecutive months at sea rather than receiving more regular breaks.

The deployments underscore the contradiction at the heart of Washington’s current strategy: Trump is signaling interest in winding down the conflict while preserving the military capability to rapidly intensify it.

The challenges the extended deployments bring are further compounded by extensive Iranian attacks on American assets, and analysts have indicated that the IRGC is continuing to target US bases and assets as part of an effort to push Washington out of the region.

Despite this, Trump on Wednesday stressed that the US remained prepared to strike Iran again following an Iranian attempt to deploy new mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

“We see everything that they’re doing,” Trump told reporters. “They can’t go to the bathroom without us seeing it.”

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he is “happy” Prince Harry and his family left the United States and relocated back to Britain.

“I am happy about it. I was not a fan,” Trump said in the Oval Office when asked about the recent decision by Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, to leave California after six years.

The family arrived back in Britain at the end of August. The couple stepped down from official royal duties in 2020 when they moved to the United States.

“I thought they treated the royal family with great disrespect. I didn’t like it,” Trump said, mentioning his “good relationship” with the late Queen Elizabeth and her successor King Charles, who is undergoing treatment for cancer.

The president specifically criticized Meghan. “I didn’t like the way she acted. I thought she was terribly disrespectful,” he said.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive at the Man O'War Steps, next to the Sydney Opera House, before taking part a sailing event with Invictus Australia members in Sydney Harbour, on day four of the royal trip on April 17, 2026. (credit: Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images)

Harry, Meghan returning to UK as ‘non-working’ royals

After the couple’s move to the US, Harry, in an Oprah interview, accused the royal family of neglect. Meghan, whose mother is Black and father is white, said that when she was pregnant with her son there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born” within the royal family.

Prince William, Harry’s older brother, defended the family after the accusation and said: “We’re not racist.” 

Harry also cited press scrutiny and the government’s failure to provide security for his family as reasons for moving to California.

Now back in Britain, Harry and Meghan are expected to remain non-working royals.

A person close to the couple said last month the family planned to move somewhere outside London for an extended period ‌with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, who will go to school in Britain.

It is unclear what changed for the couple, but Harry has said he wants his children to spend time in Britain.

“If I were the royal family, I would not have taken them back,” Trump added on Wednesday.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) this week announced the seizure of more than $550,000 in cryptocurrency donations and the disruption of recruitment websites connected to terrorist organization Hamas.

Through court-authorized seizures, the FBI seized approximately $560,000 in cryptocurrency and took control of domains and servers Hamas was allegedly using to raise money and recruit supporters, according to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.

“A message to Hamas: We will stop your fundraising for terror,” Pirro said in a statement. “Your networks are not secure, your crypto is vulnerable, and we will not stop until your ability to wage war is defeated.”

In a video posted on X, Pirro described the operation as a “massive blow against foreign terrorism” that would disrupt Hamas’ online recruitment efforts.

DOJ EXPANDS BEEF PRICE INVESTIGATION TO WALMART, COSTCO, AMAZON AND OTHER MAJOR RETAILERS

“By seizing their servers and their domains, we were able to directly intercept money that was going to be used by the military wing of Hamas, the Al Qassam Brigade,” she said.

“And to add a little more interest to this, we also now have the names and identities of thousands of individuals who tried to give money to Hamas that we were able to intercept,” she continued.

According to federal court documents, investigators became aware of a group chat claiming ties to Hamas on an encrypted communications platform that was directing supporters of the terrorist organization to a fundraising website and a rotating set of cryptocurrency donation addresses.

Prosecutors said investigators used information from multiple human sources on three separate occasions — March 25, June 25 and Oct. 10, 2025 — to identify, trace and seize approximately $560,000 in cryptocurrency intended to support Hamas’ Al Qassam Brigades.

DOJ PLANS TO REVIVE MARITIME PRIZE COURTS TO SEIZE IRANIAN OIL TANKERS AS WAR PRIZES: REPORT

The Justice Department said the FBI also used human sources to identify and seize domains and servers used by the group. After taking control of the online infrastructure, the FBI was able to intercept cryptocurrency donations allegedly intended for Hamas, according to the DOJ.

Throughout the investigation, the FBI also obtained information on thousands of individuals who allegedly contacted Hamas online to donate or attempt to donate to the terrorist organization.

The DOJ said that information will be used in the FBI’s ongoing counterterrorism efforts.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

“These seizures deprive Hamas of resources it relies on to recruit and radicalize individuals online and finance barbaric attacks like the one on October 7, 2023,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said.

“We will continue to tighten the vise on Hamas’s capacity for terror by infiltrating its online networks, confiscating its cryptocurrency, and shutting down its websites,” he added.

This post was originally published here. 

On:

An “erosion of multilateralism” is changing Asia’s push for sustainability, as countries pursue individual goals of energy security and supply chain resilience instead of “virtue signalling,” says Rahul Ghosh, global head of sustainable finance and emerging markets at Moody’s Ratings. 

“Ten years ago, the world was aligning around consistent climate policies, but now we’re starting to see a bit of divergence,” he says, as countries instead pursue what he dubs a “pragmatic transition,” one that balances sustainability with energy security and economic affordability—usually by allowing traditional fossil fuels to play a role.

Geopolitical conflict has driven much of the reassessment of the green transition. First, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 caused a surge in fuel prices, causing an energy crisis throughout much of the developing world. 

February’s U.S. strikes on Iran and the resulting closure of the Strait of Hormuz also cut Asia’s supplies of oil and gas, reiterating to the region’s governments just how much they relied on energy from a volatile Middle East.

Asian governments are now pursuing a range of energy options to wean themselves off Middle Eastern energy: Investing more in renewable energy and nuclear power; finding alternate sources of oil and gas, like the U.S.; and, perhaps most concerningly, returning to coal power generation. 

On Aug. 25, Japan unveiled detailed plans to accelerate its green transformation, including building up to five nuclear reactors in the 2040s, and 14 in the 2050s. “The Government of Japan is now undertaking various measures as it makes all efforts to ensure a stable supply of energy and critical goods to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of the Japanese people,” Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi said during a press conference in April. “Fuel supply shortages and supply-chain disruptions in Asia…result in major negative societal and economic impacts for Japan.”

Singapore, too, recently committed 800 million Singapore dollars ($631 million) to supporting research on low-carbon energy generation and decarbonisation technologies, in hopes of slashing national greenhouse gas emissions to between 45 million and 50 million tonnes of CO2 by 2035. 

“We are significantly increasing investments in promising solutions to reduce power sector and industry emissions, and at the same time, to ensure a reliable and resilient power system,” Tan See Leng, Singapore’s minister-in-charge of energy, science and technology, said during a parliamentary session on March 2. 

Some Asian countries are also deepening their reliance on fossil fuels. According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, China, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia have all increased coal-fired capacity since 2020, despite pledges to decarbonize. In March, when the Philippines declared a national energy crisis, its energy secretary, Sharon Garin, said the country planned to boost the output of its coal-fired plants to keep energy costs down.

“Be it in Australia, Singapore or Hong Kong, we’ve seen more focus on safeguarding transition assets and activities than we’ve seen in Europe,” Ghosh says. “That’s a reflection of the decarbonization challenges which Asia faces. It’s an area of strong income growth, which historically translates to higher emissions….so Asia has to figure out how to meet greater demand for vehicles and air-conditioning, while keeping energy efficiency standards in place.” 

(By contrast, wealthier societies are more ruthlessly deepening net-zero commitments. For instance, the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which places a cost on imported carbon-intensive goods, became operational this January.)

Yet another global trend—climate change and extreme weather—is encouraging public and private investors to channel more capital to climate adaptation and resilience, a category which includes projects like floodgates and dams, smart sensing and early warning systems for climate disasters, and drought-resistant crops. 

“A lot of the next ten years of extreme weather conditions are already locked in because of prior emissions,” Ghosh explains. On Wednesday, the United Nations said that the world has failed in limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, despite advancements in wind and solar power technologies since the Paris Agreement was ratified in 2016.

Last year’s record-shattering monsoon season is heightening the urgency to invest in climate resilience. “Large swathes of Asia, including parts of India, China and Southeast Asia, are quite under-insured when it comes to natural disasters,” Ghosh says. “That’s one of the reasons why there’s greater focus in this region on creating greater climate resiliency.”

But even if it looks like countries are moving backwards on some elements of sustainability—and are increasingly operating alone, rather than together—Ghosh still believes the region is headed in the right direction. 

“The process was always going to be non-linear,” he says. Yet “we are still moving from a higher-carbon to a lower-carbon economic system over time.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here. 

On:

Kuwaiti air defenses are confronting hostile missile and drone attacks from Iran, the Kuwait Armed Forces confirmed in a post on X/Twitter on Thursday morning.

“Everyone is requested to adhere to the security and safety instructions issued by the competent authorities,” the post added.

The Iranian attack on Kuwait targeted US military bases in the country, Iranian state media IRIB reported.

Local sources told IRIB that a US base in Kuwait had been struck, claiming that smoke was rising from the site. Neither the US nor Kuwait have confirmed such reports.

The Kuwait Armed Forces said in their post on X, “If  explosion sounds are heard, they are the result of air defense systems intercepting the hostile attacks.”

An F/A-18F Super Hornet, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 41, prepares to make an arrested landing on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during the ongoing conflict with Iran August 4, 2026. (credit: U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS)

Iranian military spokesperson threatens Bahrain, Kuwait

Shortly after the US strikes began on Tuesday night, Iranian military spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari stated that Iran “will no longer exercise restraint regarding Bahrain and Kuwait” in a post on X/Twitter.

“Gifts are on the way,” Zolfaghari warned.

Iran launched retaliatory strikes on US bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, following the US’s renewal of strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran on Tuesday.

Sirens sounded in Kuwait as the country’s air defenses confronted attacks by hostile drones, “following the sinful Iranian aggression,” Kuwait’s army said in a post on X on Wednesday morning.

Sirens also sounded in Bahrain on Wednesday morning following the Iranian threats, with the Bahraini Interior Ministry announcing “an alert of potential threat” in the country. Local sources also told IRIB that at least four consecutive explosions were heard. 

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

Vice President JD Vance’s mother, Beverly Vance Aikins, said she would “probably punch” Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed over remarks he has made about Vance’s family, Fox News reported on Wednesday.

“I’d probably punch the guy if I ever seen him, and then that would get me in trouble,” Aikins told OutKick and Fox News host Tomi Lahren. “So, I’ll just go with the flow.”

Aikins said El-Sayed’s remarks angered her because “he doesn’t know JD” or “what type of person he is.”

“I think they’re jealous, honestly,” she said, pointing to her son’s position as vice president and his family. “He’s got a beautiful wife, four beautiful children, and jealousy is the only thing I can think of.”

El-Sayed’s remarks about Vance family

El-Sayed has previously made remarks about Second Lady Usha Vance and the couple’s children, including during an April appearance on “The Allen Analysis Show,” according to Fox News.

El-Sayed said Vance had “brown kids” and suggested that they would one day question their father’s political views. He also appeared to encourage Usha Vance to leave her husband, saying, “Usha get out … you’ve still got time,” Fox News reported.

More recently, El-Sayed invoked Usha Vance after the vice president criticized his previous comments that efforts to ban Sharia law stemmed from white supremacy.

“So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no…” El-Sayed wrote on X/Twitter.

Vance tells El-Sayed to keep wife’s name ‘out of your mouth’

Vance responded during a political rally in Sterling Heights, Michigan, on Monday, where he was campaigning for El-Sayed’s Republican Senate opponent, Mike Rogers, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“Whatever you want to talk about, Abdul, keep my wife’s name the hell out of your mouth because she’s way out of your league,” Vance said.

The vice president said he was particularly sensitive to the remarks because Usha Vance had given birth to the couple’s fourth child five weeks earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Usha Vance had addressed El-Sayed’s remarks in an interview with Fox News the previous weekend, saying his comment about whether she would accompany her husband back in time to meet his grandparents made her laugh.

Vance also accused El-Sayed of being divisive and said his views represented a “terrible evil” that was on the rise in the United States.

El-Sayed responded by accusing Vance of dividing Americans for political gain and criticized the Trump administration’s policies on healthcare, the economy, and foreign affairs.

El-Sayed is running against Rogers in Michigan’s closely watched Senate race to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.

This is a developing story.

This post was originally published on here. 

On:

From 2021 to 2023, more than 105,000 people in the U.S. died from a drug overdose each year — tens of thousands more than the already high rates seen in the lead-up to the Covid pandemic. Then, suddenly, the death rates dropped.

In 2024, U.S. overdose deaths decreased 27%. Preliminary data from 2025 show another meaningful drop, though overdose mortality is still quite high. Other countries with major overdose problems also saw fewer deaths: In Scotland, there was a 13% decrease in 2024, and in Canada, 9%. 

Read the rest…

This post was originally published here. 

On:

The European Union on Wednesday weighed how best to respond to an attempted drone attack at a German airport blamed on Russia but struggled to find new ways to meet the challenge without resorting to military means.

The German government said Tuesday that Russia was responsible for the failed attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport on Aug. 4 using a drone laden with explosives and announced it would shut down a Russian consulate among other measures.

The nature of the incident and its attribution to Russia set a new benchmark. The drone was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane and the device was defused. The airport is a major international freight hub used for providing support to Ukraine.

“It is clear that it has all the hallmarks of state sponsored terrorism. The question is: what do we do about this,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters before chairing a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Ireland.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said France summoned Russia’s envoy to “protest strongly” and wants to impose sanctions on more of the Kremlin’s shadow fleet ships.

“We won’t allow an act of such gravity without consequences,” Barrot said.

A struggle to find more effective options

The EU has slapped almost two dozen packages of sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine, hitting more than 3,000 officials, oligarchs and entities including banks, energy companies and drone makers. The EU already was preparing to impose more travel bans and asset freezes on another 1,600 people, Kallas said.

Hundreds of ships making up the shadow fleet illicitly shipping oil to fuel Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort have been targeted too. Russian diplomats have routinely been summoned around Europe, even expelled.

The challenge is how to respond in effective ways without going too far. EU member nations, many of them NATO allies, remain cautious about being dragged into open conflict with nuclear armed Russia.

Germany insisted it was “not at war” but had become a “daily target” of the Kremlin’s hybrid campaign. Putin dismissed the allegations, saying Berlin wants to distract from its own failings and dissatisfaction among voters. Any proof being offered “has been planted,” Putin said.

But German Foreign Minister Johan Wadephul said Berlin had carefully prepared its response “and now Russia must live with these consequences.” He called on Russia “to show that it is also ready for reasonable talks and negotiations, particularly regarding the situation in Ukraine.”

Moscow has been widely accused by Western officials of running a yearslong campaign of sabotage and disruption with the aim of undermining support for Ukraine and destabilizing European nations.

The failed attack in Germany is one of several worrying incidents reported across Europe. Recent ones include a fire this week at a major drone making factory in Poland. Russia is suspected in many cases. There have also been drone incursions in Estonia and Latvia resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Concern about Russian attempts to divide the EU

Spain has publicly accused Russia, along with Israel, of using disinformation to incite migrants to cross from Morocco into its Ceuta exclave in northern Africa. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares accused some his EU partners of echoing that fake information, without naming them.

“There are a lot of people outside European Union that want to divide us, to make us weak,” he told reporters, clearly linking Spain’s migration challenges to the incidents in Germany and elsewhere along Europe’s eastern flank.

“The land borders of the south of the EU are as important as the eastern borders,” Albares said.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband also attended the EU meeting, along with officials from Ukraine, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland.

“We see an attempt by Russia to divide us in Europe and to deter us from our support for Ukraine,” Miliband told reporters.

“This attempt will fail. It will fail because we will stand up to Russian aggression. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends in Ukraine,” he said, for “as long as it takes for them to prevail in this conflict.”

___

Associated Press writer Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

This post was originally published here.