“Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday approved former supreme court chief Andras Baka, a critic of Viktor Orban who was fired during the ex-premier’s time in power, as the country’s next head of state. The post became vacant following the contested removal last month of the previous president, an Orban ally, as pro-EU conservative Prime Minister Peter Magyar pushes to loosen his predecessor’s lingering hold over state institutions. Parliament, where the ruling Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority, elected Baka – who served 17 years as a judge on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) – with 140 votes in favour and six votes against. Tisza on Saturday nominated Baka, 73, for the largely ceremonial role.” (08/11/26)
“Trump Media & Technology Group, founded by U.S. President Donald Trump and known for its Truth Social platform, reported a wider second-quarter loss, largely due to unrealized losses tied to its cryptocurrency assets. Its second-quarter net loss jumped to $238.1 million from about $20 million a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, came under pressure during the April-to-June quarter as investors shunned riskier assets amid uncertainty over U.S. interest rates, geopolitical tensions and persistent outflows from crypto investment products.” [editor’s note: The guy went bankrupt running a casino, which is the second-closest thing to a license to print money. The closest thing is a corrupt White House and he apparently can’t make even THAT work. He seems to be about as good at business, and in the same way, as he is at golf – TLK] (08/11/26)
“The supreme court justice Samuel Alito gained up to $2.9m from his fossil fuel interests between 2005 and 2024, a new review of financial disclosures shows. The analysis from the non-profit advocacy group and judicial watchdog Court Accountability, shared exclusively with the Guardian, found that even at the lowest range of estimates, Alito gained almost $400,000 from his oil and gas interests since being tapped for the high court by George W Bush in 2005. The findings come as the supreme court prepares to take up a case in which the oil companies Suncor Energy and Exxon asked the justices to find that federal law prevents subnational governments from filing lawsuits against fossil fuel producers for the climate-warming effects of their products. … Court Accountability and other groups have called for a Senate committee to investigate Alito, the sole supreme court justice with holdings in energy companies, and said he should recuse himself. He and the court rejected those calls.” (08/11/26)
“A Syrian court sentenced ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad along with his younger brother to death in absentia on Tuesday for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria’s 14-year conflict that left about half a million people dead. The sentences at the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus are the first against Assad or members of his inner circle since the family’s five decades in power came to an end 20 months ago. … Also sentenced to death in the same case was Assad’s maternal cousin Atef Najib, who was convicted of overseeing a crackdown in the southern province of Daraa that led to the uprising and later the civil war.” (08/11/26)
“Russia has released an American military veteran who spent more than four years in prison, President Trump said Tuesday, days after a group advocating for his freedom said he was gravely ill. Mr. Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to release Robert Gilman on a ‘humanitarian basis’ and that ‘Russia asked for no one in return.’ … Gilman, a 32-year-old teacher from Lowell, Massachusetts, had been detained since 2022. He was initially handed a 3 1/2-year sentence in 2022 when he was convicted of beating a police officer after being taken off a train for causing a disturbance.” (08/11/26)
“Firefighters in western Libya fought Tuesday to extinguish the remnants of a massive fire caused by a drone strike on an oil facility, and a car bomb killed a senior military officer in the country’s east, in the latest attacks in the chaos-stricken North African nation. The drone hit a gasoline tank at the Zawiya oil refinery in the Mediterranean town of Zawiya on Monday, about 47 kilometers (about 30 miles) west of capital Tripoli, the state-run National Oil Corporation said. … Monday’s strikes were the latest in a series of drone attacks on oil infrastructure in Zawiya, which houses critical energy infrastructure including the country’s largest oil refinery, an export terminal and a power plant. … The attacks come as tensions are rising between the government of western Libya and a warlord who controls the city of Zawiya.” (08/11/26)
“Rescue workers in Colombia are working against the clock to free survivors trapped in buildings and under rubble following Monday’s powerful earthquake. More than 180 people have been confirmed dead – most in the cities of Cali and Pereira. The magnitude 7.4 quake struck at 07:34 (12:34 GMT) on Monday and was felt across an enormous area, stretching for hundreds of miles across western Colombia – with fresh aftershocks still being felt on Tuesday. While the official death toll remains 181, an aggregated figure gathered from local officials puts it higher – potentially at more than 240. A state of emergency has been declared by President Abelardo de la Espriella.” (08/11/26)
“A federal judge has approved the Trump administration’s request to dismiss criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani while chastising the Justice Department for its reasoning and methods for abandoning the high-profile case. … The Justice Department charged Gautam Adani and the seven other defendants, all current or former executives of Adani Group or its subsidiary Adani Green Energy, in November 2024, alleging various defendants participated in schemes to pay $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure lucrative solar energy contracts, lied to U.S. and international investors to raise billions of dollars in financing and impede the investigations of three U.S. government entities.” (08/11/26)
“Little League Baseball is on fire even before the big days in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Little League on Monday ruled that Tulsa National Little League’s 12U team had an ineligible player on the roster and booted it from the Southwest Region Tournament, the final stop before the Little League World Series. However, a Texas judge reinstated the team just hours later through a temporary restraining order, despite Little League saying its decision was ‘final and binding.’ … Little League initially ruled that Boerne Little League’s Monday game against Louisiana (Ascension Parish Little League) would be for the Southwest championship — Boerne won 4-1 and celebrated on the field, thinking it had just earned a trip to every child’s dream. However, it now must play one more game against a team with an ineligible player. Little League did not immediately respond to a request for comment.” (08/11/26)
“The armed forces of Yemen’s [Saudi puppet regime] have accused the Houthis of launching another round of ballistic missile attacks on the Red Sea port city of al-Makha and on residential areas in the central city of Marib. Yemeni forces did not state whether the attacks on Monday caused any casualties. The attacks came a day after Houthi missiles killed at least seven people and wounded 30 others in al-Makha, which is also known as Mocha. The strikes caused extensive damage at the city’s port area. Elsewhere in Yemen on Monday, a Houthi drone strike killed two Yemeni [puppet regime] soldiers and wounded seven others in the south-central province of Shabwa, according to local media reports.” (08/11/26)
