“A massive long-term oil deal expected to grant the U.S. access to a fifth of Venezuela’s crude reserves has energy experts and lawyers questioning its legality and eventual execution, while calling on both governments for contract transparency. The unprecedented pact, announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday and confirmed by Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez, will put a whopping 65 billion barrels of recoverable oil under Washington’s control, a volume that surpasses total U.S. proved oil reserves of 46 billion barrels. The agreement did not pass through a competitive process, and its negotiation remained a secret until last week, even amid a sweeping reform of Venezuela’s primary hydrocarbons law and the migration of dozens of joint ventures and contracts to new terms, which authorities and operators have not completed.” (08/31/26)
“California’s billionaire tax proposal is splintering the state’s Democratic Party, with party leaders opposing the wealth tax even as voters, and especially young voters, appear eager to increase taxes on the rich. The latest division appeared last week when the San Francisco Democratic Party voted to oppose Proposition 40, the controversial wealth tax on the November ballot. The decision goes against the state party, which endorsed the plan earlier in the month. Michael Nguyen, a candidate for the SF Board of Supervisors, said the local party’s rejection of the state party’s position on the tax was unprecedented, and he called out local Democrats for supporting the ultrawealthy. … Polling shows that Democrats overwhelmingly support the measure, which would impose a one-time 5% wealth tax on any resident who was worth more than $1 billion and be implemented next year.” (08/31/26)
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian for the first time since war broke out in the Gulf following US and Israeli attacks on Tehran. PM Modi met Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. In a post on X, Modi shared pictures from the meeting and said the two leaders discussed the prevailing situation in the region. He added that India would continue to support all efforts aimed at ensuring lasting peace in the region.” (08/31/26)
“Viktoria Haidai surveys the mangled remains of the printing press, which should have been busy churning out textbooks ready for the new school year. The plant, on the edge of Kyiv, was hit during the night by a Russian missile, just as production was ramping up to deliver 1.3 million books – 10% of Ukraine’s schoolbooks. In the ashes there is a charred page from an English language textbook: ‘My name is William, I’m from the UK. My grandmother lives in Nottingham. It’s a beautiful city.’ Russia has hit printing presses and publishing houses across Ukraine in a series of recent attacks, destroying 12 million books and damaging other icons of Ukrainian history and culture. Local media report that Russia has destroyed one third of all the books printed in Ukraine this year.” (08/31/26)
“The third and final witness to the [murder] of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston’s Magnolia Park in July has been released from ICE custody, according to Attorney Ruby Powers. Powers shared the news with ABC13’s Daniela Hurtado on Sunday evening. Victor Salgado was [abducted] after an ICE agent shot and killed his brother, Lorenzo, on July 7, 2026. His nephew, Ronaldo Salgado, released a statement on social media confirming that his uncle was released Sunday morning.” (08/30/26)
“An India-born cab driver sentenced to 20 years behind bars for kidnapping and raping a woman at knifepoint in 2011 has had his citizenship revoked, the Justice Department confirmed Monday. Gurmeet Singh, now 55, was convicted in 2014 of the violent sexual assault of his young female passenger, who fell asleep as he drove her to her East Village apartment after picking her up from Williamsburg in May 2011, weeks before he filed his naturalization application. According to a victim impact statement read by prosecutors at Singh’s sentencing, the woman woke up to find the cabbie on top of her and holding a knife against her throat, asking her if she wanted to live.” (08/31/26)
“North Korea has reaffirmed its hardline stance towards the US and defended the further expansion of its nuclear weapons programme, a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Pyongyang said on Monday. The spokesman accused the US government of having failed to change its hostile policy, pointing to Washington’s continued insistence on the complete nuclear disarmament of North Korea as evidence. He also noted that the US was planning to hold a military exercise with South Korea and Japan the following week.” (08/31/26)
“A Sydney woman who survived a shark attack has described the moment she came face-to-face with a 4m great white before repeatedly punching it. Leah Stewart, 34, was dragged under the water at Coogee Beach in June as the shark bit into her thigh and arms, leaving her with extreme blood loss and injuries so severe that doctors had to amputate her left arm. In an interview which aired on Sunday, the mother-of-one said she was determined to live for the sake of her baby daughter. ‘In my head, I was like, … ‘You are not taking me away from my daughter’, and I twisted myself around and I just started punching it over and over and over again – it was like fighting a dinosaur’. Moments earlier, Stewart had just finished her regular Saturday morning swim and was heading back to shore when she was alerted to danger.” (08/31/26)
“The House returns Monday from its five-week recess, with approving a short-term funding bill to head off a government shutdown topping its to-do list. Funding is set to lapse Sept. 30 without a deal, and lawmakers are planning to take another weeklong break for Labor Day. In July, the House passed a GOP-led bill to punt government funding past the November midterm elections. But the House measure, which would have extended funding at current levels until Dec. 4, met resistance in the Senate.” (08/31/26)
“The online prediction market platform Kalshi said Monday that it has permanently banned former U.S. Rep. George Santos after concluding the former Republican congressman likely engaged in insider trading when he bet against his attendance at the State of the Union address. The company announced the ban after saying its compliance department had established reasonable cause to believe Santos engaged in insider trading over his attendance at the address, when he turned a $17,839 profit on his trading activity. The convicted ex-congressman had repeatedly discussed his intention to attend the State of the Union …. On the eve of Trump’s speech, Kalshi put the odds of Santos attending at close to 75%. Then, minutes into the speech, Santos posted on X that he had been waylaid at the airport. Immediately, several social media users accused him of running another scheme.” (08/31/26)
