“NASA and Katalyst Space have announced that the mission to boost the altitude of a Swift Observatory space telescope has failed. The announcement came down on Wednesday after an attempt to use the LINK spacecraft ran into altitude control issues, NASA and Katalyst Space said in a press release. The spacecraft was meant to raise NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to a higher altitude. LINK is still set to attempt rendezvous and proximity operations with the Swift Observatory. … If the mission was successful, LINK would have allowed the Swift Observatory to extend its mission, the press release says. NASA expects Swift to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere this year.” (08/20/26)
“Global wheat importers are bracing for tighter supplies as attacks on Black Sea grain infrastructure disrupt shipments, heightening food security risks for top buyers such as Egypt and Indonesia, while driving up prices. Benchmark Chicago futures have climbed more than 17% since the start of July, fuelled largely by a shortfall in Black Sea supplies, with physical prices making strong gains in rival exporters Argentina, Australia and the United States. … For now, stronger harvests across parts of the Middle East and North Africa have cushioned the immediate impact, with the Egyptian government procuring record volumes of local wheat and better rains boosting crop prospects in Morocco and Tunisia.” (08/20/26)
“Southern California law enforcement officials stumbled upon an abandoned vehicle in the desert containing Lego sets worth nearly $30,000, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced Wednesday. According to the Sheriff’s Department’s news release, on Monday around 11:30 p.m., Barstow officials discovered the Lego sets inside an unoccupied van at National Trails Highway and Pioneer Road in Newberry Springs. The van held 123 boxes of stolen McLaren F1 Lego sets, which are valued at about $230 per set. Police with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad confirmed that the sets were taken during a train robbery.” (08/20/26)
“Former French Prime Minister François Fillon has been suspended for 10 years from the Légion d’honneur, France’s highest order of merit, after being found guilty of providing his wife with a fake job in which she was paid a salary using taxpayer money. The decision to suspend Fillon was published Thursday morning in the French official gazette. It was approved by President Emmanuel Macron after being recommended by the body tasked with handling disciplinary measures for the Légion d’honneur. The fake jobs scandal emerged during the campaign for the 2017 presidential election and cost Fillon a shot at the presidency, as he was a front-runner in the contest before the allegations emerged.” (08/20/26)
“A Southern California lobbyist who interned in the Clinton administration with Monica Lewinsky has been making lofty claims to win taxpayer-funded contracts — but some of the cities and public agencies on his killer resumé say they couldn’t pick him out of a lineup. Jaime Rojas, president of Rojas Public Affairs, has been collecting thousands in taxpayer fees from a Southern California agency after he bragged about securing tens of millions in federal funds …. Rojas spoke before the Phelan Piñon Hills Community Services District board in January 2025, touting a record of securing more than $90 million in state and federal funding. The district subsequently awarded Rojas a contract paying $5,000 per month. But in documents submitted to that agency and others, Rojas’ firm has overstated or made up multimillion-dollar funding claims in writing while seeking taxpayer funds, including a three-year lobbying deal tied to Gypsum Canyon Memorial Park and a planned state veterans cemetery in Orange County.” (08/20/26)
“Bond yields edged higher on Thursday morning after pulling back sharply during the previous session following the Treasury Department’s move to dramatically ramp up government debt repurchases in a bid to shore up longer-dated debt. … The Treasury Department, led by Scott Bessent, said Wednesday it would double the size of its debt repurchases, mainly at the long-end of the yield curve. The move sent yields tumbling, with the 30-year yield plunging more than 10 basis points on the day and the 10-year note yield falling more than 6 basis points, reversing this week’s earlier advance. Treasury yields have been pushing steeply higher since June, touching levels not seen since before the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.” (08/20/26)
“Israel’s plans to open up tenders for the construction of some 1,200 [squatter] homes in a strategically important part of the occupied West Bank have sparked fresh condemnation by major Western powers. In a joint statement, the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Canada called the decision ‘unacceptable’ and urged Israel to ‘retract the plans immediately’. All s[squats] are illegal under international law and, under international pressure, Israel held off for decades on plans to build in E1 to the east of Jerusalem. Many of its allies and Palestinians argued this development would deal a major blow to hopes of a two-state solution, effectively cutting the West Bank in two and isolating east Jerusalem.” (08/20/26)
“President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he has nominated White House Domestic Policy Council Deputy Director Heidi Overton to be the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. … Overton has been Trump’s deputy assistant during his second term, advising him on health policies, including lowering prescription drug prices. Overton has stood alongside Trump for several major health announcements at the White House, including his executive order signing on childhood vaccines earlier this month. She has espoused anti-abortion views and supported reductions to the childhood immunization schedule, touting the use of ‘gold-standard science’ and restoring vaccination authority to parents while at that executive order signing.” (08/19/26)
“A New York woman plotted to bomb the New York State Capitol and kill state senators inside, repeatedly surveilling the building and buying materials for an explosive device before the FBI arrested her, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by Fox News Digital Thursday. Jessica Bowie, 35, of Albany, is charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS. The FBI says she pledged allegiance to the terror group, discussed disguising a bomb in a DoorDash delivery bag and wanted to carry out the attack when state senators were meeting. … At a news conference Thursday afternoon, FBI officials said Bowie’s alleged plans extended beyond an attack on the state Capitol and included ambitions to carry out additional violence after fleeing the country.” (08/20/26)
“Chinese property developer Hui Ka Yan, founder of the Evergrande real estate group, has been sentenced to life in prison and the companies fined a total of $2.3 billion, a court in the southern city of Shenzhen said Thursday. The decision marks a milestone in Evergrande’s saga after it collapsed with more than $300 billion in liabilities when Chinese authorities cracked down on excessive borrowing in the real estate industry in 2020. That triggered a crunch among many developers and brought on a downturn in the property market that has weighed on the broader economy ever since. The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court convicted Hui, also known as Xu Jiayin, and Evergrande of engaging in large-scale financial fraud in inflating the group’s assets and concealing its liabilities.” (08/20/26)
