“President Donald Trump has said the US will ‘substantially reduce’ joint military exercises with South Korea, citing his ‘very good relationship’ with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un. He also noted on Truth Social that South Korea had recently declined to join the US in the ‘denuclearisation’ of Iran. ‘These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile,’ Trump posted. Seoul said it was reviewing Trump’s comments, adding it hoped a favourable relationship between Washington and Pyongyang could lead to meaningful talks. Pyongyang has not yet commented.” (08/17/26)
“100 years of presidential political history may now be just that – history. On Saturday, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) made its primary calendar official, as it voted to put South Carolina first in its presidential nominating calendar. The move comes amidst a renewed drama between the DNC and the state of New Hampshire, which has long served as the ‘First in the Nation’ primary state. The party voted in line with a prior vote by the party’s Rules & Bylaws Committee to establish South Carolina first, Nevada second and New Hampshire third. … State law in New Hampshire requires it to hold its primary before any other similar primary contest.” (08/16/26)
“Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has made another shocking statement calling for genocide of Palestinians. In a podcast, he said that Israeli forces should ‘kill 30 or 40 people in Gaza every night’ and go beyond ‘those who pose a danger at that particular moment.’ He advocated for building Jewish settlements throughout the entirety of the Gaza Strip and called for the permanent, engineered mass emigration of the Palestinian population out of Gaza to other countries, while stating that ‘terrorists’ should not be allowed to emigrate but rather be killed ‘one by one.’ … The remarks are the latest in a long record of extreme statements from Ben-Gvir, who sits in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government and controls Israel’s police and prison services.” (08/17/26)
“Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday there’s a ‘possibility’ that the Justice Department will ask the Supreme Court to intervene in dozens of cases in which judges have ruled against the federal government’s efforts to gain broad access to state voter rolls ahead of November’s midterm elections. ‘Absolutely, it’s a possibility,’ Blanche told NBC News’[s] ‘Meet the Press’ when asked whether he’d appeal the 22 cases the Justice Department has lost so far to the Supreme Court. … The cases stem from an executive order Trump signed asking [sic] states to turn over their voter rolls, including voters’ names, dates of birth, residential addresses, state driver’s licenses and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.” (08/16/26)
“At least one person has been killed and three have been wounded in a Ukrainian drone barrage targeting Moscow, a local official says, as Russia has bombarded Kyiv with ballistic missiles. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it destroyed 822 drones across the country overnight. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on social media early on Sunday that the city was targeted with 600 drones and ‘201 drones were destroyed in Moscow region’. … The drone assault came after Ukrainian authorities said late on Saturday that at least one person was killed and seven were wounded in Russian air attacks.” (08/16/26)
“Naval families with loved ones deployed for months on US warships amid the Iran war have reacted with fury to Donald Trump and the defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s dismissal of their concerns about the extreme pressures and dire conditions they are enduring. … The USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier with more than 5,000 sailors and marines onboard, has been at sea for nearly nine months, having begun its deployment in November. There have been reports of multiple suicide attempts including jumping overboard. When Trump was asked on Friday whether naval families were worried about conditions on board, he replied: ‘No, they’re not.’ He said that the Lincoln’s deployment, now in its ninth month, was ‘not nearly long enough’. Earlier, Hegseth also swatted away families’ concerns, saying that the reality onboard the Lincoln had been ‘completely misrepresented’.” (08/16/26)
“The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to bless the construction of President Trump’s White House ballroom to replace the demolished East Wing. The planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom has been mired in litigation ever since the president tore down the East Wing in October as part of his plan to dramatically remake the White House campus. But the courts have let Mr. Trump build even while questioning the project’s legality, allowing the ballroom to steadily rise in recent months. The administration’s request for intervention from the nation’s highest court comes after an appeals court said on Aug. 7 that the president had most likely exceeded his authority by moving ahead with the privately financed project without approval from Congress.” (08/14/26)
“With two weeks to go before the gates to Burning Man’s Black Rock City swing open, organizers of the famously dusty desert bacchanal have launched an unprecedented promotion: Buy a bus seat from San Francisco or Reno to the event, and it comes with access to the lowest-cost general admission ticket. ‘We know that the decision to participate in Black Rock City can happen at the last minute, so we’re making a limited number of $550 lower-priced ‘Get the Gift’ tickets available to participants traveling to BRC as part of a Burner Express Bus (BXB) bundle,’ a Burning Man spokesperson told SFGATE by email. ‘The BXB program makes it easier and more affordable to get to Black Rock City, while helping reduce the environmental impact of travel — easing traffic and decreasing the number of vehicles on the roads.'” (08/15/26)
“Amazon on Friday reinstated binding arbitration for its U.S. customers while also barring them from seeking class-action lawsuits, making it more difficult for users to address grievances in court. In emails on Friday, Amazon said the changes are effective immediately and customers agree to the terms by continuing to use the company’s services. Often, companies alert customers to upcoming changes to their terms of service weeks in advance. Previously, Amazon said customers should pursue legal claims in court in Washington state, where Amazon is based. Five years ago, Amazon revoked binding arbitration after facing tens of thousands of costly individual cases.” (08/15/26)
“Moroccan authorities have intercepted dozens of migrants seeking to cross into the Spanish North African exclave of Ceuta, reports say. More than 100 people were blocked trying to make their way to the border on the outskirts of the town of Fnideq, according to Moroccan security sources cited by Spanish media and the Reuters news agency. It comes a fortnight after roughly 78,000 migrants arrived in the exclave by sea in a matter of hours – 100 of whom died, according to the city’s mayor, who also said the vast majority of arrivals had returned to Morocco. Security had been stepped up in the area after the influx and amid suggestions on social media of a second mass crossing attempt this weekend. The security sources said 111 people had been detained in or around Fnideq – known in Spanish as Castillejos – about 3km (1.8 miles) from the border, the majority of whom were from sub-Saharan Africa.” (08/15/26)
