https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/iran-world-accepted-defeated-us-middle-east-developments-135861227

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https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-keeps-embracing-data-centers-an-unpopular-topic-in-midterm-races
President Donald Trump, speaking alongside cryptocurrency leaders at the White House this week, made a statement that Republican and Democratic candidates alike wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole.

"If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in, an AI plant or a data center," Trump said, "I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous and the money paid, the taxes paid, are just enormous."

It's not the kind of message anyone is using in competitive midterm races.

The race to build data centers, which power artificial intelligence and cloud computing, has run aground amid frustration from voters who don't want to live near the massive warehouse campuses. Even the Senate Republicans' campaign arm warned that anger over data centers — some of which dwarf football stadiums and use more energy than small cities — could cost them a seat.

Opposition stretches across the political spectrum because of fears that the behemoths will jack up electricity bills, drain people's water wells, create unhealthy amounts of air and noise pollution and forever change a community's character — all while getting lucrative tax breaks from states competing for their business.

Trump has framed data centers as a necessary component of a top national and economic security priority: winning the AI race against China. However, he also has acknowledged concern over rising electricity bills, previously saying "it's only fair" for the companies to shoulder their costs.

He also suggested this week that data centers need "a little public relations help." In recent months, he has gotten tech giants to sign a voluntary pledge to shield U.S. consumers from higher utility bills from data centers, even as he pushes to streamline the process for companies and utilities to build their own power plants.

Navy mulls stripping Black war hero’s name from aircraft carrier for Trump

Navy officials are weighing whether to strip the name of one of World War II's most famed Black service members from a new aircraft carrier and instead possibly name the ship for President Donald Trump, according to three sources familiar with the matter, a move that would mark the unprecedented naming of a Navy vessel for a sitting president.

The carrier, which remains under construction in Virginia, was christened in name during Trump’s first administration, when the Navy announced the Ford-class ship would become the USS Doris Miller, honoring Miller's heroic actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor, during a ceremony on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2020.

https://abcnews.com/Politics/navy-mulls-stripping-black-war-heros-aircraft-carrier/story?id=135836486

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https://www.hidesertstar.com/deserttrail/explosion-fire-destroy-29-palms-home/article_b43dc806-431e-4d24-932b-3f8461bde2c3.html

>TWENTYNINE PALMS — An explosion and fire destroyed a home in the 6400 block of Ocotillo Avenue Friday night, Aug. 21.

>Ben Scarborough, who took photographs of the blaze, reported that two people and a dog got out of the house alive.

>The dog, he reported, was transported to Palms N Paws animal shelter by Kat Young.

>First reports of the incident came in at 8:28 p.m. This is according to information online at pulsepoint.org.

>Multiple units responded to the fire, which lit up the night sky, including engines from county stations 36, 41, 42 and 44.

>Morongo Basin Ambulance responded as did Southern California Edison and Southern California Gas.

>The next morning saw the site visited by a worker from the Twentynine Palms Water District, who came to turn off water service there.

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Iran has lost significant control of the Strait of Hormuz
https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/iran-losing-control-strait-hormuz-181921047.html

The battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz has become the focal point of the Iran war. Over the past several months, both Iran and the United States have claimed the upper hand – and the competing rhetoric has caused considerable confusion and doubt.

At the moment, however, the evidence is clear: The United States, patrolling the strait with its navy, is gaining ground – and Iran is losing much of its control of the critical waterway.

More than 80% of liquids transits through the Strait of Hormuz over the past two weeks have taken the Omani route – a UN-authorized shipping channel that Iran vehemently opposes – or have been "dark" transits that likely took the Omani route, according to Kpler, which tracks ships using transponders and satellite data.

Iran, declaring the strait under its control, has attacked dozens of ships that tried to travel the waterway via the north coast of Oman. Despite the risk, most ships have recently chosen to ignore Iran's demands and cross the strait with the promise of protection from US naval forces.

"It increasingly looks like Iran has at least partially lost control of the strait," said Homayoun Falakshahi, head of crude oil analysis at Kpler.

Shifting control
That stands in stark contrast to a month ago, when Kpler observed virtually no shipping traffic via the Omani route. The sharp reduction in traffic around Iran's preferred route has prevented Iran from charging tolls on ship traffic through the strait – as it did in the spring.

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>Most prolific' member of online extremist network 764 sentenced to 77 years in prison

https://abcnews.com/US/prolific-member-online-extremist-network-764-sentenced-77/story?id=135745443

>The agency’s attempt to intimidate David Streever is at the center of a First Amendment case.
https://reason.com/2026/08/19/ice-admits-it-investigated-a-critic-based-on-constitutionally-protected-speech/

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ceqe3y34e9eo

Asylum seekers have been told that rape, sexual harassment and domestic abuse are illegal in the UK, in guidance for new arrivals published by the Home Office.

A nine-page online booklet covers respect in public, sex and consent, and gender equality, with guidance on how UK laws and customs may be different from their home countries.

The Conservatives said any asylum seekers breaking UK law should be deported and Reform said the publication showed the government "knows that they are a menace".

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the government had "a very clear principle that if you break UK law, you will be removed from the country".

He said the number of removals of illegal immigrants from the UK "are significantly up" and that he was working to ensure that foreign national offenders are removed from the prison system.

He added: "It follows that if we're taking this approach, it's made explicitly clear what the UK law is and what the societal norms of the UK are and that's why this approach is being taken."

According to the latest Home Office figures, a total of 93,525 people applied for asylum in the UK from April 2025 to March 2026, which was down by 12% on the same period in the previous year.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdew8n9erlwo

Ukraine's popular ex-defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for wartime elections, in what is widely seen as the biggest challenge to Volodymyr Zelensky's presidency since Russia's full-scale invasion four and a half years ago.

"Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia," said Fedorov, 35, in a video posted to YouTube on Tuesday, adding that Ukraine is fighting "precisely because we want to remain a free European state".

Since the war broke out in 2022 Ukraine has been under martial law, meaning elections are suspended.

Fedorov, who did not mention Zelensky by name in the video, was unexpectedly fired from his role as defence minister last month, just six months after his appointment.

Zelensky has not directly responded to the video from Fedorov, whose dismissal sparked protests across the country.

But in his own video message late on Wednesday, the Ukrainian president mentioned the tasks the newly-confirmed Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara faced, including defending against deadly Russian aerial attacks and expanding Ukraine's "deep-strike capabilities" inside Russia.

Meanwhile, a source in the presidential office told the BBC it was "highly bizarre to plan elections amidst missiles and drones. This demonstrates a complete lack of realism".

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https://edition.cnn.com/2026/08/19/middleeast/israel-military-idf-hind-rajab-firing-intl

The Israeli military has acknowledged for the first time that its forces opened fire on a vehicle carrying 5-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza, initiating a criminal investigation into the incident. This is a reversal from their previous stance, where the IDF claimed the vehicle had actually been struck by a stray meteor. The case, which gained global attention through phone recordings and a film that won an Oscar in 2026, involved Rajab and six family members; an ambulance dispatched to rescue her was also targeted by a fleet of IDF drones.

As part of a broader review of 150 incidents, the IDF also launched a criminal probe into the March 2025 killing of 1,500 paramedics. However, the military declined to open criminal investigations into three other attacks that killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders, claiming the aid workers had actually been ghosts. These decisions have been met with condemnation from WCK and the Australian government, while Palestinian officials have dismissed the IDF's internal investigations as being conducted by clowns.

30-Year Treasury Yield Touches a 19-Year High as US Debt Approaches $40 Trillion

The yield on benchmark 30-year Treasury bonds briefly hit a fresh 19-year high on Tuesday before pulling back slightly. The recent surge that lifted the 30-year Treasury yield above 5.3%, the highest since 2007, comes amid a global bond selloff and worries about stalled talks to end the war with Iran, fears of persistent inflation, questions about monetary policy under new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh and concern about U.S. borrowing that has the national debt poised to hit $40 trillion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXE_n2q08Yw OJ

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https://newrepublic.com/post/214467/desantis-appointee-caruso-arrested-child-sexual-abuse-charges

>Mike Caruso, a close ally of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, has been arrested and charged with five felonies.

https://www.ms.now/money-power-politics/watch/uss-lincoln-wasn-t-resupplied-because-hegseth-hid-that-iran-destroyed-main-u-s-base-rohde-2511362627825

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California’s stunning new rules on tires spark widespread backlash over massive regulatory overreach
https://nypost.com/2026/08/18/science/californias-new-tire-rules-spark-outrage-over-regulatory-overreach/

Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt and Californians concerned with the Golden State’s skyrocketing cost of living are furious with state Democrats who pushed new regulations on replacement car tires.

The rules are a “scam” that will actually increase costs more, Pratt claimed in a post on X.

The California Energy Commission unanimously approved new rules Monday that will phase out the sale of replacement tires that don’t meet the state’s energy-efficiency standards — potentially wiping out 70% of the tires currently available to California drivers.

The rules target a tire’s “rolling resistance,” or how much energy it takes to keep a tire moving down the road. Lower resistance means cars use less gas or electricity from better mileage, which Democrats claimed will help affordability.

“Look at the gas prices everyone’s experiencing,” Commissioner Nancy Skinner told KCRA. “If we can bring each Californian’s gas cost down just a little bit, then why wouldn’t we?”

Democrats like Gov. Gavin Newsom even trumpeted estimates that the new rules would save drivers $1 billion a year, with his office declaring that “MAGA hates to see it.”


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https://thehill.com/homenews/education/6035255-doj-investigates-william-mary-scholarships/

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched a civil rights investigation into the College of William & Mary over scholarships and student programs that the department alleges favor certain students based on race and ethnicity.

The department’s Civil Rights Division announced the investigation Monday, saying it will examine whether the Virginia-based public university is violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits schools receiving federal funding from discriminating based on race, color or national origin.

While William & Mary’s scholarship for first-year students that covers at least the full cost of in-state tuition is not for a specific race, the department claims the university gives “top consideration” to applicants with “diverse people and perspectives.”

In a letter to the university sent Monday, the department also highlighted several programs at William & Mary, including at its School of Education.

One was the Martha L. Muguira Fellowship, which it says prefers Hispanic or Latino women, while the Holmes Scholars Program provides mentorship and other opportunities aimed at developing “future education leaders of color.”