Former Israeli soldiers posed as pro-Palestinian supporters at various locations across New York City to deceive people into engaging with them before promoting Israel’s position. The demonstrations were organised by Frontline Advocates, a pro-Israel nonprofit that collaborates with the Israeli government.
Published On 30 Aug 202630 Aug 2026
Share
The Federal Communications Commission under Trump has tried to target news outlets for spreading ‘fake’ news.
Published On 30 Aug 202630 Aug 2026
United States President Donald Trump says he will report a prominent NBC television journalist to the federal agency in charge of regulating broadcast news outlets for “rebuke or punishment”.
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump took issue with Kristen Welker’s characterisation of his endorsements of electoral candidates as having “mixed results” in the primaries leading up to November’s elections.
list of 3 itemsend of list
“How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given public airwaves?” Trump wrote. He also posted, without any attribution of where he got the data, a chart showing 98 percent of the candidates he endorsed had won their elections.
“Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC,” the Federal Communications Commission, he said.
Welker hosted the 2020 presidential election debate between Trump and former President Joe Biden and currently hosts NBC’s weekly news programme Meet the Press.
In June, Welker had a one-on-one interview with Trump that ended in a heated exchange as she pressed the Republican president on continuing to claim the Democratic Party had cheated in the 2020 presidential election, in which Biden defeated Trump.
“Your elections are crooked, and you’re crooked, and Meet the Press is crooked and so is ABC and CBS and CNN. You’re one-sided crooked networks,” Trump said shortly before pulling off his microphone and leaving the interview.
Trump, who has long had a tumultuous relationship with those US television news networks, has increasingly threatened to use the FCC to target what he says is false news.
This month, ABC News’s owner, Disney, sued the FCC, saying the agency was conducting an early licence review of eight of the network’s stations, a move that it said was “retaliation” against it. ABC said the FCC was seeking “a media industry too fearful of official reprisal to report the news freely”.
The review followed a row between the network and the FCC after Trump and his wife Melania called on it to fire late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke he had made about her.
President Trump has also filed several multibillion-dollar civil lawsuits against news outlets alleging defamation. Last year, he filed a $10bn lawsuit against the BBC, which he said unfairly edited a clip of him speaking just before his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, to make it seem like he had called for violence.
Trump sued The New York Times for $15bn and The Wall Street Journal for $10bn, alleging defamation over reporting on issues such as how he amassed his wealth and his relationship to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. A judge threw out the case against The Wall Street Journal. Trump refiled the case against The New York Times after a judge dismissed the first complaint against the newspaper last year.
The warning from Trump also comes as his administration has taken the rare step of using the courts to try to pressure journalists into giving up confidential sources for stories that have pointed out wrongdoing.
This month, The New York Times said agents from the FBI showed up at the home of one of its reporters in February to deliver a subpoena seeking cooperation for an investigation into a story that revealed how a secret US Navy SEALs mission in North Korea had ended up with them opening fire on a North Korean boat.
In July, the US Department of Justice also tried to subpoena three other journalists from the newspaper after they reported on security concerns with the president’s new Air Force One jet. Investigators were seeking phone records of the journalists but withdrew the requests after a federal judge upbraided the tactic in court, saying they were violating the First Amendment, a provision in the US Constitution that protects freedom of the press.
Reporters at The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post have also been subpoenaed in recent months for national security coverage, including for reporting on internal Pentagon warnings about the US-Israel war on Iran.
News media freedom groups like the Committee to Protect Journalists have criticised the Trump administration for targeting critical media. In April, the group Reporters Sans Frontieres, or Reporters Without Borders, said the US has fallen to a “historic low” in its annual global press freedom rankings, dropping from 57th in the world to 64th.
In 1995, issue 34 of Revista Bigott, a Venezuelan publication dedicated to anthropology and popular culture, discussed a resurgence of national sentiment after the 1992 coup attempts. One of its articles argued that a certain “llanero emboldening” of the coup leader, his decision to assume responsibility for what had happened, and the evocation of Simón Bolívar and the tricolor armband had restored appeal to a deeply rooted idea of national identity. The government at the time tried to capitalize on this momentum to save the system, which, in light of what happened afterward, also amounted to saving democracy. But the country was already exhausted. It was burdened by the discrediting of political parties, the hangover from the “Saudi Venezuela” era, the depression that followed the 1983 devaluation known as Black Friday, widespread corruption, low oil prices, and an institutional framework that failed to modernize.
As the reader knows, Hugo Chávez ended up winning the election in 1998, and the joropo, the flags, and the constant singing of the national anthem were reborn, transcending the political debate. Everything then became known as Bolivarian, from the schools to the republic itself. Each campaign was presented as a patriotic epic, a battle, or a slogan borrowed from popular sayings. But with Chávez, the national identity was fractured. The country, the idea of nationhood, and its symbols were hijacked. They belonged solely to his supporters. Just as an attempt was made to create a parallel institutional framework, something similar happened with the symbols: two flags, two coats of arms, and two ways of referring to everything. While the struggle against U.S. imperialism was presented as a heroic feat, the country was mortgaged to other powers and groups in exchange for political favors. Sovereignty was lost, both in terms of territory and the capacity to maintain a functional State serving its citizens.
These parallel structures (one crumbling, the other with feet of clay but relentless in its repression) blurred the boundaries of the republic. The country drowned in corruption and the disappearance of its shared identities. What could it defend? What could a country that expelled millions of its inhabitants and squandered its demographic dividend sound, smell, or taste like? Amid political violence, insecurity, and abuses, the economy shrank by more than half and came to be governed by the law of the strongest or the most connected, while individualism intensified. The country and its virtues became a source of nostalgia for better times or a promise of an uncertain future. The present, meanwhile, faded with bitterness.
Chavismo, in its eagerness to cling to power, also hijacked popular sovereignty. The excuse was that, although the opposition represented the majority, it should not be recognized because it was subservient and unpatriotic. After the theft of the 2024 elections and the US intervention of January 3, it became clear that the only sovereignty that truly matters to Chavismo is that which guarantees its own survival.
With the country dismantled, its people divided, and mired in neglect and impoverishment, Venezuela became the perfect prey for whoever is currently in power. One conclusion emerges from the “mega-agreement” announced by US President Donald Trump and vaguely explained by Delcy Rodríguez: details do matter. As presented, it appears to be a cruel and sad surrender of sovereignty, decided in the dead of night, like so many of the measures announced in recent decades.
The winner and his tyrant take everything—resources and concessions—as if it were a contemporary version of the handover of the Congo to Leopold II. A forced and macabre gift.
But having access to reserves is one thing; knowing how those barrels will be extracted is quite another. The question is what guarantees investors will have and, above all, what the country will receive in return.
Between what has been announced and its implementation, a vast gap still exists, marked by illegalities and profound incompetence. There is also the risk that Venezuela will continue to replicate the “bolichicos” model, increasingly similar to that of Russia in the late 1990s: a small class of millionaires facing a country mired in impoverishment.
It will be up to oil experts and economists to study the implications of what has been announced, and to historians to review the precedents of similar agreements: the Rojas-Pereire Protocol of 1879, the concessions granted under Gómez, the Rockefeller Plan, or the concessions granted by the Pérez Jiménez dictatorship in 1956. For now, all we know is that the US administration is determined to embody everything its harshest critics have always held against it. Chavismo, for its part, is determined to become everything it claimed the opposition would be, whose rise to power it said it would prevent to “protect” Venezuela, even at the cost of violating human rights and disregarding popular sovereignty.
The situation compels us to reach agreements as a society, promote genuine democratization, and reclaim our sovereignty, understood as the collective exercise of autonomy and freedoms. If we fail to do so, we will remain subject to the circumstances and interests of others, instead of acting in accordance with our own interests.
The outlook is not promising, but two questions remain: What future validity will any agreement signed with the regime currently governing Venezuela have? And what will the state of the planet be when Trump’s term ends on January 20, 2029?
The United States has said it will cut off the UAE operations of Banque Misr from the US financial system after accusing Egypt’s second-biggest bank of doing business with the Iranian government.
“ Treasury promised to sever every economic lifeline Tehran has left and finally end the threat of the Iranian regime,” US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement on Friday.
list of 3 itemsend of list
“We also warned that Iran’s enablers cannot continue to enjoy access to the US dollar and the global financial system. Banque Misr UAE decided to find out the hard way, and today, we are taking the first step in holding it accountable for its continued, egregious support of the Iranian regime,” he said.
Banque Misr said on Saturday that it was reviewing the US Treasury’s notice.
The move, announced on Friday, comes as Washington has stepped up its efforts to economically pressure Iran, dubbed Operation Economic Outcast, amid the deadlocked truce talks.
Last week, the US Treasury also imposed new sanctions on nearly 60 individuals and entities, targeting networks accused by Washington of helping Iran generate oil revenue, procure weapons and conduct cyber operations.
Iran has, however, rejected the latest US sanctions, with Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh saying they will fail.
So, what exactly is this financial limit on Banque Misr? How will it work?
Here’s what we know:
On Friday, the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed a rule that would revoke Banque Misr UAE’s correspondent banking access to US financial institutions.
This means that only the UAE branches of Egypt’s second-largest bank will be unable to carry out transactions in dollars and will lose access to the US financial market.
In a statement on Friday, the Treasury said that Banque Misr UAE is a critical node for the Iranian regime’s access to US dollars. It added that it estimates that “between January 2024 and June 2026, Banque Misr UAE processed approximately $1.8bn for 103 companies that are potentially part of Iranian shadow banking networks”.
The treasury added that in order to generate revenue abroad, Iran relies “on multi-jurisdictional shadow banking networks that provide key access to US dollar correspondent banking relationships”.
Banque Misr UAE’s customers include “front companies used by Iran’s Ministry of Defence and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to evade US sanctions, as well as to launder money on behalf of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei,” the Treasury said.
The US government’s proposed punishment is expected to come into effect in 30 days after a public comment period, and will not impact any other branches of the bank.
On Saturday, the bank said in a statement that it was reviewing the US Treasury notice.
It said the new “regulatory measures (by the US) are subject to an official period for receiving and studying comments before a final decision is made regarding them.” The bank added that it “is dealing with these measures and the data and estimates they contain with the utmost seriousness and attention, and is studying them thoroughly.”
The bank announced that it will also contact the US Treasury Department for further information and until then, said its branch in the UAE continues to provide banking services to its customers in accordance with the applicable rules and procedures.
Earlier, on Friday, the Central Bank of Egypt said that, together with Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was in contact with US authorities on Banque Misr’s UAE branches.
“The CBE (Central Bank of Egypt) affirms that this measure is limited to Banque Misr UAE’s USD transactions with correspondent banks only. It does not affect any other bank within the Egyptian banking sector, including Banque Misr’s operations in Egypt or any of its other overseas branches,” it highlighted.
The UAE’s banking authorities have said they have launched an investigation into Banque Misr’s operations there.
The UAE central bank said in a statement on Sunday that it had decided to conduct a “special and urgent examination” of Banque Misr’s branches in the country, including “a forensic/in-depth lookback covering the period referred to in the statement issued by the US authorities”.
“The Central Bank expects banks licensed in the UAE not to expose the UAE’s financial system to reputational risks, to respect the laws and regulations of the countries whose financial institutions are used in conducting transactions and not to misuse the advanced financial infrastructure of the UAE,” it added in a statement.
Besides Banque Misr, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Reza Mohammad Taeedi, the general manager of the Dubai branch of Iran’s Bank Melli, under a counterterrorism authority.
“Bank Melli has facilitated billions of dollars’ worth of transactions through accounts controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force (IRGC-QF). It has allowed the IRGC-QF and its parent organisation, the IRGC, to move funds inside and outside of Iran. The IRGC-QF’s accounts at Bank Melli have also been used to fund Iranian-aligned proxies and partners, including in Iraq,” the Treasury department said in a statement.
Simultaneously, another Treasury department statement said that OFAC has also sanctioned Hong Kong-based Kameng Trading Limited, which allegedly “aided sanctioned Iranian persons in accessing the international financial system.”
“Sanctioned Iranian exchange house Pedram Pirouzan Exchange House, also known as Opal Exchange, has used Kameng Trading Limited to launder money for Iran,” the Treasury Department said.
Ahead of Friday’s sanctions, on Monday August 24 , the United States announced sanctions on Iran and various global entities doing business with the country, in what officials called an “economic D-Day” and officially dubbed “Operation Economic Outcast” in an effort to isolate Tehran.
At least 60 entities across the Middle East, Asia and Europe have been targeted in the latest sanctions as part of the economic pressure campaign that could further disrupt energy markets and rattle the global economy.
Nearly six months into its war on Iran, the US is seeing little impact from its military operations.
The long-term implications of the war, analysts say, have pushed the Trump administration to try economic sanctions, but these are unlikely to compel Iran into meeting the demands.
“The United States is returning to economic pressure because military force has failed to deliver the quick victory it expected,” Negar Mortazavi, senior fellow at the US-based Center for International Policy, told Al Jazeera last week.
“The ‘economic D-Day’ declaration underscores the war’s failure so far to force Iran’s surrender or achieve Washington’s political objectives.”
Iran has rejected the sanctions.
Last week, Iranian government spokeswoman, Fatemeh Mohajerani, said the government and President Masoud Pezeshkian will guide Iran through these developments.
“The government and the president, with wisdom and resolve, will guide the country through this phase as well. We do not deny the economic hardships; but with sound judgment and by preserving unity, as in days past, we will pass through this intense gauntlet,” she posted on X.
Sardar Mohebi, an IRGC spokesperson, said the US resorting to economic warfare against Iran is itself proof of its defeat on the battlefield.
Ali Akbar Dareini, a researcher at the Centre for Strategic Studies in Tehran, said Iran is so accustomed to sanctions that it will not be hindered too greatly by the new list the US announced.
“[Iran] has a PhD in circumventing sanctions, so Iran is absolutely sure that it will emerge victorious and the US once again will fail in its efforts to suffocate Iran,” Dareini told Al Jazeera last week.
“The goal of the sanctions is to bring about an economic collapse and cause riots in Iran, but this is based on a big, massive miscalculation like America’s military war of aggression against Iran on February 28 that failed.”
Yair Netanyahu, a podcaster and right-wing activist, had been living in the US for several years prior to his departure.
Published On 30 Aug 202630 Aug 2026
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s eldest son was flown back to Israel from the United States after a threat to his life, according to Israel’s domestic intelligence agency.
The Shin Bet said in a statement on Saturday evening that, “there was a significant threat to harm Yair Netanyahu, and in light of this and after an assessment, a decision was made to urgently evacuate him along with his security team and return him to Israel”.
list of 3 itemsend of list
The agency did not specify the source of the threat.
US broadcaster Newsmax reported earlier this week that Yair Netanyahu was the target of an alleged Iranian assassination plot last December, while he was living in Florida.
Israeli intelligence informed US authorities after it had learned of the alleged plot, the broadcaster reported, citing a US law enforcement official.
The report surfaced after Benjamin Netanyahu told Israel’s Channel 14 that “Iran targeted one of my sons. Iran tried to kill, to murder one of my sons”.
Yair Netanyahu, who was constantly accompanied by an Israeli security team, was ordered to leave the area immediately, Newsmax reported. He left without taking his personal belongings and returned directly to Israel.
Netanyahu’s eldest son has lived in Florida for several years, where his “reportedly luxurious lifestyle and the state-funded security provided to him repeatedly drew public attention in Israel”, reported The Times of Israel.
His continued residency in the US after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel provoked criticism from many Israelis. They questioned the double standard of Netanyahu’s son remaining overseas while hundreds of thousands of Israeli reservists were called up, the Israeli newspaper reported.
The right-wing activist and podcaster is active on social media, frequently commenting on Israeli politics and attacking his father’s political opponents, government critics and journalists.
Six months into the war on Iran, the largest US oil companies have posted their biggest profits since 2022, selling less oil at far higher prices. But the conflict is also putting their longstanding Gulf investments at risk, exposing the industry’s uneasy balance between wartime gains and mounting geopolitical vulnerability for investors worldwide.
Since the war began on February 28, Brent crude has risen about 22 percent, from $72 to $88 a barrel.
The Strait of Hormuz – through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas was shipped before the war – remains largely closed to commercial traffic, though Iran and Oman agreed last week on a temporary maritime route. Iran says the strait will not fully reopen until the United States fulfils its commitments under a lapsed interim peace deal, leaving longer-term security and management arrangements unresolved.
In the absence of a lasting resolution, the disruption is likely to continue supporting higher energy prices and creating windfalls for producers, despite placing energy companies’ regional assets and future projects at greater risk.
Rahul Choudhary, vice president of Upstream Research at Rystad Energy, an independent energy research company, said the conflict has already reduced the amount of oil and gas US energy firms are drawing from the Gulf region.
“Overall we expect US companies’ share of gas supplies [from the region] to fall by around 40 percent this year compared to last year [and] the share of oil supplies to drop by 30-35 percent,” he told Al Jazeera.
While higher commodity prices have helped offset the immediate financial impact, Choudhary said prolonged disruption is likely to delay major projects and weigh on the future growth plans of US oil and gas companies with a presence in the region.
The surge in the oil price since early March, when Iran first closed the Strait of Hormuz, has delivered a windfall for oil companies, but gains have been tempered by challenges in the Gulf.
Chevron has limited exposure to Arab Gulf supply disruptions, with the region accounting for just 5 percent of its total global output. The group reported its highest quarterly profit in six years of $12bn in adjusted earnings on July 31.
ExxonMobil, by contrast, has been far more exposed to disruption in the Middle East, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian attacks on US-linked infrastructure in the region affecting its operations in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which together account for 20 percent of its global equity upstream supply, according to Choudhary.
“We already saw in H1 [the first half of] 2026, the company’s upstream earnings dropped by around $1.3bn compared to H1 2025, due to lower upstream volumes from the Middle East. However, the shortfall was covered well by higher commodity prices,” Choudhary said.
The contrast highlights a broader divide between those US energy companies which have benefitted from tighter global supply – and the corresponding rise in the oil price – and those with assets, partnerships or operations in the Gulf at greater risk of disruption caused by recent attacks on energy facilities.
The Gulf’s energy sector is dominated by state-owned giants such as Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and QatarEnergy.
Although these national oil and gas companies retain control over the region’s reserves and core infrastructure, US energy firms have carved out strategic positions across the region.
US companies generate revenue through stakes in production assets, joint ventures, production agreements, refining and petrochemical projects, as well as through long-term contracts to provide equipment, engineering and operational expertise.
ExxonMobil has some of the largest US commercial interests in the Gulf.
The company has been a major partner in Qatar’s LNG sector for decades, holding stakes in several QatarEnergy LNG joint ventures linked to the expansion of the North Field. The field is the Qatari section of the North Field-South Pars structure, the world’s largest natural gas field, which Qatar shares with Iran, where it is known as South Pars. ExxonMobil also holds an interest in the UAE’s Upper Zakum offshore oilfield alongside ADNOC.
Similarly, ConocoPhillips joined the North Field East (NFE) and North Field South (NFS) expansion projects with QatarEnergy in 2022 to increase export capacity at Ras Laffan.
The US group, Occidental Petroleum, has become one of the largest foreign producers in Oman, operating the Mukhaizna heavy oilfield, the country’s biggest producing oilfield. It also holds interests in UAE gas and pipeline projects.
Chevron maintains a smaller but strategically important Gulf footprint. Through Saudi Arabian Chevron, the company operates oil assets in the Saudi-Kuwait Partitioned Zone, including the Wafra field. In July, it said it was exploring potential routes to move Iraqi crude to Mediterranean export terminals, which could reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), a US-registered independent conflict monitor, Iran and Iran-backed groups in the region have carried out at least 172 attacks on nonmilitary infrastructure across the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries since the US and Israel launched their war on February 28.
Energy infrastructure has been hit hardest, with oil and gas facilities, along with power plants and desalination plants, accounting for nearly half (48 percent) of all strikes on nonmilitary targets.
The UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain have suffered the highest number of successful strikes, with the majority aimed at oil and gas facilities.
Among the sites that have been struck are Kuwait’s Mina Abdullah and Mina al-Ahmadi refineries, the Bahrain Petroleum Company oil refinery, and ADNOC’s al-Ruwais Industrial City and the Habshan gas complex.
There have also been several strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities, most recently a drone strike on July 27 on the Abqaiq processing complex, one of the most critical nodes in Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure, processing more than seven million barrels of oil per day.
Nasser Khdour, Middle East assistant research manager at ACLED, said: “Oil and gas facilities, power plants and water desalination plants are likely to remain key targets for Iran because disruption to these sectors can increase economic pressure on Gulf states, while disruption to global energy supplies increases prices and pressure on the US during periods of escalation.”
In March, a drone attack close to the Saudi Aramco-ExxonMobil SAMREF refinery in Yanbu disrupted oil loading at the city’s Red Sea port. While the attack had only minimal operational impact, it highlighted the vulnerability of US-linked energy assets in the region.
Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world’s largest LNG export hub, which hosts major joint ventures between QatarEnergy, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, also came under repeated attack in March, at one point forcing the plant to halt production entirely. In June, an explosion as a result of a “technical malfunction” on Qatar’s Barzan gas project, where ExxonMobil holds a stake, killed at least 13 people.
“In terms of gas assets being impacted, major blows have been [dealt to] companies [that are] part of LNG projects in Qatar: ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips,” Choudhary said.
He added that ExxonMobil’s share of LNG supply from Qatar is expected to fall significantly this year to about four million tonnes compared with 13 million tonnes last year, while ConocoPhillips has also experienced reduced volumes to one million tonnes this year compared with 2.5 million tonnes last year.
The attacks on Qatar’s LNG infrastructure could have longer-term consequences. Damage to LNG trains at Ras Laffan could take years to repair, according to QatarEnergy, while delays to Qatar’s North Field expansion projects could push back planned supply growth.
“The attack on LNG trains 4 and 6 at Rasgas damaged roughly 13 million tonnes of capacity, which will take anywhere between three to five years to come back online with a total repair cost estimate of around $3bn,” said Choudhary.
He added that the second most impacted gas project has been the Shah gas project in the UAE, in which Occidental Petroleum has a 40-percent stake and where drone attacks in March caused a fire at the gas plant that halted operations.
The conflict has also affected ExxonMobil’s oil interests in the UAE, Choudhary said. Production from Upper Zakum, where ExxonMobil has a 28 percent stake, was reduced between March and May when export routes were disrupted, limiting the ability to move offshore crude.
Beyond the UAE, the most significant impact on US companies’ oilfield operations played out in Iraq. A drone attack hit the Sarsang oilfield in March, followed by an explosion at one of its storage facilities in April, together causing damage to the field.
Looking ahead, Choudhary said higher prices could support cash flows, but prolonged conflict risks could threaten future growth. ExxonMobil’s $10bn Upper Zakum and Qatar LNG expansions could face delays, while ConocoPhillips remains exposed through investments in higher-risk markets, including its planned 42-percent stake in BP’s Kirkuk operations in Iraq.
“For companies like Chevron and Occidental Petroleum, whose presence are in less volatile countries like Israel and Oman respectively, the impact of escalations will not be as severe, as we have not seen significant disruption in these countries,” said Choudhary.
Oilfield service giants, including US firms SLB (formerly Schlumberger), Halliburton and Baker Hughes, provide drilling technologies, equipment and operational expertise across the Gulf, supporting Saudi Aramco, ADNOC and QatarEnergy.
For oilfield service companies, the outlook is mixed, according to Chinmayi Teggi, energy research analyst at Rystad Energy, a research group. While higher oil prices and energy security concerns could lift demand over time, near-term margins remain under pressure from higher logistical costs, supply-chain disruptions and delayed projects.
“For the Big Three (SLB, Baker Hughes and Halliburton), the conflict continues to weigh on regional revenues,” Teggi told Al Jazeera, adding that second-quarter Middle East revenues were down 8-10 percent compared with the previous year across the three companies, while higher oil prices meant revenues were higher in other geographies.
However, a recovery in suspended operations and production could help drive growth into 2027.
For US companies, therefore, the Gulf remains both an opportunity and a risk.
“The impact on US companies will depend on the extent of exposure and countries in which these companies are present,” Choudhary said.
Their investments have secured US access to some of the world’s most important oil and LNG projects, but the conflict has exposed the risk of operating in a region where energy infrastructure has become increasingly vulnerable to geopolitical conflict.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned Iran against restricting access to the Strait of Hormuz, arguing that the waterway must remain open to global commerce.
But for companies with billions of dollars invested across the Gulf, the challenge isn’t just about keeping shipments moving – it is ensuring the infrastructure remains secure, they say.
Footage shows an Arkansas state patrol officer pulling a passenger by his hair and punching him during an arrest following a high-speed police chase. The man was charged with resisting arrest and obstructing governmental operations.
Published On 30 Aug 202630 Aug 2026
Share
Afghan national granted protection in the US is one of dozens of people deported to the war-torn Central African Republic.
Published On 30 Aug 202630 Aug 2026
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has deported dozens of people to the Central African Republic, including an Afghan whose family members collaborated with the US military, his lawyer and advocacy groups said.
The Afghan man, who is in his early 20s, was granted protection against deportation to Afghanistan by a US judge due to fears of persecution by the Taliban, his lawyer, Alma David, said.
list of 3 itemsend of list
Advocacy organisations AfghanEvac, a US-based group that assists Afghan allies, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Human Rights First also confirmed his deportation.
His family in Afghanistan had received threats from the Taliban, which governs the country, because of his brothers’ involvement in supporting the US military, according to court documents seen by The Associated Press news agency.
One of the Afghan man’s brothers lives in the US and served in the Afghan National Army, which collaborated with the US military before the Taliban seized power in 2021, David said.
Another brother was a pilot trained by the US and later killed by the Taliban, she added.
According to The New York Times, which identified the Afghan man only as Khalil, his sister and father also worked alongside US forces.
The deportation flight landed in the Central African Republic’s capital, Bangui, on Saturday, carrying 12 Afghans and eight Iranians, as well as several people from Nepal and Nicaragua, said Savi Arvey, director of policy, refugee and immigrant rights at Human Rights First.
It was the third deportation flight from the US to the Central African Republic this year, according to the rights organisation.
Under a series of often quietly struck agreements, the Trump administration has sent thousands of people to third countries where they have no ties as it pushes ahead with an immigration crackdown.
The latest US State Department Travel Advisory warns citizens not to travel to the African country for any reason, citing risks of unrest, crime, kidnapping, health, and “terrorism”.
The social media personality had been detained by immigration agents at an airport in New Orleans earlier in the week.
Published On 29 Aug 202629 Aug 2026
Milo Yiannopoulos, a far-right provocateur who feuded with other right-wing content creators, has been deported to the United Kingdom, according to authorities in the United States.
On Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed Yiannopoulos’s removal a day earlier.
list of 3 itemsend of list
“He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws,” the department posted on social media, in announcing Yiannopoulos’s arrest.
According to the department’s statement, Yiannopoulos was apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while travelling through the Louis Armstrong New Orleans international airport in Louisiana on Thursday.
He entered the country through New York City in May 2019. After Yiannopoulos missed an immigration hearing earlier this year, a judge issued a final order for his removal on July 22.
In announcing Yiannopoulos’s detention on Friday, the DHS encouraged noncitizens who overstayed their visas to self-deport.
“We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream,” the department wrote. “If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”
Yiannopoulos has not publicly weighed in on his deportation, with his usually active social media account on X staying silent since his detention.
But Yiannopoulos had formerly been an outspoken supporter of US President Donald Trump and the mass deportation campaign the Republican leader had pledged to undertake during his second term.
“Zero immigration for the next 20 years. No ifs, no buts,” Yiannopoulos wrote in a social media post last year.
Known for his attacks on feminism, immigrants and Muslims, Yiannopoulos is believed to have been in New Orleans this week as part of his work with musician Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.
Far-right activist and Islamophobe Laura Loomer, a Trump ally, has celebrated Yiannopoulos’s removal after calling for his deportation.
She has often used her social media platform to call on the Trump administration to take action against specific individuals. Loomer and Yiannopoulos have been feuding for years.
“Milo is going to be deported back to the UK where he can live among the Muslims he has recently chosen to embrace,” Loomer said in a social media post on Friday. “Today is a great day for America.”
Loomer also called for leftist streamer Hasan Piker, who has been critical of Israel, to be deported as well. Piker, however, is a US citizen.
“DEPORT HASAN PIKER AND HIS TURKISH MOM NEXT!” she wrote.
The US has revoked an award-winning former Iraqi finance minister’s visa after the FBI placed her on a ‘terrorism watchlist’. The move comes four years after Washington honoured Taif Sami Mohammed al-Shakarchi for her work fighting corruption.
Published On 29 Aug 202629 Aug 2026
Share
Thousands of people marched on Washington DC, invoking Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy on the 63rd anniversary of his ‘I have a dream’ speech, warning that voting rights and other civil liberties are under threat.
Published On 29 Aug 202629 Aug 2026
Share
US President Donald Trump has claimed the US and Venezuela have reached the ‘biggest oil deal in world history’, which will give the US control over 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil. Critics say it’s predatory. Soraya Lennie explains what we know.
Published On 29 Aug 202629 Aug 2026
Share
US president says deal secures majority US control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela.
Published On 29 Aug 202629 Aug 2026
The United States has struck a deal with Caracas that would give them control of some 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven oil reserves, President Donald Trump has announced, while reviving the OPEC nation’s battered energy industry.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the “historic transaction more than doubles American oil reserves” and “will substantially lower gas prices for all Americans”.
list of 3 itemsend of list
“At my direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, working closely with Highly Respected Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, and, through a partnership with private business, have secured majority US control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American Taxpayer,” Trump wrote.
![Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez, Caracas, Venezuela, January 30, 2026 [Efrain Gonzalez/AFP]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/AFP__20260131__94MV49Z__v1__HighRes__VenezuelaUsConflictCrisis-1-1769837471.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez welcomed the deal, which is expected to bring about $209bn to the state’s treasury.
The announcement followed weeks of negotiations over an agreement that would give American companies long-term access to a group of Venezuelan oilfields and guarantee the resulting crude supply to the US.
Venezuelan officials are preparing to sign agreements next week granting new oil exploration and production rights to a number of companies, particularly US firms.
Sources previously told Reuters news agency that a lease model was under consideration, with fields potentially auctioned to US producers, but the arrangement could face legal and constitutional challenges in Venezuela, where the state retains control over core oil industry activities.
The new deal would represent a dramatic expansion of Washington’s role in Venezuela’s oil industry as the Trump administration seeks to revive the country’s production and secure more crude for US refineries. Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but produces only 1.25 million barrels per day, far below its potential after years of underinvestment, mismanagement and sanctions.
Trump did not disclose the structure of the agreement, the fields or companies involved, nor how the US would exercise majority control over the reserves.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the agreement as a win for both countries, saying on X that it would secure stable, low-cost oil for the US and help lower petrol prices.
For Venezuela, Rubio said the deal would bring nearly $100bn in private investment, support thousands of high-paying jobs and help rebuild the country’s economy.
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday said the U.S. has entered an agreement with Venezuela to take control of 65 billion barrels of the South American country’s oil reserves.
Trump in a social media post announced the agreement he said was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez.
“The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!” Trump wrote.
The Venezuelan government’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The announcement of the deal comes nearly nine months after the U.S. military at Trump’s direction carried out an operation to capture Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro and spirit him to the United States to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges.
Trump faces mounting pressure to address high gas prices as the war in Iran on Friday reached a six-month milestone with no conclusion in sight. The U.S. has tapped its strategic petroleum reserves, which in early August fell below 300 million barrels, down by more than 100 million barrels since the start of 2026.
The U.S.-Israel war against Iran has led to a dramatic slowdown of Gulf oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz, which about 20% of the world petroleum passed through prior to the conflict.
The average price of gas in the U.S. stood at about $4.09 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA. The average price was $3.21 at the same time last year.
Trump in his social media post Friday evening alluded to the Venezuela deal being part of a private partnership. The White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment about the private sector partners involved in the deal, and details on how the arrangement would work were not provided.
Persuading big American oil companies to return the region could face headwinds given and decades of badly damaged infrastructure.
Days after the ouster of Maduro, Trump gathered oil executives at the White House and called on them to rush back into Venezuela. Executives expressed interest in the opportunity but there was also a measure of caution given their past experience in the country.
Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company, said at that moment he saw the country as “un-investable.”
But Trump has insisted that his administration has brought a measure of stability to Venezuela.
He has argued that Venezuela stole U.S. oil when former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s moved decades ago to nationalize hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those owned by American oil companies.
Rodríguez, in one of her early moves after taking power, signed a law that opens the nation’s oil sector to privatization and reversed a bedrock tenet of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that had ruled the country for more than two decades.
Rubio said on X that the agreement would usher in $100 billion in private investment into Venezuela and lead to lower gas prices in the United States.
“This deal is a huge win for both the American and Venezuelan people,” Rubio posted.
Venezuela has one of the largest oil reserves in the world, with an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude oil in the ground. That’s about 17% of the world’s supply, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Madhani and Binkley write for the Associated Press. Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas contributed to this report.
An ICE official tells Al Jazeera the British political commentator overstayed his visit in the US and will be removed.
Published On 28 Aug 202628 Aug 2026
Milo Yiannopoulos, a far-right British commentator known for previously being a vocal supporter of United States President Donald Trump, has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
A spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security told Al Jazeera that Yiannopoulos was taken into custody at the Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Thursday.
list of 3 itemsend of list
He allegedly overstayed his legal authorisation to remain in the US after entering the country through New York City on May 14, 2019.
“Yiannopoulos was issued a final order of removal by an Immigration Judge on July 22, after failing to show up for his immigration hearing,” the spokesperson wrote on Friday. “He will remain in ICE custody pending removal.”
The Department of Homeland Security also posted a photo to social media that appeared to be a mugshot of the 41-year-old conservative firebrand who, in June 2025, called on the Trump administration to “deport millions and millions and millions of people”.
In the post, the department warned that those detained for overstaying their visit would be “arrested and deported without a chance to return”.
![Milo Yiannopoulos is seen in a photo posted to social media by the United States Department of Homeland Security on Friday [File: DHS]](https://i0.wp.com/occasionaldigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/HQ1aa0bW4AAMjfi-1787951756.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
Online records do not specify which ICE detention facility is currently holding Yiannopoulos. Instead, it refers “family members and legal representatives” to contact the ICE field office in Alexandria, Louisiana, for additional details.
Reports indicate Yiannopoulos was in New Orleans for a concert by the musician Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. TMZ was the first to report Yiannopoulos’s detainment.
Laura Loomer, a top Trump ally known for spreading conspiracy theories, appeared to take credit for Yiannopoulos’s detainment, calling it a “great day for America”.
She also denounced Yiannopoulos’s work with former US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump supporter-turned-critic.
“I was the first person to report on the fact that Milo was in the US illegally where he incited violence against President Trump and worked for Marjorie Traitor Greene,” Loomer wrote on the social media platform X. “When Milo called for me to be assassinated, I reported him to ICE and FBI.”
Loomer has publicly sparred with Yiannopoulos for years. He previously exposed what he purported to be Loomer’s mental health struggles in a September 2024 post, claiming she had been involuntarily committed to psychiatric facilities.
Yiannopoulos, known for his online trolling and anti-Islamic postings, was permanently banned by X’s predecessor, Twitter, in July 2016. His account was reinstated when Elon Musk took over the company.
After that, Yiannopoulos returned to the platform with a series of inflammatory posts, including one that called the “Muslim world functionally retarded”.
More recently, the 41-year-old founded a Los Angeles-based talent management called Tarantula that offers, in its own words, “unrivalled connections, capital and expertise” to a host of celebrities and public figures.
The site lists a number of controversial “past and present” clients like Trump, Ye, convicted fraudster “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli and rapper Azealia Banks.
It has been six months since February 28, when the US and Israel shocked the world by launching missile strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior Iranian officials in Tehran, as well as scores of children in a school in Minab, southern Iran.
US President Donald Trump then claimed the conflict would only last “four to five weeks”.
list of 3 itemsend of list
In the months since, the war has erupted on several other fronts, reaching as far as the Caspian Sea. It has triggered a global oil supply crisis as the US and Iran battle for control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which more than one-fifth of oil and natural gas cargo transited.
And it has resulted in an estimated 8,000-10,000 deaths, as well as tens of thousands of injuries.
The conflict is also realigning the global order, experts say, as new alliances form and dominant ones show signs of crumbling.
Here’s what we know:
The US’s goals were not initially clear: officials first claimed the strikes were carried out in preemptive self-defence.
According to demands presented on the eve of the war, and a jumble of sometimes contradictory statements from Trump and senior US defence officials, they include the following:
Despite Trump’s claim that the US had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities when it joined in at the end of Israel’s 12-day war on Iran in June 2025, the US and Israel again claimed in February that Tehran was just weeks away from developing nuclear weapons.
Repeated strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites during the war have likely caused vast damage to the facilities, but it is believed Tehran still possesses 440kg of highly enriched uranium, which could be used to make a weapon.
The Trump administration wanted Iran to hand over this stock to the US and to commit to zero enrichment of uranium going forward. Iran refused to do this, although at one point appeared open to the possibility of handing the stock over to a third country. Iran also insisted on retaining the capacity to develop a nuclear power programme, which requires much lower levels of uranium enrichment.
Later, Trump briefly floated the idea of US troops retrieving the stock by force – a potentially dangerous mission.
In the June 17 memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by both sides, Iran agreed not to pursue a nuclear weapon – something it had always pledged anyway. The MoU unravelled as its vague wording led to disagreements about what it actually stipulated.
Clark Summers, a US military veteran and professor at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, said the US “can rightly assert that these ends have been achieved. Although for how long before Iran can rebuild is difficult to assess.”
But Iranian expert and professor at the Australian National University (ANU), Alam Saleh, disagreed, and noted that Iran’s nuclear power programme is still intact. “The US lost even before the war,” he said, adding that the effort also shows that Washington failed in last year’s 12-day war.
On day one of the war – February 28 – the US killed Khamenei alongside several other senior officials. Trump, two days earlier, said regime change is “the best thing that could happen”.
As the US launched missiles, he also called on “Iranian patriots who yearn for freedom to seize this moment to be brave, be bold, be heroic, and take back your country”.
Iran’s political leadership has, however, remained largely the same under the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei – the late ayatollah’s son.
Summers told Al Jazeera that the goal may have been “ad hoc” or improvised rather than well-planned. But “killing leaders does not mean strategic achievements, even if it’s a tactical success,” Saleh said.
Iran’s “axis of resistance” is an umbrella comprising a number of armed groups around the region that it funds. This includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and several smaller groups in Iraq and Syria.
There are no signs that Tehran’s support for them has ended, and this demand did not appear in the MoU signed by the US.
Hezbollah went to war with Israel in Iran’s defence, and Iran has refused to negotiate an end to the war unless the Lebanon front is included. The Houthis, meanwhile, have launched a blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, partly in support of Iran.
Washington swore it would “raze” Iran’s missile facilities to the ground when it launched the war on February 28. The US also pledged to destroy Iran’s navy.
Trump has since claimed that about 82 percent of Iran’s missiles are gone and the navy is degraded.
In April, he also said that 158 Iranian naval vessels had been hit, while US Central Command (CENTCOM) has continued to announce dozens of strikes on command centres of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Iran, however, has continued to fire missiles, most recently launching a long-range missile in July that killed three US soldiers in Jordan.
Furthermore, the demand for an end to Iran’s ballistic missiles programme was also absent from the July MoU.
In June, Trump said the US would seize and control Iran’s Kharg island, the heart of Iranian oil production.
To date, the US does not control any Iranian territory.
Besides the US demands at the start of the war, several other pressure points have emerged during the conflict.
Soon after the war began, Iran in effect closed the narrow but critical Strait of Hormuz, which passes through its territorial waters as well as those of Oman. Since then, shipping traffic has slumped from more than 100 ships per day to an average of about five.
To enforce this closure, Iran began striking vessels in the strait, the only route to the open ocean for Gulf oil and gas producers, which had not gained its explicit permission to pass through.
The US responded with its own naval blockade on Iranian ports in and around the strait. This is continuing.
Despite a large number of expletive-laden demands from Trump since then – many of them on social media – that Tehran reopen the strait, Iran has not budged. It is currently negotiating plans for the future of the waterway, through which more than one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supplies were shipped before the war, with Oman.
As part of these negotiations, Iran announced this week that it has agreed to a shipping route, which it will partially control, with Oman.
While Trump has recently claimed that the US has “full control” of the strait and that it is open to vessels, shipping remains at an all-time low and Iran has continued to fire at any vessels trying to pass without its permission.
Iran sees the strait as its main piece of leverage in the war with the US, which Salah said, Iran views as an “existential threat”.
Observers say there is not.
“Both of them have not achieved anything,” Saleh of ANU said, noting that the US has failed to translate military superiority to actual gains despite being a “superpower” fighting a “middle power”.
China and Russia are likely observing Washington’s weaknesses, making new military calculations in the event of a future conflict with the US, he said. That has implications for Taiwan, especially as the US has now deployed its last aircraft carrier in the Pacific to the Middle East. The shift leaves the US without an aircraft carrier in the Western Pacific, despite Washington’s previous strategic emphasis on the region.
“Iran surviving also does not mean it’s a winner,” however, Saleh said. “This might be a defeat for the US, but it’s not a victory for Iran either.”
The season of Honey Deuce cocktails at Flushing Meadows is upon us as the 2026 US Open main draw gets under way in New York this Sunday.
This year’s fourth and final Grand Slam will feature some of the biggest names in tennis and breakout players on the up and up, although there will also be some notable injured absentees.
list of 4 itemsend of list
The mixed doubles title has already been claimed by Czech pair Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik on Wednesday night after defeating Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic and Italy’s Flavio Cobolli.
Here’s everything you need to know about the US Open main draw:
All the main draw action from August 30 until September 13 is at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, just outside New York City.
The men’s and women’s quarterfinals begin on September 8 , followed by:
Women’s singles semifinals: September 10
Men’s singles semifinals: September 11
Women’s final: September 12
Men’s final: September 13
Women’s singles:
Men’s singles:
No. The 45-year-old Swiss icon categorically ruled out a Williams-esque return.
His brief on-court appearance in New York this week was for primetime exhibition matches ahead of a trip to Newport, Rhode Island to be enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday.
With Sinner out of contention, Alcaraz has a clear shot at his title defence for a third US Open win.
Wimbledon champion and top seed Alexander Zverev will also be looking to carry momentum from his maiden Slam win in June, although the German was knocked out in the fourth round at last week’s Cincinnati Open.
Arthur Fils, seeded 23rd, could be a surprise contender in the final four after the Frenchman defeated American Frances Tiafoe to clinch his maiden Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati last week.
Over on the women’s side, Gauff will look to defeat top-ranked Sabalenka for a repeat of her maiden US Open title in 2023, although the Belarusian will be eyeing a third consecutive win in New York.
That being said, the 28-year-old has faltered this season after a fourth round defeat in Cincinnati, the Toronto Masters, Wimbledon and a quarterfinal exit at Roland Garros.
World number two Rybakina is hot on Sabalenka’s heels for the top spot with 8,141 points to Sabalenka’s 8,575.
At 32, Jessica Pegula is the oldest top 10 player, but has been a finalist and semifinalist in the past two years and will look to continue that on home soil this year too.
Russian teenager Andreeva bagged her maiden Slam title at the French Open this summer and sits at a career-high world number five, although a fourth round appearance in New York will be her deepest at the US Open.
Alex Eala of the Philippines will be a force to watch after the 21-year-old found her breakthrough with a maiden WTA title this month at the Washington Open.
She received a wildcard for the US Open mixed doubles with Auger-Aliassime, although the duo fell in the first round to husband-and-wife duo of Gael Monfils and Svitolina.
Eala will headline the Stars of the Open exhibition event at Arthur Ashe on Thursday alongside young players Joao Fonseca, Iva Jovic and Learner Tien.
A record $108m prize pot is up for grabs this time:
Winner: $5.5m
Finalist: $2.8m
Semi-finalist: $1.45m
Quarter-finalist: $780,000
Round of 16: $480,000
Round of 32: $290,000
Round of 64: $190,000
Round of 128: $140,000
Qualifying Round of 32: $66,000
Qualifying Round of 64: $48,000
Qualifying Round of 128: $32,000
Winner: $1m
Finalist: $500,000
Semi-finalist: $250,000
Quarter-finalist: $125,000
Round of 16: $75,000
Round of 32: $45,000
Round of 64: $30,000
Alongside Sinner, Brazil’s Fonseca (ATP 26th ranking) and Briton Jack Draper (ATP 141st ranking) will be absent from the men’s side.
Emma Raducanu of Britain, world number 15 Victoria Mboko of Canada and Hailey Baptiste of the US, ranked 34rd, are other big names who won’t be in action.
Judge blocks Trump’s mail voting rules for a second time, just days before ballots go out for the midterms.
Published On 28 Aug 202628 Aug 2026
A United States federal judge has for a second time blocked the Trump administration’s overhaul of election rules aimed at limiting voting by mail.
District Judge Indira Talwani late on Thursday blocked the US Postal Service’s new ballot rules for 14 days, hours after the agency said they had taken effect.
list of 3 itemsend of list
The ruling is part of an ongoing battle prompted by President Donald Trump’s bid to limit voting by mail, which is heating up as the US heads towards midterm elections in November that will decide control of Congress and the Senate.
Nearly a third of American voters cast votes by mail. The first ballots for the midterms are due to be sent out in about a week.
The new rules require states to submit approved voter lists and follow new ballot formatting before USPS can deliver voting slips. The restrictions were enacted on Thursday after the Supreme Court cleared the way for them.
Talwani wrote in a statement late on Thursday that states “have neither time nor funds” to redesign ballots, update election systems or train officials on the new USPS portal before the upcoming election.
The fight traces back to March, when Trump ordered the Postal Service to withhold ballots unless states supplied approved voter lists and new formatting rules.
Voting rights groups and democratic officials sued, arguing only states and Congress, not the president, can set election rules. Talwani agreed, blocking the rules over the summer.
On Monday, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority threw out that earlier ruling on a technicality, saying that the legal challenge on which it was based was filed too early.
Democratic officials and voting rights groups quickly refiled their challenge once the rules became official, allowing Talwani to block them once more in a late-night order.
Separately, attorneys general from 24 states filed a new lawsuit this week making the same core argument: that only the Senate and Congress, not the president, can have constitutional authority to set election rules.
A hearing on the refiled case is scheduled for September 3, just as ballots are set to go out. That timeline means whatever Talwani or a higher court decides next could take effect as voting begins, or after it is already under way.
Court order rules that Pentagon acted illegally, punishing AI company for criticism of government.
Published On 28 Aug 202628 Aug 2026
A United States judge has blocked the Pentagon’s blacklisting of technology company Anthropic.
In a 59-page written order issued on Thursday night, District Judge Rita Lin ruled that the Department of Defense had acted illegally when it designated the company a supply chain risk to national security.
list of 3 itemsend of list
The decision marks the latest turn in the Claude maker’s high-stakes fight with the US military over artificial intelligence safety on the battlefield. The government is expected to fight the ruling.
The judge’s order rebuked the Pentagon, saying it had targeted and punished Anthropic for the company’s public criticism of the Defense Department’s stance on AI deployment on the battlefield.
“The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics,” Lin, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, wrote.
Anthropic’s lawsuit in a California federal court alleges that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth overstepped his authority when he designated the company a national security supply-chain risk.
Hegseth’s move, which blocked Anthropic from military contracts, followed the company’s refusal to allow the military to use its Claude AI models for US surveillance or autonomous weapons.
Anthropic argues that AI models are not reliable enough for autonomous weapons and opposes domestic surveillance. The Pentagon maintains that private companies should not constrain military action.
Executives have said the ban could cost the company billions of dollars in lost business.
During a hearing on July 30, Lin described the government’s position as “really troubling” and “at odds … with the First Amendment”, adding that the record had “gotten worse for the government” over time.
In the same hearing, Department of Justice lawyers argued that the nature of AI models is “so staggeringly enormous and opaque” that the Pentagon cannot evaluate them like physical hardware.
Anthropic welcomed the ruling, stating it remained “focused on working productively with the government to harness AI for our national security so all Americans benefit from this technology”.
The designation was the first time a US company has been publicly labelled a supply-chain risk under an obscure procurement statute aimed at protecting military systems from foreign sabotage.
In its lawsuit, Anthropic alleged the government violated its constitutional rights to free speech and due process by retaliating against its views on AI safety without allowing it to dispute the claim.
The lawsuit called the decision unlawful, unsupported by facts, and inconsistent with the military’s past praise of Claude.
There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon on the ruling.
The Iran war is settling into attrition, with no regime collapse and Gulf economies facing growing uncertainty
Analysts broadly agree the United States and Israel’s war on Iran will not see regime collapse in Tehran or a definite victory for Washington, but rather a dragged-out affair of stagnation and attrition.
The hope among the US leadership at the start of the war, which began after surprise Israeli and US attacks on February 28, was that mounting economic and military pressure on Iran would force a structural shift in Tehran. Six months on, it is clear this vision will not come about, and instead many are preparing for a protracted war and managed fallout.
list of 4 itemsend of list
Oil-dependent economies are still absorbing supply shocks after traffic in the Strait of Hormuz slowed to a trickle of pre-war levels following Iran’s attacks on shipping and a US blockade on Iranian ports.
The US military is still entrenched in a region that remains its most militarised in years. Although the war’s intensity has lessened since a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Washington and Tehran in June, there is no sign it will conclude, leading to continued uncertainty about the future.
Existing tensions, such as those between the Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia in Yemen, look only set to increase as the war drags on. The influence of rival powers, such as those of India and China, remains stalled rather than stopped, with Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative having already established itself within the Middle East and North Africa. All in all, the region remains in flux where formal alliances with outside powers no longer guarantee safety.
The defence agreement between Turkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia recently signed in Mecca will likely be the first of many such military pacts agreed in the region.
“The war has just accelerated trends, but hasn’t really started anything that wasn’t already under way. The Gulf countries were already diversifying their economies,” Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, told Al Jazeera. “Many were already looking at broadening their defence partnerships beyond existing US security guarantees, as well as increasing their own defence capability.”
Israel, for its part, is still pursuing its regional project of “paramountcy”, HA Hellyer of the Royal United Services Institute said, despite its failure to bring Iran to its knees this year.
“There is no chance of the government in Tehran falling in the next six months,” Hellyer told Al Jazeera. “If everything were to theoretically stay the same … with just increased economic pressure, that could eventually cause a ripple effect that could lead to state collapse in Iran. But we’re talking years, not months, and everything is not likely to stay the same.”
![A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese city of Tyre shows smoke rising from the site of a string of Israeli airstrikes that targeted the area of al-Mansouri on August 25, 2026. [Kawnat Haju/AFP]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/AFP__20260825__C6G72NK__v3__HighRes__LebanonIsraelUsIranWar-1787675105.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and strikes on regional cities have hindered Gulf states’ plans to use oil revenues as an engine to diversify their economies and build on their reputations as a safe haven to encourage investors.
Shipments of oil, derivative products and liquefied natural gas (LNG) have been repeatedly and severely disrupted since the US and Israel launched their attacks on Iran in February.
Transit through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which saw attacks on shipping by the Houthis during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, became even more hazardous in July, when the Iran-allied Houthis declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia.
“The price of oil has increased broadly in line with the Gulf states’ difficulties in exporting it,” John Sfakianakis, chief economist at the Gulf Research Center, told Al Jazeera. “Is this going to go for six months? Is it going to go on for longer?”
Exacerbating the Gulf states’ difficulties is that, although the price of oil has risen, so has inflation. In addition to the economic difficulties the war has created, there is also growing pressure for Gulf states to invest more in defence.
For now, the majority of the states caught in the middle will look at ways of living with the turmoil and managing the consequences.
WASHINGTON — President Trump said Thursday he is renaming Lake Ontario to be known as “Lake America” in the United States as he exacerbates his trade war with Canada.
The Republican president signed an executive order directing the Interior Department to update the lake’s name in the U.S. geographic naming service. Trump cannot force Canada to follow his preferred naming convention, however.
Trump has been floating the idea of the name change in recent days as the U.S. announced it was imposing 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods over the weekend after talks between the countries broke down. Trump has been needling America’s northern neighbor since he returned to the White House last year, suggesting the ally with whom the U.S. once had warm relations instead should be absorbed as the 51st state.
Canada responded to Trump’s import taxes this week by imposing retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion worth of American goods, including steel, dairy products, appliances and farm equipment.
Trump, who signed the order as he was sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, had a large sign behind him propped on a stand with a map of the Great Lakes. Over Lake Ontario, in big red letters, the map read “Lake America.”
On the other side of the president was another map with the words, “MAKING THE GREAT LAKES EVEN GREATER.”
The lake is one of multiple Great Lakes that the U.S. and Canada share borders along.
The office of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
There is no single international body that determines names of international bodies of water, and Trump has wide latitude over how the U.S. government recognizes geographic places and landmarks.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has traded insults with Trump, this week brushed aside the prospect of Trump changing the lake’s name as “a lot of rhetoric.”
The name Lake Ontario comes from the Huron Indigenous people’s word “oniatarí:io,” that means “lake of shining waters.” The province of Ontario, founded in 1867, took its name from the lake.
Trump said that while his action was not meant to send any particular geopolitical message, “Canada’s been ripping us off for a long time” on trade and military issues.
“They wanted to be treated like a state and they’re not a state,” the president said. “We just can’t do that anymore.”
“We love the people of Canada,” Trump added. “I don’t think their representatives do an appropriate job. Maybe they’ll change. I really don’t know. It doesn’t make much difference.”
The move is reminiscent of his move last year to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
Trump scribbled his name with a Sharpie pen on the executive order, then held it up for the cameras, offering, “And we filed all the necessary papers, documents, everything else.”
“We’ve notified all of the various people that we have to notify. So, we’ve done everything that you have to do,” he said. “And this is official, effective immediately.”
The executive order Trump signed shows that the changes, in fact, are supposed to be made within 30 days.
He also suggested his push to rename bodies of water may not be finished.
“So, if you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake. Now, all we need is an ocean,” Trump said. “So maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them.”
Price and Weissert write for the Associated Press. AP writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
The venue’s board of directors, stacked with supporters of the president, voted to add his name again despite past ruling.
Published On 27 Aug 202627 Aug 2026
A United States judge has questioned why the Kennedy Center is rushing to restore President Donald Trump’s name to the performing arts venue after it was ordered removed in a previous ruling.
US District Court Judge Christopher Cooper asked Trump administration lawyer Bradley Mayers on Thursday why the venue has said it must begin adding the president’s name back to the building by September 8.
list of 3 itemsend of list
“What’s magic about that date?” Cooper asked.
Mayers stated that the date is aligned with a vote by the centre’s board — composed of members selected by Trump, who then installed him as the head — earlier this month.
“That’s all fine and good,” Cooper responded. “What does that have to do with what Congress intended in these statutes? That’s really what’s before me.”
The legal saga around Trump’s effort to inscribe his name on the building of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, is one of several examples of the president’s desire to reshape the landscape of the national capital.
In addition to changes to the performing arts centre, Trump has demolished the East Wing of the White House and sought to replace it with an enormous ballroom.
He also has pushed forward with plans for an enormous triumphal arch to be erected in a traffic circle not far from the historic Arlington National Cemetery.
The president and his allies have faced numerous legal challenges to those efforts, with critics arguing that the projects require congressional approval.
Previously, in May, Cooper found that the addition of Trump’s name to the building was illegal and that Congress alone could rebrand the building.
He also struck down an attempt to close the building for two years. The board had described the effort as necessary to maintain the building, but critics saw the closure as retaliation against the backlash to the renaming effort.
Earlier this month, however, the Trump-aligned board renewed the push to add his name back to the facade, by adding the inscription, “Restored and Renovated By President Donald J Trump”.
The vote also called for the plaza in front of the venue to also be renamed after Trump.
On Tuesday, administration officials threatened to demolish the Kennedy Centre if the renovations do not go through. They warned the performing arts centre would become “decrepit” without the board’s interventions.
In Thursday’s hearing, however, Cooper rejected the idea that court orders were standing in the way of any repairs.
“No one is stopping the center from doing any necessary repairs,” Cooper said. “The notion that continued judicial involvement is standing in the way of accomplishing necessary repairs is not quite fair.”
The lawsuit against the board’s changes to the Kennedy Center was brought by Representative Joyce Beatty, a Kennedy Center trustee who represents the state of Ohio in Congress.
Lawyers for Beatty said on Thursday that they view the board’s recent actions “as outright defiance” against the court.
The Kennedy Center was named by Congress as a living memorial to John F Kennedy, the 35th US president who helped fundraise for its establishment. He was assassinated in 1963. Under the law, no other national memorial to Kennedy is allowed in Washington, DC.