Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 16, 2026

Ukraine strikes major Russian rocket factory with cruise missiles

Blackout hits four Central Asian countries at once

Iran’s Economy Is Buckling Under the Weight of War

As Spokane firefighters achieve containment, France faces wildfire challenges as 400 people arrested on suspicion of starting a fire…with a vast majority actually being charged with arson.

Europe’s Gas Storage Crunch Deepens Ahead of Heating Season. With less than three full months left until the start of heating season in much of Europe, the issue of gas inventories is becoming increasingly pressing. Current inventory levels are at the lowest in 17 years, and supply available for purchase is tighter than it was back in 2022.

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 15, 2026

Israel Strikes Hezbollah Terror Targets in Southern Lebanon After Troops Attacked

US Lost 25% Of Its Reaper Drones In Iran War. Made by General Atomics, each drone costs between $30 million to $50 million. With 45 drones wiped out, this means that well over one billion dollars in hardware was either shot out of the sky or crashed in the context of Iran war operations.

Qatar Purchases U.S. LNG to Supply Its Asian Customers

Indonesia: Dozens dead after earthquake off Flores island. At least 47 people have died and several buildings were damaged after the powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake, which was followed by dozens of aftershocks.

Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy, erupts in fiery display, disrupting hundreds of flights

Hawaii’s Big Island is under a hurricane warning as Tropical Storm Lala is expected to make landfall on Saturday local time, according to the National Hurricane Center. “This is a very serious storm,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told reporters late Friday night. “We have not had a hurricane make landfall in quite some time. So none of us really have experienced this really in, you know, the last couple of decades.”

Social Security is deep in deficit, and once its trust fund is depleted, under the law, it cannot pay more in benefits than it generates in revenue. In just six years, beneficiaries will face an abrupt 22% benefit cut – the equivalent of a roughly $500 cut in monthly benefits per beneficiary.

Tailing 30Y Auction Prices At Highest Yield In 25 Years

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 14, 2026

Somali Piracy Surges Amid Hormuz Blockade

Private security firms will soon be allowed to hack overseas cybercriminals

Vulnerability giving attackers full control of Macs is under active exploitation

Teen lands prehistoric fish in Baldwinsville: ‘My reel was on fire!’

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 13, 2026

Ukrainian Drones Outmatch US Army in Exercise

U.S. Launching International One-Way Attack Drone Task Force In The Middle East

Gas Is So Expensive In Britain That Fuel Theft Is Surging. Prices at British pumps have surged. Gas prices hit 160 pence per liter (approximately $7.70 per gallon).

An ability to mimic the shrieks of langur monkeys may not seem like a bankable skill, but for some Indians it has become a job, if not a calling. These vocal professionals specialise in pest control and are being employed to keep out unwanted primates as Delhi prepares to host the badminton world championships.

New Orleans Becomes First Major U.S. City To Let AI Answer 911

A problem with studies like this not mentioned in the article is that it counts “household” chores solely in terms of work typically done by woman. So these studies that show men doing “better” ignore the fact that most of the those men doing “better” are doing less of the work that around that house that used to be done by fathers. Instead, the are paying others to do it or just not doing it period. Are Men to Blame for the Birth-Rate Collapse?

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 12, 2026

WSJ: Israeli Intel Foiled Iranian Plot to Assassinate Trump After NATO Summit

Iranian F-5s Bombing U.S. Forces In Kuwait Should Be A Wake-Up Call

“Maybe the most important one,” he said he told Austin, “is that we’re not set up to fight in and from our own land. We make an assumption that we’re going to take the fight somewhere else, and it’s going to occur on somebody else’s land. And the fact is, it’s ready to happen here right now.”

Salmonella Linked to Jalapeño Peppers Sickens Over 300 Across 27 States

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 11, 2026

Russian drones found near vital European offshore gas site, get blown up

WaPo: Trump Took Secret Flight to Evade Iranian Assassination Plot After NATO Summit. An elaborate “deception operation” undertaken to conceal the president’s departure flight from Ankara.

Army Downed More Than 1,400 Iranian Missiles And Drones During Epic Fury And 12-Day War

Colombia quake death toll climbs as civilians aid in rescue

Less than 2.5% of Taylor Farms’ recalled lettuce went to Taco Bells. Walmart—under its brand Marketside—received the lion’s share, 109,476 cases, a little over 46 percent. The second-largest lot went to Taylor Farms’ own brand, which received 68,897 cases, a little over 29 percent.

‘Hiding in The Shadows’: Discovery of 3 New Assyrian Kings

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 10, 2026

Drone Sightings Are Happening At Diego Garcia, America’s Remote Strategic Island Outpost. The sightings highlight concerns about drone attacks from the sea, especially at a time of extreme hostility between Iran and the U.S.

Over 100 people dead after magnitude 7.4 earthquake hits Colombia

Horrifying Footage Shows Buildings Crumbling As Colombia Quake Death Toll Tops 111

Beijing is forcing a mass breakup with AI lovers

Nevada Discovery Could Rebuild America’s Tungsten Supply Chain

Valve slowly expands SteamOS support on non-Valve hardware

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 9, 2026

US military dominance has always depended on technological innovation. It’s no longer clear that this condition holds.

Saudi Arabia’s $5 Oil Detour Is Expensive… But Worth It

U.S. Energy Helps Cushion Global Supply Shock From Hormuz. That role is straining domestic supplies, with U.S. crude and fuel inventories falling below five-year averages as record exports and high refinery utilization tighten the domestic market.

Spokane Wildfire Complex Still Less Than 50% Contained After Week of Destruction

Spotify’s new ‘skip’ button could end the podcast business as we know it

Short sleepers, who make up less than one per cent of the population, spend significantly less time snoozing without any apparent health consequences.

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 8, 2026

Pakistan’s defense minister threatens ‘illegitimate’ Israel after inking pact with Saudis, Turkey

The Wall Street Journal’s recent investigation into rising anti-Christian hostility in Jerusalem has now brought a sense of justified urgency and unprecedented international attention to what the Armenian community has long experienced firsthand.

The Man Who Was Kidnapped Twice

Ebola outbreak in Congo tops 4,000 cases in world’s second-largest epidemic

Students recount terror as gunman kills nine at Thailand school

Canning Jars Are Getting Harder to Find, and Nobody’s Talking About Why. What has changed over the past several years is the machinery behind the glass rather than the enthusiasm of the people buying it. Domestic container glass capacity has shrunk while furnaces have been idled or torn down and never rebuilt.

Good Questions that I was Asked at the Cardiology Society of Australia and New Zealand Meeting

Russia could attack NATO, allied country as early as this fall, US intelligence warns

‘Mecca Agreement’: Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan Sign Joint Military Pact

Flesh-eating screwworms feast on humans in Mexico; human cases top 500

A horrifying story of decline. The Typhus Rats of Los Angeles. A medieval disease is rocking the vermin-ridden county. The city’s rat problem has worsened. In 2025, the pest control company Orkin released its annual list of the most rat-infested major cities in America. That year marked the first time since the list’s inception, that any city other than Chicago had taken the top spot.

Pack of Wild Coyotes Takes Over Abandoned Condo Complex in West Hollywood

Hunting and trapping licenses now on sale in NY. In addition to changes in DMP availability, several changes to deer hunting regulations go into effect this year, most prominently DEC’s “Earn-a-2nd-Buck” program.