Zero Rss

Memory-Chip Crunch Hits Smartphone Demand Across China

Prices for electronic devices reliant on advanced memory chips, from smartphones to gaming consoles, have risen as the AI data-center buildout tightens supply and drives component costs higher. The resulting memory-chip crunch is now weighing on consumer demand, with Goldman’s latest note showing that the pressure is increasingly visible in China’s handheld-device market.

Goldman analyst Allen Chang, who focuses on everything from smartphones to semiconductors, AI, EVs, and robotaxis, cited new data on Friday showing that China’s smartphone shipments fell 17% from a year earlier and 36% from May, to 17 million units in June.

Second-quarter shipments totaled 69 million units, little changed from the previous quarter and a year earlier but above Goldman's 59 million estimate. Chang expects full-year 2026 shipments to decline 10%.

June 5G shipments fell 12% year over year to 16 million units, representing 85% of the market.

"We expect 2026 shipments to decline at 10% YoY, given rising memory cost weighing on demand," Chang wrote in the report.

Chang noted that the average number of cameras per handset declined to 2.9 this year, down from a 2022 peak of 3.8, while the share of cameras with resolutions of at least 20 megapixels increased to 66% of the total, up from 57% in 2025.

Model pricing for various foldable smartphone brands

Smartphone model launch pipeline

Professional subscribers can read more about the memory chip market, data center buildouts, and smartphones at our new Marketdesk.ai portal.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 18:00

Trump Orders Heavy Attack On Energy-Related Targets In Iran, To Commence This Weekend Summary

• Trump orders major strikes on Iran, likely to start this weekend.
• US adds sanctions, Bessent says Tehran can't pay troops, as Iran faces growing pressure.
• Most Americans say the Iran war isn't worth fighting: AP poll.
• Iran claims drone strike on US base in Kuwait - after no new US strikes overnight.
• Oil rises as fears of wider conflict grow and lack of talks.

//--> //--> //--> US announces end of Iranian blockade by August 15, 2026?
Yes 20% · No 80%
View full market & trade on Polymarket

*  *  *

Trump Orders Major Weekend Strikes

The Wall Street Journal and CBS are reporting that major US strikes - perhaps harder than anything of the last two weeks - are set to imminently commence. The attacks could be initiated at any point this weekend, after Trump gave the 'order' - it's being reported:

President Trump has ordered a fresh attack on Iran aimed at getting Tehran to surrender that could begin as soon as this weekend and would last a few days, U.S. officials said.

Earlier on Friday, he told reporters that he planned to resume heavy military strikes to force the regime to come to the negotiating table. He predicted that if the U.S. hit Iran hard enough, the hard-line regime would eventually “peter out.”

Trump made clear earlier at Camp David that the Iranians can't be trusted, are 'dishonorable' - and so he's not pursuing talks.

The late afternoon Friday CBS report is more alarming, given that "The United States and Israel are planning what would be one of the harshest bombing campaigns to date against energy infrastructure targets in Iran, multiple sources told CBS News, with strikes possible throughout the weekend."

It adds, "There was some discussion about trying to conclude by the time financial markets open Monday because of concern about how the bombings will affect the U.S. and global economy, but an end point wasn't locked in."

Earlier this week there were reports of Trump exploding at his own advisors amid ongoing debates about how the crisis should be handled, and finding an exit strategy.

"Well, they always want to talk, but they break their words so often," Trump said Friday at Camp David, putting his frustration on display later adding: "All they do is make me angry."

A key line from WSJ point to where things are likely headed: "Some U.S. officials believe Iran will continue to drag out negotiations, banking that Trump will abandon his war efforts in the long term in the face of mounting domestic political opposition."

Keep Hitting Them: Trump

Trump is holding a Cabinet meeting on Friday at Camp David. He claimed that the fight against Iran is "going well" and stated that American forces are "hitting them very hard" - adding that "eventually" Iran will have no choice but to "come home" - meaning full surrender.

"It’s going well. Everything we can do is keep winning," Trump also told Fox News. "But we are hitting them hard, shaking them up, and we’re just continuing to win." He suggested there will still be strikes ongoing in coming weeks, and that he's losing faith in the idea of talks with "dishonest" Iran "because they lie".

Additionally, Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is claiming that Iran is unable to pay its troops - though without offering specific evidence to back this, and that the US continues searching for Iranian assets to seize "all around the world". This is after Thursday Washington rolled out yet more sanctions.

Trump: "We'll be hitting them. We'll be hitting them very hard. At some point they're gonna say, 'We just can't take it anymore.'" pic.twitter.com/DT1Fcf57EN

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 31, 2026

In the meantime, the American public continues souring on the Iran war, which has predictably turned into yet another quagmire in the Middle East. Per a new Associated Press poll:

Most Americans say the war in Iran has not been worth fighting, and President Donald Trump’s approval rating on Iran has fallen slightly since last month, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

The results are a stark repudiation of the Republican president’s approach to the conflict, which has dragged on far longer than he originally predicted.

About two-thirds of U.S. adults say the war with Iran, which began Feb. 28, has not been worthwhile, according to the new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That includes the vast majority of Democrats and independents, as well as about 37% of Republicans.

Iran Boasts it Hit Kuwait Base

"We note with concern that the security situation remains precarious," said Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi on his country's mediation efforts to find peace between the US and Iran. Talks "are ongoing to normalize the situation, particularly the situation in the Strait of Hormuz," he told reporters as a week full of renewed fighting as come to a close. But there essentially are no current talks, and US officials have indicated they are not even seeking them.

Early Thursday had seen the last major exchanges of tit-for-tat attacks, followed by a window of relative quiet into Friday - but the Iranian military has said it newly targeted strategic US military facilities at Kuwait’s Ahmad Al-Jaber airbase in a drone attack. This was cast as 'retaliation' for US attacks of the day prior which focused on Qeshm island. Several Iranian troops had been killed in the prior assault, and separately a family was slain when their home was reportedly hit.

AFP/Getty Images

Semiofficial Tasnim news agency said the armed forces had targeted hangars, satellite communication systems and equipment warehouses using drones - based on the military statement.

No New US Strikes Overnight

"Iranian state media reported the strike on Ahmed Al Jaber Air Base early Friday, but Kuwaiti officials and the Pentagon have yet to comment," Newsnation summarizes, adding of the current standstill in fighting, "Notably, Iranian media did not report any American strikes hitting targets inside Iran overnight, a change from Wednesday, when the U.S. carried out what officials called a heavy wave of strikes against Iranian positions."

The day prior saw the Iranians heavily target an American outpost in Jordan. Iran believes the US is amassing equipment there in preparation for further rounds of attacks. As for the Friday targeting of Kuwait: "Iran cited a U.S. strike that killed a mother, father and their 2-year-old child in a home on Qeshm Island as part of its justification for the reported Kuwait attack."

'Horizontal Escalation'

On the question of where the crisis goes from here, a Tehran-based researcher at the Center for Strategic Studies, Ali Akbar Dareini, gave Al Jazeera some interesting insight into Tehran's likely thinking:

He said Iran is likely trying to preempt any future attacks by the US in its current targeting in the region. Iran does not want to “allow the US to decide when to start the war, when to pause temporarily and when to restart the war”, he added. “Iran is now targeting the staging grounds of future operations.”

Dareini explained that while Washington has been pursuing “vertical escalation” by ramping up military attacks against Iran, Tehran has sought “horizontal escalation” by expanding the conflict’s “geographical scope”.

“Iran wants a complete, permanent end to war, or it’s going to be a wide-scale regional war,” he said.

As for the latest on potential US-Israeli plans to escalate against the Islamic Republic...

The U.S. and Israel are reportedly considering a land blockade of Iran to increase economic pressure after months of military action failed to force Tehran back to negotiations.

The proposal would involve persuading neighboring countries—such as Iraq, Pakistan, Türkiye,… pic.twitter.com/uBHO7qx9po

— Clash Report (@clashreport) July 31, 2026

In the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has claimed its forces struck a pair of tankers attempting to pass though the narrow waterway under the "air escort" of the US military.

The IRGC asserted that the "non-compliant oil tankers… were struck and brought to a halt, while four other oil tankers quickly changed course and returned to their previous positions." Meanwhile, two headlines that don't line up:

• US President Trump says the Iran war is going well; US is hitting Iran hard and "we just keep winning" (Fox)
• The Persian Gulf Waterway Management Authority announces that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is not possible due to the continued aggressive actions of the US

Oil Climbs with No Offramp on Horizon

Still, despite of a lack of intense tit-for-tat so far on Friday, oil is rebounding significantly as there are no signs of offramp and the two sides aren't talking - but instead preparing for more rounds in the fight...

But this Friday's somewhat 'quiet' state of things could likely dramatically shift at any moment, as has been the pattern this summer. The aforementioned Tehran-based analyst Dareini describes a serious change and overhaul in Iranian leaders' strategic thinking, which has gone from defensive to proactive, with an understanding of the need to inflict pain on the US side in a preemptive way.

"Iranians are tired from suffering from limited US attacks," Dareini said, charging that the US uses its declared pauses as a "deception tactic" merely in preparation for future attacks and operations.

"There has been a profound change in Iran’s strategic thinking," he added. "The era of restraint is over. Iran has decided that, if needed, it has to take preemptive military action against the US."

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 17:55

Saudi Arabia Planning Major Escalation In Yemen, Possible Ground Op: Reports

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of Yemen’s Ansar Allah, commonly known as the Houthis, said Thursday that there were indications Saudi Arabia was planning a major escalation in Yemen, as the war between the two sides has been reignited following the July 13 Saudi strikes on the Sanaa International Airport.

"We will work to establish the equation of siege with siege, especially since indicators reveal that the Saudis are heading toward comprehensive escalation, and we will seek God’s help against him and confront his comprehensive escalation with comprehensive escalation," al-Houthi said, according to Yemen’s SABA news agency.

The Guardian also reported on Thursday, citing Yemeni sources, that Saudi Arabia was preparing for a major escalation against Ansar Allah by sea and possibly by launching a ground offensive in central Yemen.

Saudi Arabia is looking to launch a new Red Sea coalition to keep the Bab el-Mandeb Strait open, and the Saudi Defense Ministry announced that 14 countries backed the effort. The full coalition hasn’t been released, but according to Saudi officials, it includes—

• Kuwait
• Qatar
• Bahrain
• Pakistan
• Turkey
• Egypt
• Jordan

Ansar Allah imposed a blockade on Saudi ports following the Saudi strikes on the Sanaa airport, which were meant to prevent the landing of a plane that took off from Iran and was carrying members of a Yemeni delegation that attended the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Yemeni forces have also targeted oil infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi military has launched additional strikes on Yemen of late.

Escalations against Ansar Allah are unlikely to achieve success since the group faced a brutal US-backed Saudi-UAE war from 2015 to 2022 and multiple US and Israeli bombing campaigns since then that failed to achieve their goals. President Trump has suggested that the US could restart bombing Yemen.

It seems that Saudi Arabia has forgotten how its army was defeated in Yemen. pic.twitter.com/jKEPPywSn9

— ابراهيم ناجي Ibrahim Naji (@Ibrahym22Nagi) July 31, 2026

Al-Houthi said in his comments on Thursday that the Yemeni people “are among the most suffering and targeted peoples by the Saudi regime within the framework of the American scheme, and in service of the Israeli enemy.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 17:40

Trump's Jones Act Waiver Helped Avert Fuel Shortages Across These Key US Regions

The Department of Homeland Security has issued the broadest Jones Act waiver since at least the 1950s, just weeks after the US-Iran conflict erupted. The measure has allowed foreign-flagged vessels to transport fuel, crude oil, fertilizer, and other essential goods between US ports, bypassing domestic shipping restrictions to mitigate supply chain disruptions across various U.S. regions.

The Jones Act, a century-old law requiring goods transported between U.S. ports to be carried aboard U.S.-Built, US-owned, and US-crewed vessels, was immediately waived in the early days of the U.S.-Iran conflict by the Trump administration.

As of Friday, the waiver has entered its 135th day, suggesting that the administration is continuing to protect domestic supply chains and curb energy prices by temporarily easing maritime protectionist restrictions.

A recent Reuters report stated that the Trump administration was considering another extension of the waiver.

The Cato Institute's Jones Act Waiver Tracker shows that nearly 50 million barrels have been moved since the waiver took effect on March 17.

The tracker indicates that the waiver sharply expanded domestic fuel movements, allowing foreign-flagged vessels to supply regions where limited U.S. shipping capacity, high transportation costs, and vessel shortages had constrained trade.

After 135 days, waiver shipments to the West Coast totaled 13.9 million barrels, equivalent to 108% of the region’s projected full-year baseline. Puerto Rico received 5.02 million barrels, equal to 134% of its normal annual pace, while New England’s 1.25 million barrels represented an increase of 215%. Gulf Coast shipments were 426% above the projected baseline, albeit from a much smaller historical base.

The data suggest the waiver is unlocking trade routes that were previously uneconomical or unavailable under Jones Act restrictions.

The largest effects are being seen in isolated or import-dependent markets, particularly the West Coast, Puerto Rico and New England, while the impact on the well-supplied Lower Atlantic remains marginal. Cargoes have included gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, renewable diesel, propane and ammonia.

Without the waiver, import-dependent markets such as those in California would likely have faced severe fuel shortages, with gasoline prices potentially surging well above $10 per gallon. The quick action by the Trump administration and the Energy Department appears to have mitigated supply disruptions in those regions where fuel shipments expanded the most.

Recall that suspending the Jones Act was one of six policy options identified by JPMorgan’s head of commodity research, Natasha Kaneva, for how the Trump administration could contain energy costs at the pump. The latest shipment data suggest that this option has played a material role in stabilizing vulnerable regional markets.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 17:20

The Fourth Turning Is Here: The Old Order Is Breaking Down

Authored by Chris MacIntosh via InternationalMan.com,

In 1997, historians William Strauss and Neil Howe published “The Fourth Turning,” a cyclical theory of Anglo-American history built around generational archetypes and recurring saecular rhythms of approximately 80 to 100 years — roughly the length of a long human life.

Their framework identified four “turnings,” each lasting roughly 20 to 25 years, that repeat in sequence.

The First Turning, the High, is an era of institutional confidence and community solidarity following a great crisis. The rules work, people trust them, conformity is rewarded — think the post-WWII boom, or the post-Civil War Reconstruction era.

The Second Turning, the Awakening, is a spiritual and cultural awakening that challenges the institutional consensus of the High. Individualism resurges; the establishment is questioned — the consciousness revolution of the 1960s-70s, the Second Great Awakening of the 1820s-30s.

The Third Turning, the Unraveling, sees institutions weaken, individualism reach its apex, and civic order decay. Trust collapses — in government, media, corporations, each other — as it did through the Culture Wars era of the 1980s-90s, or the Gilded Age of the 1870s-90s.

The Fourth Turning, the Crisis, is a decisive era of institutional destruction and reconstruction, typically catalysed by an existential threat — war, economic collapse, or civilisational rupture. The old order is swept away; a new one is forged. The Great Depression and WWII. The Civil War. The American Revolution.

"History is seasonal, and winter is coming."

— William Strauss and Neil Howe, The Fourth Turning, 1997

The Current Position

By Strauss and Howe’s reckoning, the current Fourth Turning began around 2008 — the Global Financial Crisis being its catalytic spark — and will likely reach its resolution sometime in the 2025-2030 window. We are, in other words, in the heart of it. The battles being fought now — over monetary systems, institutional legitimacy, national sovereignty, and the nature of truth itself — are the defining conflicts of the crisis era.

What Fourth Turnings produce is not predictable in detail but consistent in structure: the old institutions are exposed as either corrupt or incompetent, a battle ensues between competing visions of the replacement order, and the outcome is determined by which faction can mobilise sufficient force — social, political, economic, or military — to impose its vision. The process is neither clean nor just. Fourth Turnings historically produce enormous suffering alongside the reconstruction.

The GFC was Act One: the revelation that the financial system was not a wealth-generation machine but a debt-recycling mechanism sustained by regulatory capture and central bank intervention. The quantitative easing programmes that followed — printing roughly $20 trillion across major central banks between 2008 and 2022 — bought time at the cost of massively inflating asset prices, concentrating wealth, and making the eventual reckoning worse.

Covid was Act Two: a simultaneous crisis of public health, institutional credibility, and civil liberties, weaponised by an apparatus of state control that had been building for decades and found in the pandemic a perfect justification for deployment at scale. More on this shortly.

Act Three is visible on the horizon: the currency crisis that follows years of money creation, the geopolitical realignment driven by a rising China and a fragmenting Western alliance, and the social rupture of populations that have been systematically lied to discovering the magnitude of the deception. Fourth Turnings do not end until the crisis is resolved. We have not arrived there yet.

*  *  *

If we are deep into a Fourth Turning, the years ahead could bring far greater economic, political, and social disruption than most people expect. Understanding the forces driving this shift may be essential to protecting both your wealth and your personal freedom. Our free special report, Clash of the Systems: Thoughts on Investing at a Unique Point in Time, reveals the trends now reshaping the world, the risks they create, and how a contrarian investor could position to stay one step ahead. Get instant access to Clash of the Systems.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 17:00

From Nazi Tats To Kissing Cousins: Maine Democrats Go Full Jerry Springer

In the span of a few weeks, Maine Democrats replaced their U.S. Senate nominee amid a cascade of personal controversies, with a guy who's been banging his 2nd cousin for years. 

Platner's Collapse

Graham Platner, a Marine Corps veteran and oyster farmer, had emerged as a progressive populist challenger to five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins. He secured the Democratic nomination in June 2026 despite a string of earlier controversies that included inflammatory Reddit posts, reports of sexually explicit texts sent to women while married, and a chest tattoo resembling the Totenkopf (a skull-and-crossbones emblem associated with Nazi SS units and concentration camp guards).

Platner said he got the tattoo in 2007 while drinking on leave in Croatia with fellow Marines and claimed he did not know its Nazi associations until the campaign. Multiple former romantic partners disputed that account, saying he had referred to it as "my Totenkopf" years earlier. Exes also described patterns of rough physical behavior, crude comments about women, and fantasies involving dominance through rape.

The decisive blow came in early July 2026, when a former girlfriend, Jenny Racicot, alleged that Platner had sexually assaulted her in late 2021 while intoxicated. Platner denied the claim, calling it false. Facing pressure from party leaders and the withdrawal of key support, he suspended his campaign and formally withdrew, clearing the way for a replacement under Maine party rules.

Enter Troy Jackson

Maine Democrats moved quickly. On July 25, 2026, they selected Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger from the remote Allagash area in the St. John Valley, former state Senate president, and progressive with strong union ties. Jackson had previously run for governor with support from Sen. Bernie Sanders and positioned himself as a working-class alternative. He won the special nominating process decisively and now faces Collins in a race that could influence Senate control.

Within days of Jackson's formal selection, independent reporting from The Maine Wire (followed by national coverage in the New York Post and Daily Wire) revealed that his longtime partner, Lana Pelletier - his high school sweetheart and the mother of his two adult sons, Chace and Camden - is his second cousin by blood.

Genealogical records and local knowledge show they share great-grandparents Thomas Pelletier and Edith Thibodeau:

• Jackson's maternal grandmother (Albertine Pelletier O'Leary) and Pelletier's paternal grandfather (Louis A. Pelletier Sr.) were siblings.
• This makes Jackson's mother (Colleen McBreairty) and Pelletier's father (Louis "Louie" Pelletier Jr.) first cousins.
• Therefore, Troy Jackson and Lana Pelletier are second cousins.

Via @SteveRob

 Oh... 

When your debate partner says he wants to introduce you to his wife and cousin but there’s only one person with him…. pic.twitter.com/9bqUuovFbs

— Magills (@magills_) July 31, 2026

The pair has been together for decades, raised two sons (who are simultaneously third cousins), and never obtained a marriage license. Jackson has sometimes referred to Pelletier as his wife in older materials but more often as his partner; she works as a clinical care specialist for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. The relationship has been an open secret in the small, isolated Allagash community for years.

Second-cousin relationships and marriage are legal under Maine law with no special restrictions (unlike first-cousin unions, which face additional requirements). Genetic experts generally view the increased risk of inherited disorders as negligible compared with the general population. Such pairings are not unheard of in sparsely populated rural areas with limited dating pools and deep family interconnections.

Political Optics

The sequence was immediate and unsubtle. Critics and online commentators framed it as Democrats trading one set of personal liabilities - allegations of abusive behavior toward women and a Nazi-linked tattoo - for a nominee whose domestic life involves a blood relative of the second-cousin variety.

Just caught up with Troy Jackson in DC — asked him for some dating advice since he apparently knew the right places to take his cousin

📷 @townhallcom’s @storm_paglia pic.twitter.com/PbmdKOaR6B

— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) July 31, 2026

Defenders noted that nothing illegal occurred, that the relationship predates Jackson's political career by decades, and that focusing on it distracts from policy differences with Collins.

Jackson has built his brand on authentic North Woods working-class roots. The revelation does not change the formal legality of his long-term partnership, nor does it involve any allegation of non-consent or criminality. It does, however, underscore how personal histories - whether tattoos, relationship conduct, or family trees - can rapidly dominate a high-stakes Senate race once they surface.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 16:40

Demoralizing The Whole Citizenry To The Max

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

The Curse It Is Cast...

“I have nothing to hide. I can explain and validate everything that I’ve done.”

- Dr. Anthony Fauci, recorded for TV in 2022

However you cut this Fauci business, one thing Americans have learned is how slippery and treacherous this thing called The Law has become.

You saw it in the sundry Trump prosecutions of 2024, too - a marvelous demonstration of how to play Hide-the-Salami with the truth about anything and everything.

You saw it in the structured failure to adjudicate election fraud in 2020.

You saw it in the Jan-6 prosecutions and the Congressional Jan-6 Committee charade that followed.

And much more.

And one thing it’s good for is demoralizing the whole citizenry to the max. Who in this land was not mortally depressed watching Rand Paul’s Senate hearing Wednesday starring Dr. Fauci? (One last time, the center of attention!) We have become a procedural republic, slipping into an impotence of legalistic self-fuckery the way old folks slip into dementia, one lost memory at a time. There sits the murderer of millions cloaked in the banality of his evil — as it was at Nuremburg eighty years ago — and this time, you just have to lump it, America. The law can’t touch him at all.

Dr. Fauci ran his own titanically corrupt fiefdom out of the nation’s public health complex. Half-a-million a year wasn’t enough for — let’s call him what he was — an executive bureaucrat. He doled out millions in grants to universities, drug companies, and putative public service orgs, and extracted his vig, about a million bucks in prize money during the Covid-19 episode, not counting his share of royalties from drug patents. A modest million. He must have thought: who will even notice. . . who would ever be bothered by that tiny number when Congress, the Federal Reserve, and everybody else is drowning in numbers with so many zeros it gives them tachycardia just to glance at the balance sheet.

Plus, the thoroughly dishonorable news media was busy making Dr. Fauci a rock-star. He had everything but the stadiums. The grand old gals of Hollywood were going all moist over him. “Julia Roberts sent me flowers today,” he typed into his government-issue diary. Barbra Streisand called him on the phone. “I told her that I work listening to her songs on ALEXA,” He gushed. His work resulted in the deaths of millions and the injury of millions more. Neverminding that, he carefully tracked and marveled at his burgeoning fame:

“Big front-page article abut [sic] me appeared in the Washington Post, [Dr. Fauci wrote]. Very flattering. The situation with my national and international fame is explosive and really unimaginable. It is not hyoperbole [sic] to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in the country and one of the most recognizable peson [sic] in the world.”

Did Dr. Fauci know that his work-product, the Covid-19 episode and the operations around it, were aimed at setting up conditions to get President Trump bum-rushed out of office in favor of the vacant and pliable tool that was “Joe Biden?” Did others on the White House Covid Task Force know how that would work? Did they know who or what they were in league with?

Anyway, it didn’t turn out as well as they’d planned, of course. The four years of “Joe Biden” only proved how much that coalition of Deep Staters, globalists, and domestic riffraff hated the old American republic and its pain-in-the-ass Constitution. But when they foundered in 2024 — when old Joe-from-Scranton finally gave away the game on that fatal debate stage — and the party had to stuff his idiot veep into the nomination, the Democratic Party crossed an event horizon into total detachment from reality, where they remain to this day.

So then, where did the Democratic Party get the idea that going balls-out Bolshevik-Jacobin would be their salvation after what they already did to try to wreck our country? And by Bolshevik-Jacobin I mean the marriage of murderous envy with civic psychosis. The line it is drawn; the curse it is cast, Dylan prophesied half a century ago. They’re in your face now. Just listen to them. They mean it. They want all your stuff and they want you dead. They want to put your sons in a cocktail dress. They want mutts from savage lands slavering on your daughters in a drainage ditch. Will half the people in this country really vote for that again?

Yet great forces unseen just now are driving the nation to an autumn reckoning, and the main thing to be reckoned is the survival of the USA as a functioning republic with the credibility of law restored and the demons of lawfare crushed. The possibility of legislated election reform slips away day by day, it’s true. But, please understand, this president will not allow the coming election to get pounded down a rathole. If nothing else, we are going to get an intervention under a national security executive order, on the president’s constitutional duty (and his oath) to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”

The ensuing fight over this will be short and decisive. These mad dogs will be put down, as mad dogs must be. We are going to take our country back. Depend on it.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 16:20

ICE Planning New Detention Facilities For 5,500+ Detainees In Four US Cities

Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness,

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is currently moving to open four new major detention facilities across the United States with a combined capacity to hold 5,500 detainees.

Just the News reports that ICE has sent out a request for information seeking contractors who could operate detention facilities near Denver, Miami and Seattle, and central Pennsylvania.

The request calls for 1,500 beds near Denver, 1,500 near Seattle, 700 near Miami, and 1,800 in Pennsylvania.

Trump administration plans four new ICE detention centers to expand capacityhttps://t.co/r1s5D1iYjT pic.twitter.com/u5wMR9S76z

— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) July 30, 2026

According to federal solicitation documents, ICE wants turn-key existing facilities that would be ready to begin housing detainees within 30 days after a contract is awarded.

Each facility is required to be reserved exclusively for ICE detainees.

Solicitation documents indicate a massive shift toward centralizing legal proceedings directly inside the walls of these new facilities with each of the four facilities to include five immigration courtrooms and dedicated judges’ chambers.

Every site is also expected to feature at least 20 offices for ICE attorneys, allowing deportations and hearings to process rapidly without requiring the transit of detainees to outside federal buildings.

NBC News reports the solicitations require each facility to be operational within 30 days of a contract award, indicating the sites are expected to be largely staffed and equipped before opening.

A major point of contention that has surfaced is that ICE has published draft contract terms declaring that state and local laws “shall not apply” to these new facilities, according to Wired.

The legal maneuver is designed to shield the private prison operators from health, safety, and labor inspections mandated by individual states, coming on the heels of a massive legal battle over state oversight in Washington.

The push is part of the Trump administration’s broader immigration enforcement strategy, aiming to boost total agency bed capacity to 92,600 by November 2026.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 15:40

Five States Make The Cut For $50 Billion Nuclear Campuses 

The Department of Energy has selected Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Idaho as the first five potential hosts for Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses (NLICs), advancing an effort that forced states to decide whether they support the entire nuclear industry or merely the convenient parts.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright signed Memorandums of Understanding with the five states after the DOE reviewed 28 applications from 26 states. The agreements allow the federal government and the states to continue exploring potential campuses. 

The potential prize is substantial, with NLICs potentially attracting up to $50 billion in capital investment, generating almost $10 billion in state and local tax revenue and creating 25,000 jobs each.

These would not simply be reactor parks. The campuses are intended to accommodate multiple parts of the nuclear fuel cycle, including uranium enrichment, fuel fabrication, reprocessing or recycling of used nuclear fuel, and the final disposition of material that cannot be reused. 

Depending on the state and location, a campus could also include advanced reactors, power generation, manufacturing facilities, and co-located data centers.

The DOE is offering states the opportunity to build entire nuclear industrial ecosystems, rather than collecting federal reactor grants while expecting somebody else to deal with the fuel afterward.

That distinction may explain why some supposedly pro-nuclear states are conspicuously absent from the first shortlist.

Texas has spent years presenting itself as the future capital of advanced nuclear power. In 2025, the state established the Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office and appropriated $350 million for reactor development, construction reimbursement, and supply-chain projects. State officials called it the largest state investment of its kind in the country.

Yet when Orano USA and Waste Control Specialists proposed a consolidated interim storage facility for used nuclear fuel in Andrews County, the state's enthusiasm for nuclear technology suddenly became rather selective.

Gov. Greg Abbott urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reject it, calling the location unsuitable and warning that the facility could threaten the Permian Basin. Texas legislators subsequently passed a law opposing high-level waste storage, and the state fought the NRC license all the way to the Supreme Court.

Apparently, nuclear reactors are an economic-development opportunity, while the fuel that actually ran through them is somebody else's problem.

New Mexico produced an even clearer example.

The state has supported nuclear technology when it generates investment and high-paying jobs. It committed $3 million in economic-development funding and another $1.8 million in workforce assistance for Kairos Power's expansion in Albuquerque, where the company is developing molten-salt coolant and fuel-manufacturing technology for advanced reactors.

But New Mexico's reception was considerably less cheerful when Holtec International proposed its HI-STORE consolidated interim storage facility in Lea County.

The NRC licensed the multibillion-dollar project in 2023, but New Mexico's governor and legislature fought it through legislation, permit threats, and litigation. Even after a favorable Supreme Court decision revived the federal licensing pathway, Holtec abandoned the project, describing the path forward in New Mexico as “untenable” and saying it would look toward states that were more amenable.

That history likely did not make New Mexico an especially convincing candidate for a federal program explicitly centered on the entire nuclear lifecycle.

As we have previously detailed, used nuclear fuel has been stored safely in pools and dry casks for decades. The United States has accumulated roughly 95,000 metric tons of it, much of which remains stranded at operating and decommissioned reactor sites because anti-nuclear activists have spent decades treating every proposed storage location like the opening scene of a disaster movie.

The NLIC program offers a different bargain. States willing to accept the responsibilities of the complete fuel cycle stand to enjoy tens of billions of dollars in investments and thousands of high-paying jobs for their constituents.

Texas and New Mexico may enjoy calling themselves pro-nuclear when reactors, research grants, and factory announcements are on the table. But supporting nuclear energy also requires dealing responsibly with what comes out of the reactor.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 15:20

FCC Chair Carr Defends License Review As ABC Cries Censorship

Via American Greatness,

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr is pushing back against Disney-owned ABC’s claims that his agency is engaged in “attempted censorship,” insisting the review of the network’s broadcast licenses stems from evidence of discriminatory hiring practices, not politics.

ABC leveled the censorship accusation in a 119-page regulatory filing posted Thursday, arguing the FCC’s scrutiny of its eight television licenses sends a chilling message to media companies nationwide. “The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country: accommodate the Administration’s view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price,” the network’s lawyers wrote.

Carr has flatly denied that characterization. “I don’t view the FCC as the speech police,” he told Politico this week for an episode of the podcast “The Conversation.” The chairman has said the license review grew out of an ongoing investigation into ABC’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies, not a reaction to the network’s news coverage.

In the interview, Carr detailed the substance of that concern.

“The Disney case is about evidence coming to light, we haven’t made a final decision yet, that they had been discriminating inside the company based on race and gender, in terms of hiring, promoting, compensation, workplace opportunities,” he said.

“If that all ends up being true, based on all the evidence that Disney gets to put in, that’s a very concerning development, and it does raise fundamental questions about fitness to have a license.”

An FCC spokesperson echoed that stance, saying broadcasters must serve the public interest rather than “the narrow or partisan interests of a political party” and are barred from discriminatory practices, hoaxes and news distortion. “The FCC is going to hold broadcasters accountable to the full extent of the law, regardless of any disinformation campaign that some of them may choose to run,” the spokesperson said.

ABC’s filing leaned heavily on outside voices, citing more than 153,000 public comments and warnings from figures including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, about regulatory overreach. Some conservatives and free-market advocates have separately raised concerns about handing an appointed federal agency sweeping authority over news content, regardless of which party controls the White House.

Not all conservatives are sympathetic to ABC’s position.

The Center for American Rights, which petitioned the FCC to deny the licenses, called Thursday for the case to proceed to an administrative hearing.

“Disney’s lawyers can wish upon a star, but they cannot make this record disappear,” said Daniel Suhr, the group’s president.

The dispute traces back to April, when Carr called up all eight Disney-owned stations for an early license review, and intensified this month after President Donald Trump publicly urged the FCC to strip both ABC and NBC of their licenses over their handling of a presidential address. ABC has hired prominent litigators, including former Solicitor General Paul Clement, to fight the review.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 15:00

Chips To Ships: Nvidia Plans New Shipbuilding Investment With Kawasaki

Authored by Stuart Chirls via FreightWaves.com,

Can the world’s newest technology give a boost to one of transportation’s oldest? A plan by leading Asia companies wants to find out.

Nvidia and Kawasaki Heavy Industries announced a joint effort to build a “next‑generation digital shipyard” at Kawasaki’s Sakaide Works in Japan. 

The core of the deal is co‑development of AI‑powered robots for shipbuilding tasks such as welding, painting, inspection, and material handling.

Kawasaki (OTC: KWHIY) will contribute decades of shipbuilding data, production know‑how, and its own robotics capabilities.

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) will contribute its AI and simulation stack, including products for applications in digital twins, robotics, vision/AI, and edge AI, which applies AI models and algorithms directly to devices such as sensors, cameras, robots, vehicles, or industrial controllers.

One report notes Nvidia making a $5 million investment connected to this 1990s‑era Kawasaki shipbuilding business as part of the arrangement, though the main value is technology integration rather than large equity stakes in shipyards.

The outcome could be a precursor to wider adoption in shipbuilding: A plan by the United States to revitalize its shipyards has been dogged by persistent questions of workforce availability.  

Nvidia is already invested in an array of autonomous truck technology.

The AI applications include digital twins of hulls, production lines, and workflows will simulate and optimize before cutting steel, and  AI‑guided robots that can adapt to complex, low‑volume, highly customized shipbuilding tasks. Skills transfer and training via simulation is expected to help address labor shortages and the loss of experienced workers.

Analysts say a scalable AI model could improve lead times and cost curves for newbuilds, particularly in Japan and other yards that license production. Quality and rework rates could be improved, which influence delivery reliability and charterer risk.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 14:20

US Treasury Informed Banks It May Intervene In Japan's Yen, As Market Laughs At BOJ's Own Attempts To Prop Up Currency

While the BOJ understandably refuses to admit it spent a record $140BN (across all markets, $90BN on EBS) to briefly manipulate the Japanese yen higher...

... ahead of yet another disappointing (non-rate hike) decision (according to some calculations, Japan's central bank is about 100 bps of rate hikes behind to stop the ongoing collapse of the yen), others are less shy. 

According to Reuters, similar to the last failed intervention by Japan and citing "a source familiar with the matter", the US Treasury informed a number of ‌banks that it may intervene in the Japanese yen market on Friday and that they should "stand ready for future action."

The notice to banks, channeled through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, comes a day after Japanese authorities stepped in to prop up the yen, setting ​the currency up for its biggest weekly rise since February, pulling it off of four-decade lows against the dollar (although the yen has since erased much of its gains). 

News of ​the potential intervention by the U.S. Treasury helped push the yen higher against the dollar on Friday. It last traded at ⁠159.22 to the dollar after trading as low 163.65 on Thursday. As shown below, the past 48 hours have seen no less than 5 distinct intervention attempts by the BOJ and/or the US Treasury to push the yen higher. 

The method of potential Treasury intervention was not immediately clear. The Federal Reserve has ​maintained a dollar liquidity swap line with the Bank of Japan and four other major central banks since 2013.

Japan's top currency diplomat ​Atsushi Mimura in Tokyo Friday declined to comment on intervention but hinted at U.S. involvement in the effort to stem the yen's decline, including so-called "rate checks" -- requests to dealers for indicative dollar/yen quotes that are considered a precursor to interventions.

Mimura added that the U.S. support "goes beyond psychological support."

The Reuters report of Treasury's ​notice to banks of potential intervention "fits in with the view in the market that the New York Fed has been carrying rate checks, ​so it's adding to the nervousness of market participants that there could be further intervention," said Lee Hardman, currency strategist at MUFG in London. "It definitely helps ‌support the ⁠idea that there is intervention risk on the table."

US Treasury Secretary Bessent said in a post on  X that the Treasury maintains "a strong relationship and close coordination" with Japanese authorities, but did not confirm the intervention preparations.

He said he looked forward to meeting with Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda at the U.S.-hosted G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, at the end ​of August.

"Japan's economy continues to perform ​well under Prime Minister Takaichi, ⁠Governor Ueda and the Bank of Japan Board, which has demonstrated a strong commitment to monetary and financial stability,"

On Thursday, Bessent told Fox Business Network that the yen "seems very undervalued to ​me" and that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was enacting "strong policies" that would help Japan's economic fundamentals. Bessent ​added that "we think excess ⁠volatility in the yen isn't healthy" and that the yen has "substantially overshot what would be called an equilibrium price."

The last time that the US Treasury intervened directly to prop up Japan's yen was in 2011 as part of a coordinated action by G7 countries to stabilize the currency following the devastating ⁠earthquake and ​tsunami rocked Japan. 

The Treasury last fall intervened to prop up Argentina's peso market ​ahead of parliamentary elections and provided President Javier Milei's government with a $20 billion currency swap line to help stabilize the currency and Argentina's dollar bonds. The aid to Argentina relied ​partly on the Exchange Stabilization Fund, which had total assets of about $217 billion as of June 30.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 14:00

Italy Suspends Schengen Travel Agreement With Spain After Horrifying Ceuta Invasion

Summary:

• Italy Suspends Schengen Agreement With Spain Over Ceuta Invasion
• Europe's Right-Wing Blasts Spanish Socialists For Border Failure
• Riots erupted in Ceuta as Illegals Clashed with Security Forces
• Mass Migration Invasion Of Military-Aged Males From Morocco Invades Spanish Enclave 
• "Looks Like World War Z!": Spain's Ceuta Invaded By Thousands Of Military-Aged Male Illegals

Italy Suspends Schengen Agreement With Spain Over Ceuta Invasion 

After Italy's government and top French conservative politicians demanded the suspension of Schengen arrangements with Spain following the invasion of 50,000 military-aged illegal aliens in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Euronews reporter Gabriele Barbati reported that Italy's Interior Ministry had suspended Schengen free-movement rules with Spain and ordered the closure of air and maritime borders between the two countries, citing national security concerns.

GB News reports:

🚨 BREAKING: Italy has suspended the Schengen agreement with Spain after 60,000 migrants broke into Spanish territory. The Italian Ministry of the Interior has ordered the closure of the sea and air borders with Spain.

🇬🇧 Become a Friend of GB News: https://t.co/RxzT9yFXwS pic.twitter.com/0Opt8idvBP

— GB News (@GBNEWS) July 31, 2026

The measure was announced by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Deputy Prime Ministers Antonio Tajani and Matteo Salvini, and was formally approved earlier today after an Interior Ministry review of migration and border-security risks.

Meloni writes on X:

The Government has decided to temporarily suspend the free movement regime provided for by Schengen in maritime and air connections with Spain, reintroducing border controls. This is an extraordinary measure, adopted to safeguard national security and prevent possible repercussions for our Nation. The measure will be kept in force only for the time necessary, with particular attention to limiting any impact on summer tourist flows. In parallel, Italy is ready to support every European initiative to assist Spanish institutions as needed to restore full control of the Union's external borders and to address the ongoing situation with determination. Defending borders means defending the safety of citizens, combating irregular immigration, and striking at the criminal networks that traffic human beings.

Il Governo ha deciso di sospendere temporaneamente il regime di libera circolazione previsto da Schengen nei collegamenti marittimi e aerei con la Spagna, reintroducendo i controlli di frontiera.

Si tratta di una misura straordinaria, adottata per tutelare la sicurezza nazionale… pic.twitter.com/bpszoG8soX

— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) July 31, 2026

Tajani writes on X: 

The temporary suspension of #Schengen with Spain is a necessary choice to safeguard the security of our citizens and defend the European borders. A measure provided for by the treaties and made unavoidable today. The migrant crisis in #Ceuta reminds us that the management of the Union's borders is a shared responsibility among our countries, one toward the other. We must work together to prevent uncontrolled migrant flows from entering EU territory, with all the consequent risks and the threat of terrorism, which must be countered without hesitation.

La sospensione temporanea di #Schengen con la Spagna è una scelta necessaria per tutelare la sicurezza dei nostri cittadini e difendere le frontiere europee. Una misura prevista dai trattati e resa oggi ineludibile. La crisi dei migranti a #Ceuta ci ricorda che la gestione dei…

— Antonio Tajani (@Antonio_Tajani) July 31, 2026

The Schengen Agreement allows people to travel between participating European countries without routine passport or immigration checks at internal borders.

Suspending Schengen arrangements could weaken the European Union by disrupting trade and travel. Restoring borders and ramping up border security would be a major setback for socialists and the far left in Europe, who have been hellbent on a decade or more of mass migration.

If temporary border controls become more permanent or spread across the bloc, they could undermine one of the EU's defining achievements: the free movement of people and goods.

"The world begins to isolate Spain," X user Agustín Antonetti wrote earlier.

🇪🇸🇮🇹 | HISTORICO — Es oficial.

Italia acaba de suspender el acuerdo Schengen con España. Los españoles ya no podrán ingresar libremente al territorio italiano, necesitaran visados o controles (a definir) como el resto de los países no europeos.

El mundo comienza a aislar a… pic.twitter.com/jsA8Z1MXmW

— Agustín Antonetti (@agusantonetti) July 31, 2026

Spain's socialist-led government has pursued mass migration policies while advancing a mass-amnesty program that could legalize as many as one million illegals.

Against that backdrop, the Trump administration has increasingly aligned itself with nationalist, anti-socialist, and pro-American political movements across the West and, more recently, across the Americas.

.@SecRubio: "For the first time in 15–20 years, the overwhelming majority of the countries in the Western Hemisphere are now led by pro-American leaders and governments since @POTUS was elected president." pic.twitter.com/qr0sFuRXKn

— Department of State (@StateDept) July 31, 2026

The Ceuta crisis serves as yet another case study for those warning about mass migration policies that threaten national sovereignty, internal security, and political stability.

Related:

• Spain's Border Invasion Is An Optics Disaster For Open-Border Democrats

Invasion: 50,000 Illegals Invade Spanish Enclave In 24 Hours, Chaos Unfolds 

New figures from Spain's Department of National Security indicate that 49,000 people illegally entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta within 24 hours, according to Reuters.

Just kidding, this is the actual footage … pic.twitter.com/jYRpSWM24e

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2026

For context, Ceuta has only about 84,000 residents, meaning the invasion is equivalent to nearly 60% of its population.

The population of Cueta is about 85,000 people.

The civil guard is apparently reporting that 40,000 Moroccans have flooded in.

The romans invaded Britain with the same number. https://t.co/ZeLFY3TEat

— Anglo (@TheAnglo_) July 30, 2026

The invasion of tens of thousands, in what only appears to be large numbers of military-aged men traveling without food, shelter, baggage, or money, is difficult to explain as spontaneous migration alone.

ESTO ES MUY GRAVE. Me llegan estas imágenes de cómo las autoridades marroquíes vacían camiones llenos de jóvenes cerca de la frontera con Ceuta.

Quien no quiera ver que se trata de una operación perfectamente preparada por el régimen, es que es ciego. pic.twitter.com/YpxFAaF7Wb

— Taleb Alisalem (@TalebSahara) July 30, 2026

A Moroccan border guard opens a gate and lets through dozens of illegal migrants toward the Spanish border fence in Ceuta.

The Moroccan state is coordinating the invasion of Spanish territory.

🇪🇸🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/yqNbW1QEec

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 31, 2026

At minimum, it suggests organized and deliberate, with high amounts of coordination on the Moroccan side.

Morocco didn’t send 40,000 of its own people into Ceuta and Melilla all at once, with no food or shelter, by accident.

They are using their people to take over Ceuta and Melilla.

Now they are breaking in homes, looting, and setting fires, while the people living there are… pic.twitter.com/EUdSRy0r7b

— Jammles (@jammles9) July 30, 2026

The immediate effect is to overwhelm Ceuta's border security, law enforcement, housing, and humanitarian capacity. If state-enabled, the operation would fit what can only be described as hybrid or asymmetric warfare: weaponizing migration and civilian populations to impose political pressure while preserving plausible deniability.

Earlier this year, Spain's socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez dismissed criticism from Elon Musk and others over his open border globalist policies. His government subsequently granted amnesty to illegal aliens, with Sánchez declaring: "Spain is a welcoming country, and this is the path we choose."

In January, Spain's Pedro Sánchez dismissed Elon Musk’s criticism of his immigration policies.

Today, thousands of illegal immigrants are pouring across Spain’s border.@elonmusk @sanchezcastejon https://t.co/tPsVzlDOpX pic.twitter.com/ZOLFBi2uq7

— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) July 30, 2026

The invasion of military-aged Moroccan men that is overwhelming local security and humanitarian services will intensify criticism of Sánchez's unhinged left-wing immigration policies and raise concerns about national security. This will strengthen support among common-sense right-wing politicians across Europe who have been pushing for closed borders.

🇪🇸🇲🇦 Riots erupted in Ceuta as migrants clashed with security forces thoughout the night.

There were reports of damage to private property, vehicles being set on fire, businesses being looted, and homes being illegally occupied.

Follow: @europa pic.twitter.com/iT8deLYaBf

— Europa.com (@europa) July 31, 2026

"In the face of the massive and coordinated influx of migrants into Spain — encouraged by the Spanish government — France must immediately strengthen its border controls," Marine Le Pen of France's right-wing National Rally wrote on X.

Italy's right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her country was prepared "to intervene with extraordinary measures to defend the borders and the safety of citizens, including the suspension of the Schengen Area with Spain."

"The images coming from Ceuta show how the Madrid Government's decision to grant Spanish, and therefore European, citizenship to over 500,000 irregular immigrants is profoundly wrong and encourages human trafficking," Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wrote.

The emerging news cycle across the West could very well frame the crisis as a predictable result of the socialists' "suicidal empathy" and nation-killing open border policies. The footage alone could sway undecided voters regarding the consequences of open borders. In the US, Trump and the GOP will almost certainly use the footage against the Democratic Socialists of America and the broader far-left movement, portraying their immigration agenda as an effort to dismantle national borders and linking it directly to the policies pursued under the Biden-Harris regime.

"Looks Like World War Z!": Spain's Ceuta Invaded By Thousands Of Military-Aged Male Illegals

Shocking footage circulating on X shows thousands of migrants breaching Spain's border into its North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco on Thursday, overwhelming local police and exposing a serious national security failure.

The invasion comes shortly after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist-led government signed up 1 million illegal aliens to legalize their status under a new program to bring them into the workforce. However, the program applied only to migrants already living in Spain before Jan. 1, meaning Thursday's arrivals are ineligible.

Sánchez has defended his government's mass amnesty for illegals by claiming Spain's GDP would crater by 20% by 2050 without continued immigration.

Sánchez said Spain would lose 19% of its GDP by 2050 - and 22% by 2075 - if migration were sharply reduced, presenting immigration as essential to the country's long-term economic growth.

Thousands of fighting age men who invaded Spain today have begun breaking into people's homes, where women and children live.

It's an invading army.

This is what an invasion looks like. pic.twitter.com/nd99hqT0gw

— 𝐍𝐢𝐨𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠 🇮🇷 ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) July 30, 2026

North African Muslim criminals have just broken into Spain from Morocco via Ceuta. Europe is under attack. pic.twitter.com/kehj5LHvec

— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) July 30, 2026

Almost entirely men of military age. https://t.co/0oTYCCQXT3

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 30, 2026

Today's invasion has prompted us to examine whether left-wing NGOs coordinated with or received support from elements of the Spanish government.

"We're working on an immediate response to the situation in Ceuta"

>Refuses to send in the military for a literal southern border invasion. https://t.co/BhMfIvJDVs

— Trad West (@trad_west_) July 30, 2026

No public evidence has established such coordination, making this an outstanding question at the moment.

They call it a "liberation" of Ceuta, a handover back to its owners. @mattvanswol is right on the money. It's an invasion. pic.twitter.com/vGPCQjqgTd

— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) July 30, 2026

Footage:

Holy. Shit.

Spain's far-left PM Pedro Sanchez gave amnesty to 1,000,000+ illegal immigrants, and now hordes of unvetted men are storming across the border from Africa.

It’s the same playbook across the West.
These people will destroy our civilization. pic.twitter.com/NcERXfTbPv

— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) July 30, 2026

🇪🇸 Sánchez’s government does not consider the invasion of Ceuta a “national emergency”

The Interior Ministry said it will protect border integrity but cannot declare a formal national emergency solely over migration.

As a result, Ceuta’s local authorities cannot access special… pic.twitter.com/rXGdIdBNxK

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 30, 2026

🇪🇸 Thousands of African migrants who illegally invaded Spain today are celebrating their arrival

Soon, Sánchez’s government will issue them legal documents, and they will disperse across Europe. pic.twitter.com/Yx5YDRrnXy

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 30, 2026

Musk chimed in:

Looks like World War Z! https://t.co/GCqWAruEEA

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2026

In the US, Democratic Socialists of America politicians have unveiled a plan to collapse the nation's borders, similar to what was done under the Biden-Harris regime era, increase sanctuary protections, and grant mass amnesty to all illegals. These policies are nation-killing, as the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said that housing prices and rents soared when the Biden regime allowed millions of illegals to flood the nation.

The most observable threat is that this is a "war on the West" waged by globalists and pushed by the left wing to destroy borders across the Western world. These illegals become voting blocs that displace native-born workers, essentially stealing political power - and the establishment Democratic Party is now learning that the hard way.

All in all, the left wing says they're upholding democracy, yet no sane person voted for this invasion by the tens of millions across the West, which was forced down the throats of citizens.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 13:36

Tesla Weighs China Spinoff As Potential SpaceX Merger Looms

Tesla is reportedly evaluating whether to separate its China operations through a sale, spinoff, or other restructuring as it considers a possible future merger with SpaceX, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.

The discussions reflect increasing geopolitical tensions between the United States and China, as well as the unique regulatory challenges that would arise if Tesla became part of a company with significant U.S. defense contracts.

The Journal reports that people familiar with the matter say Elon Musk has spent several years organizing Tesla so that its American and Chinese businesses can operate more independently. The strategy is intended to reduce risk if relations between the two countries deteriorate further, particularly in the event of conflict involving Taiwan or tighter restrictions on trade, technology, or critical supply chains.

Separating the China business could also help address concerns from both governments. Chinese regulators may be reluctant to allow a major U.S. defense contractor to oversee Tesla's manufacturing operations, technology, and customer data in China.

At the same time, SpaceX's work with the U.S. government subjects it to strict national security and export control requirements that could create additional complications if the two companies were combined.

China remains one of Tesla's largest and most important markets, accounting for about 18% of the company's sales while serving as a major production hub for vehicles and batteries.

Tesla has already taken steps to reduce its dependence on Chinese suppliers and strengthen the separation between its global operations. Although no decision has been finalized, reports indicate the company is evaluating multiple restructuring options as part of broader contingency planning. Musk has publicly denied the report, calling it "fake news."

Just a few months ago, Tesla's China president was quoted by local media as saying the Shanghai Gigafactory could eventually play a major role in mass-producing humanoid robots. 

The Shanghai Morning Post quoted Allan Wang Hao, a senior executive at Tesla China, who said the Shanghai Gigafactory could provide a "golden key" to mass-producing the Optimus robot.

"Like other Tesla factories, Giga Shanghai can shoulder important responsibilities in manufacturing all new products, including robots, to make our contributions to the company," Hao said. "We are highly confident in welcoming the arrival of a new era of robots."

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 13:25

Seattle Police Chief Resigns 4 Days After Deadly Festival Shooting

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times,

Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes on Thursday sent his letter of resignation to Mayor Katie B. Wilson, four days after a fatal shooting at a food festival, the mayor's office and Seattle Police Department announced.

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson (C) and Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes (L) attend the vigil for victims the day after a shooting at Seattle Center during the Bite of Seattle food festival, in Seattle on July 27, 2026. Lindsey Wasson/AP Photo

The shooting at the Bite of Seattle festival at Seattle Center left three people dead and four wounded. One suspect was arrested.

At around 6 p.m. Sunday, a 15-year-old was seen firing into a crowd at the popular three-day festival by at least one officer who was among the dozens of police present. The officer quickly persuaded the teen to surrender. An acquaintance of the teen was among those killed, and four others were wounded, among them a 2-year-old boy.

The aftermath drew sharp public and media criticism focused on communication failures at the scene, and authorities continued searching for at least one more suspect.

After an initial social media post confirming a shooting with multiple victims, nearly five hours passed before additional details were released, including whether any active threat remained. Wilson briefly announced that two people had been taken into custody before retracting the statement, and an official update did not come until a late-night news conference around 11 p.m.

Barnes, who had been attending a law enforcement conference in Dallas at the time of the incident, faced scrutiny alongside city leadership for the delayed and sometimes inconsistent information.

"It has been an honor to serve the Seattle Police Department and this city," Barnes said in a statement released by the mayor's office. "The members of this department show up every single day with professionalism and dedication, and what they did in the aftermath of the Bite of Seattle tragedy reflects the very best of who they are. I am proud of them, and I have deep faith in the future of this department and in the vision for community-based policing that is taking root here."

Wilson thanked Barnes for his service.

"Chief Barnes has served this department and this city with dedication," she said. "The courage and professionalism that the officers of the Seattle Police Department showed deserves to be honored."

Sayles has more than 20 years of experience in law enforcement. He previously served as chief of police in Madison, Wisconsin. He joined the Seattle Police Department in 2025 as deputy chief of administration and investigations.

Wilson announced Deputy Chief Andre Sayles as interim chief as the city conducts a search for a permanent chief.

"My vision for public safety in this city is grounded in transparency, trust, and genuine collaboration with the community," Wilson said. "Keeping people safe requires trust, and trust requires that this department shows up in neighborhoods every day, builds relationships with residents, community organizations, and small businesses, and is accountable to the people it serves."

Sue Rahr, a former Seattle police interim chief and retired sheriff, backed the decision.

"This situation is very difficult, and I admire the mayor for acting decisively to move forward and rebuild strong and engaged leadership inside the department," Rahr said.

Wilson and Sayles will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. Friday at City Hall to introduce the interim chief and detail the process for selecting a permanent chief.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 13:05

Spain's Border Invasion Is An Optics Disaster For Open-Border Democrats

The average American has learned about the far-left movement, or more particularly, reformist socialists, otherwise known as the Democratic Socialists of America, in recent months. The DSA says in its own words that its platform is about collapsing America from within. To accomplish that, they must push open borders and flood the nation with millions more illegal aliens, similar to what the Biden-Harris regime of globalists did, among many other nation-killing policies.

The only problem for the DSA is that, after weeks of heightened news coverage in the corporate media about its sinister plan, the news cycle has turned against it. Tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of people across the West have just witnessed the border invasion of 50,000 military-aged men into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta at a time when the socialist regime controlling Spain has adopted what some call "suicidal empathy" and welcomed illegals into the country by the millions on a red carpet.

Just kidding, this is the actual footage … pic.twitter.com/jYRpSWM24e

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2026

In the minds of millions across the West, one political association is becoming increasingly easy to see among the average voter: mass migration from the third world is now seen as a direct consequence of electing socialist governments. Spain has become the latest case study, with the country's socialist-led government planning to grant amnesty to at least one million illegal migrants.

We wrote earlier that President Trump and the GOP would connect the dots for American voters through a media campaign, warning that electing socialists could trigger another U.S. border invasion. The chaos in Ceuta now provides powerful imagery of what Trump argues could happen if the DSA seized more power.

Trump said Friday morning: "It's terrible. Remember that picture. That's going to be us in three years if the wrong side gets in... If the Democrats get in, you will not live a very good life."

.@POTUS: "It's terrible. Remember that picture. That's going to be us in three years if the wrong side gets in... If the Democrats get in, you will not live a very good life." https://t.co/gCSfGLO58i pic.twitter.com/K1F7fhYue0

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 31, 2026

Readers should remember that the DSA is a reform-socialist organization. That distinction matters because reform socialists seek to destroy and dismantle the nation and capitalism - and reconstruct the political and economic system along socialist lines.

Second, the DSA has openly promoted an agenda that would collapse border enforcement and facilitate another invasion of illegals numbering in the millions. The economic consequences of the Biden-era migration surge are already visible, particularly in housing. Dallas Fed research estimated that unauthorized immigration accounted for roughly 30% of U.S. home price growth and about 20% of rent increases between 2021 and 2024.

All in all, the Ceuta invasion is strengthening the political case for secure borders across the West - already being spoken about by right-wing EU officials today - while creating an optically devastating moment for socialist parties and the open-border left across the West.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 12:55

Immigrant Business Owners Prepare Lawsuit Against Mamdani Over City-Run Grocery Stores

Via American Greatness,

Several immigrant business owners are preparing to sue New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over his plan for city-owned grocery stores, Fox News Digital confirmed Wednesday.

The Multicultural Business Coalition’s board voted this week to pursue legal action against the city over Mamdani’s proposal to open five taxpayer-funded grocery stores that would sell food at prices up to 30% below traditional retailers, according to the New York Post, which first reported the vote Tuesday.

MBC Chairman Frank Garcia said the coalition plans to send a letter to Mamdani’s office in the coming days outlining its legal plans to protect bodegas, competing grocers and other small businesses. If the mayor does not respond or agree to meet within three weeks, the group intends to proceed with the lawsuit.

Garcia said he has sought a meeting with the administration for months without success, despite public assurances from a city commissioner that officials would engage with all stakeholders.

“The commissioner said this administration is open to speak to everybody, and they want to hear from everybody,” Garcia told Fox News Digital.

“So I’ve been waiting for a meeting for a couple of months. Why aren’t they having me? We are ready to file the lawsuit if the mayor doesn’t meet with us.”

Garcia described the effort as nonpartisan, saying it is aimed at defending small business owners who are already struggling with rising costs in New York City.

He said lawyers will be ready to file once the three-week window closes, citing support from a coalition of civil rights and community organizations across the political spectrum.

“We’re nonpartisan. So we’re going to meet everybody, Republican or Democrat,” Garcia said, adding that a Democratic Jewish organization and other civil rights groups have offered support and funding for the legal fight.

The coalition was formed earlier this year specifically to oppose Mamdani’s grocery store initiative and includes members from African, Asian, Caribbean, Hispanic, Jewish and Middle Eastern business communities. It has drawn backing from city and state lawmakers, including New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

The looming lawsuit follows Mamdani’s release of additional details on the city-backed grocery plan, which has drawn renewed criticism from opponents who have branded it a “communist fantasy” and a threat to independent grocers already operating on thin margins. The mayor has separately faced pushback over his endorsed rent freeze, which a group of city landlords is also seeking to overturn in court.

Mamdani has defended the grocery store plan as a way to lower food costs for residents, pointing to it as a signature piece of his affordability agenda. Critics, including small business advocates and economists, have questioned whether a government-run retail operation can undercut private grocers without straining city finances or distorting the local market bodegas and immigrant-owned stores depend on to survive.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 12:25

Claude Hacked Three Real Organizations During Botched Test

Anthropic's efforts to test Claude's offensive cybersecurity skills produced an unintended real-world result: Its AI models gained unauthorized access to three outside organizations.

The company said the incidents occurred during "capture the flag" evaluations designed to measure whether Claude could identify vulnerabilities, exploit simulated systems, and retrieve hidden information. Claude had been told that the targets were fictional and that its testing environment had no Internet access.

According to Anthropic, a misunderstanding with evaluation partner Irregular left Internet access enabled inside the testing environment. In at least one case, the fictional company named in a challenge shared its name with an active website domain. Claude interacted with the real organization instead of a contained target.

The model exploited vulnerabilities in the organization's infrastructure, extracted information, and obtained access to a database containing several hundred rows of production data.

Anthropic discovered three incidents after reviewing more than 141,000 cybersecurity evaluations. They involved three separate systems: Claude Opus 4.7, Mythos 5, and an internal research model.

In a review of our cybersecurity evaluations, we found three incidents in which a Claude model reached the internet from within or while interacting with a third-party evaluation environment, and then gained unauthorized access to the real systems of three different organizations. Our post describes what happened, how it happened, and what we’re changing. We encourage other AI developers to perform similar reviews.  -Anthropic

"In all cases, Anthropic's evaluation prompt specified to Claude that its environment was a simulation and that it had no internet access," the company said. "Due to a misunderstanding between us and our evaluation partner, this was not the case, and internet access was available."

The models appear to have carried out the offensive-security tasks they were assigned while operating with incorrect information about whether their targets were simulated. 

Capture the Flag

Capture-the-flag exercises are widely used to train and evaluate cybersecurity skills. Participants may be asked to inspect software, reverse-engineer a service, identify a vulnerability, or exploit a deliberately insecure system to recover a hidden token known as the flag. For a human security researcher, the scope of such an exercise is normally reinforced through explicit authorization, controlled infrastructure, and technical barriers separating the challenge from unrelated systems.

Claude received instructions saying that those boundaries existed. 

Once Internet access was available, the agent could resolve public domains and interact with real infrastructure. A naming collision between a fictional target and an actual organization was enough to turn a benchmark task into an unauthorized intrusion.

Anthropic said it stopped the evaluations after identifying the possibility that Claude had accessed the public Internet. The company described the incidents as the result of multiple contributing factors but said it would approach the fixes as though the responsibility were Anthropic's alone.

The story echoes an OpenAI incident where models escaped containment. During that company's own cybersecurity testing, two models exploited a software vulnerability in their evaluation environment, reached the Internet, and accessed systems belonging to AI platform Hugging Face.

A system does not need motives, self-preservation, or an understanding of the outside world to cause damage. It needs effective offensive capabilities, sufficient autonomy, and access that its operators did not intend to provide.

Awkward timing for Anthropic

The disclosure comes as Anthropic is reportedly preparing for a potential initial public offering as early as this year. That adds financial and regulatory stakes to questions about how the company evaluates models with advanced cybersecurity capabilities.

Mythos 5, one of the models involved, had been provided to a limited number of partners and attracted attention for its ability to detect and exploit software vulnerabilities. Those capabilities can be valuable for defensive research, automated testing, and vulnerability discovery. They also raise the cost of mistakes in target selection and evaluation design.

Three incidents among more than 141,000 reviewed evaluations represent a small proportion of the tests. But the relevant risk is not simply how often a containment failure occurs, it's what a sufficiently capable agent can do during the rare evaluation in which the safeguards fail.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 12:05

AI Bear Case: What Skeptics Get Right And Wrong

Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

The AI “bear case” isn’t one argument; it’s three. Burry on earnings. Bernstein on circular financing. MIT on revenue. Two are half right. One falls apart on the data.

Michael Burry broke a two-year silence on November 11 to accuse the world’s largest technology companies of cooking their books, calling it one of the more common frauds of the modern era. That got attention, and it should. When the man who shorted the housing bubble says AI earnings are fake, you listen. But the AI bear case that has hardened over the past six months isn’t one argument. It’s three. And when you pull them apart, two hold up as real risks, and one falls apart on contact with the data.

Three Arguments, Not One

Here’s the problem with the way the AI bear case is usually discussed. The skeptics blur three separate claims into a single mood.

• The earnings are fake.
• The demand is manufactured.
• The spending will never earn a return.

Each one points to something real, but each one also gets stretched beyond what the evidence supports. Most notably, that often occurs in the same breath.

I’ve spent the better part of a year on this question. Last summer, I argued that the deficit narrative would find its cure in AI infrastructure. Then, last month, I stress-tested that thesis against Goldman’s research and conceded where my original multiplier math was too generous. So I’m not defending a permabull position here. I’m doing what my clients would want me to do: steelman the bear, then check the receipts. Let’s take the three in the order the skeptics usually make them.

The AI Bear Case On Earnings

Let’s start with Burry, because he is the sharpest. To wit:

“Understating depreciation by extending useful life of assets artificially boosts earnings.”

His math runs like this. The hyperscalers depreciate Nvidia hardware over five or six years, when the real economic life of a chip on a three-year cycle is closer to two or three. Stretch the schedule, undercount the annual expense, and the reported profit looks better than the economics justify. He pegs the gap at roughly $176 billion of understated depreciation across the industry from 2026 through 2028. By the same math, Oracle overstated near 27% and Meta near 21% by 2028.

Is he wrong? Not on the accounting. Useful-life assumptions are a genuine lever, and a two- to three-year chip cycle on a six-year schedule is a fair thing to question. If you own these names on reported earnings alone, take the point seriously.

Here’s where the argument gets stretched. Depreciation is a non-cash charge. Yes, it moves reported EPS, but it does not touch a single dollar of operating cash flow. Alphabet still generated roughly $165 billion in operating cash flow in 2025, and that number doesn’t care how the accountants schedule a server. The problem Burry describes, even if you grant every figure, is an earnings-quality and valuation issue. The bears conflate “earnings are overstated” with “the business isn’t working,” and only the first claim survives the filings.

Circular Financing And Manufactured Demand

The second argument is the circular one. Nvidia invests in OpenAI. OpenAI buys cloud from Oracle. Oracle buys chips from Nvidia. Bernstein’s Stacy Rasgon said the setup would “clearly fuel ‘circular’ concerns,” and the comparison to dot-com vendor financing, Nortel and Lucent lending customers the cash to buy their own gear, writes itself. Analysts have tagged north of $800 billion in these arrangements.

The concern is legitimate for those specific deals. The mistake is treating the loop as the whole story. UBS put the OpenAI-Nvidia arrangement at up to 13% of Nvidia’s projected 2026 revenue. The other 87% comes from customers buying at arm’s length. Most hyperscaler AI revenue comes from enterprises and consumers paying real money for cloud and software, not from the same dollars chasing themselves around a circle of five companies.

Does the circular piece deserve watching? Absolutely. OpenAI is reportedly on track to lose around $14 billion this year, and vendor-warrant deals like AMD’s are exactly the kind of engineering that looks clever right up until demand slips. But “some of the financing is circular” is a caution flag. It is not, by itself, a bubble thesis.

The AI Bear Case On Revenue

Now, the one that collapses. The headline version comes from the MIT “GenAI Divide” study: 95% of enterprise AI pilots showed no measurable profit impact despite billions spent. The bears read that as proof that the capex will never earn a return. Capex without revenue. The dot-com story all over again.

Two problems. First, read what MIT actually found. The failures were organizational, not technological. Companies were building tools in-house instead of buying them, and aiming them at marketing instead of the back office. In the same survey, roughly 90% of workers reported using personal AI tools at work, against only 40% of firms with official subscriptions.

Here is the most crucial point. The revenue is showing up. It just isn’t always running through the corporate AI budget.

Second, and this is the part that the “no revenue” crowd skips, the study measures the buyer’s return, not the seller’s revenue. Morningstar estimates that in 2025, the U.S. AI sector produced around $100 billion in services revenue. That is enough to cover the cost of running the models. The question was never whether the revenue is REAL. It’s whether that revenue eventually covers model training and research, not just the cost of inference. That’s a live question. “Nobody is paying for this” is not.

So, let’s recap where we are. Two of the three bear arguments are real risks about price and financing. The third, that the spending will never earn revenue, is the one that falls apart on the data.

Where The Bears Are Right

I like the AI trade. Mostly. What keeps nagging me isn’t the revenue. It’s the free cash flow. The four hyperscalers spent about $410 billion on capex in 2025, and 2026 guidance points to something near $700 billion. That’s real money leaving the building. Pivotal Research projects Alphabet’s free cash flow drops almost 90% this year, to roughly $8 billion from $73 billion. Amazon’s could turn negative.

But falling free cash flow isn’t automatically the red flag it looks like, and here’s where I part ways with the harder bears. There’s a difference between a company bleeding cash to prop up a dying model and one spending record sums to build the next one. Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft aren’t buying back stock at these levels. They’re plowing the cash back into the business.

The assumption buried inside the bear case, that the spending never earns a return and free cash flow never recovers, is itself a bet against three of the best capital allocators of the past twenty years. Amazon spent a decade being told AWS was a distraction. Microsoft was written off before Azure. “This time is different” is a dangerous phrase in both directions. The honest caveat is that the real difference this round isn’t the companies, it’s the asset: a GPU on a two-to-three-year cycle has to pay off fast, in a way those decade-long infrastructure bets never had to.

So the honest version of the AI bear case isn’t “the earnings are fake” or “no one is paying.” It’s this: spending is running years ahead of payback, and every hyperscaler is building as if the return has already been proven. It isn’t yet. What is crucial is that you can be right about the fundamentals and still pay far too much for them. Cisco had real revenue in 2000. It still fell 80% and took the better part of two decades to reclaim that high.

What The AI Bear Case Means For Investors

Separate the two risks, because they call for different responses. The revenue risk, the MIT “no ROI” story, is largely noise for a diversified investor. The valuation-and-cash-flow risk is the one to manage. Owning the AI buildout at a sensible weight is fine. Owning it as though every dollar of promised capex converts cleanly into profit is not.

That’s how we’ve positioned it. We hold AI exposure across both the Equity Aggressive Growth and Equity Conservative Growth models, but we’ve kept it trimmed to a target weight rather than letting the winners run to a concentration that would sting if the multiple compresses. When the group re-rates, and at some point it will, the gap between a 4% position and a 9% position is the gap between a drawdown you manage and one that manages you.

The bottom line is this. The AI bear case is worth taking seriously on price and financing. It is not worth taking seriously on demand. Anyone selling you the whole package as a single story, bull or bear, is selling you a mood, not an analysis.

The revenue is real. The cash flow is the thing to watch. Price accordingly.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 11:45

It's A Gambling Platform "Plain And Simple"; New York Sues Kalshi

Authored by Olivier Acuna via CoinDesk.com,

New York sued prediction-market Kalshi, alleging it offers sports and event wagers in the state without a gaming license.

The petition, filed in the New York Supreme Court on Friday, asks a judge to bar the company from operating an unlicensed gambling business and seeks an accounting of customer bets, losses and company gains, plus restitution, damages and civil penalties.

The state is seeking a penalty equal to three times Kalshi’s gains from the activity, plus $100,000 for each unauthorized or attempted offer of sports or mobile sports wagering, according to a statement published by Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James.

“New York’s gambling ⁠laws protect children from underage betting and help combat gambling addiction,” James said in the statement.

"No matter what they call themselves, prediction markets like ​Kalshi are gambling platforms, plain and simple."

Kalshi, which targeted a $40 billion valuation during a June funding round, and the prediction markets sector are facing legal challenges across the U.S. In Minnesota, Kalshi and rival Polymarket scored a temporary win when the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota ruled the state’s law banning prediction markets likely runs afoul of the Commodity Exchange Act, and granted a preliminary injunction against the law to the two companies and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

“It's sad to see this type of political theater from the leadership in our own state,” Elisabeth Diana, Kalshi’s head of communications, said in an email to CoinDesk.

“States can’t just shut down a federally licensed exchange. This would also hurt New Yorkers, who would be driven offshore. We love New York, we love New Yorkers, and New Yorkers love our product."

James’ office described Kalshi’s event contracts as bets and said the platform takes wagers on professional and college sports, elections and culture.

The lawsuit alleges Kalshi allows users aged 18 to 20 to wager and lists markets involving New York college teams, both prohibited for licensed sportsbooks in the state.

The World Cup helped boost Kalshi's numbers, adding 3 million during the course of the tournament, according to CNBC. That's more than double the 2 million the firm said it had at the start of May.

According to the attorney general’s statement, the lawsuit follows an October cease-and-desist order from the New York State Gaming Commission.

A federal judge denied Kalshi’s bid to block state regulators on July 7 and rejected an injunction pending appeal on July 27.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/31/2026 - 11:05