US Imposes 50% Tariffs on About $20 Billion of Canadian Goods After Talks End Without a Deal
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he suspended negotiations late Friday and would match the tariffs "dollar for dollar"; U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Canada declined to finalize agreed terms.
U.S.
Bessent Says U.S. Will Impose 'Toughest Sanctions in History' on Iran; Details Set for Monday Briefing
The Treasury secretary said new measures paired with the U.S. naval blockade are meant to "collapse" Iran's economy, and warned third countries that keep trading with Tehran; Iran, China and Russia say they will not comply.
North Korea Fires About 10 Short-Range Ballistic Missiles; U.S.-South Korea Drills Ended the Next Day
Seoul's Joint Chiefs said the missiles flew about 300 kilometers into eastern waters on Aug. 20, a day before the shortened Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise wrapped up.
Chief Justice Roberts Pauses Order Halting White House Ballroom Work While Supreme Court Weighs Appeal
Roberts put a lower-court injunction on hold on August 21, letting construction on the East Wing ballroom site continue while the justices consider the Trump administration's emergency application.
DOJ Unseals Nine-Count Indictment Charging Four Bronx Men in $12 Million Medicaid Ride-Billing Case
Prosecutors in Manhattan federal court allege a Bronx crew called the "War Room" logged rides to methadone clinics that were never given; three men were arrested and one remains at large.
N.C.
NC Drought Advisory Updated Aug. 18: Western Counties Improve, Western Brunswick Still in Worst Category
State drought officials report spotty rain eased conditions in the mountains while parts of Warren and Halifax counties slipped into extreme drought, and reservoirs including Falls Lake remain below normal.
Campbell University Student, 19, Charged With Felony Threat of Mass Violence, Released on $100,000 Bond
Harnett County deputies arrested Gabriel Sharlow on Aug. 19 under a North Carolina law against threatening mass violence on school property; the university dismissed him, and no weapons were found on campus.
Raleigh Council Reviews 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Youth Curfew Proposal, With a Vote Set for Sept. 15
The draft ordinance would bar people under 18 from public spaces overnight, with exceptions; it follows July 4 gatherings police estimated at thousands of youths, in which nine people were shot.
NC Legislature Held Its Last Pre-Election Voting Day on Aug. 6, With 54 Bills Enacted So Far in 2026
Lawmakers adopted an adjournment resolution setting a Nov. 16 return date and a list of subjects they may take up then; most House Democrats voted against it.
North Carolina Reports 1,875 School Weapons-Possession Offenses in 2024-25, Lowest Since 2006-07
State data released in February 2026 shows weapons offenses in North Carolina public schools at their lowest recorded level since 2006-07, while districts including Sampson County continue installing weapons-detection systems this August.
NC Rural Infrastructure Authority Approves $4.93 Million in Grants; State Projects $1 Billion in Private Investment, With $900 Million From One Wilson Project
Gov. Josh Stein announced 11 local-government grants totaling $4,933,520 on August 20, 2026, tied to 673 committed jobs — 342 of them newly announced — with most of the projected private investment coming from a single Johnson & Johnson expansion in Wilson.
Finance
Bitcoin Closes at $76,943.90 After a 22% Week, Its Biggest Weekly Gain Since 2023
The rally followed a Treasury announcement doubling long-bond buybacks, a White House meeting with crypto executives, about $1.6 billion of spot-ETF inflows over four sessions, and roughly $3 billion in forced closures of bearish bets.
Kansas City Fed's Jackson Hole Symposium Runs Aug. 27-29, With Warsh's First Keynote as Fed Chair on Aug. 28
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's annual conference is themed on financial innovation and payments, and comes about three weeks before the Fed's Sept. 16 rate decision.
S&P Global Flash Composite PMI Rises to 56.0 in August; Weekly Jobless Claims Fall to 206,000
Two US data releases on August 20 and 21, 2026 showed a survey of business activity at its highest since April 2022 and new unemployment filings below forecast, while hiring and continuing-claims figures stayed weaker than before the pandemic-era boom.
Coty Reports 1% Revenue Rise and 26% Drop in Quarterly Adjusted EBITDA, Withholds Full-Year Fiscal 2027 Forecast
The beauty company's fourth-quarter sales of $1,269.2 million topped analyst estimates, its adjusted loss of $0.02 per share missed them, and management declined to give an annual outlook, calling fiscal 2027 a "transition year."
Deere Reports $1.379 Billion Third-Quarter Profit, Raises Low End of Fiscal-2026 Guidance to $4.75 Billion
The company said construction sales and tariff refunds lifted results, kept the top of its profit range unchanged, and repeated that 2026 marks the bottom of the farm equipment cycle.
White House Sends Fed Governor Lisa Cook a Letter Giving Her Until Aug. 26 to Answer Mortgage-Fraud Allegations
The Aug. 5 letter, signed by Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, cites the Supreme Court's June 29 ruling that President Trump had to give Cook notice and a chance to respond before removing her.
World
Romanian F-16 Destroys Explosive Sea Drone in Romania's Black Sea Economic Zone, Defense Ministry Says
The drone floated on the water about 80 nautical miles offshore near the Neptun Deep gas project; on the same day, Finland reported a suspected Russian aircraft incursion, and Moscow has denied responsibility for earlier drone incidents.
Kushner Meets Hamas Leaders in Egypt and Netanyahu in Jerusalem as 15-Point Gaza Roadmap Remains Unimplemented
Israel rejected the US Board of Peace roadmap on August 5; Hamas says it accepts the roadmap but ties handing over heavy weapons to Israeli withdrawal and a path to statehood.
Ukraine's Military Intelligence Says North Korea Sent About 8,500 More Troops to Russia, Including 400 Drone Operators
Kyiv's HUR says the new contingent is mostly in Kursk region and includes engineers and drone crews; Russia has not confirmed the figures, North Korea has called the 50,000-troop escalation estimate 'groundless,' and Ukraine says Moscow may still seek far more troops at a September Putin-Kim meeting.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Says Moscow Will Consider Peace Proposals That Match Putin's Goals and 'Realities on the Ground'
Sergei Ryabkov's remarks, made in an interview with the Russian outlet News.ru published Friday, restate Moscow's existing conditions while praising Washington for what he called constructive dialogue.
Seven Governments Issue Joint Statement Urging Israel to Withdraw Tender for 1,234 Homes in West Bank E1 Area
Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway called the August 18 tender "unacceptable" and asked Israel to retract it; Israeli ministers rejected the demand.
Analysis
Unbiased, evergreen deep-dives on the bigger questions — not breaking news.
What Fauci's Released Diary Documents About the U.S. COVID-19 Response — and What It Leaves Unresolved
A 1,141-page personal diary released by Sen. Rand Paul's committee is roughly one-third routine administrative logging; a minority of entries bear directly on contested questions, and a few conflict with contemporaneous public statements.
Eight Months of Mamdani: What New York's Record Actually Shows, and What It Cannot Yet Show
A claim-by-claim audit of what Zohran Mamdani has delivered, how New Yorkers judge it, and what the evidence does and does not license anyone to conclude about the rest of the country.