Supreme Court Stays One of Two Injunctions Against Trump's Mail-Voting Order in 6-3 Emergency Ruling
The unsigned order lifts a district judge's block in a suit by 23 states and D.C., but a separate nationwide injunction issued August 11 still bars the Postal Service from carrying out the order.
U.S.
Treasury Announces Iran Sanctions Campaign, Designating About 60 Entities and Expanding Secondary-Sanctions Categories
Secretary Scott Bessent said on August 24 that the U.S. will extend penalties to Iran's digital-asset, gold, aviation, technology and shipping trade, but held off on immediately punishing third countries, calling the announcement a "warning shot."
Timber Fire in Monterey County Passes 12,000 Acres at 25% Containment as of Aug. 24; Evacuation Orders Expanded
Cal Fire says the fire in the Ventana Wilderness of Los Padres National Forest grew over the weekend of Aug. 22-24, reversing an earlier partial reopening of Big Sur and closing about 10 miles of Highway 1.
ICE Says It Arrested 1,328 People in Virginia and Maryland During a Two-Week Operation in Early August
The Department of Homeland Security announced on Aug. 24 that "Operation Safe Community – Washington, D.C." ran from Aug. 1 to Aug. 14 and that almost 400 of those arrested had been convicted of or charged with a crime in the United States.
Indiana Reports Seven Storm-Related Deaths; Braun Requests Expedited Federal Disaster Declaration for 54 Counties
Gov. Mike Braun asked President Trump on Aug. 20 for a major disaster declaration covering 54 counties, telling FEMA that damage from the August storms and flooding could exceed $5 billion.
Average ACA Premium Payments for Subsidized Enrollees Rose 114% in 2026 After Enhanced Tax Credits Expired
Enhanced federal subsidies lapsed on December 31, 2025; federal data show marketplace enrollment was down about 12% by February 2026, and insurers have proposed a median premium increase of about 15% for 2027.
Missouri Judge Rules Congressional Map Cannot Be Put to a Referendum; State Supreme Court Takes the Appeal
Cole County Judge Daniel Green upheld Secretary of State Denny Hoskins's refusal to certify a petition against the state's new Republican-drawn map, and the Missouri Supreme Court agreed two days later to hear the appeal.
N.C.
NC Highway Patrol Has Not Yet Signed the ICE Agreement Required by an Oct. 1 State Law
Session Law 2026-19, enacted June 24 over Gov. Josh Stein's veto, orders four state agencies to sign 287(g) agreements with ICE by Oct. 1; the Department of Public Safety says talks are ongoing and it intends to comply.
Roanoke Rapids Police Say Death of Demetrius Fleming, 38, Found Hanging Aug. 21, Is an Open 'Equivocal' Investigation
Chief Lawrence Wiggins said officers responded to an attempted-suicide call and found Fleming dead and connected to a ligature, and that no cause has been ruled in or out pending an autopsy.
North Carolina Republicans Pick State Rep. Jennifer Balkcom for the NC-11 Ballot; Trump Endorsed Her on Aug. 18
A district GOP committee chose Balkcom on the first ballot on Aug. 10 to replace Rep. Chuck Edwards, who withdrew from his reelection race after the House Ethics Committee recommended he be censured.
Asheville-Area Craggy Correctional Center Winds Down for Late-Summer Closure; July Budget Set 15.4% Average Raises for Correctional Officers
State prison officials said in May they would close the 250-inmate Woodfin facility because they could not staff it; the enacted state budget raised officer pay, and Gov. Josh Stein has said more closures are possible without further pay action.
Forge Nano Breaks Ground on Morrisville Battery Plant Expansion, Citing More Than 250 Planned Jobs
The company says the expanded Wake County plant will make lithium-ion cells for defense and aerospace customers starting in 2028, backed by a $100 million U.S. Department of Energy award first announced in 2024.
North Carolina's July Unemployment Rate Unchanged at 3.6% as Household Survey Employment Falls by 21,291
State Commerce Department data released Aug. 21 show the seasonally adjusted rate flat from June while both the number of employed and the number of unemployed North Carolinians declined over the month.
Finance
Brent Falls to $91.82, a One-Week Low, a Day After U.S. Announces New Iran Sanctions Package
Oil futures slipped for a second day on August 25 as traders judged the Treasury Department's new economic-pressure campaign on Iran to be a smaller near-term threat to supply than renewed military escalation.
Nvidia Falls 2.9% on Aug. 24 for a Seventh Straight Down Session Ahead of Its Aug. 26 Earnings Report
The chipmaker's shares have fallen seven sessions in a row, its longest such run since September 2022, as investors debate how much of the AI buildout is being paid for with money supplied by chipmakers themselves.
U.S. 50% Tariffs on About $20 Billion of Canadian Goods Took Effect Aug. 22 After Talks Ended; Carney Sets Sept. 8 Retaliation
Negotiations in Washington broke off late Friday, the suspended Section 338 duties took effect at 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday, and Canada says its matching tariffs begin Sept. 8.
10-Year Treasury Yield Near 4.71% on Aug. 24, Close to a 20-Month High, After Two Straight Weekly Stock Losses
The benchmark U.S. government bond yield tested about 4.71-4.74% last week, its highest since roughly late 2024, following a Treasury Department move to buy back long-dated debt that briefly lowered yields before they rebounded.
Alibaba Prices $10.2 Billion Hong Kong Share Sale at 8.4% Discount to Fund AI Spending; Hong Kong Shares Fall 8.5%
Alibaba sold 710 million new shares at HK$112.70 each, below Friday's close, and said all net proceeds will go to AI chips, infrastructure and models.
Samsung Board Approves 90–110 Trillion Won Shareholder Return; Stock Closes Down 8.70% on Aug. 24 as Kospi Falls 3.12%
Samsung Electronics set the largest payout package by a Korean company, but left most of the money's use undecided until January 2027, and Seoul shares fell on the first full trading day after the announcement.
World
U.N. Says at Least 47 Killed in Overnight Gang Raid on Kenscoff, Haiti; Local Mayor Counts 40
Armed men attacked homes and a church sheltering displaced people in the hillside farming town above Port-au-Prince late Sunday, August 23, 2026, with death tolls reported between 30 and 47 depending on the source.
Saudi Supertanker Amzan Hit by Projectile 63 Nautical Miles West of Yanbu; Houthis Claim Missile Strike
Saudi shipping company Bahri confirmed one of its very large crude carriers was struck in the Red Sea on August 24 with no crew injuries, and Yemen's Houthi movement said it fired a ballistic missile as part of the naval blockade it declared on Saudi shipping in July.
Cross-Party Japanese Delegation Meets Chinese Communist Party Officials in Beijing, First Such Visit Since Takaichi's Taiwan Remark
Lawmakers from Japan's ruling party and two opposition parties began a four-day visit on August 24, 2026, seeking to restart talks frozen since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could justify a Japanese military response.
UK Clears MBDA to Give Ukraine Classified Data on British Storm Shadow Components
Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced the release during an Aug. 24 visit to Kyiv, in a swap that gives Britain first foreign access to Ukraine's battlefield AI dataset; the Kremlin called the move "fuel on the fire."
China's Rare-Earth Magnet Exports to Japan Fell to 111 Tonnes in July, Customs Data Show, While Shipments to the U.S. and South Korea Rose
China's customs agency released July trade data on August 20 showing magnet shipments to Japan at their lowest monthly level in more than a year, down 52.2% from July 2025, as volumes to the United States and South Korea increased.
CK Hutchison Files $1.5 Billion Treaty Arbitration Against Panama Over Balboa and Cristobal Port Concessions
The Hong Kong-listed conglomerate says Panama's January court ruling and February takeover of the two canal ports broke an investment protection treaty; Panama says its Supreme Court found the concession unconstitutional.
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.