Meta Agrees to Pay States Up to $17 Billion and Add Teen Limits, Ending Oakland Child-Safety Trial
The proposed deal, announced August 26 in federal court in Oakland, would cap teen daily use and block overnight access; it still needs a judge's approval, and about 30% of the money depends on whether TikTok and YouTube strike similar deals.
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."
Cook's Lawyer Answers White House Removal Notice, Saying Mortgage Filings Were Errors and Not "Cause"
Attorney Abbe Lowell replied on August 26 to an August 7 White House notice, arguing the Federal Reserve Act does not permit President Trump to remove Governor Lisa Cook over the mortgage allegations; the White House has not said whether it will act.
Kremlin Says CIA Director Ratcliffe Held Talks With Russian Intelligence Officials in Moscow on Aug. 25
The unannounced one-day trip, confirmed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, was the first known visit to Moscow by a sitting CIA director since William Burns went in November 2021.
Justice Department Files 25 Civil Denaturalization Complaints, Bringing Total Since Jan. 20, 2025, to 123
The complaints, filed in federal district courts between July 20 and Aug. 3, 2026, target naturalized citizens from 17 countries whom the department accuses of hiding crimes or fraud on their citizenship applications.
Portland Police Make Two Arrests Near ICE Facility on South Macadam Avenue After Sunday Night Protest
Portland officers booked two men on harassment and assault allegations while federal officers at the building fired pepper balls and smoke, according to police and reporters at the scene.
Trump Sends 30-Year U.S.-Saudi Civil Nuclear Agreement to Congress, Starting a 90-Day Review
The Energy Department transmitted the July 22 pact under the Atomic Energy Act; the White House says it will not move forward unless Saudi Arabia normalizes ties with Israel, a condition that reporting indicates is not written into the agreement text.
N.C.
NC Announces $375,000 Grant for Boater's World Plan to Add 179 Jobs at Chocowinity Boat Plant
Gov. Josh Stein's office says Boater's World Manufacturing Group will spend more than $6 million on the former NauticStar/Fountain site in Beaufort County, with a state grant paid only if hiring targets are met.
Fauci Diary Entry Says Cooper Called Him on June 29, 2020, Two Days Before North Carolina Delayed a School Reopening Decision
A diary page released by the Senate Homeland Security Committee describes a 45-minute call in which Fauci says he advised then-Gov. Roy Cooper to delay for two weeks; Cooper, now the Democratic Senate nominee in North Carolina, delayed on July 1, 2020.
Nash County Deputies Charge 14-Year-Old Girl With Threatening Mass Violence at Southern Nash High School
The Nash County Sheriff's Office, working with the State Bureau of Investigation, says it identified and charged a 14-year-old public school student over an online post threatening Southern Nash High School, and is seeking a court order to hold her in juvenile detention.
Great Southern Wood Announces $40 Million Lumber Treatment Plant and 43 Jobs in Scotland County, N.C.
The Alabama-based YellaWood maker will build at the Laurinburg-Maxton Airport with about $4.1 million in state, county and Golden LEAF support, all tied to hitting job and investment targets.
North Carolina Awards $69 Million in Federal Disaster Funds for 828 Rental Units in Helene-Hit Counties
State officials awarded federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery money to 10 rental projects across 10 western counties, and opened a separate $53.38 million application round for workforce homeownership housing.
ProVia Plans $120 Million Window Plant and 400 Jobs in Davie County; State Approves $3.28 Million Grant Over 12 Years
North Carolina's Economic Investment Committee approved a performance-based grant of up to $3,280,500 for the Mocksville facility, part of a state and local incentive package that also includes $720,000 in training funds and about $1.6 million in county property tax breaks.
Finance
CrowdStrike Reports $1.47 Billion in Quarterly Revenue and Raises Full-Year Outlook; Shares Rise About 11% After Hours
The cybersecurity company said revenue for the quarter ended July 31, 2026 rose 26% and that it added a record $332.8 million in new annual recurring revenue, while analysts remain split over whether the growth justifies the stock's price.
Kansas City Fed Opens Jackson Hole Symposium on Financial Innovation; Warsh Keynote Set for Friday, Aug. 28
The three-day central banking conference began Aug. 27 with an official theme of payments and financial innovation, while investors watch Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's first keynote for interest-rate signals.
Nvidia Reports $96.2 Billion in Quarterly Revenue, Forecasts $108 Billion for the Current Quarter
The chipmaker's fiscal second-quarter sales rose 106% from a year earlier, and executives told analysts they expect about 70% revenue growth in fiscal 2028, while also guiding gross margins lower on rising memory costs.
Salesforce Reports 10.8% Revenue Growth and Raises Fiscal 2027 Outlook; Shares Rose 12% to 14% in After-Hours Trading
The company said Agentforce annual recurring revenue passed $1.5 billion, while most of its $300 million guidance raise came from two pending acquisitions rather than existing products.
Brent Crude Falls 2.6% to $86.20 as Iran and Oman Report Progress on a Temporary Hormuz Shipping Corridor
Oil dropped for a third straight session on August 26, 2026, after Iranian and Omani officials described an interim plan for a narrow shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz, and an industry group reported a larger-than-expected U.S. crude stockpile build.
World
Sudan's Army Secures Kordofan Export Road as RSF-Led Forces Take Geisan and Kurmuk; IOM Counts More Than 200,000 Newly Displaced in Kordofan
The Sudanese army holds a rebuilt supply corridor to El Obeid while RSF and SPLM-N forces seize two Blue Nile border towns, as the U.N. migration agency reports mass new displacement and U.S. truce talks stall over troop withdrawals.
Argentina's 2026 Growth Forecast Cut to 2.7% as Central Bank Slows Dollar Buying to Its Lowest Monthly Pace of the Year
Private economists lowered their 2026 growth estimate from 3.5%, and the central bank bought about US$486 million in August while its reserves hit a Milei-era high near US$51 billion; Argentina's next national election is in October 2027.
Iran Blocks IAEA Access to War-Damaged Nuclear Sites; Pezeshkian and Putin Set to Meet at Aug. 31 SCO Summit
Iran's atomic chief said the U.S. and Israel are pushing the UN watchdog to inspect bombed sites, while Tehran and Moscow keep working on a $25 billion nuclear plant contract signed in September 2025.
Flood on Nepal-Tibet Border Kills at Least 168; Nepal Lists More Than 1,300 Missing as of August 27, Including Dozens of Americans
Nepali officials say a wall of water from a collapsing glacier and a suspected glacial-lake burst swept through the Rasuwagadhi border crossing on August 26, and U.S. and Chinese agencies are still counting their nationals among the missing.
Yemeni Government Says Six Died in Aug. 11 Houthi Missile Strikes on Cargo Ship Tihamah in Bab al-Mandeb
The Houthis said they hit a Saudi ship carrying military equipment; Yemen's internationally recognized government said the Tanzania-flagged, Egyptian-owned vessel was carrying food, and that a second strike killed two rescuers.
Projectile Strikes Oil Tanker Off Oman's Coast, Disabling Its Engine Room; No Group Has Claimed Responsibility
The UK Maritime Trade Operations center said an unidentified projectile hit a tanker about 9 nautical miles northeast of Ash Shishah, Oman, on the night of Aug. 24, damaging the engine room and leaving the crew reported safe.
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.