by WorldTribune Staff, August 9, 2026 Non-AI Real World News

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan the world's top Sunni Muslim powers, have established a NATO-style collective deterrence model which analysts believe is aimed squarely at Iran and Israel.

The "Mecca Joint Defense Pact" was formalized on Friday as Saudi Arabia braced for expected coordinated drone and missile strikes from Iran-backed Iraqi militias and Yemen's Houthi terrorists.

"While seen initially as a bulwark against aggression by Shia Iran and its Middle East proxies," the agreement "has major implications for Israel and for NATO, of which Turkey is a key member," David Jones noted in a Sunday analysis for The New York Sun.

The new pact "may not be seen as unwelcome by President Trump, who has been pushing America's allies in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere to take more responsibility for their own defense," Jones noted.

"However the pact also reduces pressure

by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News August 6, 2026

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted on Thursday to recommend former Covid czar Anthony Fauci be held in contempt of Congress.

The vote follows Fauci invoking the Fifth Amendment 111 times during a committee hearing last week on the pandemic response and the origins of the Covid virus.

The vote by the committee, which is chaired by Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, initiates a process that would result in the Justice Department considering whether to charge him with a crime.

Whether the Justice Department does take up the matter is complicated by Joe Biden'a auto-pen pardon of Fauci for any crimes he might have committed dating back to 2014.

Whether Fauci was covered by the pardon during the hearing and the mix of the pardon while pleading the Fifth Amendment is at the center of the legal debate.

"The decision to fund dangerous gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China, will likely

Analysis by WorldTribune Staff, August 6, 2026 Non-AI Real World News

Sophie Cunningham and Aryna Sabalenka play in different professional sports but have one mindset when it comes to men competing in women's sports … they're against it.

Cunningham, a shooting guard/small forward for the WNBA's Indiana Fever, is standing by her opinion that it's "common sense" to keep male athletes out of women's sports.

The Left can dish it out but has little tolerance for cognitive dissonance, and "common sense" produces psychotic reactions.

Cunningham told ESPN that she wants to "protect young girls in the locker room" and that "they shouldn't have to go against biological men."

You know you've hit high on the Left's rage meter when a New York Times podcast slams your comments.

Charlotte Wilder and Madeline Hill of "The Sports Gossip Show" were not only triggered by Cunningham, but also former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, who was at a recent Fever game to support Cunningham. The two were later photographed together, sending the trans movement scurrying for their

by WorldTribune Staff, August 6, 2026 Non-AI Real World News

A hacker extracted more than 600,000 voting records from Maricopa County, Arizona prior to the 2020 election, newly declassified documents show.

The suspect used a PowerShell script to exploit a vulnerability on Maricopa County's voter registration record servers and stored the hacked data at his home. The suspect, who confessed to the hacking operation, destroyed the files before an FBI raid, the documents show.

According to the documents, the suspect "first discovered a vulnerability" on the Maricopa County recorder's office website "after entering his own voter registration information." The suspect "noticed his voter ID appeared in the URL." He continued by testing the "vulnerability by entering several seven-digit numbers into the URL path resulting in access to different … registration information."

The suspect ran the PowerShell script "up until around November 2, 2020," when the county "fixed their firewall." The suspect admitted that "he probably would have continued the activity" if the issue hadn't been fixed.

"[The suspect] knew Maricopa County was aware of his activity because his script provided an error message and

Special to WorldTribune, August 6, 2026 Real World News

Geostrategy-Direct, August 4, 2026

Although the U.S. conflict with Iran dealt a blow to China, it has not yet ended, and a growing shortage of missiles and anti-missile interceptors has raised concerns in the House of Representatives about the impact on the Pacific Theater.

President Donald Trump reportedly held off on intense military strikes on Iran due to concerns the escalation could lead to unacceptable shortfalls in key weapons systems.

Defense legislators want the U.S. Department of War to produce reports to Congress on the impact of weapons shortages on requirements to deter China.

A section has been added to the pending fiscal 2027 defense policy bill requiring the Pentagon to produce regular reports on the effects of "unplanned global taskings" on the readiness, operations and deterrence in the Pacific.

During the Iran war, more than 1,200 Patriot interceptors, costing more than

by WorldTribune Staff, August 6, 2026 Non-AI Real World News

Reports from congressional committees and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disclosures show that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Biden-Harris regime allocated roughly $1 billion of taxpayer dollars to promote the Covid injection and target those who were hesitant about getting the shot.

The funds were used for advertisements and media which critics say shamed those who believed they did not need the jab. The ads ran across television, radio, print, and digital and social media platforms, reaching hundreds of national and local media outlets.

The committee's report found that the Biden-Harris team's HHS shelled out $911,174,285 to the behavior change research and strategy firm Fors Marsh (formerly Fors Marsh Group) for the multimedia advertising campaign between August 2020 and June 2023.

The committee noted that, "in an attempt to target and sway vaccine hesitant populations, FMG created audience 'personas' that represented how target audiences experienced the pandemic and tried to identify which messages had the most potential to motivate them."

Critics say the Biden-Harris regimes was essentially paying

by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News August 7, 2026

President Donald Trump on Thursday issued two executive orders regarding birthright citizenship.

Trump said his executive order on "birth tourism" will stop wealthy people from "buying their way" into citizenship with pregnant women traveling to the U.S. to give birth.

"People are building businesses around it. Wealthy people are building businesses around birthright citizenship. That's not the way it's supposed to work. It's a disgrace. They're buying their way in, and we're not going to let it happen," Trump noted.

The "birth tourism" order was one of two directives the president said are aimed at cracking down on birthright citizenship, renewing one of his signature policies after the Supreme Court voided his earlier, broader bid to deny citizenship to many children born on U.S. soil to non-American parents.

The Trump Administration has argued that the Supreme Court's June ruling left the door open for the president to narrow citizenship for certain categories of children and to impose other measures to prevent people from coming to the country to give

by WorldTribune Staff, August 7, 2026 Non-AI Real World News

Former NBA center/power forward Enes Kanter Freedom said he checks all the boxes to play in the WNBA.

"If simply declaring who you are is all that's required, then I meet every requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA," the 6-10 Freedom stated in a social media post.

"My team and I have carefully reviewed the WNBA's eligibility criteria and government framework surrounding self identification and inclusion," Freedom wrote. "Based on the current guidelines, I can and am officially declaring my eligibility for the upcoming WNBA Draft in May 2027."

OutKick's Jon Root noted: "Players like Gabby Williams, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase, Seattle Storm center Stefanie Dolson, and the majority of WNBA fans have made it clear they are supportive of men in women's sports."

Freedom, age 34, concluded his announcement by stating: "My team and I are prepared to ensure these guidelines are applied equally, consistently, and without exception, and I look forward to the WNBA honoring its stated principles.

Special to WorldTribune, August 7, 2026 Real World News

Geostrategy-Direct, August 4, 2026

By Richard Fisher

Before their astronauts set foot on the Moon, the United States (by 2028?) and China (by 2029-2030) are engaging in an "unmanned Moon race" to undertake surveys and to then deploy systems to prepare for building eventual manned Moon Bases.

Targeting the lunar South Pole where both the U.S. and China intend to build lunar bases, on or about Aug. 24, 2026, from its Wencheng Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island, China will launch a Long March-5 space launch vehicle (SLV) to transport its Change'-7 unmanned lunar probe to the Shackelton Crater on the South Pole.

Already in 2024, China sent its Change'-6 lunar probe to the Aitken Basin on the lunar far side South Polar area, that returned the first lunar samples from the lunar far side that