All Section

Sat, Aug 8, 2026

ZeroHedge

Both Iranian & Israeli Officials Call Out 'Paper Tiger' Saudi Arabia

Both Iranian & Israeli Officials Call Out 'Paper Tiger' Saudi Arabia


Regional rivals and enemies are calling out Saudi Arabia as a "paper tiger" which must rely on others for protection and defense needs.

Criticisms of Riyadh are being issued on the same day the kingdom signed a major security pact with the other major Muslim-dominant nations of Pakistan and Turkey. Formally called the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, it is essentially a NATO-style agreement for the 'Muslim world' - given that it stipulates and formalizes that an armed attack on any of the countries will be treated as an attack against all of them.

Saudi national media

The pact extends across populations with a combined total of some 380 million people. Both Iranian and Israeli officials have taken to mocking the historic agreement.

For example, on Friday within hours of the deal's signing, prominent Iranian MP Ebrahim Rezaei called on Riyadh to change course in terms of its pro-American policies, which has included allowing US troops to be stationed on Saudi soil. He said the new pact won't bring Riyadh protection or peace.

Texas Energy Giant Oncor Supports Governor's Data Center Freeze

Texas Energy Giant Oncor Supports Governor's Data Center Freeze


By Emma Penrod of UtilityDive.com

About 44 GW of large load projects slated for Oncor's service territory qualified for ERCOT's new "Batch Zero" interconnection process for large loads, company executives told analysts during a Thursday earnings call. But the timeline for that process is uncertain following an order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that paused new data center interconnection approvals pending a state-wide audit.

ERCOT's criteria for Batch Zero, which include new financial and technical requirements for loads with a peak demand of 75 MW or greater, narrowed immediate load growth projects for Oncor, a subsidiary of Sempra.

The batch approach, Sempra Chairman and CEO Jeff Martin said, was intended to align the interconnection of large loads with the construction of new generation. The criteria for acceptance into the first Batch Zero was finalized in June.

Jeff Martin, chairman and CEO of Sempra, in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 2026. Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images

"Think about a situation where you've got close to 500 GW of generation on the sideline waiting to come on the system and, similarly, over 400 GW of

Iran Launches Battlefield Trophy Propaganda Campaign With Captured US Reaper Drone

Iran Launches Battlefield Trophy Propaganda Campaign With Captured US Reaper Drone


The off-ramp narrative is growing louder. With the US midterm elections quickly approaching, the Trump administration may have reached its "declare victory and leave" moment, shifting from military operations toward a negotiated peace deal, one that must last more than one month. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reinforced that possibility earlier, saying the Strait of Hormuz could reopen "today or tomorrow."

As US negotiations with Tehran appear to be ongoing, the Iranian semi-official news agency Tasnim has released battlefield trophy propaganda that appears to show largely intact U.S. MQ-9 Reaper and Israeli Hermes 900 drones, and even parts of an F-15 fighter jet.

X user The Hormuz Letter said:

Iran has released an image of a fully intact Israeli Hermes 900 drone taken down by Iran's electronic warfare, with the IRGC now reverse-engineering various parts of the drone, per Tasnim. Iran has also started the process of reverse-engineering the previously captured F-15 fighter jet, MQ-9 drone, and C-130 Hercules.

What Else Are They Hiding?

What Else Are They Hiding?


Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

This past couples of weeks was a wild ride. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) released many thousands of pages of documentation concerning the strange world of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) while Dr. Anthony Fauci was at the height of his power as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci's wife headed the ethics department for the entire agency.

His tenure there came to an end in December 2022, following three years in which he was celebrated by mass media as the nation's leading voice for science and the man with all the answers for dealing with a respiratory pandemic. He was on television daily, sitting for as many as 12 interviews a day.

All this while, he kept careful logs of each day, while working with a large staff to prepare the document as the first draft of an autobiography. He believed that he would go down in history with exactly the reputation the media had cultivated for him. He lobbied for and amassed dozens of awards, some of which paid in

Your Tax Dollars At Work: NJ Cops Dress Up As Bushes To Hand Out Cell Phone Violations

Your Tax Dollars At Work: NJ Cops Dress Up As Bushes To Hand Out Cell Phone Violations


If you thought speed traps were getting creative, New Jersey police have officially entered the landscaping business.

Officers in Dunellen spent part of the week hiding in full ghillie suits, essentially dressing up as oversized shrubs, to catch drivers using their phones behind the wheel, according to Newser.

While unsuspecting motorists scrolled through texts and notifications, a camouflaged officer watched from the roadside with binoculars, radioing violations to waiting patrol units.

The six-hour operation ended with 74 distracted driving tickets, proving that plenty of drivers never saw the world's most judgmental bush staring back at them. Police said they targeted the busy downtown stretch because it's packed with traffic and pedestrians, making distracted driving especially dangerous.

New Jersey law bans handheld phone use while driving, with first-time violations carrying fines between $200 and $400. The department defended the unusual tactic as a safety measure, reminding drivers that "That text or notification can wait. Keep your eyes on the road, not your screen."

Apparently, in New Jersey, the bushes aren't just watching anymore, they're writing tickets. And it feels like we're literally one step away from officers just

Trump To Announce $180 Million Grants For Mining Industry

Trump To Announce $180 Million Grants For Mining Industry


Authored by Emel Akan via The Epoch Times,

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump is set to host a major mining industry roundtable on Friday at the State Department, bringing together nearly 200 business leaders, educators, and government officials to strengthen domestic mining companies.

President Donald Trump arrives to speak at General Motors proving ground, Monday, July 27, 2026, in Milford, Mich. AP Photo/Alex Brandon

At the event, the president is expected to announce over $180 million in grants to expand workforce training and trade programs for the mining industry, according to the White House. CBS first reported the plan.

The Department of Energy is launching a $100 million grant program to support scholarships and related initiatives. Universities, community colleges, trade schools, industry groups, and other partners will be eligible to apply.

Additionally, the military is providing over $80 million in funding to three universities for technology and workforce development programs. The recipients are the Colorado School of Mines, the South Dakota School of Mines, and Johns Hopkins University.

"The mining industry has never had a greater champion than President Trump," White House spokeswoman

DHS Hiring "Bounty Hunters" For Overseas Tracking Of Deported Migrants

DHS Hiring "Bounty Hunters" For Overseas Tracking Of Deported Migrants


The Trump administration is planning to hire private investigators to track down deported immigrants in their home countries, verify where they live, and deliver notices seeking payment of U.S. immigration fines, according to Wired.

The proposed program, budgeted at up to $9 million over two years, would cover countries including Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Rather than collecting money directly, contractors would be paid to confirm a person's location using evidence such as photographs of their residence, public records, utility bills, employment information, or other documentation accepted by the government. They would also hand-deliver notices listing any outstanding penalties.

Wired writes that the initiative comes as DHS says it has assessed more than $84 billion in civil immigration fines, including "failure-to-depart" penalties that can accumulate to hundreds of thousands—or even millions—of dollars. Although the administration has encouraged migrants to self-deport by promising to forgive many of these fines, legal advocates argue the new overseas tracking effort undercuts that message because some penalties can still remain.

Immigration attorneys and civil rights groups describe the program as a major expansion of enforcement, saying it targets people who have

ADNOC Reports 15 Vessel Attacks As Hormuz Risks Mount

ADNOC Reports 15 Vessel Attacks As Hormuz Risks Mount


Submitted by Julianne Geiger of OilPrice.com

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said attacks on its vessels and employees are having a significant impact on operations as the company tries to keep crude, gas and refined products moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

Fifteen ADNOC vessels have been hit by missiles or drones since the war began, including three this week, the company said Friday. One crew member has been killed and 20 others injured.

The Strait of Hormuz carried roughly one-fifth of global oil consumption before the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran expanded into a broader regional conflict. Repeated attacks on commercial vessels have disrupted traffic through the waterway, driven freight costs sharply higher, and made some shipowners reluctant to enter the Persian Gulf.

ADNOC said it is working with authorities to protect personnel and assets while meeting customer requirements "as much as possible" in what it called an exceptionally challenging operating environment.

The attacks are hitting one of the few Gulf producers that has managed to restore exports close to pre-war levels. The UAE has relied on crude loading points outside Hormuz, including Fujairah, while

Digging Deeper Inside Physical AI's Hardware Stack Powering Humanoids

Digging Deeper Inside Physical AI's Hardware Stack Powering Humanoids


Building on our "Physical AI Faces One Critical Chokepoint, and Here's How to Profit" report earlier this week, Barclays analysts are closing out the week with a comprehensive map of the humanoid value chain.

As readers look beyond flashy Chinese Unitree robot demonstrations, attention is shifting toward the critical hardware stack, including motors, actuators, sensors, and batteries, and the deep supply-chain players positioned to reap the rewards before global humanoid deliveries begin to ramp up.

Anatomy of a humanoid robot

"While the humanoid market remains small today, at roughly $2-3bn, forecasts range from $10-25bn by 2030, with more optimistic scenarios reaching ~$200bn by 2035, as detailed in (open in new tab)Global Macro - AI gets physical: Ten things to know about humanoids(open in new tab)," Barclays analyst William Thompson wrote in a note on Thursday.

Within the hardware stack, reducers - high-precision gearing systems embedded in actuators - have been high barriers to entry and are led by Japanese players such as Harmonic Drive Systems and Nabtesco, while rare earth materials - particularly magnets used in high-performance motors - create strategic dependencies, with supply chains heavily

Pillagers Vs Producers: There's Only Two Ways To Save The Western World

Pillagers Vs Producers: There's Only Two Ways To Save The Western World


Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us

For the past couple of weeks I have been closely tracking the migrant surge in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and taking notes on the behavior of the extremely liberal Spanish government. One of the most important things to note about the event is that European officials quickly took to the media to admonish the OPTICS of the crisis, but not the migrants.

In other words, left-wing politicians didn't like that the situation made them look bad, but they never spoke out against the basic premise of mass immigration from the third world. In fact, Spain's Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, has been enthusiastically promoting open border policies since 2018. The main reason the migrants all flooded into Ceuta at the same time was because Spain's supreme court ruled only days before that migrants arriving by sea could not be immediately deported.

It's a scene we have witnessed over and over again in the past several years. The multiculturalists set the wheels in motion for a migrant rush into Europe then pretend to be shocked when it happens.

They engineer these events by breaking the cardinal rule of western

Kids In Tiny British Village Beg The Government Not To Force Illegal Migrants On Their Home

Kids In Tiny British Village Beg The Government Not To Force Illegal Migrants On Their Home


Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

The children of a quiet Oxfordshire village have been forced to put pen to paper and plead with the Prime Minister himself. Their message is simple and heartbreaking: leave our home alone.

Piddington is a tiny English settlement of roughly 350 people - around 250 adults and just 46 children. The Home Office and Labour government under Andy Burnham intend to place 1,250 single adult male asylum seekers on a former Ministry of Defence site that borders the village, runs along the back of homes, and sits directly against the parish playing field and children's park.

If the plan proceeds, the number of young men dumped on their doorstep will dwarf the entire local population.

You WILL NOT BELIEVE What Is Happening In This TINY English Village — modernity

Source site blocks iframe embedding in preview. Imported article will use extracted HTML instead of this embed frame.

Open on source site

Residents previously held a symbolic independence vote after the government announced the scheme with zero meaningful consultation.

EU Cohesion Breaks: Madrid Socialists Impose Border Protections Against Italians After Third World Invasion

EU Cohesion Breaks: Madrid Socialists Impose  Border Protections Against Italians After Third World Invasion


Update: Spain is to impose new border controls for flights and ships from Italy as the two countries' row over the influx of migrants into Ceuta intensifies.

Sky News reports that the Spanish government has confirmed that passport, nationality and visa checks would be conducted for Italian passengers and visitors from other countries arriving from Italy from midnight ​on Saturday ‌until 7 September.

The Spanish government called Italy's decision to suspend Schengen travel agreements (following the Spanish enclave's un-fettered invasion by over 70,000 military-aged male Moroccans), "unjust, contrary ‌to EU interests and discriminatory" and with a full straight face the socialist leadership added that the decision has been taken "amid the persistent irregular migratory pressure" from Italy.

*  *  *

The unhinged socialists in Madrid are losing their minds over the Italian government's move to suspend the Schengen travel agreement because it wanted to protect its national sovereignty after the Spanish African enclave of Ceuta was invaded by 70,000 mostly military-aged men.

The migrant invasion, which Elon Musk described as comparable to scenes from "World War Z," was a complete optics disaster for the socialists in Madrid,

Image