Ukraine's President Zelensky has in fresh remarks warned North Korea against its deepening involvement with Russian in executing the war against Ukraine.
Zelensky's late Monday words alleged that Russia recently received additional ballistic missiles from Pyongyang and is preparing to deploy more North Korean troops, after already sending thousands to fight on the Russian side.
While reports from the last couple years have estimated that North Korea has maintained up to around 10,000 troops in Russia related to the 'special military operation' in Ukraine, Zelensky is now floating a huge number of projected new DPRK forces.
It started on Saturday when Zelensky took to X to say - without evidence - that "a decision has been made for 30,000 to 50,000 North Koreans to be deployed on the territory of Russia," a higher figure than his estimate of 30,000 in July." He didn't specify where he obtained the alleged data from.
He also said that Ukrainian intelligence had located some North Korean missiles in Ukraine's territory, without further elaborating. What is clear is the Moscow
By Bas van Geffen, senior macro strategist at Rabobank
Yesterday, my road cycling took me along the Lek River, which branches off from the Rhine. I frequently ride the path along this river, but the Lek was almost unrecognisable in the distance and what is normally part of the riverbed has now run dry.
It's a very tangible reminder of numbers we've recently been watching on our screens: Upstream, at Kaub, the water level in the Rhine has fallen to historical lows. And a new heatwave that is due to hit Europe, is bound to make matters worse: current forecasts see the level drop to less than 5 centimetres above the station's zero mark by the end of the week.
Ships were already forced to reduce the amount of cargo they carry, but soon they may be unable to sail the entire river. The drought is effectively splitting this key piece of infrastructure into two halves between Cologne and Frankfurt. Inland shipping costs
Authored by Jason Nelson via Decrypt.co,
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin says quantum resistance, privacy, and AI-assisted security have become greater priorities for Ethereum since he published his 2023 roadmap.
I updated my 2023 roadmap diagram to overlay where the items that were there sit in the current Strawmap ( https://t.co/9deLIQWG24 ).
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) August 10, 2026
In general, a lot of overlap, but:
* Some things got reshuffled in order (eg. quantum safety up-prioritized)
* Some things deprioritized (eg.… pic.twitter.com/XLdIt4kAgT
"What's most striking, however, is that some completely new things are in the strawmap that are not in this diagram, because they were not in the 2023 roadmap at all," Buterin wrote. "These reflect changing priorities."
Among those priorities are stronger privacy and scaling designed for a post-quantum world, alongside efforts to push the "lean-ification of the spec," or simplify Ethereum's technical specifications.
"A common theme in scaling, found in both state types and zkzk frames (both new ideas), is that instead of trying to maximally scale all Ethereum activity," Buterin wrote.
"We try to create specialized mechanisms that have more restrictive properties that
Summary
- Iran rejects peace push narrative: Tehran says Hormuz stays closed until the US accepts all its conditions.
- Hardliners take control: Iran reshuffles top military leadership, signaling a tougher stance.
- Pakistan pushes talks: Interior Minister arrives in Tehran for mediation efforts.
- US enforces blockade: American forces reportedly fired on a ship trying to breach the Iran blockade.
- Shipping attacks escalate in region: A Houthi attack reportedly killed three crew members, while another vessel was struck in the Gulf of Oman.
* * *
Iran Pours Cold Water on Pakistan's Diplomatic Optimism
Pakistan started the day by floating optimistic reports of the warring sides reverting to 'moving toward peace efforts' - however that appears very short-lived, or really was probably never a reality, given soon on the heels of these claims a top Iranian official has reiterated that the Strait
Summary:
- Trump Weighs Federal Challenge to New York Pied-à-Terre Tax
- Judge Temporarily Blocks Mamdani's Socialist Tax Scheme
Trump Weighs Federal Challenge to New York Pied-à-Terre Tax
President Trump said in a Truth Social post around lunchtime that his administration is examining whether the federal government has the legal authority to block NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani's dangerous political "experiment" before it can "destroy what was once a great City and State."
"It is pure Amateur Hour, and it's hard, as President of the United States of America, to sit back and watch it happen, especially to a place I once loved. Financial, and then Social, RUIN, is a 100% certainty - And then the Radical Left Jihadists charge Congestion Pricing on top of everything else," Trump said.
He continued, "This doesn't work in America, and must be stopped, NOW! I am looking to see if the Federal Government has any legal right to avert this disaster, before it is too late, for the millions of people who cherish New York and want to see it thrive, as opposed to becoming a filthy, crime-ridden, decrepit place of mockery and scorn."
Something unprecedented happened in the second quarter: aggregate household debt balances declined by $13 billion, a 0.1% decline from Q1. Balances stood at $18.8 trillion, up $4.6 trillion since the end of 2019, just before the pandemic recession. But the reason why we say it was unprecedented, is that the Q2 drop was the first quarterly decline in total household debt since the second quarter of 2020, when the US economy was gripped by the covid lockdown shock leading to a historic deleveraging.
In fact, the only time aggregate household debt slides is during and right after periods of financial or social crisis. And yet, in Q2, risk assets soared.... which makes one wonder: just how bad is the economy really if one takes away the constant, debt-fueled (both on and off balance sheet) AI meltup?
Here is the breakdown by main category:
- Mortgage debt at $13.12t after $13.19t in 1Q, a decrease of $74b
- Mortgage delinquency rate fell to 0.99% from 1.09% prior quarter
According to the NY Fed, the decline was "due to a temporary gap in the reporting of mortgages on credit reports due
The new government in Damascus has tried to press Moscow to return to Syria the former longtime President Bashar al-Assad. He's reportedly lived in a posh area of the Russian capital, under heavy security, since he was ousted in December 2024 and forced to flee.
Perhaps realizing they will never apprehend him, a Syrian court under the new hardline Sunni Hayat Tahrir al-Sham government has on Tuesday sentenced the former ruler to death after a trial in absentia, convicting him of war crimes and atrocities during the prior 14-years of internal war which overtook the country.
Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan in Damascus convicted Assad for crimes including "premeditated murder, the intentional killing of more than one person, the intentional killing of children under 15 years... torture, torture leading to death, and deprivation of liberty on multiple occasions -- classified as crimes against humanity and war crimes."
"He is therefore sentenced to death," the court ruled. Other former high ranking officials in the Assad government are expected to be brought before the courts on similar charges. Many of them, including clerics and
Ahead of tomorrow's CPI report (which will come in tame thanks to continued housing disinflation), moments ago the US Treasury sold its first refunding auction, which came in very strong, stopping through the When Issued, and with above par metrics.
Pricing at a high yield of 4.291%, up from 4.179% in July and the highest since Feb 2025, the auction stopped through the When Issued 4.296% by 0.5bps, the 2nd consecutive through auction.
The bid to cover rose to 2.712, up from 2.600 and the highest since November; it was obviously well above the six-auction average of 2.606.
The internals were also solid, with Indirects awarded 64.24%, down slightly from 67.50% last month but in line with the recent average of 3.729%. And with Directs awarded 24.0%, well above the average of 21.7%, Dealers were left holding just 11.7%, one of the lowest Dealers this year.
Overall, this was a rock solid auction, and it should eliminate any concerns that the bond market (at least) is worried about tomorrow's CPI print (as in coming in
"Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough went absolutely nuclear on elected Democrats Monday morning for refusing to denounce the party's rising far-left wing. He specifically cited far-left types such as Hasan Piker, a self-described Marxist who is the unofficial spokesman for the Democratic Socialists of America. Some DSA leaders have said in their own words that the goal is "to destroy America from within."
Piker's toxic rhetoric has included attacks on America, calls to "kill capitalists," and inflammatory remarks promoting hatred and violence.
Hasan Piker calls on his followers to kill capitalists:
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) April 9, 2026
“Yeah kill them! KiII those motherfuckers and murder those motherfuckers in the streets. Let the streets soak in their fucking red capitalist blood, dude.”
Democrats are campaigning with him. pic.twitter.com/YiZxGgRkgc
In one clip, Piker said: "We want more immigrants to come into your countries, and then they're gonna f**k your sisters and then your daughters. We're here to destroy the White Race, bitch."
Hasan Piker says he wants to FLOOD illegals into the United States so they can "f*ck your sisters and daughters" to "destroy the white race"
I am demanding
A financial journalist once offered simple advice: "Lie to people who want to be lied to, and you'll get rich…Tell the truth to those who want to be lied to, and you'll go broke."
That axiom appears to have been taken to heart by radical Democratic candidates who this week issued transparent denials of past outrageous comments. Their calculus is clearly that the last thing that voters want to hear is the truth about their past views.
Certain cultural touchstones are considered inviolate in some states, such as beef in Texas.
In 2022, Talarico said he was reducing his meat consumption as part of climate-related efforts.
Texas Democratic Senatorial candidate James Talarico was roasted after a video surfaced of his calling to reduce meat consumption and "I am proud to say that our campaign has officially become a non-meat campaign. We are only buying vegan products from our local vegan businesses."
The backlash was so great that Talarico has been eating whole cows to prove that he is not all-hat and no
Iran's IRGC is holding the line, reiterating that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen to international shipping only after the United States accepts all of its conditions, which we outlined previously. Also, on Saturday Iran's army spokesman Amir Akraminia stated that Iran's new protocols in the Strait of Hormuz are "irreversible" and shall not be thwarted by the US. "The United States has no choice but to accept the existing situation; otherwise, it will incur costs far greater than those it has faced in the past," Akraminia said.
On Sunday, a fresh report in The Wall Street Journal states the obvious - that President Trump has fewer and fewer options and is being squeezed, with any opportunity to declare 'victory' and make swift exit more elusive than ever, given Washington would have to make huge compromises, including lifting sanctions and paying war compensation to Tehran. Nearly six months ago when the war started, many non-interventionist critics accurately predicted the quagmire and catch-22 the US now finds itself in.
"For weeks, President Trump had been laying the groundwork to declare victory in the Iran war should Tehran fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, even floating the idea privately to senior
Kamala Harris is again promising the radical wing of her party that she will pack the Supreme Court. Pete Buttigieg and others have done the same to pander to the extreme left. These calls are increasing among Democratic leaders despite a recent poll showing that the Court remains the more popular institution vis-à-vis Congress, and that the majority of Americans agree with its major decisions.
The Marquette Law School poll shows that the Court remains slightly underwater in popularity (47% favor, 53% disfavor), but it is still much more popular than Congress or the two political parties. Moreover, that popularity is increasing, not decreasing, as a result of recent decisions. It was at 44% in 2025.
The mantra to pack the Court is premised on the false claim that the Court is ideologically robotic and partisan. That claim has always been disconnected from the actual voting record of the Court. Forty-four percent of cases are decided unanimously by the Supreme Court. When nearly unanimous cases (8-1 and 7-2) are included, that figure jumps to over 60 percent.
The liberal justices themselves have pushed
