Democratic Socialist and Jacksonville Rep. Angie Nixon won Florida's Democratic Senate Primary against retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman on Tuesday.
The Details: Vindman reportedly acquired over $16 million in campaign funding, compared to Nixon's $975,000. While Vindman spent roughly $2.2 million on advertising, Nixon spent about $60,000. Nixon, who Reason (Center bias) said "was really not favored to win at all," asserted during her campaign, "Floridians don't want the establishment in Washington DC deciding who their Democratic nominee and US senator is going to be." Though Vindman refused to debate her during the primary race, he endorsed her impending campaign in his concession speech. Nixon beat Vindman with about 56% of votes and is now set to face incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody (R) in November's general election.
How The Media Covered It: Outlets on the right more prominently emphasized Nixon's affiliation with the DSA, often framing it negatively. Reason joined in calling her "an underfunded, ultraprogressive, card-carrying [DSA member]." The Wall Street Journal (Center), on the other hand, used the softer term "progressive" when describing her in its headline. Reason criticized Nixon's win as "a reminder that we're being swept up in a wave of populist, socialist candidates who appeal to people without an understanding of basic economic concepts." It called it "insane that the platform was seemingly attractive enough to springboard a total underdog candidate to primary success" but noted, "It's also possible that Vindman just wasn't an attractive candidate to the state's Democrats." New York Post (Right) agreed that because of Vindman's shambolic battles and impeachment attempt against President Donald Trump, "many Florida Democrats seemed to believe that Vindman's time had passed."
Nixon's Platform: Nixon officially joined the DSA, which gained success in Philadelphia, Colorado, Michigan and New York City primary races so far, prior to launching her campaign. Her campaign priorities include publicly-funded Medicare, childcare, employment leave, and college; a $25 federal minimum wage; student loan forgiveness; abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); a billionaire tax; cancellation of federal funding to Israel; and a rent freeze.
A personalized mRNA vaccine combined with Keytruda immunotherapy, developed by Moderna and Merck, successfully prevented skin cancer from recurring or spreading in patients during a phase 3 clinical trial.
The Details: Each vaccine is designed "specifically for each patient based on the unique set of mutations within their tumor to train and activate the immune system to recognize and fight cancer," according to Moderna and Merck. The trial enrolled 1,137 high-risk patients that had surgically removed melanoma. The patients were randomized, with half receiving Keytruda immunotherapy plus the mRNA vaccine and half receiving just Keytruda. In January, the companies announced at the mid-stage of the trial that the vaccine reduced the risk of recurrence of cancer or death by 49% after five years. Shares in Moderna went up 60% in premarket trading after the announcement.
For Context: The National Cancer Institute found that in 2023, 1.5 million Americans were living with melanoma, which is the deadliest form of skin cancer. mRNA vaccines were first made available to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic, and since then, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved other mRNA vaccines for the flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
How the Media Covered It:CNN (Lean Left bias) focused on the stock market gains for the companies, noting that "Barclays analysts said they expect the therapy could generate about $3 billion for treating melanoma by 2035." Reuters (Center) reported that Moderna "struggled to generate new products beyond its COVID-19 vaccine and faced pushback over its mRNA technology from President Donald Trump's administration," making this new vaccine a potential "reversal of fortune" for the company. Epoch Times (Lean Right) highlighted views from supporters and critics of mRNA vaccines, writing that proponents "say the technology is superior to older vaccine platforms, in part because it can be quickly reconfigured," while critics are concerned about potential "serious side effects, including cancer."
The Trump administration on Tuesday filed for a removal of restrictions on 44 million acres of the National Forest System, potentially making room for logging and mining to take place.
The Details: The US Forest Service filed for a rescission of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, according to the Department of Agriculture (USDA). The department said the "one-size-fits-all restriction" has prevented forest managers from easily accessing areas and completing work to prevent wildfires across the country. If passed, the land could be open for development through roadway creation, logging, mining and oil and coal drilling.
For Context: Former President Bill Clinton passed the "Roadless Rule" before leaving office in 2001 to limit development in national forestlands. Last year, the Trump administration took the first steps to repeal the rule as part of President Trump's "Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation" executive order, which removes "unnecessary regulatory burdens."
Proposal and Implications:Newsweek (Center bias) provided overall objective coverage of the proposal and arguments on both sides. The outlet noted that if repealed, new roads and development projects wouldn't automatically be authorized. Instead, decisions would return to local forest planning processes and land managers who would decide what appropriate activities would take place under existing environmental laws and regulations. The outlet included a map of the areas most impacted by the Roadless Rule.
Concern from Environmental Groups: Outlets on the left noted arguments by the USDA in favor of the move, but generally amplified opposition from environmental groups and political leaders. The Scientific American (Lean Left) quoted a leader from the Natural Resources Defense Council who said "The Trump administration is moving to gut our most iconic national forests." The Washington Post (Lean Left)cited concerns from advocacy groups that the move could lead to more human-caused fires if they get access to those areas. The outlet also noted wildfires have been amplified by climate change. The Los Angeles Times (Lean Left)warned that development could "fragment habitats and increase erosion and sediment pollution in drinking water."
Creating Opportunity: The story was less covered by outlets on the right. The Daily Caller (Right)noted 76% of voters support the Roadless Rule. The outlet quoted a spokesperson from the Center for Energy and Conservation at Independent Women who said the discussion "needs more nuance" as the land can "be open to both commercial and recreational uses." The spokesperson also said it's "ludicrous to insinuate the Trump administration would shut down access to forestlands." Another article from the Daily Caller framed the move as combatting a Clinton-era policy and said it comes after "another destructive wildfire season." The outlet also highlighted praise from Republican Western governors.
Following the death of Jason Arday, the youngest-ever black professor at Cambridge University, media outlets are attempting to explain what went wrong, from intense media scrutiny and DEI policies to failures in academic institutions and accusations of racism.
The Details: Plagiarism concerns over Arday's PhD thesis and journal articles rose last year. Arday resigned on Aug. 5 following scrutiny over his academic work and personal background. On Aug. 14, first responders found Arday, 41, unresponsive in Battersea, South London, where he had reportedly died. The official cause of death has not yet been publicly confirmed.
Media Scrutiny: According to The Independent (Lean Left), 249 national press articles were written about Arday over 22 days. An opinion writer for the Independent argued, "Investigative journalism is at its best when it exposes abuses of power, corruption and misconduct," however, "There is a profound difference between interrogating power and allowing the machinery of investigation to bear down, relentlessly, on one academic."
Against Censorship: An opinion in UnHerd (Center) criticized some higher education professionals and organizations for using Arday's death to "amplify an existing censorship agenda." The writer argued that incidents of network harassment "are to be deplored," but advancing censorship and identity politics "will do little to aid progress in this area." An opinion from Michelle Goldberg (Left) in the New York Times (Lean Left) similarly argued that "those pressing for new controls on the press are making a serious mistake." Goldberg linked conservative media's interest in the story to backlash against DEI, but warned that progressive efforts to "stifle questions about those initiatives" could make backlash worse. She also argued that responsibility extended beyond sensational media coverage and faulted institutions like Cambridge for elevating Arday's profile while ignoring warning signs that he was "a fabulist."
'DEI Devotion': The Federalist (Right)blamed what it described as leftist academics' devotion to upholding DEI, and that those same people are now "maintaining that he was the victim of those who called out the DEI scam." It argued that Arday wouldn't be dead "if not for having been elevated to a position he had not earned and was not equipped to maintain under legitimate scrutiny or pressure." An opinion writer for The Daily Wire (Right) said Arday's story shows that "DEI hires are held to a lower standard than those hired via a competitive process." The outlet said that "By facilitating and even applauding his delusions, the credulous, obsequious DEI machine did Arday no favors." Both outlets highlighted other instances of plagiarism in higher ed from black professors.
'Racism':The Conversation (Lean Left)said Arday's death reflects the "intense skepticism Black scholars face." The outlet said "When an appointment symbolizes racial progress, serious allegations can spread suspicion beyond the individual" and pointed to what it said was "a double standard" in higher-ed treatment of minority faculty members. Townhall (Right) denounced claims of racism and poked fun at several online posts that blamed "White Lies" for Arday's death. The outlet said, "It's clear that the Left is not going to let this narrative that racism is to blame for Arday's downfall go." The Daily Wire also wrote that Arday and his defenders followed a common playbook: deny the allegations and then "accuse critics of racism."
President Trump said the United States has delayed imposing a new 50% tariff against Canada for three days as the two sides are close to reaching a trade deal.
Key Quotes: Trump wrote on Truth Social, "I have paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada, that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!" Canada's Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a letter posted on X, "Substantial progress has been made, although there is important work still to be done." The Office of the US Trade Representative said on X, "The deal will include comprehensive market access for all American goods, economic security commitments, digital trade alignment."
The Details: The announcement was made less than two hours before a 50% tariff on almost $20 billion of Canadian imports was set to take effect. Affected products would have included Canadian imports like alcohol, dairy, cement, apparel, and hockey equipment. The Trump administration announced the tariffs in June, claiming there was Canadian trade "discrimination" against US businesses. In spring 2025, the US and Canada both levied 25% tariffs against each other's aluminum and steel imports as well as automotive imports.
Trade Context: In 2025, US trade volume with Canada was over $700 billion, down from over $900 billion in 2024. During Trump's first term, his administration, alongside Canada and Mexico, replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with a new trilateral free trade agreement, the USMCA. Last month, the Trump administration declined to renew the USMCA and said it would pursue independent trade deals with each country.
Keystone XL: Trump also said, "The great Keystone XL Pipeline, long ago killed by Sleepy Joe Biden, may be awoken from the grave!" BBC News (Center bias) noted that both the Biden and Obama administrations blocked the pipeline and that "environmentalists and indigenous groups have long opposed the pipeline."
How The Media Covered It: Canadian public broadcaster CBC (Lean Left) said the impending deal brings "some degree of momentary relief to companies on both sides of the border who worried the fees would devastate small businesses, disrupt supply chains and drive up the cost of living for everyday families" but that "there is no guarantee Canada can dodge tariffs long-term." Fox Business (Lean Right) noted that Canada has had a 25% tariff in place on American auto-related products since 2025, though it did not note that the US also has one in place on Canada.
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) loans through companies like Klarna, Afterpay, and Affirm have grown steadily since 2020, and these loans now offer options to finance regular household bills like rent, gas, and utilities. Are BNPL loans good for Americans, or a risky symptom of today's economy?
Loans for Electricity and Rent: New York Times (Lean Left bias) noted that Americans spent $160 billion through BNPL loans in 2025, nearly twice the spending from 2023. The Times highlighted that more and more consumers are using these loans for daily essentials rather than consumer indulgences, noting a LendingTree survey that found that half of the company's users "said they could not make ends meet otherwise." Though BNPL companies frame their loans as an alternative to interest-heavy credit card debt, The Times also highlighted concerns that these companies have created "hundreds of billions of dollars in consumer debt that isn't captured in traditional economic analyses and snapshots" because their loans exist outside the mainstream credit ecosystem.
What Do These Companies Think? Ryan Metcalf, Flex's vice president of public affairs, told The Times, "We can't solve income, or the price of rent and affordability. What we can help people solve is a timing issue. It's harm reduction."
Interest Free?Straight Arrow News (Center) reported that BNPL companies "quietly" add interest fees through late payments, payment rescheduling fees, and other hidden costs. According to Straight Arrow News, one-third of BNPL borrowers accrue interest on their loans, and about half of users have paid late fees as a result of a missed payment. Missed payment fees are typically $7-8, which often surpasses the cost of interest, Straight Arrow claimed. In line with The Time's findings that more and more borrowers are using BNPL loans for things like rent and utilities, Straight Arrow News cited stats showing that 46% of users have used pay-later loans on groceries.
The Most Financially Destructive Force in America: Ted Jenkin, writing for Fox News Opinion (Right) in August 2025, took a stronger stance, arguing that "Buy now, pay later is the worst thing for consumers since payday loans." Jenkin noted that credit card balances hit an all-time high of $1.12 trillion, and with the normalization of BNPL loans, "we've built a nation that's not just living paycheck to paycheck—it's now borrowing paycheck to paycheck." Ultimately, Jenkin argued that "we need to stop pretending that BNPL is some kind of harmless financial tool" and instead acknowledge that "it's the fast track to delinquency and bankruptcy for people who can least afford it."
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Aug. 20, 2026.It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday insisted that Americans should welcome artificial intelligence data centers in their communities, despite polls showing widespread opposition to their construction across the US, as well as mounting evidence of their negative impacts on the environment, public health, and Americans’ utility bills.
During a White House event with cryptocurrency and technology leaders, Trump was asked what he would say to working-class voters who backed him in the 2024 election but are skeptical about the benefits of AI.
Trump said he saw no reason why there should be opposition to building data centers, which have drawn criticism for producing pollution and forcing major spikes in utility bills thanks to their massive energy needs.
“If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in, an AI plant, or a data center, I would absolutely want it,” Trump explained. “The jobs are enormous and the money paid, the taxes paid, are enormous. And if you don’t take it, you’re going to be left behind because there are plenty of places that want it.”
The president then suggested that the only reason data centers aren’t popular is due to lack of effective propaganda from the tech industry.
“Maybe it could use a little public relations help,” he said.
Trump: "If I were the mayor of a town or the governor or a state, and I had a chance to get a big data center, I would absolutely want it" pic.twitter.com/9caqZ8L76b
An internal memo written by the National Republican Senatorial Committee that leaked to Axios on Wednesday warned Silicon Valley that data centers were massively unpopular throughout the country and were putting GOP candidates at risk.
In particular, the memo singled out the US Senate race in Ohio, where former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown has used incumbent Republican Sen. Jon Husted’s support for data centers as a cudgel.
“If voters’ perceptions of data centers are not fixed quickly,” the memo cautioned, “the campaign against them will expand far beyond Ohio.”
The New York Timesreported on Thursday that the backlash to data centers has gotten so strong that it has inspired recall campaigns against officials who approved their construction in states including Missouri, Oklahoma, and Michigan.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has proposed a nationwide moratorium on AI data center construction, told the Times that opposition to Big Tech should be a basic litmus test for any ambitious politician.
“People are standing up and saying, ‘Sorry, we don’t want these data centers in our communities for a number of reasons,’” Sanders said. “If you can’t have the guts to stand up to some large corporation, you should not continue serving in office.”
Two different sexual assault targeting young female minors occurred nearly at the same time on Saturday in swimming pools in close proximity to one another, with one of the suspects still on the run.
At around 3:45 p.m., a dark-skinned male was arrested for sexually assaulting two 11-year-old girls at an outdoor swimming pool in the German city of Untersteinbach. The man allegedly touched their thighs and legs in the water, with pool staff moving in to detain the man until police arrived.
Police have not released the man’s nationality, but he was described in the police report as 100 kilograms, or 220 pounds. Furthermore, they said the man was a 37-year-old with dark skin and was 1.83 meters tall, or 6 feet tall. He has black, curly hair and a “high forehead,” according to the Tag24 news outlet, according to Tag24 news outlet.
Authorities are still searching for witnesses and do not rule out that other victims could come forward.
A German woman says "it's a disaster" for women in swimming pools across Germany. She now dreams of her childhood before a certain "clientele" made German swimming pools "just awful."
Almost at the exact same time, a similar sexual assault at yet another German swimming pool occurred at the outdoor swimming pool at Rendelstraße in Öhringen. There, a “tan-skinned” perpetrator sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl, groping her buttocks and grabbing her stomach three separate times in the water.
She told police the suspect had “tan” skin, short black hair, dark eyes, tall, is between 40 and 50 years old, and had a face with distinct wrinkles. He was dressed in black with a black bathing suit.
The man was with a group of five to six other men at the time.
An Indian employee of a catering firm in the Val-d’Oise department of France, located near Paris, has been indicted on charges of raping two vulnerable migrant colleagues but will continue to remain free on the street under judicial supervision. The decision stands after the prosecution’s appeal was dismissed for having been filed beyond the statutory deadline, a legal technicality.
According to details reported by French newspaper Le Parisien, the case began on April 17 when an undocumented worker of Sri Lankan origin employed by the same caterer in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône went to the police to accuse a 34-year-old Indian colleague of rape. She alleged that he had exploited her precarious migration status to rape her, counting on her silence out of fear that she would lose both her job and any chance of being legalized to stay in France.
A short time later, a second female employee of the company lodged a complaint of rape against the same man, describing circumstances that were essentially identical. Both women said the man raped them and then blackmailed them due to their illegal status to win their silence.
In early July, the man was arrested at his home in Pontoise. He had worked for the catering firm since 2015, is the father of three children and had no prior criminal record.
Placed in custody, he firmly denied the allegations during questioning and claimed he was the victim of a plot hatched by the women.
Despite his claims, he was subsequently indicted for the rape of vulnerable persons. However, the judge ordered his release under judicial supervision, requiring him to live in Normandy and forbidding any contact with the two migrant women he allegedly raped.
The public prosecutor’s office, persuaded that pre-trial detention was necessary, lodged an appeal against the release order. A procedural failure inside the services of the Versailles Court of Appeal, however, meant the file could not be examined within the legal fifteen-day period. Consequently the investigating chamber had no option but to record the missed deadline and uphold the judicial supervision already imposed on the indicted man.
The suspect’s employer, which operates sites in both Paris and the Val-d’Oise, quickly terminated the man’s employment.
A Ukrainian national suspected of involvement in the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines has been detained in Croatia and faces extradition to Germany, according to an announcement from the German Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Karlsruhe.
On the morning of Aug. 19, 2026, local police executing a European arrest warrant in the coastal city of Pula arrested the man, identified under German privacy rules as Vladimir Z., also referred to in some reports as Volodymyr Z.
The warrant had been issued by an investigating judge at Germany’s Federal Court of Justice on June 3, 2024. Prosecutors describe Vladimir Z. as a trained scuba diver who is strongly suspected of jointly causing explosions, anti-constitutional sabotage, and the destruction of buildings and structures.
According to the prosecutor’s statement, Vladimir Z. belonged to a group centered around separately prosecuted Ukrainian national Serhii K.
In September 2022, the group is alleged to have planted explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm. Vladimir Z. is said to have taken part in the necessary dives.
The team departed from Rostock, Germany, aboard a sailing yacht that intermediaries had rented from a German company using falsified identification documents. The explosives detonated on Sept. 26, 2022, causing extensive damage to both pipelines.
Upon extradition from Croatia, Vladimir Z. is expected to appear before the investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice. German authorities are actively pursuing the transfer.
This marks the second major arrest in the long-running German investigation. In June and July 2026, prosecutors filed an indictment against Serhii K., a former Ukrainian army officer, before the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg. He faces charges including co-perpetration of a war crime through an attack on civilian objects, causing an explosion, destroying infrastructure, and disrupting public services.
Prosecutors allege that Serhii K. acted on behalf of Ukrainian state entities, helping to plan and lead an operation aimed at permanently disrupting Russian gas deliveries and denying Moscow revenue that could fund its military campaign. Both K. and Ukrainian officials, including former army commander Valery Zaluzhny, have denied the claims.
Z. had previously been the subject of an extradition request in Poland. In October 2025, the District Court in Warsaw refused to hand him over to German authorities, lifted his pre-trial detention, and ordered his immediate release.
The Nord Stream explosions remain one of the most consequential acts of infrastructure sabotage in recent European history. Two of the three operational strands of Nord Stream 1 and one of the two strands of Nord Stream 2 were ruptured. The second Nord Stream 2 line, with an annual capacity of 27.5 billion cubic meters, had never entered service. At the time, Russia had already curtailed deliveries through Nord Stream 1 amid sanctions and technical disputes, while European governments accused Moscow of weaponizing energy supplies. Russia has repeatedly pressed Germany to activate the remaining capacity.
German investigators continue to treat the case as a matter of domestic jurisdiction because the pipelines terminate in Germany and their destruction affected the country’s energy security. Media reports, including those from Der Spiegel, have long described the operation as originating with Ukrainian actors.
Some accounts have suggested that U.S. intelligence, including the CIA, was aware of early planning discussions and did not initially object, even examining technical aspects. However, there has been no official confirmation of any American role in preparing or executing the sabotage, and such claims remain unproven.
Ukrainian anti-corruption services launched searches under codename “Operation Forrest Gump,” targeting, among others, the deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. The move expands the ongoing anti-corruption investigation which has seen a number of top officials in Zelensky’s cabinet flee to Israel shortly before police could raid their homes.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) announced they were conducting a special operation involving a criminal organization led by a current and former member of parliament, with the participation of high-ranking officials from the Office of the President of Ukraine.
“NABU and SAPO are conducting a special operation aimed at exposing a criminal organization that operated under the leadership of a current and former member of the Ukrainian Parliament, with the participation of high-ranking officials of the Office of the President of Ukraine and other individuals. Details – coming soon,” announced the anti-corruption services on Telegram.
The operation is codenamed “Forrest Gump,” also referred to as Forest Gump. Ukrayinska Pravda sources and other media reported that NABU and SAPO are conducting searches as part of this special operation at premises belonging to MP Vadym Stolar, who was elected to parliament on behalf of the currently banned Opposition Platform – For Life party.
In addition, Iryna Mudra, deputy head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, is also targeted in the raids.
Stolar has confirmed the investigative actions at his home and stated he is fully cooperating without obstruction.
Additional figures linked by media and law-enforcement sources include former MP Maksym Mykytas, officials from the Ministry of Justice, and senior management of the state-owned Sense Bank including the chair of the board and supervisory board. Searches were also reported at the bank premises.
NABU has released excerpts of intercepted conversations.
Fragments reference “bags of money,” discussions of registering assets or proceeds in the names of children, including high tuition costs, the “Forrest Gump” name itself in a context of concealing theft, and mentions of the Office of the President.
As EuroMaidan writes, “The operation carries a mocking name, Forest Gump, drawn from the suspects’ own words. In a 47-second recording of intercepted conversations, one man ties the label to how the group allegedly hid money.”
The suspect mocks that one of the co-conspirators used his children’s own name to register the stolen money.
“We’ve got Saving Private Ryan, right? But only an idiot would register the theft of money—and their tuition on top of it—on their own children. That’s why, Forest Gump,” he said.
Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators reportedly chose the name “Forrest Gump” to mock these statements from their own criminal targets.
Other parts of the conversation reference cash and the presidential administration directly. “Well, there are four bags of money there,” one voice says on the tape.
Another chimed in, saying: “If we do this, you can drive to the Office of the President yourselves. Believe me. I can see it.”
Investigators allege the group gained effective control over Sense Bank around early June 2026.According to NABU/SAPO details released as part of the operation, the group organized money laundering of $3.5 million in cash (UAH 150 million).
The funds were introduced into legal circulation through accounts of shell companies and Sense Bank to post bail for one of the defendants in the earlier “Midas” case, which was linked to former Energy and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko.
Cash was reportedly delivered in tranches, processed via controlled entities, and partially directed toward the High Anti-Corruption Court bail account. Allegations include that Mudra was expected to help arrange the raising of these funds and that unidentified individuals from the President’s Office tasked her with efforts related to bringing Sense Bank under greater control.
Investigators also seized a document described as an anti-crisis communications playbook outlining steps and messaging to shape public opinion around a Verkhovna Rada temporary investigative commission, framing it as an “audit, not attack” while shielding President Zelensky and his cabinet.
The probe has also documented alleged attempts to place controlled individuals in NABU and other law-enforcement bodies.
Incredibly, NABU has already posted these documents directly to Telegram.
Who is involved in the broader corruption scandal in Ukraine?
One of the main suspects in the related investigation is businessman Tymur Mindich. He is the co-owner of the Kwartal 95 production studio, which was founded and headed in the past by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Fearing arrest in the Energoatom affair (Operation Midas), Mindich fled to Israel. The Midas case centers on alleged large-scale kickbacks, approximately 10–15 percent of contract values, at the state nuclear company Energoatom, involving roughly $100 million in illicit funds, with the group using code names and cash deliveries.
During searches of Mindich’s premises in November 2025, investigators found large quantities of cash and a golden toilet, along with a golden bidet, in one of the bathrooms of his opulent Kyiv apartment —details that became a public symbol of excess and were widely referred to as the “golden toilet scandal,” which Remix News reported extensively on.
Mindich was not the only key figure to flee to Israel. His close associate, Oleksandr Tsukerman, also fled. The country does not extradite its citizens but Ukraine later imposed sanctions and issued international arrest warrants.
Among the suspects in the Midas scandal was the former head of Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, Andriy Yermak. The former head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office has been charged under the Criminal Code of Ukraine with laundering property obtained as a result of a crime. The alleged laundering of UAH 460 million, about $10.5 million, allegedly occurred during the construction of the Dynastia luxury housing complex in Kozyn near Kyiv.
According to investigators, some of the funds used for the construction may have come from corruption activities at Energoatom. The court then issued an arrest warrant for Yermak.
It stipulated that he would be able to be released if he paid bail of 140 million hryvnias. In mid-May, Andriy Yermak was released from custody after posting bail.
The Forrest Gump operation is now being presented as connected to the wider Midas network of allegations involving high-level influence over strategic state enterprises, money laundering, and related luxury projects. Developments remain ongoing, with NABU indicating further details would be released.
Polish state media outlet TVP reported: “The latest operation could further intensify scrutiny of the political establishment as President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government faces pressure to demonstrate progress in tackling corruption while Ukraine continues its war with Russia. It also poses a fresh headache for Zelenskyy after ousted defense chief Mykhailo Fedorov called for wartime elections in a bombshell statement late on Tuesday.”
The question now remains: Is the noose tightening around Zelensky himself, or will he emerge from this massive corruption scandal of close associates squeaky clean?
I was sad last fall when I read and recommended Jaya Saxena’s final story for Eater. Saxena is a food writer the Longreads editors have followed for years, and a journalist I’ve always counted on for food writing that both informs and entertains; she goes deep on aspects of cuisine, dining, the restaurant industry, and food culture in a way that’s relatable and unpretentious. (She’s also the series editor of The Best AmericanFood and Travel Writing anthology; you can preorder the 2026 edition now.) So I was glad to hear, earlier this year, that Saxena and other former Eater writers were cooking up something new.
That something is Ravenous, a worker-owned, subscriber-supported food and culture site founded by Saxena, Amy McCarthy, Ashok Selvam, Courtney E. Smith, and Frances Dumlao. The five journalists are “sick and tired of the conversation around food being reduced to AI-generated pablum, ‘best of’ lists, and influencer-driven trends,” and are building a home for the kind of thoughtful, curious reporting that’s become harder to publish in a broken media landscape. Or, as they put it: food media with teeth.
Next week, Ravenous launches a monthlong fundraiser, so now is the perfect time to support the site. Seven dollars a month, or $70 a year, gets you access to everything they publish; higher-tier plans come with more perks. (Sign up for the Regular plan—$25 a month, or $250 a year—and you get to give the Ravenous raven a nickname, which they include in their Sunday newsletters.)
If anyone can build a publication around engaging, relevant food reporting and storytelling, it’s Saxena and this crew. Have a look around Ravenous and consider subscribing. But be warned: Don’t browse when you’re hungry.
I was born and raised in New York City, and aside from a brief stint in New Orleans for college, I’m still here. Except now I’m over in Queens instead of my hometown of Manhattan.
What places feel like home?
Aside from my actual apartment and the one I grew up in: Various NYC beaches, the backyard of my local bar, a punk show, Ray’s Pizza & Bagel Cafe on St. Mark’s Place, and one specific rock in Central Park.
Other than family members, who or what has shaped you the most?
For high school I went to a Quaker school in Manhattan, and though I don’t consider myself religious in any way, Quaker values began shaping my future politics then. It’s where I first started learning about the value of consensus-based community decision making, and given that this was in the early 2000s, anti-war and anti-violence politics. I even remember a teacher making the case that cars should be banned in Manhattan. It was a big influence on my politics and value systems.
What is your favorite time of day?
To work, right after I wake up, around 8 a.m., when my mind hasn’t filled with the noise of the day. Otherwise, early evening when it’s still light out, and everything is just beginning.
What are you really good at?
Untangling necklaces.
What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?
One year my wife bought me a Cameo of the cow from First Cow, whose handler fed her a treat in my honor. The video is one of my most prized possessions.
Describe your favorite meal.
Of course as a food writer this is tripping me up, because are we talking about a single great meal I’ve experienced, or a dish I could eat every day? If it’s the former, it’s the time my wife and I walked into a random seafood counter in Valencia, Spain, and spent the night eating sardines in garlic oil and sparkling wine from ceramic cups. If it’s the latter, my mom’s mac and cheese.
Sound or silence? (And if sound, what sound?)
I’m a city kid, so too much silence scares me. I need the background noise of people on the street to get anything done.
Where do you do your best thinking?
In the shower or walking around listening to music.
What journey—physical, creative, intellectual, or otherwise—has meant the most to you?
In 2018, my wife and I traveled with my dad to his hometown in India. It was the first time he had been back since before I was born, and being able to experience that with him was so important. We also ate absolutely the best kebab I’ve ever had in my life. Maybe I should have put that as my favorite meal.
Where do you like to read?
On the subway.
What’s the last rabbit hole you disappeared into?
My friend recently introduced me to the case of Judy Smith, a woman who went missing during a trip to Philadelphia and was discovered murdered in the woods outside Asheville, North Carolina. I have now spent a lot of time reading conspiracies about what happened to her.
Name three publications you enjoy reading these days.
Defector has fantastic culture coverage, I love every issue Cake Zine puts out, and some of the best money I’ve spent recently is on the monthly print issue of The Onion.
What’s one longread that you can’t stop thinking about?
This piece in The New Yorker by Lauren Collins about El Mordjene, an Algerian hazelnut spread that white French people are being very racist about. It’s just such a good exploration of how something innocuous becomes the center of a culture war. I was also thrilled to find the spread at an Egyptian grocer in my neighborhood, and sorry white French people, it is better than Nutella.
What was the last book you read?
I had somehow never read Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice, but after watching the TV series my friends and I decided to read it together.
What piece of nonfiction are you most proud of writing?
“The Food That Makes You Gay,” for Eater. I had editors that really trusted me to follow my instincts, and I managed to thread together some things I had an inkling were related. I’m also just glad I could get a full throated defense of bodily autonomy and the right to change one’s body in a piece that started out talking about straight men being afraid to eat bananas in public.
What’s your most reliable way to get creatively unstuck?
Walk away from the computer. I just need to do something else, anything else, for a while.
Who’s a writer you turn to when you need some inspiration?
Reading just about anything will definitely help me, but I love Helen Rosner’s food writing. And I tend to listen to a lot of music when I need inspiration, so as far as lyricists go, probably Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple, Joni Mitchell, Prince, and Paul Simon.
What words do you overuse?
I write pretty conversationally, so I sprinkle in a lot of “just” and “of course” and “perhaps” that I usually have to go back and delete.
What’s your favorite guilty pleasure?
I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as a “guilty” pleasure (unless it’s like, continuing to read Harry Potter after J.K. Rowling has made it clear that doing so supports her transphobic work). No one should feel guilty about doing something that brings them joy. But in terms of indulgences that make little sense to others, I love a Hershey’s Cookies ‘N’ Creme bar.
What superpower would you like to have?
Generously, the power to instantly heal others. Selfishly, the power to have three cocktails and sleep through the night.
What animal or nonhuman being do you most identify with?
Any time I see a photo of a magpie standing on its nest made of shiny, pretty things, that’s me.
If you have a free solitary hour in your day, what do you typically do?
Unfortunately, I’m probably looking on my phone. I have a very dumb “project” where I am trying to train my Instagram algorithm to show me the absolute worst videos out there. But I am trying to get better about doing things like taking a walk to the river, or practicing a new hobby (my latest one is trying to learn some card tricks).
What five items would you place in a time capsule?
A copy of The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, a bootleg Knicks champion shirt, a fortune teller fish, a bottle of 4711 cologne, and a DVD of Velvet Goldmine.
What does your writing space look like?
You should know for this photo I am standing directly against my bed, which my cats sit on all day and scream at me from. You should also know half the time I’m not even here, and instead writing with my laptop on the couch.
Jaya Saxena is an IACP Award-winning, James Beard Award-nominated writer and editor, and a lifelong New Yorker. She enjoys covering the intersections of food and immigration, business, history, policy, queerness, and just about every way we use food to say something about ourselves. She is the series editor for The Best American Food and Travel Writing. Her work has appeared in Eater, Slate, Gourmet, GQ, The New York Times, Defector, and more. You can email her at jaya@weareravenous.com.
Premessa editoriale: perché parlare di Educazione su un canale di Politica e Relazioni Internazionali A prima vista, un’analisi approfondita sullo stato della scuola cattolica in Italia potrebbe sembrare un tema ...
When victims of organized migrant clan violence arrive at emergency rooms in Berlin, the impact extends far beyond the trauma bays. According to Felix Wolf (a pseudonym), a veteran emergency nurse with a decade of experience in a Berlin hospital, treating wounded clan members subjects medical staff to high-pressure security lockdowns, escalating street-level intimidation, and systemic stress.
According to Wolf, who spoke with Welt newspaper, violent incidents involving knives and firearms are becoming routine occurrences that frequently bypass official crime statistics.
“We are increasingly dealing with injuries from shootings and stabbings in the clinics,” Wolf said. “Not all cases become public or end up in the crime statistics, because especially in cases of simple stab wounds, the police are not always called in. We have such cases several times a week.”
The official data already shows a sharp rise in violence not only in Berlin but across all of Germany. Berlin, in particular, has been hard hit by a wave of violent gang warfare, which has seen a record high number of shootings in 2025. Reports indicate that the number of shootings has only intensified in 2026.
Wolf noted a trend toward younger offenders who demonstrate intentional lethality in their attacks: “Not only is the quantity increasing, but also the quality: especially among knife attackers, the perpetrators are getting younger and younger. I often treat 15- or 16-year-olds who know exactly where to aim in order to cause the greatest possible damage.”
The violence does not end on the streets either but often extends into the hospitals. When gunshot or stabbing victims arrive – often unannounced or brought in directly by associates – hospital protocol demands rapid security measures to secure the facility. To reduce the risk of retaliation or targeted harassment if a clan member patient dies, hospital staff adjust their daily routines and assignment distributions:
“This leaves us in nursing with great uncertainty: To what extent can we rely on support when we have to defend ourselves? Up until now, we’ve always been lucky that nothing worse has happened. But perhaps you remember the camera footage from New Year’s Eve when a nurse was knocked unconscious in another hospital? That happens too,” Wolf warned. “I haven’t worn a name tag in the emergency room for years because I don’t want to be identifiable. We take precautions: If two Arab boys need to be cared for, I don’t send in two girls, but at least one man. I also try to keep colleagues with Jewish surnames out of such a case.”
When a gunshot victim from a clan arrives at the hospital, police are immediately informed, according to Wolf, “In most cases, the injured come on foot or are dragged literally by a relative. As soon as certain surnames are mentioned, we’ll call the police.”
The police response often involves large-scale deployments to prevent secondary conflicts on hospital grounds.
“Thankfully, the officers have always arrived faster than the relatives in our country so far. Then 15 to 20 team cars with hundreds of them roll up, and all you hear for five to ten minutes are sirens,” Wolf said. “Everything will be sealed off, not just the hospital grounds, but entire streets up to the nearest subway station. That’s quite impressive. They screen in advance exactly who could drive in where, stop cars and conduct identity checks.”
During these incidents, emergency room operations are regularly halted.
“The injured person is usually already lying with us, accompanied by the two or three guys who brought him here. Then the police arrive and determine the personal details, photograph and confiscate evidence. The procedure often takes several hours – during that time the emergency room is temporarily closed. New emergency patients cannot be admitted during this time.”
In other words, not only have these criminal migrant gangs turned the streets of Berlin into the Wild West, but due to security precautions involved in such cases, entire emergency rooms are shut down, leaving patients unable to enter and receive treatment in their own city.
When family members start arriving, it often means the trouble is only beginning. Wolf described up to 40 family members arriving in some cases, often organized through Telegram channels, where they “want to show a presence in an often aggressive way.”
“In these circles, it is common for mothers and women to shout loudly and dramatically. This high noise level is a stress factor for staff and also for patients. In the clinic, this can still be managed to some extent; at the deployment site, it is significantly more difficult,” said Wolf.
The medical outcome of a patient can dictate the level of immediate danger faced by hospital workers and first responders.
“Thank God no clan member has ever died here. This might sound harsh, but we are always happy when the injured person dies on site and not here,” Wolf stated. “The stress that officers have to put themselves through in such a case is enormous: Because normally no one from the rival clan is there anymore, the police officers and emergency services are then attacked.”
Due to security budget limitations across clinics, staff must rely primarily on municipal police protection while implementing their own personal safety protocols.
“We must rely on the police. Money for one’s own security services isn’t very easy. I know clinics where you’re happy if even one security guard is on site at night,” Wolf observed. “Fortunately, the Berlin police are well-positioned and not hesitant. It is appalling under what conditions the police officers have to cope with such situations – and how, in the following days, individual images are repeatedly taken out of context and used against them.”
Wolf also addresses a German society rapidly trying to adapt to expanding violence, in which the victims are being taught to deal with being a victim, instead of perpetrators, often violent, being held accountable for their actions.
Wolf expressed skepticism toward institutional de-escalation courses, arguing they misplace responsibility onto healthcare workers: “Many clinics offer self-defense or de-escalation training. But I’m not a big fan of that. Many courses attempt to professionalize dangerous situations in such a way that a kind of perpetrator-victim reversal takes place. Why should I adapt to a situation that stems from the fact that the other person hasn’t learned how to behave decently?”
The crisis goes even deeper, threatening the entire health system by contributing to medical staff burnout, which is likely costing lives. The combination of workplace stress and safety concerns has led to high turnover rates among emergency care personnel, with many leaving the field within five to six years.
“Brutalization is a societal issue,” Wolf stated, saying that the amount of time staff are sticking around is dropping to five or six years at the most, with most moving on to other fields
“To a certain extent, this is due to a political failure: the authorities and the health system are being let down. But this brutalization is also a societal question.”
Wolf highlighted the difficulty of discussing specific patient demographics without facing public criticism or accusations of bias:
“Anyone who addresses such topics and clearly identifies the clientele that causes them will immediately get a dressing-down. ‘That’s not how you should say it; that’s too generalizing’, it then says. That may be true – but we simply do not have these difficulties with other groups of people. The fact that we cannot address this is a problem. I constantly get accusations of racism. Colleagues in the medical field and also in the police force understand what I mean. However, in certain Berlin circles, this issue is considered socially unacceptable.”
He claimed that voting for the AfD is not the answer, since he claims the AfD was especially opposed to the medical field during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Responding to political narratives, Wolf rejected the idea that voting for far-right parties like the AfD provides a solution, citing past hostility toward healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“During the pandemic, these very people declared us fair game,” he said.
An exhaustive search was conducted and there is no evidence any AfD member ever called for attacks on medical staff. There was criticism of the way the medical establishment handled the Covid-19 crisis, but there is no evidence there were any efforts to unleash violence on medical staff.
Wolf also stated that not all migrants can be blamed for attacks on medical staff, claiming that AfD members “are welcome to ask themselves if they would want to come and clean in our hospital for that kind of pay. Therefore, I do not want to turn our problems with clan members into a general migration debate.”
Following a trial, a 29-year-old Palestinian has been convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl on a bus in the French city of Toulouse. The girl, named Clara to protect her identity, openly sobbed in court while sitting next to her mother.
On June 18, the young girl was riding the L11 bus in the city when the Palestinian migrant, Ahmed, sat next to her. Ahmed spoke in court through a translator, claiming he thought he saw the teenager give “a sign” to him that she wanted to get to know him. Ahmed said he was attracted to Clara “at first sight.”
After Ahmed got on the bus, he went to sit next to the victim, at which point he began to rub her shoulders before he grabbed her transport card, which she had been holding between her legs, according to French news outlet La Depeche. He then grabbed her thighs before moving his hands to her chest. The Palestinian was then arrested after a criminal complaint.
In court, after recounting that he was attracted to Clara, he apologized for his sexual assault in criminal court, saying: “I thought carefully. I would like to apologize. I have trouble behaving around girls. That day, I was elsewhere, I behaved badly.”
“Do you realize that she is traumatized?” the judge responded.
Ahmed fled Gaza and arrived in France in March 2025. He said he has had a difficult existence in France living on the street and in squats. He also says he has been actively consuming cocaine and alcohol “to suffer less psychologically.”
He was then given taxpayer-funded social support and offered accommodations in Cugnaux.
Ahmed told the court that he experienced war and violence during his childhood and adolescence.
The court found Ahmed guilty and sentenced him to six months in prison with continued detention. He is also being banned from French territory for two years and is no longer allowed to participate in any activity involving minors. He will also be a registered sex offender.
A civil case may also rule on further damages related to the 15-year-old girl he targeted.
This is far from the only incident in Toulouse. Last year, Remix News reported on a 54-year-old Senegalese migrant who committed serial sexual assaults on the city’s bus lines over the course of three years, with the man targeting multiple women at different times.
In 2025, Remix News reported that sexual assaults on French public transport had risen 86 percent over the preceding ten years.
French authorities have launched a murder investigation after an agricultural worker discovered the partially charred, naked body of a woman in a vineyard last week near Nîmes. While official identification remains pending, the victim is believed to be 29-year-old Sonia Bellina, a popular social media influencer who went missing on Aug. 10.
Bellina, who lived between Paris and Nîmes, built a following of nearly 380,000 users across two TikTok accounts and 13,000 followers on Instagram.
JUST IN: The body of 29-year-old French TikToker Sonia Bellina has been discovered naked and charred in vineyards in Saint-Gilles.
"She ran into the wrong guy at the wrong time. I never thought this would happen to our family, to us. Especially since she was a sunny, kind… pic.twitter.com/WHBAq7GMNt
The Nîmes public prosecutor’s office opened the homicide inquiry following the Aug. 12 discovery in Saint-Gilles, located roughly 12 miles outside Nîmes. The investigation has been assigned to the Gard gendarmerie group and the Nîmes gendarmerie research section.
Speaking to reporters, a woman identifying herself as the victim’s older sister, Mia, said Bellina vanished after leaving for a date the night before the body was found, according to French news outlet Le Dauphine.
“She told us she was going out one evening, she never came back,” Mia said, adding that her sister was scheduled to meet someone she had been seeing. “She ran into the wrong guy at the wrong time.”
La jeune influenceuse gardoise, Sonia Bellina disparue le 10 août, retrouvée carbonisée à Saint-Gilles le 12 août. Sa famille, convaincue de son identité, dénonce le harcèlement en ligne et les commentaires haineux qui persistent même après sa mort.#SoniaBellina#meurtre… https://t.co/UPEklp591xpic.twitter.com/Bjqcy8OkKY
Family members have pushed back against online speculation regarding Bellina’s personal life and background, pleading for privacy as the investigation unfolds.
No arrests have been announced, and French authorities have not officially named a suspect in the ongoing investigation. The family is pleading for witnesses or people with information about the murder to come forward.
The Nîmes prosecutor’s office assigned a dedicated criminal task force of up to 40 gendarmes to comb the vineyards for microscopic forensic evidence and map out her final movements.
A total of 620 drones were launched at the Moscow region last night, with Russian air defense forces claiming to have shot down 180 of them during an intense overnight attack. The massive attack underlines a growing reality: Russian President Vladimir Putin had said at the beginning of the war that any attacks on Russian soil would be a “red line.” Now, there are daily attacks ravaging the country, with Ukraine striking critical energy structures, residential buildings, and major logistics warehouses.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported on the attacks on Tuesday, Aug. 18, noting that due to the scale of drone launches, it was one of the largest Ukrainian airstrikes aimed at the region since the war began. The TASS news outlet claimed it was the largest.
Moscow faced its largest drone attack in two years, according to Russian sources. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed 627 UAVs headed toward the capital, with around 180 downed over the Moscow region. Local reports cited a fire near the Kapotnya refinery, a strike on a Wildberries… pic.twitter.com/iFRq1YL8AY
The mayor noted that emergency services were actively deployed to sites where debris fell, though he did not provide immediate specifics regarding overall damage or fatalities.
Wildberries up in smoke
In the Moscow region, falling debris damaged a logistics facility belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, causing a localized fire. This follows Ukraine’s efforts to successfully strike Wildberries logistics hubs across the nation.
To put the Wildberries attacks in context, some figures put the company at 8.5 percent of Russia’s GDP. The company is often called the “Amazon of Russia,” employing 270,000 people and accounting for half of the country’s e-commerce sales. Ukraine has been systematically destroying Wildberries warehouses across the country with near impunity. It would be the equivalent of an enemy state destroying the largest Amazon warehouses in the United States, which would likely spark a consumer panic and send product inflation soaring.
In addition, Russia’s oil refineries and critical energy infrastructure are now being dismantled by Ukrainian drone strikes, threatening a major financial resource for Moscow and leading to fuel rationing across the country.
In late 2024, Russia updated its formal nuclear doctrine to state that a massive conventional attack backed by a nuclear power could trigger a nuclear response. As evidenced by massive missile and drone strikes against Russian territory using NATO weapons like British Storm Shadow missiles, it appears those threats were entirely empty. This stance has dramatically reduced Putin’s leverage and could lead Ukraine to further step up its attacks on Russian targets.
Drone strike intensity is increasing
Casualties were also reported in connection with Ukraine’s latest attack. Regional authorities reported that at least three people were injured across the surrounding district, including a 10-year-old girl. The aerial operation also extended to Russian-occupied Crimea, where local officials reported power outages affecting southern, northwestern, and eastern sectors of the peninsula.
Pro-Ukraine X account Nexta published some of the footage of the attacks
Overnight, Russian strikes hit Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, killing at least 10 people and injuring others, illustrating the intensifying cycle of long-range aerial exchanges.
This latest assault follows an earlier surge on Sunday, Aug. 16, when Moscow claimed to have intercepted more than 800 drones nationwide in what was previously cited as the war’s largest aerial assault to date. News agency Reuters pointed out that details regarding total drone counts and intercepted targets originate from Russian state sources and have not been independently verified.
The surge in long-range drone deployments reflects a growing wave of Ukrainian retaliatory strikes targeting economic hubs, energy networks, and logistics nodes deeper inside Russian territory.
Now in its fifth year, Russia’s invasion has developed into the largest armed conflict on the European continent since 1945. The duration of active hostilities has officially surpassed the timeframe of the Red Army’s engagement in World War II, known historically in Russia as the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.
In the early hours of April 27, 1865, a steamboat packed with nearly two thousand exhausted Union soldiers drifted northward on the Mississippi River. The American Civil War had ended and these soldiers who had survived battlefields, diseases, and some of the Confederacy’s most notorious prison camps were finally going home.
Shortly after 2 a.m., the vessel's boilers exploded with tremendous force throwing men into the river and trapping hundreds beneath collapsing decks. Flames engulfed the wooden steamboat. By the time the disaster was over, more than a thousand people had perished, making the Sultana tragedy the deadliest maritime disaster in American history. Yet unlike the sinking of the Titanic, it remains largely unknown today.
Sultana at Helena, Arkansas, on April 26, 1865, the day before her destruction. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
In Colombia, the sky turned a bloody red color after latest earthquakes
Before the fear caused by the 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Colombia had even subsided, an unusual sight in the sky this time caused panic.
The sky turning intense shades of red and orange during sunset hours raised concerns of a new tremor in some areas, while experts stated that the sight was a natural atmospheric event.
Residents of the Colombian city of Galeras witnessed an unusual natural phenomenon when the sky suddenly turned a bright red color.
This event occurred in the northern part of the country, in the Sucre department, in the La Sabana subregion, on August, 16, a few year later the latest earthquake in Colombia of low intensity 4.2 that haven’t caused damage due to its depthness.
Locals were surprised and concerned about what surrounded them. Footage of the red sky quickly spread on social media, sparking active discussion.
POSTED ON JULY, 7, 2026
The sky turning an eerie blood red after Venezuela Earthquake
Days after twin earthquakes struck Venezuela, leaving thousands dead and causing widespread devastation across parts of the south American country, residents in the capital Caracas witnessed the sky turning an eerie blood red.
Videos quickly spread over social media, showing a burning crimson sky as the sun sank below the horizon, bathing the city in a red glow.
Now let’s try to analyze the possible causes from a natural, scientific, and metaphysical perspective.
It would be a mistake, in fact, to ignore potentially supernatural or geoengineered phenomena simply because we persist in confining these areas to a corner where science, unfortunately, still lacks certain and empirically unequivocal answers.
It’s important to note that a video published by the New York Post showed the sky changing in color from deep red to purple, just like the multi-colored auroras triggered by the HARRP station often used by US Pentagon for geoengineering military tests.
A Rare Natural Event
«Scientists say there is a much more simple explanation for the vivid sunset. Known locally as a ‘candilazo’, it occurs when the sun’s light travels through a thicker layer of the atmosphere, scattering blue and violet wavelengths and allowing the red and orange hues to dominate the sky» the bristish newspaper The Independent wrote.
This is called Rayleigh scattering, and it is enhanced when there are more particles in the atmosphere, such as dust, smoke, or moisture. Saharan dust can often cause this to happen when it is carried on the wind across the Atlantic to this part of the world, further intensifying the colour of the sunsets in northern South America.
However, geophysicists say there is no scientific evidence linking red sunsets with seismic activity, and science is torn over whether earthquake lights, or EQL, are even real.
“Geophysicists differ on the extent to which they think that individual reports of unusual lighting near the time and epicenter of an earthquake actually represent EQL,” The U.S. Geological Survey states on its website. “Some doubt that any of the reports constitute solid evidence for EQL, whereas others think that at least some reports plausibly correspond to EQL.”
Therefore, despite the online speculation, the dramatic sky over Caracas is simply a natural event and not linked to the earthquakes, which were caused by the grinding movement along the boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates.
The Fears of a Biblical Omen
Social media users questioned if the colored sky was linked to the deadly earthquake that had recently struck the region.
The timing sparked theories ranging from mysterious ‘earthquake lights’ to biblical signs, as many likened it to Joel 2:30-31, which describes the ‘Day of the Lord’, which is a time of God’s coming judgment and power, Daily Mail pointed out.
‘And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes,’read the verses.
The prophecies about earthquakes in the “end times” announced in the Book of Revelation are also mentioned in the Gospel of St. Luke (21, 10-11):
«Then he (Jesus – ed) said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven”.
“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
A Consequence of a Geomagnetic Bombardment as Forecast by Fidel Castro
But there is another explanation that could instead be related to an anthropogenic geoengineering action as was foreseen and announced by Fidel Castro regarding a possible US military attack through the use of geomagnetic bombardment of the HAARP station in Alaska.
According to the Cuban revolutionary, the infamous structure used for the electromagnetic alteration of the ionosphere in order to cause artificial northern lights – the acronym HAARP stands for High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program – could also be capable of causing earthquakes, as also claimed by various scientists who do not deserve mention as they have not published certified studies.
But it is absolutely certain that the HAARP station is capable of producing dazzling auroras, producing sky colors that vary from green to red and purple depending on the intensity of the radio frequency (as we detailed in a previous investigation, see image below).
CLICK TO READ MORE ABOUT HAARP EXPERIMENTS
Therefore, even if Castro’s conspiracy theory about an earthquake caused by geoengineering in Venezuela is accepted as possible, a phenomenon of strange, intense blood-red illumination of the sky would be entirely consistent with a geomagnetic bombardment.
It’s important to note that a video published by the New York Post showed the sky changing in color from deep red to purple, just like the multi-colored auroras triggered by the HARRP station.
This color variation certainly isn’t evidence of a dangerous geoengineering operation, but it’s certainly a very serious clue that shouldn’t be underestimated.
For the sake of completeness, we’ve listed three different hypotheses regarding Venezuela’s strange red skies. Choose which one you think is most plausible.
Carlo Domenico Cristofori – OSINT investigative journalist
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