[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A woman is facing multiple charges after a bizarre encounter at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate escalated into a crazed pursuit that ended with the fatal shooting of her dog.
Alexa Rae Scharf, 29, of Loxahatchee, allegedly drove through a closed Secret Service checkpoint near Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, driving toward officers and fleeing in a wild pursuit down Palm Beach’s exclusive South Ocean Boulevard.
Scharf was arrested later that night and charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle, felony fleeing and resisting an officer without violence.
The probable cause affidavit also states that investigators found probable cause for three counts of resisting an officer with violence.
The extraordinary incident unfolded when Scharf drove her gray Hyundai SUV into a closed checkpoint in the Bath & Tennis Club’s west parking lot around 6.05 pm.
Investigators said no one was authorized to enter at the time. Scharf allegedly parked beside the vehicle-screening tents, exited the vehicle and turned on a hose.
When Secret Service Agent McGear approached and asked, 'Who are you?' Scharf allegedly fired back, 'I'm here for the car wash'.
McGear attempted to photograph the SUV’s license plate to determine whether Scharf was authorized to be there.
The incident escalated when Sharf allegedly got back behind the wheel, ignored repeated commands to stop and drove toward the agent, forcing him to pivot swiftly and move out of her path to avoid being bulldozed.
Some minutes later, McGear located the Hyundai perched outside a oceanfront estate at 1236 Ocean Blvd, less than half a mile away.
After turning around, he reported finding the property’s massive entrance gate knocked down and visibly damaged. Scharf’s SUV was stalled farther up the driveway, and she was strolling around the property, police say.
The affidavit says Scharf returned to the running SUV as Palm Beach police officers and Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies moved up the driveway and ordered her to get out.
Investigators allege Scharf once again refused to comply and drove directly toward Palm Beach Police Captain Watson, forcing him to move quickly to avoid being struck.
As Scharf backed down the driveway, Officer Castineiras arrived and ordered her to stop. Police say she continued driving toward him, also forcing him out of her path.
Scharf then maneuvered between marked police cruisers and fled south on South Ocean Boulevard as officers pursued with emergency lights and sirens, according to the affidavit.
The pursuit ended in a driveway in the 1500 block of South Ocean Boulevard. Police carried out a felony stop and repeatedly ordered Scharf to turn off the SUV and step out.
After Scharf refused ongoing orders, officers placed stop sticks beneath the tires before breaking the rear windshield and rear driver-side window, in an effort to get her out.
Officers ultimately pried open the driver’s door, removed Scharf and took her into custody as per the affidavit.
But the tense standoff took a tragic turn when Palm Beach police said Scharf’s pit bull suddenly charged at officers, as per CBS12.
The dog jumped over Scharf, charged officers and bit one officer as they opened a door.
An officer shot the pit bull twice.
Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control personnel and a veterinarian attempted to treat the animal, but it died.
Police said an initial on-scene investigation found no policy violations in the shooting and the officer who fired the shots has not been placed on administrative leave.
The condition of the officer who was bitten has not been released. The Secret Service declined to comment.
The incident brought traffic to a standstill near the president’s Palm Beach estate, with South Ocean Boulevard closed between Via Agape and 1236 South Ocean Boulevard from roughly 6pm until approximately 9.30pm, according to town alerts.
Court records show a driver's license suspension for Scharf eight days before the encounter. Records also show Scharf was arrested by Palm Beach Gardens police on a DUI charge in 2018.
[FoxNews] The 3 suspects allegedly traveled to Fairfax County to meet minors for sexual encounters
Three of nine men arrested in a Virginia child exploitation sting are illegal aliens with lengthy criminal histories, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to Fox News. The three men have since been released on bond.
The suspects allegedly traveled to Fairfax County to meet with minors for sexual encounters after engaging in sexually explicit conversations online with undercover detectives posing as juveniles, police said Wednesday.
The three illegal aliens were identified as Reyben Leono Sanchez Hernandez, 21, of El Salvador; Wilmer Alexander Aguilar Cruz, 28, of El Salvador; and Henry Adalberto Flores Herrera, 39, DHS told Fox News.
DHS said the three men were previously caught illegally entering the U.S. before being released during the Obama administration. DHS blamed the administration’s immigration policies and Fairfax County’s "sanctuary" policies for what it described as an influx of criminal illegal aliens.
According to DHS, Sanchez Hernandez’s criminal history includes solicitation of prostitution from a minor. Fairfax County police also said he was charged with driving on a suspended license. Sanchez Hernandez was caught illegally entering the U.S. near the Rio Grande Valley Sept. 25, 2013, officials said. He was released into the country about a month later.
ICE placed a detainer on Sanchez Hernandez with the Fairfax County Detention Center July 29, officials said. However, police said he has since been released on a $3,000 secured bond.
Aguilar Cruz was caught by Border Patrol near Hidalgo, Texas, in late 2012 before being released into the country during the Obama administration about two weeks later, according to DHS. His criminal history includes allegations involving computer solicitation of a child, indecent liberties, proposed sex acts, sodomy, extortion and threats to burn, DHS said. On April 27, 2019, police in Prince William County, Virginia, arrested Aguilar Cruz on charges of threatening to bomb or burn and making a threat in writing. ICE arrested him two days later, and he was released on bond on Aug. 9, 2019, according to DHS.
ICE placed a detainer on Aguilar Cruz with the Fairfax County Detention Center July 31, officials said. However, local police said he has since been released on $3,000 secured bond.
Flores Herrera’s criminal history includes felony solicitation of prostitution from a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, driving under the influence of liquor and a traffic offense, according to DHS. DHS did not disclose how Flores Herrera entered the country.
ICE placed a detainer on Flores Herrera with the Fairfax County Detention Center July 17, officials said. He has since been released on $5,000 secured bond.
A DHS spokesperson blamed former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris for policies the department said paved the way for millions of unvetted illegal aliens to enter the U.S.
"These criminal illegal aliens were hand-delivered to Fairfax County communities by President Obama, who, like Sleepy Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, unleashed millions of unvetted illegal aliens into American communities and abused the law to do so," the spokesperson said.
"President Trump and Secretary Mullin are now enforcing the law, arresting illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country and have reversed Democrats’ deadly catch and release policy."
The department also urged Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger to increase cooperation with ICE to turn over detained immigrants.
"Under Governor Spanberger, Virginia has become a hotbed of illegal alien crime. During her first days in office, Governor Spanberger signed executive orders banning state cooperation with ICE as well as terminating 287(g) state and local agreements," the department said.
"We are urging Governor Spanberger to put her community first and turn over this criminal illegal alien to ICE."
[Daily Mail where America gets its news] Police in Minneapolis reportedly raided the apartment of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's son and seized firearms before arresting his roommate. Law enforcement sources told Alpha News that a search warrant was carried out at the home of Omar's son Adnan on Tuesday night.
According to the outlet, they recovered guns and ammunition from the home and arrested his roommate Abdulrahman Abdi, 22.
Mr. Abdi’s hair looks like he stuck his finger in an electrical socket, whereas dear Adnan, son of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s ex-husband Ahmed Hirsi, uses waaaaay too much product, but unlike his father his teeth are definitely Somali.
Earlier that day, the city's police department said in a statement to the Daily Mail that they conducted a traffic stop and cited Abdi for no proof of insurance and no license. The department said that Abdi was released at the scene and the vehicle was in the process of being impounded when a firearm was found inside.
Officers later tracked Abdi to an address on Marquette Ave where they said they arrested him 'without incident.' Abdi was later booked into Hennepin County Jail on a weapons charge before being released on Wednesday night, records show.
According to court records seen by the Daily Mail, Abdi has been convicted ten times in the past, most of the incidents have been misdemeanors.
Last year he was found to have been speeding and driving despite having his license revoked for a previous offense.
In 2024 he was convicted of a felony after officers reported him traveling at 108 miles per hour in St. Paul. A statement of probable cause said he was behind the wheel of a Jeep Grand Cherokee and was speeding alongside a Dodge Durango. He pleaded guilty to fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle and was sentenced to one day inside Dakota County. According to a sentencing order, he was also placed on supervised probation for two years.
Other convictions date back to 2022 and involve incidents of him using a cell phone while driving, excessive speeding and failing to show proof of insurance.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] King Haakon VIII has taken the throne in Norway during an outpouring of grief for Harald V following his death at 89.
Haakon's new role follows the passing of his father - a cousin of King Charles III - who died today after a brief stay in hospital.
Harald was being treated for haemolytic anaemia, a disorder that causes red blood cells to be destroyed at an abnormally fast rate.
The new monarch was announced alongside a photo of Haakon, 53, the former Crown Prince, who is now officially His Majesty King Haakon VIII.
He shares two children with his wife Mette-Marit, 22-year-old Princess Ingrid Alexandra and 20-year-old Prince Sverre Magnus.
With Ingrid now second in line to the throne, she would be the first female monarch in Norway for more than 600 years if she were to become queen - the last being Queen Margaret I, who died in 1412.
Mette-Marit, 53, faced intense scrutiny following the release of the Epstein Files, which revealed she stayed at paedophile Jeffrey Epstein's Palm Beach residence in 2013 – after he was convicted for soliciting sex from girls as young as 14.
One email released suggested she was still in contact with the billionaire financier just months before his death.
The new queen claimed this year that she had been misled by the late sex offender as she sought to contain the fallout.
Fresh scandal also came in June when Mette-Marit's son, Marius Borg Høiby, was convicted on two counts of rape and jailed for four years following a six-week trial that laid bare allegations of violence, drug abuse and sexual misconduct.
An Oslo court also found him guilty of assaulting his former girlfriend, Nora Haukland, issuing threats and committing traffic offences, although he was acquitted of two other rape charges.
The 29-year-old had been charged with sexually assaulting four women who were asleep or otherwise unable to resist between 2018 and 2024.
The conviction marked a fall for Høiby, who grew up in the public eye after his mother married the then Crown Prince Haakon in 2001 when he was just four.
Although he does not hold a royal title or carry out official duties, he has long been closely associated with the Norwegian Royal Family.
Following Harald's death today, the palace said his health had 'deteriorated' after he contracted an infection, with members of the Norwegian Royal Family rushing to his bedside on Thursday.
'It is with deep grief that we announce that His Majesty King Harald has passed away,' Norway's Royal Court said in a statement.
'King Harald died peacefully at Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Friday, August 28 at 6.35am.'
On Friday, King Charles said he had extended his 'deepest and most heartfelt condolences' to the Norwegian Royal Family following the death of his 'dear cousin'.
The pair were second cousins once removed, sharing great-great-grandparents Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark.
'As Norway mourns the loss of so towering a figure, my whole family join in remembering a much-loved kinsman and friend whose kindness, compassion and deep sense of duty echoed from across the sea and across the decades,' King Charles III said.
'The Queen and I extend our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to Queen Sonja and all her family, as Britain shares in Norway's grief at this time of such heartbreaking loss.'
Much more about the dead king and his parents at the link.
Harald's death comes at a tumultuous time for the royal family.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit, married to Haakon and who becomes the new queen, is facing intense scrutiny for her friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a relationship for which she has apologised.
Her son Marius Hoiby, born from a relationship predating her marriage to Haakon, was found guilty in June of two out of four counts of rape and one count of domestic violence and sentenced to four years in prison after a seven-week trial. Both he and the prosecution have appealed the sentence.
Two days after Marius was convicted, the palace said Mette-Marit had undergone a successful lung transplant, without specifying when the procedure took place.
After several weeks of recovery in hospital, she returned home and celebrated her silver wedding anniversary with Haakon in August.
[Breitbart] A just-released study from Rutgers University, the Network Contagion Research Institute, and the Manhattan Institute has found something not at all surprising...
"These findings suggest that gender ideology is associated with LWA [left-wing authoritarianism] and willingness to justify political violence."
Knock me over with a feather. Here’s the rub:
Finally, broader research on perceived victimhood, moralization, and political violence suggests that identities organized around grievance, perceived victimization, and injustice, when paired with authoritarian or punitive dispositions, can predict support for anti-democratic or violent political action... Taken together, these literatures suggest a common mechanism: ideological content that names an oppressor class, certifies ongoing victimization, and locates remedy in coercive institutional or social action which may supply authoritarian psychology with morally justified targets.
The study, which is titled, "Where the Clinic Meets the Movement: Does Gender Ideology Arm Left-Wing Authoritarian Psychology?" surveyed 1,208 U.S. adults and makes clear it is a correlational study and that no cause or effect is established.
Of those 1,208 adults, the study looked to identify where they fell on the Clinical Gender Affirmation Scale (CGAS) which gauged how strongly they supported gender ideology. These were some of the statements used:
#1
When thinking of Trans, pedophilia and homosexuality, think Ford, Lincoln, Mercury or Winchester, Marlin, Browning. It may assist your understanding.
[FoxNews] The zoo promoted gender equity as linked to climate change and was part of a plan calling DEI 'integral' to the mission
As the Trump administration continues to crack down on far-left messaging and agenda items within the Smithsonian Institution, a Fox News Digital review found that the Smithsonian National Zoo has been adopting "woke" messaging and programming of its own over the past several years.
The Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, which hosts roughly 2 million visitors each year at its Washington, D.C. national zoo and operates a global conservation research program spanning more than 40 countries, has placed an emphasis on issues like DEI and climate change, according to its own website.
"Gender equity, civil liberties and justice are necessary ingredients for peace and prosperity, but they also have a direct impact on resource use and climate change," a 2021 article on the organization’s website reads.
The article, written by seabird ecologist Autumn-Lynn Harrison and coral biologist Mary Hagedorn, makes the case that "one direct way we can bolster climate action is by addressing inequities in health and education across the globe."
Searching "climate change" on the zoo’s website yields almost 400 results, including articles warning about its impacts on vernal pools, salamanders, wildfires, coral nurseries and a variety of other aspects of wildlife.
In addition to attempting to root out political messaging in the Smithsonian, which Fox News Digital has extensively reported on, the Trump administration has also placed a focus on rooting out DEI practices within the federal government, practices that appear to be a high priority for the Smithsonian Zoo.
"Diversity and inclusion are integral to all aspects of the Smithsonian Institution's operations and key components of the Smithsonian Strategic Plan," the 2023 Smithsonian Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives Report, which includes several pages specific to the zoo’s DEI efforts, explains.
The report outlines several DEI programs undertaken by the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute during that fiscal year, including diversity-focused internships, LGBTQ family programming at the zoo featuring rainbow-themed animal enrichment and efforts to promote inclusive language in the zoo and aquarium profession.
"Americans visit zoos to learn about conservation efforts and admire animals, not to be shamed or feel guilt-ridden," Independent Women’s Forum Center for Energy and Conservation Director Gabriella Hoffman told Fox News Digital. "Conservation has, sadly, been infiltrated by elements of DEI, ESG, and climate alarmism. This invites confusion and division into a space that should be science-first."
A 2021 Smithsonian Magazine article promoted how the National Zoo helped launch the Association of Minority Zoo and Aquarium Professionals, aimed at increasing racial and ethnic minority representation in zoo and aquarium careers through networking, outreach, mentorship and professional development.
"As the curator of large carnivores at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and a black man in the zoo field, I have long been keenly aware of the dearth of black and brown faces in my chosen field," Smithsonian curator Craig Saffoe wrote in the article headlined: "Why a Group of Zoo and Aquarium Professionals Wants to Ensure the Future of Their Field Is More Inclusive."
"After years of thinking about what I could do to try to address this situation, I finally decided to, as my mother told me growing up, ‘stop talking about it, and be about it.’"
LGBTQ family programming has been a consistent theme at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, which has used its annual International Family Equality Day to conduct outreach to the LGBTQ community. The free event, which the zoo says it has hosted annually since 2018, has featured animal encounters, keeper talks, music, games and community activities. Zoo staff have also created rainbow-themed animal enrichment and treats, including colorful ice cakes, for animals throughout the park.
The event expanded its community partnerships in 2024, when the zoo hosted representatives from the DC Center for the LGBTQ Community, SMYAL, Rainbow Families, Brave Trails and the Smithsonian Pride Alliance. The program included a performance by the LGBTQ-and-allied GenOUT Youth Chorus, a community picnic with local LGBTQ organizations and music that highlighted queer identity and inclusion. The outside groups referred to the gathering as "Gay Day at the Zoo," while the zoo’s programming was formally billed as International Family Equality Day.
"In places like the National Zoo, especially a taxpayer-funded organization like the National Zoo, zoos have a primary mission of conservation and species management, habitat management, that kind of thing, and when ideologies, or at least science that is in question, start to take over and really rule the management of an organization like the zoo, then you start to have problems," Jason Hayes, a senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation's Center for Energy, Climate and Environment, told Fox News Digital.
In January 2025, the Smithsonian organization announced that it was eliminating its Office of Diversity in line with the Trump administration’s efforts but noted it is "retaining our efforts at visitor accessibility as it serves a critical function."
However, several work profiles listed on the zoo’s website as of this week still contain language suggesting DEI is part of their daily activities, including the zoo’s profile of Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC and a member of the zoo’s advisory board, which says advancing the tourism and hospitality industry is a priority for him and that his work includes "diversity, equity and inclusion," conversations about racism and expanding opportunities for people of color.
The profile also notes that he previously chaired Tourism Diversity Matters, a hospitality-workforce organization focused on DEI.
Ricardo Stanoss, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s director for conservation capacity, was listed in the FY2023 diversity report as the principal investigator for an in-progress community advisory group that held listening sessions with D.C. leaders and explored development of a diversity-focused internship program and a master’s degree focused on environmental justice and climate change.
Additionally, the zoo’s Great Plains Science Program website currently lists "Inclusion" among its core values, pledging to create pathways for people from underrepresented groups to participate in its work and cultivate a new generation of conservationists. Several of the researchers associated with that project have biographies that underscore its emphasis on inclusion and Native community engagement.
The zoo also continues to partner with groups that have made DEI a central focus, including the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), of which the zoo is a long-standing accredited member. The zoo participates in AZA conservation and animal-management programs and must meet its accreditation standards, including a requirement that member institutions maintain written plans for accessible, welcoming organizational cultures.
AZA’s website says DEI is "embedded in everything we do" and the group wrote in 2020 that "systemic racism is embedded in our structures, culture and organizations, and we are committed to positive and sustained change that dismantles these barriers."
Brandie Smith, the current director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, joined the Smithsonian in 2008 after spending 10 years as AZA’s vice president of animal conservation.
Beyond its AZA accreditation, the Smithsonian is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a global conservation organization whose current gender policy calls for gender-responsive conservation and inclusive participation across race, sexual orientation and gender identity. The policy governs IUCN staff and is advisory for member institutions.
The zoo also works with the Zoological Society of London on the scimitar-horned oryx recovery effort. ZSL’s FAIRER Conservation program says it uses a "decolonial lens" and aims to embed "justice, equity and inclusion" in its conservation work.
Fox News Digital asked the Smithsonian’s National Zoo for comment and inquired about any current implementation of DEI in the organization but did not receive a response. Instead, a spokesperson provided a statement saying, "The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is the Nation’s Zoo—a place where people can experience wildlife, learn about the natural world and see conservation in action."
The spokesperson added, "The zoo connects millions of people with wildlife while advancing a global mission to save species."
Hoffman explained that "activists have long targeted zoos simply because they exist."
"Kowtowing to these extremists — thinking the crocodile will eat you last by adopting these views — will invite extinction, not longevity," Hoffman said. "The Smithsonian Zoo shouldn't alienate visitors with political lectures and empty platitudes. The zoo should stick to showcasing pandas, not pandering to radicals. More imperiled species would be conserved and recovered today by de-emphasizing woke policies that are anathema to conservation efforts."
[Breitbart] Bill Gates again defended his past meetings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying Epstein took advantage of his interest in philanthropy.
In an interview with The Atlantic published Thursday, Gates said his relationship with Epstein was never social and did not involve women. Men? Boys? Poodles?
"It just underscored how foolish I was not to have better judgment, even though my intent was philanthropic," Gates said. "There was never any social thing. I never went to the island. I was never introduced to any women. But I’ve learned a lot from that."
Gates said Epstein gained his attention by claiming he could persuade other billionaires to donate large sums to global health causes.
“He definitely had connections with billionaires, a lot of them. And, you know, in a sense, you could say he found my weak point,” Gates added. “That by saying he could get tens of billions or 100 billions that would be donated to global health causes, that raised my interest.”
Gates said he knew about Epstein’s sex-crime conviction but believed he had served his sentence.
[FoxNews] NTSB report reveals radio transmissions were unreadable due to inadequate line-of-sight coverage from the Ellipse.
Marine One’s crew made repeated but unsuccessful attempts to notify Reagan National Airport that President Donald Trump’s helicopter was preparing to depart Aug. 4 before it flew near a commercial passenger jet, according to a preliminary federal report released Thursday.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report said the crew’s first call to Reagan National’s helicopter-control frequency before departing from the Ellipse was not received. A second transmission was "broken and completely unreadable."
After failing to reach the tower, the Marine One crew tried to relay the required three-minute notification through the helicopter facility at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, but that effort was unsuccessful as well, according to the report.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Massive flooding on the Bhote Koshi River has claimed the lives of at least 389 people, according to an updated emergency report released by Nepal Police on the evening of August 27.
Search and rescue teams are currently working in eight districts. Rescuers have recovered 389 bodies. The highest number of casualties, 137, were recorded in Chitwan district. Other fatalities were reported in East and West Nawalparasi, Dhading, Gorkha, Nuwakot, Tanahun, and Rasuwa districts, Nepal News reported.
The number of victims has increased to 466.
The natural disaster caused significant damage to critical infrastructure, damaging or destroying hydroelectric power stations, power lines, bridges, and roads. A total of more than 8,300 police officers have been dispatched to the disaster areas. Search and rescue operations are ongoing.
[FoxNews] Senior US official says 'No country is immune to the negative impacts of China’s unfair trade practices and state-subsidized overcapacity'
A top State Department official has hit out at China for what analysts are calling "the China shock wave" effect now crippling African economies.
African manufacturing is reportedly being battered by a surge of Chinese imports. It’s a triple whammy — China takes raw materials, including critical minerals, from the continent and floods Africa with state-subsidized products. And Beijing isn’t importing anywhere near an equal amount of African products.
The China Global South Project reported that in 2025, Chinese exports to Africa hit $225 billion in value, whereas imports from Africa were roughly only half that — $123 billion.
Now the Trump administration aims to change this imbalance — and create opportunities for American businesses.
"China continues to flood Africa with exports," Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frank Garcia told Fox News Digital. He added, "No country is immune to the negative impacts of China’s unfair trade practices and state-subsidized overcapacity. China’s economic engagement with African countries has often led to unsustainable debt, economic coercion and an oversupply of Chinese imports threatening to displace and preventing the development of local industries."
He continued, "The U.S. government aims to offer credible alternatives that leverage public and private financing in priority areas that make America safer, stronger and more prosperous. The United States is committed to maintaining the strong, open investment environment that benefits our economy and our people, while enhancing our ability to protect our nation from new and evolving threats that can accompany foreign investment."
Elaine Dezenski, senior director and head of the Center on Economic and Financial Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told Fox News Digital China is the number one trading partner for many African countries but warned "that doesn’t mean that African countries are moving up the value chain. On the contrary, some African countries are increasingly tied into a cycle of mineral and other natural resource exports to China, only to be on the receiving end of finished goods, also from China."
Dezenski added, "Africa wants to manufacture. Chinese exports are getting in the way. Key exports from China are substituting for specific products that could be manufactured in Africa. As China is increasingly shut out of U.S. and European markets through high tariff regimes, Africa is feeling the effects, while China still claims it's supporting emerging economies."
China has lent the money to build new roads, bridges and other infrastructure in Mozambique. But in this, the fifth-poorest country in the world where jobs are in short supply, Beijing insisted that Chinese companies should do the construction. Mozambicans in some cases stood by, while workers brought 7,000 miles from Beijing to dig up the streets became a feature in this African country.
Beijing has now targeted Africa in another way. Between 17% and 40% of all car sales in South Africa are for vehicles from China. The goal appears not to stop at imports. The Chinese government-owned carmaker Chery has recently bought South Africa’s Nissan plant, and will make Chinese models such as Jetour near Johannesburg.
But China has won over many South African consumers. "China is delivering better vehicles and better prices to South African consumers — and this is pushing Western-oriented firms out of the market," analyst Frans Cronje told Fox News Digital.
Cronje, president of the Washington-based Yorktown Foundation for Freedom, added, "The South African and broader sub-Saharan business communities have always shown a Western lean or bias, in large part a consequence of the region's colonial past. But China's industrial influence is changing, and as the South African vehicle industry shows, that change can be rapid and occur with the support of consumers. Privately, many Western firms say they don’t know if they can remain competitive."
The U.S. is making its own waves in Africa though. The administration’s Bureau of African Affairs has reported it has worked on 37 commercial transactions that have closed since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term — representing $25.67 billion in total value, with more still being reported.
There’s a way to go. While American goods traded with Africa last year were valued at $83.4 billion by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Beijing’s General Administration of Customs claimed bilateral trade between China and Africa reached $348 billion for the same period.
The will to succeed, though, is clear. Assistant Secretary Garcia added, "The United States is committed to reshaping the global critical minerals and rare earths market to make it more diverse, secure and reliable. We will work with African partners to address risks from non-market actors and ensure supply chain security. We are using diplomatic and economic tools to promote fair and transparent markets that work for everyone."
[RedState] "Calling this deal huge would be an understatement," one of the officials said. "It is massive."
The Trump administration is in talks with Venezuela's interim government about taking an ownership stake in the South American country's enormous oil resources, two U.S. officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: The historic deal would more than double U.S. oil reserves by drawing from a country that has the world's largest proven reserves.
They're still working out the details, but the deal pertains to more than a dozen productive oil fields which have "90 billion barrels of proven reserves."
The fields in question, which have 90 billion barrels of proven reserves, used to be controlled by former Venezuelan insiders — including some who've been indicted — as well as interests once controlled by China, the official said.
In return for giving the U.S. an ownership stake, Venezuela's government would benefit from private companies, including American firms, developing the fields and returning more oil revenue to that country.
So not only are we getting the oil, but taking it from the radical leftists. Nice.
[Just The News] A former employee in the Pulaski County clerk’s office in Arkansas received a suspended prison sentence this week after she pleaded no contest to a Class D felony for illegally altering election records.
Circuit Judge Karen Whatley gave Deborah Smith a two-year suspended sentence on Tuesday as part of a plea agreement with the state attorney general's office. The charge initially carried a maximum penalty of six years in prison.
Special Agent JayP Massiet with the Election Integrity Unit in the state attorney general's office launched an investigation in April 2025, after accusations surfaced that a county elections worker appeared to have altered precinct data within the county's street file. The alteration affected 132 voter records, according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
Officials determined the change could not have been done by mistake because it encompassed a deliberate, 12-step process that included navigating multiple screens, using scroll functions and using a specialized device to generate a single-use security code.
System logs indicated that in October 2024, Smith used her username, password and personal identification number to change the precinct numbers in the street file and she clocked out one minute later.
The change relocated Nicole Hart, a candidate for the North Little Rock City Council, which moved her from a North Little Rock ward to a Maumelle precinct.
No motive for Smith's actions has been disclosed, and she resigned after authorities grew suspicious of her.
[True The Vote Newsletter] Today we’re doing something we’ve never done before.
We’re building something new — and we’re asking you to help build it with us.
But first, let me name something we all already feel: the distance between the American people and Washington, D.C. It’s real, it’s grown for decades, and no speech from either party has closed it. We all know the truth in our bones — government will not fix itself. It never has. Renewal in this country has only ever come from one place: the people.
And when the American people decide to build something together, it gets built. A collection of farmers and shopkeepers stood up to the most powerful empire on earth — and won. A generation of ordinary Americans retooled their factories in a matter of months and became the arsenal that saved the free world. And when we decided to put a man on the moon, we did it in less than a decade — with slide rules and shirt sleeves.
EQUIP: Catherine shared something else in that letter that matters even more for what comes next:
“We’ve spent fifteen years raising awareness, and now people are aware, but that was never our ultimate goal. Our goal was to help correct the brokenness in our electoral process: the plumbing, the paperwork, the unglamorous software and machinery that decides whether an election can be trusted.”
Awareness was never the finish line. So we built the tools — the platforms, the data, the capability to check a roll and document what’s there. All of it is now open to any aligned, engaged citizen who wants to use it. You don’t need our permission and you don’t need to be an expert. You need the tools and someone to show you how they work.
That’s what your membership funds first: putting those tools in the hands of everyone who asks.
MOBILIZE: One person with a public records request is easy to dismiss — but 10,000 requests across eight thousand county offices is not.
That’s the strategy.
Not one organization litigating alone — a distributed movement of citizens doing lawful, documented, unglamorous work in their own counties, at the same time, on the record.
[The Hill] Technology giant Nvidia is entering the election spending arena, launching a new corporate political action committee funded by employees.
Nvidia filed a statement of organization Thursday, with the PAC’s official name being the Nvidia Corporation Employees Federal Political Action Committee. The super PAC, first reported by Bloomberg Government, will be funded by eligible employees who can give up to $5,000.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The donations will be publicly reported through Federal Election Commission filings.
It is the latest move in Washington for Nvidia and its CEO Jensen Huang, who developed a strong relationship with President Trump at the start of his second term. Huang has met with administration officials and lawmakers on Capitol Hill numerous times this year, as Washington debates how to regulate artificial intelligence.
#3
I think this is the commercial consumer side of something developed 10 or 15 years ago. I heard about it little before the Zika scare and was told it was for defeating Malaria in concept. Sure took a while to come to market.
[IsraelNationalNews] In a historic medical achievement for Israel, a multidisciplinary team of surgeons from Clalit-Schneider Children’s Medical Center and Clalit-Beilinson Hospital, flagship institutions of Israel's largest healthcare organization Clalit, has successfully replaced half of a 15-year-old patient's pelvis using a custom-designed, 3D-printed titanium and advanced polymer implant.
The patient, Mark, traveled to Israel from Russia seeking advanced medical options. Diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma at age two, Mark had beaten cancer once before. However, at age 14, he faced a severe recurrence: osteosarcoma- a rare and aggressive bone cancer- in his pelvic region, accompanied by lung metastases.
Given the location and extensive spread across multiple pelvic bones, top global specialists initially classified the tumor as inoperable. Complete surgical removal is crucial for survival in osteosarcoma cases. Recognizing Israel’s world-class medical network, Mark’s mother brought him to Clalit-Schneider Children’s Medical Center. Following targeted chemotherapy led by Dr. Orli Michaeli, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Specialist, the lung metastases cleared, and the primary tumor shrank, but the structural surgical challenge remained immense.
Refusing to accept the "inoperable" diagnosis, a joint team of surgical experts from Clalit-Schneider and Clalit-Beilinson Hospital mobilized. After hundreds of hours of precise digital planning, the team embarked on a marathon 19-hour procedure, successfully resecting half the pelvis and replacing it with a pioneering 3D implant tailored specifically to Mark’s unique anatomy.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective ||
08/28/2026 00:00 ||
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#5
Probably took quite an ego for this procedure. Imagine the confidence in the team, just to keep the patient under for that long, probably shift changes to keep people sharp, making the 3D print and keeping it sterile, putting everything back in their proper place and functioning.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Breitbart] 
[RedState] "Calling this deal huge would be an understatement," one of the officials said. "It is massive."
