<p>An unlikely alliance between Somalia&#8217;s al-Shabaab and Yemen&#8217;s Iran-backed Houthis is giving al-Qaeda&#8217;s wealthiest affiliate access to more sophisticated weapons while extending the Houthis&#8217; reach across one of the world&#8217;s most important shipping corridors.</p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-oil-houthis-shipping-terrorism-bfa4fd9b">report</a> from The Wall Street Journal, the two groups — both designated terrorist organizations by the United States — have forged a partnership of sorts that could create more problems in the Middle East and further destabilize global energy markets.</p>
<p>The bond has developed despite a longstanding religious divide: Al-Shabaab embraces Salafi-Sunni Islam — and the Houthis adhere to Zaydi Shiism.</p>
<p>Because Somalia and Yemen sit on opposite sides of the Gulf of Aden — through which 12% of the world&#8217;s seaborne oil passes — their alliance gives them a unique opportunity to create and control a backdoor passage for Middle East oil that currently cannot pass through the Strait of Hormuz due to ongoing hostilities.</p>
<p>Jibril “One-Armed” Yahya Ali, the report noted, served as a go-between funneling money from al-Shabaab — al Qaeda&#8217;s richest wing — to the Houthis in exchange for more advanced weapons and technology. As far back as 2023, Jibril was smuggling weapons out of Yemen and into the hands of al-Shabaab militants — but he was killed in a U.S. strike two weeks before the war with Iran began, and the question remains as to what will become of the growing alliance.</p>
<p>“You have al-Shabaab, al Qaeda’s largest and most lucrative affiliate, gaining access to more sophisticated weapons and training,” U.S. Gen. Dagvin Anderson, commander of American forces in Africa, told the outlet. &#8220;On the other side, the Houthis are extending their geographic reach, gaining a foothold that could further destabilize one of the world’s most critical economic chokepoints. This isn’t just a regional problem. It has global implications.&#8221;</p>
<p>Evidence of cooperation between the two groups dates back to at least 2022, according to international nonprofit <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ACLEDINFO/posts/are-the-houthis-and-al-qaeda-in-the-arabian-peninsula-aqap-cooperating-in-southe/1339005748246402/">Armed Conflict Location and Event Data</a> (ACLED). According to ACLED&#8217;s data, open hostilities between al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Houthis dropped off and never really resumed.</p>
<p>&#8220;<span class="html-span xdj266r x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak xexx8yu xyri2b x18d9i69 x1c1uobl x1hl2dhg x16tdsg8 x1vvkbs">ACLED</span> data shows AQAP’s drone use has increased by over 300% since its first recorded attack in May 2023. Yemeni and international sources also report drone technology transfers from the Houthis, while United Nations reporting documents smuggling links between the two groups within a wider regional network that also includes al-Shabaab in East Africa,&#8221; the group shared in a February Facebook post, but cautioned, &#8220;Claims of a formal alliance or coordinated attacks remain weakly documented.&#8221;</p>
<p>In 2024, The WSJ reported that al-Shabaab sent Sheik Ahmed Elmi Samatar to work alongside Jibril in his smuggling efforts. &#8220;Samatar presented the Houthis with a lengthy weapons wish list, viewed by the Journal, which included shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles, 107 mm Katyusha rockets, Dragunov sniper rifles, explosive attack drones, antitank missiles and U.S. night-vision gear.&#8221;</p>
<p>Efforts made by al-Shabaab to obtain more advanced weapons and technology were confirmed to the outlet by U.S. intelligence officials.</p>
<p>Weapons shipments were reportedly disguised as civilian products and sent across the Gulf of Aden via speedboat or even aboard fishing vessels, most of which docked and were unloaded where officials would not see them.</p>
<p>Several al-Shabaab militants have also spent time in Yemen, training alongside the Houthis in drone operations and other areas.</p>
<p>“I don’t know what their plans are, but there’s definitely something cooking,” said Brig. Gen. Ahmed Abdullahi Sheik, a former commander of Somali special forces — and his concern is clearly shared with U.S. military leaders as well.</p>
<p>So far in 2026, the United States has carried out at least 40 strikes against al-Shabaab targets in Somalia — compared with 41 such strikes carried out in total in 2025.</p>


TOPSHOT-SOMALIA-UNREST-SHABAB

Two Of America’s Terrorist Enemies Forge An Unlikely Alliance

Two Of America's Terrorist Enemies Are Forming A New Alliance

Al Qaeda

Global Politics

Houthi

Houthis

Islamic terrorists

Military

Yemen

<p>Embattled former first son Hunter Biden came out as &#8220;a little bit&#8221; gay during a recent podcast interview, putting the number at just under 50%.</p>
<p>Biden spoke with host Luke Beasley on his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_GblOwaOUQ">eponymous podcast</a> and joked about his orientation for a good part of the show&#8217;s opening bit.</p>
<p>Beasley kicked things off by first pretending to announce that former President Joe Biden was going to be on the show — and then feigned disappointment when he realized his guest was actually Hunter Biden. After reading off some of the former president&#8217;s resume, Beasley asked Hunter, &#8220;So what do you do?&#8221;</p>
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<p>&#8220;Seriously?&#8221; Biden asked, before joking that he&#8217;d better admit now to being a &#8220;central figure&#8221; in the Biden crime family.</p>
<p>&#8220;No, what do you do besides be related to someone cool?&#8221; Beasley asked.</p>
<p>When they had exhausted that avenue, Beasley turned to Biden and announced, &#8220;Let&#8217;s get serious. I&#8217;m gay.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Really? Wow. Seriously. I’m so amazed you’re gay,&#8221; Biden replied.</p>
<p>&#8220;Are you gay?&#8221; Beasley asked.</p>
<p>&#8220;Only a little bit,&#8221; Biden replied.</p>
<p>Beasley followed up, asking Biden whether &#8220;a little bit&#8221; meant &#8220;more or less than 50 percent.&#8221;</p>
<p>Biden: &#8220;48.6.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;If you were gay, would I be your type?&#8221; Beasley asked.</p>
<p>Biden appeared to backtrack his announcement, saying, &#8220;No, a little bit more masculine would be my type, if I was gay.&#8221;</p>
<p>Beasley pivoted to ask Biden about his art, saying that he&#8217;d heard somewhere that the former president&#8217;s son was a painter. When Biden said yes, he was a painter, Beasley replied simply: &#8220;Gay.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;So you&#8217;re like very &#8230; colorful,&#8221; Beasley continued, clearly alluding to the LGBTQ Pride flag. &#8220;A &#8230; rainbow of colors.&#8221;</p>
<p>They kept coming back to the topic, and after a while, Biden said he wanted to revise his number: &#8220;Maybe I take back 48.5. More like 47 after that conversation. My gaydom went down a percentage point.”</p>
<p>He raised the topic once more as the interview came to a close, declaring, &#8220;I just wanted to let you know that I am back up to 48.5 percent gay.&#8221;</p>
<p>Biden&#8217;s comments came just weeks after he said, on another podcast, that the biggest problem in Washington, D.C., was the &#8220;closeted gay mafia&#8221; — which he claimed was made up mostly of Republican men — who ran everything.</p>
<p>&#8220;I believe the biggest problem in America is not the oligarchy; it’s the closetocracy. Everybody knows there is this closeted gay mafia, largely Republican, that exists in DC. The only reason that is relevant is I believe that internal conflict creates so much vitriol inside a person that they take it out on the rest of the world,&#8221; he told Jennifer Welch on her &#8220;I&#8217;ve Had It&#8221; podcast.</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Hunter Biden: “I believe the biggest problem in America is not the oligarchy, it’s the closetocracy. Everybody knows there is this closeted gay mafia, largely Republican, that exists in DC. The only reason that is relevant is I believe that internal conflict creates so much… <a href="https://t.co/QI8A0qxDlD">pic.twitter.com/QI8A0qxDlD</a></p>
<p>— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) <a href="https://x.com/MarcoFoster_/status/2078517381345997151?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 18, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
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President Biden Hosts India Prime Minister Modi For State Visit

Hunter Biden Answers The Question No One Asked: Just How Gay Is He?

Hunter Biden

Identity Politics

Joe Biden

LGBT

Media

Politics

<p>California&#8217;s serial butt-sniffer has struck again — and police have once again placed him behind bars.</p>
<p>Calese Crowder, 39, is a registered sex offender who apparently gets a thrill from sneaking up behind unsuspecting women and smelling them — specifically, their posteriors. He was <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/31/us-news/californias-serial-butt-sniffer-accused-of-striking-again-as-disgusting-picture-emerges/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=nypost">identified</a> on surveillance video from at least two Southern California stores on Friday, and police apprehended him a short time later.</p>
<p>The first call hit the Glendale Police Department around 3:30 p.m. local time, and cops were dispatched to a location in the 1500 block of Glenoaks Boulevard. The report indicated that a suspicious man had been seen crouching in the aisles, and police said that he appeared to be &#8220;sniffing someone out.&#8221;</p>
<p>Officers were just finishing up at that scene when they were called to another location in the same vicinity — and the report was almost exactly the same: a suspicious-looking man crouching in the aisles and appearing to smell people as they passed by him.</p>
<p>After reviewing surveillance footage from both locations, police identified Crowder. They were able to track him down a short distance from the second location and placed him under arrest for violating the conditions of his parole.</p>
<p>Crowder was previously arrested for a similar crime in 2025, when police caught him behaving strangely as he wandered around the women&#8217;s department at a Nordstrom Rack in Burbank&#8217;s Empire Center. Burbank police stated at the time that Crowder had been &#8220;engaging in lewd behavior by inappropriately sniffing her buttocks.&#8221;</p>
<p>At the time, Crowder was already on parole — for a number of similar charges dating back several years — and was charged with violating those conditions. He was ordered to serve 135 days in the Los Angeles County Jail — for that parole violation — in September of 2025.</p>
<p>In 2023, after a similar incident at a Barnes &amp; Noble, Crowder was arrested, and it was confirmed that he had failed to follow a court order to register with local police as a sex offender. At that time, a Fox News digital <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-barnes-noble-sniffer-arrested-again-failed-register-as-sex-offender">report</a> confirmed that he&#8217;d been arrested 43 times in Los Angeles County alone since 2005.</p>
<p>&#8220;As a component of a previous arrest and sentencing Crowder was ordered to register as a sex offender,&#8221; Glendale Police said at the time. &#8220;Glendale Police confirmed that he had not registered as a sex offender with our department and was in violation. He was arrested again today.&#8221;</p>
<p>Michaela Witter, who captured the Barnes &amp; Noble encounter and shared it to TikTok, blasted the system that allowed Crowder to be released just three days after his initial arrest: &#8220;Is this real? I think he maybe spent three days in jail … They can&#8217;t do anything until he&#8217;s done something really bad to someone, and I&#8217;m honestly scared that that person is gonna be me.&#8221;</p>
<p>Crowder is currently being held pending his next hearing.</p>


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‘Butt Sniffer’ Sex Offender Arrested Again After Blue State Keeps Letting Him Walk

California's Serial 'Butt-Sniffer' Arrested Again

Courts

Crime

Sex Crimes

Sexual Misconduct

<p>The United States Navy has unveiled a new air-to-air missile that has the capability to take out long-range targets before any enemy threat can get close enough to strike.</p>
<p>The Air Intercept Missile (AIM)-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile (LRAAM) is <a href="https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/4580867/aim-424-lraam-malice/">currently in development</a> and will be produced by contractor Raytheon. It boasts an impressive effective range of more than 250 nautical miles (about 288 miles). In layman&#8217;s terms, that means the missiles will be capable of traveling farther than the distance between London and Paris or New York and Boston.</p>
<p>Nicknamed Malice, the 1,500-pound missile carries a blast-fragmentation warhead — a high-explosive core that ignites and then creates a pressurized gas blast that propels its fragmented metal casing outward at supersonic speeds.</p>
<p>While blast fragmentation warheads can use controlled or focused fragmentation to give more direction to the blast, air-to-air missiles typically use Annular Blast Fragmentation (ABF) — meaning that the initial blast expels the metal fragments in a 360-degree pattern. The Sidewinder missile — used to shred the fuselage of enemy aircraft — is an example of an air-to-air missile that uses ABF.</p>
<p>Blast fragmentation warheads, because of the way they detonate, do not have to be quite as precise. An indirect hit — coupled with a 360-degree blast — is often enough to destroy the intended target.</p>
<p>Malice, according to the United States Navy&#8217;s release, is designed to &#8220;strengthen fleet defense and maintain a decisive air domain overmatch against advanced threats&#8221; and &#8220;directly supports the Department’s contribution to integrated deterrence by increasing range, lethality, and combat effectiveness for Marine and Naval aviation forces that are defending our fleets, our interests, and our homeland.&#8221;</p>
<p>In addition, the newly developed missile &#8220;sustains the Department’s first look, first shot, first kill advantage by providing our aviators greater reach, greater survivability, and greater tactical flexibility in the air-to-air fight.&#8221;</p>
<p>Malice is <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/navy-unveils-malice-missile-built-strike-enemy-aircraft-extreme-range">larger</a> than traditional air-to-air missiles — 13.5 feet long — because it must contain the larger propulsion system needed to carry it over longer distances.</p>
<p>The news comes on the heels of several other new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/experimental-weapons-offer-glimpse-of-the-battlefield-of-the-future">developments</a>, including laser weapons that could eliminate relatively cheap enemy drones without blowing through stockpiles of far more expensive kinetic weapons.</p>
<p>One of the main goals of implementing the Enduring High Energy Laser (E-HEL) is to avoid a scenario that Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) likened to &#8220;throwing Ferraris at frisbees.&#8221;</p>


GettyImages-51067044

U.S. Navy Unveils ‘Malice.’ America’s Enemies Won’t Want It Coming Their Way.

Military readiness

Military Weapons

Missiles

Technology

U.S. Navy

<p>Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is throwing her political weight behind San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan in an effort to ensure that her longtime congressional seat goes to the Democrat of her choosing.</p>
<p>Pelosi <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/us/pelosi-connie-chan-congress.html">endorsed Chan</a> two weeks before California&#8217;s June primary, but it remains to be seen whether the long-serving Congresswoman&#8217;s influence will be enough to get her chosen successor across the finish line.</p>
<p>Because of California&#8217;s top-two primary system — in which the two candidates receiving the most votes advance to the general election regardless of party — Chan will face off against another Democrat in November: far-left state Sen. Scott Wiener.</p>
<p>Wiener has made no attempts to hide the fact that he was gunning for Pelosi&#8217;s seat. He had previously said he would not run for the seat until Pelosi announced her retirement, but jumped into the race last October before she announced that she would not seek another term.</p>
<p>That timing has fueled speculation in San Francisco political circles that Pelosi&#8217;s aggressive support for Chan is partly motivated by frustration with Wiener.</p>
<p>Others have suggested that Pelosi is backing Wiener&#8217;s opposition because his early campaign announcement undercut a possible run from Christine Pelosi for her mother&#8217;s seat. The younger Pelosi is currently running for Wiener&#8217;s seat in the state Senate, and her mother has voiced nothing but support.</p>
<p>&#8220;She wants to have her own path in California, which I love,” Pelosi said. “There was never any thought that she would run for my seat, although they like to use that because they don’t know what they’re talking about.”</p>
<p>Christine Pelosi, who is also backing Chan for Congress over Wiener, likewise denied any ill will between her family and Wiener: &#8220;With respect, some of us do things for positive reasons.&#8221;</p>
<p>Nancy Pelosi also denies any animosity toward Wiener over his early campaign launch, and says her primary reason for backing Chan is to ensure that women keep one more seat at the table: &#8220;Nobody knows Congress better than I do. Nobody. And I think she would be the best member of Congress.&#8221;</p>
<p>Pelosi discussed the race at a recent event celebrating the 106th anniversary of the 19th Amendment — which codified women&#8217;s suffrage — and explained that she supported Chan because she believed women were losing power and she wanted to reverse course.</p>
<p>But despite Pelosi&#8217;s reputation as a deal-maker and world-class fundraiser, her influence may not be enough to drum up the kind of money and support Chan will need.</p>
<p>Since declaring her candidacy last November, Chan has <a href="https://jweekly.com/2026/08/03/new-polls-find-race-between-wiener-and-chan-closer-than-ever/">raised</a> about $1.1 million. Wiener, in contrast, has pulled in more than $4.5 million.</p>
<p>Pelosi&#8217;s on-the-ground efforts don&#8217;t appear to have moved the needle either. Her attempts to get labor leader Dolores Huerta to endorse Chan — in addition to Wiener — fell flat.</p>
<p>Democratic power broker — and Esprit clothing company founder — Susie Tompkins Buell questioned why Pelosi was throwing her considerable political weight behind someone with so little legislative experience: &#8220;It’s not about any woman. It’s about the right woman. Connie Chan is a place where progress goes to die.&#8221;</p>
<p>Recent polling shows Chan <a href="https://jweekly.com/2026/08/03/new-polls-find-race-between-wiener-and-chan-closer-than-ever/">gaining ground</a>, but still lagging slightly behind Wiener.</p>


Nancy Pelosi visit to Ireland

Nancy Pelosi’s Attempt To Pick Her Successor Isn’t Going As Planned

Nancy Pelosi's Attempt To Appoint A Successor Isn't Going To Plan

California

Nancy Pelosi

Scott Wiener

U.S. House of Representatives

<p>With less than two weeks to go before the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is raising eyebrows with deleted social media posts that reference 9/11.</p>
<p>El-Sayed&#8217;s campaign told Politico earlier in the campaign that he&#8217;d deleted all tweets posted prior to July 2023 in an effort &#8220;to prevent any old posts from being taken out of context&#8221; — but the posts that have resurfaced in the time since then have only sparked more questions.</p>
<p>Two of the deleted posts — originally shared in 2020 — were evaluated in a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abdul-el-sayed-deleted-social-media-sept-11-attacks-michigan/">report</a> published Monday by CBS News and showed El-Sayed comparing the American lives lost in the terrorist attacks to those lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<p>In one 2020 post, CBS reported that El-Sayed argued for a national mobilization to combat COVID that mirrored the response to the 9/11 attacks — while in another from that same timeframe he argued as the COVID death toll eclipsed the number killed on 9/11, he hoped &#8220;that means we&#8217;ll spend the next ten years fighting a war for public health &amp; against poverty &#8230; like we launched a global #WaronTerror after 9/11. We could save lives rather than take them.&#8221;</p>
<p>A third post from 2021 — shared on the 20th anniversary of the attacks — was first reported by The Washington Free Beacon, and appeared to suggest that America&#8217;s actions against terrorist organizations were just as bad as the terrorist attacks that had prompted them.</p>
<p>&#8220;Today, I mourn the 3K lives, 6K injuries, &amp; infrastructural devastation in NYC, perpetuated ignorantly in the name of my faith. Tomorrow, I&#8217;ll mourn ~1M lives, millions of injuries, &amp; infrastructural devastation in 3 countries, perpetuated ignorantly in the name of my country,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Matt Grossmann, a political scientist at Michigan State University, told CBS News that he didn&#8217;t believe a deleted tweet or two would necessarily herald the end of El-Sayed&#8217;s campaign — but the threat they posed was in the likelihood that they&#8217;d bolster the overall perception that the candidate&#8217;s views were too extreme.</p>
<p>&#8220;Is any specific tweet going to matter for the general election? It seems unlikely,&#8221; Grossmann explained. &#8220;But does the general impression that he might be too extreme [&#8230;] will that make a difference? That has a bigger chance of doing so.&#8221;</p>
<p>Toward that end, El-Sayed&#8217;s continued association with socialist Twitch streamer and Mao Zedong superfan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cnn-gives-el-sayed-a-chance-to-renounce-hasan-piker-he-does-the-opposite">Hasan Piker</a> — who cheerleads for terror groups like Hezbollah and claimed that &#8220;America deserved 911&#8221; — might ultimately prove to be the political baggage he&#8217;s unable to shed.</p>


Michigan Democratic Senate Primary Winner Abdul El-Sayed Holds News Conference Day After Primary Win

Abdul El-Sayed Has A Deleted 9/11 Tweets Problem

9/11

Abdul El-Sayed

Islam in America

Michigan

Terrorism

U.S. Senate

<p>Country music legend Dolly Parton was laid to rest on Friday in a private service attended by family and close friends, with her estate announcing Monday that plans are already underway for two major public celebrations of the larger-than-life star&#8217;s legacy.</p>
<p>Two events, both titled &#8220;DollyFest: The Celebration of a Lifetime,&#8221; will take place on successive weekends — one in Nashville and another in London, England — in 2027.</p>
<p>Parton&#8217;s estate <a href="https://www.dollyparton.com/news/dollyfest-the-celebration-of-a-lifetime-star-studded-two-day-festival-honoring-dolly-parton-to-take-place-in-2027">announced</a> that even before Parton&#8217;s death on Tuesday, her team had already been planning on hosting DollyFest in Nashville in 2027. Parton herself had planned to participate, but the estate confirmed on Monday that the event will carry on in her memory instead.</p>
<p>&#8220;What was originally planned as a multi-artist event for January 2026 in Nashville and intended to feature Parton as performer and host will now morph into a global double-day, double-weekend, double-continent party of a lifetime,&#8221; the estate said.</p>
<p>Danny Nozell, Parton&#8217;s longtime business partner and founder and CEO of CTK Enterprises, said Parton did not want a public funeral and said that instead, DollyFest would allow her fans to celebrate her life: &#8220;As far as a traditional memorial goes, that is not something Dolly wanted.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;What Dolly started, we will ensure is brought to life. Many people behind the scenes know that DOLLYFEST is a dream of Dolly’s that was intended to take place on her 80th birthday in Nashville,&#8221; Nozell added. &#8220;We had the venue booked and we had the announcement ready to go. And then, in August 2025, Dolly had to take a step back after her initial health challenges. A lot of people always say, WWDD (What Would Dolly Do?), and, well, at this moment, DOLLYFEST is WDWD (What Dolly Would Do!).&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;We are not discouraging people from celebrating Dolly in the ways they choose &#8230; it feels more appropriate for us to take a beat, let all the tributes that immediately make sense occur naturally, and then, see through this festival-style concept that was truly dreamed up by Dolly,&#8221; Nozell concluded. &#8220;This is something that is authentic to her, something that feels right to me, and something that artists and fans around the world can participate in, while also giving everyone time to grieve, and giving everyone time to plan.&#8221;</p>
<p>Parton passed away on Tuesday after a brief battle with an undisclosed cancer. She was 80.</p>


Dollyverse Powered By Blockchain Creative Labs on Eluv.io Music Festival Showcase – 2022 SXSW Conference and Festivals

Dolly Parton’s Estate Announces Two-Continent Celebration Of Her Life

Dolly Parton's Estate Announces Plan To Celebrate Her Legacy

Celebrities

Country Music

Dolly Parton

funeral

Music Industry

Nashville

Tennessee

<p>Soccer star Lionel Messi announced his retirement from international soccer on Monday, just three weeks after his father died at 68 following a battle with illness.</p>
<p>Messi announced the decision via Instagram, sharing a photo of three handwritten pages that contained his full statement — which he said he&#8217;d originally penned on July 21, two days after his team&#8217;s heartbreaking loss to Spain in the World Cup Final.</p>
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<p>Messi&#8217;s statement, translated, began: &#8220;After the time that has passed since the final, and after giving it a lot of thought, I want to let everyone know that I am retiring from the National Team &#8230;&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;It was a decision that hurt — and still hurts deep down — but I understand that the time has come. I swear to you that I always gave it my all — not just in these last few years when we won everything, but before that too; I always fought and left everything on the field for this jersey, to bring you joy and make you feel proud to be Argentine through football,&#8221; he wrote.</p>
<p>He went on to say that his retirement was not just a recognition that his own time on the pitch was coming to an end — but also that it was time for him to clear the way for some of the younger players who would carry the team forward in the coming years.</p>
<p>&#8220;Time is running short, chapters come to a close, and this is one that hurts me deeply. I love, have loved, and will always love being part of the National Team. I’ve given everything I had; I have nothing left to give, and besides, there are some great young players coming up who deserve to be here,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;Thank you for all the affection over these past 20 years. I will miss hearing you from the pitch so much. Now I’ll be just one of you, cheering and supporting from the outside (through the good times and the bad — especially the bad).&#8221;</p>
<p>He offered his sincere thanks to family and friends, as well as to his coaches, teammates, and even officials with whom he&#8217;d worked and played over the years: &#8220;I take with me unforgettable memories and moments.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I leave with the peace of mind and pride of having given you — alongside my teammates — moments we once only dreamed of. It was an incredible experience to live this with you all. I love you. Thank you, God, for making me Argentine,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Let&#8217;s go, Argentina!&#8221;</p>
<p>Messi will still continue his career in Major League Soccer with Inter Miami, where the league with 18 goals so far this season.</p>
<p>&#8220;I wrote these words on July 21st, two days after the final. Today, after what happened with my dad, I am even more convinced than before.&#8221;</p>


FBL-MLS-INTER MIAMI-TORONTO FC

SHOCK MOVE: Messi Delivers Emotional Message To Argentina

SHOCK MOVE: Messi Announces Retirement From Argentina's National Team

Argentina

Lionel Messi

Soccer

Sports

World Cup

<p>Former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) became the first person ever to receive a lifetime ban from the online prediction market Kalshi.</p>
<p>Santos, who was expelled from Congress in 2023, illegally made a series of large bets in February 2026 over whether or not he would attend President Donald Trump&#8217;s State of the Union address. The former congressman made $17,839.57 on those bets, Kalshi <a href="https://x.com/BrendanPedersen/status/2094424116220551181">reported</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Kalshi Compliance Department has established reasonable cause to believe that George Santos engaged in trading activity in certain markets related to his attendance at the State of the Union Address,&#8221; the platform said in its report.</p>
<p>&#8220;He then began making a series of public statements regarding his attendance at the event in an attempt to influence the price of Yes and No contracts, respectively,&#8221; the report continued. &#8220;Some of these included false or misleading statements. &#8230; The Compliance Department found that Santos made these statements with the intent to manipulate the price of the Yes or No contracts that he intended to purchase.&#8221;</p>
<p>For example, after betting that he would attend, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/us/politics/george-santos-fined-kalshi-bets.html">Santos posted</a> a question to his X followers on February 22, asking whether he should &#8220;wear a muted serious suit to the SOTU or a bedazzled one?&#8221;</p>
<p>The likelihood that he would attend the event spiked after that, and Santos reportedly cashed out the same day with $3,400 in profits.</p>
<p>Days before President Donald Trump&#8217;s SOTU address, Santos wrote on X, &#8220;I’m going to be there for the State of the Union in the gallery, guys.&#8221; The day before the event, however, he bet thousands that he would not attend — and on the day of Trump&#8217;s address, Santos told his followers that he had to watch the SOTU at an airport due to bad weather.</p>
<p>The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) claimed that Santos had misrepresented himself online in ways that could have influenced the situation upon which he was placing the bets — and said that he should not be allowed to bet on any event in which he had the power to change the outcome.</p>
<p>In addition to the ban, Santos was also slapped with a $71,356 fine after Kalshi stated that he hadn&#8217;t cooperated with the internal investigation.</p>
<p>The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/31/business/kalshi-slaps-scandal-ridden-george-santos-with-first-ever-lifetime-ban-over-shady-bet/">reported</a> that Santos agreed in July to pay a $35,000 settlement with the CFTC — but that his attorney had made a point of declaring that his agreement to pay was solely to avoid a lengthy legal battle and was not an admission of guilt.</p>
<p>Santos, according to a Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/ex-congressman-george-santos-receives-kalshis-first-ever-lifetime-ban-b50eeaf1?mod=e2tw">report,</a> can still appeal the decision.</p>
<p>Santos lashed out at the platform on X Monday, <a href="https://x.com/Georgesantos/status/2094424969841148210">saying</a>, &#8220;Hey @Kalshi thanks for the lifetime ban from your gambling platform. Let’s see how much longer you guys are around for.&#8221;</p>
<p>He later added, &#8220;By the way @Kalshi is such an unserious company it violates its own notices and deadlines lol. On August 7th they gave us a 30 day notice and today they leaked/ announced once again their frivolous nonsense. Leaking and attention seeking seem to be the M/O of this organization. Pathetic!&#8221;</p>
<p>Kalshi has not responded publicly to Santos&#8217; statements.</p>


George Santos

Here’s How George Santos Landed Kalshi’s First-Ever Lifetime Ban

betting

gambling

Kalshi

<p>Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is seeking an unpaid intern for her Clinton Foundation office, and &#8220;discretion&#8221; is listed as a key attribute of any successful applicant.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.daybook.com/job/intern-office-of-hillary-clinton-inzFM7mFzbGoqKn2x">job description</a> itself seems fairly ordinary — very much what one would expect from a charitable foundation run by former politicos. Interns, in addition to assisting employees with a broad range of unspecified &#8220;projects,&#8221; would spend their time &#8220;conducting research, drafting briefing memos, transcribing speeches and public remarks, data projects, scheduling for principal staff, mail management, archive maintenance, providing logistical support at events, and assisting with office management.&#8221;</p>
<p>The list of requisite skills also appeared reasonable — everything from good writing and communication skills to a solid work ethic and the ability to work well with others in a collaborative setting — with one glaring exception.</p>
<p>Near the top of the list was the one qualification that stood out: &#8220;A high level of professionalism and discretion.&#8221;</p>
<p>In a vacuum — or perhaps at almost any other potential place of employment — a phrase like that might not even stand out, much less set off alarm bells. But attached to the Clinton name — and the Clinton legacy — a demand for &#8220;discretion&#8221; certainly <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/30/us-news/bill-and-hillary-clinton-seek-intern-with-high-level-of-discretion-at-global-foundation/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_medium=social">raises a few eyebrows</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Clintons write their own jokes. This is too perfect,&#8221; Buzz Patterson reacted to the news.</p>
<p>&#8220;Imagine late night TV ignoring this &#8230; but they will,&#8221; film critic Christian Toto added.</p>
<p>Bill Clinton&#8217;s history with interns — particularly at the White House — also led some to suggest that the job posting was for Hillary Clinton&#8217;s office because the former president had lost his intern privileges. Others warned potential applicants that a blue dress — such as the now-infamous one worn by former White House intern Monica Lewinsky — was optional.</p>
<p>Bill Clinton&#8217;s office was also seeking a &#8220;Special Projects Associate&#8221; with a salary range of $50,000-55,000 — a posting that prompted another round of jokes as people pointed out the fact that the Clintons have voiced support for a &#8220;living wage&#8221; but were offering $50,000 annually for a position based in New York City. The <a href="https://www.sofi.com/cost-of-living-in-new-york/">average cost of living</a> for a single person in New York City is $66,426, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.</p>


Bill and Hillary Clinton

Clinton Foundation Seeks Intern With Requirement That Writes Its Own Punchline

Clinton Foundation Seeks Intern, Must Show 'High Level Of Professionalism And Discretion'

Bill Clinton

Clinton Foundation

Hillary Clinton

Monica Lewinsky

<p>While jurors consider the case of Massachusetts mother Lindsay Clancy, a New York City judge has found another mother — who also killed her children — not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.</p>
<p>Dimone Fleming, now 26, had repeatedly stabbed her sons — Octavius Canada, 11 months, and Daishawn Fleming, 3 — before submerging them in a bathtub, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/nyregion/bronx-mother-postpartum-psychosis.html?searchResultPosition=1">reported</a>. Police found her on November 26, 2022, at a family shelter. She was naked from the waist up and was pretending to read a children&#8217;s book that was upside down at the time.</p>
<p>Fleming&#8217;s case, like the high-profile Clancy case, has drawn attention to maternal health issues — particularly postpartum depression and psychosis — but hasn&#8217;t made the same kind of headlines.</p>
<p>According to court documents, Fleming had been seen at the Floating Hospital in Queens for some time prior to the murders — and after being diagnosed with a major depressive disorder, she&#8217;d been prescribed medication to manage the symptoms. Instead of taking the medication, however, Fleming had used marijuana on a daily basis — and her condition worsened considerably.</p>
<p>Dr. Eric Goldsmith, who examined Fleming on behalf of the prosecution, determined that she was &#8220;grossly psychotic and out of touch with reality&#8221; the night that she killed her children. He also said in his report that Fleming had been hallucinating, believing that she was inhabited by another spirit and that the world was ending.</p>
<p>Defense psychiatrists wrote that Fleming believed her actions were necessary to &#8220;cleanse&#8221; her children.</p>
<p>Lindsay Clancy claims to have heard a male voice telling her that she had to kill her children and then herself. She had spent months in and out of different doctors&#8217; offices, and had been prescribed a cocktail of different psychiatric drugs — but several reports indicated that she had not been taking them reliably.</p>
<p>In Clancy&#8217;s case, the defense has also cited postpartum depression and psychosis — and a lengthy list of medications — when arguing that she should not be held criminally responsible for strangling her three young children. The prosecution has argued that Clancy&#8217;s actions show deliberate and willful planning and a clear awareness that she understood the difference between right and wrong.</p>
<p>The jury in Clancy&#8217;s case deliberated for several hours on Thursday and nearly a full day on Friday. They are expected to return to deliberations on Monday.</p>


Patrick Clancy describes ex-wife’s mental health struggles leading up to children’s deaths in her murder trial

As Lindsay Clancy Jury Deliberates, Another Killer Mom Walks Free On Insanity Plea

While Lindsay Clancy Jury Deliberates, New York Frees Another Mom Who Killed Her Kids

Lindsay Clancy

Murder

murder trial

postpartum depression

<p>President Donald Trump took a run at NBC&#8217;s Kristen Welker on Sunday, accusing the <em>Meet the Press</em> moderator of misrepresenting his endorsement record ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.</p>
<p>Trump, who boasts a 100% success rate with endorsed candidates in 2026 Senate primaries and a 98% success rate in House races, took issue with a comment Welker made not on the Sunday broadcast of <em>Meet the Press</em> itself, but during a pre-show appearance on WRC-TV, NBC&#8217;s local Washington station, to promote the program — where she said he&#8217;d had &#8220;mixed results&#8221; with his endorsements.</p>
<p>&#8220;Kristen Welker, the Unpopular &#8216;Hostess&#8217; of the once great Meet the Press, now considered Meet the Fake Press, just stated that Donald Trump has &#8216;mixed results&#8217; on his Endorsements of Candidates, when the recent WINS of Darline Graham and Mike Mazzei, stand at 100% for the U.S. Senate, and 98% for the U.S. House, recently and over the longterm,&#8221; Trump posted via <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117184581053116309">Truth Social</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given Public Airwaves?&#8221; the president asked, sharing data showing the actual data on his endorsements. &#8220;Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment. Unfortunately, she is not the only one.&#8221;</p>
<p>Trump turned then to address media more broadly, saying that there were many others who went out of their way to broadcast only the bad things — even if that meant reframing good things to make them appear bad.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Radical Left News is going out of their way to harass, demean, and libel anything &#8216;TRUMP.&#8217; Their new weapon is to say that my 99% SUCCESS Rate on Endorsements, 100% on Senatorial Endorsements (Many of whom were not even given a shot of winning until I Endorsed!), is either a mixed result, or not very good,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;In actuality, it is, without question, the strongest Endorsement in the History of Politics. If it were not, I would be the first to admit it.&#8221;</p>
<p>Trump referenced Senator Darline Graham (R-SC), whose name had barely been on the radar prior to Trump&#8217;s endorsement, as a prime example. Graham was his first choice to fill the vacancy left by her brother, the late Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC).</p>
<p>&#8220;Darline Graham’s run for the Senate was the biggest story in all of Politics, because she wasn’t expected to win, and then, when I Endorsed her, and she easily won, the story of her Victory was hardly covered by anybody. Likewise, the future Governor of Oklahoma, who was behind in every Poll, I Endorsed him, he won, and the story was barely covered!&#8221; Trump complained. &#8220;The Press is a Disgrace to our Nation, and I hope that Chairman Brendan Carr, and the fine people of his Commission, will take this Threat to our Country very seriously. Thank you for your attention to this very important matter of Fake Polls and Commentary!&#8221;</p>
<p>HBO host and comedian Bill Maher admitted defeat on the same issue during his Friday night broadcast of &#8220;Real Time,&#8221; where he conceded that he&#8217;d been wrong about the impact and success Trump&#8217;s endorsements in 2026 primary races. He also joked that it had been the president himself who had texted him to make the correction.</p>


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