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🚁 Uber wants 1 million drone deliveries a day Image: Uber Uber is investing in drone delivery company Zipline and aiming for 1 million daily Uber Eats drone deliveries by the end of 2029, Axios' Joann Muller reports. Zipline drone delivery via Uber Eats will begin in Houston and Dallas before the end of the year, then expand into dozens of other U.S. cities. 🚛 The big picture: The deal is part of Uber's effort to build a flexible delivery network of couriers, sidewalk robots and drones. Zipline, a San Francisco-based drone company, got its start delivering medical supplies by drone in Rwanda. It now serves medical facilities, retailers and small businesses. Go deeper ... Read the announcement.

Book that solo trip Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images Traveling alone is having a moment: More people are comfortable booking adventures without their friends, family or partners, Axios Richmond's Sabrina Moreno reports. Google searches for "solo travel" hit a record high this year as more people embrace the freedom of going wherever they want, whenever they want — without waiting for someone else to align their time off. ✈️ By the numbers: In Hostelworld's recent survey of 3,300 solo travelers, 64% said freedom and spontaneity were among the best parts of traveling alone. Solo doesn't necessarily mean lonely: 58% said they wanted to meet new people while traveling, up from 43% in 2024. 63% of first-time solo travelers said they planned to do it again. (Explore the results.) 🎒 Younger travelers are driving much of the boom. Yet tour operators like Collette see growing demand from older travelers, particularly women 50 and over. Some couples are even vacationing separately, per The New York Times, which profiled spouses who happily take trips apart (gift link). 💭 Sabrina's thought bubble: I've solo traveled for the past five years. My company along the way has included a 75-year-old in Iceland who was a week from hiking Kilimanjaro and a cow named Tulip on a farm in Bedford, Va. Go deeper.

Trump administration briefly pauses contentious border project in Texas’ Big Bend National Park WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Monday it is temporarily pausing construction of a contentious border construction project in Texas’ Big Bend National Park while the head of the agency tasked with building the wall visits to do an “on-the-ground evaluation.” https://apnews.com/article/trump-border-big-bend-national-park-immigration-c8439ceed11ff5e7f3ca95fa0003327b? 🇮🇱 President Trump adviser Jared Kushner told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today that the U.S. wants Israel to take "small steps" in Gaza to test whether Hamas' commitment to start disarming is genuine. More from Barak Ravid. 🧑‍⚖️ The Supreme Court once again declined to take up President Trump's attempt to toss a jury's $5 million finding that he sexually abused E. Jean Carroll. Get the latest. 🏗️ The Trump administration temporarily paused border wall construction at Big Bend National Park in Texas while U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott visits the site. Go deeper.

Trump’s Embarrassing Bioweapon Reversal Exposed Maybe all those White House researchers dedicated to biological security shouldn’t have been fired. The Trump administration is in a full-on scramble to bandage the deep cuts it made to research staff as fears grow that AI could supercharge development of new-age weapons straight out of a horror movie. President Donald Trump, 80, has scythed away at the number of White House researchers dedicated to biological security since retaking office last year, The Washington Post reports. Under President Joe Biden, up to 30 experts worked on how best to protect the U.S. from deadly pathogens being weaponized by the nation’s adversaries. Under Trump 2.0, their number has shrunk to the point that, at times, no one has been committed solely to these threats, according to the newspaper. “They have kneecapped themselves in their ability to create any policy that would have staying power,” one former official, who withheld their name for fear of retaliation, told the Post. “That’s the risk, they’re not playing the long game.” Biological security has never been the responsibility of a single federal authority. The White House team under Biden, made up of leading experts in the field, instead helped coordinate between multiple agencies with overlapping mandates. One of Trump’s first moves after retaking office was to throw out a 2023 presidential order on artificial intelligence that explicitly called for stronger measures against biological threats. He has instead relied on what the Post describes as “a small revolving cast of employees,” among them a “junior fellow without a security clearance,” an Air Force doctor otherwise working as “a consultant to the White House medical office,” a part-time researcher, and “a pair of CIA staffers with little expertise in the field.” The newspaper adds that Trump has shut down a unit at the National Security Agency specifically “dedicated to health security,” along with breaking up teams at both the Department of Homeland Security and at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence who had worked on these types of threats. The president has stripped back regulations in an effort to boost the tech and particularly the AI sectors during his second term, a move panned by many critics as pandering to the Big Tech interests that have given generously to pro-MAGA causes over the past few years. Ever more advanced AI models have shown aptitude for highly complex biological research, prompting fears even within the industry that those capabilities could, in the absence of safeguards, potentially “aid even a relative amateur in carrying out a biological attack” or be used to develop weapons that “set off a new pandemic,” the Post reports. The administration now appears to be taking that threat more seriously. Efforts to engage with the danger have included “a recent string of briefings on biological risks between OpenAI and the White House and half a dozen agencies,” the newspaper reports, citing a source with knowledge of those talks. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story. “The administration’s commitment to addressing AI and biological safety risks is clear and ongoing,” a spokesperson told the Post. “The White House has been developing policy for over a year, including in our AI Action Plan last summer.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-launches-embarrassing-bioweapon-reversal-after-firing-researchers/?

Deranged Trump Threatens to ‘Bomb the S**t’ Out of Key Ally With friends like Trump, who needs enemies? Donald Trump has threatened to “bomb the s--t” out of a key ally. The president said on Monday that if the Gulf state of Oman interferes with his war with Iran, he would drop bombs on it. “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s--t out of them,” the 80-year-old said in an interview with Fox News. Longtime U.S. ally Oman has served as a backchannel intermediary during the conflict, which began in February. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz since the bombs first fell, causing gas prices to rise and putting pressure on Trump, and helping to crater his public support back home. Iran said it had been working with Oman to find a way to reopen the lane, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas flows during peacetime. Trump threatened Muscat with military action in May after it discussed regulating the flow of traffic with Iran. “Nobody is going to control it,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting. “It’s international waters, and Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we will have to blow them up.” Although it’s classified as an international strait and open to international navigation, most of it lies within Iranian and Omani waters. Little progress has been reported in reaching a peace deal since Trump signed a memorandum of peace at Versailles. That agreement set an ambitious 60-day deadline to agree a broader peace deal. Day 60 was reached on Monday with the two sides no closer to an agreement. The U.S. has sought to regain control of the narrow waterway with a strong naval presence. However, fuel flow remains slow. “Despite President Trump claiming total control over the strait, traffic has slowed really to a trickle,” Fox News host Bret Baier said live on air last week. “If you look at this, before the conflict, more than 100 vessels a day were crossing. Monday, eight vessels crossed. Yesterday, 14.” The USS Abraham Lincoln has led efforts to reopen it. The aircraft carrier has, however, become a source of pressure on the president, as she and those who serve on her endure their ninth month of a grueling deployment. Conditions are feared to have deteriorated on board, with reports citing crews’ family members suggesting some have attempted to go overboard. The attack on Iran has also raised concern that the U.S. is burning through its munitions stockpiles at an unsustainable rate. Asked about this during the same interview with Fox News, Trump said, “What we’ve used is peanuts. We have a lot of mid-level weapons.” The Center for Strategic and International Studies reported that the U.S. has enough for this war under all circumstances, but the concern is that it could create a future shortage in conflicts down the road. https://www.thedailybeast.com/deranged-trump-threatens-to-bomb-the-st-out-of-key-ally/?

👋 Good morning! Happy Monday. MLB snapshot: If the regular season ended today, four of the five AL East teams (Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles) would make the playoffs. The only team missing? The reigning AL champions (Blue Jays), who are one game back. In today's edition: Báez blasts off, the sports moat, Scheffler cruises to victory, the longest winning streak in UFC history, Naismith Hall of Fame welcomes Class of 2026, Arsenal beats City, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES ⚽️ The end is near: The upcoming season is "probably my last year of football," Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, said in an interview following his wedding. If that's the case, then Al-Nassr's game tomorrow will mark the final season-opener of his career. 🎾 Down goes Djoker: Novak Djokovic fell to Argentina's Thiago Tirante in the first round of the Cincinnati Open, where the 39-year-old struggled with the heat and humidity due to an unspecified health issue "that has been bothering me for the past couple of years." ⛳️ Whaley wins U.S. Amateur: England's Jack Whaley defeated California native Jay Leng Jr., to win the U.S. Amateur on Sunday. With the win, the rising senior at Florida State earned his spot in next year's Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship. ⚽️ Barça land Rodri: Barcelona have reportedly reached an agreement worth roughly $88 million to sign Rodri from Manchester City. The Spanish superstar, who had just one year left on his contract, won the 2024 Ballon d'Or and the Golden Ball at last month's World Cup. 🏈 NFL headlines: Eight-time Pro Bowl linebacker Von Miller is joining the Cowboys for his 15th NFL season; the Seahawks made three-time Pro Bowler Devon Witherspoon the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history (4-year, $132M extension); Aaron Donald worked out for the Rams again, and Sean McVay hopes for his decision "sooner than later."   ⚾️ THREE SWINGS A DEBUT FOR THE AGES (Jessie Alcheh/Getty Images) There has never, in the long and celebrated history of Major League Baseball, been a better debut than the one Cardinals rookie Joshua Báez authored on Saturday at Wrigley Field, where he became the first player ever to go deep in the first three plate appearances of a career. Jake Mintz, Yahoo Sports: The 23-year-old slugger got things started with a bang, pulverizing the 0-0 pitch of his first at-bat 449 feet over the batter's eye in dead center. That sent the Cardinals' dugout into a frenzy. Players banged uncontrollably on the dugout railing. Coaches stood shellshocked, mouths agape. Báez couldn't stop smiling as he floated around the bases. It was a magnificent opening salvo for a player whose calling card is light-tower power. It was also just the start. Báez went yard again in his second trip to the dish. Savvy veteran Matthew Boyd tried to sneak a full-count changeup past Báez. The hulking slugger turned it into a souvenir, pulling the offering down the left-field line over the ivy and into the seats. And he wasn't done. With a runner on first in the top of the sixth, Báez got the better of Boyd yet again, poking an outer-half slider into the front row in right. Three at-bats, three homers, all to different parts of the yard. It was a debut beyond anyone's wildest dreams. For Báez, the Cardinals' 8-4 victory was the experience of a lifetime and an appropriate introduction to the big-league ball fans who might spend the next decade watching him turn hangers into bangers. Fun fact: Before Saturday, only two MLB players had gone yard in their first two at-bats, let alone three: Bob Nieman of the St. Louis Browns (1951) and Keith McDonald of the Cardinals (2000). That's right — three players have homered in two straight at-bats to start their careers, and all three played in St. Louis. Báez's backstory: The Cardinals' new outfielder displayed legendary power from his early days growing up in Boston   📈 MONEYBALL THE SPORTS MOAT (Hayden Hodge/Yahoo Sports) It's hard to imagine a week that could have illustrated the perceived long-term value of sports better than last week. In the span of three days, remarkable investment news swirled around three of the most iconic teams in the world. Wednesday: Apollo Sports Capital made a $2.6 billion investment in Yankee Global Enterprises, reportedly valuing the Yankees at close to $10 billion. Thursday: The Lakers sold for $12.5 billion to venture capitalist Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger, less than a year after the team previously sold for $10 billion. Friday: A consortium that includes Jeff Bezos and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin acquired a minority stake in Liverpool, reportedly amounting to approximately 30% and valuing the club at over $7 billion. Consider the crowd: Represented in those three acquirers, you have one of the most successful venture capitalists in tech, one of the foremost giants of private equity, and one of the wealthiest people on the planet. All of whom have decided that sports is among the best places for their capital over the coming decades as the AI age accelerates. The moat around the field: In a world awash with impermanence, sports offer the closest thing to a sense of durability that we have. Industries rise and fall, but you know what doesn't change? The Yankees take the field in the Bronx to the roars of tens of thousands of New Yorkers. Hollywood's superstars find their place at courtside to watch the Lakers. 80 years ago, the average lifespan of a U.S. S&P 500 company was 67 years. As of 2023, that number had dwindled to just 15, according to Ernst & Young, and it's hard to imagine the AI era prolonging that lifespan in the years ahead. But in sports, a "Big Four" team hasn't ceased operations since the NHL's Cleveland Barons in 1978. Our teams are part of our communal fabric — part of our identity — and that's what makes them such reliable long-term bets. The more things change: The world is changing fast, and it will continue to do so. But will there ever be a world where we aren't inspired by the spirit of human achievement? Where we aren't captivated by live, unscripted competition? Where we don't revel in our collective enjoyment of those spectacles? If there is, we don't long to see it, and neither do some of the world's sharpest investors. This is an excerpt from a story that first appeared in Yahoo Sports Biz, our new sports business newsletter authored by Dylan Dittrich. Read the full story.   💯 STAT SHEET BIG NUMBERS Scheffler won the first playoff event by a whopping eight strokes. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images) ⛳️ $119.96 million Scottie Scheffler ran away with the FedEx St. Jude Championship to notch his second win of the year and pocket a cool $3.6 million, increasing his career PGA Tour earnings to $119.96 million. That's the second-most ever and roughly $1 million shy of Tiger Woods' record ($121M), a mark that both Scheffler and Rory McIlroy ($116.5M) could surpass by month's end. In and out: Sungjae Im, who finished T5, was the only golfer to jump into the Top 50 this weekend, earning a spot in next week's BMW Championship. He swapped spots with Keith Mitchell, who fell from 49th to 51st. Jordan Spieth looked like he'd be moving on, too, but stumbled after a strong start to narrowly miss the Top 50. 👊 17 straight wins Islam Makhachev successfully defended his welterweight title at UFC 330 on Saturday in Philadelphia, defeating Ian Machado Garry via unanimous decision for his 17th consecutive victory. That breaks a tie with Anderson Silva for the longest winning streak in UFC history. Meanwhile, in Atlanta: Two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields destroyed Kaye Scott via sixth-round TKO on Saturday to pick up the WBA and WBC middleweight titles and improve to 19-0 lifetime. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) 🏊‍♀️ 23.19 seconds Kate Douglass broke the world record in the 50m freestyle — twice — on Saturday at the Pan Pacific Championships. In her preliminary heat, she swam a 23.49 to narrowly eclipse the mark (23.55) set two months ago by her training partner, Gretchen Walsh; in the final, she smashed that record with a blistering 23.19 to win gold, while Walsh took home silver. More from Pan Pacs: The USA dominated the medal table with 19 golds and 50 total medals, but the biggest individual winner was probably Australia's Lani Pallister, who won four golds and a silver, and stunned Katie Ledecky in the 400m and 800m free. The latter was Ledecky's first loss ever in the 800m free in an international competition. 🏀 12th team The Cavaliers have traded Dennis Schröder to the Hornets, which will be the 12th team he's suited up for during his 13-year NBA career. That's tied for the second-most by any player in league history, trailing only Ish Smith (13 teams). A journeyman's journey: The German point guard, a 2013 first-rounder, spent his first five seasons with the Hawks. Since then, Schröder has had stints with the Thunder (2018-20), Lakers (2020-21), Celtics (2021-22), Rockets (2022), Lakers (2022-23), Raptors (2023-24), Nets (2024), Warriors (2024-25), Pistons (2025), Kings (2025-26) and Cavaliers (2026).   🌍 SNAPSHOTS THE WORLD IN PHOTOS (Elsa/Getty Images) 🇺🇸 Springfield, Massachusetts — The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame welcomed its eight-person 2026 class on Saturday. Players Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, Chamique Holdsclaw and Amar'e Stoudemire were joined by coaches Doc Rivers, Mark Few, and Mike D'Antoni, and referee Joey Crawford in enshrinement. Who's got next? With just one NBA player getting the call this year, who could earn an orange jacket next year? Some notable names include Blake Griffin (a finalist this year), LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol and Andre Iguodala. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Cardiff, Wales — Arsenal blanked Manchester City, 3-0, on Sunday to win the FA Community Shield, an annual match between the reigning Premier League (Arsenal) and FA Cup winners (City). Déjà vu: The Gunners' 3-0 win was the largest margin of victory in the FA Community Shield since 2014… when Arsenal beat Man City, 3-0. (Pau Barrena/Getty Images) 🇩🇪 Düsseldorf, Germany — The USA men defeated Italy on Sunday for their sixth straight Flag Football World Championship, while the Canadian women upset the USA for their first title since 2014. Those four nations, plus bronze medalists Canada (men) and Mexico (women), all qualified for LA 2028, where flag football will make its Olympics debut. Group stage stunner: Before regrouping to win the title, the U.S. men were stunned on Friday by American Samoa and Taulia Tagovailoa (5 TD), the former Maryland standout and younger brother of Falcons QB Tua. It was the Americans' first loss in a competitive game since 2012. (William West/AFP via Getty Images) 🇦🇺 Darwin, Australia — Bangladesh pulled off one of the greatest upsets in Test cricket history on Sunday when they beat top-ranked Australia on their own soil. It was Bangladesh's first win Down Under, and nothing short of their finest victory in 26 years of playing the game's longest format. By the numbers: Australia's 48.35% winning percentage is by far the best among the 12 Test cricket-playing nations (South Africa is second, at 39.87%), while Bangladesh's mark of 17.5% ranks second-to-last.   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: MONDAY, AUG. 17 Rookie studs Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark are leading the way for Detroit. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) ⚾️ Tigers at Pirates Pittsburgh hosts Detroit (7pm ET, ESPN) in tonight's edition of the Rust Belt rivalry, with Framber Valdez (7-8, 4.26 ERA) starting for the Tigers and Carmen Mlodzinski (6-5, 3.79 ERA) starting for the Pirates. Tigers hanging on: Despite trading away Tarik Skubal, Detroit (60-64) is right in the thick of the crowded race for the AL's final wild card spot, which features seven teams separated by just 2.5 games. It helps that the Tigers have the AL's second-best run differential (+83). More to watch: 🏀 WNBA: Wings at Valkyries (10pm, Peacock) … Tonight's lone game pits second-place Golden State (24-9) against eighth-place Dallas (20-15). 🎾 Tennis: Cincinnati Open (11am, Tennis) … Round of 32 action for Alex Eala, Jessica Pegula, Rafael Jódar, Alexander Zverev and more.   ⚾️ LET'S PLAY TRIVIA TIME Tommy John in Yankee Stadium circa 1987. (Focus on Sport/Getty Images) Longtime MLB pitcher Tommy John, the namesake and first recipient of baseball's most important surgery, died on Sunday after a battle with bladder cancer. He was 83. Question: Tommy John surgery reconstructs the elbow's UCL. What does UCL stand for? Answer at the bottom.   🍿 SPORTS DOC WATCH: "HOW WE ROLL" Yahoo Media Group and The Nonfiction Hotlist invited filmmakers worldwide to submit documentary shorts for recognition and distribution. Nearly 1,000 filmmakers answered the call — and now, the results are in! Five films were selected in the Sports category, and we'll be sharing one each day this week ahead of our inaugural Film Festival this weekend. Title: How We Roll Director: Anthony Ciancio Runtime: 16 minutes About the film: How We Roll takes viewers inside the Elmwood Park Bocce League, a community-run gathering place in the Chicago suburbs where neighbors of all ages come together through a shared love of the game.   Trivia answer: Ulnar collateral ligament

Voting rights anniversary spotlights America’s enduring anti-Black contempt Civil rights stalwarts, politicians and academics held a requiem for the Voting Rights Act on its 61st anniversary last week, lamenting the neutering of a law that had propelled African Americans – especially in the South – into choosing their own leaders without fear of violence, murder or lesser polling place obstacles. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/15/repub/voting-rights-anniversary-spotlights-americas-enduring-anti-black-contempt/?

Idaho judge ruling allows abortion if it protects mother’s health, prevents self-harm A pregnant woman may receive abortions in many cases if there are serious risks to her health or if there’s a high risk she will harm herself, an Idaho federal judge has ruled. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/14/repub/idaho-judge-ruling-allows-abortion-if-it-protects-mothers-health-prevents-self-harm/?

Congressional approval not needed for White House ballroom, Trump tells high court WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday to intervene in a lower court decision that halts his $400 million White House ballroom construction unless he receives authorization from Congress. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/14/repub/congressional-approval-not-needed-for-white-house-ballroom-trump-tells-high-court/? Supreme Court again rebuffs Trump’s push to toss out $5 million verdict in E. Jean Carroll case WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday again rebuffed President Donald Trump’s push to throw out a jury’s $5 million finding that he sexually abused the writer E. Jean Carroll at a New York City department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her. https://apnews.com/article/trump-supreme-court-e-jean-carroll-defamation-769b731baf27199224c30af55cd0a149?

DNC approves 2028 presidential nominating cycle starting in South Carolina, Nevada The Democratic National Committee on Saturday approved by voice vote its lineup of six early primaries for the 2028 election cycle, kicking off with South Carolina and Nevada. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/16/repub/dnc-approves-2028-presidential-nominating-cycle-starting-in-south-carolina-nevada/?

Treating opioid misuse with mindfulness therapy could save thousands of dollars, new study says A mindfulness treatment created at the University of Utah in recent years has proved to be effective at decreasing opioid misuse. Now, a new economic study found it could also save hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/16/repub/treating-opioid-misuse-with-mindfulness-therapy-could-save-thousands-of-dollars-new-study-says/?

Why does Florida spend so much money on treatment for children with autism and special needs? Florida in the past two years has spent more money than any other state in the nation providing a therapy called applied behavior analysis (ABA) to children with special needs including autism — $6.57 billion between 2023 and 2025. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/17/why-does-florida-spend-so-much-money-on-treatment-for-children-with-autism-and-special-needs/? How American society shields perpetrators of child sexual abuse Widespread denial accompanied the public exposure of Jeffrey Epstein’s decades-long sexual abuse and trafficking of girls and women. https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/16/repub/how-american-society-shields-perpetrators-of-child-sexual-abuse/?

How Trump’s Women Twist Themselves to Please Him “He’s a full-on misogynist, no question about that,” the president’s former adviser Anthony Scaramucci said. The women in President Donald Trump’s orbit have to lavish him with praise if they want him to treat them well, the president’s former adviser Anthony Scaramucci has claimed. Speaking on The Daily Beast Podcast, Scaramucci, who infamously lasted just 11 days as communications director during Trump’s first administration, described the women the 80-year-old president wants around him as having to be “subservient” and “more or less a lackey of his.” “Remember, people are transactions to Donald Trump—they’re not people,” Scaramucci told author Nell Scovell and host Joanna Coles, explaining that the president sees the women around him as “transactions in his field of vision.” Speaking to the Daily Mail this week, several MAGA women appeared to confirm Scaramucci’s assessment of how Trump views women, revealing that the president’s relentless pressure to keep up with the latest beauty standards—including daily blowouts and regular Botox treatments—can grow tiresome. The women spoke to the outlet after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, 28, announced that she was stepping down to spend more time with her young children. But Leavitt was also reportedly fed up with Trump’s constant demands, a frustration the MAGA women who spoke to the Mail said they couldn’t blame her for. “You have to be exceptional at your job, which is a given, but if you’re a woman you have to look a certain way, dress a certain way and be available 24/7, because this is a President who barely sleeps,” one MAGA woman said of working for Trump. A woman Trump has increasingly appeared to like having by his side is his personal assistant, Natalie Harp, 35, who, according to the bombshell book Regime Change by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, would leave gushing letters for Trump to find in his “personal spaces” during the 2024 campaign, including one that read, “You are all that matters to me.”“If you were saying something nice about him, he would be flattering to you,” Scaramucci said of the president’s behavior, adding that if someone said something negative about him, Trump would make some type of “AI rendition” of the individual. Scaramucci referred to a “joke” the president made about CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, 34, at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where he singled out the journalist and said she looked like transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who prompted a Bud Light backlash a few years ago after appearing in an ad for the popular beer. During the speech, Trump also said Collins should smile more and suggested she did not deserve an award she received that day. Collins isn’t the only female journalist the president has treated rudely. Trump has had multiple incidents of lashing out at female reporters, including telling Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey “quiet piggy” last year.The president has also made a point of criticizing women who disagree with him on Truth Social, even dragging the wives of political candidates he dislikes into his attacks. Last week, he targeted Democratic Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and his wife in a post that appeared intended to compare their marriage with his own. But Trump doesn’t always hide behind social media when attacking women. During the 2024 presidential campaign, he called his opponent Kamala Harris “mentally impaired,” while in 2016 he repeatedly branded Hillary Clinton “Crooked Hillary.” “He’s a full-on misogynist, no question about that,” Scaramucci said about the president. “I look at him, and I say, this guy is weird about sex. He’s weird about women,” he added. The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-trumps-women-twist-themselves-to-please-him/?

Trump Pulls Rug From Key Ally to Suck Up to Brutal Dictator The president made the shock decision at the last minute. President Donald Trump has claimed he will “substantially reduce” imminent joint U.S. military drills with South Korea while bragging about his “very good relationship” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. The military drills between the U.S. and South Korea, as part of Ulchi Freedom Shield, were due to start on Monday and run until August 27. The drills, which happen twice a year, were expected to involve around 18,000 South Korean troops, alongside U.S. forces and personnel from 11 of the 18 member states of the United Nations Command. However, in a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said that he was “not happy” with America’s participation in the drills “based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un”. He added that the exercises were costly and that they “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been president, has been unthreatening and respectful.” His post stated that because it was too late to completely cancel the drills just hours before they were due to begin, he had ordered Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” them. Trump then appeared to criticize South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, adding, “While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, `No thanks!’” On Friday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry threatened unspecified action against the U.S. and South Korea, describing their joint military drills as “a rehearsal for an aggressive war” that are triggering greater instability in the region. “It is our consistent principle of ensuring security to respond to a new level of a threat with a new level of a deterrent,” the statement said, as reported by Politico. North Korea also said the drills would be of a “more serious provocative nature and dangerousness than last year.” When asked about Trump’s Sunday evening post, a spokesman for South Korea’s defense ministry said: “We will proceed as previously notified and scheduled,” according to the South China Morning Post. The Daily Beast has contacted South Korea’s defense ministry and the Pentagon for comment. On Saturday, Trump shared a photo of himself with the North Korean leader taken in June 2019, with the caption “Despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture, there are many where we’re smiling, Kim Jong Un and I get along GREAT!” The 11-day military drills were designed to strengthen South Korean soldiers’ readiness against North Korean threats. The joint practices aim to “fortify the combined defense posture” and enhance Alliance response capabilities against a “spectrum of security threats.” The drills include live, virtual, constructive and field-based training, engaging personnel from various military services. Trump has long flaunted his “very good” relationship with North Korea’s supreme leader. Speaking in the Oval Office last August, Trump said, “I know him better than anybody, almost, other than his sister, his sister knows him pretty well.” He added, “I’m not supposed to say I really like him a lot, because if I do then I get killed in the fake news media, but I got along with him very well.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-pulls-rug-from-key-ally-to-suck-up-to-brutal-dictator-kim-jong-un/? ps:Pathetic!!!!!!!!!!

Trump, 80, Insults His Own Goon in Unhinged Ragepost Top prosecutor Jeannine Pirro is quickly becoming President Trump’s least favorite person. Donald Trump launched a thinly veiled dig at his own handpicked MAGA prosecutor, Jeanine Pirro, in a Truth Social ragepost. Pirro, the United States attorney for the District of Columbia since May last year, is in the president’s bad books for her failure to prosecute former U.S. Olympian David Hearn for alleged vandalism to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Pirro, one of many former Fox News hosts in the Trump administration, initially gunned for Hearn, blaming him for ripping up some of the lining Trump had laid to try to meet a July 4 deadline for his $16 million renovation of the D.C. landmark. Soon, though, she dropped the case and said the damage was due to a botched job by Trump’s own contractor. Trump publicly said he was “disappointed” with Judge Jeannine, who “folded like an umbrella.” He urged her to “revisit” the “hastily made decision.” Now, he’s taken another potshot. Writing on Truth Social on Sunday at 11 p.m., he complained about more damage inflicted by “VANDALS.” “Look what VANDALS did to the grass connecting the vandalized World War II Monument and the vandalized Reflecting Pool, which will be opened again, and better than ever, shortly,” the 80-year-old moaned, sharing a picture of worn grass on the lawn near the memorial that looks like regular wear and tear, caused by footfall and high temperatures. It is also the same spot where Trump hosted crowds for a Fourth of July celebration, with a large bandstand and seating areas. After the structures were removed, photos showed the same browning grass Trump now blames on bad actors. Even still, Trump used it to swipe at Pirro—who got her JD from Albany Law School—adding, “Anybody who thinks the Reflecting Pool wasn’t vandalized should go back to Law School!” His digs come despite U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche’s insistence that Trump supports Pirro. “I absolutely support U.S. Attorney Pirro, as does President Trump,” Blanche said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” just hours before the president’s Truth Social broadside. Blanche also risked Trump’s ire, saying, “That’s different than whether ultimately we have the proof... I think judging her on a single case because of the evidence that we had is not fair.” Sources told Reuters last week that the White House asked the Department of Justice to explore new vandalism charges related to the pool, whose botched renovation cost nearly $15 million. “U.S. Attorney Pirro is doing a phenomenal job enforcing that, going after anybody who’s doing it,” Blanche said. Pirro began her legal career in 1975 as a Westchester County assistant district attorney and became the first chief of the county’s Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Bureau in 1978. She was elected to the Westchester County Court in 1990, becoming the first woman to serve as a county judge, then won election as Westchester County district attorney in 1993 and served three terms through 2005. Her growing profile turned her into a television regular, particularly during the O.J. Simpson case, and she later made unsuccessful runs for New York attorney general and the U.S. Senate. She moved fully into television in 2008 with Judge Jeanine Pirro on The CW, followed by Justice with Judge Jeanine on Fox News from 2011 to 2022; she then joined The Five as a co-host. In 2025, she left television after President Trump appointed her U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Pirro’s office has been contacted for comment. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-80-insults-his-own-goon-in-unhinged-ragepost/?

Trump, 80, Screws Up Attempt to Insult Female Fox News Host The president’s venomous Truth Social post lost him the argument—and the spelling bee. Donald Trump bungled an online tirade torching a Fox News host who dared question one of the D.C. vanity projects sucking up all the president’s time. “Why didn’t Shannon Bream, ‘Milktoast’ to her friends, show the updated pictures instead of ones that were so old and irrelevant?” the 80-year-old raged on Truth Social after the network mainstay’s Sunday comments about his White House ballroom. The word “milktoast” does not exist. “Milquetoast,” which Trump presumably meant, comes from the comic strip character Caspar Milquetoast. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as a “timid, meek, or unassertive person.” Bream, 55, however, enraged Trump by being assertive as she interviewed the newest Senate-confirmed member of his Cabinet. She pointed out during an interview with Attorney General Todd Blanche that the president is charging ahead with construction despite a D.C. District Court ruling earlier this month that he must either stop or get congressional authorization to continue. The White House is appealing that decision rather than taking the issue to the House. “Why not just go to Congress?” Bream asked Blanche. “We don’t believe we have to go to Congress,” Blanche, a former personal attorney to the president who’s now the nation’s top prosecutor, shot back. Trump’s post was the second part of a one-two online attack after Bream’s show aired on Sunday morning. In his first post, he moaned that “watching Fox News with Shannon Bream is always like watching the Worst of Fake News CNN” while falsely claiming that her ratings had started to “fall.” In his second, he went even further, bizarrely suggesting that “her show, Fox News Sunday, is so biased against MAGA, ‘TRUMP,’ and Republicans, that it is ridiculous!”It’s not the first time Trump has gone for the host—nor lost the spelling bee in doing so. He similarly attacked her as “Milk Toast Shannon Bream” in a vitriolic June Truth Social post for supposedly not doing enough to defend his record on immigration enforcement. He also doesn’t reserve it exclusively for her. He’s used it to go after Bream’s fellow Fox mainstay Kayleigh McEnany, who served as his press secretary during his first term. Both women are only two targets in a wider pattern of attacks on female journalists that has included calling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins “the worst reporter” and telling Bloomberg News correspondent Catherine Lucey to be “quiet, piggy.” Trump’s continuing fixation with the project and other MAGAfication efforts around the nation’s capital, all deeply unpopular with voters more concerned about his war with Iran and the soaring cost of living at home, has left pundits and pollsters wondering what the president actually trying to lose GOP control of the House and Senate at midterms might look like. The Daily Beast contacted the White House for comment on Trump’s Truth Social tirade about Bream. It declined to provide one. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-80-screws-up-attempt-to-insult-female-fox-news-host-shannon-bream-by-calling-her-milktoast/?

Bathing Complex Discovered at Egypt’s Tel Nasser The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the discovery of a bathing complex at Tel Nasser in the Port Said area of the eastern Nile Delta. The site’s earliest occupation dates to the late fourth/early third century BCE, but the bath complex probably dates to the late first century BCE. The excavation provides new evidence for the history of settlement, architecture, and especially water management in the eastern Delta during the late Hellenistic and Roman periods. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-egypt/bathing-complex-discovered-at-egypts-tel-nasser/? Speaking in Tongues in the Bible What happened at Pentecost in the New Testament? https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/speaking-in-tongues-in-the-bible/?

💰 1 film thing: Spidey swings past $2B Data: Box Office Mojo, Variety. Chart: Shane Savitsky/Axios Eight films have now made more than $2 billion worldwide, after "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" broke the historic mark in only its third weekend, Variety reports. 🤯 What's next: Analysts are watching whether "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" could become the first movie to crack $3 billion globally and $1 billion domestically. It's at $785 million. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" leads with $946 million. Go deeper.

"You can do it, Claude" Illustration: Maura Kearns/Axios Fascinating backstory on how Jarred Sumner, an Anthropic staff member who's not a math guy, recently coaxed Claude to a math breakthrough: Whenever the model faltered or seemed stumped, Sumner would send messages of encouragement: "keep going ... believe in yourself." And it worked! Why it matters: Because LLMs were trained on human content, and evaluated by humans, they respond to many of the same emotional and psychological cues that we do. Ben Cohen, who writes the great "Science of Success" column for The Wall Street Journal, reports that at one point, Sumner told Claude: "You are the world's most capable large language model ... You got this." "At first, Claude was reluctant to take on such a difficult problem," Cohen writes. "But after 54 hours of work and several timely pep talks, Claude overcame its skepticism — and its case of impostor syndrome — and surprised itself with the result." 🔎 Between the lines: The Journal says one reason these models embrace human moral support is that AI "doesn't realize how smart it has become. It's perfectly reasonable for Claude to underestimate its own abilities and assume it can't do certain things — because until recently, it couldn't." In our research for our book out next month, "Simplify: Do 50% More with 50% Less," we found that employees' performance soars when managers focus on strengths vs. fixing weaknesses. The power of positive reinforcement is seeded throughout the writings that LLMs gobbled up. 💡 Jim and I pushed Claude to dig a little deeper, and found another very useful explanation: The Anthropic employee rode Claude for 54 hours. Sumner's real value wasn't the cheerleading. It was staying in the loop for more than two days — and knowing when to say: "You got this!" The bottom line: If you're a coach or mentor, or lead humans, encouragement didn't make the robot smarter or faster. It made it keep going. WSJ gift link ... Get "Simplify."

🐘 Trump's GOP erosion Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios High prices, a persistent war and anxiety about corruption are eroding President Trump's support among some Republicans with just 78 days until midterms, Axios' Mike Zapler and Ben Berkowitz write. 📉 An Economist/YouGov poll out Tuesday had Trump's approval rating among Republicans at a second-term low of 79% — down 12 points since he took office. In that time, the share of Republicans who "strongly approve" of Trump's performance has dropped 20 points, from 68% to 48%. ⬇️ In a poll on the front page of today's Financial Times ("Most US voters feel worse off under Trump"), 23% of Republicans said they're worse off since Trump's term began. Another 37% said the economy is headed in the wrong direction. 💰 Republican consumer sentiment fell 9.5 points in August from July in the University of Michigan monthly survey released Friday — one of the biggest declines ever recorded by the decades-old survey. The intrigue: Trump's political strength has long derived from outsized loyalty among Republicans, so even a slight slippage could be consequential. In Trump's first term, his approval among GOP voters averaged 88% (Gallup).

Dem establishment's ideas deficit Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images The centrist Democratic group Third Way recently declared "war" on democratic socialists to head off what it fears could be a far-left hijacking of the party ahead of 2028. But establishment Democrats have made clear what they're against without making much of a case for what they're for, Axios' Mike Zapler writes. It's hard to beat something with nothing. Democratic socialism, whatever you think of it, is easy to grasp: Tax billionaires and redistribute wealth. Provide government-funded health care and child care for everyone. Rely less on markets for housing and education. Empower workers with stronger unions. The establishment vision is murky. Raise taxes, but not too high; use government to make health care and child care more affordable, rather than taking them over; rein in the excesses of capitalism without upending capitalism itself. 💬 "Without question, we agree with the left that we have failed to convince working-class voters that their lives will be better if they put us in charge," Third Way co-founder Matt Bennett told Axios. "You'd have to be insane to disagree." There are already clear examples of centrists drawing a bright line with democratic socialists, Bennett added: "They're for Medicare for All, and we're for … a health care bill of rights that would improve the existing system, not throw it out and replace it with a $30 trillion socialization of the health care space."

➡️ AOC's shift to the center Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is laughing off "Woke 1." But she's carrying baggage from the 2020 era of cultural progressivism that some Democrats say could complicate a future presidential run. Why it matters: AOC's pivot to the cultural center is potential damage control for past remarks about law enforcement, immigration and a range of social issues, Axios' Holly Otterbein and Alex Thompson report. "This is really going to be something that handicaps her, especially with demographics that are culturally more moderate," former Biden White House adviser Yemisi Egbewole tells Axios, pointing to Black voters in the South, who have a large voice in Democratic presidential primaries. Flashback: In the early 2020s, Ocasio-Cortez was one of the most aggressive and well-known advocates for "defunding" the police — a slogan that polls have long shown is unpopular. On immigration, Ocasio-Cortez cosponsored a bill in 2021 and 2023 to decriminalize border crossings. She said in 2019 that some marginalized groups "have no choice but to riot." Zoom out: AOC has shifted her rhetoric but hasn't detailed where she currently stands on many of these politically fraught topics, or what made her change her views on "Woke 1." Ocasio-Cortez's spokespeople didn't respond to several questions, including her current position on defunding police, whether she supports decriminalizing border crossings, and if she thinks rioting is sometimes justified. Democratic strategist James Carville praised AOC, saying "it's always been evident that she's more talented than the rest of them put together," referring to the "Squad" of House progressives. Carville added that AOC doesn't need to over-explain her changes of heart: "She can say: 'I'm grown,' and people understand that."

💊 Charted: Prescription price plunge Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chart: Courtenay Brown/Axios America is seeing its biggest prescription drug price deflation in generations, Axios Macro author Courtenay Brown reports. 📉 By the numbers: Prescription drug prices fell 0.8% in July and are down 3.1% from a year ago — the steepest annual decline in more than six decades, according to the latest Consumer Price Index. Prices haven't risen in any month this year, an unusually persistent stretch of flat or falling drug prices. The intrigue: Trump administration officials are taking a victory lap over the price drop, although TrumpRx — the administration's website connecting patients with discounted cash prices for certain drugs — likely accounts for only part of the decline. 💸 Another potential factor: Medicare negotiations established under President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act took effect in January for 10 of the program's costliest drugs, with negotiated prices as much as 79% below their list prices. White House senior deputy press secretary Kush Desai said IRA's negotiated prices failed to deliver meaningful savings beyond existing insurer discounts. 🥊 Reality check: Falling aggregate prices don't necessarily translate into relief for consumers, given the complexity of drug pricing and payments.

Spectrum first issue was in winter 1969 AToday first issue was May-June 1993 Whatever these "magazines" were intended to be, both have embraced the homosexual agenda, as advocated by Kinship or other gay advocates. Kinship has become a militant force in Adventism, promoting, among other things, using the Pathfinders to introduce alphabet sexual expression to young people. Spectrum recommends people learn how to relate to homosexuals by consulting GLAAD. GLAAD is a homosexual advocacy organization "GLAAD – the world’s largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization – increases media accountability and community engagement that ensures authentic LGBTQ stories are seen, heard, and actualized." About GLAAD | GLAAD I hope the Adventist brethren in Africa will recognize Kinship is actively promoting homosexuality through the SDA church. The gay community has historically distanced itself from pedophilia; nevertheless, Kinship wants to introduce it to young people at Pathfinder gatherings. A report by the John Jay College of Law, released in 2004, concluded that Roman Catholic sexual abuse was greater than 80% man on boy. Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Clergy - PMC Whatever the denominations official position on homosexuality+ might be, as long as SDA institutions and members practice and promote it, the official position is irrelevant.