Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Some of us have expressed frustration with the ridiculous delay in the appellate court review of the absurd civil judgment against Donald Trump.

It appears to have entered some judicial black hole where neither light nor an opinion can escape.

Now, the Wall Street Journal claims that it is due to a deeply divided panel in a column titled “Court Split Leaves Trump’s Civil Fraud Appeal Stuck in Slow Lane.”

This should not be a close case and certainly should not take this long.

The case against Trump was raw lawfare, and the entire trial by Justice Arthur Engoron made a mockery of the court system, particularly his ridiculous half-a-billion-dollar judgment. 

Yet, weeks turned into months and then into years as the appellate court seemed lost in navel-gazing. There was also a concern over passive-aggressive delays; the long appeal is not only preventing Trump from moving this case toward the Supreme Court but keeps him trapped in an appellate amber.

Now the Wall Street Journal is reporting:

A five-justice panel has yet to render a decision nearly a year after taking up the case, leaving him and his business in limbo. Behind the scenes, members of the panel have been divided, and three of them have been writing opinions, according to people familiar with the matter. It couldn’t be determined how they are split. Justices do occasionally shift their positions, and the number of opinions could change, the people said.

…

The panel hearing the Trump appeal includes four judges appointed by Democratic governors and one Republican appointee, David Friedman, who is regarded as among the most conservative of the court’s 21 members. The court’s presiding justice, Renwick, also on the panel, is viewed as a stalwart liberal who has an institutional interest in seeking consensus and guarding the court’s reputation.

It is not a good thing to see a leak of this kind from any court. The United States Supreme Court was rocked by the leaking of a draft opinion of the Dobbs decision just a few years ago. No one was ever prosecuted for the leak.

It is distressing to hear that some of these judges may be striving to preserve this nonsensical opinion where Trump was hit with half a billion dollars in a case where no one lost money and the banks wanted renewed business with his company. Affirming the decision would be the final nail in the coffin for the New York legal system, which was turned into a farce by New York Attorney General Letitia James and Judge Engoron. 

Even if it is true that the judges have hopelessly fractured, they could do us all a favor and allow the case to proceed toward more competent jurists and final resolution. 

There is certainly no rush by these appellate judges to right any wrong done to Trump, who appears, again, to fall into a special category of persona non grata in the New York legal system. This appellate panel appears content to leave Trump twisting in the wind as it contemplates what to do with a defendant who garners little sympathy from its members. 

Most appeals are measured in months; this seems measured in millennia. Even with the notoriously slow New York legal system, the pendency of this appeal is becoming itself a controversy.

It is often said that justice delayed is justice denied.

However, delayed and denied justice for Trump appears to be a bedrock principle of the New York justice system.

Via Headline USA,

The Justice Department has agreed to provide to Congress documents from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation, a key House lawmaker said Monday in announcing a move that appears to avert, at least temporarily, a potential separation of powers clash.

The records are to be turned over starting Friday to the House Oversight Committee, which earlier this month issued a broad subpoena to the Justice Department about a criminal case that has long captivated public attention, recently roiled the top rungs of President Donald Trump’s administration and been a consistent magnet for conspiracy theories.

“There are many records in DOJ’s custody, and it will take the Department time to produce all the records and ensure the identification of victims and any child sexual abuse material are redacted,” Kentucky Rep. James Comer, the Republican committee chair, said in a statement.

“I appreciate the Trump Administration’s commitment to transparency and efforts to provide the American people with information about this matter.”

A wealthy and well-connected financier, Epstein was found dead in his New York jail cell weeks after his 2019 arrest in what investigators ruled a suicide. His accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted in 2021 of helping lure teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

The House committee’s subpoena sought all documents and communications from the case files of Epstein and Maxwell.

It also demanded records about communications between Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration and the Justice Department regarding Epstein, as well as documents related to an earlier federal investigation into Epstein in Florida that resulted in a non-prosecution agreement.

It was not clear exactly which or how many documents might be produced or whether the cooperation with Congress reflected a broader change in posture since last month, when the FBI and Justice Department abruptly announced that they would not be releasing any additional records from the Epstein investigation after determining that no “further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”

That announcement put the Trump administration on the defensive, with officials since then scrambling both to tamp down angry questions from the president’s base and also laboring to appear transparent.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed Maxwell at a Florida courthouse over two days last month — though no records from those conversations have been made public — and the Justice Department has also sought to unseal grand jury transcripts in the Epstein and Maxwell cases, though so far those requests have been denied.

A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment Monday.

The House Oversight panel separately issued subpoenas to eight former law enforcement leaders as well as former Democratic President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Bill Clinton was among a number of luminaries acquainted with Epstein before the criminal investigation against him in Florida became public two decades ago.

President Trump weighed in on the Mid-Atlantic power crisis on Truth Social early Tuesday, echoing our warnings last week about the fallout from Democrats’ multi-year “green” crusade to replace reliable, low-cost fossil fuel power plants with unreliable solar and wind amid power demand surges from AI data centers and other electrification trends. The result has been financially crushing for some residents across the Mid-Atlantic. In Maryland, Democrats’ approval ratings are already tanking.

“STUPID AND UGLY WINDMILLS ARE KILLING NEW JERSEY,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social moments ago. 

He continued, “Energy prices up 28% this year, and not enough electricity to take care of state. STOP THE WINDMILLS!“

Trump’s use of Truth Social to address the unfolding power bill crisis in the Mid-Atlantic comes after our year-long reporting (read) on the emerging crisis, which has been amplified nationally in recent weeks…

The Trump administration needs to address the power bill crisis by showing voters in both states that a common denominator of destructive policies is driving the crisis: A disastrous green energy agenda, pushed by radical leftist lawmakers, is dismantling reliable and affordable fossil fuel power generation in favor of unstable solar and wind. This has unleashed a power bill armageddon on working-class and middle-class households, as well as mom-and-pop businesses, all while baseload power demand surges in the era of AI data centers.

Fox News jumped on the power bill crisis story last week…

You don’t say… https://t.co/iX4l8J6otj pic.twitter.com/M620Jd7Pog

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 14, 2025

Perhaps New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s decision to shutter the state’s nuclear and coal plants, without a one-to-one replacement for lost capacity on the grid, was a catastrophic error. His administration’s prioritization of offshore wind farms and other green energy projects has left the grid more fragile than ever. 

Murphy took six power plants offline and invested a billion dollars in chasing his offshore wind dream. Mikie enabled the obsessions of climate activists by voting in favor of the trillion dollar green new scam (aka, inflation reduction act). Instead of investing in existing… https://t.co/6MXgSHbT60 pic.twitter.com/ka2EfhB9W6

— Protect Our Coast NJ (@njcoast_protect) July 29, 2025

In Maryland, the power bill crisis seems much more severe than in New Jersey!

Failed green policies are crushing the very working poor and middle class that Democrats have promised to protect. Yet the green utopia that was pitched was always a lie.  

According to Change Annapolis, a bipartisan group of taxpayers, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s ratings plunged over a multitude of issues, including power bills: “Marylanders are tired of his presidential vanity tour, crushing tax hikes, and an energy crisis of his own making,” adding, “He’s polling worse than O’Malley and Glendening at this point in their terms.”

The power bill crisis is still in its early stages. Goldman analyst Hongcen Wei wrote an alarming note to clients last week, warning that a majority of U.S. power grids “have already reached dangerously low spare capacity levels that are at or below the critical reliability threshold. This raises blackout threats and results in power price spikes during high-demand usage hours.”

In other words, the power crisis has arrived, and it’s only going to get worse from here. The Trump administration needs to effectively communicate to voters that skyrocketing power bills are the direct result of failed green policies in the age of AI data centers.

We’ve got bad news… read this. 

By Benjamin Picton of Rabobank

European leaders, including Volodymyr Zelenskyy, convened at the White House yesterday to discuss plans for peace in Ukraine. In defiance of the European position, President Trump reiterated that he is not interested in temporary ceasefires and will instead push for a lasting settlement. That will likely include “exchanges of territory” whereby Ukraine will presumably be forced to accept that Donbas will become part of Russia (and that Crimea already is) in exchange for freezing the frontline elsewhere and security guarantees being extended by Europe and the United States.

Vladimir Putin would likely see this as a significant victory because Russia does not currently control the entirety of the industrialised Donbas region where the need to ‘protect’ the Russian speaking population had been one of Putin’s professed cassus belli at the outbreak of the war.

For Ukraine’s part, Zelenskyy said that no “unacceptable decisions” were made yesterday. That could be interpreted as the Ukrainian leader grudgingly accepting that ceding territory to Russia is now an unfortunate fait accompli, or that Zelenskyy is still clinging to the more hairy-chested idea of “not one inch” of territory to be given up, because no formal agreement has been reached. I suspect it might be the former.

Of course, if security guarantees are to be provided the devil will be in the detail about who does the providing, with what, and paid for how. As our Global Strategist Michael Every implied in this note yesterday, Europe would like it to “still be the 1990s, please” with the USA shouldering the burden for all of the above. The Trump Administration – having won a sweeping electoral mandate by promising to end US military adventurism – will say it is Europe’s job to protect Europe, but that the USA would be happy to sell it the weapons required to do so. This is an argument that the US is winning and probably will win in the end.

The where to from here is a push by Trump to secure a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy sometime in the next fortnight, to be followed by a trilateral meeting between Trump and the two other leaders after that. The EU, presumably, is set to be sidelined at that trilateral meeting despite the expectation that they will be writing the cheques for US arms and supplying the boots on the ground to enforce any security guarantees. As he pursues his ambition for a Nobel Peace Prize, Trump is playing poker with the house’s money and Ukraine’s land. EU pretentions to ‘strategic autonomy’ are once again exposed as an Emperor who has no clothes.

Elsewhere, Hamas has reportedly told Egyptian and Qatari mediators that it is willing to accept terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza that would secure the release of half of the remaining Israeli hostages and include a surge of aid into the strip and Brazilian officials say that they are at an impasse with the United States over negotiations to reduce the punitive 50% tariff ostensibly applied in protest of the prosecution of former Brazilian President Bolsonaro.

The strategy by the Trump administration to employ carrots (in the case of Russia) and sticks (in the case of Russia, India, Brazil and Iran) against countries tempted to undermine US efforts to isolate China by deepening their own ties with the Middle Kingdom has been conspicuous. Consequently, the impasse with Brazil over the Bolsonaro prosecution perhaps only exists because the tariffs aren’t really related to Bolsonaro at all, but related to President Lula’s courting of closer ties with China. Similarly, the spurious fentanyl tariffs levied against Canada and Mexico probably have more to do with closing US land borders to transhipped Chinese goods than they do with the fentanyl figleaf, explaining why all of Mark Carney’s attempts to negotiate a better deal have mostly come to nought.

Speaking of figleafs, in Australia today a three-day productivity roundtable kicks off where the great and the good of Australian industry, bureaucracy and labor unions will gather to thrash out points of consensus on overdue economic reform. The day started with an address from Reserve Bank Governor Bullock – who recently told journalists in Sydney that productivity isn’t actually the RBA’s bailiwick – and the attendees will consider reform recommendations from Australia’s Productivity Commission – who the unions campaigned to abolish at the last election.

Meanwhile, the country’s largest steelmaker has said that energy-rich Australia’s gas is too expensive and a domestic reservation scheme needs to be implemented to protect manufacturing while the Prime Minister – whose party opposed a domestic gas reservation scheme at the recent election – continued to talk up the transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewables.

The Prime Minister used his own opening comments at the roundtable to suggest that GDP growth is not actually the be all and end all. That is just as well, because the central bank Governor also told journalists in Sydney that Australia’s productivity growth is sufficiently poor to ensure that there won’t actually be much GDP growth, unless something changes.

If all of this gives the impression that achieving reform consensus will be a bit like herding cats, it’s because it is. That is probably why Canberra has achieved little of substance on economic reform for the last 25 years.

Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

Hamas has agreed to a new proposal for a ceasefire-hostage release deal with Israel.

The “comprehensive two-stage plan” was based on a framework advanced by US envoy Steve Witkoff and presented to Hamas by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, according to the BBC.

It would see Hamas free around half of the 50 remaining Israeli hostages – 20 of whom are believed to be alive – in two stages during a 60-day temporary truce.

During that time, there would be negotiations on a permanent ceasefire and an Israeli troop withdrawal.

The Egyptian and Qatari mediators reportedly met with Hamas representatives Sunday in Cairo, and presented them with the plan.

In a post on Facebook Monday, Hamas leader Basem Naim said Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups had agreed to the deal:

“The movement has submitted its response 💚 approving the new mediators’ proposal,” Naim wrote in Arabic.

“We pray to God to extinguish the fire of this war against our people.”

The deal was reached ahead of a major Israeli offensive to occupy Gaza City and just hours after President Donald Trump said Hamas needed to be “confronted and destroyed,” Axios noted.

“We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!!,” Trump posted on Truth Social Monday morning.

“The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be. Remember, I was the one who negotiated and got hundreds of hostages freed and released into Israel (and America!). I was the one who ended 6 wars, in just 6 months. I was the one who OBLITERATED Iran’s Nuclear facilities. Play to WIN, or don’t play at all!”

The plan is reportedly “98 percent similar” to the last U.S.-backed proposal, but the deal fell though when Hamas refused to sign on.

Hamas said at the time that it would only free the remaining hostages if Israel agreed to end the 22-month war. But Netanyahu said that would only happen once Hamas was disarmed and released all the hostages.

On Sunday, more than 200,000 Israelis took to the streets to demand Netanyahu not launch the new offensive in Gaza, and instead sign a deal to bring back the hostages. It was the biggest anti-war protest since the beginning of the war, according to Axios.

The Gaza War began in response to Hamas’ surprise attack in southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

The terrorists killed about 1,200 people—mostly civilians—in the attack, and took another 251 hostage.

Former Russian President and top Kremlin national security official Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that European leaders had failed to outplay Donald Trump, and that it remains unclear just how Ukraine’s Zelensky will prevent the issue of territorial concessions.

White House officials, including Trump himself in prior statements, have made it known that compromise regarding territory is indeed on the table. “The anti-Russian warmongering Coalition of the Willing failed to outplay @POTUS on his turf,” Medvedev said on X. “Europe thanked & sucked up to him.” The below optics certainly don’t contradict Medvedev. One commenter observes that Trump had likely “been waiting for a moment like this his whole life”…

I suppose Trump had been waiting for a moment like this his whole life…

If you truly represent a sovereign nation, you don’t just go along. You tell the host that this spectacle is humiliating, that he can play those games with others – but you don’t allow yourself to be… pic.twitter.com/t87UOaKgH8

— Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) August 19, 2025

Medvedev said the question remains “what tune” Zelenskyy would play “about guarantees & territories back home, once he’s put on his green military uniform again.”

It is true that far-right elements within his own military and political establishment would react fiercely to any acts of territorial concessions – which would likely result in acts of violence, and possibly even threats on Zelensky’s life.

At the same time, coming off his Alaska summit with Trump, Russia’s President Putin remains firmly in the driver’s seat, amid steady ground advances on the battlefield.

During a break in Monday’s meeting among seven EU officials and Zelensky, German Chancellor Merz revealed during a break in talks, “the American president spoke with the Russian president on the phone and agreed that there would be a meeting between the Russian president and the Ukrainian president within the next two weeks.”

But whether this happens or not will largely depend of what happens in the interim, and Kiev’s attitude and statements on what it’s willing to concede.

The geopolitics source Moon of Alabama highlights the perspective of former MI6 official and diplomat Alastair Crooke in the following:

Alastair Crooke suggests (video) that the peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine will follow the outline of the Istanbul Agreement negotiated in March 2022 between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine, under pressure from the West, had at that time refrained from signing it.

The Istanbul Agreement did include security guarantees (emphasis added):

The agreement assumes:
…
2. Possible guarantor states: Great Britain, China, Russia, the United States, France, Turkey, Germany, Canada, Italy, Poland, Israel. The free accession of other states to the treaty is proposed, in particular the Russian Federation proposes Belarus.
…
4. Ukraine does not join any military alliances, does not deploy foreign military bases and contingents, and conducts international military exercises only with the consent of the guarantor states. For their part, the guarantor states confirm their intention to promote Ukraine’s membership in the European Union.

5. The guarantor states and Ukraine agree that in the event of aggression, any armed attack on Ukraine or any military operation against Ukraine, each of the Guarantor States, after urgent and immediate consultations between them (which shall be held within no more than three days), in the exercise of the right to individual or collective self-defense recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will provide (in response to and on the basis of an official request from Ukraine) assistance to Ukraine, as a permanently neutral state under attack, by immediately taking such individual or joint action as may be necessary, including closing airspace over Ukraine, providing necessary weapons, using armed force in order to restore and subsequently maintain the security of Ukraine as a permanently neutral state.

Any such armed attack (any military operation) and all measures taken as a result thereof shall be immediately reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall cease when the Security Council takes the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security.

The mechanism for implementing security guarantees for Ukraine, based on the results of additional consultations between Ukraine and the Guarantor States, will be regulated in the Treaty, taking into account protection from possible provocations.

Again:

… such guarantee will of course come with conditions attached to it. Either Ukraine will accept those or it will never be secure from outer interference.

So yes, the Ukraine can have ‘security guarantees’. But the conditions of those will be set by the main guarantor – which has to be Russia.

Trump seems to have understood that. How long will it take those European ‘leaders’ to get it?

Alastair Crooke speaks to Judge Andrew Napolitano:

Some of the awkward moments, optics, and tensions on display in the White House on Monday are consistent with the above take…

Ups! 🇮🇹 Meloni verdreht die Augen, während 🇩🇪Kanzler Merz Trump belehrt, mit Putin erst ein Waffenstillstand zu vereinbaren. Nach Motto: ‚Ist doch schon lääängst vom Putin-Tisch, Friedrich!‘ – das war von Merz keine Stärke, wie viele in Berlin es gerne interpretieren wollen, er… pic.twitter.com/qo3gIYUPV5

— Zara Riffler (@ZaraRiffler) August 18, 2025

Below are some more Tuesday geopolitical headlines and developments via Newsquawk….

• US and Europe to work immediately on Ukraine security guarantees, via Bloomberg.
• Poland PM Tusk will take part in meeting of the Coalition of the Willing at 11:00BST/06:00EDT, according to a spokesperson.
• Ukraine Foreign Minister says future trilateral leaders meeting can bring a breakthrough on the path to peace.
• US President Trump posted that he had a very good meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky and European leaders, which ended in a further meeting in the Oval Office and during the meeting, they discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, which would be provided by the various European countries with coordination with the US. Trump added everyone is very happy about the possibility of peace for Russia and Ukraine, and at the conclusion of the meetings, he called Russian President Putin and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelensky. Furthermore, Trump said after that meeting takes place, they will have a trilateral between Trump, Putin and Zelensky, as well as noted that this was a very good, early step for a war that has been going on for almost four years and that VP Vance, Secretary of State Rubio, and Special Envoy Witkoff are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine.
• Russia’s Kremlin said US President Trump and Russian President Putin held a phone call which lasted 40 minutes and they discussed the idea of exploring the possibility of raising the level of Russian and Ukrainian representatives in the negotiations, while Putin warmly thanked Trump for the hospitality and well-organized meeting in Alaska, as well as for progress achieved at the summit. Furthermore, Putin and Trump spoke in favour of the continuation of direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, while they agreed to continue close contact with each other on the Ukrainian crisis and other issues.
• Ukrainian President Zelensky said we need not a pause in the war, but real peace and territorial issues will be decided between Russia and Ukraine. Zelensky said he discussed security guarantees with Trump and European leaders, and received an important signal from the US on being part of security guarantees and help in coordinating it. Furthermore, he said the US offers to have a trilateral meeting as soon as possible and that Ukraine is ready for any format to meet with Putin.
• Ukraine reportedly offered a USD 100bln weapons deal to US President Trump in an effort to win security guarantees, according to the Financial Times citing documents laying out Kyiv’s proposal to Trump at the White House meeting.
• US Secretary of State Rubio told Fox News that they will work with European allies and non-European countries to build security guarantees for Ukraine. Rubio said he was in the room when Trump and Putin spoke, while he added that Trump suggested to Putin that he meet with Zelensky.
• NATO Secretary General Rutte said it was a very successful day in Washington where security guarantees were discussed and more details on security guarantees will be discussed in the coming days, while he added it is a breakthrough that the US will get involved and they are discussing some Article 5-type arrangement.
• European Commission President Von der Leyen said after the White House meeting that they are here as allies and friends for peace in Ukraine and in Europe, while she added this is an important moment as they continue to work on strong security guarantees for Ukraine.
• German Chancellor Merz that he feels these are decisive days for Ukraine and is not sure if Russian President Putin will have the courage to come to a summit with Zelensky present, while he added that expectations were not only met but were exceeded from this meeting. Merz also stated that US President Trump spoke with Russian President Putin and agreed that a Putin-Zelenskiy meeting will happen within two weeks, while the location is yet undecided, and that will be followed by a three-way meeting involving Trump.
• Finland’s President Stubb said they agreed on security guarantees and steps forward, as well as noted that talks were constructive and the Coalition of the Willing has already worked on security guarantees which they will build upon. Stubb also stated there is nothing concrete about US participation in security guarantees and that US President will inform them, with details of security guarantees to be ironed out in the next week or so.
• Debris from a destroyed Ukrainian drone sparked a fire at an oil refinery and hospital in Russia’s Volgograd, according to the regional administration.
• North Korea leader Kim said joint US-South Korea military drills show willingness for war provocation, while he also stated that the security environment requires North Korea to expand its nuclear armament rapidly.
• “Israeli media: The Chief of Staff will present today to the Minister of Defense the plan to occupy Gaza City”, according to Al Arabiya.

* * *

The next big question and milestone will be whether this series of high-level peace meetings will continue, leading to the big trilateral Putin-Trump-Zelensky meeting that the White House is hoping for.

Update (0955ET):

New images circulating X show the damaged cargo ship MV W Sapphire after an explosion ripped through its forward hold near the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge on Monday evening. The vessel was sailing through Baltimore’s Inner Harbor shipping lane at the time of the incident, shortly after departing the CSX coal dock with a full load.

Shipping expert Sal Mercogliano wrote on X that the vessel remains anchored just north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. He said the image shows the number 1 hatch blown wide open, suggesting the explosion of a buildup of methane mixed with coal.

W Sapphire is still anchored just north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

This image shows the #1 hatch cover lying on top of the ship, indicating that the explosion – probably from a methane buildup, along with some coal – displaced it.

The ship will need to be surveyed &… https://t.co/Ad0o46JJTQ pic.twitter.com/stTtp0hKLS

— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴‍☠️ (@mercoglianos) August 19, 2025

An aerial image shows extensive damage to the number 1 hatch.

Aerial photo showing the damaged ship. #MVWSapphire pic.twitter.com/KXAmOqfvs3

— Andrew Doyle (@doyle0213) August 19, 2025

More details about the incident from MarineTraffic….

Fire on ship near Baltimore prompts rapid coast guard response

An #explosion aboard the W-Sapphire, a 751-foot cargo vessel en route to Mauritius, interrupted her departure from #Baltimore near the Francis Scott Key Bridge. #MarineTraffic data show the vessel departed at… pic.twitter.com/0lglOSdQHv

— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) August 19, 2025

*   *   * 

An explosion has been reported on a cargo ship traveling through the outbound shipping lane of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor near the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.

NEW – Cargo ship explodes near Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland. pic.twitter.com/oQKld5xY4R

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) August 19, 2025

According to shipping expert Sal Mercogliano, the cargo ship MV W Sapphire “suffered an explosion in its forward hold” and was “fully loaded” at the time of the incident.

MV W Sapphire, outbound from Baltimore near the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, suffered an explosion in its forward hold.

The ship has been escorted off Fort Howard and fire and @USCG vessels are on scene.

W Sapphire is a fully loaded bulk carrier sailing to Mauritius. pic.twitter.com/Vyn9oWQIjR

— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴‍☠️ (@mercoglianos) August 18, 2025

Mercogliano said the W Sapphire “had just departed from the CSX Curtis Bay coal piers in Baltimore” and suggested “this may have been a coal explosion in the forward hold.”

Shipping expert John Konrad notes, “Coal can create methane and is subject to self-heating and liquefication. Bulkers can explode…” 

Sal has confirmed the explosion of a ship in Baltimore. This is a bulk carrier.

We don’t know the cargo but Baltimore is a major exporter of coal & Mauritius is a coal importer.

Coal can create methane and is subject to self-heating and liquefication. Bulkers can explode… 1/4 https://t.co/JQ0VAPlmwR

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) August 19, 2025

Baltimore City Fire spokesperson John Marsh told local station WBAL-TV that the explosion occurred around 6:28 p.m. local time. No details were provided about the source of the blast.

*Developing… 

Having recently agreed on a China “revenue-share” deal with the Trump admin, the world’s leader in chatbot chip production, Nvidia, is developing a new AI chip especially for China based on its latest Blackwell architecture that will be more powerful than the H20 model it is currently allowed to sell there, Reuters reported citing sources. 

The new chip, tentatively known as the B30A, will use a single-die design that is likely to deliver half the raw computing power of the more sophisticated dual-die configuration in Nvidia’s flagship B300 accelerator card, the sources said.
A single-die design is when all the main parts of an integrated circuit are made on one continuous piece of silicon rather than split across multiple dies.

The new chip would have high-bandwidth memory and Nvidia’s NVLink technology for fast data transmission between processors, features that are also in the H20 – a chip based on the company’s older Hopper architecture. While the chip’s specifications are not completely finalized Nvidia hopes to deliver samples to Chinese clients for testing as early as next month.

Last week Trump opened the door to the possibility of more advanced Nvidia chips being sold in China. But the sources noted U.S. regulatory approval is far from guaranteed amid deep-seated fears in Washington about giving China too much access to U.S. artificial intelligence technology.

When reached by Reuters, Nvidia said in a statement: “We evaluate a variety of products for our roadmap, so that we can be prepared to compete to the extent that governments allow.”

“Everything we offer is with the full approval of the applicable authorities and designed solely for beneficial commercial use,” it said.

The extent to which China, which generated 13% of Nvidia’s revenue in the past financial year, can have access to cutting-edge AI chips is one of the biggest flashpoints in U.S.-Sino trade tensions. Nvidia only received permission in July to recommence sales of the H20. It was developed specifically for China after export restrictions were put in place in 2023, but company was abruptly ordered to stop sales in April.

Last week Trump said he might allow Nvidia to sell a scaled-down version of its next-generation chip in China after announcing an unprecedented deal that will see Nvidia and rival give the U.S. government 15% of revenue from sales of some advanced chips in China.

A new Nvidia chip for China might have “30% to 50% off”, he suggested in an apparent reference to the chip’s computing power, adding that the H20 was “obsolete”.

US legislators have worried that access to even scaled-down versions of flagship AI chips will impede U.S. efforts to maintain its lead in artificial intelligence. But Nvidia and others argue that it is important to retain Chinese interest in its chips – which work with Nvidia’s software tools – so that developers do not completely switch over to offerings from rivals like Huawei.

Huawei has made great strides in chip development, with its latest models said to be on par with Nvidia in some aspects like computing power, though analysts say it lags in key areas such as software ecosystem support and memory bandwidth capabilities. That said, last week China’s AI leader DeepSeek was forced to revert to Nvidia for its R2 model after Huawei’s AI chip failed. As the FT reported, after the successful launch of its R1 model in January, DeepSeek found itself under pressure from China to champion the national cause. The message was clear: use Huawei’s chips, not Nvidia’s. But when it came to actually training their new R2 model, DeepSeek ran into “persistent technical issues” with Huawei’s AI chips. The problems were so fundamental that the project ground to a halt. A person with knowledge of the situation said this was the main reason the model’s planned launch in May was scrapped, putting the company on the back foot in a market that waits for no-one.

Complicating Nvidia’s efforts to retain market share in China, Chinese state media have also in recent weeks alleged that the U.S firm’s chips could pose security risks, and authorities have cautioned Chinese tech firms about purchasing the H20. Nvidia says its chips carry no backdoor risks.

Nvidia is also preparing to start delivering a separate new China-specific chip based on its Blackwell architecture and designed primarily for AI inference tasks, according to two other people familiar with those plans. Reuters reported in May that this chip, currently dubbed the RTX6000D, will sell for less than the H20, reflecting weaker specifications and simpler manufacturing requirements.

The chip is designed to fall under thresholds set by the U.S. government. It uses conventional GDDR memory and features memory bandwidth of 1,398 gigabytes per second, just below the 1.4 terabyte threshold established by restrictions introduced in April that led to the initial H20 ban.  Nvidia is set to deliver small batches of RTX6000D to Chinese clients in September. 

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

The UK government has agreed to drop its request that Apple provide it with backdoor access to user data, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on Monday.

Gabbard stated on X that the agreement came after months of working with UK partners, alongside President Donald Trump, and Vice President JD Vance, to ensure Americans’ private data and civil liberties are protected

“As a result, the UK has agreed to drop its mandate for Apple to provide a ‘back door’ that would have enabled access to the protected encrypted data of American citizens and encroached on our civil liberties,” she said.

Earlier this year, reports emerged that the UK government had issued Apple a “technical capability notice,” requiring the company to provide access to encrypted user data under the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016. In response, Apple halted its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature for users in the UK, citing concerns over data breaches.

The iPhone maker stated in a Feb. 24 blog post that it has “never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and we never will.”

The ADP feature provides end-to-end encryption for iCloud storage, preventing non-account holders—including governments and hackers—from accessing data such as photos, documents, and notes. Without ADP, certain types of iCloud data will no longer be fully encrypted, making it potentially accessible to third parties with the proper legal authority.

“Apple remains committed to offering our users the highest level of security for their personal data and we are hopeful that we will be able to do so in the future in the United Kingdom,” Apple stated at the time.

In May, U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan and U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast sent a letter to UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, urging her to allow Apple to disclose the order’s existence to the U.S. Department of Justice so the department can assess whether the order complies with a U.S.-UK bilateral agreement under the CLOUD Act, which prohibits orders requiring companies to decrypt data.

According to the letter, U.S. companies are prohibited under UK laws to disclose or confirm the existence of such an order, and doing so constitutes a criminal offense, even if the disclosure is made to the company’s home government.

The U.S. lawmakers warned that the UK’s order for Apple to create a backdoor could lead to some implications, as it might be exploited by cybercriminals and authoritarian regimes.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard speaks to reporters during a briefing at the White House in Washington on July 23, 2025. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times

“These vulnerabilities would not only affect UK users but also American citizens and others worldwide, given the global nature of Apple’s services,” they stated in the letter.

The UK’s Home Office and Apple did not return requests for comment by publication time.

Authored by Daniel Idfresne , Micky Horstman via RealClearPolitics,

Zohran Mamdani attributes his Democratic nomination for New York City mayor to the confidence he has inspired in younger voters.

“I’ve been heartened in many of my conversations with older New Yorkers, who’ve told me they were introduced to the campaign by their son or their daughter,” Mamdani quipped. “I think it’s indicative of a new generation of leadership.”

His social media-savvy campaign promises to make NYC affordable and pursue social justice.

We get the appeal as Gen Zers – the generation who led Mamdani to triumph over Cuomo in the primary. We’re part of the most housing-burdened generation, and increasingly reliant on public transit.

But young voters shouldn’t be fooled by Mamdani’s vision. These lofty promises aren’t new. After all, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has battle-tested Mamdani’s proposed solutions to housing, crime, and public transit – and failed to deliver a safer, more affordable city.

In 2023, Johnson campaigned on building affordable housing and enacting rent stabilization laws. Yet, Chicago experienced the highest annual rent hike compared to other metro areas, at 5.9%. And what about Johnson’s promise to build affordable units? Chicago spent $300 million in government subsidies with only 500 new units to show for it.

After failing to pass his more progressive policies, Johnson recently adopted proven, free-market solutions to combat rising housing costs, such as eliminating parking requirements near public transportation stops and cutting government red tape.

Mamdani should be championing his pro-growth solutions, but instead his leading proposal is $100 billion in taxpayer funds to create 200,000 housing units over the next decade. New Yorkers should be skeptical: If Chicago couldn’t muster at least 500 units after burning $300 million in subsidies, why would NYC fare differently? 

Mamdani also proposes to freeze rent for rent-stabilized apartments. This tried-and-failed approach to affordability will lead to more vacancies, deteriorate housing quality, and create a spill-over demand in market-rate apartments.

Our Gen Z peers are now opting for Austin, Raleigh, and Baltimore for lower housing costs.

Mamdani’s vision to create a “Department of Community Safety” instead of empowering the NYPD isn’t “new leadership” either. Johnson enacted similar boutique police reforms during his tenure with dismal results.

The former teachers’ union lobbyist opted to override the City Council and terminate the Chicago police-approved ShotSpotter – a gunshot detection system – for more “holistic” solutions. He stripped police officers from schools to end the “school-to-prison pipeline” and eliminated over 2000 police positions.

The city leads America in homicides and mass shootings despite crime rates falling nationwide. Chicagoans have moved on from solving the “root problems” of crime, and now rank it as the preeminent issue facing the city. They voted out the progressive, “soft on crime” state’s attorney, and have expressed support for more police, not less.

New Yorkers agree with Chicagoans – they support more policing – but Mamdani’s proposed reforms are still rooted in these luxury beliefs. He argued that social workers, not the NYPD, should respond to domestic violence calls. He called for defunding the police in 2020. Mamdani may have walked back his rhetoric, but his $1.1 billion proposal rests on the same assumptions that guided Johnson’s failures.

If you thought the subway was overrun with crime and homelessness, just wait until New York State follows through with Mamdani’s plan to make buses fare-free.

Riders on the Chicago Transit Authority have seen dramatic scheduling delays since the pandemic, and homelessness, smoking, and crime dominate train cars. Ridership recovery lags behind other major cities. This decline has added up to a deficit of over $500 million. The NYC Metropolitan Transit Authority faces a similar crisis: a projected $900 million deficit.

Unlike us, Mamdani and Johnson aren’t transit users. They don’t rely on clean, well-managed trains to get to work. They get the privilege of casting societal failures on transit, when everyday riders just want to get home quickly and safely. Instead of relying on the state to bail out the struggling systems, riders in New York and Chicago would benefit from a thorough police presence that enforces fares and prevents anti-social behavior. Instead, Johnson and Mamdani’s solution is to put social workers on the trains.

Chicago’s rejection of Johnson’s progressive policies should have inspired a course correction. Instead, Johnson advised Mamdani to double down.

“What has happened historically, particularly for candidates like myself or even Mamdani, when we win, sometimes the movement doesn’t always show up after the win, right? So, we just have to stay committed as progressives to our values, and even when it gets bumpy a little bit, it doesn’t mean that we’re doing everything wrong.”

Young New Yorkers should pay attention. Like many of our peers, we want safe, affordable cities. But, Chicago’s experiment in progressive governance is already unraveling – and New Yorkers should think twice before importing the same failed blueprint.

Daniel Idfresne is a student at Syracuse University, a Young Voices writer, and a former intern for “The Story with Martha MacCallum.” Find him on Instagram and X.

Micky Horstman is the communications associate for the Illinois Policy Institute and a social mobility fellow for Young Voices.