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Leftist Activists Establish ‘Autonomous Zone’ In Madison

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Leftist Activists Establish ‘Autonomous Zone’ In Madison

Authored by Ben Sellers via Headline USA,

Far-left activists with apparent ties to the Democratic Socialists of America recently established their own autonomous zone in Wisconsin’s capital city, Madison.

Activist Carlos LeMar Dixon confronts Madison Police Chief John Patterson during a press conference about the shooting death of Corey Ruiz. / IMAGE: @CollinRugg via X

The tent cities have become a familiar sight in far-left cities where the destructive and disruptive occupation is openly encouraged by government officials.

Investigative reporter Andy Ngo noted that similar protests had occurred in Minneapolis and Seattle, both of which were ground zero for BLM riots during 2020’s ironically dubbed “summer of love.”

Seattle’s 2020 autonomous zone, alternately called the CHAZ and the CHOP, became a haven for lawlessness and, eventually, murder.

Wisconsin-based conservative activist Eric Bott, a regional vice president at Americans for Prosperity, alleged that the democratic socialist officials in charge of Madison’s municipal government were “providing financial support and protection” to the current insurrection.

The far-left occupiers purported to be demonstrating on behalf of Corey Ruiz, a serial criminal who was killed on July 22 after allegedly stabbing a police officer during an altercation.

Ruiz’s lengthy rap sheet included eight prior convictions over a 17-year period for charges including resisting, obstructing, threatening or injuring police officers.

Further feeding the perception that the insurrection was being conducted with the blessing and imprimatur of city officials was a press conference the day after Ruiz’s death, during which a group of activists, led by local real-estate agent Carlos LeMar Dixon, hijacked a police press conference.

Dixon, who is believed to be staging a write-in campaign for governor, previously admitted to stealing the campaign signs of rival candidates.

Ben Sellers is a freelance writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 08/02/2026 – 18:40

The GOP Has Its Own Platner-Esque Nightmare Erupting In Ohio

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The GOP Has Its Own Platner-Esque Nightmare Erupting In Ohio

Democrats spent months navigating the endless Graham Platner scandals in Maine, before credible rape allegations finally forced him out. Republicans got their own Platner-esque scandal of their own this week in Ohio.

Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) posted a 25-minute video to X on Sunday morning to deny a stack of abuse allegations from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno. He’s been accused of holding a gun to her head, throwing scalding water at her, and fracturing their 2-year-old daughter’s collarbone. Miller says none of it happened the way it’s described, and he says a family court fight over custody explains why the story surfaced.

“Let me begin with the most painful accusation of all: I have never abused our daughter,” Miller said in the video, adding that the claims “have damaged my reputation, caused enormous pain to my family, and most importantly, it’s affected our daughter.”

He asked viewers to draw their own conclusions from his ex-wife’s behavior after the alleged assaults. “Ask yourself, if I had assaulted her, would she have offered to cook me dinner six days later? Would she have invited me to spend an afternoon at the playground with her and our daughter?” Miller said, insisting there is “no evidence” against him and that no court or child welfare investigation has substantiated the allegations. The boiling water, he said, was a kitchen sink spray mistaken for horseplay.

Police confirmed to CNN that prosecutors never filed charges over the daughter’s collarbone injury, and that there are no other open investigations involving Miller or Moreno.

Miller has also filed a defamation suit against his ex-wife and her attorney. And the legal conflict cuts both ways: a judge last week ordered both Miller and Moreno – not just one of them – not to “threaten, abuse, annoy or interfere” with each other.

Whatever the merits of that defense, within the hour, Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio posted a statement.

“As he has admitted privately, Max Miller needs serious psychological help,” Moreno wrote on X. “He is a danger to my daughter, and I hold my breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter.” He went further still, writing that “if there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them” and that his former son-in-law “should not serve in the House of Representatives.”

He continued, “If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them. He should not serve in the House of Representatives. I believe Max Miller needs to seek professional help to end the clear pattern of abuse he has left in his wake. I believe he should not be free to continue endangering others until he does.”

Miller didn’t let the statement sit unanswered. He shot back at Moreno in his own post on X, writing that “if my daughter said the same thing to me, I personally wouldn’t wait two years before holding him accountable.” “You know this isn’t true and the only reason you are speaking out now is to hide from your own media circus. This is all political,” he added.

A sitting Republican senator calling for a sitting Republican congressman to resign is not a dynamic party leadership wanted heading into a midterm cycle crowded with headaches. Moreno described the two years since the divorce as “pure hell” for his wife, his daughter and the rest of the family, which is not the kind of language reserved for a policy dispute.

Miller’s Democratic opponent in the 7th District, union ironworker and Brook Park councilman Brian Poindexter, wasted no time exploiting the situation for his campaign. “No one credibly accused of holding a gun to his wife’s head and breaking their 2-year-old daughter’s collarbone belongs in the halls of power,” Poindexter said in a social media post Sunday as part of a fundraising pitch.

Democrats clearly see an opening in a seat that was not on anyone’s flip list a month ago.

Emily Moreno’s spokesman, Stefan Mychajliw, offered his own assessment of Miller’s livestream, and restraint was not the operative word. “It is shameful that Max Miller decided to go on a bizarre and lie-filled rant about his ex-wife to desperately try to save his political career,” Mychajliw said in a post on X. “There is a documented trove of evidence that Miller has a history of violent and dangerous behavior and no amount of victim shaming will change that. Miller can lie and spin on X, but he cannot do so under oath in a court of law. We are confident that justice will prevail in court.”

Miller, a former adviser in President Trump’s first administration, who was previously endorsed by Trump this cycle, has given no indication he intends to step aside. “I’m not dropping out of this race,” he said. “And I’ll win in November.”

The Ohio GOP faces a Wednesday deadline to swap him out if it wants a different name on the November ballot, an option party officials have discussed given the volume of pressure bearing down from inside the family and outside it alike.

Platner cost Democrats a clean shot at Susan Collins in Maine. Miller may cost Republicans a House seat that shouldn’t even be competitive.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 08/02/2026 – 17:30

Japan, Bretton Woods 2.0, & The End Of The Carry Era

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Japan, Bretton Woods 2.0, & The End Of The Carry Era

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama is set to announce as early as Monday that Tokyo and Washington are coordinating on steps in the foreign exchange market to curb the yen’s weakness, a person familiar with the situation told Bloomberg.

Satsuki Katayama

The content of the announcement is still being worked on but could happen as early as Monday morning, the person said, declining to be identified as the information isn’t public.

Reuters earlier reported Katayama would confirm the joint action, and reinforce the two sides’ commitment to battle what they deem as excessive declines in the yen.

Japanese authorities bought yen and sold dollars during New York trading on Friday, Bloomberg reported earlier, citing one person with knowledge of the matter. At the close of New York trading on Friday, the yen was quoted at 157.40 to the dollar, the strongest since early May.

Just two days earlier, it was flirting around the weakest levels since 1986.

The sharp gains were fueled by a combination of direct purchases of the yen, calls by officials to banks that trade the currency and jawboning from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Katayama.

Bessent’s commitment to shoring up the yen was also shown when Reuters published a photograph of a notepad in front of him at a cabinet meeting in Camp David on Friday.

Under a “To Do” title, it was written “Buy Japanese Yen (JPY) $5-10 bil.”

Japan’s original plan appeared to have been to stick to a “no comment” line while the operation was underway, and offer only subtle hints of US support.

The approach was kept to Thursday and Friday.

But with multiple media reports emerging and Bessent’s to-do list on show, authorities may have decided to change course and make a clear public announcement.

The operation on joint action is “still ongoing,” Reuters said, citing an unidentified government official.

As James Thorne, Chief Market Strategist at Wellington Altus, explained via X, Bessent’s move toward the New York Fed matters because it signals that Treasury understands the long end is being driven by flows, not by the inflation scare Wall Street keeps recycling.

Japan is now central to that story.

If Tokyo must defend the yen, the Ministry of Finance may need to sell U.S. Treasuries, and when the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt becomes a seller, the long end will reprice.

That is why this moment looks bigger than a routine currency episode.

It has the feel of a new Plaza Accord and the opening phase of Bretton Woods 2.0.

Since the 1980s, Japan has sat at the heart of the global yen carry trade, exporting savings, suppressing yields, and helping sustain a financial order built on cheap leverage and central-bank engineering. That order is now breaking down.

The end of QE and the coming end of the yen carry trade mean capital markets, not central banks, will increasingly set rates.

This is also why the inflation narrative is so weak.

Breakevens remain anchored. Credit markets are not pricing a new inflation regime. Wall Street keeps labeling every rise in the long end as “inflation risk,” but that is intellectual laziness.

The real story is Japan, reserve liquidation, and a global adjustment process that has barely been recognized.

Adding to that pressure is Big Tech’s pivot from providing savings to demanding credit.

The same companies that once absorbed duration are now issuing debt to finance AI infrastructure, data centers, chips, and power.

That is another reason the long end is moving.

The upshot, secular forces are tightening credit conditions, and central bankers need to cut policy rates to help facilitate the adjustment.

A global economy hooked on the carry trade cannot go cold turkey.

This unwind requires finesse.

Bessent is starting that process, but central bankers and Wall Street still need to abandon the Keynesian dogma that treats rise in the long end as an inflation scare!

The deeper shift is structural.

America is escaping secular stagnation by running the economy hot through supply-side economics, deregulation, and productive investment.

A Warsh Fed would fit that world, because growth would no longer be treated as a policy mistake.

Japan, meanwhile, may finally be restructuring both its economy and its geopolitical role.

That is why this is not an inflation story. It is the beginning of a new regime.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 08/02/2026 – 16:55

Bill Gates Held A Top Secret ‘Q’ Clearance For Seven Years – And The DOE Won’t Say Why

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Bill Gates Held A Top Secret ‘Q’ Clearance For Seven Years – And The DOE Won’t Say Why

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates held a top-tier “Q” security clearance at the Department of Energy from 2014 to 2021 – though the DOE didn’t grant it. Another federal agency vetted him first, and the letter confirming the clearance doesn’t say which one.

The detail comes from a DOE letter entered into the Congressional record by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). The letter emerged as Fauci faced fierce Republican blowback during his Senate hearing last week, where the longtime face of COVID policy pleaded the Fifth more than 100 times.

A “Q” clearance is the Energy Department’s highest classification level, the kind normally reserved for people working on nuclear weapons design, national labs, critical energy infrastructure, and highly classified scientific research. Gates kept that clearance for seven years, starting under President Obama and running through the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic.

One explanation as to why; Gates founded and chairs TerraPower, the advanced nuclear reactor company that has spent years working alongside DOE national laboratories and won Nuclear Regulatory Commission construction approval in March. A nuclear executive holding a nuclear clearance is not, on its own, a scandal.

But the letter doesn’t mention TerraPower – or why he had it at all. What it does say is that the clearance was granted reciprocally on June 11, 2014 – meaning it originated at another federal agency, and DOE simply honored it – before terminating on December 6, 2021. The letter does not name the agency that vetted him in the first place.

That’s the question sitting in the middle of this document, and nobody in the federal government has answered it. Which agency decided a private citizen needed access to Restricted Data under the Atomic Energy Act, and for what program?

Once a Q clearance expires, getting it back isn’t automatic. The government keeps reviewing eligibility, and anyone hoping to restore it usually has to show a real change in circumstances.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 08/02/2026 – 16:20

9/11 Families Don’t Want Mamdani Participating In Memorial Ceremony

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9/11 Families Don’t Want Mamdani Participating In Memorial Ceremony

Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, a coalition of victims’ families don’t want New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani anywhere near the ceremony marking the anniversary at Ground Zero. 

A Change.org petition urging Mamdani to stay away from the September 11 memorial has collected more than 66,000 signatures in under three weeks and organizers say the mayor’s own history of rhetoric and associations makes his presence at the site an insult to the dead.

“This anniversary is one of remembrance grounded in shared American values: respect for the victims, recognition of the gravity of the attacks, and a clear rejection of the ideologies that contributed to such violence. For many families and community members, participation in these ceremonies carries an implicit expectation that those present uphold and affirm these principles without ambiguity,” the petition reads.

“Concerns have been raised about Mr. Mamdani’s public positions, associations, and responses to rhetoric that many perceive as hostile to these shared values.”

The petition’s organizers describe the anniversary as a day to honor the dead and reject the ideology behind the attacks rather than a platform for a sitting mayor.

The petition cites a specific set of grievances.

Mamdani has repeatedly declined to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada,” a slogan widely understood as a call for violence against Jews and Israel. His chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem, once represented a pilot convicted in an al-Qaeda tanker-bombing plot. Mamdani has also aligned himself with commentator Hasan Piker, who told his audience in 2019 that America deserved the September 11 attacks. 

Giovanni Galante, the petition’s lead organizer, estimates that thousands of the signers are relatives of the 2,977 people killed that morning. His wife, Grace Catherine Galante, was 29 years old and worked for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 105th floor of the North Tower. Cantor Fitzgerald lost roughly 658 employees that day, more than any other firm in the towers. An FDNY captain told the New York Post the anti-Mamdani petition is circulating widely inside firehouses across the city, and former Fire Commissioner Tom Van Essen, who ran the department during and after the attacks, signed it himself, joking about wanting a word with the mayor at the ceremony. The FDNY lost 343 firefighters. 

Charles G. Wolf lost his wife, Katherine, just two weeks into her new job at Marsh & McLennan on September 11. Wolf argues that Mamdani has spent his career alienating the families of the dead through an agenda hostile to the country and friendships with people who minimize what happened that day. Wolf said officials who supported families over the years, including former Gov. George Pataki, are the ones who belong at Ground Zero this year.

Maureen Santora’s son, Christopher, was 23 when he died in the South Tower, the youngest firefighter killed that day. His shift with Engine 54 had already ended when the alarm came in, and he went anyway. Santora said Mamdani has never shown support for the September 11 community and called him a divisive figure whose presence would undercut the entire purpose of the gathering.

Monica Iken-Murphy, whose husband Michael Iken died on the 84th floor of the South Tower and who helped lead the effort to build the September 11 Memorial and Museum, framed her objection around Mamdani’s years of absence from the community rather than his politics. Officials who supported families from the beginning, she said, naming former mayors Michael Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani, belong at this particular anniversary.

Not every family contacted by reporters backs the petition. Retired NYPD officer Jim Smith, whose wife Moira was one of two female NYPD officers killed that day, declined to sign, saying the day should stay focused on victims rather than politicians of any stripe. Dennis Warchola, whose firefighter brother Michael died two days before his planned retirement, said he turned against Mamdani after learning about his statements on terrorism but stopped short of signing because he does not believe in silencing anyone.

Those dissents were the exception. Reporters reached more than 150 families, and most had signed or planned to, with dozens asking to stay anonymous over retaliation fears.

Mamdani has said he plans to attend anyway.

Galante said many family members plan to turn their backs on Mamdani if he shows up. “They don’t want to look at him,” he said.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 08/02/2026 – 15:45

Crack Pipes, Get Yer’ Crack Pipes! Free Crack Pipes!: California Taxpayers Fund Drug Paraphernalia

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Crack Pipes, Get Yer’ Crack Pipes! Free Crack Pipes!: California Taxpayers Fund Drug Paraphernalia

Authored by Christopher F. Rufo, Austen Hufford via Christopher Rufo’s Substack,

As governor of California, Gavin Newsom has repeatedly supported “harm reduction” policies, which enable drug use in the name of making it “safer.” He created the state’s Harm Reduction Initiative, which funded “syringe services programs” for “people who inject and smoke fentanyl and/or methamphetamines.” His Department of Public Health has endorsed distributing syringes, glass pipes, and “[c]ontainers for mixing injectable drugs” to drug users. Newsom argued earlier this year that harm-reduction tactics “increase the likelihood of people entering substance use treatment.”

But do California’s harm-reduction programs encourage addicts to enter treatment? We visited the Skid Row Care Campus, a homeless-services site in Los Angeles County, to witness “harm reduction” in action. We discovered that, instead of directing addicts to get clean, the taxpayer-funded program doles out free paraphernalia, enabling addicts to get high – no questions asked.

We arrived at Skid Row in the morning. The campus, bounded by pastel-colored buildings and a metal gate, looked like an apocalyptic wasteland. Homeless people and addicts were splayed across the common areas, with some smoking what seemed to be hard drugs with impunity.

We stepped onto the courtyard connected to the street. No one stopped us, asked for identification, or searched us for weapons or drugs. This is apparently by design, judging by the Skid Row Action Plan and its implementation outline, which, singly or together, inspired the creation of the campus, denounced the “racist and classist war on drugs,” and called on local officials to create hubs “free from monitoring by law enforcement” and staffed by people with histories of “substance use and sex work.”

We entered campus and found a walk-up counter, where an attendant sat before shelves of drug paraphernalia. Users come to this counter to get free needles and crack pipes, with which they can inject or smoke hard drugs.

“What can I get you?” he asked. “We have oil burners, we have spray shooters, we have socks, we have petroleum jelly.”

Across several visits, we obtained drug-testing strips, syringes, and crack pipes. One worker told us that while drug use isn’t allowed on-site, we “wouldn’t be bothered” if we got high just outside – unless we overdosed.

The entire campus takes a “low-touch” approach. In addition to staple items that many homeless shelters offer – food, laundry, some medical care – the site offers services like doggie daycare, meditation on the lawn, and “valet” cart parking. Around midday, we saw homeless people lining up in the cafeteria for Doritos and instant ramen, while around two-dozen sat in reclining chairs to watch the movie 127 Hours.

The Skid Row site launched in 2025. The campus and its services are run by a group of nonprofits committed to harm reduction, including one that laments the “long-standing criminalization of substance use.”

For these left-wing groups, the site has become a massive cash cow. The campus is listed as a federally funded health center and reportedly pulls in around $26 million a year in local, state, and federal dollars. One of its service providers, Homeless Health Care Los Angeles, has seen its revenue more than double since 2020, jumping to $27 million last year. Another, Wesley Health Centers (JWCH Institute), has seen revenues more than double to $200 million in five years.

Estela Lopez, executive director of the L.A. Downtown Industrial District, thinks the campus has been a disaster.

“You want a meth pipe? Here you go. You want needles? Here you go,” she said, describing the campus’ “harm reduction” approach. “Everything that you need in order to get high, stay high, is provided, no questions asked.”

Lopez said the site has caused chaos on the nearby street. An LAPD source told us they’ve totaled 1,200 “radio calls for service” and four murders in the area so far this year. One of the site nonprofits’ employees told us that drug dealers were “fighting over the guests.”

All of this raises questions about federal funding. Last year, President Trump signed an executive order ordering reviews of federally funded drug paraphernalia distribution sites. The order took a negative view of “so-called ‘harm reduction’ or ‘safe consumption’ efforts that only facilitate illegal drug use.”

The named nonprofits and the mayor’s office did not respond to our requests for comment, and the governor’s office did not offer a responsive comment. L.A. County claimed that they adhere “to all local, state, and federal laws,” and said the campus “is funded by L.A. Care Health Plan,” a public health plan, “and Health Net,” an LLC. (In a 2024 press release, Health Net claimed that the two entities’ investment in the campus’s launch “was the result of California’s Housing and Homelessness Incentive Program, which the state launched with the help of matching funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.”)

Our trip to Skid Row made one thing unmistakably clear: in California, harm reduction facilitates drug abuse. The state’s leaders may think that it’s compassionate to let people waste away, smoking hard drugs and prodding themselves with needles. But these behaviors lead only to ruin, and, finally, death.

Christopher F. Rufo is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal, and the author of America’s Cultural Revolution. Austen Hufford is a senior investigative reporter at City Journal.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 08/02/2026 – 15:10

Trump Says “Perimeters Of A Deal Reached” With Iran To Reopen Hormuz After Call With Saudi Crown Prince

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Trump Says “Perimeters Of A Deal Reached” With Iran To Reopen Hormuz After Call With Saudi Crown Prince

The past few days have been tense. Although no US strikes were launched from Friday night into Saturday morning and the Gulf region remained quiet early Sunday, anticipation surrounding President Trump’s next move is keeping energy traders and Gulf governments on edge. The big concern is that another round of strikes could trigger a wider regional conflict, particularly as the Iranian-backed Houthis have reactivated offensive operations in the southern Red Sea in recent weeks.

The Trump administration and Department of War may pursue de-escalation from here after Trump wrote on Truth Social late Saturday night: “We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to.”

“Tonight from 9:36 PM to 9:37 PM the S&P 500 price on Hyperliquid spiked bigly, and I couldn’t figure out why… …then Trump posted his TACO @ 10:05 PM. THEN I understood why,” X user Stanphyl Capital wrote.

That de-esclation pathway was followed by a new signal early Sudnay from Saudi Press Agency, Saudi Arabia’s official state news agency, stating that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a call with President Trump, discussing the “necessity of prioritizing dialogue to de-escalate tensions and the importance of exerting all possible efforts to achieve a truce that paves the way for diplomatic solutions that yield positive results for preserving the security and stability of the region and prevent it from being drawn into a wider conflict whose repercussions would affect regional and international security and stability.”

The MbS-Trump call was first reported by Axios, which got the scoop on Saturday evening:

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke to President Trump on Saturday and expressed concern over his plans for massive new strikes against Iran, according to two U.S. officials and a third source with knowledge of the call.

. . .

Such an attack could lead to an unprecedented escalation in the five-month war, which has repeatedly paused as Trump opened the door to negotiations — only to resume when those diplomatic efforts failed.

Iran has threatened to retaliate by launching attacks against energy and infrastructure facilities in Israel and the Gulf countries

  • The Saudis expressed concern and asked for clarity about the plan of action,” one U.S. official told Axios.
  • A second source with knowledge of the call said MBS urged Trump to de-escalate and refrain from launching the strikes.

Why the MBS-Trump conversation matters is that Saudi Arabia remains one of Washington’s top Gulf region allies. Riyadh has heavily influenced Trump’s Iran policy at previous inflection points and appears to have exerted similar influence in delaying or narrowing the next phase of US military action.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 08/02/2026 – 15:00

Female Bomber Kills At Least 3, Injures 21, At Upscale Moscow Restaurant

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Female Bomber Kills At Least 3, Injures 21, At Upscale Moscow Restaurant

A bomb ripped through a central Moscow upscale restaurant mid-evening on Saturday in what authorities are calling a “brutal terrorist act” – which left three people dead and wounded at least 21.

“Yesterday, a brutal terrorist act was committed in Moscow that claimed human lives. The victims are currently in the city’s hospitals, where they are receiving all necessary care,” Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated Sunday.

via BBC

The location was at Kudrinkskaya Square outside an Italian restaurant, in one ⁠of Moscow’s seven Stalin-era skyscrapers, police described.

Russia’s anti-terrorism ‌committee stated the culprit was an ‌unidentified woman carrying ​an improvised explosive device who tried get into the restaurant before being stopped by a security guard, who was killed in the subsequent blast, along with a customer.

The Guardian notes that the death toll could climb as many victims are being treated at area hospitals:

REN TV cited a source on Sunday as saying that two people who had been taken to hospital had later died of their wounds, bringing the death toll to five, but there was no official confirmation. The channel said six people were in a serious condition.

There’s been widespread speculation as to what entity carried out the attack, and who was the intended target. 

“Unverified social media reports suggested that a top Russian military commander had been the intended target but had been unharmed,” The Moscow Times writes. “Russian war bloggers, without citing any evidence, were quick to blame Ukraine for the attack. Kyiv did not immediately comment.”

The same report adds, “The Kommersant daily suggested that the woman carrying the bomb may not have known about it, and that it had been set off remotely by someone else,” and it notes that “The restaurant’s website said the venue had been closed on Saturday for a private event.”

This terror attack possibly adds, pending the details, to a growing list of high profile assassinations related to the Ukraine war. To review:

—Darya Dugina was killed in a car bombing in 2022 which was likely meant for her father, prominent political thinker and often dubbed “Putin ally” Aleksandr Dugin.

—Gen Igor Kirillov died in December 2024 outside of his residence when a bomb planted in a nearby scooter detonated.

—Gen Yaroslav Moskalik, who served as deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, was killed in a car bomb attack last April. A “homemade” explosive device detonated under his Volkswagen Golf in a residential neighborhood.

And in circumstances somewhat similar to this latest restaurant bombing, in April 2023 a cafe bombing killed prominent pro-Kremlin blogger and war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky. The blast at a St. Petersburg cafe during a close-quarters speaking event wounded some two dozen bystanders, six of them critically.

America’s CIA or Britain’s MI6 has long been suspected by some pundits of being involved in these targeted killings, or at least assisting in such brazen Ukrainian-linked operations, but ultimately little has been uncovered or proven in terms of a potential Western hidden hand in this ongoing ‘dirty war’.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 08/02/2026 – 13:25

Marxist Terror Group Responsible For Colombian Truck Bomb Attack

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Marxist Terror Group Responsible For Colombian Truck Bomb Attack

Summary:

  • VBIED Attack Comes Days Before President-Elect Abelardo de la Espriella’s Inauguration
  • Marxist-Leninist Terror Group Responsible For Truck Bomb Attack
  • Twin Car Bombs Rock Colombian City Days Before Trump-Backed “El Tigre” Takes Power

Marxist-Leninist Terror Group Responsible For Truck Bomb Attack 

The Colombian government blamed the far-left, Marxist-Leninist ELN for the truck bombing outside a police headquarters in the border city of Cúcuta, which injured 11 officers and killed a police dog.

The early Saturday morning VBIED attack damaged the building’s roof and shattered its windows, according to police chief Gen. William Rincón.

“This was a vile terrorist attack,” Rincón told AP News. “We will not rest until we find those who are responsible and have them prosecuted.”

The attack comes just days before President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella – a Trump-backed conservative who has pledged to restore law and order and wage war on rebel groups – takes office.

The ELN is believed to have about 6,000 fighters operating across Colombia and neighboring Venezuela.

Its ideology combines:

  • Revolutionary socialism and communism
  • Cuban-style Guevarism
  • Anti-capitalism and anti-American “imperialism”
  • Land and resource redistribution

Its activities include:

  • Attacks against Colombian security forces and oil infrastructure
  • Bombings and assassinations
  • Kidnapping and extortion
  • Illegal mining
  • Cocaine production and trafficking

It is important to note that the Trump administration declared war on far-left groups across the Western Hemisphere.

Twin Car Bombs Rock Colombian City Days Before Trump-Backed “El Tigre” Takes Power

Details remain limited, but initial reports and footage on X suggest that one or more vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs), commonly known as car or truck bombs, detonated near a police station in Cúcuta, Colombia, close to the Venezuelan border.

The apparent VBIED attack occurred just six days before President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella’s inauguration, which will transfer power from Gustavo Petro’s socialist regime to a right-wing administration expected to align closely with the Trump administration.

Footage:

De la Espriella, a conservative lawyer known as “El Tigre,” has pledged to intensify operations against guerrillas and drug-trafficking organizations, abandon the socialists’ peace negotiations, and pursue deeper military cooperation with the US.

Around 11,000 soldiers and police officers are expected to secure the inauguration through coordinated land, air, and maritime operations. De la Espriella has repeatedly warned of an alleged plot to assassinate him by left-wing groups.

El Tigre’s rise to power comes amid a once-in-a-generation shift from nation-killing left-wing regimes across the Americas to right-wing governments closely aligned with the Trump administration. The State Department has pursued this strategy to secure the West, ensure countries align with the US, not China or Russia, and promote open and free markets over broken Marxist ones.

Americas Political Map: Presidential Shift From Left To Right

Country-by-country presidential shift tracker

“For the first time in 15–20 years, the overwhelming majority of the countries in the Western Hemisphere are now led by pro-American leaders and governments since @POTUS was elected president,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Friday with President Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 08/02/2026 – 13:18

From Influence Peddler To Starving Artist: Hunter Biden Claims Family Is Broke In Defaulting On $17 Million Bill

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From Influence Peddler To Starving Artist: Hunter Biden Claims Family Is Broke In Defaulting On $17 Million Bill

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Hunter Biden is no Van Gogh. In addition to having both ears, Hunter’s work has generally been panned beyond an enabling media following. However, he claims he is also a starving artist. The problem appears to be that, as predicted years ago, his sales dried up in the influence-peddling market once his father left office.

Now, his lawyers want him to cough up $17 million that he owes them. Hunter says that not only is he broke, but so is his family.

In a deposition in ongoing litigation with the law firm Winston Taylor, Hunter claimed an inability to pay the $17 million he owes his lawyers for representing him in criminal prosecutions, congressional investigations, and civil lawsuits.

Hunter claimed under oath that “I don’t own anything of any value other than — and I don’t know the value of it — my paintings which I painted myself. So that’s it. And I don’t even have any other assets at all, stocks, bonds, anything like that, savings accounts.”

He also added, “My family doesn’t have any money, and it’s not their debt anyway.”

The statement about his family is curious, since Joe and Jill Biden recently received numerous book contracts and were thought to be worth millions. However, the Wall Street Journal recently reported that Joe Biden is struggling with $800,000 in debt and, ironically, increased property taxes in his blue state of Delaware on his $2.7 million home. (Moving to Florida like many fleeing blue state taxes is not a viable option for the Bidens).

Worse yet, no one wants Biden to do speeches and appearances, cutting off a lucrative post-presidency income. Not only is Biden obviously diminished in his ability to give a speech, but many Democrats blame him for the reelection of Trump by clinging to power despite his obvious deteriorating mental and physical condition.

Of course, the former president still rakes in more than $400,000 a year in government pensions.

Yet, in the end, Hunter is correct. It is not their debt unless they signed as guarantors on any debt.

Hunter continues to be the darling of the media with podcasts and interviews, including some who have called for him to run for president. He has lived in mansions and luxurious hotels for much of his life. However, that lifestyle was subsidized by wealthy Democratic donors and friends.

What is impressive is how Hunter could burn through millions accrued from alleged influence peddling and shady deals.

Notably, Fox News reports that the law firm, which is known for representing Democratic figures, has tried to connect Biden with donors to help him cover his legal bills, without success. With his father out of power, no one is willing to bankroll his lifestyle or buy his art.

Gone are the former swaggering threats that Hunter could make to shake down foreign figures. There was a time when he only needed to pick up a phone and send a text message like the one to a Chinese businessman, openly threatening Joe Biden’s displeasure if money is not sent to them immediately. In the WhatsApp message, Hunter stated:

“I am sitting here with my father, and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight. And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the Chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.”

No one is answering now.

Hunter insisted that he is now virtually destitute: “I don’t have any assets. I don’t own a car. I don’t own a phone.”

Even his recent dubious award of $1.7 million in a defamation case was immediately claimed by the law firm, though that award can and should be appealed.

Hunter has written extensively on his struggle with drugs and alcohol. It is a great achievement to have overcome those addictions. Yet, the accounts would be more compelling if he did not unleash a scorched-earth campaign against critics when he was sober. He sued or threatened to sue a wide array of people to try to muscle them into silence. I was one of those threatened with a defamation lawsuit by his friend and sponsor Kevin Morris for writing about their curious relationship.

Hunter gamed the system on his crimes and was ultimately rescued from prison only by his father breaking his repeated public promise not to pardon his son.

Yet, Hunter is likely to live well as a ward of the privileged class. He remains the toast of the town for the left, a type of foul-mouthed prophet who claims to have been liberated by his own excesses. For those of us who have long been critics of his antics, it remains a bit too familiar.

Hunter makes even being broke look like a grift.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”

Tyler Durden
Sun, 08/02/2026 – 12:50

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