Morning Digest

Wednesday, August 19, 2026

35 stories from 8 sources, 61 more held back.

RT

Trump threatens Iran with ‘economic D-Day’

US President Donald Trump has vowed to target any country helping Iran’s economy, shifting from his previous focus on military threats. Trump made the remarks after a 60-day window to negotiate a peace deal with Tehran expired on Monday without breakthroughs. “I am announcing the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY!

RT 12:12 AM

Transgender would-be assassin jailed over plot to kill Scott Bessent

A biological male who identifies as a woman was sentenced on Tuesday to six years and one month in prison after pleading guilty to plotting to kill US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. According to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Ryan Michael English, who goes by Raleigh Jane English, turned herself in to a police officer outside the Capitol building on January 27, 2025.

RT 11:57 PM

Trump says he will meet Kim Jong-un this year (VIDEO

US President Donald Trump has said he expects to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un later this year, days after ordering joint military drills with South Korea scaled back over what he called their ‘hostile’ signal to Pyongyang. During his first presidency, Trump and Kim sought to improve relations between the two countries, meeting three times, including at the Demilitarized Zone in 2019.

RT 9:08 PM

Serbia-Russia relations: Has Vucic really turned away from Moscow?

Has Serbia withdrawn its support for Russia? Leaving aside Belarus, which is geographically European but rarely treated as part of Europe’s political mainstream, most people would probably name Serbia, which, in geopolitical terms is a remarkable exception.

RT 8:39 PM

Croatia arrests second ‘suspect’ in Nord Stream blasts

Second ‘suspect’ in Nord Stream blast case arrested. Croatian police have arrested a Ukrainian man suspected by Germany of taking part in the operation behind the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosions, following a request from Berlin.

RT 6:47 PM

Simon Willison

A quote from Jeremy Morrell

My hypothesis is that there is a new opportunity for Extensible Software on the web. LLMs radically lower the cost of authoring extensions, and modern sandbox primitives lower the deployment cost and provide good security boundaries. We can build our app as a solid, accountable core, and allow users to safely extend it in many directions by having LLMs fill in the missing pieces.

Simon Willison 10:56 PM

Conceptual integrity and counting lines of code

Last week I recorded an episode of the Talking Postgres podcast with Claire Giordano on the subject of “How AI is changing software development”. We had a really great conversation. Here are a couple of my highlights from a lightly edited transcript (prompt to Claude: “very minor edits to remove disfluencies”).

Simon Willison 10:46 PM

Cubs — MLB.com

Cubs bolster SS depth, claim Arias from Mets; transfer Maton to 60-day IL

CHICAGO -- With Dansby Swanson currently on the injured list and sidelined for at least the next month, the Cubs’ depth at shortstop has been thinned at a crucial point in the baseball calendar. On Wednesday, the Cubs made a move to boost the depth chart, claiming utility man Gabriel Arias off waivers from the Mets to add a layer of insurance not only at shortstop, but around the infield.

Cubs — MLB.com 11:04 PM

Holmes settles in for solid showing in first Crosstown Classic

CHICAGO -- The crowd inside Wrigley Field roared as the baseball that left Alex Bregman’s bat in the seventh inning on Wednesday afternoon carried high over left field. It seemed destined for the bleachers, but this was one of those days when the wind can transform the old ballpark into a hitter’s nightmare.

Cubs — MLB.com 9:50 PM

'This is where I want to be': Behind Townsend's perfect marriage with Chicago

CHICAGO -- Cade Townsend had been to Wrigley Field a handful of times when he was a kid. He remembers coming to games with his family a decade ago -- getting a chance to see the 2016 champions in person -- and has photos of himself wearing Cubs gear in the stands at the Friendly Confines. “And now I’m sitting in the dugout,” Townsend said on Wednesday morning.

Cubs — MLB.com 7:39 PM

Bregman, Cubs find common ground in autism advocacy

CHICAGO -- When Alex Bregman signed a long-term contract with the Cubs in January, the goal was to help the organization return to the October stage and push for its first World Series triumph in a decade. The veteran third baseman also has work he wants to do off the diamond.

Cubs — MLB.com 7:03 PM

Gausman exits after 4 1/3 innings with left hand cramp

CHICAGO – Kevin Gausman removed his glove and inspected his left hand, while Cubs manager Craig Counsell emerged from the dugout and made his way to the mound. It was the second time the veteran starter had to pause due to the issue and Counsell opted against pushing Gausman any further.

Cubs — MLB.com 2:21 AM

Raw America

Revealed: Shocking Video Shows McConnell in Addled State Before Hospitalization

Donald Trump was caught on camera this week holding a “cheat sheet” in the Oval Office, the same kind of note card Republicans once said was proof Joe Biden had dementia. Newly surfaced video shows Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky sitting almost completely motionless for hours during a Senate vote session just days before he completely vanished from public view.

Raw America 10:40 PM

Revealed: Natalie Harp’s Brazen Move Against Melania

A new book claims Trump White House staffer Natalie Harp was perhaps the biggest driving force behind the destruction of the East Wing of the White House, which houses the First Lady’s office. New FCC documents show Chairman Brendan Carr has been in constant contact with right-wing media executives and White House officials while refusing to discuss any of it in public.

Raw America 3:51 PM

The Robot Report

Kollmorgen to give a joint-by-joint guide to humanoid motion at RoboBusiness - The Robot Report

Today, humanoid robot OEMs are facing one central challenge: How do they bridge the gap between a working prototype and a manufacturable, scalable product? according to Kollmorgen. While software iterates in weeks, motion hardware moves from paper to functional sample in months and to volume production in years. That mismatch—not concept design—is often the real bottleneck.

The Robot Report 8:15 PM

ESPN

Peyton Watson to Cavs, Max Strus to Clippers in multiteam trade

As part of the multiteam deal, Denver will receive an unprotected 2031 Cavs first-round pick and a 2032 Sacramento Kings second-rounder, according to sources. Watson will sign a new four-year, $88 million deal with a player option and trade kicker to join the Cavaliers, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul and agents Lucas Newton and Calvin Andrews told ESPN.

ESPN 8:13 PM

Kyrgios suspended after positive cocaine test: Everything to know

On Wednesday, Nick Kyrgios, the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up and former world No. 13, announced he had tested positive for cocaine in a drug test earlier this summer and had been given a provisional suspension. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) confirmed the results and the suspension shortly after.

ESPN 8:07 PM

Sources: Bucs, Vea agree to 1-year extension to end hold in

TAMPA, Fla. -- The hold in for Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Vita Vea has ended, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Vea and his agent, Collin Roberts, reached an agreement with the Bucs on a one-year extension that sources said adds $6 million to the $18 million he was already set to make in 2026 for $24 million, plus an additional $24 million in 2027.

ESPN 7:12 PM

LIV Golf CEO says tour will continue, 'wouldn't bet against us'

WESTFIELD, Ind. -- CEO Scott O'Neil is confident that LIV Golf will continue as it attempts to remake itself amid present financial hurdles and no funding from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia beyond this season. He also expressed a desire for the forthcoming version of LIV to be accepted into the larger golf ecosystem.

ESPN 4:53 PM

Wings star rookie Azzi Fudd out for season with knee injury

Dallas Wings star guard Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 overall pick in this year's WNBA draft, will undergo a procedure on her injured knee and miss the remainder of the season. The Wings announced Wednesday that Fudd will undergo the arthroscopic procedure on her right knee in Connecticut early next week. The sharpshooting Fudd last played on Aug. 5 and has missed Dallas' past five games.

ESPN 4:53 PM

Ex-Ole Miss starters granted restraining order for 5th year

Former Ole Miss starters Dae'Quan Wright, Zxavian Harris and Wydett Williams, all of whom signed with NFL teams this summer, are among a group of athletes who were granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday to return to college for one more season.

ESPN 4:53 PM

Cubs — Sun-Times

Splittsville! Stellar Cubs-White Sox season series ends tied 3-3

Chicago baseball fans might not love it, but they won’t forget it. With the White Sox beating the Cubs 3-0 Wednesday at Wrigley Field, the best Crosstown season series of ’em all ended in a 3-3 deadlock. Yes, you read that correctly — the best, since interleague play began in the major leagues in 1997.

Cubs — Sun-Times 6:16 PM

Manufacturing Dive

Bristol Myers Squibb to build $2.3B manufacturing campus in Houston

The project, slated for Generation Park in Houston, is part of Bristol Myers Squibb’s larger plan to invest $40 billion in the United States through 2030 across research and development, technology and domestic manufacturing. The company said it designed the Houston campus to be modular and multimodal, allowing for flexibility as demand shifts to certain medicines over others.

Manufacturing Dive 11:34 AM

Nearly 60 members of Congress call for aluminum pricing investigation

Many regions across the world have physical premiums over the global benchmark price of aluminum. Despite its name, the Midwest Premium functions as the nationwide premium for aluminum in the U.S. market. Premiums are broadly viewed as surcharges to account for factors including regional transportation costs and tariffs.

Manufacturing Dive 10:14 AM