Chinese rare-earth suppliers are halting some shipments to U.S. companies despite having export licenses, fearing punishment from Beijing amid rising U.S.-China tensions.

The delays are keeping critical material supplies tight and prices near record highs, affecting defense, semiconductor, aerospace and energy industries.

Some U.S. firms have waited more than six months for licenses, with the issue likely to feature in talks ahead of Xi Jinping’s September 24 visit to Washington.

Source: Reuters

WATCH: Train crashes into a truck at a railway crossing in Gdansk, Poland.

Andrew Tate has been indicted by Romanian prosecutors on charges including trafficking minors, money laundering, sex with a minor and witness tampering.

His brother Tristan has been indicted for complicity.

Source: Reuters

US Munition Likely Directly Hit Iranian Wedding: Experts

Weapons experts reviewing verified imagery said the blast that killed four people and injured at least 68 at a wedding in Kuhestak was consistent with a direct U.S. munition strike.

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US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to visit Moscow first on September 5, before traveling to Kyiv on September 6.

Source: TASS

📸 Trump hosted prominent Hasidic rabbis at the White House.

Shares Jump as Volkswagen Agrees to Biggest Restructuring in 89-Year History

Volkswagen’s supervisory board agreed to its most extensive restructuring in 89 years, adding 50,000 job cuts to bring the total to 100,000, which resulted in shares rising 7%.

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Mazloum Abdi, Adviser to Syrian Presidency & former SDF chief:

Undoubtedly, Türkiye’s influence in Syria has increased during this new period.

Syria’s issues will continue to concern Türkiye, and Türkiye’s influence in Syria will continue.

Türkiye can play a positive role in Syria’s reconstruction, particularly economically or in other areas.

WATCH: This is what $300 looks like in Iranian rials, a meters-long row of bundled banknotes stacked across a shop counter.

Mazloum Abdi, Adviser to Syrian Presidency & former SDF chief:

There are currently talks between Syria and Israel. I believe tensions are currently lower, and that is a good thing.

The important thing is for tensions to remain low until the problems are resolved.

Israel is insisting on remaining in the areas it has entered. It is putting forward certain conditions for withdrawing.

These are difficult conditions to fulfill. It appears that this will continue for quite a long time, until a permanent solution is found.

Germany's Adidas is facing boycott calls after featuring IDF veteran Shalev Biton — who lost his left leg in a 2021 Gaza — as the face of its single-shoe service in Israel.

The service lets amputees buy one shoe at half price.

Thousands of Palestinians have lost limbs since October 2023.

The backlash also revives Adidas's 2024 decision to drop Bella Hadid from a campaign after Israeli pressure, framing it as a double standard.

Adidas hasn't responded publicly.

2 km from Türkiye. 580 km from Greece.

And yet it claims 40,000 km² of sea.

Kastellorizo — a tiny island right off the Turkish coast — is being used to cut off 1,577 km of Türkiye's Mediterranean coastline.

And, the 1947 Paris Treaty says it must stay demilitarized.

Today? Greek missile boats armed with Exocets patrol its waters.

Hungary will keep granting protection to draft-age Ukrainian men despite new EU rules barring it.

PM Péter Magyar says many are ethnic Hungarians from Transcarpathia and that it's wrong to prevent people from leaving a country at war.

The EU rule, effective since August 5 at Kyiv's request, blocks new temporary protection for men who haven't met their military obligations.

Hungary voted against it.

Magyar has broken sharply from predecessor Orbán, calling Russia the "brutal aggressor" at NATO's Ankara summit, but on this issue both governments took the same position.

Channel 4 News says undercover footage shows senior Reform UK figures discussing secret foreign-funded support that may have breached UK electoral law.

Reporters posing as wealthy donors funded three Reform-commissioned polls worth £32,500 through a US company. The polls were published in major newspapers without disclosing Reform’s role or the funding source.

Nigel Farage later met the undercover team and praised the polling. They also discussed a possible £500,000 donation routed through a UK-based son using money from his US-based father—an arrangement that would be illegal if designed to disguise the true donor.

Former Electoral Commission chief Bob Posner said the evidence could justify a criminal investigation. Reform UK, Farage and the other figures involved deny the allegations.

Argentine President Javier Milei has announced plans to build an integrated naval base in Tierra del Fuego, near the Falkland Islands.

Milei said the base would strengthen Argentina’s strategic position in the South Atlantic and be “crucial to Argentina’s geopolitical influence.”

U.S. military disables advertising trackers on devices after reports that commercial location data was used to target American forces in the Middle East.

The Army, Air Force and Special Operations Command have blocked advertising IDs, but lawmakers warn the measures may not fully prevent tracking.

Source: Reuters

Francis Fukuyama:

Someone like Zohran Mamdani, who was elected mayor of New York City, can only get elected in New York.

It’s a completely blue Democratic region, and it really has very limited appeal in the middle of the country, where all the swing voters are that really determine the outcome of a presidential election.

And that’s the big danger for Democrats.

Francis Fukuyama on Russia:

One thing about an authoritarian regime is it looks very strong until the moment it collapses.

So I wouldn’t rule out, you know, some big changes happening on the Russian side.

Milei Says Falklands are Argentine as He Moves to Sanction Oil Projects

The Argentine president said he would bar companies involved in unauthorized oil projects in the Falklands from operating in the country.

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Francis Fukuyama on Trump:

Trump has been pro-Soviet and then pro-Russian for decades. And it’s a strange thing. Nobody really understands why that happened, but it’s a consistent theme.

And I don’t believe for a minute that he’s become more sympathetic towards Ukraine.

He’s frustrated because he thought the Russians would actually defeat Ukraine, and he’s unhappy that that hasn’t forced them into a settlement. But he’s not switched sides.

Israeli National Security Minister Ben-Gvir calls for a "historic solution" for Gaza:

Gaza terrorism is a problem that has accompanied the State of Israel since its establishment.

In the latest war, the State of Israel achieved significant successes against Gaza terrorism.

We must take advantage of this historic opportunity to bring about a historic solution.

I demand the implementation of the idea of encouraging emigration from Gaza.