#️⃣ Taiwan is giving every citizen ~$314 cash, calling it an "AI dividend" from its booming semiconductor-driven economy.

First-half growth hit 14.15% — strongest in 50 years.

Defense spending also hits a record, crossing 3% of GDP for the first time.

#️⃣ 🇸🇾 Syria condemned Israeli airstrikes on Abu al-Duhur Military Airbase in Idlib as a violation of its sovereignty and a dangerous escalation.

It urged the UN and international community to condemn the attacks and said it would defend its rights under international law.

#️⃣ 🇯🇵 Japan and Australia agreed to deepen defence cooperation, with Japan planning to test hypersonic and other standoff missiles at Australian ranges over the next decade.

The countries will also develop a laser-based system to detect threats, strengthening their military cooperation amid concerns over China.

💬 🇺🇸 Trump:

There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated.

Thank you for your attention to this matter!

💬 🇮🇷 Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi:

Just as Trump correctly wrote the name of the eternal Persian Gulf, soon his delusion regarding the Strait of Hormuz will either be corrected or we will correct the delusions of this deluded man.

#️⃣ 🇦🇪 UAE MoD says two ballistic missiles from Iran were detected: one fell outside UAE territorial waters and the other inside.

💬 🇮🇷 Iran's Ghalibaf:

Americans think squeezing Iran harder will win concessions that were never part of the agreement.

Bessent and Hegseth are way out of their league. Stop waiting for the clown crew to pull a rabbit out of their hat and clean up the mess you made.

💬 🇮🇷 Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

This recent war showed that foreign forces and foreign bases not only could not bring security but instead turned into security disruptors.

Countries without U.S. military bases suffered less damage, while foreign bases were unable to defend even their own interests against attacks.

#️⃣ 🇦🇪 The UAE Defense Ministry says the two Iranian ballistic missiles detected today were aimed at maritime traffic and were not intentionally fired at the UAE.

#️⃣ 🇦🇪 The UAE says it has halted all trade, commercial exchanges and financial transactions with Iran until further notice.

#️⃣ 🇺🇸 Trump has ordered his top envoys to halt talks with Iran, signaling a major shift in strategy.

The administration is moving away from trying to “hammer Iran ASAP” and toward a longer-term effort to “strangle” Tehran through sustained economic and military pressure.

The goal appears to be increasing pressure over time until Iran is more willing to accept Trump’s terms.

#️⃣ 🇮🇷 Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has rejected the UAE’s claim that missiles were launched from Iran towards the Gulf country.

#️⃣ 🇺🇸🇰🇵 President Trump is pushing aides to arrange a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as early as this fall, potentially during Trump’s expected trip to Asia in November, WSJ reports.

No formal planning is underway, but Trump views another face-to-face meeting as an opportunity to reopen dialogue with Pyongyang over its nuclear program.

Some U.S. officials are skeptical that another summit would produce significant progress.

💬 🇺🇸 Trump:

I have paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada, that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!

The great Keystone XL Pipeline, long ago killed by Sleepy Joe Biden, may be awoken from the grave! Thank you for your attention to this matter.

#️⃣ 🇮🇷 Iran is considering strikes on US military assets in Europe if Washington escalates the war.

Potential targets include bases in Bulgaria and Cyprus, as well as subsea cables in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials increasingly see renewed conflict as inevitable and warn that attacks on critical Iranian infrastructure could push the war beyond the Middle East.

#️⃣ 🇨🇳 China successfully launched the reusable Zhuque-3 on August 19, achieving its first successful land recovery of the rocket’s first stage.

The milestone marks a major step forward for China’s reusable-rocket technology and low-cost satellite launches.

#️⃣ American surgeon Mark Perlmutter says he amputated the leg of a five-year-old girl in Gaza without anesthesia, with doctors singing to her as she remained awake during the operation.

#️⃣ THIS IS WHAT A WIRELESS BIONIC ARM LOOKS LIKE.

The prosthetic can be physically detached from the user's body while continuing to respond to movement commands.

The system reads the user's muscle signals and transmits them wirelessly to the robotic arm, allowing movement commands to work without a physical cable connecting the user to the prosthesis.

#️⃣ 🇹🇭 A RESTAURANT IN THAILAND OFFERS DISCOUNTS BASED ON BODY SIZE.

At Chiang Mai Breakfast World, customers can try to squeeze through metal frames of different widths. The narrower the frame they fit through, the bigger the discount — from 5% to 20%.

Those who can't fit through any of the frames pay full price.

🥺 🇮🇷 Iran received 7.5 billion dollars in oil-related foreign currency revenue in the first four months of 2026, according to Fars, citing the Oil Ministry.

That is 1.5 times last year’s figure. The US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, two months into the period.