#️⃣ 🇺🇸 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.

#️⃣ 🇨🇳 China has completed the first phase of construction on Antelope Reef in the disputed South China Sea, creating a nearly 6-km-long artificial island with a deep-water harbor and what could become a runway.

While Beijing says the site will support civilian activities, analysts believe it could significantly strengthen China’s military presence and surveillance capabilities in the region, including in a potential Taiwan conflict.

- Reuters

💬 🇺🇸 Trump on Kim Jong Un:

The fact that I get along well with Kim Jong Un is a good thing.

He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. Should have never allowed it to happen, but he’s got them.

I get along with him very well. I know Kim Jong Un very well. He is gonna be fine.

As long as we have a smart president, he is gonna be fine. If we have a dumb president, then he is probably not gonna be so fine.

#️⃣ 🇺🇸 An Army unit at Fort Stewart, Georgia, is offering soldiers a four-day pass to play GTA VI if they reenlist for at least two years.

Twenty soldiers have already taken the deal, which is timed around the game’s Nov. 19 release.

About 130 are eligible.

- CBS News

#️⃣ 🇺🇸 U.S. federal debt hit $40 trillion.

💬 🇺🇸 Trump:

No one has given the Islamic Republic of Iran a greater opportunity to make a Deal than me. TRAGICALLY, for them, they have failed to take it.

Therefore, today, I am announcing the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale.

Their navy is gone, their air force is destroyed, their military factories are now rubble, their currency is worthless, and their country is hanging by a thread.

Today, I am also announcing that ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences. Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies — It all needs to stop NOW. You know who you are.

This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY, and we need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat.

These maniacs are on the ropes, and these HISTORIC MEASURES will cripple them and their ability to project terror worldwide. IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.

💬 🇮🇱 Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz:

Erdogan is dragging Türkiye into dangerous adventures in Syria.

Israel will not allow any entity to threaten its security.

It is preferable for Erdogan to continue delivering empty, delusional speeches against Israel in the Turkish parliament rather than testing Israel's resolve to defend itself.

💬 🇮🇷 Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi:

The so-called “Economic D-Day” is a diversion from America's own crisis: unprecedented debt & surging interest costs.

Doubling down on failed policies will only bring further defeat—and enmity of Iranians. US economic terrorism threatens global economy and sovereignty worldwide.

#️⃣ South Korea estimates North Korea has 80–120 nuclear warheads, far above Trump’s figure of 57.

Seoul says the estimate comes from private research and is not officially confirmed by its military.

💬 🇮🇷 Iranian MP Ebrahim Rezaei:

The best response to Trump's escalation of the economic war is to withdraw from the NPT.

#️⃣ Taiwan plans to raise 2027 defense spending by 18% to a record T$1.12 trillion ($31.4B), exceeding 3% of GDP.

The increase will fund drones, missiles, and military modernization as China steps up military pressure around the island, but the proposal still faces resistance from Taiwan’s opposition-controlled parliament.

- Reuters

#️⃣ 🇮🇷 IRGC Spokesperson:

The destructive power of the warheads used in the IRGC’s missiles is far greater than those used in previous wars.

If a war begins, our weapons will be completely different from the past in every respect.