The Venezuela Oil Account: Donald Trump's Takeover of a Sovereign Nation’s Resources

Story by Yiannis Damellos

July 27, 2026

Trump says U.S. has sold more than $13 billion of Venezuelan oil since Maduro’s capture 

You can call it Imperialism, which involves using power to control or influence other countries. It may also be described as the Occupation or Control of Resource Extraction and Exports - after seizing control of those resources and trade mechanisms. If local institutions persist while real control is exercised externally, it can be termed Neocolonialism. Where I come from, we call it Looting or Theft. One thing is for sure: the actions of the U.S. in Venezuela—specifically, seizing control of exports and revenue streams—align with what many would label as “Resource Imperialism” or Coercive Control.

Finland’s radical answer to renewable energy’s biggest headache: The world’s largest sand battery

Energy
Published Sat, Jul 25 2026 1:29 AM EDT

Updated Mon, Jul 27 2026 4:46 AM EDT
Sam Meredith

Key Points

• A small Finnish town has turned to the world’s largest commercial sand battery to tackle a major hurdle in the energy transition: intermittency.

• The giant sand battery can cover almost one month of the town’s heating demands in the summer and as much as one week in the winter.

• “Hopefully a big portion of those storages could be sand battery-type of storages where we don’t need rare earth materials,” Tommi Eronen, CEO of Polar Night Energy, told CNBC.

Iran's "Five Armies"

 Extensions 

Apart from losing control of Syria in December 2024, these armies are in place 

and appear whenever Tehran orders a strike

July 27, 2026, 16:24

 PRINT EDITION 

Shortly before dying during a US special forces operation at Baghdad airport, the head of the Revolutionary Guards boasted that he was leaving "Five Armies" as a legacy to Tehran. These are: Iran's armed forces, the Revolutionary Guards, the Iraqi Shiite Militia, Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon, and the Houthi forces in Northern Yemen.

Trump’s nuclear plan could rewrite the rules on radiation exposure

THE INDEPENDENT

Story by Jennifer McDermott

The nation's top nuclear regulator is preparing to scrap a decades-old safety rule that has helped keep radiation exposure as low as possible, a move that is drawing praise from the nuclear industry and concern from some safety experts.

Angus Reid Institute: Canadians prefer stronger action over negotiation with the U.S.

As most Canadians rebuke Trump's tariff threat and call for retaliation, they are also worried that Prime Minister Marc Carney may not be able to strike a favorable deal this time around

By Yiannis Damellos

July 27, 2026

As Canadians find themselves in yet another trade standoff with President Donald Trump, there is a mix of concern and hope regarding Prime Minister Mark Carney’s ability to navigate these intense negotiations. Having previously served as the Governor of the Bank of England during the tumultuous Brexit discussions, Carney is well-versed in the complexities of high-stakes bargaining.

Netanyahu sent his minions to terrorize the Palestinians and burn their mosques at the West Bank

July 27, 2026 | 7:16 AM PDT | 

Sources: Reuters and Associated Press

TAL, West Bank — Palestinians say they are at a breaking point as they are defending their properties and sacred places against settlers attempting to expel them from their native land in the West Bank. Although Netanyahu's apartheid regime labels the incidents as terrorism, independent eyewitnesses have observed and recorded settler attacks, burnt mosques, and destruction of Arab property following these confrontations. The expansion of settlements is accelerating ahead of October elections, as Netanyahu pushes for stricter control over the West Bank to increase his popularity. 

Ukraine and Iran Conflicts Converge in the Waters of the Caspian Sea

July 27, 2026

The ongoing wars in Ukraine and Iran have converged, much to the dismay of the oil markets and the delight of the military-industrial complex, forcing many analysts to describe it as the beginning of a wider and more perilous conflict.

Over the weekend, tensions flared when Ukrainian forces targeted an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, further aggravating an already volatile situation and leading to accusations from both sides.

Fugitive in 1973 torture and murder of iconic singer Victor Jara is captured in Chile

July 27, 2026 / 8:32 AM EDT / CBS/AFP

Add CBS News on Google

Police have captured a fugitive who was convicted of kidnapping and murdering iconic singer-songwriter Victor Jara in 1973, during Chile's military dictatorship, a Justice Department statement said Sunday.

Author of songs such as "El derecho de vivir en paz" (The Right to Live in Peace), Jara was a major figure of New Chilean Song, a musical and social movement of the 1960s.

Europe wildfire in pictures: Gigantic fire cloud engulfing France, Spain regions

Europe News
Published Mon, Jul 27 2026, 7:40 AM EDT Upd. 48 Min Ago
Sawdah Bhaimiya

Key Points

• Europe’s monster wildfire is a rare and dangerous type of fire that can create its own thunderclouds.
• The wildfire has spread from France’s Bordeaux region to Western Madrid, claiming hundreds of thousands of acres of land.
• More than 300,000 people have been forced to evacuate in what’s been described as an “unprecedented” situation.

Shootout at Seattle food festival kills 3; police arrest suspect and search for another

A toddler was among the four people injured Sunday night at Seattle Center, which was hosting the Bite of Seattle event, officials said.

July 26, 2026, 7:10 PM PDT / 

Updated July 27, 2026, 4:48 AM PDT

By Dennis Romero and Rudy Chinchilla

Three people were killed, and four others were injured in what police believe was a shootout between a pair of gunmen at a major food festival in Seattle on Sunday night. One gunman surrendered after being confronted by police, while another shooter was being sought after they fled Seattle Center, which was hosting the Bite of Seattle event, Assistant Seattle Police Chief Tyrone Davis said at a late-night news conference.

The AI industry has already spent $65 million ahead of the midterm elections with no signs of slowing down

By Bryan Metzger and Brent D. Griffiths
Jul 26, 2026, 2:27 AM PT
Some of the biggest names in AI and tech are using the midterm elections to fight a proxy war over the future of their industry.

Anthropic, Meta, and OpenAI President Greg Brockman are among those linked to networks of outside groups and super PACs aimed at shaping the next Congress and the balance of power in some state legislatures.

Bombing for Nothing And The Memes For Free

By Yiannis Damellos

July 26, 2026

You know that feeling when someone flaunts their bravado like a chest-thumping alpha-male gorilla, eager to flex their supposed prowess, only to spectacularly crash and burn? And yet, fueled by an insatiable narcissism, they dive back in, face-first into failure—time and again—while the bill is picked up by the unsuspecting public? That’s precisely the spectacle we witnessed with Donald J. Trump. He embarked on a war with Iran, treating it less as a dire national necessity and more like a calculating investment in his own grandiosity and servitude to the MIC and Israel, all while parading around with a swagger only he could muster, believing wholeheartedly he had mastered the Art of the Deal. Well, it turns out there’s a stark difference between business negotiations and the brutal realities of war. Now, the U.S. finds itself halting strikes on Iran for a second consecutive night, pressed by his (Omn)impotence to cease the bombings, conserve ammunition, and navigate a way out that would allow America and himself to preserve some semblance of dignity. 

Massie: Hegseth is breaking the law with Iran war

by Finya Swai 

07/24/26 12:13 PM ET

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) accused Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of “breaking the law” on Thursday, arguing the Trump administration is attempting to portray the Iran conflict as two separate wars in order to avoid seeking congressional authorization.

The Guardian view on a US-Saudi nuclear agreement: an offer that further erodes international safeguards

Editorial

Even if no reactors are built, Donald Trump’s announcement of a double-standards deal with Riyadh has wrought further damage in a new era of proliferation

Sun 26 Jul 2026 17.29 BST

Even as he threatened to escalate an unlawful war sold in part as preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon, Donald Trump opened the door to proliferation in the region on Wednesday. The US announced that it had signed a deal with Saudi Arabia which would potentially allow the kingdom to enrich uranium in future and to avoid the fullest inspection rights for the international watchdog.

Transcript: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," July 26, 2026

Updated on: July 26, 2026

CBS NEWS
The following is the full transcription of an interview with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent, a portion of which aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on July 26, 2026.

The rise of the military-technology complex

The AI Power Trip

How Silicon Valley tech firms remade US defense contracting. And then opened the Pentagon’s checkbook—wide.
By Bernice Yeung
July 23, 2026

The tale of how the Pentagon lost its spirit of innovation often begins with an incident known as “the Last Supper.”

It was the fall of 1993. About two dozen executives from leading defense contractors had received an unexpected invitation to dinner at the Pentagon. After the meal, the group was ushered into a briefing room where William Perry, then the deputy secretary of defense (and soon, the defense secretary), gave a presentation that startled the room.

Suspect in deadly Berlin Pride attack is killed in a confrontation with police

By GEIR MOULSON, KIRSTEN GRIESHABER and STEFANIE DAZIO
Associated Press
Updated 10:46 AM PDT, July 26, 2026

BERLIN (AP) — The suspect in the deadly Berlin Pride attack that left one person dead and 29 injured was shot and killed by police during a confrontation on Sunday in a suburb of the city, authorities said. 

Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots, was killed following a search that lasted nearly 24 hours after the attack in downtown Berlin. Prosecutors said he had previously sought to join the militant Islamic State group.

Israel and the cost paradox of the Iran war

Opinion
US-Israel war on Iran
Israel instigated the war on Iran, and yet it has borne few of its costs.
By Abdulla Banndar Al-Etaibi
Published On 26 Jul 2026

Since the outbreak of war on February 28, the US-Israeli conflict with Iran has been framed as an existential threat for Tel Aviv and Tehran. Yet a calm, structural reading of the past five months of fighting and faltering truces reveals a striking paradox: the party that incited this war has become the one least exposed to its fire and the one collecting most of its returns.