🇺🇸🇰🇷🇰🇵⚡- "Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea. These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful. Therefore, and based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises!

While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, “No thanks!” Thank you for your attention to this matter," - President Trump on Truth Social.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇹🇷⚡️- Turkey has reportedly offered to mediate between the US and Iran, following the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan.

🇺🇸 - James Fishback. Tomorrow.

🇺🇳🇱🇧🇮🇱⚡️- "The past two weeks have seen a marked increase in Israeli military activity in south Lebanon. Between 5 and 16 August, UNIFIL recorded an average of 137 projectiles per day, including 208 on Saturday and 185 on Sunday." - United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

🇷🇺🇦🇲⚡️- "Armenian banks must identify and block transactions that may be intended to circumvent international sanctions against Russia under new rules that took effect on Aug. 12. The requirements are set out in regulations on banks’ minimum internal control standards approved by the Armenian Central Bank.

The measures, which could further restrict Russians’ access to Armenia’s banking system and disrupt payment routes used to transfer money from Russia to other countries, come as Armenia pursues closer ties with the European Union amid a deterioration in relations with Moscow." - Moscow Times.

🇬🇧🇱🇧🇮🇱⚡️- "The United Kingdom has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Lebanon’s Ministry of Interior and Municipalities and Ministry of Defence, reaffirming its long-standing partnership with Lebanon’s security institutions.

The UK’s Integrated Security Fund will support a 31-month Internal Security Assistance Programme for the Internal Security Forces (ISF) and the Lebanese Army totalling up to £16.3 million." - National News Agency, Lebanese state media.

🇺🇸🇰🇭⚡️- The United States and Cambodia will resume joint military exercises in 2027 after a decade-long pause that started when Cambodia began its yearly joint "Golden Dragon" exercises with China in 2017.

🇮🇶⚡️- "Totsa, the trading arm of TotalEnergies [French energy and petroleum company], is offering ​Iraqi crude for loading ‌outside the Strait of Hormuz, three traders said on Thursday, as ​continued disruption to shipping through ​the waterway deters buyers from ⁠lifting cargoes at Iraq's ​Basrah terminals.

Totsa offered Basrah Medium crude ​at a premium of close to $10 a barrel to Dubai quotes, two ​of the traders said." - Reuters.

🇦🇪🇮🇶⚡️- "Iraq’s oil marketing company said Abu Dhabi’s main energy company was among firms buying its crude and sending cargoes out through the Strait of Hormuz.

'Adnoc is one of the buyers SOMO deals with,' along with other companies, Ali Nizar, director-general of SOMO, said in a text message. He added that the company has been selling to whoever can load oil onto ships and exit the Strait of Hormuz." - Bloomberg.

🇺🇸🇴🇲🇮🇷⚡️- "President Donald Trump said the U.S. will 'bomb the s---' out of Oman if they get in the way amid conflict with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.

Trump made the statement in an interview with Fox News' Trey Yingst on Monday as the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is set to expire.

'If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the shit out of them,' Trump said." - Fox News.

🇰🇷🇰🇵⚡️- "The South Korean military fired warning shots last week after a group of North Korean soldiers crossed the inter-Korean land boundary, prompting them to return to their side, a source said Sunday.

Multiple North Korean soldiers crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in the eastern front-line area sometime last week, prompting the warning shots under the military's operational procedures, according to the government source.

Last year, North Korean troops violated the MDL 17 times." - Yonhap.

🇷🇴🇷🇺⚡️- "On the night of August 15 to 16, at 04:44, the surveillance systems of the Ministry of National Defense detected the entry of an aerial target into the national airspace, from the Republic of Moldova, approximately 24 km north of Galați.

An F-18 aircraft of the Spanish Air and Space Forces, performing the Air Police Combat Service at the 57th Air Base "Mihail Kogălniceanu", on a monitoring mission, made radar contact with the target and received approval to engage. The drone was safely shot down by the F-18 aircraft, at 05:01.

A possible impact point of the drone debris was identified between the localities of Băleni and Cudalbi, Galați County, in an unpopulated area." - Romanian Ministry of National Defence.

🇱🇻🇷🇺🇺🇦⚡️- Update from the drone incursion in Latvia on the 14th August that was confirmed to be a Ukrainian drone:
"In response to the situation, NATO Baltic Airspace Patrol mission fighters were activated. In the Balvi region, over Rugāji, allied fighters successfully shot down a foreign unmanned aerial vehicle that had entered Latvian airspace as a result of Russian electronic warfare." - Latvian Army.

🇺🇸🇴🇲🇮🇷⚡️- "UKMTO has received a report of an incident in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Company Security Officer has reported that the vessel was struck by an unknown projectile while conducting an outbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz. The impact caused damage to the engine room and resulted in a crew casualty. The remaining crew are currently being assisted by the Omani Coast Guard." - United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

🇵🇭⚡️- A high school student live-streamed a school shooting in Zamboanga City, Philippines. The student killed two of his peers before killing himself.

This shooter is almost certainly a participant in the extremely online, nihilistic community that glorifies and may eventually commit anti-social violence.

🇺🇸 - VOTE FOR JAMES FISHBACK 🍊

🇺🇸 -

🇺🇸🐊⚡️- Polls have opened in Florida.

🇺🇸 -

"Vote for the FISH.

He's the blueprint.The guy's a machine. Off the charts brilliant. Sharp. He's a really talented politician.

Whether he loses, doesn't go the distance, but that's not even the goal. It's to inject the ideas into the discourse, and that is a phenomenal job.

He was outspent 200 to 1, they cheated him out of the debate, and sued him to get him off the balot.

This guy fought like an animal.

He's the model for what is possible in 2028."

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️- "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." - Mohammed Ghalibaf, Speaker of the Iranian Majilis.

🇱🇧🇮🇱⚡️- Ongoing Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon. Multiple explosions have been reported, specifically in Nabatieh.