THE NEWS

Norway $2.3 Trillion Wealth Fund Posts Record-High Profit in H1

By Michael Kern of OilPrice.com

The world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, Norway’s $2.3-trillion Government Pension Fund Global, posted a record-high profit of $185 billion for the first half of 2026, as Asian technology stocks boosted its returns and profit on the portfolio.

Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), which is commonly referred to as ‘Norway’s oil fund’ because it was created with oil and gas revenues, is a shareholder in many large companies in the world, with more than half of the value of its equity investments in the U.S. market. The Norwegian fund was created in the 1990s, and today it holds, on average, 1.5% of all listed companies in the world.

For the first half of the year, the fund posted a record profit on the portfolio before foreign exchange adjustments at 1.753 billion Norwegian crowns, or $185 billion, the fund’s manager, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), said on Wednesday.

This is more than double compared to the profit for the first half of last year, amid a rally in technology stocks.

“The result is driven by good returns in the equity market, particularly from Asian technology stocks,” said Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management.

The investments in the Government Pension Fund Global returned a record-high 9.4% in Norwegian crowns in the first half of 2026, up by 0.22 percentage points compared to the return on the benchmark index. The fund’s value was 22.683 trillion crowns, or $2.39 trillion, as of June 30, up by 1.416 trillion crowns, or $149 billion, from the same time a year earlier.

Equity investments accounted for 72.1% of the fund’s value at the end of the first half of 2026, and fixed-income investments for 25.8%. Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft are the most valuable investments of the Norwegian wealth fund.

The fund’s equity investments returned 13.0% in the first half of 2026, with telecommunications, technology, and energy delivering the strongest returns, NBIM said.

Earlier this month, NBIM told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it doesn’t support its proposal to scrap outright current requirements for climate-related risks and disclosures.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 08/13/2026 – 05:00

A new Mississippi law added sexual battery of a child under 12 to the list of crimes eligible for the death penalty.Senate Bill 2821, which took effect July 1, creates the crime of “capital sexual battery” and allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty against defendants 18 or older in qualifying cases involving victims younger than 12.If a defendant is convicted, the jury must unanimously find at least two specific aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt before the defendant is eligible for the death penalty. At least 8 of the 12 jurors must then recommend death. But if the death penalty is not recommended by jurors, the mandatory sentence would be life in prison without parole.ACCUSED CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN TYLER ROBINSON ASKS JUDGE TO TAKE POTENTIAL DEATH PENALTY OFF TABLEState Sen. Jeremy England, the bill’s author, said the legislation seeks to give the worst punishment for crimes against the state’s most vulnerable population.”That is a crime that, I think, shocks the conscience, certainly. Those are the worst types of crimes against the most innocent of our citizens here in Mississippi,” England said, according to WLBT.But critics question whether capital punishment serves as a deterrent to crimes against young victims or if it could lead to children becoming too afraid to come forward knowing that doing so may end someone’s life.Abraham Bonowitz, executive director of Death Penalty Action, told the outlet he once supported the death penalty but changed his position, arguing that executions are unnecessary when a life sentence keeps an inmate permanently behind bars.”There is no need for executions when we can throw away the key,” Bonowitz said.TWO FLORIDA INMATES DIE IN RARE DOUBLE EXECUTION AFTER SCOTUS DENIES STAYSBonowitz also said extending the death penalty to child sexual assault cases could deter victims from alerting authorities of the abuse they endured.”Most of those kinds of crimes are by people that the child knows and you’re asking a child to then testify against a relative and try to get them executed,” he said.

Danube Water Levels Sink To Historic Lows

The Danube and other rivers in Europe are experiencing historic drought conditions which have thrown shipping, tourism and energy supply into disarray.

Additionally, as Statista’s Katharina Buchholz details below, the sinking water levels that have set new all-time records in some locations have revealed historic finds from World War II to Roman times and even the Ice Age.

You will find more infographics at Statista

At the end of last month, 200 cruise passengers had to be evacuated when a Viking line river cruise ship ran aground near Vidin, Bulgaria.

As of early August, cruise lines on the Danube, the Rhine and the Main are still disrupted, with itineraries being adjusted or canceled outright.

Not only tourism industries are suffering from the drought, however.

Critical energy infrastructure, agriculture and food supply routes are also in distress as the Danube provides irrigation to farmers and cooling to power plants.

On August 3, Romanian authorities carried out a controlled explosion to divert water flow towards the country’s only nuclear plant after it already had to shut down one of its two reactors in late July due to water shortages, leading to the declaration of a state of emergency. Last Thursday, it also sank four rock-laden barges in a similar plight. However, the shutdown of the second reactor on Thursday remains a possibility. A Hungarian nuclear plant which was powered down due to the low water levels is meanwhile expected to resume operations.

Like in 2022 drought conditions, the Serbian village of Prahovo saw several German World War II shipwrecks emerge which had been sunk there deliberately at the end of the war. The same happened to Budapest’s Franz Joseph bridge which German forces destroyed in 1945 while retreating and which has become visible underwater from its successor structure. Also in Budapest, the discovery of the remains of two German Wehrmacht soldiers as well as a Wehrmacht motorcycle made headlines. Yet another World War II relic surfaced in Virt, Slovakia, in the form of a naval mine.

Going back in time further to the Roman era, another old bridge, or in this case its foundations, emerged from the water near Gigen in Bulgaria. In the vicinity of Hungary’s Szalki Island, archaeologists discovered a part of a Roman altar dedicated to the god Jupiter and two more pieces of inscribed limestone. From the medieval age, a suspected catapult projectile was discovered in Visegrad, Hungary. Finally, the oldest find goes back the Ice Age: Mammoth bones and tusks were revealed by the retreating river in Ruse, Bulgaria, and specialists have confirmed the discovery.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 08/13/2026 – 04:15

The Trump administration has filed fraud-related charges against a former Southern Poverty Law Center official who testified during the Jan. 6 probe.

The Ceuta Crisis And The Emerging European Divide

Submitted by Thomas Kolbe

Eleven years have passed since Angela Merkel opened the floodgates of migration to chaos. The European Union, already firmly in the grip of statists and numerous left-wing currents, has since become almost unrecognizable. The advance of Islamization and the dissolution of established urban milieus, traditions and cultures are progressing and contributing to the disintegration of European societies.

What is particularly striking is the emergence of a kind of Islamo-Marxist movement, a fusion of radical socialist social ideals with a Sharia-based reinterpretation of society – as long as it is directed against the bourgeois West and the civilizational achievements of old Europe. Migration from North Africa and the Middle East is the united Left’s battering ram against the remnants of bourgeois European societies.

Against an increasingly tense backdrop came the Ceuta crisis: the invasion of more than seventy thousand mostly young men, tolerated as a triviality by the Spanish government – initially portrayed by the mainstream media, in a desperate attempt, as a kind of party invasion, later as a wave of poverty migration, and finally, with some reluctance, as an organized and aggressive political act. In the end, one sober conclusion remains: The European Union has no effective border protection whatsoever. Its organization Frontex is a band-aid, hastily stuck onto the gaping wound of a migration policy that, in reality, has made mass migration a goal of the left-wing consensus.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is one of the leading proponents of the EU’s political mainstream. The socialist, whose government only a few weeks ago registered 1.3 million applications to legalize immigrants residing illegally in the country – more than twice as many as originally expected – has also accepted a ruling by the Supreme Court that has effectively turned the sea route into a safe route to Spain: Only those who forcibly cross border fences may be sent back; anyone who lands by boat already enjoys state privileges. Sánchez has become a bridgehead for illegal migration into the EU – a Merkel multiplier, if you will.

At least we now have clarity: The Ceuta crisis exposes the dividing line between the socialists in the EU and the slowly but surely emerging national-conservative front.

What happened? During the night of July 31, around 72,000 people, most of them young men, crossed the border from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. According to Spanish figures, around 70,000 of them left the territory again within a few days – officially “voluntarily.” Madrid described the situation as being under control; in reality, it was a capitulation to sheer numbers.

The Spanish government’s complete failure caused considerable anger, particularly in Rome. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reacted on the very day of the chaos and suspended the Schengen Agreement with regard to Spain. She spoke of shocking images from Ceuta and announced via X that Italy would not stand idly by and would, if necessary, take extraordinary measures to protect its own country from negative consequences. Her Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani ultimately implemented the closure of the Schengen area to Spain, citing the threat to national security.

A reaction from Madrid was not long in coming. One week later, on August 9, Spain turned the tables and has since been carrying out checks on travelers arriving from Italy at internal borders, ports and airports – officially, the measure is limited until September 7. The justification is cynical, if not comical, given that it comes from Spain, Europe’s migration chaos country: Persistent pressure from irregular migration from Italy had prompted the response, the government in Madrid announced.

Meloni seized the opportunity and, together with Denmark’s Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, initiated an open letter to the EU institutions, signed by 22 member states, calling for a coordinated response to illegal migration and stronger EU external borders. The message from the two politicians: They will not accept uncontrolled migration into Europe and are themselves now pursuing a stricter immigration policy.

The two politicians may thus be outlining the one viable option for the future of the European Union: A jointly financed and highly professional system for protecting the EU’s external border would be one of its pillars alongside a deregulated internal market – external security and free competition within. The EU could be placed on a new foundation if it concentrated on its core responsibilities and abandoned the moralizing path of ever-growing bureaucracy. For now, however, national law stands in the way.

The socialist Sánchez will do everything he can, much like the German government, to ensure that the flow of migration does not stop. Too much is at stake: new voter potential and the conviction of the united Left that, in a globalized world, no national cultural enclaves should be tolerated. It is the heartfelt concern of all those on the Left to whom, significantly, Angela Merkel – politically socialized in East Germany – gave voice and political expression.

The dispute over Ceuta describes the dividing line between the socialist forces within the EU and the emerging national conservatives, whose informal spokesperson appears to be Italy’s prime minister. Certainly, the electoral defeat of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was an important victory for supporters of open borders, mass migration and globalism. His successor, Péter Magyar, has since been working under enormous pressure to dismantle Fortress Hungary and bring the country back into the migration flow. 

This does not change the fact that national-conservative voices are making themselves heard in almost every country of the European Union, demanding a return to reason, to European values and, above all, to a border regime that is known to be the very foundation of statehood: A state without borders is not a state, but a settlement zone, a product of chaos – a volatile entity that sinks into the waves of poverty and crime faster than even the Left could imagine.

* * * 

About the author: Thomas Kolbe, born in 1978 in Neuss/ Germany, is a graduate economist. For over 25 years, he has worked as a journalist and media producer for clients from various industries and business associations. As a publicist, he focuses on economic processes and observes geopolitical events from the perspective of the capital markets. His publications follow a philosophy that focuses on the individual and their right to self-determination.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 08/13/2026 – 03:30

On Aug. 13, 2020, Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed to full normalization of relations.

US Embassies Across Mideast Are Permanently Reassigning Personnel 

It is not just America’s military bases in the Middle East which have been greatly reduced in terms of personnel or in some cases completely abandoned altogether due to the Iran war, but US Embassies in the region have also suffered forced downgrades of staff.

Iran’s retaliation on US locations and assets across the region was much bigger and more effective than US planners apparently expected, and this could have lasting impact on how US military and diplomatic deployments operate in the region.

In some cases, such as the US Embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone, diplomatic compounds have been directly targeted by Iranian fire or that their proxies. And now, “The State Department is asking US embassies in the Middle East to create plans to continue operating with a small number of staff on the ground, sources told CNN, as the war with Iran shows no signs of resolution.”
US Embassy in Amman, Jordan. via Xinhua

One aspect to the report which points to a likely permanent new arrangement is that embassy staff that had been relocated due to the war are now being offered reassignments.

CNN continues, “Additionally, personnel who have been displaced from their posts in the Middle East are increasingly being given the option to curtail their assignments, the sources said.

“The plans have not been finalized, the sources said, and it is unclear if they will be implemented at all of the embassies that are currently on reduced staffing,” the report adds.

Importantly, it concludes: “Still, the developments underscore that the State Department does not expect to return to normal staffing in the region soon amid the looming threat of a full-scale return to war.”

What’s more is that throughout the most intense phase of the war, the Iranians claimed to have targeted compounds and hotels where diplomats and even intelligence officials were being housed.

The fact that the US State Department remains worried enough to now be hatching plans for an at least semi-permanent drawdown from these locations suggest this Iranian targeting was effective to some extent. Currently, most of the US embassies across the region are shuttered for their normal operations. For example, the US Embassy in Jordan has ceased from normal operations for several months, stretching back to the very start of Operation Epic Fury, the bulk of its staff having long ago departed.

Recent NY Times reporting underscores that Iranian missiles are technologically advanced enough to punch through US regional anti-air defenses. This has especially been on display in Jordan:

During five intense days last month, Iran launched waves of drones and missiles at U.S. troops on three bases in Jordan, hoping to break through the formidable American air defenses.

Using advanced missiles that can suddenly change course, Iran pummeled the bases’ defensive systems, forcing the Americans to burn through scarce supplies of Patriot interceptors.

On the fifth day, the Iranians broke through.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other US officials have lately admitted that Iranian missiles have evaded America’s air defenses:

A missile struck prefabricated housing units at one of the bases on July 17, killing three U.S. soldiers and wounding more than 100. Pentagon officials later acknowledged that scores of other troops were injured and several aircraft damaged in attacks in Jordan that week.

“We shot down almost all the missiles,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said when asked about the fatal attack. “One leaked through.”

The strikes reveal a deadly confluence of two important trends: First, Iran has become a more skilled adversary as the war has progressed, learning how to evade U.S. air defenses as it widened the battlefield to include most of the Middle East and enlisted allies like the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq.

Second, the Pentagon’s supply of interceptors has quickly dwindled, with the weapons becoming more precious each day of the off-and-on conflict.

“The Iranian debasification campaign appears to be working.
The US force in the region is likely incapable of generating the same combat power in its air operations against Iran as it could when the war started, and things are trending ever further in a negative direction.…
— Alex Shams (@alexshams_) July 21, 2026
Interestingly, the NY Times concludes something that should have been glaringly obvious. It has even been predicted in Pentagon and US intelligence war-gaming exercises from years ago…

“The two trends drive home a point that has slowly emerged in the months since the war started, that a global superpower with a mighty military footprint can still be held at bay by a lesser adversary willing to wage asymmetric warfare to find any advantage it can,” The Times writes. Once also could have just looked at the ‘forever wars’ in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Tyler Durden
Thu, 08/13/2026 – 02:45

Russia’s Supreme Court has removed the country’s only anti-war political party from the ballot for next month’s legislative elections.

Left-Wing German Parties Pour Record Sums Into Stopping The AfD In The East

Via Remix News,

Germany’s Green Party is campaigning with record sums of money in the eastern German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to keep the Alternative for Germany (AfD) out of power.

Remarkably, the Greens are campaigning with an intensity usually reserved for a national election, despite the party’s own election chances appearing rather dismal. In fact, in both states, the Greens are under threat of not even making it into parliament.

Saxony-Anhalt is by far the most important election, as there is a realistic chance that the AfD alone will obtain an absolute majority, thereby capturing the first real position of power in its history. In such a scenario, the parties of the German mainstream will be forced to cooperate with it.

Voters will choose their state legislatures, known as the Landtags, in close succession on Sept. 6 and Sept. 20, with the Greens campaigning on the slogan: “5% for the Greens in the Landtag – 0% AfD government.”

Sonntagsfrage zur Landtagswahl in Sachsen-Anhalt • INSA/BILD: AfD 42 % | CDU 22 % | DIE LINKE 13 % | SPD 6 % | BSW 5 % | FDP 4 % | GRÜNE 4 % | Sonstige 4 %
➤ Verlauf: https://t.co/lMOn56cNLK
🗓️ Landtagswahl: 6. September 2026 #ltwlsa #ltwst pic.twitter.com/SHYaagXPWm
— Wahlrecht.de (@Wahlrecht_de) August 10, 2026
The math of the campaign is simple. If the Greens achieve 5 percent of the vote, it drastically reduces the chances of the AfD obtaining an absolute majority. Parties that score 5 percent are able to enter parliament, and the more parties that enter, the higher the AfD must score to obtain an absolute majority. Currently, the AfD has approximately 42 percent of the vote.

Right now, the Greens are under threat of being kicked out of parliament, as polling shows them consistently below the 5 percent threshold. In the last East German elections in 2024, in Thuringia and Brandenburg, the Greens were kicked out of the local Landtags; in Saxony, they just barely squeaked in. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the 5 percent entry threshold was not even exceeded in the previous elections.

How much money is at stake?

In Saxony-Anhalt, the state campaign budget of the Greens now equals €1.5 million, which is the highest budget in the history of the provincial party organization, more than double the previous record, according to German newspaper Welt. Only 40 percent of this sum comes from donations.

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the budget is a more modest €800,000 — more than double what was originally planned for in December 2025. In addition to subsidies, the surplus was provided by subsidies from other provincial party organizations.

By comparison, the far larger leading ruling party, the Christian Democrats (CDU), is campaigning in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with about a million euros.

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is preparing to defend its title under the leadership of Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig, will campaign with €1.1 million, which is the same as the 2021 budget, but more donations will flow there than before.

As a result, the ruling SPD in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern will be campaigning with less money than the Greens fighting for parliamentary entry in Saxony-Anhalt.

The budget of the Left Party has also jumped significantly. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the party is also running for election with a record amount of €600,000, and in Saxony-Anhalt they are also running with a record high of €562,000. In both states, the party reports increased willingness among individuals to vote.

Read more here…

Tyler Durden
Thu, 08/13/2026 – 02:00

GOA Members Make History With First Suppressor Transfers Without NFA Registration Since 1934

via Gun Owners of America,

Gun Owners of America (GOA), along with lead plaintiff Silencer Shop, made history tonight as GOA members Brandon Herrera and Wes Virdell lawfully acquired suppressors without complying with the currently enjoined registration requirements of the National Firearms Act of 1934.

The transfers took place at Silencer Shop’s new storefront in Leander, Texas immediately after midnight on August 13th. Representative Andrew Clyde (GA-09) and GOA Senior Vice President Erich Pratt were also in attendance.

Remember: GOA and our allies are proceeding with this transfer after consulting legal counsel and making an informed decision.
If you plan to do the same, consult your own attorney first to ensure you’re complying with all other applicable laws. https://t.co/GiCLcC2PgO
— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) August 12, 2026
GOA spearheaded the repeal of a 1934 law regulating suppressors and short-barreled firearms in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. That milestone would not have been possible without Congressman Clyde’s tireless efforts to dismantle the NFA and President Trump’s signature. The passage of this GOA-backed provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act paved the way for GOA’s One Big Beautiful Lawsuit which has now culminated in a federal court order currently enjoining ATF enforcement of NFA registration requirements for suppressors and short-barreled firearms, and “any other weapons.”

Previously, GOA, Silencer Shop, Herrera, and Virdell formally notified the Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of their intent to complete the transfers without NFA registration. Because the ATF did not object, Silencer Shop transferred the unregistered suppressors to Herrera and Virdell in accordance with all other applicable federal and state laws.

This marks the first time since the NFA was enacted on June 26, 1934, that Americans can lawfully acquire suppressors without complying with the federal registration scheme. Our victory went into effect at 12:01 A.M. CT and we notified ATF and DOJ that we intended to conduct the first unregistered suppressor transfer in 92 years.

Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President of Gun Owners of America, issued the following statement:

“GOA fought to crush the NFA’s unconstitutional restrictions through the One Big Beautiful Bill, but we didn’t stop there. We promised to keep fighting until these restrictions were gone, and now our members are putting the historic victory into action. The era of federal registration for constitutionally protected arms must end.”

Brandon Herrera, Candidate for Texas Congressional District 23, issued the following statement:

“I’m happy to once again be working with Gun Owners of America to help be the tip of the spear fighting for gun owners, constitutional rights, and civil rights of not only Texans, but all Americans.”

Dave Matheny, Founder and CEO of Silencer Shop, issued the following statement:

“We couldn’t be more excited for our customers, dealers, and the future of the Second Amendment. This is a huge victory, but we still have a long way to go; and Silencer Shop will continue to lead the way along-side GOA, FRAC, ASA, Silencer Shop Foundation, and the many other groups who are working to unwind the NFA. We’re truly humbled to be part of such a monumental event.”

Lauren Spivey, CEO of Silencer Shop Foundation, issued the following statement:

“This win belongs to the people and customers who made it possible. The Silencer Shop Foundation is funded entirely by supporters who believe law-abiding Americans deserve to exercise their Second Amendment rights, and their support let us take this fight to the ATF and win a strong ruling from the court. We’re proud of what we’ve done together, and we’ll keep working to ensure all lawful Americans are protected under this ruling.”

Jamin McCallum, Founder and CEO of Palmetto State Armory, issued the following statement:

“Today marks more than the first NFA-free suppressor transfer under this injunction, it marks the moment years of fighting became real for the American people. We’re proud to have stood alongside Gun Owners of America and others who made this victory possible, and we’ll continue fighting to expand freedom and defend the rights of everyday Americans.”

Wes Virdell, Member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 53, issued the following statement:

“It’s hard to believe we have moved the needle so far. What was once considered unachievable is now a reality, because of Gun Owners of America and Silencer Shop. GOA never gave up the fight to get here. I am grateful to be a part of this history happening right before our very eyes.”

Tyler Durden
Thu, 08/13/2026 – 01:05