US News

• An Oregon teenager was fined $1,500 for trying to make extra money selling Mexican street corn. [Link]
• Joe Biden personally intervened in the DNC platform to keep it from labeling the Israeli theft of Palestinian land as an occupation. [Link]

China

• The US is in talks to sell Taiwan four SeaGuardian advanced drones. [Link]
• The CIA says that China is not accessing Americans’ data through TikTok. However, the CIA believes China has the ability to do so. [Link]
• The US starts its highest-level official visit to Taiwan in decades. [Link]

Russia

• Russia says it will view all incoming missiles as nuclear weapons. [Link]
• Secretary of State Mark Esper says the US troops level reduction in Germany will deter Russia as it moves US troops closer to Russia’s border. [Link]
• The State Department says it sent mass texts to Iranians and Russians offering multimillion-dollar rewards to expose election interference. [Link]

Afghanistan

• Esper says the US will reduce troop levels in Afghanistan to a number under 5,000 by the end of November. [Link]
• Afghanistan will hold a Loya Jirga – a meeting of thousands of tribal elders – to vote on the release of 400 Taliban prisoners. If these prisoners are released, the Taliban have signaled, they will be open to talks. Abdullah Abdullah is heading the body that is expected to vote in favor of releasing prisoners. [Link] The Loya Jirga voted for the prisoner release. [Link]

Middle East

• The GCC is pushing the UN to extend the arms embargo on Iran. [Link]
• Turkey says it restarted energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. [Link]
• A Palestinian woman was shot dead by an Israeli soldier in the West Bank. [Link]
• The Iraqi Prime Minister will visit the US on August 20 to meet with Trump. [Link]
• The Bierut explosion death toll is over 150, including 43 Syrians. [Link]