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![\"Aryna](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dab9269cab26c62320f96000f3362e6f_APTOPIX_US_Open_Tennis_92736.jpg.webp\")
<\/p>\nAryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, follows through on a shot to Camila Osorio, of Colombia, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo\/Seth Wenig)<\/p>\n
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Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, celebrates after winning a match against Camila Osorio, of Colombia, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo\/Seth Wenig)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Venezuelans are expressing outrage and the oil industry is waiting for details on President Donald Trump\u2019s announcement that Venezuela \u2019s acting president has agreed to give an unnamed U.S. company control of vast amounts of the South American country\u2019s untapped oil reserves, at cost. Trump called it \u201cTHE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!\u201d but critics say U.S. consumers won\u2019t benefit for many years.<\/p>\n Global crude prices are rising again after renewed warfare between the United States and Iran, the first significant military action in a month. The global energy supply shock has for the first time kept average prices Americans pay at the pump above $4 throughout August, according to the AAA.<\/p>\n U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told The Associated Press ahead of the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting he\u2019s hosting in Asheville, N.C., on Monday and Tuesday that the Trump administration is prepared to exact \u201cfinancial violence if we have to\u201d as it pressures allies to join in \u201ceconomic D-Day\u201d sanctions on Iran.<\/p>\n Here’s the Latest:<\/p>\n Justice Samuel Alito reported being paid a book advance of just over $33,000 last year, according to an annual financial disclosure report that also disclosed two paid European trips for conferences.<\/p>\n His first book is titled \u201cSo Ordered: An Originalist\u2019s View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country.\u201d It is expected to be released Oct. 6 and focus on his judicial philosophy.<\/p>\n Most justices have now written books. Some have reported advances worth millions, often for personal memoirs. Other payments have been reported across multiple annual disclosure reports.<\/p>\n Alito also reported paid travel to Italy, the United Kingdom and Arizona for participation in conferences and events.<\/p>\n Required financial disclosure reports for the other justices were released in June, but Alito routinely requests extensions. He did not report any gifts.<\/p>\n The White House said that Trump on Tuesday will meet with a mix of large and small refinery companies to discuss ways to increase America\u2019s capacity to refine oil into gasoline.<\/p>\n The meeting occurs as the Iran war has driven prices at the pump to a national average of $4.08, a 28% increase over the past year, according to AAA.<\/p>\n The White House has said that increasing the number of refineries and expanding the capacity at existing facilities would eventually reduce prices for consumers. The administration also sees the need for more refineries to process oil from Venezuela.<\/p>\n Also attending the meeting will be Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Jarrod Agen, the director of the White House National Energy Dominance Council.<\/p>\n The highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military says there are no plans to send troops to polling places during November\u2019s midterm congressional elections, addressing concerns among Democrats that the Trump administration could use the military to interfere with the vote.<\/p>\n Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the statement in a letter to Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who recently asked Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to confirm they won\u2019t send troops to the polls.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Joint Force has no plans to send Federal military personnel or Federalized members of the National Guard to polling places during the 2026 elections,\u201d Caine wrote. \u201cLikewise, the Joint Force has no plans to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related material.\u201d<\/p>\n Brian and Linda Brennan were waiting to see the vice president in the suburban Detroit suburb of Sterling Heights on Monday.<\/p>\n Brian Brennan, 77, said he doesn\u2019t know if he\u2019s optimistic about Republicans\u2019 chances in the midterms because of the Iran war and concerns about the economy, but said he hopes conservative voters will turn out. He views issues with affordability as short-term pain for long-term gain.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to suffer a little bit for the end result,\u201d Linda Brennan, 76, said.<\/p>\n She noted gas was up to $5 a gallon in 2022 during former President Joe Biden\u2019s time in office.<\/p>\n The couple said they expect Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to fight for the Republican nomination for president in 2028 and would be happy with either.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re Catholics. We\u2019re conservatives,\u201d Linda Brennan said. \u201cWe\u2019re just for faith and family. Not real complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n The vice president spoke to reporters before he flew to Michigan on Monday about the AI video that Trump posted on social media over the weekend that featured a stylized imaginary attack on Iran\u2019s Kharg Island, which is key to its oil exports and Trump has repeatedly threatened.<\/p>\n Vance then said the president \u201cwould be the first to say he doesn\u2019t make announcements about military actions on social media, but I think that he\u2019s sending a message to the Iranians.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the vice president\u2019s puzzling comment, Trump makes virtually all of his announcements on military action and most other matters on his social media account.<\/p>\n Vice President JD Vance tried to clarify Trump\u2019s critique on social media that data center opponents would leave their communities \u201cbackwards and poor.\u201d<\/p>\n The vice president told reporters that Trump was stressing the importance of data centers for artificial intelligence and that \u201c 99% of the backlash to data centers has come in areas where building a data center means higher utility and higher electricity (prices) for the people on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n Vance said companies building data centers should build power plants to generate their own electricity in accordance with the administration\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you build a data center, you should be putting power back into the grid, not taking it out, and if that is happening, I don\u2019t think the data centers are that controversial,\u201d Vance said.<\/p>\n The vice president\u2019s speech Monday is an opportunity for him to assuage concerns among conservative Jewish activists about his views toward Israel and his association with controversial figures like Tucker Carlson. It\u2019s closed to the news media and comes at an extraordinarily sensitive time for Jewish Americans and the U.S. relationship with Israel.<\/p>\n Concerns about antisemitism have surged across the political spectrum ahead of the midterm elections. Republicans are eager to portray Democrats as hostile toward Jews and Israel, but they\u2019re also dealing with their own internal schisms, with younger Republicans more likely to say the U.S. is too supportive of Israel.<\/p>\n Vance suggested last month that some Israeli officials have sought to manipulate U.S. public opinion in order to prolong the war with Iran. \u201cIf I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,\u201d Vance said in June.<\/p>\n \u25b6 Read more<\/p>\n The online prediction market platform Kalshi said Monday that it has permanently banned former U.S. Rep. George Santos after concluding the former Republican congressman likely engaged in insider trading when he bet against his attendance at the State of the Union address.<\/p>\n The convicted ex-congressman had repeatedly discussed his intention to attend the State of the Union, which came just four months after he was granted clemency by President Donald Trump in a fraud case that led to his expulsion from the U.S. House. On the eve of Trump\u2019s speech, Kalshi put the odds of Santos attending at close to 75%.<\/p>\n Then, minutes into the speech, Santos posted on X that he had been waylaid at the airport. Immediately, several social media users accused him of running another scheme.<\/p>\n The president posted on social media that U.S. communities that don\u2019t have data centers will \u201cend up being backwards and poor.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame,\u201d Trump told the public. \u201cChina could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement.\u201d<\/p>\n There has been a backlash across the country to the construction of data centers needed to further develop artificial intelligence. The public has expressed concerns about their use of electricity and water, and their secretive development by tech companies. Many Americans are also worried that AI could increase economic disparities and cause widespread job losses.<\/p>\n Data center advocates stress that the local taxes these facilities pay can help fund public schools, reducing the financial burden on homeowners.<\/p>\n As Scott Bessent hosts meetings of the Group of 20 finance ministers in Asheville, North Carolina, on Monday and Tuesday, he aims to focus on relatively uncontroversial issues, from economic growth to addressing mounting debt, along with pressuring allies to join in \u201ceconomic D-Day\u201d sanctions on Iran.<\/p>\n Bessent told The Associated Press on Sunday that the Trump administration is prepared to exact \u201cfinancial violence if we have to.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. has disrupted the international order by imposing aggressive tariffs on Canada and other major allies and launching a costly, unpopular war. Now hostilities between the U.S. and Iran have renewed, dampening hopes for a resolution.<\/p>\n Daniel Fried, a former assistant secretary of state for European affairs in the George W. Bush administration, said the U.S. may \u201cfind it difficult to rally its usual friends and allies\u201d under the circumstances.<\/p>\n \u25b6 Read more<\/p>\n Trump allies called it a win. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said it was a historic deal that helps both countries.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it were up to DC Democrats, Maduro would still be in power, Venezuelan oil would be going to China at half price, and the people of Venezuela would be getting robbed by a corrupt regime,\u201d Moreno wrote on social media.<\/p>\n Democrats condemned it, saying Maduro\u2019s capture was always about Trump getting Venezuela\u2019s oil. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., branded it \u201ccorruption at epic scale.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWill prices come down for Americans? Who knows but likely not as much as Trump has forced them up thru his idiotic Iran War,\u201d Kaine said on social media.<\/p>\n Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said Trump \u201cput our service members at risk to get Venezuelan oil for his billionaire buddies.\u201d<\/p>\n Amos Hochstein, who was a senior energy adviser under President Joe Biden, said the deal is uncharted legal and diplomatic territory that carries tremendous risk for any companies thinking about getting involved. Democrats could challenge the deal if they regain power in Washington, as could future administrations in Venezuela.<\/p>\n \u201cThere will be a lot of challenges to what was just announced,\u201d Hochstein said. \u201cI can only say, if it were me, I\u2019d be nervous. And if I\u2019m back in my old job in the next administration, then they should be nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n Many important details remain unclear, including the identity of the private operator that apparently now has rights to the untapped oil fields for 100 years, becoming the world\u2019s second-largest corporate holder of proven reserves after Saudi Aramco, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n Persuading big American oil companies to return to the region could prove a challenge given the political uncertainty and damaged infrastructure. Chevron, the only U.S. oil company actively producing in Venezuela, declined to comment.<\/p>\n By Collin Binkley and Juan Pablo Arraez<\/p>\n \u201cVenezuelans will not respect this illegitimate deal and no major US oil company will take it seriously because they know it will not last,\u201d Ricardo Hausmann, now a Harvard University professor, said on social media. He said Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, the acting president, \u201chas no legitimacy or constitutional power to commit Venezuela to any such deal.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing must be absolutely clear: Venezuela retains ownership and sovereignty over its resources,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez said in her national address. She said the goal is to reach other agreements with transnational private companies such as Chevron, Repsol and Shell.<\/p>\n She added: \u201cWe want to be an energy powerhouse, a major oil producer, a significant gas exporter, and a major national petrochemical developer.\u201d<\/p>\n It goes against what they\u2019ve been told for decades: Venezuelan resources are for Venezuela, and no leader would cede control of those resources to the U.S. government.<\/p>\n At a market in eastern Caracas, Douglas Borjas said he\u2019s upset that Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodriguez apparently agreed to 55% U.S. control of oil fields that could produce 65 billion barrels.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they\u2019re doing it to cling to power,\u201d Borjas said. \u201cThe Venezuelan people deserve better. Venezuela has resources that can be exploited, but for the benefit of the people, not for the benefit of the corrupt elite.\u201d<\/p>\n Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 3.4% to $91.10 per barrel on Monday. U.S. benchmark crude oil was trading 3.6% higher at $86.40 per barrel.<\/p>\n That has created its own form of economic pressures globally, including in the U.S.<\/p>\n The national average for gasoline in August has been above $4 per gallon every day in August for the first time ever, according to the AAA. It has been the most expensive August at the pump on record, outpacing even the enormous supply chain crunch during the COVID-19 pandemic in August 2022.<\/p>\n U.S. markets are sliding after American forces struck Iranian rocket launchers in the Strait of Hormuz, the first military action in a month.<\/p>\n The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both declined 0.2% on Monday. Nasdaq futures slipped 0.1%.<\/p>\n Meanwhile oil prices surged more than 3% after the U.S. strike on Sunday broke a lull in fighting in a war that has lasted more than six months. The Trump administration has announced a new economic campaign against Iran, but there is a significant risk of escalation in fighting.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Middle East had finally gone quiet enough for oil traders to start sanding some of the war premium out of crude,\u201d wrote Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management. \u201cThen Sunday arrived, with a reminder that quiet in the Strait of Hormuz is not the same as peace.\u201d<\/p>\n The United Arab Emirates\u2019 air force intercepted an Iranian drone over its territorial waters Monday, the Defense Ministry said, an attack that comes after the United States and Iran exchanged fire on the weekend, the first significant military action in a month.<\/p>\n During the lull in fighting, the U.S. has been ratcheting up economic pressure on Iran with the hope of forcing concessions out of Tehran, including reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz to shipping.<\/p>\n After the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, Iran established a chokehold on the strait, through which a fifth of the world\u2019s traded oil passed in peacetime, slowing ship traffic to a trickle.<\/p>\n As the fighting resumed, the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, climbed above $90, up about 25% from the start of the war, presenting a growing problem for Trump ahead of the midterm elections.<\/p>\n \u25b6 Read more<\/p>\n Trump has frequently suggested he wants to seek a third term, posting about mounting another campaign, donning 2028 caps and discussing ways to make it happen \u2014 even as he\u2019s acknowledged the Constitution prohibits it.<\/p>\n But lately, Trump has begun showing signs that even he doesn\u2019t really believe another run will happen.<\/p>\n During recent speeches, the Republican president has begun describing life after the White House when his term ends in January 2029, predicting he\u2019ll be at home and agonizing as his successor claims credit for his accomplishments.<\/p>\n \u201cYour next president is going to say, \u2018What a great job I did,\u2019\u201d Trump told an event on Long Island, New York, this month. \u201cHe\u2019ll be sitting around, watching television. A real stiff. Unless you vote Republican, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n A sitting president talking about becoming a former one is always politically fraught. But with midterm elections now just nine weeks away, Trump is approaching the point of his presidency where there will be more and more reminders that his power will soon wane.<\/p>\n \u25b6 Read more<\/p>\n Ontario Premier Doug Ford answered Trump\u2019s \u201cLake America\u201d decree Saturday with a billboard-sized message on the Canadian shoreline \u2014 \u201cLake Ontario. Now and Always\u201d \u2014 as Canadian leaders met the move with ridicule rather than outrage.<\/p>\n The display followed Trump\u2019s executive order directing U.S. federal agencies to call Lake Ontario \u201cLake America.\u201d After months of tariffs, threats to make Canada the 51st U.S. state and personal attacks on its leaders, the reaction in Canada has mixed defiance with mockery.<\/p>\n Ford said Trump was trying to rename the lake because Ontario and Canada were \u201cstanding up for ourselves\u201d and argued the name would outlast the president.<\/p>\n \u201cLong after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario,\u201d Ford said in a video posted on social media.<\/p>\n \u25b6 Read more<\/p>\n Besides a social media post from Trump, the White House has said little about what he is calling \u201cTHE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY\u201d in Venezuela.<\/p>\n Trump said the agreement announced Friday night would give the United States a stake in Venezuela\u2019s vast oil reserves, a step toward his goal of extracting energy from the country after American forces captured then-President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro in a middle-of-the-night raid in January and brought him to New York to face federal drug trafficking charges.<\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s acting president, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, described the deal as a step toward economic recovery that will modernize the country\u2019s oil industry.<\/p>\n Earlier on Saturday, she said the oil reserves would \u201ccease to be an inert, cold statistic and will instead become concrete solutions. Housing is one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n But the answers to many questions, including how soon the reserves could be drilled and who will pay to make it happen, were not immediately clear. No text of any agreement has been released.<\/p>\n \u25b6 Read more<\/p>\n President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration has entered a sweeping agreement with Venezuela that, if realized, could give the U.S. access to vast amounts of the South American country\u2019s untapped oil reserves, at cost.<\/p>\n Trump, in a social media post announcing the agreement, said it was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuela\u2019s acting President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez.<\/p>\n Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s government in a statement said the deal involves the development of 17 fields with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels. It said the agreement could draw $100 billion in investment into Venezuela\u2019s oil industry and yield over $209 billion in taxes for Caracas.<\/p>\n Rodr\u00edguez in a posting on Telegram predicted the deal \u201cwill have a significant impact on our nation\u2019s revival.\u201d<\/p>\n The agreement allows for the United States to partner with an unnamed private operator in Venezuela to create a new private company to take hold of the reserves, according to a U.S. official familiar with the contours of the deal.<\/p>\n \u25b6 Read more<\/p>\n In the photo of a computer screen, a Google map showing Lake Ontario renamed as Lake America is seen Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo\/Jeff Roberson)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n President Donald Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP Photo\/Luis M. Alvarez)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n
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