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August 25, 2026: From My Inbox

Canadian News

The U.S.-Canada trade war escalated. President Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, auto parts and steel to 50 percent starting January 1, after weekend trade talks collapsed. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Ottawa will match U.S. tariffs “dollar for dollar” and urged other countries to join Canada in standing up to Washington. Ontario Premier Doug Ford called Trump a “loser” and said he “can kiss my ass”; Trump responded by calling Ford a “Flunky.” This was the lead story across several morning newsletters.

  • Analysts warn a 50 percent tariff would be “near cataclysmic” for Canada’s auto industry, since the Detroit Three can shift production south with relative ease. (Toronto Star, First Up)
  • On Substack, Dougald Lamont continued his chapter-by-chapter fact-check of Grave Error, a book disputing the mainstream account of residential-school burial sites, flagging sourcing and reasoning errors in several chapters. (Dougald Lamont’s Substack)

US News

The Supreme Court let stand, for now, a Trump administration effort to restrict mail-in voting by building a citizenship list the Postal Service would use to screen ballot requests; the case returns to lower courts. Republicans in South Carolina vote today in a runoff to pick a Senate nominee, with Trump backing Darline Graham, the late Senator Lindsey Graham’s sister, against Ralph Norman.

  • A new study found that roughly 25 percent of former NFL players examined after death had C.T.E., and OSHA does not enforce workplace-safety rules for professional athletes. (The New York Times, The Morning)
  • Confidential documents show ticket sales and fundraising at the Kennedy Center collapsed after Trump’s name was added to the building. (The Washington Post, The 7)

Finance and Markets

Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller publicly broke with his former protege, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, calling Bessent’s bond-buyback plan a mistake that risks looking like market manipulation. Wall Street’s IPO market is heating up: smart-ring maker Oura and Dunkin’ owner Inspire Brands are both said to be weighing fall listings, following SpaceX’s $86 billion offering in June. (The New York Times, DealBook; The Wall Street Journal, The 10-Point)

  • The SEC has subpoenaed Wall Street banks over the near-implosion of Situational Awareness, an AI-focused hedge fund forced to sell assets after a July tech selloff. (NYT DealBook; The Economist)
  • The Trump administration proposed raising the H-1B visa application fee to $103,265. (NYT The Morning; WSJ The 10-Point; The Economist)
  • Kalshi signed sponsorship deals with five MLB teams (Red Sox, Dodgers, Braves, Giants, Padres) even as it fights more than twenty states over allegations of unlicensed sports betting. (NYT DealBook)

International News

Treasury Secretary Bessent announced a new sanctions push against Iran and its trading partners, dubbed “Operation Economic Outcast,” though he named no specific countries. Iran vowed retaliation and said no oil would leave the Gulf if the pressure continued. (The Economist, World in Brief; NYT DealBook)

  • Israeli journalist Amit Segal examined friction between Israel and Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, over his comments on the Golan Heights and on Syria policy. (Amit Segal, It’s Noon in Israel)
  • In Zambia, courts closed indefinitely just before the deadline for opposition candidate Brian Mundubile to challenge President Hakainde Hichilema’s re-election, a worrying sign for a country long seen as a model of peaceful transfers of power. (The Economist)
  • Taiwanese prosecutors charged nine people, including an Nvidia employee, with smuggling advanced chips to China via Japan and Indonesia. (The Economist)

Media News

Karen Attiah won her arbitration case against The Washington Post, which had fired her over social media posts following Charlie Kirk’s killing; an arbitrator ruled the paper lacked “good and sufficient cause.” CBS News chief Bari Weiss has held talks aimed at recruiting Chris Cuomo, though his NewsNation contract and litigation with CNN make a move unlikely soon. California’s attorney general canceled a mediation session with Paramount over its Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition, citing leaks to the press. (Status; WSJ CMO Today)

  • Columbia Journalism Review reported on how India’s summer of protests over a leaked medical-school exam pushed independent YouTubers and citizen journalists past legacy “godi” television networks in both viewership and trust. (Columbia Journalism Review)
  • Meta went on trial in California as 29 state attorneys general accuse it of knowingly designing addictive products that harm children’s mental health; the company says damages could reach $1.4 trillion. (The Guardian, TechScape)
  • Golf brand Good Good and Callaway apologized after an ad depicting a man shoving a woman to the ground drew backlash online. (WSJ CMO Today)

Sports News

A WNBA game between the Sky and Fever was interrupted when Natasha Cloud confronted Enes Kanter Freedom, who was wearing a shirt reading “WOMAN noun adult human female,” amid the league’s ongoing dispute over trans inclusion; Freedom was ejected. Nneka Ogwumike announced her retirement after 15 seasons. (The Athletic)

  • The NBA offseason continues to reshuffle contenders: Klay Thompson signed with the Heat after a buyout from Dallas, and LaMelo Ball joined the Timberwolves alongside Anthony Edwards. (The Athletic)
  • In the Premier League, new Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso won his opener 3-2 over Fulham, with Cole Palmer looking sharp again. Separately, 49ers owner Jed York, who also co-owns Leeds United and Rangers, was arrested in Ohio on misdemeanor charges. (The Athletic)

Health and Wellness

Two studies summarized in Arnold’s Pump Club suggest that focusing attention on a painful or inflamed area, rather than distracting from it, can produce a smaller inflammatory response, and that simply naming an emotion measurably quiets the brain’s amygdala. Biotin supplements do not grow hair unless someone has a true, and rare, biotin deficiency.

  • Rinsing the mouth with a carbohydrate drink and spitting it out, without swallowing, can reduce perceived fatigue and raise power output during endurance workouts, according to a meta-analysis of cycling trials. (Arnold’s Pump Club)
  • On his Substack, biohacker Michael of Desmolysium wrote about why he pursues aggressive self-experimentation, framing it as a rational, high-upside strategy for improving energy, mood and cognition. (Desmolysium Newsletter)

Other

On his Substack, Bryan Lunduke argued that repeated instances of malicious code turning up in the Rust Crates ecosystem raise questions about the language’s security reputation. (The Lunduke Journal)

Sources

Publications and newsletters used in this digest:

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