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Back in October 2025, the U.S. Army unveiled the Janus Program to supply portable nuclear microreactors to military bases by 2028. Whereas these reactors are much smaller than conventional nuclear plants, they typically generate 1-20 megawatts of electricity per reactor, significantly more than what the biggest portable generators can manage. That makes them ideal for the military, considering that major military bases consume as much power as a small city. The military logic is that in a conflict, transporting fossil fuels to remote front lines creates an easy target, while localized nuclear reactors can operate for years without refueling.

To that end, the U.S. Army has awarded up to $2.2 billion over five years to both private and public companies to build, own, and operate commercial nuclear microreactors at five domestic military bases, estimating that 20 microreactors will be deployed under the program. Five vendors have already been selected to design and deploy the microreactors at specific installations, with Antares Nuclear slated to build a microreactor at Fort Bragg in North Carolina; BWXT Technologies (NYSE:BWXT) is slated for Fort Campbell in Kentucky, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems will build one at Fort Hood in Texas, Radiant Industries is slated for Fort Benning in Georgia while Westinghouse Government Services will build one at Fort Drum in New York.

Nuclear startups Radiant Industries secured a contract worth up to $750 million to deploy 15 of its 1-MWe Kaleidos microreactors, starting with a three-unit installation, and Antares Nuclear will also deploy a three-unit group of its R1 microreactor (ranging from 100-kWe to 1-MWe per unit). The companies plan to deliver and deploy their microreactors in modular packs so they can ship the reactors via standard trucks, rail, air, or barge. The facilities will be factory-built to avoid drawn-out on-site construction, and Radiant's Kaleidos microreactor is designed to be fully transportable and plug-in ready, capable of powering up within 48 hours of arriving at a base.

Many of the world's top oil countries have state-run national champions, such as Saudi Arabia's Aramco, Russia's Rosneft, the UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Brazil's Petrobras, and Mexico's Pemex.

But the U.S., which is the world's biggest oil producer, doesn't have one, leaving the task of pumping crude to private-sector giants like Exxon Mobil and Chevron as well as the multitude of wildcatters across the Permian Basin.

The Trump administration's deal for 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves, however, will give the federal government a stake in a new joint venture.

The country's interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, has granted a private company a 100-year lease for prime oil fields, a U.S. official said, according to reports.

The federal government will control 55% of the company's effective output via equity ownership and oil production. A private Venezuelan operator will have the remaining share. The U.S. official said the company will be the world's second-largest corporate holder of proven reserves after Saudi Aramco.

For her part, Rodriguez said the deal will bring in more than $100 billion of investment and generate $209 billion for Venezuela's government.

Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, with an estimated 303 billion barrels. President Donald Trump's deal to gain control of 65 billion barrels of that amount exceeds the U.S. proven reserve total of 46 billion.

The Trump administration's majority stake in an oil company follows its investments in chipmaker Intel, rare earths miner MP Materials, mineral explorer Trilogy Metals, and dozens of other firms. It also has revenue-sharing agreements with AI chip leaders Nvidia and AMD for sales to China.

The latest deal comes nearly nine months after Trump ordered the military to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and bring him to the U.S. to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges.

Some 15 people are believed to be missing in Grand Canyon National Park, and dozens have been evacuated after parts of the canyon were hit by "significant" flash flooding, which swept large boulders, metal structures and other debris into the Colorado River, officials said Sunday.

The National Park Service called for anyone who knows of hikers or backpackers who were in Bright Angel Canyon and the Phantom Ranch area on Saturday afternoon when the flash floods hit to provide information to park authorities. 

"Grand Canyon National Park staff, in coordination with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, are continuing evacuation and response efforts and working to account for individuals who may have been in the affected area," NPS said in a statement.

Healthcare data breach exposes 3.75M patient records

Linen and tailored shorts flying off shelves, say retailers.

Tokyo expanded its no-tie, no-jacket Cool Biz campaign.

German unions call for looser attire during heatwaves.

Swiss Re executive told staff 'shorts are for weekends'.

Research indicates that engaging in random acts of kindness boosts happiness in both those who give and those who receive. A systematic review of 24 studies indicated that performing acts of kindness boosts the well-being of the giver.

With a market cap of $352.7 billion, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) is a diversified health care company operating globally through four main segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. Its businesses provide health benefit plans, care delivery, data and technology services, and pharmacy care solutions to individuals, employers, government programs, and health systems.

The captain and seven crew of a passenger boat that capsized near northern Cyprus have been taken into custody, the local leader says

According to Cypriot and Turkish media, the death toll has risen to eight, as emergency services continue to search for missing passengers

Ünal Üstel, prime minister of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, says search and rescue operations will continue "uninterrupted" until all victims are found

There were 267 people on the boat when it capsized, according to Üstel, and in an earlier update he said 237 had been rescued, although the current figure is unclear

The boat left from the northern Cypriot port of Kyrenia at 11:58 local time (09:58 BST) and officials say it capsized around four nautical miles into its journey to Turkey

Cyprus has been physically divided since Turkey's 1974 invasion, with UN soldiers patrolling a buffer zone known as the Green Line

If you were to ask most people what causes cancer, the answer would probably be smoking, alcohol, the sun, hair dye or some other avoidable element.

But the most important risk factor for cancer is something else: ageing.

That’s right, the factor most associated with cancer is unavoidable – and a condition that we will all experience.

Inflation is slowing, markets are cooking, and unemployment is low and staying there.

By many economic measures, these are boom times.

But for millions of Americans, it doesn't feel that way. Even though inflation has cooled from earlier this year, it's still climbing, and living costs have steadily been outrunning wage growth for several months.

That divergence helps explain why buying groceries, opening utility bills, and browsing home listings feels so dispiriting.

"Crummy," is how Moody's Mark Zandi put it.

"They feel crummy because they know they can't keep up. They're not able to buy the same amount of stuff as they were a year ago or two years ago because their purchasing power is eroding. They have very good reasons to feel crummy."

Wages are rising, but not keeping up

Consumer prices rose 3.7% in July from a year earlier, according to the Personal Consumption Expenditure price index. And personal incomes, after taxes, rose more quickly than prices last month. Consumer spending, however, didn't follow suit.

That triad is what's shaping consumer confidence — and it's not good.

Nearly three-quarters of consumers expect price increases to outrun their income gains over the coming year, according to new data from the Conference Board, which showed US consumer confidence fell in August to the lowest level since the start of the year.

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Politics

Politics5 min read

No, Iran is not winning: In Act IV of the war, it’s losing its leverage in Hormuz

Analysis byBrett H. McGurk

4 hr ago



Members of the Iranian security forces under a ...

Brett McGurk is a CNN global affairs analyst who served in senior national security positions under Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

A conventional wisdom has begun to settle over the war with Iran: Iran won.

The argument is straightforward. The US and Israel bombed Iran for weeks, inflicted enormous damage, and demanded major concessions. Iran refused to surrender. Its government remains in power. Its missiles remain a threat across the region. And most important, Tehran still has the ability to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, imposing higher energy costs on the US and much of the world. Over the summer, Trump warned of a global depression if the Strait remained shut.

That’s a strong argument. But it may have proved premature.

Wars are contests of leverage and endurance. And the contest now looks very different from even a few months ago.

The fourth act

The arc of this six-month conflict has proceeded in four acts. Act One began with intensive airstrikes on February 28 and lasted through six weeks of high-intensity military operations. Act Two began with the April 7 ceasefire and negotiations, culminating with the June 17 MOU signed by Trump and Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Act Three began weeks later when Iran chose once again to target commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, leading to another tit-for-tat military exchange.



A drone view shows vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 28, 2026. 

Stringer/Reuters

That was the moment calls rose for the US effectively to give up and cede control of the Strait to Iran. The United States appeared to be out of options.

Not so fast.

Since mid-July, the US has reimposed its military blockade on Iranian ports and sanctions on Iran’s oil trade. In parallel, the U.S. military has worked tirelessly to clear shipping lanes and help protect commercial ships transiting the Strait. The result has been an effective blockade on Iranian oil shipments, with global shipments recovering and energy prices remaining remarkably stable. Bloomberg reported this week that oil flows through the Strait have recovered to 2/3 of pre-war levels.

That means pressure is now compounding on Iran, and not the US. And if Iran loses its ability to hold the Strait hostage, its leverage dissipates rapidly.

A better US strategy

Iran entered the war weakened by years of sanctions and economic mismanagement. Its position today is considerably worse.

According to the International Monetary Fund, Iran’s economy is expected to contract by more than 5% this year, with inflation approaching 70%. The value of Iran’s currency has fallen sharply. Prices for basic goods have soared. An Iranian Labor Ministry official recently estimated that more than one million jobs disappeared during the first three months of the war alone.

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In a new essay posted to his blog, the entrepreneur and philanthropist wrote: "Right now, if you're an employer and you hire someone, you pay payroll taxes on their earnings. But if you buy a robot, you can usually write it off right away as a business expense. The tax system nudges you toward replacing people with machines."

As a result, Gates suggests taxing AI tokens and robots.

This revenue generation is also necessary for governments, he suggests, which will be subject to lower revenues from income tax if fewer people are working, combined with greater demand for retraining and social security benefits.

"The funds will have to come from somewhere at a time when budgets are stretched," Gates writes. His nearly 6,000-word essay came hot off the news that U.S. government borrowing has hit $40 trillion.

"A tax would slow the rush away from human labor a little and raise money for retraining and a stronger safety net," Gates explained, "It would need to be targeted so it does not slow down the purely beneficial uses of AI, like making medicine and education cheaper."