Sunday, August 23, 2026
'Zelensky: Kyiv did not play role in N. Stream 2 damage'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted on Sunday that his country did not participate in any operation to damage the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Speaking at the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) summit in Kyiv, Zelensky noted that Ukraine was part of an active investigation alongside German authorities. "It is very important for us that we do not lose our partnership, that we do not lose the trust of European countries that have been helping Ukraine since the very beginning of this war. And therefore we are absolutely open to joint steps regarding the investigation and joint steps to clarify all the circumstances of those actions at that time," he stressed.
Russia has been constantly accusing Ukraine that it played hand in the damaging of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which occured in September 2022.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Zelensky:-Kyiv-did-not-play-role-in-N.-Stream-2-damage/66969644
Azerbaijan Sues CNN Over Story On Cooperation With Israel In War On Iran
There is a novel (and highly dubious) lawsuit filed in Delaware by the nation of Azerbaijan against CNN for a story claiming that it was cooperating with Israel in attacks on Iran. Republic of Azerbaijan v. CNN, Inc. borders on the legally frivolous, but it is likely politically advantageous to show Iran that it contests the allegations.
In its Complaint, Azerbaijan details the development of hostilities while maintaining neutrality:
Azerbaijan, which shares a border with Iran to the south, is not and has never been a participant in the Iran War. Azerbaijan has not supported military operations by any of the warring nations.
...Azerbaijan maintains a policy of neutrality and independence. Azerbaijan does not host any foreign military bases on its territory and, as a non-aligned state, maintains a strict official policy and legislative framework against foreign military footprints.
The basis for the lawsuit is what the country calls "CNN's reckless reporting" on June 5, 2026 in a post titled "Exclusive: Israel sent troops to Azerbaijan during Iran war, sources say." The article claiming that Azerbaijan allowed Israel to use its territory to launch attacks against Iran no doubt raised the ire of the Islamic Republic.
Indeed, the Complaint lays out how Iran threatened any countries assisting Iran and suggested that the story was putting them at risk of an Iranian attack:
Ali Larijani, a senior Iranian official, threatened: 'The countries of the region must either prevent the use of their soil by America against Iran themselves, or we will.' Similarly, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ("IRGC") has issued a press release unambiguously stating that 'Countries that host the aggressor American military and have placed their land at the disposal of the aggressor criminals for attacks on Iran should be prepared to receive a corresponding response, and should activate their civil defence [sic] units to safeguard the lives of their citizens and move them away from likely targets.'
The complaint, however, faces even more daunting legal challenges. While the Complaint alleges that "CNN's false reporting caused reputational harm to Azerbaijan and threatens tenuous international relations," it is doubtful that a court will view this as a viable tort claim under defamation.
We have previously discussed lawsuits by countries or nationality groups that have been dismissed. The leading case on defamation, New York Times v. Sullivan, expressly states, "For good reason, "no court of last resort in this country has ever held, or even suggested, that prosecutions for libel on government have any place in the American system of jurisprudence."
In 2000, a state court dismissed Air Zimbabwe v. Chicago Tribune Co. (Cal. Super. Ct. 2000), due to the fact that Air Zimbabwe is "a government entity, is precluded under the First Amendment from pursuing a defamation claim."
Moreover, there are elemental problems in making such a claim. A country would be treated as a public official or figure subject to the "actual malice" standard, requiring knowing falsehood or reckless disregard of the truth. CNN clearly had sources that led it to believe the accounts were true. Indeed, many countries, including those asserting neutrality, have secret agreements or accommodations in this and other wars.
Proving that no such agreement existed or that there was not a defensible basis for the story would be very difficult.
The question of harm is also intriguing. Many would view cooperating against Iran as an admirable decision for Azerbaijan. Although it clearly puts Azerbaijan at odds with Iran, it puts it in alignment with other countries such as the United States. It is difficult to see how damages would be measured in such a circumstance, even if a viable claim on the merits could be established.
This case asks a court to adjudicate global political questions with shadowy sources and factual claims. I would be surprised if any court would relish such a trial and expect that Republic of Azerbaijan v. CNN, Inc. will soon join the list of dismissed actions.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/azerbaijan-sues-cnn-over-story-cooperation-israel-war-iran
Nvidia to Pay Poolside a $6 Billion License, Tap Startup’s Staff
Nvidia Corp. has agreed to pay $6 billion to license artificial intelligence models from Poolside and will extend job offers to more than 100 employees, according to people familiar with the situation.
The startup also received an additional $1 billion investment from Nvidia at a valuation of $12 billion, not including those funds, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private. Poolside will keep operating independently, they said.
Existing backers will receive a payout from the Nvidia funds, according to the people.
Representatives for Nvidia and Poolside didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. The Newcomer technology newsletter first reported this news.
The transaction is the latest in a flood of deals by the world's largest publicly traded company, which is pouring cash into the AI industry. Nvidia, the dominant maker of AI processors, is trying to speed the uptake of the technology across the economy. It regards the effort as vital to guaranteeing future demand for its chips and computer systems.
Nvidia has recently turned its focus to supporting open source models, which can be freely used and customized by developers. The Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker is seeking to make the technology more widely available and avoid a concentration of the products at just a few large companies. Nvidia offers a variety of technology beyond chips, including AI models, data and other software developed in-house.
Poolside, which has offices in the US and Paris, has produced models that focus on automating computer coding, particularly for government and defense software.
The structure of the transaction bears some similarities to Nvidia's acquisition of most of the chip startup Groq. According to reports, it paid about $20 billion for a nonexclusive license to use that company's designs and took on most of its employees and founders.
Such deals have been criticized by lawmakers, who see them as an end-run to merger reviews.
https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/nvidia-pay-poolside-6-billion-181448803.html
Death Of Europe's Industrial Base: VW CEO Set To Announce 50,000 Job Cuts
Europe's industrial demise has become impossible to ignore. The continent's automotive manufacturing base is being hollowed out by high energy costs, regulatory pressure, and a flood of cheap Chinese electric vehicles, with Germany, once Europe's industrial powerhouse, emerging as the epicenter of this terrible decline.
Germany's largest manufacturer by revenue is Volkswagen Group, whose CEO, Oliver Blume, is warning employees that the coming weeks will be critical as Europe's largest automaker prepares to detail the most extensive restructuring in its history.
"The next few weeks will be crucial: everyone must pull together," he told local outlet Bild am Sonntag. "We have drawn up the largest transformation plan in the history of the Volkswagen Group."
The upcoming meetings, scheduled for next week, are expected to provide employees and union representatives with new details about the plan to shed 50,000 jobs.
"The next few years will be decisive in determining who stays in the race and who comes out on top," Blume said, pointing to massive pressure to slash costs, fundamental shifts in the market, and global turmoil.
Blume warned, "The global car industry is in the midst of a massive crisis. And the Volkswagen Group is right in the thick of it. Geopolitics, trade barriers, regulation, weak markets and fierce competition are all taking their toll."
Christiane Benner, deputy chairwoman of VW's supervisory board and head of Germany's IG Metall union, told local outlet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that Blume's plan to cut 50,000 jobs is a "hard provocation," adding that trust in management is severely "strained."
Meanwhile, Volkswagen is holding "concrete negotiations" with Chinese automakers about assembling their vehicles at German factories, Benner said. Such deals could help protect domestic jobs and improve plant utilization, though she cautioned that they would represent only a "complementary measure" rather than a comprehensive solution.
Talks aimed at securing the future of VW's Osnabrück plant are also progressing, according to Benner, who added that Qatar blocked a potential agreement involving Israeli defense contractor Rafael to convert a civilian production line to military production.
Whether the issue is the death of a industrial base, the Third World invasion of Europe, or disastrous green and energy policies that have sent energy prices through the roof, Brussels' terrible decisions are, as Nomura analyst Andrzej Szczepaniak described, "seeding political change" that will push the continent "toward more populism."
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/death-europes-industrial-base-vw-ceo-set-announce-50000-job-cuts
'"Civilizational Suicide": China Humanoids Sprint Ahead, Americans Fight Over Data Center, Socialism'
The five-day 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games at Beijing's National Speed Skating Oval are well underway, and on Saturday, an AI-powered humanoid robot reached 14.5 meters per second, or 32.5 mph.
More than 2,000 humanoid robots are participating in the World Humanoid Robot Games across 51 disciplines and more than 1,000 competitions spanning running, table tennis, and soccer.
The games opened during the same week as the 2026 World Robot Conference in Beijing, where companies displayed 3,000 products, and the blockbuster IPO of China-based Unitree. Together, the events and IPO suggest that China is pulling far ahead of the US in humanoid robotics. The main reason is that China controls much of the global supply chain for actuators, motors, optics, and other critical components required to manufacture humanoid robots.
Related:
Arthur MacWaters, who co-founded Legion Health, an AI-native telepsychiatry company, emphasized on X, "We're having debates about data centers, and China is publicly developing superhuman robot armies. What the actual hell are we doing here, guys?"
Another X user said, "We're shooting ourselves in the foot because we want to sit around and watch Netflix and eat Cheetos."
MacWaters responded, "It's civilizational suicide."
While the Trump administration is moving to reindustrialize the US and reshore critical supply chains, the Democratic Party's socialist wing and its far-left allies are advancing an agenda that risks weakening the country from within.
The timing is dangerous. As China expands its AI infrastructure, advanced-manufacturing base, and military power, DSA proposals to block new data centers and neuter US defense capabilities would undermine two pillars of national power. What may be pitched as economic or social reform increasingly carries major national-security consequences and may suggest that these movements are being influenced by subversive networks within left-wing NGO spheres (read here).
We set the narrative at the start of the year that humanoids will move beyond factory floors towards the battlefield. Ukraine confirmed this (see here).