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Mornly

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Top news

  • Four states sued Meta, claiming Facebook and Instagram were designed to addict children and hid mental health risks.
  • The USS Washington is heading to the Middle East to relieve the USS Lincoln amid concerns about onboard conditions.
  • The US and Iran missed their 60-day deadline to reach a nuclear deal agreed to in June.

World

  • Trump ordered the Pentagon to scale back the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield drills with South Korea, citing Seoul's failure to help the United States combat Iran and his good relationship with Kim Jong Un.
  • Fawzi al-Mansouri was assassinated outside a mosque in an LNA stronghold, in what analysts said was a major blow to the Haftar family's security credentials and could delay a US-brokered plan to reunify Libya's rival governments.
  • Kevin Rideout is in good health in the care of US officials and would soon be reunited with his family.

Business

  • Anthropic posted $11.5 billion in revenue in Q2 and is holding talks with banks for a potential IPO that could be the largest on record.
  • Argenx rose 7.7% in European trading after reporting positive trial results, becoming the strongest performer on the STOXX 600.
  • Stock and bond markets declined as elevated oil prices fueled inflation concerns amid dimming hopes for a deal to end the Iran war.

Technology

  • Nvidia is reportedly preparing to back roughly $100 billion in OpenAI financing as multi-billion-dollar AI infrastructure deals locked in.
  • Meta released Glimmer, an open-weight AI model anyone can download and run on their own hardware.
  • Stripe clinched over $7 billion deal to buy AI firm OpenRouter.

Science

  • A Finnish study found children who spent more screen time showed better cognitive processing as teenagers, challenging assumptions about screen use effects.
  • An experimental Alzheimer's compound prevented damaging protein clumps in mouse brains and reduced amyloid buildup.
  • Physicists discovered a hidden gluon structure inside protons that could rewrite fundamental physics textbooks.

Economy

  • Nonfarm payroll employment fell 23,000 and the unemployment rate held at 4.1 percent in July.
  • The Fed held rates at 3.50%-3.75% in July, its fifth consecutive unchanged meeting, though three members voted for a 25 basis point hike.
  • Inflation remains elevated relative to the Fed's 2% goal, driven partly by supply shocks in energy and other sectors.

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