Happy Wednesday Everyone! Today’s newsletter: 1,211 words…4.6 mins
🗞 Today’s Edition: El-Sayed's Mom Worked For Terrorist Org., UAE Halts All Iran Dealings, Russians Stuff Cash Under Pillows, Penn State Coke Bust, Amazon Prime Air Coming to a City Near You...& more!
📨 Share this post with family and friends via the social links above or forward this newsletter via email.
🏃 This man did the “impossible.” He broke the record for a 4 min mile. Can you guess who? Scroll down to find out.
🥳 If you’re enjoying NewzHawk, consider asking your friends to subscribe. It would really help spread the word about our work. Join Newzhawk
📜THE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
🥷Abdul El Sayed’s Mom Worked For A Terrorist Organization
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed is facing fresh scrutiny over his birth mother’s former work for the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA), a charity designated by the U.S. Treasury as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization.
🚨Recent reporting says Fatten Fathy Elkomy worked for IARA from roughly 1999 through at least 2004, with court exhibits documenting her involvement in wire transfers and calls connected to the organization’s Iraq operations.
The Terrorist Links:
Treasury said IARA’s international network provided financial support to Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and Hamas, while the Justice Department later prosecuted IARA over illegal transfers to Iraq.
In 2016, the organization pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate sanctions and admitted secretly funneling $1.375 million to Iraq.
🪢 The kicker: Elkomy herself was never charged with a crime or personally designated as a terrorist.
In 2004 she told a reporter she just wanted to help orphans — and that the aid stopping made her sad.
🕰 Timing is everything — and El-Sayed's timing is catastrophic.
This bombshell drops as the progressive candidate is already fending off a rap sheet of red flags:
🚩 Videos of him defending Sharia law, sympathizing with Khomeini supporters, and cozying up to CAIR (a group with Muslim Brotherhood ties)…to name a few.
🚩 Add his father-in-law (board member of CAIR and ISNA) and his sister (who's made explicitly pro-Hamas and antisemitic remarks) — and you've got a family tree that looks less like a campaign photo op and more like a FBI flowchart.
💡 Bottom line: In a must-win Michigan Senate race against Republican Mike Rogers, this isn’t just a distraction - it’s oppo-research catnip. The midterms are nine weeks out and Rogers’ team is already sharpening the knives.
♟️THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
⏰ Trump Hits Snooze on Canada Tariffs
President Trump announced a three-day pause on sweeping 50% tariffs against Canadian goods, claiming a "DEAL!" is in the works.
The tariffs — set to hit $20 billion in imports including alcohol, dairy, and hockey equipment (yes, hockey) — were halted hours before takeoff.
The fine print: Canada's PM Carney was far more cautious: "Substantial progress" but "important work still to be done."
Auto tariffs remain the sticking point — Canada wants 10%, the U.S. is floating 15%. Trump also teased reviving the Keystone XL pipeline saying [it] "may be awoken from the grave."
💡 Why It Matters: The tariff clock now runs until August 22. Trump gets leverage; Carney gets breathing room. Nobody gets to declare victory yet.
☠ UAE Halts All Trade With Iran — Gulf Tensions Boil Over
The UAE just slammed the economic brakes on Iran, suspending trade, commercial exchanges and financial transactions until further notice after accusing Tehran of escalating regional tensions.
The trigger: Two ballistic missiles launched from Iran toward the UAE on August 18. One fell inside Emirati waters. Note: The UAE has been attacked by Iran more times than any other country in the region during this war.
Iran denies responsibility, calling the claims "baseless." But the UAE isn't buying it — and neither is anyone watching this region.
💡 Why it matters: The UAE has long been Iran's backdoor to global markets, handling billions in annual trade. Cutting that off would choke a crucial economic lifeline at a time when Tehran's already reeling from U.S./Israeli strikes. This could very well be the knockout punch.
💸 Russians Stuff Cash Under the Pillow
Russians are pulling money out of banks at a pace not seen since 2022. $3.4 billion was withdrawn in the first two weeks of August alone. July? $7.3 billion. Total outflows since January: a staggering $24–27 billion — already surpassing the first year of the Ukraine war.
Why? Three words: fear, drones, and rumors. Ukrainian strikes are knocking out internet and mobile networks, making digital payments useless.
Economic pessimism is spreading. And whispers that the Kremlin might freeze or nationalize deposits to fund the war? Those aren't going away — even if officials call them "fake."
Reality: Overall deposits are still near record highs — so this looks more like panic-hoarding than a full bank run.
💡 Bottom line: Russia doesn't need to freeze anyone's money — but the fear it might, is already working.
🗽THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
🎓 Frat Houses Ran a Coke Empire, AG Says
Two Penn State fraternities weren't just partying — prosecutors say they were running an "upper-level trafficking organization," pledges included.
14 charged, including two alleged suppliers making runs to Philly and NY for kilo-quantity buys ($22,000 a pop).
Pledges reportedly cut and bagged the coke as part of "indoctrination" — house rules, apparently, came with a side hustle.
Penn State's response: immediate suspension for both chapters.
💡 The AG's line said it best: "nothing junior or childlike" about it.
🎡 Wisconsin State Fair Ends in a Brawl
The Wisconsin State Fair ended with fights, chaos and seven arrests Sunday night after groups tried to enter the fairgrounds without authorization, triggering brawls near rides and food stands.
Viral videos show crowds throwing punches and people being tackled as police rushed in.
Casualties: an officer and a security guard hurt, no gunshots despite rumors, no serious fairgoer injuries.
💡 Funnel cakes and felony chaos — Wisconsin's fair went out swinging.
🤖 CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AI’s Black Mirror Moments
🚁 Amazon’s Drones Coming To A City Near You
Amazon is taking Prime Air nationwide—aiming to reach nearly 500 U.S. cities and towns by year-end, roughly 6x its current footprint.
The drones can deliver eligible items under 5 lbs in as little as 30 minutes, with launches coming soon around Chicago, Syracuse, Cleveland, Atlanta and Boise.
⚡ Walmart's racing to match it with Wing drones — welcome to the delivery arms race, now with propellers.
😏 Cursor Drops GitHub Rival... on Outage Day
Cursor launched Origin, a GitHub competitor built for AI agents — timed perfectly (or suspiciously) with a major GitHub outage that broke pull requests and Copilot for hours.
Built for bots: Origin's designed for AI agents cranking out mass commits, not just humans clicking around.
Beta only: paid Cursor users get early access; free plans locked out.
⚡ Cursor calls it "complementary" — sure, the way a new roommate is "complementary" right before they take over the lease.
📺 FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
Roger Bannister breaking the 4 minute mile record
🏃 The “impossible” mile took until 1954
Running a mile in under four minutes was considered practically impossible.
On May 6, 1954, British athlete Roger Bannister did it in 3:59.4 at Oxford.
Within 46 days, another runner had broken four minutes; and more eventually followed - going to show that “impossible” is nothing more than a state of mind.