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Today is Wednesday, August 19, 2026
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Weather
weather
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Good morning, and welcome to Hark News. Here's what the world got up to while you slept. First, the weather in New York. A high of 88 and a low of 66, with clear skies.
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Opening arguments begin in landmark child safety trial
news
0:21
Twenty-nine states are taking Facebook and Instagram to federal court, alleging the platforms were deliberately designed to hook children and teens. Prosecutors want billions in damages and sweeping changes to core features like infinite scroll. Meta argues it has prioritized youth safety and simply measures engagement. A ruling could reshape how social media companies operate nationwide.
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Tehran refuses to reopen Strait of Hormuz as talks collapse
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The sixty-day window for a US-Iran peace deal expired Monday without a breakthrough. Negotiations stalled completely, while Tehran insists the critical shipping lane stays closed until security guarantees are met. President Trump doubled down by threatening to bomb ally Oman if it interferes with the blockade. Oil prices jumped past ninety dollars a barrel on the uncertainty.
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Long-term borrowing costs surge to multi-decade highs
news
0:20
Investors are demanding significantly higher returns to hold government debt, sending the yield on thirty-year Treasury bonds above five percent for the first time since two thousand seven. The sell-off reflects fears over persistent inflation, massive corporate borrowing for AI infrastructure, and ballooning public deficits. Similar spikes hit long-dated yields in Japan, Germany, and Britain.
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5
Voters head to the polls in key primary contests
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0:20
Election day is here in Florida, Alaska, and Wyoming. Floridians are choosing GOP candidates for governor and Senate in highly contentious races, while Democrats juggle intraparty battles. Alaska holds its unique top-four primary for the Senate seat, pitting incumbent Dan Sullivan against Democrat Mary Peltola. All eyes will be on how these early results shape the midterm landscape.
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6
Anthropic posts explosive growth ahead of expected IPO
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0:20
Documents seen by Bloomberg show Anthropic generated over eleven point five billion dollars in second quarter revenue, pushing its annualized run rate past sixty-five billion. That marks a fourteen-fold increase from last year and puts the Claude maker ahead of rival OpenAI. The lab is now meeting with major banks to price a public offering expected this fall.
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Nvidia steps in to back massive OpenAI power plant loan
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0:20
OpenAI has secured a twenty-year lease for a ten-gigawatt data campus in Ohio, but the startup lacks the credit history to finance it alone. Nvidia agreed to guarantee roughly one hundred five billion dollars in debt covering construction and operations. The project will create tens of thousands of jobs but highlights how deeply chipmakers are tied to cloud providers.
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8
Buy-now-pay-later lenders expand into everyday essentials
news
0:19
Installment loan apps once used for small indulgences are now covering rent, electricity, and medical bills. Companies argue they offer predictable payment terms that avoid compounding interest traps. Consumer advocates warn that missing payments can trigger overdraft fees and deeper debt cycles, especially when users juggle multiple active loans simultaneously.
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9
Surveillance camera network faces mounting public backlash
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0:20
Law enforcement partners are reviewing contracts with Flock Safety after investigative reports revealed widespread misuse of license plate tracking data by individual officers. Civil liberties groups argue the system enables warrantless mass surveillance and have called for immediate cancellations. Some localities have already terminated agreements, while others vandalized cameras in recent weeks.
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10
Washington and Ottawa race to avoid new trade penalties
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0:20
A deadline looms Wednesday for fifty percent tariffs on Canadian imports unless negotiators reach a breakthrough. Prime Minister Mark Carney described the final round of discussions as delicate, noting that existing auto duties remain a major sticking point. Analysts warn that collapsing the trade agreement could cost the American economy hundreds of billions over the next decade.
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11
Women are losing ground in the fast-growing AI job market
news
0:19
New employment data shows women captured only a quarter of new technical hires in artificial intelligence roles last year, compared to half of positions in broader tech. The highest-paying engineering tracks saw an even starker divide, with men securing over eighty percent of openings. Industry leaders note this trend risks locking women out of future leadership pipelines.
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12
Bare printed circuit boards hit record pricing levels
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0:20
Producer prices for the foundational components that house computer chips rose forty-five percent in July, driven by surging AI demand and supply chain disruptions. An Iranian attack recently knocked offline a key Saudi resin manufacturer, squeezing material costs further. Experts caution that these upstream shocks typically take six months to fully reach consumer electronics shelves.
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13
Google purchases defunct airline’s business records for AI training
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0:21
A federal bankruptcy auction saw Google pay ten million dollars for a massive dataset from Spirit Airlines, which ceased operations earlier this year. The trove includes operational documents and software code, though passenger identifiers will be scrubbed before transfer. Google plans to use the information to refine its enterprise products and underlying language models.
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14
OpenAI rolls out restricted chatbot experience for younger users
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0:22
The company is launching a dedicated version of ChatGPT for teenagers that removes romantic language, limits anthropomorphic cues, and emphasizes homework assistance over direct answers. Parental controls will track screen time and flag concerning content, though critics argue any unstructured AI companionship remains unsafe for developing brains. Legal challenges over past youth interactions persist.
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Word of the Day
trivia
0:09
And before you go, a little extra from Morning Brew. Today's Word of the Day is: gainsay, meaning "to declare to be untrue or invalid.". The answer: gainsay
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16
That's all for today
outro
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And that's your world for today. The full stories and the links are waiting in the app. Tap through, bookmark what matters, and share what's worth sharing. And if you want to see what stuck, take today's quiz in the app: five quick questions. I'll see you again tomorrow morning. Until then, go well.
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