The Stateside Beat — Friday, August 21, 2026 (Morning Brief)

An earthquake of magnitude 6.7 hit central Peru on Thursday, although authorities reported no immediate casualties or damage.

Russian forces were just over a mile away, battering her city of Lyman with glide bombs and drones, as her husband had already been killed.

Myanmar's military has deployed hundreds of troops to forcibly clear areas marked for a Russia-backed special economic zone in the country.

The U.S. and South Korean militaries are wrapping their annual drills six days earlier than scheduled in a conciliatory gesture.

British regulators are investigating Al-Khair Foundation after U.S. prosecutors accused a man affiliated with the group of funding terrorism.

Vice President Vance said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has a "very discreet plan" to shrink the nation's $40 trillion debt.

Bitcoin rallied more than 25% as short sellers were squeezed and Washington leaned further into cryptocurrency-friendly policies.

Walmart raised its outlook, but traffic and U.S. sales came in below Wall Street's expectations as customers cut back amid high fuel costs.

Stock futures were about flat on early Friday as S&P 500 futures traded around flat, while Nasdaq-100 futures were 0.2% higher.

Jefferies predicts Nvidia will report Q2 revenue of $95B, smashing the consensus estimate of $92.07B.

Genki's Manta controller features a color screen for customizing functionality plus adjustable buttons and thumbsticks.

Google has released factory images for the Pixel 11 series, helping users restore software-damaged phones to original factory firmware.

Apple has laid off at least 60 employees tied to its VR team and related positions, signaling slow progress in spatial computing.

Multiple gameplay clips and an apparent GTA VI map surfaced online in what the purported hacker says is a protest against the gaming industry.

The RayNeo iO Smart Glasses look like everyday frames but hide a small display, intelligent voice capture and a slew of AI features.