The Daily Brief
Today
Good morning. More ships have come under attack in the Strait of Hormuz as talks to end the war in the Middle East remain stalled and the US readies new economic measures to force Iran to capitulate — economic warfare waged from Washington while the region burns.
The New York Times reports at least 38 dead from a 7.7-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia's coast. NPR confirms at least 20 people killed, with buildings collapsed and panic in a region prone to deadly quakes — the toll always heaviest where housing is precarious and infrastructure neglected.
An [Anglicare report found almost no rental properties in the country were affordable for low-income workers and those relying on meagre government welfare payments](https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/08/15/fwew-a15.html) — a market functioning exactly as designed, transferring wages and welfare straight to landlord portfolios.
This fall, several states will vote to enshrine abortion access, while one asks voters to weigh in on the issue a second time — defensive ballot fights after the courts stripped a fundamental right. Meanwhile, [Skidaway Island, Georgia, is home today to a luxurious community that the mostly white residents consider paradise: waterfront views, live oaks, and marsh grass alongside golf courses, swimming pools, and other amenities](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/08/40-acres-and-a-lie-part-2-update) — stolen Black land, laundered into white wealth, while the right to control one's body and the right to stay on one's land remain contested on the same terrain.