NewsBrevity & Co. — August 15, 2026

In this briefing: • Magnitude 7.7 Earthquake Strikes Off Indonesia's Coast, Killing at Least 38 • Israeli Airstrike on Southern Lebanon Kills 7 People, State Media Reports • Iran Defiant on Strait as Trump Tells Americans to Accept High Gas Prices • Trump Says U.S. Will Declare Strait of Hormuz ‘U.S. Territory’ — ‘After We Finish Defeating Iran’ • Major Market Indicator Flashing Red as Iran War Casts Shadow Over Economy • Republicans Worry Their Chances of Keeping Congress Are Slipping Away. Inside the Trump Campaign Plan to Change That • Franklin Graham Slams ‘Evil’ Massachusetts Abortion Law: ‘This Sends a Chill up My Spine’ • Russia’s Economy Has Defied the Skeptics. Cracks Are Getting Harder to Hide • OpenAI Upheaval Mounts as Sam Altman Readies IPO Push • College Loses Its Monopoly on the American Dream • Trump Turns Beloved Rubio Meme Into Birthday Gift • ‘Boxes and Boxes’ of McDonald’s on Trump Plane, RFK Jr. Says • As China Pushes to Expand in Asia, Trump Focuses on Iran • Trump, Hegseth Deny Concerns of Poor Conditions, Low Morale Reported Aboard USS Abraham Lincoln • Trump Asks US Supreme Court to Allow White House Ballroom Construction to Continue • Construction Workers Find $10 Million Gold Stash in Renovations