Iran sanctions, Israeli settler warning and China's space tourism

Hi, I'm Kim Vanelle in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Friday, August 21st. Today, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel warns Israeli settlers they could face travel bands if they break the law. Crypto, AI, and online gambling companies shaped the midterms by funneling hundreds of millions towards those that help their cause. Lawyers for the man accused of killing Tupac say years of his own claims about the murder were exaggerated. And China's space ambitions spark a new type of tourism. This is Reuters World News bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, 7 days a week. The U.S. is preparing what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent calls "the toughest sanctions in history on Iran." Aimed at ending an elite six-month war that's disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, Bessent says the economic pressure should reduce the need for major military action. Iran's calling it "economic terrorism." The U.S. continues to impose a naval blockade and a threatening consequences for any country that helps Iran, which could include potential action against China, which buys most of Iran's oil. Asked about that, Bessent said many conversations were best to have in private. Two ceasefires have already collapsed, and Trump's even threatened to bomb Oman if it gets in the way of U.S. objectives after Oman and Tiffran discussed ways to police the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has issued a warning to Israeli settlers threatening to take Palestinian homes in the West Bank community of Kusra. The U.S. could impose not only a ban of travel to the U.S. but could be sanctions. A long time supporter of Israeli settlements, Huckabee, who is also a Baptist minister, also invoked the Bible. "Let's go to the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt not steal." He's called the perpetrators "Israeli terrorists." Our senior reporter, Alex Cornwall, asked Huckabee about U.S. reaction to the ongoing hostilities in Kusra. There's been a lot of international attention on this village over the past 10 days or so. In those homes where actually at one point had the electricity and water cut off, and the roads leading to it were also blocked by the settlers. Now, I sat down with U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee. Throughout his career, he's been a staunch supporter of the State of Israel, of the government of Israel, and also of Israeli settlements. So his criticism is really pointed and that he's coming out here and telling the settlers that to essentially stay away at the very least from the Palestinian-American homes in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is yet to comment publicly at all on what's taken place in Kusra. However, some Israeli officials, settler leaders even have condemned the actions of the settlers. With the U.S. midterms fast approaching, a new group of political king-makers is emerging. Crypto companies, AI firms and online betting businesses are helping fuel record corporate spending on congressional races. Critics say they could give them outsized influence in Washington, while supporters say they're just doing what Wall Street and Big Oil have always done. Finance editor Dawn Copicke says it's worth noting however that there is now a different playbook. These industries aren't backing one party or another, they're aligning along policy issues and it's been incredibly effective in helping to build coalitions in Congress later on. And so you saw Congress spend a lot of time debating the Clarity Act, which was a pro crypto bill just this month, and a lot of that has come from their allies in Congress. So you see them getting bipartisan support in Congress to advance these issues, whereas maybe five years ago they wouldn't have even made it to the floor. And the power of some of these groups is already impacting what happens in Congress. Political strategists from both parties say that some candidates are running scared because they don't want fair shake, the crypto pack to come after them. They don't want the open AI linked pack leading the future to come after them. They don't want the pack or the nonprofit groups that anthropic executives and anthropic is funding because it's tens of millions of dollars. They're spending so much money on these niche issues that according to campaign finance activists, Congress isn't willing to debate the pocketbook issues that consumers really care about. The FBI has raided former Democratic representative Eric Swalwell's Washington DC home as part of an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against him. They also seized electronic devices at the San Francisco Airport. A prominent Trump critic, Swalwell resigned from Congress and ended his California governor campaign earlier this year after multiple women accused him of misconduct. He denies the allegations but has apologized for what he called 'mistakes in judgment'. Walmart says it's missed its sales targets this quarter because of consumer belt tightening and high gas prices. The retail giant has rolled back prices on some 11,000 items. Thanks in part to nearly $3 billion it got in tariff refunds and says that will turn into higher sales later this year. It's a rare stumble for retailer which has a reputation for consistently exceeding sales expectations. Consumer reporter Nicholas Brown has more. Walmart's been gaining not just among the sort of price conscious lower income consumers. It's been gaining among high income consumers as well and it continued to do well among that cohort. But it wasn't enough. And Walmart, the retailer of record that usually reaps the benefits of those kinds of tough moments, couldn't quite weather this one. And that's not to say they won't bounce back. In fact, most of Wall Street thinks they probably will. But the fact that this happened at all, it's making people think, boy, consumers are really strapped right now, maybe to even a greater extent than we thought. For more markets news, you can listen to Reuters Daily Market's podcast Morning Bid, wherever you get your podcasts. Now to the Tupac Shakur murder trial, where the lawyer for the defense is trying to explain away years of his defendant's own words. Dwayne Keefe de Davis spent years discussing Tupac's killing and interviews, documentaries, and a memoir that appeared to place him at the centre of the crime. Now his lawyer says those accounts were exaggerated and argues prosecutors can't prove Davis orchestrated the murder. Now legal reporter Jack Queen looks at the gamble behind that strategy. The strategy is very unusual, but it's not totally unheard of. And in fact, it's most common in cases involving gang defendants and also rappers who are confronted with incriminating lyrics where they talk about killing people and things like that. And so the argument tends to go, this is just tall talk, this is posting, it's art, it's not real. He wasn't describing true events. And so that's typically where you see it most. But here it's kind of different again, because this is a book that you wrote. These are multiple interviews that he did where he tells his story. And now he faces the task of going towards jury and convincing them that he was lying then, but now he's telling the truth. There's not a whole lot of evidence aside what this man has said. And so really it's going to be a question of whether or not jurors find incredible for the most part. Australia's mushroom murder case is back in court. Judges have heard an appeal from Aaron Patterson, who was convicted of murdering three relatives with a beef Wellington containing deadly death-cat mushrooms. The 51-year-old was sentenced to life in prison with a 33-year non-parallel period. The legal team says trial errors may have prejudiced the verdict. Prosecutors have rejected the complaints and instead argue in a separate appeal that Patterson's sentence is inadequate. And finally today, as a new space race gathers momentum, China's space program is becoming a mass cultural phenomenon. In Wencheng City, huge crowds gathered on the beach to watch an unmanned rocket launch. The crowds screaming as the sky lit up, people apparently unaware at the time at least that the rocket had turned into a ball of fire midair. But accidents aren't dampening excitement, which is being capitalized on at the Wulanhada Volcano Geological Park, where entrepreneur Tumus has started a business renting spacesuits so tourists can pose amidst the Mars-like landscape. Showing that as China's space ambitions grow, it's increasingly shaping life back on Earth. For more on any of the stories from today, as well as more analysis about the news shaping our world, check out roises.com or the roises app. There's a link in the description to download it and start getting pure news straight from the source. Don't forget to follow us. on your favourite podcast player if you're listening on a smart speaker. Just ask for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.