📊 Indonesia, Virginia State, and Reddit

Strong earthquake, another mass shooting, and S&P 500 addition.

Aug 15, 2026

Greetings! Happy National Relaxation Day to those celebrating.

Let’s get into today’s top stories.

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🌎 GLOBAL NEWS

🇮🇩 Indonesia earthquake kills at least 47 people. A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Flores region, collapsing buildings and sending coastal residents toward higher ground. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) placed the shallow quake at a depth of 10 kilometers. Its epicenter was 68 kilometers north-northwest of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province. Authorities say at least 47 people were killed and at least 50 were taken to hospitals. Officials warned that the death toll could rise as rescuers reach damaged communities. Indonesia initially issued a tsunami warning before lifting it after monitoring showed no major continuing threat. Smaller tsunamis nevertheless reached several coastal areas. Riung recorded a wave of 1.61 meters that left boats stranded and homes surrounded by mud and debris. Maurole recorded a 0.94-meter wave. The earthquake was followed by at least 235 aftershocks, including one measuring magnitude 6.2. Landslides blocked portions of the Trans-Flores highway and complicated access for rescue crews. Power outages also slowed damage assessments. Disaster chief Suharyanto says at least 157 homes were flattened and nearly 200 more were damaged. More than 100 public facilities, including schools, clinics, and churches, were also destroyed. Roughly 2K residents have moved into shelters. Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where tectonic activity has repeatedly produced catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis. The latest disaster again turns that geography into an immediate human emergency.

🇦🇫 Taliban marks five years in power amid a deepening rights crisis. Taliban leaders gathered at Kabul’s Loya Jirga hall to celebrate five years since retaking Afghanistan. The movement seized Kabul on August 15th, 2021, as American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces withdrew. Officials portrayed their rule as an era of restored security after decades of war. Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi argued that Taliban rule ended chronic bloodshed and outside intervention. Yet no women were present at the anniversary ceremony. Girls older than 12 remain barred from school. Women are also excluded from universities, many jobs, sports, gyms, and parks. Long-distance travel generally requires a male guardian. United Nations special rapporteur Richard Bennett says the system amounts to the crime against humanity of gender persecution. He says arbitrary arrests, torture, extrajudicial killings, and persecution of minorities also continue. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates 2.4M girls have been excluded from secondary education. United Nations Women says Afghan women and girls face the world’s harshest restrictions. The World Food Program says child malnutrition is critical in one-third of Afghanistan’s provinces. International isolation remains severe, with Russia the only country to formally recognize the Taliban government. Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is urging other countries to expand engagement. Five years after the takeover, the Taliban can point to greater battlefield security while the country’s women bear a codified loss of basic rights.

🇺🇸 LOCAL NEWS

Virginia State University Mass Shooting: Several Injured, Multiple Suspects Sought — Source: Associated Press (AP)

🏫 Five people are shot at Virginia State University. Five people were wounded in a shooting outside dormitories at Virginia State University as students prepared for a new academic year. Campus and Chesterfield County police responded near the Quad Annexes shortly before 1:30 a.m. Officers found five people suffering from gunshot wounds. All five were taken to hospitals. One victim is in critical condition. The other four suffered injuries described as non-life-threatening. Police and university officials have not identified the victims. They also have not said whether any of them are students or otherwise connected to the university. Officials say the shooting involved multiple suspects. No arrests had been announced in the initial report. The campus entered lockdown after the gunfire. Authorities lifted that lockdown around 9 a.m. while maintaining a significant law-enforcement presence. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Hanover County Sheriff’s Office joined the investigation. Residence halls had reopened about a week earlier, and classes are scheduled to resume August 17th. Virginia State is a historically Black public university in Ettrick, about 24 miles south of Richmond. It enrolls roughly 5.7K students and was the first fully state-supported four-year college for Black Americans. Former university administrator Arthur Fridrich said the attack casts a shadow over students beginning the new school year. Investigators are now trying to identify the shooters and determine what led to the violence.

🚨 Michigan shootings leave five victims and a suspect dead. A series of shootings in northern Michigan left five people dead before police found the suspected gunman dead as well. Michigan State Police first responded to a home in Missaukee County shortly before noon on August 14th. The county lies about 170 miles northwest of Detroit. Officers found three people dead at the first residence. A fourth person there was critically wounded and taken to a hospital. Police identified 39-year-old Chad Hickman as the suspect. Hickman had fled before officers arrived. Authorities warned residents that he was armed and dangerous. As a large-scale search expanded, officers found a fourth dead victim at another home. Investigators later located Hickman’s vehicle in a wooded area near Whitlock Lake. The discovery redirected the search into the woods. Police then found Hickman dead. A fifth victim was discovered dead near him. Authorities have not publicly detailed the relationships among the victims and suspect. They also have not announced a motive. Lieutenant Ashley Miller called the episode heartbreaking for the community and challenging for investigators. Teams continued processing multiple scenes into the night. The case leaves police reconstructing how one search spread across two homes, a forest, and six deaths.

🗂️ MISC

🏦 Reddit earns a place in the S&P 500. Online forum Reddit ($RDDT) will join the Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500), moving the social platform into America’s most closely tracked stock benchmark. The change takes effect August 18th. Reddit shares surged 12.6% after the announcement. Inclusion is both a prestige marker and a mechanical source of demand. Trillions of dollars are benchmarked to the S&P 500 through mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and other portfolios. Funds designed to replicate the index will therefore need to own Reddit shares. S&P Dow Jones Indices considers factors including market size and consistent profitability when selecting companies. Public companies must also trade for at least 12 months before becoming eligible. Reddit went public in March 2024. The company has reported profits in almost every quarter since its debut. Its latest quarter produced its highest revenue on record. Wall Street expects Reddit’s profits to more than double in 2026 as revenue climbs. The 12-month requirement recently kept SpaceX from being fast-tracked into the benchmark after its June initial public offering. Reddit’s ascent shows how quickly a platform once defined by pseudonymous message boards has matured into a major public-market asset. Index inclusion does not guarantee future performance. It does, however, put Reddit automatically inside millions of investment accounts that track the American large-cap market.

🎥 Colleges are turning content creation into a degree. Arizona State University has launched a bachelor’s degree in content creation through its Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The program treats influencing, podcasting, video, and social media as professional disciplines rather than extracurricular pursuits. Its curriculum overlaps with mass communication and media studies. Specialized electives cover podcasting, studio production, and on-camera performance. The announcement also drew immediate skepticism about whether students need college credentials to build online audiences. Arizona State is not alone. Syracuse University, Quinnipiac University, and Colorado State University offer content-creation minors. St. Bonaventure University announced its own major last winter. Universities are introducing such programs while competing for a shrinking population of traditional students. Cornell University communication professor Brooke Erin Duffy says the shift reflects broader recognition of content creation as legitimate work. That work can include production, audience retention, and business development. It also remains economically unforgiving for many creators. Emarketer analyst Max Willens expects American creator revenue to exceed $20B this year. He cautions that most of that money does not flow directly into creators’ pockets. Phoenix creator Aiesha Beasley says programs can still teach transferable marketing and communications skills. She has worked full-time as a creator for three years after more than a decade of posting online. Colleges are effectively betting that a volatile creator economy can support something much more traditional: a four-year credential.