Breaking Trade News: U.S. Delays 10% Tariffs on Some Chinese Imports Including Phones Until December (Bloomberg)

America’s Ballooning Deficit: U.S. Budget Deficit Already Exceeds Last Year’s Total Figure (Bloomberg)
Republican tax cuts, increased federal spending and an aging population have contributed to the fiscal strains.

Hong Kong Airport Cancels Flight Check-Ins for 2nd Day as Leader Carrie Lam Warns City Risks Sliding Toward ‘Abyss’ (Bloomberg)
“It would take a very long time to restore Hong Kong,” Lam said, choking up. “I again call on everyone to set aside prejudice, and be calm to look at the city, our home — do we really want to push it into the abyss?”

2020 Watch: Bullish on Gun Control, Democrats Compete Over Who Can Sell It Best (New York Times)
Nowhere was the power of the gun safety movement — and new financing behind it — more evident than Saturday in Des Moines, where 16 presidential candidates appeared at a gun violence forum organized in less than a week by Everytown for Gun Safety, the gun control organization financed primarily by Michael R. Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor.

“I have to tell you, it says a lot about how much you’ve accomplished that so many presidential candidates are here today,” Mr. Bloomberg told a crowd of local activists and gun violence survivors who were bused and flown in for the event. “The big reason for the historic unity in the Democratic Party on guns, and the reason this historic gathering has come together, is that we built a grass-roots army with six million supporters.”

Fair Elections: Stacey Abrams’s Fight for a Fair Vote (The New Yorker)
As the 2020 elections approach, Abrams is leading the battle against voter suppression.

Protest by Kentucky Coal Miners Is Now Entering Its Third Week over Wage Complaints (Time)

Poll: Support for Allowing Border Refugees Into the U.S. Edges Up from 51% to 57% (Gallup)

Trade Today.

Brexit Latest: U.S. Offers U.K. Quick Sector-by-Sector Post-Brexit Trade Deals (Bloomberg)

Agriculture Today: ‘Trump is Ruining our Markets’: Struggling Farmers are Losing Huge Customer to Trade War — China (CNBC)

Today in Financial News.

Why the Good Times are Unlikely to Last for Exchange Groups (Financial Times)
Risks are rising due to the steady accumulation of assets across the trading spectrum.

Oops on ESG: Vanguard Put Gun Stocks in a Gun-Free Fund After Index Error (Bloomberg)

Headlines from around the world.

As Putin’s Popularity and the Economy Dip, Protests Pop Up Across Russia (Bloomberg)

Arms Race: Kremlin Says Russia’s Far Ahead of U.S. in Developing New Nuclear-Powered Missiles (Bloomberg)

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Seen by Public as ‘Selling Out’ to China, Deputy Says (Bloomberg)

Not Again! Fears of Argentina Default Loom Large as Traders Dump Everything (Bloomberg)
Argentina is once again on the cusp of a full-blown financial crisis as the Peso drops to a record and stocks plunge.

Arts section.

Last Chance at The Shed: How ‘Flexn’ Dance Style Stretches Limits of Self-Expression (PBS NewsHour)
Maze at The Shed runs through Saturday, August 17. In a word: Go.

Best of late night.

On calls for a boycott against Equinox and SoulCycle:

“That’s right. Some people are torn, but many people say, that if this fundraiser happens. They’re out. And you know what? I’m joining them. In fact, I haven’t gone to the gym in the last three months in preparation for this precise moment.”
— Trevor Noah

“Today was National Middle Child Day! And you could tell it was National Middle Child Day, because everyone forgot about it.”
— Jimmy Fallon

On protesters in Hong Kong swarming the airport:

“Damn, that airport must be crazy. Yet somehow, still better than LaGuardia.”
— Trevor Noah