{"id":66848,"date":"2026-08-21T14:08:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T18:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/walmart-adopts-google-pay-as-global-tensions-rise-and-space-milestones-honored\/66848\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T14:08:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T18:08:17","slug":"walmart-adopts-google-pay-as-global-tensions-rise-and-space-milestones-honored","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/walmart-adopts-google-pay-as-global-tensions-rise-and-space-milestones-honored\/66848\/","title":{"rendered":"Walmart Adopts Google Pay as Global Tensions Rise and Space Milestones Honored"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Walmart (<a href=\"\/stock\/WMT\">WMT<\/a>)<\/strong> has officially ended its decade-long holdout against NFC technology, announcing that <strong>Tap to Pay with Google Pay<\/strong> will begin rolling out to select U.S. stores on <strong>August 24, 2026<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>A devastating <strong>Russian &quot;double-tap&quot; drone strike<\/strong> on a shopping mall in <strong>Kryvyi Rih<\/strong>, Ukraine, has killed at least <strong>14 people<\/strong> and injured over <strong>120<\/strong>, drawing a vow of retaliation from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Iran and Iraq<\/strong> have reportedly signed a &quot;comprehensive&quot; security pact via state media, aimed at border stabilization and disarming militias as regional tensions with the U.S. persist.<\/li>\n<li>President <strong>Donald Trump<\/strong> is scheduled to award the <strong>Congressional Space Medal of Honor<\/strong> to the <strong>Artemis II<\/strong> crew on August 28 at NASA&#39;s Johnson Space Center in Houston.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Walmart Surrenders in &quot;Tap to Pay&quot; War<\/h2>\n<p>Retail giant <strong>Walmart (<a href=\"\/stock\/WMT\">WMT<\/a>)<\/strong> announced on Friday that it will finally support contactless <strong>NFC payments<\/strong>, including <strong>Google Pay (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>)<\/strong>, at its checkout terminals. The rollout is scheduled to begin this Monday, <strong>August 24<\/strong>, at select locations, with a nationwide expansion to all U.S. stores and <strong>Sam\u2019s Club<\/strong> warehouses expected by the end of <strong>2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>This move marks a significant strategic shift for the world&#39;s largest retailer, which had previously forced customers to use its proprietary, QR-code-based <strong>Walmart Pay<\/strong> app. The company also confirmed that contactless support will extend to its fuel stations by <strong>mid-2027<\/strong>, allowing customers to use smartwatches, phones, and contactless cards for all transactions.<\/p>\n<h2>Fatal Drone Attack on Ukrainian Shopping Centre<\/h2>\n<p>In a major escalation of aerial warfare, Russian drones targeted a crowded shopping mall in <strong>Kryvyi Rih<\/strong>, the hometown of President <strong>Volodymyr Zelenskiy<\/strong>. The attack utilized a &quot;double-tap&quot; tactic, where a second strike hit the location roughly 30 minutes after the first to target emergency responders.<\/p>\n<p>President Zelenskiy condemned the act as &quot;absolutely cynical and despicable,&quot; confirming that <strong>22 children<\/strong> were among the injured. He stated that Ukraine &quot;will definitely respond&quot; to the strike, which occurred as the war approaches its 4.5-year mark and follows a series of heavy ballistic missile attacks on the capital, <strong>Kyiv<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>Iran and Iraq Formalize Security Alliance<\/h2>\n<p>Tehran and Baghdad have signed a comprehensive security pact, according to Iranian state television. The agreement focuses on securing the <strong>1,450-kilometer border<\/strong> and addresses the presence of armed groups that have long been a source of friction between the two nations and the <strong>United States<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The pact comes at a critical time as Iraq faces a <strong>September 30 deadline<\/strong> to disarm Iran-backed militias, a condition previously discussed with the Trump administration. Iranian officials characterized the deal as a move toward regional &quot;economic resilience&quot; in the face of what they termed &quot;unjust&quot; financial sanctions from the U.S. Treasury.<\/p>\n<h2>Trump to Honor Artemis II Moon Crew<\/h2>\n<p>NASA (<a href=\"\/stock\/NASA\">NASA<\/a>) announced that President <strong>Donald Trump<\/strong> will present the <strong>Congressional Space Medal of Honor<\/strong> to the four astronauts of the <strong>Artemis II<\/strong> mission on <strong>August 28, 2026<\/strong>. The ceremony will take place at the <strong>Johnson Space Center<\/strong> in Houston, recognizing the crew&#39;s historic 10-day journey around the Moon completed in April.<\/p>\n<p>The crew\u2014consisting of NASA&#39;s <strong>Reid Wiseman<\/strong>, <strong>Victor Glover<\/strong>, <strong>Christina Koch<\/strong>, and the CSA&#39;s <strong>Jeremy Hansen<\/strong>\u2014were the first humans to travel beyond the Moon in over 50 years. This award is the highest honor for astronauts; only 30 individuals have received it since its inception in 1969.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Walmart (WMT) has officially ended its decade-long holdout against NFC technology, announcing that Tap to Pay with Google [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[6063,277,6841,3768,17498,4335,21829,4664,4672,4824,5042,5196,5446],"class_list":["post-66848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-walmart","tag-wmt","tag-nasa","tag-googl","tag-artemis-ii","tag-donald-trump","tag-contactless-payments","tag-iran","tag-google","tag-geopolitics","tag-ukraine","tag-russia","tag-iraq"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}