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Donald Trump hosted an Ultimate Fighting Championship on the White House lawn Sunday night. During the broadcast, commentators promoted the Trump family's cryptocurrency platform World Liberty Financial. The platform has invested billions of dollars into Trump's social media company. Trump invested in the UFC's parent company this year.
Kratom advocates fought a successful campaign against a proposed DEA ban a decade ago. Now they are calling for a ban on products containing 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), an extract with opioid-like effects. 7-OH is sold in gummies, capsules, and shots with brand names Magic 7OH, 7 O’Heaven, and Pure OHMS. RFK Jr. and Department of Homeland Security secretary Markwayne Mullin have ties to a kratom lobbyist behind a notorious kratom drinks company.
Shi Ping is a member of Japan’s House of Councillors. Recently, he met with Miles Yu, director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute. Both men are natives of Sichuan Province and have been sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party. Shi is known for his anti-CCP stance and has repeatedly criticized Beijing over issues involving Taiwan, the Nanjing Massacre, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong.
Since sweeping import duties were introduced in early 2025, construction has absorbed sharpest input cost increases in a generation. Steel and aluminum face a staggering 50% tariffs, copper at an all-time high, and lumber from Canada at 45%. As of April 2026, current tariff rates are estimated to have increased construction materials costs by 6%, with total project costs rising 3%. Residential projects have taken the worst hit, with tariffs adding $17,500 to the cost of a new home. Commercial construction, already softened by tighter lending, saw significant project abandonment and delays through 2025. The same tariff policy designed to incentivize domestic production is making the factories themselves more expensive to build. Preconst
Tibetan Plateau is the source of most of Asia's major rivers, including the Yellow, Yangtze, Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra), Lancang (Mekong) and Grand Canyon (Grand Canyon) rivers. China is trying to tap the region's vast potential for generating hydropower. The Motuo megadam project on the Yarlng Tsang Po River is estimated to cost up to $168 billion. It will be completed in less than a decade and will be three times the output of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtse River. The project comes with risks for both people in Tibet and people
GPS data is revealing the relationships, resources, conflict zones, knowledge hubs, borders and landmarks that give all creatures a sense of place. Martin Wikelski is scaling up GPS tracking, aiming to follow potentially millions of animals worldwide. His international initiative, ICARUS, uses tiny tags and powerful receivers installed on shoebox-sized satellites called CubeSats.
According to a report published by the European Central Bank, Gold has overtaken U.S. government bonds to become the world’s leading reserve asset, accounting for 27% of all global central bank reserve assets with a value of more than $4 trillion. CME Lithium Futures are up 86% year-to-date and trading above $20,000 per metric ton. Rare Earths have gained more than 17%, Copper is up 28%, Aluminium has surged over 41%, and Uranium has advanced 22%.
President Donald Trump’s tentative Iran framework has its own Mexican standoff: Washington wants the Strait of Hormuz reopened, Tehran wants relief, and Moscow wants the crisis to keep making Russia useful. For Vladimir Putin, the result is good for his theory of power, bad for his balance sheet, and ugly for his long-term leverage.
Three young people, identified as members of the Jewish community, took a tarp from a searching mother during the celebrations for Mexico's victory on the same day of the opening of the World Cup. The tarp contained the faces of the missing children. They used it as an umbrella and mocked the mother, who is searching for her missing children, who are still missing.
The Republican People’s Party (CHP) is facing a deepening internal crisis. Supporters of former party leader Özgür Özel are preparing contingency plans that could include launching a new political party. The dispute follows a court ruling that effectively restored former CHP Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to the party leadership.
Jailhouse lawyers in South Central Correctional Facility in Tennessee are being flooded with requests for legal help. This is due to the rise of artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT and the use of AI-powered search engines. People in prison can't afford a lawyer, so if they want to get back in court they need to do the legal work themselves.
18% of general college students use AI for mental health, but students battling depression, intense anxiety, or active suicidality have a two-fold higher likelihood of using these unregulated systems. The most vulnerable individuals are outsourcing critical emotional regulation and crisis management to automated, general-purpose algorithms that lack human oversight or institutional accountability. Asian students have twice the odds of using artificial intelligence as their peers.
Washington and Tehran have signed an agreement with two pillars: reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ensuring the Islamic Republic cannot develop a nuclear weapon. The details of the agreement are yet to be publicized. Washington's failure to publicize the deal means many Iranians are hearing only the regime's side of the story. Janatan Sayeh, born and raised in Tehran, is the Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Russia has incorporated technology from North Korean ballistic missiles into weapons systems it is using against Ukraine, according to Kyiv. Moscow has failed to establish its own mass production of complex electronic components and has to rely on "electronics of North Korean and Western origin," according to the Ukrainian military.
The Palestinian economy in the West Bank is teetering on the edge of collapse due to restrictions imposed by Israel. The International Crisis Group says Israel restricts movement, withholds revenue and takes land. Israel took control of West Bank from Jordan during the Six Day War in 1967. Israel revoked work permits for most of the nearly 200,000 Palestinians who had worked there previously, depriving the Palestinian economy of $400 million a month.
The survival rate for children with cancer has fallen to 65% from 85% before the U.S. energy restrictions began in January. 100,000 children younger than 7 are no longer receiving the daily liter of milk provided by the state. The immunization program for infants is "at risk" and 100,00 Cubans are on waiting lists for surgery. 300 of 395 essential medicines produced on the island are unavailable due to a lack of chemical components.
The Federal Data Center Enhancement Act (FDCEA) is set to expire this fall. Neither Congress nor the Trump administration is making any significant moves to protect or extend the law. Data centers have become a hot-button issue in recent months as the tech industry goes all in on artificial intelligence and the infrastructure needed to power it.
The conflict in the Middle East has pushed up the overall cost of living. More than 70 million Americans rely on Social Security. The annual benefit increases are tied directly to inflation. The 2027 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) will be 4.2 percent. The increase won't take effect until next year.
America's data centers consumed more electricity last year than Ohio uses in a year. The PJM grid, which covers 13 states and Washington, D.C., is at risk of supply shortages. To meet demand, America’s tech giants are turning to nuclear power, striking deals for steady, carbon-free electricity in what experts are calling a “nuclear renaissance” Microsoft and OpenAI have agreements to open power centers in Ohio. Google signed a corporate agreement with Kairos Power to purchase energy from a fleet of advanced SMRs. Amazon expanded its partnership agreement with Talen through 2042.
The U.S.-Iran agreement aimed at ending the conflict in and around the Strait of Hormuz remains unclear. Maritime security advisories issued Monday indicated that restrictions remain in place. BIMCO urges shipowners to continue conducting thorough risk assessments and called on all parties to prioritize the safety of seafarers.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art changed its name to the Philadelphia Art Museum. The new name was met with derision. The director was fired and the institution was left with a reported $6 million deficit. The sector has a hesitancy about rebranding its institutions.
Iran and the United States reached an interim deal over the conflict in Lebanon. It includes opening the Strait of Hormuz and extending a shaky ceasefire. Israel bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday. Israel joined the US in launching the war on Feb. 28. Iran's deputy foreign minister confirmed the agreement on state television but said Iran would not start implementing it until it was signed Friday.
Microsoft is considering ending its clean energy goal in Virginia. The company is planning to build data centers in Mecklenburg and Prince William counties, which would more than triple the company’s statewide employee count to 2,042 by the end of the year. The Virginia Clean Economy Act's goal to decarbonize the state's grid by mid-century is in question.
A new study produced the first global index of macroplastic pollution by type. Food packaging, caps and lids, and plastic bottles are the most common plastic pollutants littering the world’s coastlines. Plastic pollution harms marine life and disrupts ecological services provided by coastal ecosystems like mangroves, coral reefs and seagrass. The United Nations global plastics treaty talks have stalled repeatedly.
Conservationists prevailed in the latest phase of a long-running environmental suit over oil leasing decisions on imperiled sage grouse habitat. A federal judge in Montana vacated the bulk of the challenged lease sales. The Bureau of Land Management violated federal land policy when it neglected to consider sage grouss habitat priorities, the court found.
In a study, a large language model (LLM) learned to exploit loopholes in everything from credit card rewards programs to school funding formulas despite never being instructed to do so. Current safeguards seem powerless against such wily rule bending. Jakob Stenseke, a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studies how to design and train ethical AI systems.
On June 9, the 34th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Georgia and China were upgraded to a "comprehensive strategic partnership". China has established over 80 strategic partnerships globally. Georgia's original 2023 agreement represented the lowest rung of this ladder. Chinese FDI in Georgia fell from $98 million in 2023 to just $29 million in 2024. China did not break into Georgia’s top 10 sources of foreign direct investment. China does not appear in Georgia's top five export markets.
The China New Employment Forms Research Center, a semi-official think tank, recently published its 2025 China Blue-Collar Employment Research Report. The report documents changes in China’s blue-collar labor market from 2024 to 2025. Flexible employment, the official euphemism for gig work and informal labor arrangements, rose to 280 million in 2025, and is projected to reach 320 million in 2026. Formal employment fell by nearly 50 million in a single year, the steepest one-year drop in at least a decade.
Jennifer Kucera has spinal muscular atrophy and needs around-the-clock care from Medicaid-funded providers to help her bathe, dress, and otherwise navigate her life. The nursing home where she got scabies, was punched in the face, and sexually assaulted is just three blocks away from her current home in Berea, Ohio. She spent three years in that nursing home and doesn't intend to go back.
The CFTC and New Mexico are clashing over who gets to police prediction markets. The outcome of the case could shape how prediction markets operate across the United States. New Mexico argues that Kalshi-style event contracts raise gaming-law and consumer-protection concerns. The CFTC is pushing back with a federal oversight argument.
A pregnant woman in Gila County, Arizona, was diagnosed with syphilis. She needed an injection of penicillin 30 days before delivery. Pfizer confirmed receipt of the request on March 27, but the medication didn't arrive until April 7. The woman had already delivered.
CVS Health/Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealth Group deny requests for specialized post-hospital care at high rates. More than half of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, which are run by private insurers rather than the federal government. The plans often mandate prior authorization before patients can receive certain treatments. 95 percent of denials were overturned on appeal.
The US-Iran peace deal will be signed on Friday in Switzerland. It is intended to end more than three months of war in the Gulf, halt the US blockade of Iran and reopen one of the world's most important oil chokepoints. Strait of Hormuz carried about 20 million barrels per day of oil in 2024, equivalent to 20 per cent of global petroleum liquids consumption.