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9 Underage Girls Sexually Abused By Syrians At Swimming Pool, Mayor Points To 'Hot Weather'

9 Underage Girls Sexually Abused By Syrians At Swimming Pool, Mayor Points To 'Hot Weather'

Via Remix News,

After underage girls were sexually assaulted in the Barbarossabad swimming pool in Gelnhausen, the CDU mayor of the area pointed out that “hot weather” makes tempers “fray.”

However, local Mayor Christian Litzinge (CDU) appeared to allude that the weather is at least partly to blame for the incident.

In a statement to Welt, he said: “Of course, it’s always high temperatures, and sometimes tempers are frayed.”

In a separate interview with Bild, he said, “We have zero tolerance for that.”

As Remix News previously reported, the first group of girls were groped and molested by the group of Syrians, but when they complained to a lifeguard, he took no action.

“Since we couldn’t see exactly what had happened, we sent the girls back into the water,” pool manager Nils Tischer explained to Hessischer Rundfunk.

It was only after more girls made a complaint from separate groups that the police were called.

In total, at least nine girls came forward, ranging in age from 11 to 17.

The girls told authorities that the four Syrians, aged 18 to 28, groped them in the lazy river, feeling them all over their bodies, including their genitals. A fifth suspect managed to escape, and police are still looking for him.

According to Mayor Christian Litzinger (CDU), all four suspects are from the same family in the Main-Kinzig district.

They were all arrested and charged, in addition to receiving a ban from the outdoor pool.

Alice Weidel, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader, also posted about the incident on social media, calling for “immediate deportations” in the case.

Attempts to downplay the problems in German swimming pools

Litzinger’s comments echo some other “excuses” offered for sexual violence and assaults from migrants at Germany’s once peaceful swimming pools. An article in 2023 from Zeit attempted to claim that much of the violence and sexual assaults were due to rising French fry prices.

At the time, Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), criticized the claim.

“Zeit blames ‘French fry prices’ for violence and sexual assaults in outdoor pools, ZDF claims an interplay of heat and the meeting of many people, Deutschlandfunk writes about too high ‘expectations’ that cannot be met. The degree to which the media trivializes migration problems no longer knows any limits,” wrote Alice Weidel, parliamentary leader of the AfD party.

Just a week before that statement, the actual workers at the swimming pools offered an entirely different reason for the increasing violence. Employees of the Columbiabad outdoor swimming complex in Berlin penned a letter to the Der Tagesspiegel newspaper complaining about perpetrators they describe as “mainly Arab migrants and Chechens” who are engaging in the sexual harassment of women and mass brawls on the premises, while also leaving the complexes in disgusting conditions. As a result, the entire pool was shut down for an indefinite period of time due to workers calling out sick from stress.

Remix News has long reported on the growing crime trend in German swimming pools, including mass brawls and sexual assaults, as well as attacks on police, security officials and even lifeguards working at the pools.

In 2022, Remix News covered how the president of the Federal Association of German Swimming Champions (BDS), Peter Harzheim, said he can no longer recommend that families visit such facilities on weekends. Harzheim claimed he would be “acting irresponsibly” if he attended an outdoor pool with his own three grandchildren due to violence and assaults, which the Remix News article details.

Some individuals have been seriously injured. Last year, for example, a woman had her nose broken when she was caught in the middle of a mass brawl involving foreigners.

In 2023, Welt released a popular video documentary detailing how “macho culture” from migrants was turning the swimming pools in Germany upside down.

Columbiadamm swimming pool in the multicultural neighborhood of Neukölln, Berlin, was closed down due to over 40 warring youths. Welt lays the blame squarely at the feet of “macho culture” from immigrant youth. In Pankow, a swimming pool had to be shut down twice in one week due to mass brawls between young people.

In the German city of Celle, 20 “rampaging youth” attacked swimmers and sexually assaulted them, including beating one female who rejected their advances. When lifeguards attempted to stop them, they threatened them as well. As a result, the entire swimming pool was shut down.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/30/2025 - 09:25

Futures Push Higher Into Record Territory Amid Trade Talk Progress

Futures Push Higher Into Record Territory Amid Trade Talk Progress

S&P 500 futures pushed deeper into record territory as progress in trade negotiations aids sentiment following Friday’s record high close for cash index, the first since February. As of 8:00am ET,  S&P futures are up 0.4% on positive trade headlines, including US/Canada, US/EU, US/India, and US/Taiwan (on Friday, the US/Canada flare up limited gains late in the session, with Canada reversing just two days later and agreeing to withdrew its digital services tax on US tech companies to restart talks). Nasdaq futures gain 0.6% amid a continued meltup in AI names and the most shorted basket; tech stocks lead in premarket trading, with Mag7/semis producing early strength, banks higher on de-reg, with Industrials also pushing Cyclicals over Defensives. Major European markets are all lower with France leading and Spain lagging, while the Asian session saw Japan leading and HK lagging given weakness in HSTECH. Besides the Canadian U-turn, French Finance Minister Lombard said hes optimistic about securing a EU/US trade deal before the July 9th deadline; India’s trade team extended their stay in the US to work on a deal. Outside of trade, focus for the week will be on quarter-end today, Powell speaking and ISM Manf on Tuesday and Payrolls on Thursday, along with negotiations over Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Yields are lower with the very front-end selling off while 10Y yields are down 2bps to 4.25%. Month-end bond index rebalancing at 4pm New York time has potential to drive buying by passive investors. The USD starts the week lower. Commodities are mixed with Energy weaker, precious higher, and Ags mixed. Today’s macro data focus is Chicago PMIs (9:45am), Dallas Fed Manf (10:30am), Fed’s Bostic (10am), Goolsbee (1pm); markets await jobs data over the next 3 sessions.

In premarket trading, Tesla is the only stock among Magnificent 7 companies falling, down 0.8%, as President Trump’s landmark budget bill passed a key senate hurdle over the weekend. The bill cuts electric vehicle and other clean energy credits. Other Mag7 names are all higher (Amazon +0.6%, Meta +1.9%, Apple +0.8%, Nvidia +0.7%, Alphabet +1.2%, Microsoft +0.6%). 

  • Circle Internet Group (CRCL) falls 4% after JPMorgan — a lead in its successful IPO this month — starts coverage with an underweight recommendation due a valuation pushed beyond the broker’s “comfort zone.”
  • Disney (DIS) climbs 2% after Jefferies upgraded it’s rating to buy, with the broker now seeing limited risk for a slowdown for its key parks division in 2H 2025.
  • Goldman Sachs Group (GS) rises about 2%, gaining with other US banks after the industry’s biggest names comfortably cleared the Federal Reserve’s annual stress test late Friday, setting the stage for lenders to boost buybacks and dividends for shareholders. Wells Fargo (WFC) +2%; Bank of America (BAC) +1%
  • Juniper Networks (JNPR) gains 8.4% and HP Enterprise (HPE) rises 8% after the Justice Department settled its lawsuit challenging Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $13 billion takeover of Juniper Networks, less than two weeks before a trial was set to start, clearing a key hurdle for the takeover.
  • Moderna Inc. (MRNA) climbs 5% after saying its experimental flu shot met its goal in a late-stage trial, clearing the path for its broader strategy of selling combination vaccines.

The de-escalation in the conflict between Israel and Iran, combined with data highlighting the US economy’s resilience, propelled the S&P 500 to a record high last week, marking a stunning rebound from April’s tariff-induced rout. Subdued inflation is also strengthening market expectations for interest-rate cuts, even as the Federal Reserve maintains a cautious stance.

Sure enough, US futures continue to climb on positive trade developments ahead of the July 9th deadline; Canada withdrew digital service tax on tech firms to restart talks w/ US, France’s finance minister said EU can reach some form of agreement before July 9th deadline, India’s team extended their stay in the US to work on a deal, Taiwan noted constructive progress, although Japan talks reportedly stalled over auto tariffs.  With Trump’s July 9 trade deadline fast approaching, officials say negotiations with major partners such as China and the European Union are making progress. Talks with Canada are back on track after the country withdrew a digital services tax, while India’s trade team extended their stay in Washington to iron out differences.

“There is room for further investments in stocks. However, let us not forget that the tariffs will bring a stagflation risk on the US economy,” said Fabien Benchetrit, head of target allocation for France and southern Europe at BNP Paribas Asset Management. “Looking at all the positioning indicators at my disposal, I can not exclude a melt-up.”

Elsewhere, Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act starts a Senate debate/vote this morning with the goal still for a passage by July 4th, after passing a key procedural block by a narrow margin over the weekend. Negotiations are continuing as Republicans seek to convince holdouts to support it for final passage. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the measure would add nearly $3.3 trillion to US deficits over a decade, weighing on the greenback.

Momentum trades persisted not only in stonks, but also in FX, and the dollar resumed its decline, falling as much as 0.4% against a basket of currencies to trade near three-year lows. The Bloomberg dollar index is down almost 9% for the year, its worst first half since the gauge’s inception in 2005.

“The US dollar remains under cyclical downward pressure, driven by ongoing uncertainties surrounding US fiscal and trade policies,” noted Lloyd Chan, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. “One key driver that could further hurt the US dollar is the potential surge in fiscal debt stemming from President Trump’s one big beautiful bill.”

In Asia, the Taiwan dollar plunged more than 2% against the greenback. The sudden move in late trading followed a pattern seen on Friday, fueling speculation the central bank intervened to curb strength in the currency.

Investors are looking to upcoming data, including the monthly payrolls report, to assess the strength of the economy and the outlook for interest rates, with swap traders pricing in at least two quarter-points of Fed easing this year. The employment data “will be watched closely for any signs that the US economy is reaccelerating or slowing more than anticipated,” said Daniel Murray, chief executive officer of EFG Asset Management. “If the latter, then the Fed would be expected to cut rates earlier, although it would be more concerning from the corporate side of things.”
 
European stocks erase early gains as the Stoxx 600 declines 0.2% with auto, bank and mining shares leading the broader market lower. Here are the most notable movers: 

  • Serica Energy shares jump as much as 7.9% as it prepares to restart production on the Triton floating production, storage and offloading vessel in the UK North Sea after completing work on the project.
  • Kardex shares rise as much as 8% to trade at their highest level in over four months after being upgraded by Kepler Cheuvreux.
  • Real estate gains, and is the best-performing sector in Europe, as Deutsche Bank upgrades several names and says it favors commercial real estate over residential.
  • STMicroelectronics and Infineon shares gain as both stocks are placed on positive catalyst watch at JPMorgan.
  • Renewable energy stocks including Vestas and Orsted drop as the Senate’s latest version of President Donald Trump’s spending package looks to phase out key tax incentives for US wind and solar projects more aggressively.
  • Forbo shares drop as much as 5.2%, the most in over six weeks, after announcing its Chief Financial Officer and interim Chief Executive Andreas Jaeger will be leaving the floor covering and adhesive manufacturer in the fourth quarter of 2025.
  • Croda shares drop as much as 4.3% on Monday after Kepler Cheuvreux initiated coverage of the UK-based chemicals supplier with a reduce recommendation.
  • Galderma shares fall as much as 4.5%, the most in over two months, as UBS cut the stock to neutral from buy following its recent strong performance. Broker sees limited upside ahead.
  • Man Group shares fall as much as 3.6%, the most since mid-April, after Peel Hunt downgrades the investment management firm’s stock to add from buy, citing the performance of its AHL funds in the current market environment.
  • WH Smith shares drop as much as 8.3%, the most in 14 months, after the retailer completed the sale of its high street business, but under revised terms that will see lower gross proceeds flow into its accounts.
  • TT Electronics shares drop as much as 7.7%, pulling back from a six-month high, after the electronics company reported a drop in sales during the first five months of the year ahead of its annual general meeting later today.

Earlier in the session, Asian stocks edged lower, reversing early gains, as losses widened in Hong Kong and Taiwan in late trading. Tech shares weighed on the regional benchmark after making advances last week. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index erased an increase of as much as 0.4% to trade 0.2% lower, with TSMC, Tencent and Alibaba the biggest drags. Gauges in India and the Philippines also fall, while those in Japan, South Korea and Australia closed higher. Tech firms listed in Hong Kong mostly traded lower as investors took some money off the table ahead of a deadline for trade talks with the US next week. Shares fell more than 1% in Taiwan amid equity outflows and as the local currency slumped in a sudden move toward the end of trading. 

In rates, treasury futures advance in early US session, outperforming European bonds gaining on UK GDP and regional German CPI data. Yields are 2bp-3bp richer across tenors with curve spreads little changed; 10-year TSY near 4.25% is about 2.5bp richer on the day and about 1bp better vs bunds and gilts in the sector. Month-end bond index rebalancing is projected to increase duration of Bloomberg Treasury index by 0.07 year. Bunds gain, having benefited from state inflation readings that point to the national rate coming in slightly below the consensus later on Monday. Italian CPI also rose less than expected. German 10-year borrowing costs fall 1 bp to 2.58%. 

In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index falls 0.2% while the yen take top spot among the G-10 currencies, rising 0.3% against the greenback. The pound is the weakest with a 0.1% fall.

In commodities, oil slightly lower following headlines of a potential sizeable OPEC+ production increase on Friday, with the meeting set for this weekend. CTA models are now firmly for sale in oil—nearly $10bn in selling expected over the week across Brent and WTI. WTI trades down 0.3% to around $65 a barrel. Energy remains a funding short. Spot gold climbs $10 to around $3,285/oz.

Looking at today's calendar, the US data slate includes June MNI Chicago PMI (9:45am, several minutes earlier for subscribers) and Dallas Fed manufacturing activity (10:30am). Ahead this week are ISM manufacturing, JOLTS, ADP employment and June employment report — on Thursday ahead of July 4 holiday. Fed speakers include Bostic (10am) and Goolsbee (1pm). Tuesday, Fed Chair Powell participates on a policy panel in Sintra with BOE Governor Andrew Bailey, ECB President Christine Lagarde, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda and Bank of Korea Governor Chang Yong Rhee.

Market Snapshot

  • S&P 500 mini +0.4%
  • Nasdaq 100 mini +0.6%
  • Russell 2000 mini +0.5%
  • Stoxx Europe 600 -0.2%
  • DAX little changed
  • CAC 40 little changed
  • 10-year Treasury yield -3 basis points at 4.25%
  • VIX +0.8 points at 17.07
  • Bloomberg Dollar Index -0.2% at 1193.38
  • euro +0.1% at $1.1732
  • WTI crude little changed at $65.5/barrel

Top Overnight News

  • Trump’s $4.5 trillion tax-cut bill faces a marathon voting session on dozens of amendments in the Senate today. It faces opposition from around eight Republican senators. The CBO estimates the proposal would add $3.3 trillion to US deficits over the next decade. BBG
  • Congressional Budget Office said the Senate version of the Trump tax bill will add USD 3.3tln to US debt over the next decade: BBG
  • Elon Musk posted on X that the latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immediate strategic harm to the country, while he added it is utterly insane and destructive, as well as gives out handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.
  • Fox's Pergram says "Senate not expected to begin vote-a-rama until 9 am et on Big, Beautiful Bill. Most vote-a-ramas run 9 to 15 hours. House not expected to vote until Wednesday at the earliest": Fox 
  • Canada has scrapped a digital services tax that targeted US technology companies, in an effort to smooth trade negotiations with its neighbor after Trump described the levy as a “direct and blatant” attach. FT
  • OpenAI is starting to utilize some of Google’s proprietary AI chips to power ChatGPT and other products, the first time it has used non-Nvidia silicon in a meaningful way (OpenAI hopes the Google chips will help reduce costs). The Information
  • China’s NBS PMIs for June come in a bit ahead of expectations, including manufacturing at 49.7 (up from 49.5 in May and above the Street at 49.6) and non-manufacturing at 50.5 (up from 50.3 in May and above the Street at 50.3). WSJ
  • Trump floated the idea of keeping 25% tariffs on Japan’s cars as talks between the two nations continued with little more than a week to go before a slew of higher duties are set to kick in if a trade deal isn’t reached.
  • South Korea sees the need for trade negotiations with the US to continue past next week’s deadline as Seoul continues to seek exemptions from US tariffs including duties affecting the auto and steel industries. BBG
  • Ukraine said Russia fired a record 537 missiles and drones yesterday, targeting seven regions. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin expanded the range of information covered by a state secrecy law. BBG
  • France’s finance minister said the EU can clinch some form of trade agreement with the US before a July 9 deadline. BBG
  • Iran said it doubts the US-brokered ceasefire with Israel will last, and warned of a firm response to any aggression. Meanwhile, an intercepted call showed Tehran felt the strikes on its nuclear program were less damaging than expected. BBG, WaPo

Trade/Tariffs

  • US President Trump announced on Friday that the US is stopping trade talks with Canada due to the latter putting a digital services tax on US tech companies. However, it was reported a few days later that Canada rescinded the Digital Services Tax to advance broader trade negotiations with the US, while PM Carney and US President Trump agreed that parties will resume negotiations with a view towards agreeing on a deal by July 21st.
  • US President Trump said in an interview with Fox Business News, which aired on Sunday, that Japan takes in no American cars and its vehicles should be subject to a 25% auto tariff in the US.
  • UK government said the UK-US trade deal has today come into force, slashing US export tariffs for the UK's automotive and aerospace sectors, while it added that UK car manufacturers can now export to the US under a reduced 10% tariff quota and that 10% tariffs on goods like aircraft engines and aircraft parts are removed with a commitment to maintain them at 0%.
  • Canada acted to support its steel producers and workers in which it set new tariff rate quotas for steel mill product imports from non-FTA partners.
  • China Customs said it resumed imports of qualified aquatic products from some Japanese regions.
  • Indonesia is to ease import restrictions on some goods including forestry products, plastic materials and some fertilisers, while it offered the US to jointly invest in the Brownfield Project of critical minerals in Indonesia as part of tariff talks.
  • Bank for International Settlements said the global economy and financial system have entered a new era of heightened uncertainty, while it added that rising protectionism and trade fragmentation are particularly concerning.
  • EU Competition Commissioner Ribera say, on a EU-US deal, “We will not compromise … around sovereignty and around regulation on how to work in our own market,”, via Politico citing excerpts from The Capitol Forum.
  • Japan's Tariff negotiator says they will continue working with the US to reach a tariff agreement, while defending national interests. Continuation of 25% auto tariffs would cause significant damage.

A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newsquawk

APAC stocks began the week mostly in the green following last Friday's record highs on Wall St but with some of the gains capped heading into month-end and as participants digested a slew of data including somewhat mixed Chinese PMIs. ASX 200 edged higher with strength in the defensive sectors but with upside limited by data including softer-than- expected private sector credit. Nikkei 225 outperformed despite disappointing Industrial Production data which showed a surprise Y/Y contraction and with the index also unfazed by recent comments from US President Trump who noted that Japanese vehicles should be subject to a 25% auto tariff in the US. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were mixed following the latest PMI data which showed headline Manufacturing PMI remained in contraction territory, as expected, although Non-Manufacturing PMI accelerated at a faster pace than forecast.

Top Asian News

  • US officials are drawing up plans for US President Trump’s state visit to China later this year with a delegation of dozens of CEOs, according to Nikkei.
  • US President Trump said they have a buyer for TikTok and that it is a group of very wealthy people.
  • Canada’s Industry Minister ordered Hikvision (002415 CH) to cease all operations and close its business in the country after a national security review.
  • Japanese government official said regarding factory output that sentiment among manufacturers is worsening over uncertainties in the production environment and the number of firms concerned about the impact of US tariffs on production and shipments slightly increased in May from April.

European bourses kicked off the first trading session of the week with modest gains following the upside on Wall Street, in which the sentiment reverberated into APAC markets before reaching Europe; Stoxx 600 +0.1%. However, gains are modest and benchmarks are gradually dipping into the red with traders cognisant of the looming July 9th reciprocal deadline. Sectors opened firmer with just Energy in the red, though the picture since has become more mixed but with the breadth of price action narrow. Focus on reports that US tariff policies coupled with low river levels are causing the worst supply chain congestion since COVID, according to FT. Issues at the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Hamburg are expected to last for several months.

Top European News

  • UK launches the biggest financial advice shakeup in more than a decade with the regulator unveiling plans for targeted support to help individuals get better returns, according to FT.
  • ECB's de Guindos says they are confronting "brutal uncertainty"; Q2, Q3 growth will be almost flat; Consumption as a driver has not happened; must keep all rate options open because of uncertainty.
  • ECB updates its monetary policy strategy: Governing Council confirms symmetric 2% inflation target over the medium term; Symmetry requires appropriately forceful or persistent policy response to large, sustained deviations of inflation from target in either direction; all tools remain in toolkit and their choice, design and implementation will enable an agile response to new shocks; structural shifts such as geopolitical and economic fragmentation and increasing use of artificial intelligence make the inflation environment more uncertain.

FX

  • DXY has commenced the week, month-end, quarter-end and half-year-end off on a mildly negative footing after a run of five consecutive losses last week. Down to a 96.97 low at worst, while the benchmark remains in the red it has managed to reclaim the figure, but remains shy of the earlier 97.299 peak. For reference, the mentioned session low is another multi-year trough.
  • EUR contained. EUR/USD faded out initial gains, peaked at 1.1750, just before Friday's 1.1753 multi-year peak. Focus on the inflation front, though no significant move to German State or Italian prelim CPI thus far, with near term focus firmly on the trade agenda.
  • JPY tops the G10 leaderboard. USD/JPY as low as 143.79, is now back to the 144.00 mark but someway shy of the 144.76 peak.
  • Sterling marginally softer vs both the EUR and USD. Incremental drivers for the UK light, though today sees the UK-US deal come into force. Cable currently contained within Friday's 1.3683-1.3752 range.
  • Antipodeans benefitting from the constructive risk tone and after the PBoC set a firmer Yuan reference rate overnight.
  • PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 7.1586 vs exp. 7.1681 (Prev. 7.1627).
  • South Africa’s DA Party leader said the Democratic Alliance will withdraw from national dialogue with immediate effect and is in the process of losing confidence in the President’s ability to lead the government.

Fixed Income

  • Contained overnight ahead of a busy and front-loaded week. Focus remains firmly on the trade and fiscal fronts; awaiting the reciprocal deadline and monitoring the Reconciliation Bills Senate passage respectively.
  • While pertinent, the above developments have not changed the macro picture just yet with USTs in the green by just a handful of ticks within a narrow 111-22 to 112-00+ band, a range that is almost a repeat of Friday’s 111-22+ to 112-02 parameter.
  • Bunds are firmer on the session, began in the green and lifted on the morning's German data points of Import Prices and Retail Sales. Thereafter, State CPIs printed and while the metrics were mixed the overall skew was cooler-than-previous, defying consensus for a mainland uptick, lifting Bunds to a 130.52 peak.
  • Gilts in the green as well, largely following suit to the above price action in Bunds and USTs. Newsflow lighter domestically as the scale of Labour rebellion to PM Starmer’s Welfare Bill appears to have moderated significantly after the u-turn on Friday. While firmer, Gilts remain shy of the 93.36 peak on Friday and by extension last week’s 93.57 high.
  • Spanish Economy Minister says we should work to increase the supply of EUR-denominated assets such as joint EU debt issued to finance defence spending.

Commodities

  • Crude benchmarks in the red but only modestly so with losses of c. USD 0.20/bbl, after a slightly choppy morning. Began the APAC session subdued given an absence of significant weekend newsflow. This morning, prices found a floor shortly after US President Trump posted that he is not offering Iran anything, and is not talking to Iran since destroying their nuclear sites.
  • WTI resides in a USD 64.50-65.45/bbl range while its Brent counterpart trades in a USD 65.92-66.87/bbl range.
  • Spot gold is firmer amid the Dollar softness and ahead of upcoming risk events. XAU stopped just shy of USD 3,300/oz this morning after rising from a USD 3,244/oz base.
  • Copper futures are subdued with a similar performance to APAC seen in Europe amid the mixed risk appetite; overnight, the latest Chinese PMI data showed Manufacturing PMI remained in contraction territory despite the US-China trade truce, possibly also weighing on sentiment for the red metal.
  • Israel’s Oil Refineries said it resumed partial operation of refining activity in Haifa after damage caused by an Iranian missile during the Israel-Iran war, with full operation expected by October.
  • Smoke arose from Iran’s Tabriz refinery, which was caused by a nitrogen tank explosion, although there were no casualties from the incident.

Geopolitics: Middle East

  • Israel’s army said it identified the launch of a missile from Yemen on Saturday.
  • Egyptian Foreign Minister said work is underway on an upcoming agreement in Gaza that includes a 60-day truce, according to Alhadath via X.
  • US President Trump said Israeli PM Netanyahu is in the process of negotiating a deal with Hamas to get hostages back.
  • US President Trump said he knew exactly where Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei was sheltered and would not let Israel or US armed forces terminate his life, while Trump said he demanded that Israel bring back a very large group of planes that were headed directly to Tehran in the final act of the war. Furthermore, Trump said he was working on the possible removal of sanctions in the last few days and other things which would have given Iran a much better chance at a recovery but warned that Iran has to get back into the world order flow or things will only get worse for them.
  • US justified its strikes on Iran as collective self-defence under the UN Charter in a letter to the UN Security Council and said the objective was to destroy Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and stop the threat that Tehran obtains and uses a nuclear weapon, while it added that the US remains committed to pursuing a deal with the Iranian government.
  • IAEA chief Grossi said Iran has the capacity to start enriching uranium again for a possible bomb in a matter of months, according to BBC.
  • Iran’s Foreign Minister said if US President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran’s Supreme Leader.
  • Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mousavi told Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister that they highly doubt Israel’s commitment to the ceasefire, according to Tasnim.
  • Iran permitted the transiting of international flights over the centre and west of the country. In relevant news, Emirates cancelled all flights to and from Tehran until July 5th due to the regional situation, while it is to recommence operations to Baghdad on July 1st and Basra on July 2nd.
  • US President Trump says he is not offering Iran anything, and is not talking to Iran since destroying their nuclear sites.
  • "A source involved in the negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza told the pro-Qatari news website Arabi 21 this morning that it is believed that an Israeli delegation will arrive in Cairo in the next two days", according to Israeli Radio's Kai.
  • Iran's MFA spokesperson Baghaei says Iran and the EU have not agreed on a date for the next round of discussions. Talks are ongoing with the E3.

Geopolitics: Ukraine 

  • Russia said its troops captured Novoukrainka in eastern Ukraine, according to RIA.
  • US President Trump said on Friday that he may send patriot missiles to Ukraine and commented that he will get the conflict solved with North Korea’s leader Kim.

Geopolitics: Other

  • India’s Ministry of External Affairs said they have seen and rejected the official statement by the Pakistan Army seeking to blame India for the attack in Waziristan on June 28th.

US Event Calendar

  • 9:45 am: Jun MNI Chicago PMI, est. 42.85, prior 40.5
  • 10:30 am: Jun Dallas Fed Manf. Activity, est. -12, prior -15.3

Central Banks speakers

  • 10:00 am: Fed’s Bostic Speaks on the Economic Outlook
  • 1:00 pm: Fed’s Goolsbee Speaks in a Moderated Discussion

DB's Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

Good morning and welcome to the last day of a tumultuous H1. I think I got heatstroke three times over the weekend so I'm looking forward to work and air con today. Good luck in parts of France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece (amongst others) as you continue to battle temperatures over 40 degrees.

If the heat doesn't impact you, standby to be disorientated in other ways in this holiday shortened week, as payrolls sees a rare Thursday outing ahead of the Independence Day holiday on Friday. We also have the US ISMs tomorrow and Wednesday, and the various global PMI numbers from tomorrow which will give us a good guide to global economic momentum in June. Elsewhere a highlight will be the ECB forum in Sintra starting today and the European inflation numbers today and tomorrow. The US tax bill should be finalised this week although at the moment it needs to pass the Senate today (or possibly tomorrow), after a drama filled weekend of horse trading, and then back to the House for final approval. The President wants it done by Friday's holiday. At that point attention will swiftly focus to the July 9th deadline extension for reciprocal tariffs. Indeed you'll probably get headlines build up this week and the risk to the market is that with the S&P 500 hitting a new record high at the end of last week, with Treasury yields more becalmed, and with a new tax cutting bill, it's possible that the Trump Administration feels emboldened to be aggressive again. On Friday the US announced that they were stopping trade talks with Canada in retaliation for their digital service taxes and that new tariffs would be launched within a week. However, overnight Canada has dropped this tax to enable talks to restart. This is perhaps a warning shot for the world. So before next Wednesday a lot of water will flow under the global trade bridge.

As noted at the top there is still a fair amount to get through this week first and we'll now go through a few of the main highlights of the week ahead, but remember the full day-by-day calendar is at the end as usual.

For payrolls, DB expects the headline number (+100k forecast vs. +139k previously) to be slightly below the consensus of +113k, with a similar story for private payrolls (DB +100k, consensus +110k, vs. +140k previously). This would also be below the three-month average of 135k and 133k, respectively. Their rationale is based on 1) initial jobless claims being up 8.8% during the June survey week relative to May; and 2) their observation of a recent pattern of subdued summer payroll gains. They also expect the unemployment rate to edge up a tenth to 4.3% but with the risks skewed to it staying unchanged.

Although 100k on payrolls seems low, our economists think the breakeven rate which keeps the unemployment rate steady, is around 100k at the moment and could even be as low as 50k given the Trump Administrations' migration policies. If correct we could have a situation where low payroll growth still tightens the labour market. See US Economic Perspectives: Potential paths for breakeven employment for more on this.

Leading up to payrolls we have JOLTS tomorrow, ADP on Wednesday and also watch out for the employment components in today’s Chicago PMI, tomorrow’s manufacturing ISM, and Wednesday’s Services ISM.

In Europe, the big event will be the ECB's forum on central banking in Sintra running from today through to Wednesday. The policy panel tomorrow will feature heads of the Fed, the ECB, the BoJ, the BoE and the BoK. So plenty of potential headlines there. The ECB will also release its account of the June policy meeting on Thursday and their consumer expectations survey is due tomorrow. Elsewhere in Europe, the BoE will publish its DMP, bank liabilities and credit conditions surveys on Thursday.

In terms of European data, June CPI will continue to be in focus after Friday's prints for France and Spain showed a slight uptick in inflation. Reports for Germany and Italy are out today, with the Eurozone-wide release scheduled for tomorrow. Swiss inflation data is due on Thursday. We also have May German retail sales (today) and factory orders (Friday), Italian retail sales and French IP on Friday.

In Japan the BoJ's Q2 Tankan survey results come out tomorrow with our economists forecasting that the business condition index for large manufacturers in the Tankan survey will worsen -3 points to +9. They expect a similar gauge for large non-manufacturers to slip -2 points to +33. This could be one of a few factors that help influence whether the BoJ hikes again in July, although there's lots of moving parts at the moment including trade agreements with the US.
Asian equity markets are predominantly trading higher this morning. The Nikkei (+1.64%) is standing out, with the index surging to near a one-year peak, propelled by technology stocks. The KOSPI (+0.69%) and the S&P/ASX 200 (+0.52%) are also higher. Chinese stocks are more mixed with the Hang Seng (-0.56%) trading lower, the CSI (-0.02%) flat, but the Shanghai Composite (+0.20%) edging up. S&P 500 (+0.41%) and NASDAQ 100 (+0.57%) futures are both pretty firm for this time of day.

Early morning data indicated that China's manufacturing sector contracted for the third consecutive month in June, although at a slightly slower pace than anticipated. The official manufacturing PMI rose to 49.7 in June (49.6 expected) from the previous month's 49.5. However, the non-manufacturing PMI accelerated a touch, increasing to 50.5 in June, exceeding expectations that it would remain stable at 50.3. Consequently, China's Composite PMI improved to 50.7 in June from 50.4 in May.

In other news, Japan's industrial output fell significantly short of expectations, with a mere +0.5% month-on-month increase compared to the expected +3.4% growth. Although production saw improvements in critical sectors such as machinery and automobiles, five categories—led by non-auto transport equipment—experienced declines.

Recapping last week now and markets were in a buoyant mood, with the S&P 500 rising +3.44% to a new all-time high of 6,173 (+0.52% on Friday) as we closed out the week. Tech stocks outperformed, with the NASDAQ (+4.25%, +0.52% Friday) advancing every day last week to a new high of its own. In Europe, the STOXX 600 (+1.32%) posted a modest weekly gain, with the DAX (+2.90%) outperforming, led by German defense companies. And in Japan, the Nikkei had its best week of 2025 so far, up +4.55% (+1.43% on Friday).

The positive mood started with the de-escalation in the Middle East after Trump announced Monday evening that Israel and Iran agreed on a “Complete and Total CEASEFIRE.” Following this, Brent crude saw its biggest weekly decline since 2022, down -12.00% to $67.77/bbl (+0.06% Friday). Meanwhile, gold fell -2.79% on the back of declining geopolitical risk (-1.61% Friday).

Last week’s upbeat tone was also helped by rising expectations of Fed rate cuts despite decent economic data. The positive data included the flash US PMIs for June (52.8 vs. 52.2 expected) and Friday’s UoM consumer survey, that saw current conditions rebound to a four-month high. On the softer side, we saw higher continuing jobless claims (+1,974k vs +1,950k expected) on Thursday and an unexpected drop in May real personal spending (-0.3% vs. 0.0% expected) on Friday.

Lower oil prices and comments from Michelle Bowman, the Fed’s Vice Chair for Supervision, saw pricing of a July rate cut rise as high as 25% on Wednesday, though it was down to 19% by Friday following a slightly stronger (2.7% vs. 2.6% expected) US core PCE inflation print. Still, the next Fed rate cut is now fully priced by September and 64bps of easing is priced by December (+12.7bps on the week). In turn, Treasury yields moved lower, with the 2yr down -16.0bps (+2.9bps Friday) to 3.75%, its lowest since early April, while the 10yr yield was down -9.9bps to 4.28% (+3.6bps Friday). Treasuries were also supported by the Fed announcing a planned easing of banks’ Supplementary Leverage Ratio.

By contrast In Europe, 10yr bund yields rose +7.4bps to 2.59% (+2.2bps Friday) as the German government unveiled a faster-than-expected ramp up of its fiscal stimulus. However, OATs (+1.7bps) and BTPs (-2.4bps) saw smaller moves, with the 10yr BTP-bund spread falling to its lowest level since 2015 at 88bps. The contrasting rates moves on the two sides of the Atlantic saw EURUSD rise +1.69% on the week to 1.1718, its highest level since September 2021.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/30/2025 - 08:36

Trump Says TikTok Buyer Is "Group Of Very Wealthy People"

Trump Says TikTok Buyer Is "Group Of Very Wealthy People"

President Donald Trump, in a pre-taped interview on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, revealed that "a group of very wealthy people" is prepared to acquire TikTok's U.S. operations. While he did not disclose the identities of the investors, Trump hinted that the names could be made public in the coming weeks.

"We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way. I think I'll probably need China approval, and I think President Xi will probably do it," Trump told Bartiromo, noting, "It's a group of very wealthy people."

TikTok's future in the U.S. has been uncertain since the passage of the 2024 bipartisan law, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA), which requires the platform's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest its ownership or face a nationwide ban. The legislation was fueled by growing concerns over various national security threats, including foreign interference in elections and potential misuse of sensitive user data.

Just weeks ago, Trump once again delayed enforcement of PAFACA through an executive order, pushing the deadline back to mid-September. The original implementation date had been set for his inauguration in January.

Trump has been a supporter of TikTok, recently touting his popularity on the app: "I was No. 1 on TikTok in its history. Can you believe that? ... So I guess I like TikTok." 

Trump has tasked Vice President JD Vance with overseeing efforts to find a potential buyer, which could include Oracle's Larry Ellison and firms like Perplexity AI and AppLovin. 

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/30/2025 - 08:30

Can Oil And Gas Solve The AI Power Dilemma

Can Oil And Gas Solve The AI Power Dilemma

Authored by Joe Brettell via UtilityDive.com,

The promise, peril and possibilities of artificial intelligence continue to capture the cultural and business zeitgeist worldwide. Hardly a conference or long-form interview can be held these days without a panelist or pundit commenting on the technology’s implications for their profession.

Yet despite being the hottest topic in every circle, AI’s ultimate challenge isn’t technological but physical. After years of breathless speculation and prediction, the issue remains the same: AI needs more energy.

Data center power consumption

Source: McKinsey

Amidst this backdrop, the oil and gas industry faces a similarly fundamental challenge: a shifting production frontier and evolving path to continued growth. After a decade of efficiency-driven growth, the era of easy barrels is waning. Diamondback Energy CEO Travis Stice captured the new reality in a recent letter, warning of the increasingly dim prospects for expanding production amid geological constraints and rising costs. Other energy majors have issued similar cautions, a sharp departure from the boom years of the shale revolution when abundant, low-cost reserves, followed by shareholder-focused production, made the industry a market favorite.

Now, with resource intensity rising, global volatility accelerating and economic conditions tightening, the industry is under pressure to find its next value horizon.

That horizon may be converging with AI.

The pairing makes increasing sense. While initially circling one another warily, major players in energy and technology have become increasingly intertwined. At major gatherings like CERAWeek, energy executives and tech leaders now share the same stage — and increasingly, the same strategic questions. How do we scale the infrastructure to match exponential AI growth? Who will supply the energy to power it? And how do we do so fast enough while dealing with rising environmental, social and regulatory concerns?

These challenges come amid a stark reality: AI’s computational appetite isn’t just increasing — it’s exploding. Several recent studies demonstrate that power demand will soar by the end of the decade, presenting real challenges for utilities and their customers who are already grappling with rising costs.  

That creates both a dilemma and an opportunity. As federal and state incentives for clean energy projects face legal and political headwinds — even amid substantial private investment — the timeline to deliver renewable power at scale is getting longer. Grid interconnection queues, permitting delays and community opposition remain real barriers. At the same time, nuclear and geothermal technologies hold promise, but even under the best-case scenarios, their rollout will take years to materially shift supply.

Which brings us (again) to the topic of natural gas.

Few would dispute that a diverse portfolio of renewables, firm power, storage, nuclear and emerging technologies must meet long-term AI energy needs. But without a tectonic shift, an “all of the above” solution is no longer the political reality.  Natural gas is abundant, dispatchable, and backed by a sector with proven experience in infrastructure delivery, supply chain integration and stakeholder engagement.

Granted, natural gas has its share of controversies. Building new pipelines has become increasingly complex, with communities hostile to natural gas infrastructure and deployment nationwide. Yet, despite these challenges, Exxon and Chevron have already announced serious interest in powering data centers. This partnership is not simply one of convenience but of practicality. It is not about reviving old debates but utilizing practical solutions to solve deeper issues for two pillars of the American economy.

The bottom line is that natural gas offers a workable solution for technology companies racing to deploy AI capabilities and energy companies looking to maintain shareholder value amidst a transitional time in the sector. With nuclear and geothermal both gaining political and investment momentum, gas is unlikely to be a permanent panacea but a critical bridge across a widening gap (yes, the old “bridge fuel” talking point is yet again en vogue).

This convergence between oil, technology, and ultimately, utilities isn’t simply a tactical alignment of convenience; instead, there’s a more profound structural shift — energy and compute are no longer parallel industries but mutually dependent pillars of modern innovation.  If you need evidence, look no further than the recent announcement that Open AI and the United Arab Emirates will open a massive new data center in the country by 2026. Even traditional oil powers are hedging their bet and looking to participate in the changes AI will bring.

However, amidst the race to satisfy shareholders, inventors and policymakers, both industries would do well to remember customers. With concern about AI technology continuing to linger and economic challenges only growing, the political and social environment is ripe for a full-throated pushback from households already frustrated by rising energy bills, service disruptions and increasing skepticism toward unchecked tech expansion in their communities and states.  

Many companies are already making significant strides on this front, with investment in local communities, building dialogue, relationships and trust. Yet just as AI’s technological promise can be limited by something practical like where to plug it in, this growing union between energy and technology sectors can be thwarted by unhappy voters. 

Ultimately, the moment demands coordination and innovation, not competition. Only with pragmatic collaboration between energy developers of all kinds, grid operators and the communities where they operate can we build an energy strategy as dynamic as the technology it supports. In the end, like those paradigm-shifting endeavors, the future of AI won’t be decided by what’s possible in silicon. It will be determined by what’s deliverable in steel, concrete and kilowatt-hours.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/30/2025 - 06:30

A Third Of American Households Are Over-Burdened By Housing Costs

A Third Of American Households Are Over-Burdened By Housing Costs

U.S. Census data analyzed by Harvard University shows that a third of all U.S. households, whether they are buying or renting, spend more than the recommended one third of their income on housing and utilities and therefore qualify as cost-burdened.

While the overall rate of households burdened by housing cost in the U.S. was 32.7 percent in 2023, Statista's Katharina Buchholz shows in the chart below, several states had even higher average burdens.

 A Third of U.S. Burdened by Housing Cost | Statista

You will find more infographics at Statista

California, known for its high cost of living, came in at 41.7 percent of burdened households, followed by Hawaii at 39.5 percent, Florida at 38.6 percent and New York at 38.2 percent.

In general, West Coast states and those in the country's populous Northeast showed the highest burdens, with the addition of sunshine locations Florida and Hawaii.

The least burdened households were found in the interior of the country, in West Virginia, North Dakota and Iowa, where fewer than a quarter of households felt an outsized financial burden because of housing costs. Colorado and Texas came in 11th and 12th.

The report published this week shows that renters are more often overburdened by their costs that homeowners, but that the gap has been closing in recent years.

Before and after the Great Recession, homeowners were still more overburdened than renters in the country, but this equilibrium changed in 2012 when renters began to be burdened more by rising rent costs while homeowners were profiting from zero interest rates.

With the end of the no-interest era in 2022, homeowners' burden jumped up, while the economic hardships of the inflation crisis affected both types of households.

The researchers also identified higher insurance premiums and property taxes as an issue for homeowners, while saying that more than half of renters were spending more than 50 percent of household income on renting in 50 out of the 100 largest metro areas in the United States.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/30/2025 - 05:45

J.K. Rowling Destroyed Trans Ideology With One Savage Tweet

J.K. Rowling Destroyed Trans Ideology With One Savage Tweet

Authored by Matt Margolis via PJMedia.com,

Famed “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling became a vocal critic of transgender ideology back in 2019, when she supported a woman who lost her job for saying that biological sex is immutable. In 2020, Rowling’s tweets and essay argued that prioritizing “gender identity” over biological sex threatens women’s rights and safety, drawing from her experience as an abuse survivor. She faced fierce backlash, was branded a “TERF” by activists, and even endured death threats, but stood firm.

Rowling’s stance has only grown more defiant as she continues to call out the bullying tactics of trans activism and the erasure of women. Despite relentless attacks from activists, media outlets, and even cast members from "Harry Potter," her unapologetic wit and unwavering resolve have made her a leading voice of resistance against a radical ideology that silences dissent. This week, she once again proved why she remains a formidable force in the culture war over gender, giving courage to countless women who’ve been too afraid to speak out.

Apparently some people have been attacking Rowling by saying she looks like a “trans woman.” Her response to such attacks says it all:

Talk about a masterclass in rhetorical jiu-jitsu. She takes the intended insult of her critics and flips it right back on them, exposing the hypocrisy at the heart of so much of the pro-trans activist rhetoric.

Rowling’s critics, who claim to be the champions of tolerance and inclusion, routinely stoop to personal attacks and misogynistic insults whenever a woman dares to challenge their orthodoxy. The latest trend is to hurl accusations that Rowling “looks like a trans woman," a jab that is supposed to be both an insult to her and a defense of trans women. But Rowling, with her trademark wit and clarity, called their bluff. 

She pointed out the obvious: If you’re accusing someone of looking like “trans woman” in the pejorative sense, you’re essentially admitting what most people already know: that “trans women” don’t look like real women. Let’s face it, men can grow out their hair, get breast implants, and take whatever drugs they want, but everyone knows what they really are. Calling Richard “Rachel” Levine a woman doesn’t make him a woman. Using female pronouns to refer to Bruce “Caitlyn” Jenner doesn’t change the fact that he is a man. Letting Will “Lia” Thomas compete against real women doesn’t erase what he is.

Rowling refuses to apologize, refuses to play by the ever-changing rules of the woke mob, and instead shines a spotlight on the contradictions baked into their rhetoric, like how calling someone a “trans woman” is supposedly empowering until it’s used as a slur. Her wit, clarity, and refusal to back down force her critics to confront the ugliness of their tactics.

Through years of smears, threats, and public pressure campaigns, Rowling has stood firm, using every attack as an opportunity to expose the movement’s double standards and moral incoherence. In an era when most public figures wilt under pressure, she’s become a symbol of courage for women everywhere who are tired of being silenced. She’s not just defending herself; she’s defending reality, and doing it with a fearlessness that leaves her critics sputtering.

Just because trans activists demand that we all pretend that men who grow their hair out and play dress up are women doesn’t mean that the rest of us have to play along. And when those same activists who have spent years lobbing insults and even death threats at Rowling try to mock her by saying she “looks like a trans woman,” they don’t expose her bigotry; they expose their own hypocrisy. If comparing her to a “trans woman” is meant as an insult, then it’s not Rowling degrading “trans women”; it’s the so-called allies who use the comparison as a punchline. In doing so, they don’t validate their ideology; they reinforce the biological truth they insist everyone ignore.

The attacks on J.K. Rowling reveal just how desperate the radical left has become to crush dissent. 

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/30/2025 - 05:00

Meet The Dystopian Startups Making 'Biological Computers' From Human Cells

Meet The Dystopian Startups Making 'Biological Computers' From Human Cells

Picture a dystopian future where computers don’t just mimic human thinking - they’re powered by actual human brain cells. That future is taking shape in a Cambridge, England, lab, where a groundbreaking device called CL1 is blending biology and technology in ways that could transform how we compute. Developed by Australian startup Cortical Labs and U.K.-based bit.bio, this shoebox-sized machine houses 200,000 lab-grown brain cells wired to silicon circuits, creating a “biological computer” that’s already turning heads.

Cortical Labs' CL1

Unlike traditional computers, which guzzle energy, CL1 operates with the efficiency of a human brain. “Our brains process information using a fraction of the power that modern electronics need,” Hon Weng Chong, CEO of Cortical Labs, told FT. “This could open doors to smarter robots, stronger cybersecurity, and immersive virtual worlds.”

Oh, joy.

Low-energy computing has fueled a race to develop biological systems, with Cortical Labs leading alongside competitors like FinalSpark in Switzerland and Biological Black Box in the U.S.CL1’s brain cells, grown from human skin-derived stem cells, are carefully arranged in layers: one type sparks electrical activity, while another keeps it in check. “It’s like balancing a gas pedal and brakes,” Chong explains. This precision, says bit.bio’s Tony Oosterveen, gives CL1 an edge over rival approaches using less uniform “mini-brains.” The result is a platform for testing how brain cells handle information, with early experiments already yielding insights for neuroscience and drug development.

Photo: Chris Radburn/FT

One of CL1’s quirkiest feats? Playing the classic video game Pong. Its predecessor, DishBrain, learned to move a virtual paddle by receiving electrical “rewards” for good moves and disruptive noise for mistakes. CL1 has taken this further, revealing how substances like alcohol impair performance or how epilepsy drugs, like carbamazepine, boost it. “We’re learning how to ‘program’ these cells,” Chong says, noting that his team is even teaching them to recognize numbers, like distinguishing a nine from a four.

Kagan and team testing the CL1 units, which are built to maintain the health of the cells living on the silicon hardware (New Atlas)

This is the first device that can consistently measure what neurons can do,” says Mark Kotter, a Cambridge professor and bit.bio founder. Karl Friston, a neuroscientist at University College London, sees it as a tool for groundbreaking experiments, while Johns Hopkins’ Thomas Hartung praises its use of games like Pong to benchmark biological computing.

In the lab, the early CL1 model is put through its paces as the team monitors its response to stimuli (prompts) New Atlas

Chong recognizes the ethical challenges that could emerge if biological computers and neuron cultures begin to show early signs of consciousness.

“[T]hese systems are sentient because they respond to stimuli and learn from them but they are not conscious. We will learn more about how the human brain works but we do not intend to create a brain in a vat.”

The cells form an entirely new kind of artificial intelligence New Atlas

The CL1 units are slated to retail for around $35,000 each and are expected to be broadly available by late 2025, according to a report.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/30/2025 - 04:15

Why Greenland Isn't Chasing The Dream Of Becoming A Mining Superpower

Why Greenland Isn't Chasing The Dream Of Becoming A Mining Superpower

Authored by Felicity Bradstock via OilPrice.com,

  • Greenland, despite possessing vast mineral reserves and past ambitions from the U.S. to acquire it for these resources, is not interested in becoming a major mining superpower.

  • The country's minister for business and mineral resources emphasized a desire for only 5 to 10 active mines at any given time, prioritizing high environmental, social, and governance standards.

  • Concerns about the environmental impact and the uncertain economic return from mining activities, particularly with an unstable market for rare earths, contribute to Greenland's cautious approach.

Early in Donald Trump’s presidency, he announced his ambitions to acquire Greenland. In March, Trump said, “We need Greenland for international safety and security. We need it. We have to have it.” As well as stating ambitions to counter Russia’s presence in the Arctic, taking control of Greenland would put vast quantities of rare earth minerals and rare earth elements in the possession of the United States. However, Denmark quickly shot down the idea of Trump’s acquisition, saying that Greenland was not for sale. Meanwhile, Trump’s announcement led several political figures in Greenland to suggest that Greenland should be independent, rather than under the ownership of Denmark or the U.S. 

International powers have long eyed Greenland for its vast mineral potential. As several countries around the world strive to undergo a green transition, the demand for critical minerals is expected to grow dramatically in the coming years. Demand for critical energy transition minerals like lithium, cobalt, and copper could increase almost fourfold by 2030, according to United Nations estimates. 

At present, China dominates the global mineral mining market. According to International Energy Agency (IEA) data, China contributes around 80 percent of the world’s natural graphite and 60 percent of mined magnet rare earths. In 2024, it produced more than 60 percent of the world’s lithium, 40 percent of refined copper, and 70 percent of refined cobalt. As the U.S. looks to reduce its reliance on China for energy, critical minerals, and other goods, President Trump sees Greenland as the potential solution. 

Greenland holds vast mineral reserves, including rare earth metals, coal, graphite, uranium, copper, lead, and zinc. A 2023 Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland survey found that 25 of the 34 critical raw materials recognised by the European Commission are present in Greenland. In addition, as ice sheets melt due to climate change, Greenland’s previously hard-to-retrieve mineral reserves are expected to become more accessible. 

Caroline Kennedy-Pipe, a professor of war studies and Arctic security specialist at the U.K.’s Loughborough University, explained, “The fight for infrastructure in the Arctic is incredibly important. Plus, because Greenland’s ice sheet is melting, and melting fast, those rare earth minerals will become cheaper to access. So, these are seen as long-term investments for America.”

To date, mining activity in Greenland has been limited, as investors have avoided financing mining operations due to the harsh conditions and environmental pushback from community groups. Developing the country’s mining industry would require significant funding, as well as support from local groups. 

Around a decade ago, a team of geologists published a paper that warned of unrealistic expectations for Greenland’s mineral potential. It states, “Even if estimates of the quantity and quality of ore in a geological deposit are well documented… it is difficult to translate this into economic potential and even more difficult to predict a specific revenue for Greenlandic society.” 

Minik Thorleif Rosing, one of the authors of the report, said that the situation remains relatively unchanged since the date of publication. “There is a misconception that Greenland will be like a new Saudi Arabia, only at the size of a small British town,” Rosing said. He blamed the uncertainty on global market conditions for rare earth metals. There has been significant pushback against mining operations, as many Greenlanders believe the cost of mining will far outweigh the benefit. It is unclear just how much of a return on investment Greenland would see from mining activities, as there is no stable market for rare earths, according to Rosing. However, many are more concerned about the environmental impact of mining in the Arctic. 

In June, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for business and mineral resources, said that while some mining operations are already underway in the country, there is little interest in Greenland becoming a major mining power. “For Greenland, we are not necessarily interested in becoming a really great mining country. We just really want 5 or 10 active mines at any given time,” said Nathanielsen. “We are a very small population, so for us, we don’t need the entire country to be covered in mines. We are happy with managing a few, and I think that is feasible,” she added. 

Nathanielsen emphasised the “very high” environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards held by Greenland. She said, “I think the people of Greenland really support the mining industry, which is quite kind of rare when you look at other jurisdictions. But they do so because they have faith in us having a high environmental standard and taking care of local communities.” Nathanielsen went on to say that if the government compromises its environmental standards, it could lead Greenlanders to no longer support the mining industry, which could be highly detrimental for future projects. 

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/30/2025 - 03:30

Oceania Has The Highest Cocaine Use In The World

Oceania Has The Highest Cocaine Use In The World

Oceania recorded by far the highest cocaine use prevalence among 15- to 64-year-olds of any region in the world in 2023, according to the latest report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

As Statista's Anna Fleck shows in the chart belowthat year, just over 3 percent of people said that they had used cocaine.

 Oceania Has the Highest Cocaine Use in the World | Statista

You will find more infographics at Statista

In the Americas, 1.64 percent of the age group had taken it, with a more detailed breakdown showing that 1.92 percent had used cocaine in North America, versus 1.55 percent in South America and 0.94 percent in Central America.

The UNODC reports that 1.1 percent of Europeans had used cocaine in 2023, with prevalence far higher in Western and Central Europe (1.66 percent), compared to Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (0.28 percent).

In Africa and Asia, far lower shares of people are thought to have used the drug that year, at 0.38 percent and 0.11 percent, respectively.

The global average was 0.47 percent.

By absolute number, it is a different story.

On this metric, the Americas rank first with an estimated 11.41 million people having taken cocaine. It is followed by Europe with 5.97 million, Asia with 3.37 million, Africa with 3.22 million and Oceania with 880,000 people.

Between 2019 and 2023, there was a 68 percent increase in the amount of cocaine seized worldwide. Production of the drug also increased, jumping up nearly 34 percent between 2022 and 2023 to 3,708 tons.

According to the UNODC, global cocaine production "has hit an all-time high once again, accompanied by significant increases in cocaine seizures, cocaine users and – most tragically – cocaine-related deaths in many countries in recent years."

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/30/2025 - 02:45

Continued Russian-US Talks Prove Putin Doesn't Think Trump Duped Iran With Diplomacy

Continued Russian-US Talks Prove Putin Doesn't Think Trump Duped Iran With Diplomacy

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed last week that the US’ bombing of several nuclear sites in Iran won’t affect their bilateral dialogue, declaring that “These are independent processes.”

This is significant since many observers speculated that Trump duped Iran with diplomacy while supposedly plotting to attack it this entire time. If true, then it would follow that he might also be duping Russia too, albeit not in preparation of a direct US attack but in pursuit of some other nebulous goal.

Putin doesn’t adhere to that interpretation, however, which is also proven by him later talking about his “great respect” for Trump and praising his “sincere commitment” to peace in Ukraine.

Skeptics might speculate that he’s playing “5D chess” as part of some “master plan” to “psyche out” the US but that doesn’t make much sense.

There’s no point in continuing a dialogue if one of the parties is convinced that the other isn’t negotiating in good faith. That would be a total waste of time and resources.

Nevertheless, Russian politicians and experts were very critical of Trump’s decision to bomb Iran, as was the country’s Permanent Representative at the UN.

Their polemics don’t equate to Putin supposedly suspecting Trump of foul play in the US’ talks with Iran, however, but they do show that Russia was very displeased with what he ended up doing even though it later expressed cautious optimism about the ceasefire that he claimed credit for brokering. All of this is consistent with Russian policy.

On that topic, Russia is also interested in a ceasefire with Ukraine, but only on its terms. These include Ukraine withdrawing from the entirety of the disputed regions, declaring that it’ll no longer pursue NATO membership, and Western countries cutting off arms shipments to it, among other demands. Russia believes that continued dialogue with the US can lead to Trump ultimately coercing Zelensky into these concessions, to which end Putin offered him a strategic resource-centric partnership as an incentive.

The idea is that the US could invest in Russia’s rare earth and Arctic energy industries, with the first providing the US with its sought-after minerals and the second leading to them jointly managing the global oil and natural gas markets, thus giving each of them stakes in the other’s success. This could then in turn help ensure that relations remain manageable even if another crisis unexpectedly erupts. With time, Russia and the US would then reshape the world order, but only if their détente remains on track.

Therein lies the importance of continued Russian-US dialogue, which Putin is committed to in spite of speculation that Trump duped Iran with diplomacy ahead of attacking it. From his perspective, Trump isn’t just saying the right things about the conflict (most of the time at least), but he more importantly hasn’t doubled down on military-intelligence aid to Ukraine. Simply put, it’s Trump’s actions (or lack thereof in this case) that impress Putin, not his words, which he’d be foolish to take at face value.

That said, there’s no guarantee that Putin can convince Trump to coerce Zelensky into his demanded concessions, and the potential failure of their talks could indeed lead to the US escalating its involvement in Ukraine and therefore worsening tensions with Russia. Even so, Putin won’t prematurely abandon diplomacy just because some speculate that the US never truly intended to reach a deal with Iran, the assessment of which he doesn’t share as confirmed by his own and Peskov’s recent statements.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/30/2025 - 02:00

Bovard: Trump’s Iran Bombing Is The Latest In Presidential Absolutism

Bovard: Trump’s Iran Bombing Is The Latest In Presidential Absolutism

Authored by Jim Bovard

Does President Trump have any legal basis for his foreign policy actions aside from his personal entitlement to absolute power? Presidents have been scorning congressional leashes on their foreign interventions since at least the Korean War. But Trump’s erratic behavior and fevered comments almost make President Richard Nixon look mild-mannered.

Democratic members of Congress and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) are pushing for a vote on a War Powers Act resolution to put a leash on Trump. But in the same way that President George W. Bush found lawyers that assured him the president was authorized to order torture, so Trump supporters are denying the validity of any law restricting the White House’s warring. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) declared on Tuesday: “Many respected constitutional experts argue that the War Powers Act is itself unconstitutional. I’m persuaded by that argument. They think it’s a violation of the Article 2 powers of the commander in chief.” Johnson is blocking any vote in the House of Representatives on that resolution.

Some Trump apologists are claiming that the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), enacted in response to the 9/11 attacks, provides all the legal justification that Trump needed. Since President George W. Bush listed Iran as part of the “axis of evil” in his 2002 State of the Union address, that entitles subsequent presidents to scourge Iran forever. There was no justification for putting Iran in that 2002 trifecta, but lack of evidence rarely impedes presidential prattle.

Besides, the AUMF seems as archaic nowadays as a balanced budget amendment. In the same way that congressmen can perpetuate deficit spending by promising decades hence to balance the budget, so the AUMF allows politicians to perpetually pummel any group or nation accused of wrongdoing.

Trump appears to be claiming unlimited power to intervene abroad. In February, Trump posted on Truth Social a saying attributed to Napoleon: “He who saves his country does not violate any law.” Sounding like he was entitled to rule the world, Trump proclaimed in February: “We’ll own Gaza.” Trump signaled support for forcibly expelling more than a million Palestinian refugees in order to create “a Riviera of the Middle East.” In 2023, he boasted to Jewish donors that “I gave you Golan Heights,” signaling his prerogative to dispose of Syrian territory and redraw national boundaries as he pleased.

Trump’s pattern of issuing sweeping demands is driving his response to the Israel–Iran clash. Trump demanded “unconditional surrender” from Iran, as if he were General Ulysses S. Grant in 1862 waiting outside a fort commanded by a dimwitted Confederate general. Trump decreed that Iran must completely end all its efforts to enrich uranium, regardless of prior international approval and the lack of evidence for an active weapons program. At one point, Trump ominously warned Tehran’s 10 million residents to “immediately evacuate”—though he didn’t specify any locale where they would be safe from Israeli bombing. Perhaps Trump’s most bizarre utterance was his Truth Social post Saturday night. After announcing that the U.S. had bombed three sites in Iran, Trump concluded, “NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.” On Wednesday morning at the NATO summit, Trump scoffed at Defense Intelligence Agency doubts on knocking out Iran’s program and compared his bombing attack with Hiroshima and Nagasaki that were “essentially the same thing that ended that war.” That comparison is not expected to boost Trump’s popularity in Japan.

Turn back the clock two decades, and defenders of a bellicose president insisted that George W. Bush was smarter than he sounded. But many Trump supporters seem to think 47 is omniscient. Trump’s posts on Truth Social are now presumed to be vastly more accurate than any U.S. government intelligence report. As Vice President J.D. Vance said on Sunday on Meet the Press, “Of course we trust our intelligence community, but we also trust our instincts.” But what if the strongest instinct is to gratify pro-Israel donors? Secretary of State Marco Rubio provided the lodestar for Trumpian foreign policy: “Forget about intelligence.” DOGE missed a great chance to save over $80 billion a year by abolishing the intelligence agencies that the White House is determined to scorn. (Meanwhile, both the Washington Post and New York Times reported that Trump actually made the final decision to bomb Iran after seeing Fox News hosts lauding Israeli successes attacking Tehran.)

Presumed presidential omniscience is razing constraints on the Oval Office. Trump’s lawyers are touting the same legal nitroglycerine that helped destroy George W. Bush’s presidency. The Trump administration is echoing Bush’s “unitary executive theory” to assert that the president effectively has untrammeled power over almost everything in the solar system. Bush issued more than a hundred signing statements announcing that he would disregard specific provisions in legislation, thanks to “the President’s constitutional authority to supervise the unitary executive branch and to withhold information” from Congress and the American people. Bush used that invocation to justify scorning congressional prohibitions on torture. His administration presumed that “checks and balances” were archaic. But Bush’s legal power-grabs helped make him intensely unpopular by the end of his reign and opened the door for Barack Obama to win the presidency by masquerading as a civil-liberties savior.

Trump-style legal absolutism appears to be the mirror image of tolerance—if not also common sense. Trump’s National Park Service wants to delete any material at national parks that “inappropriately disparages Americans past or living,” so official history will become an even bigger fairy tale.

These legal doctrines are not a hypothetical threat to freedom. On March 25, masked ICE agents seized Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish graduate student, off the streets outside Boston. Öztürk was locked up for 45 days and her student visa covertly canceled because she coauthored an op-ed criticizing Tufts University for failing to divest from Israel in response to its actions in Gaza. Rubio vilified her as a “lunatic” and implied that the feds had ample evidence of her crimes and abuses. A leak to the Washington Post revealed that the feds had nothing on her—except that op-ed. Federal Judge William Sessions ordered Öztürk released because her arrest “potentially chills the speech of the millions and millions of people in this country who are not citizens.” Uh, judge… maybe that was the whole point.

No matter how many bombs Trump drops or how many freedoms he skewers, he will retain an iron core of MAGA supporters who view Trump’s own power as the best hope for America. The New York Times noted a similar pattern in 1973 at the start of Nixon’s second term: “Conservatives who have traditionally favored a strong Congress and a weakened Presidency are now advocating the reverse.” Nixon’s attempt to “fix” Washington by radically centralizing power in the White House did not survive the Watergate scandal.

On Monday, Trump proclaimed a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. On Tuesday morning, after ceasefire violations, Trump raged: “We have two countries that have been fighting so long that they don’t know what the f*ck their doing.” Millions of Americans reached the same conclusion about Trump’s own foreign policy. Unfortunately, citizens cannot rely on Congress, the Constitution, or federal law to curb Trump’s interventions at home or abroad.

Tyler Durden Sun, 06/29/2025 - 23:20

Peter Thiel Warns: One-World Government A Greater Threat Than AI Or Climate Change

Peter Thiel Warns: One-World Government A Greater Threat Than AI Or Climate Change

In a wide-ranging interview on the future and global existential risks, billionaire technology investor Peter Thiel raised alarms not only about familiar threats like nuclear war, climate change, and artificial intelligence but also about what he sees as a more insidious danger: the rise of a one-world totalitarian state. Speaking to the New York Times’ Ross Douthat, Thiel argued that the default political response to global crises—centralized, supranational governance—could plunge humanity into authoritarianism.

Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, shared his worries using examples from dystopian sci-fi stories. “There’s a risk of nuclear war, environmental disaster, bioweapons, and certain types of risks with AI,” Thiel explained to Douthat, suggesting that the push for global governance as a solution to these threats could culminate in a “bad singularity” - a one-world state that stifles freedom under the guise of safety.

Thiel critiqued what he described as a reflexive call for centralized control in times of peril.

The default political solution people have for all these existential risks is one-world governance,” Thiel observed, pointing to proposals for a strengthened United Nations to control nuclear arsenals or global compute governance to regulate AI development, including measures to “log every single keystroke” to prevent dangerous programming. Such solutions, the investor warned, risk creating a surveillance state that sacrifices individual liberty for security.

Drawing on historical and philosophical analogies, Thiel referenced a 1940s Federation of American Scientists film, One World or None, which argued that only global governance could prevent nuclear annihilation. Thiel juxtaposed this with a Christian theological framing: “Antichrist or Armageddon?” In both, the billionaire said he sees a binary choice between centralized control and catastrophic collapse. Yet, Thiel questioned the plausibility of a charismatic “Antichrist” figure seizing power through hypnotic rhetoric, as depicted in apocalyptic literature. Instead, he offered a modern twist: the path to global control lies in relentless fearmongering about existential risks.

“The way the Antichrist would take over the world is you talk about Armageddon nonstop,” Thiel explained. The billionaire contrasted this with earlier visions of scientific progress, like those of 17th- and 18th-century Baconian science, where the threat was an evil genius wielding technology. Presently, Thiel argued, the greater political resonance lies in halting scientific advancement altogether. “In our world, it’s far more likely to be Greta Thunberg than Dr. Strangelove,” he quipped, invoking the radical Swedish climate activist as a symbol of anti-progress sentiment.

On AI specifically, Thiel struck a balanced tone, tempering both utopian and apocalyptic predictions.

“One question we can frame is: Just how big a thing do I think AI is?” he asked himself. “My stupid answer is: It’s more than a nothing burger, and it’s less than the total transformation of our society.”

Thiel compared AI’s potential impact to the internet in the late 1990s, suggesting it could create “some great companies” and add “a few percentage points” to GDP, perhaps boosting growth by 1% annually for a decade or more. However, the billionaire expressed skepticism that AI alone could end economic stagnation, viewing it as a significant but not revolutionary force.

While Thiel expressed nuanced views on artificial intelligence, his venture capital firm, Founders Fund, is aggressively backing the technology. Namely, it recently led a $600 million investment in Crusoe, a vertically integrated AI infrastructure provider.

The biggest risk with AI is that we don't go big enough. Crusoe is here to liberate us from the island of limited ambition,” Thiel said at the time.

Tyler Durden Sun, 06/29/2025 - 22:45

CDC: New COVID Variant Estimated To Be No. 1 Strain In US

CDC: New COVID Variant Estimated To Be No. 1 Strain In US

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A new estimate from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that a COVID-19 variant that has been driving cases in China earlier this year is now the No. 1 strain in the United States.

This scanning electron microscope image shows the novel coronavirus (orange), which causes COVID-19 disease, isolated from a patient in the United States, emerging from the surface of cells (green) cultured in the lab. Photo published on Feb. 13, 2020. NIAID-RML

A CDC estimate, updated on June 26, shows that between June 8 and June 21, the NB.1.8.1 variant now makes up 43 percent of COVID-19 cases in the United States and is ahead of the LP.8.1 variant.

Earlier this month, CDC data showed that NB.1.8.1 had 37 percent of cases and was No. 2 behind the LP.8.1 variant, which saw 38 percent of reported cases at the time. The new CDC estimate this week shows that LP.8.1 now makes up 31 percent of all cases.

The CDC says that wastewater levels show COVID-19 activity is “currently low” despite the NB.1.8.1 variant increase. Only Alaska is reporting “high” levels of the virus, while Hawaii, Nevada, Texas, Missouri, Mississippi, Florida, and Connecticut are seeing “moderate” levels, according to the CDC.

Last week, private data showed that states reporting the variant, which has been dubbed “Nimbus” in some media reports, include Arizona, California, Colorado, New Jersey, New York, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington state as of June 19.

Chinese doctors earlier this month predicted a peak of nationwide COVID-19 cases in July, as the latest data released by Chinese health authorities show that variant NB 1.8.1 is still the main pathogen causing the rapid increase in COVID-19 infections in China.

An internal university research report at China’s Peking University stated that NB.1.8.1 may become the next dominant global strain, with symptoms including a sharp sore throat, fever, runny nose, vomiting, and diarrhea, according to previous Epoch Times reporting.

A worldwide rise in cases late last month is primarily in the Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and Western Pacific regions, the World Health Organization said on May 28. The new variant had reached nearly 11 percent of sequenced samples reported globally in mid-May.

The WHO said some Western Pacific countries have reported increases in COVID cases and hospitalizations, but there’s nothing so far to suggest that the disease associated with the new variant is more severe than other variants.

In a statement to The Epoch Times in late May, a CDC spokesperson said the agency “is aware of reported cases of COVID-19 NB.1.8.1 in China and is in regular contact with international partners.”

Prior reports from The Epoch Times, citing Chinese doctors and outside health experts, have said that patients are reporting a sharp sore that’s been dubbed the “razor blade throat” or “razor throat.” Some media outlets, including The Associated Press and international media reports from the UK and India, have used the “razor throat” moniker to describe the NB.1.8.1 variant.

Due to the Chinese Communist Party’s history of covering up information and publishing unreliable data, including underreporting COVID-19 infections and related deaths since 2020, information provided by local doctors and health workers can offer valuable information for understanding the situation on the ground in the totalitarian country.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Sun, 06/29/2025 - 22:10

"Bespoke Bombs": The Secret 15-Year Plan Behind US Strikes On Iran

"Bespoke Bombs": The Secret 15-Year Plan Behind US Strikes On Iran

Authored by Ryan Morgan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

WASHINGTON—The United States’ B-2 stealth bomber strike on Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment facility was the culmination of more than 15 years of study and planning, according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.

A June 25, 2025, poster from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) shows unclassified aerial images of Iran's Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant’s two ventilation shafts during construction in 2008, post-construction in 2009, and after the June 21, 2025, strike. According to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, two DTRA employees spent years analyzing the site's geology, construction materials, and equipment to model the facility and develop a strike plan. The Pentagon

Caine joined Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for a press briefing on June 26, in which the defense secretary said the June 21 bombing mission was a resounding success that set Iran’s nuclear development back by years.

Caine detailed the military planning that began in 2009 to design a purpose-built method to knock out the Fordow facility, which is buried hundreds of feet underground in a mountainous region of Iran.

A Briefing in a Vault

Caine shed new light on the role of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), an organization tasked with preparing bespoke solutions to destroy highly sensitive targets, including emerging weapons of mass destruction.

DTRA does a lot of things for our nation, but DTRA is the world’s leading expert on deeply buried, underground targets,” Caine said.

“In 2009, a Defense Threat Reduction Agency officer was brought into a vault at an undisclosed location and briefed on something going on in Iran,” Caine said, declining to identify the DTRA officer by name.

This DTRA officer, and another unnamed member of the agency, were then tasked to work with the intelligence community to study the construction of the Fordow site.

For more than 15 years, this officer and his teammate lived and breathed this single target: Fordow, a critical element of Iran’s covert nuclear weapons program,” Caine said.

The two DTRA employees spent years studying everything from the geology surrounding Fordow, to the construction materials and other equipment arriving at the facility, so they could model the site and devise a plan.

“They literally dreamed about this target at night when they slept,” Caine said.

A satellite view shows an overview of the underground Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, after the U.S. struck the nuclear facility, near Qom, Iran, on June 22, 2025. Maxar Technologies/Handout via Reuters Bespoke Bombs

In the course of their study of the Fordow facility, Caine said the pair of DTRA employees leading the project soon determined the U.S. military did not have a weapon that could adequately address the challenge the fortified Iranian nuclear facility presented.

So, they began a journey to work with industry and other tacticians to develop the GBU-57,” Caine said.

The GBU-57, also known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) or bunker-buster, is a 30,000-pound bomb designed to burrow and explode deep underground.

Military planners then spent years testing the bomb, specifically for the Fordow facility.

They tested it over and over again. ... They accomplished hundreds of test shots, and dropped many full-scale weapons against extremely realistic targets for a single purpose: kill this target at the time and place of our nation’s choosing,” Caine said.

Each GBU-57 is “bespokely” designed for a specific target. He said each one dropped on the Fordow facility “had a unique desired impact angle, arrival, final heading, and fuse” corresponding to its role in the overall mission.

The Air Force, in coordination with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, tests the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a precision-guided, bunker-busting weapon designed to destroy deeply buried and hardened targets, in Washington on Dec. 11, 2020. The test demonstrated the Air Force’s ability to strike heavily reinforced underground facilities and mountain complexes. Air Force Television Pentagon/Defense Visual Information Distribution Service

In addition to live-testing the GBU-57, Caine said the program to develop the heavy bunker-buster involved extensive and complex computing.

In the beginning of its development, we had so many PhDs working on the MOP program, doing modeling and simulation, that we were quietly and in a secret way, the biggest users of supercomputer-hours within the United States of America,” he said.

Operation Midnight Hammer

The U.S. bomber strikes on Fordow were part of a larger mission, dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer, that also targeted Iran’s Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities.

B-2 Spirit stealth bombers tasked with striking the Fordow facility were specifically assigned to drop their GBU-57 bombs on a set of ventilation shafts running out of the underground facility. Ahead of the strikes on the Fordow facility, U.S. military planners observed last-minute changes to the site, including the placement of concrete caps on the ventilation shafts to further fortify the facility against an attack. 

Caine said the first weapon dropped on Fordow was specifically designed to remove the concrete caps shielding Fordow’s ventilation shaft. From there, he said, weapons two, three, four, and five were designed to enter the shaft and burrow down into the underground complex at more than 1,000 feet per second, and explode.

Airmen look at a GBU-57, or the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb, at Whiteman Air Base in Missouri on May 2, 2023. File/U.S. Air Force via AP

The general said a sixth bomb was designed as a “flex weapon,” in case one of the first five weapons failed to achieve its intended effect.

When it comes to assessing the true damage of the strike, Caine said the U.S. intelligence community plays the leading role, rather than the military.

We don’t grade our own homework; the intelligence community does,” Caine said.

Read the rest here...

Tyler Durden Sun, 06/29/2025 - 21:00

MSM Claims MAHA "Threatens To Set Women Back Decades" 

MSM Claims MAHA "Threatens To Set Women Back Decades" 

An increasing number of Americans are abandoning processed foods and taking control of their own food supply chain—planting backyard gardens and sourcing meat, eggs, dairy, and pantry staples directly from local markets and farms. The trend, which is gaining momentum under the "Make America Healthy Again" movement—and even noted by Goldman—reflects a broader push for food independence and a return to community-based sourcing.

Not everyone is on board with MAHA — especially not the feminist journalists at SELF (owned by the corporate media company Condé Nast), who recently penned an article that reads like a hit piece against MAHA.

Erica Sloan's critique of MAHA is that food independence is unrealistic and burdensome for women in the modern progressive world. 

In her article titled "How the MAHA Food Agenda Threatens to Set Women Back Decades," Sloan writes...

But it's what MAHA isn't saying that's most important: Stoking so much fear around these vital industries implies that Americans—more specifically, the mothers of America—need to find a different way to feed their families.

"Women do a disproportionate share of the kind of work that the MAHA movement is asking people to do, which is to grow their own food, to prepare all of their food from scratch, and to avoid processed food and even packaged foods," Norah MacKendrick, PhD, associate professor of sociology at Rutgers University and author of Better Safe Than Sorry: How Consumers Navigate Exposure to Everyday Toxics, tells SELF. Even today, with approximately 60% of women working outside the home, women still spend about two hours more on housework daily and cook more than twice as many meals a week as men do. The implication that our current food system is inherently unsafe just stands to pile on the labor.

"In order for a family to eat a diet of mostly homegrown or even just homemade meals… that's going to be a lot more work for women and mothers especially," Dr. MacKendrick says. It's an ideal that the MAHA moms have already embodied—and that would be not only unrealistic but unfair to expect from all American families.

Decades? 

The angle that Sloan uses to bash MAHA via a quote from some woman in acemedia is entirely flawed, that's because MAHA doesn't force anyone to grow their own food or make everything from scratch—it simply raises awareness about the systemic failures of Big Food and Big Pharma and empowers families to reclaim control where possible. Some folks plant gardens, while others buy from local ranchers and farmers. The movement calls for informed choices and better public policy—not a return to the primitive 1800s—or is asking women to live like the modern-day Amish. 

Heaven forbid women to cook from scratch for their families! More nonsense from the PR journalist ... 

MAHA's villainization of food processing just adds the burden of cooking from scratch to women's plates.

The journalist concluded the article with this: "Processed and ultraprocessed items are also functional necessities for many, and can spark joy. And again, some of them have positive nutritional value." 

Meanwhile...

At the end of the article, SELF advises readers to...

Why SELF is targeting MAHA remains a mystery, though the answer may lie in who their mega-corporate advertisers are.

Tyler Durden Sun, 06/29/2025 - 20:25

Justice Kagan's Own Words Come Back To Haunt Her On Nationwide Injunctions

Justice Kagan's Own Words Come Back To Haunt Her On Nationwide Injunctions

Authored by Matt Margolis via PJMedia.com,

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in Trump v. CASA, Inc., released Friday, finally put the brakes on the reckless abuse of nationwide injunctions by lower courts—and has Democrats in full meltdown mode. The left’s favorite judicial weapon just got neutered, and the hypocrisy is impossible to ignore.

The liberal wing of the court didn’t do itself any favors, either. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissent was so horrible that Justice Amy Coney Barrett felt compelled to call it out in the majority opinion.

But Justice Elena Kagan’s credibility also took a direct hit. In a stunning display of judicial flip-flopping, Kagan’s own words from 2022 have come back to haunt her, exposing the left’s all-too-familiar habit of changing the rules when it suits their political objectives. 

Nationwide injunctions have been the left’s go-to tactic for derailing conservative policy at the stroke of a single judge’s pen. Under Trump, district judges from deep-blue enclaves repeatedly issued sweeping orders to block administration policies nationwide at an unprecedented pace, no matter how tenuous the legal grounds. 

Despite all the apocalyptic rhetoric, there’s no doubt that the left’s current position on nationwide injunctions is purely political—and Justice Elena Kagan accidentally proved it.

How? Well, Justice Kagan, who dissented in this case, was singing a very different tune just a couple of years ago.

Back in 2022, when President Biden was in the White House and conservatives were the ones seeking relief from his executive orders, Kagan was openly skeptical of nationwide injunctions. 

“This can’t be right that one district judge can stop a nationwide policy in its tracks and leave it stuck for the years that it takes to go through a normal process,” she said. 

That’s not some out-of-context paraphrase—it’s her own words, on the record.

Fast forward to 2025, and suddenly Kagan’s skepticism has evaporated. Now that Donald Trump is back in the Oval Office, she’s all-in for the same judicial overreach she once panned. It just goes to show you who the real partisans on the court are. They aren’t adhering to any particular judicial philosophy or the Constitution, they care only about whether a particular ruling hurts or benefits the Democratic Party.

This isn’t just about one justice’s hypocrisy. It’s a window into the left’s broader approach to power. When they control the levers of government, they demand deference and restraint from the courts. When they’re out of power, they want unelected judges to act as a permanent veto against any policy they dislike. It’s not about the Constitution or the separation of powers—it’s about maintaining their grip on the bureaucracy by any means necessary.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. CASA, Inc. is a must-needed correction, that frankly, should have been bipartisan. It restores a measure of balance and puts an end to the judicial free-for-all that has plagued our system for far too long. And if Justice Kagan and her allies are upset, maybe they should reread their own words from just a few years ago. Consistency, after all, used to be a virtue. But in today’s Democratic Party, it’s just another casualty of the endless war for power.

The Supreme Court just restored the rule of law—and the left can’t handle it.

Tyler Durden Sun, 06/29/2025 - 19:50

11 Signs That The Entire Country Is Facing Enormous Economic Challenges Right Now

11 Signs That The Entire Country Is Facing Enormous Economic Challenges Right Now

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

While everyone has been preoccupied with the war in the Middle East and the anti-ICE protests going on around the nation, economic conditions in the U.S. have continued to deteriorate.  The housing market is in abysmal shape, consumer spending is down and layoffs are way up.   Meanwhile, fear of our seemingly endless cost of living crisis is preventing the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates, and we shouldn’t expect any additional “economic stimulus” from our politicians in Washington any time soon because the federal government is already facing an unprecedented debt crisis.  In other words, our economy is a giant mess and the cavalry isn’t going to come riding along to save us.

If you find yourself deeply struggling in this difficult economic environment, you are definitely not alone.  

The following are 11 signs that the entire country is facing enormous economic challenges right now…

#1 Sales of new homes in the United States absolutely tanked last month…

Sales of new single-family homes dropped 13.7% in May compared with April to 623,000 units on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis, according to the U.S. Census.

That sales total was 6.3% lower than May 2024 and well below both the six-month average of 671,000 and the one-year average of 676,000. It also lags the pre-pandemic average in 2019 of 685,000 units sold.

Wall Street analysts were expecting May new home sales of 695,000, according to estimates from Dow Jones.

#2 According to the latest numbers that we have been given, home prices in the U.S. have fallen for two months in a row

After US home pries declined in March (the latest data) for the first time in over two years, this morning’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index data was expected to show another drop in the cost of buying a home.

And the consensus was right but way off in magnitude as prices in April tumbled 0.31% MoM (-0.02% exp) – the biggest MoM drop since Dec 2022…

#3 Last month, existing home sales in the U.S. were the worst that we have seen during the month of May since 2009.

#4 Retail sales fell even more than expected last month…

Consumer spending pulled back sharply in May, weighed down by declining gas sales and looming unease over where the economy is headed, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

Retail sales declined 0.9%, even more than the 0.6% drop expected from the Dow Jones consensus, according to numbers adjusted for seasonality but not inflation. The decline followed a 0.1% loss in April and came at a time of unease over tariffs and geopolitical tensions.

#5 The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is warning that the labor market “deteriorated noticeably” during the first quarter of this year…

Economic research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicated the labor market “deteriorated noticeably” in the first quarter of 2025, with those just entering the workforce taking the hardest hits.

The Labor Department reported that employers added 139,000 jobs in May while unemployment held steady at 4.2%. The unemployment rate for all college grads was 2.7%, but the rate for those between the ages of 22 and 27 years old jumped to 5.8%, according to the New York Federal Reserve. That’s the highest reading since 2021.

#6 According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, U.S. employers announced 47 percent more job cuts in May 2025 than they did in May 2024…

Layoffs of U.S. workers were nearly 50% higher in May than they were a year ago, with reductions attributed to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) remaining the leading reason for job cuts this year, according to a new report.

Global outplacement Challenger, Gray & Christmas on Thursday released a report that said there were 93,816 job cuts announced by U.S. employers in May. That amounts to an increase of 47% from 63,816 announced last May, while last month’s figure was down 12% from 105,441 cuts in April.

#7 For the first five months of this year, U.S. employers announced 80 percent more job cuts than they did during the first five months of last year…

That brings the total number of job cuts announced this year to 696,309 — an increase of 80% from the 385,859 jobs cut in the first five months of 2024. This year’s total is just 65,049 job cuts away from matching the 2024 annual total.

“Tariffs, funding cuts, consumer spending, and overall economic pessimism are putting intense pressure on companies’ workforces. Companies are spending less, slowing hiring, and sending layoff notices,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

#8 Factories in California are permanently shutting down at a staggering pace

All within a week, California lost Amy’s Kitchen’s San Jose plant (331 jobs), Anheuser-Busch’s Oakland warehouse complex (142 jobs), and several smaller plants, all for unsustainable prices and operational disruption.

Amy’s Kitchen, for example, was losing $1 million monthly, consumed by inflation, labor shortages, and supply chain problems. Anheuser-Busch’s exodus, conversely, left workers in suspense as the plant changed hands without a guarantee of employment.

It is not bad luck, evidence of a business environment where even legendary companies can’t survive the relentless fiscal squeeze.

#9 More than 3 percent of Paramount’s entire workforce will be hitting the bricks

Paramount Global is trimming its U.S. workforce by 3.5% in a move to cut costs.

The company’s plans to cut jobs were announced Tuesday by its three co-CEOs in a company-wide memo viewed by FOX Business.

Co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins said in the message that Paramount was “taking the hard, but necessary steps to further streamline our organization this week.”

#10 Microsoft is cutting jobs in its gaming division for the fourth time in 18 months

Microsoft is planning another round of cuts at Xbox as part of the tech giant’s ongoing reorganization.

Xbox managers are expecting substantial job cuts across the entire group as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. This marks the fourth time Microsoft downsized its gaming division in the past 18 months, the outlet reported. Several video game studios at the company’s Xbox division were shuttered in 2024, too.

#11 At this point, things are so bad that even Google is reducing headcount

Google on Tuesday offered buyouts to employees across several of its divisions, including those within its knowledge and information and central engineering units as well as marketing, research and communications teams, CNBC has learned.

Knowledge and information, or K&I, is the unit that houses Google’s search, ads and commerce divisions. The buyouts Tuesday are the company’s latest effort to reduce headcount, which Google has continued to do in waves since laying off 12,000 employees in 2023.

CNBC could not confirm how many employees were impacted by the latest round of buyouts. The Information reported earlier that the company offered buyouts to employees in the search and ads unit.

Our ongoing economic decline is just one element of the “perfect storm” that we are now experiencing.

Everywhere around us, chaos is erupting.

Unfortunately, I believe that conditions will become even more chaotic in the months ahead.

If you currently have a job that you value, I would hold on to it as tightly as you can.

We all remember what happened in 2008 and 2009, and now it appears that another very serious downturn has arrived.

*  *  *

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Tyler Durden Sun, 06/29/2025 - 12:50

Zohran Mamdani's Socialist Policies Would Put The Final Nail In New York's Coffin

Zohran Mamdani's Socialist Policies Would Put The Final Nail In New York's Coffin

Socialists always rise to power in the midst of failed liberal leadership.  The assumption being that liberal policies accomplish nothing because they "don't go far enough" to push the collectivist values of wealth redistribution and equity-based cultural engineering.  If only the political left asserted more control over people's lives and property, all the ailments of American society would magically disappear.

In most cases socialism also fails to make people's lives better.  Though one could argue that it does eventually achieve its goals of equal wealth - Socialism makes everyone equally poor.  In countries where socialism actually finds "success" a couple of factors are always present:  A small population that avoids multiculturalism and mixed demographics, and access to abundant natural resources.   

Wherever socialism in introduced into an otherwise prosperous economy, the standard of living automatically degrades.  When socialism is used as a bandage to stop the financial bleeding of a depressed market wounded by liberal management, it always makes things far worse.

The city of New York is on the verge of learning this lesson the hard way with the sudden popularity of mayoral candidate Zohran Mandani.  Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old assemblyman, democratic socialist and "rap music producer", defied expectations when he pulled well ahead to presumed victory over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in New York City's June 24 Democratic mayoral primary. 

While there were 11 candidates on the ranked-choice ballot, preliminary polling named Cuomo and Mamdani the front-runners by a large margin. Cuomo frequently polled above Mamdani in the weeks leading up to voting day, but the former governor ultimately ended up calling his opponent on Tuesday night to concede.  Mamdani led Cuomo 44% to 36% among first-place votes, with 96% of ballots counted as of around 1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 25

A Muslim immigrant born and raised in Uganda, Mamdani only became a legal citizen in the US in 2018.  He supports communistic economic reforms and woke social engineering concepts.  If you thought NYC could not be any worse, get ready because if Mamdani becomes Mayor his policies will prove the progressive enclave has far further to fall.  A look at his campaign proposals reveals a disturbing list of childish ideas that would put the final nail in New York's coffin.

Rent And Housing Controls

New York already made this deadly mistake during the covid lockdowns when they applied an eviction moratorium from 2020 to 2022.  Government property controls in any form tend to force owners out of rental markets, compelling them to sell their properties in order to avoid losing money in the future maintaining homes and apartment buildings that don't bring in a profit.

As owners sell, renters are made homeless and the supply shrinks, causing rents to skyrocket even higher.  The vacancy rate for rental housing in NYC has dropped to 1.4%, (the lowest since 1968).

Mamdani has consistently called for multi-year rent price freeze and acts as if property owners are the source of New York's rent inflation.  In reality, the prices are rising because of basic supply and demand.  A price freeze would not solve the the problem of diminishing supply for renters.  In fact, it would drive more owners out of the market and reduce the supply even further.  Prices might be suppressed by the government, but more and more people will have to leave New York or become homeless. 

The result would be a disaster for the city as the population shrinks and tax revenues decline, and Mamdani's reforms require more taxes, not less. 

The candidate hopes to offset the supply problem with government subsidized housing, but this will mean billions in tax expenditures over the course of the next ten years.  Similar efforts in California have resulted in disaster along with billions in wasted taxes and their homeless problem has only increased.  Building housing is also expensive and socialists can't make contractors work for free.  The solution would be for progressive politicians to drastically reduce regulations on construction and cut taxes, but they will never do this.

Defunding The Police

Mamdani has long been a proponent of defunding the police along with other woke notions of reducing crime by reducing enforcement.  He has recently changed his position, claiming he will not cut funding to police as New Yorkers grow increasingly fearful of theft and violence.  However, his policies remain suspect and he argues that criminal violence "is an artificial construct".

He plans to create a "Department of Community Safety", a proposal that includes increased investment in mental health programs and crisis response, expanding "evidence-based gun violence prevention programs" and increasing funding to "hate violence prevention programs" by 800%. 

In other words, Mamdani is going to pursue strict gun controls that will disarm law abiding citizens, making them easier to victimize.  Furthermore, focus on mental health will likely come at the expense of actual prosecution and jail time for offenders, meaning repeat criminals will run rampant.  "Hate violence" is a non-issue in NYC unless one counts attacks on Asians, often committed by black perpetrators as video evidence shows.  This is not something that a leftist like Mamdani will acknowledge.

As we have seen in leftist cities like Seattle and Portland, overt restrictions on policing lead to a law enforcement exodus.  Cops quit in droves and move away, leaving the population with less protection and more crime.

City Owned Grocery Stores

Leftists are outraged by the fact that retailers are closing up shop in high crime neighborhoods, leaving residents with "food deserts" and less jobs.  The thing is, the residents are the problem, not the companies that are forced to leave to avoid constant theft. 

On top of this, grocery prices are incredibly high after the stagflation crisis struck under the Biden Administration, leaving Democrats struggling to find a way to reduce costs and avoid losing even more of their working class voter base. 

Mamdani's solution is, of course, more price controls.  This time through government operated grocery stores. Mamdani has said he plans to address the cost of food by creating city-owned grocery stores that will pay no rent or property taxes, buy and sell at wholesale prices from centralized warehouses and partner with local vendors to keep prices down.  Meaning, the city would have to manage the entire supply chain to these stores in order to get the price cuts Mamdani wants.

Typically this leads suppliers to stop supplying as their profits shrink to nothing when dealing with socialist government buyers.  One must also ask why Mamdani doesn't simply reduce taxes on existing retailers in exchange for helping food prices go down?  Government grocery stores with price controls might lower costs for consumers, but they would also destroy local competition, causing more and more companies to leave NYC, creating even more "food deserts".

Raising Minimum Wage To $30

The minimum wage debate is built on naivety.  Socialist think they can dictate one aspect of the free market without negative consequences on all other aspects of the free market.  Mamdani's plan to raise New York City's minimum wage to $30 would be devastating to the economy, driving employers out of the area.  The same thing that happened when Seattle raised their minimum wage to $20, and California is experiencing an exodus of fast food jobs after they raised wages to $20.  

The only way this idea would not end with businesses fleeing the city is if the government forced a tax as punishment for companies that relocate (as California tried to do). 

Higher Taxes On "Richer And Whiter" Neighborhoods

Mamdani is fully onboard with DEI initiatives including race based wealth redistribution.  In his "Soak The Rich" proposal, Mamdani states:  

“Shift the tax burden from overtaxed homeowners in the outer boroughs to more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighborhoods..."

While many New Yorkers support the idea of balancing property taxes, the candidate's calls to target "white neighborhoods" has raised concerns that he is seeking to implement hidden reparations through race-based taxation. 

At bottom, Mamdani's campaign is rooted in an even more extreme version of the platform that led to the defeat of the Democratic Party in 2024.  As mayor in NYC, it's inevitable that these policies would destroy what remains of New York's already struggling economy and trigger a capital flight the likes of which the city has never seen before. 

Tyler Durden Sun, 06/29/2025 - 12:15

Texas Law Gives Grid Operator Power To Disconnect Data Centers During Crisis

Texas Law Gives Grid Operator Power To Disconnect Data Centers During Crisis

By Brian Martucci of UtilityDrive

Utilities, energy system analysts and ERCOT expect exponential growth of data centers and other large loads in Texas over the next several years. ERCOT forecasts 138 GW of large loads on its grid by 2030, up from 87 GW this year.

Even if only a fraction of proposed data centers get built, the boom could threaten grid reliability during the spring and fall months, when many thermal generators go down for planned maintenance, Aurora Energy Research said earlier this month. Reliability is already a concern in some parts of ERCOT — including the San Antonio area, where ERCOT is deploying more than 400 MW of mobile generation units and inked a costly “reliability must run” agreement with an aging 400-MW gas plant. 

Aurora models suggest data centers will be the largest single source of load flexibility available to mitigate Texas’ reliability risk. By 2030, up to 50% of the expected 35 GW of ERCOT’s data center capacity could provide some degree of emergency reliability support, Aurora said.

S.B. 6 authorizes the Public Utility Commission of Texas to develop two demand management programs — one mandatory and one voluntary — to ensure Texas data centers and other non-critical large loads help rather than hinder reliability.

The law’s intent is “to make sure [large loads] pose as little reliability risk to the system as possible and [are] not drinking the milkshake of all other Texas power customers,” NRG Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Travis Kavulla said in an interview.

S.B. 6 could avoid a future scenario like Winter Storm Uri, the dayslong freeze in February 2021 that saw millions of residential customers cut off from the grid as nearby industrial loads hummed along, Kavulla added.

The mandatory demand management program applies to loads of 75 MW or greater that interconnect to ERCOT from January onwards. It allows utilities to disconnect eligible loads during firm load shed events and mandates the installation of shutoff equipment as a condition of grid interconnection.

The voluntary program is a competitively procured reliability service active during specific times of the year, subject to a minimum 24-hour notice period and off-limits to any large-load customer that “curtails in response to the wholesale price of electricity … or that otherwise participates in a different reliability or ancillary service,” the law says.

The advance warning period is key for this sort of voluntary program, especially one counting on participation from hyperscale data centers with sensitive IT equipment worth billions, Kavulla said.

“This should not be the kind of demand response where you’re calling it with no notice and curtailing the customer straight off,” he said.

The mandatory program will surely alleviate stress on the ERCOT grid during extreme weather events but the jury is still out on customer uptake for the voluntary program, Kavulla said. Some data center operators have sounded open to voluntarily curtailing their loads or switching to onsite backup generation when needed, while others have been more resistant, he noted.

Kavulla credited Texas legislators for “calling the question,” however. 

“They have decided to create a market and test [customers’] willingness to participate,” he said. “Nothing gets people thinking like offering them money.”

Kavulla and Texas Blockchain Council President Lee Bratcher cheered other S.B. 6 provisions, like a $100,000 minimum initial interconnection fee for large load customers and a requirement that such customers disclose to utilities any potentially duplicative interconnection requests elsewhere in Texas. 

Both provisions could mitigate the “phantom loads” gumming up utility and grid operator forecasts in Texas and elsewhere, Bratcher said in an email.

“The Texas Blockchain Council and our member companies are glad to see that Senate Bill 6 tackles the phantom load challenge associated with the interconnection queue [and gives ERCOT] a more accurate picture of future load growth,” Bratcher said.

Some experts say 80% to 90% of proposed data centers in the U.S. interconnection queue will never get built, in part because they duplicate requests made in other utility territories.

The next step for ERCOT and its continental counterpart, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, is to “develop a non-firm load category for modeling purposes [that] would greatly increase the efficient utilization of transmission infrastructure and properly signal load behavior expectations to the transmission/distribution service providers,” Bratcher said.

And while Texas’s intrastate electricity market makes it something of a special case, some core S.B. 6 provisions are transferable to other states in the restructured Eastern markets, Kavulla said.

For example, states in the PJM Interconnection “could certainly precondition or accelerate interconnection of large loads on the basis of their willingness to participate in demand response,” he said.

Tyler Durden Sun, 06/29/2025 - 11:40

Senate Advances Trump Tax & Spending Bill In Saturday Night Vote

Senate Advances Trump Tax & Spending Bill In Saturday Night Vote

Update (2335ET): Senate Republicans narrowly advanced President Trump's tax and spending package, as GOP lawmakers in both chambers are hoping to pass the legislation by the 4th of July. Now that the bill has advanced, it will be followed by a Democrat-demand to read the entire 1,000-page bill on the floor (total children) before a maximum 20 hours of debate on the legislation and a multi-hour vote-o-rama, putting it on course for final passage from Sunday into Monday.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (AP)

Two Republicans voted against the bill; Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) - who opposed raising the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, and Thom Tillis (R-NC), who says the 'Big Beautiful Bill' could cost his state heavily when it comes to Medicaid funding.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) flipped his vote from "no" to "aye," while Sens. Mike Lee (UT), Rick Scott (FL) and Cynthia Lummis (WY) also voted yes. 

There was drama into the home stretch... less than an hour after the vote opened up, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Lee, and Scott, hadn't made an appearance on the Senate floor. Paul and Tillis had previously announced that they would oppose the motion to proceed, and could not support the bill in its current form. 

When Murkowski finally sauntered onto the floor, Thune quickly approached her along with Sens. Barrasso, Graham, and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID), who peppered her with demands - as one does when it comes to Lisa Murkowski...

*  *  *

Update (1718ET): Elon Musk has weighed in on the Senate's latest iteration of President Trump's tax and spending bill, calling it "utterly insane and destructive," and that it will "destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!"

Musk also called it 'political suicide.'

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are marching toward an initial vote Saturday afternoon despite several GOP Senators expressing grave concerns. 

Both Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Thom Tillis (North Carolina) are either "leaning against" or "no" on final passage. According to Politico, Trump "has personally reached out to Tillis to try to work him on the bill."

If at least two other Republicans join Tillis to oppose the procedural vote Saturday afternoon, Senate leadership would have to rely on Vice President JD Vance to break a tie to move forward to debate the bill. Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) all have concerns that could drive them to vote against moving forward.

Johnson and Paul, who have been vocally opposed to the bill because of its impact on the national debt, met with the president on Saturday shortly before the vote, according to Lee.

According to Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), "We won’t bring it to the floor if we don’t have the votes," adding "I think it’d be better to have the vice president close. I don’t know if we’re going to need him."

*  *  *

Senate Republicans unveiled a revised version of President Trump’s $4.2 trillion tax package early Saturday morning, making targeted concessions on state tax deductions, Medicaid policy, and renewable energy provisions in an effort to unite their caucus ahead of a July 4 deadline set by the White House.

The updated draft reflects compromises among Senate GOP factions that have sparred for weeks over how aggressively to cut social safety net programs and whether to roll back clean energy incentives enacted under the Biden administration. The legislation, if passed, would serve as the centerpiece of Mr. Trump’s second-term economic agenda.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced that voting on the bill would begin Saturday afternoon, with a final vote potentially coming as soon as Sunday. If it does pass the Senate, Republican leaders have indicated they will call House members back to Washington early next week in hopes of sending the legislation to the president’s desk before Independence Day.

However, it remains uncertain whether all 50 Republican senators are prepared to back the measure. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said Saturday on Fox News that he would oppose beginning debate on the bill immediately, citing the need for more time. “This is an important bill,” Johnson said. “There’s no need to rush it.”

A Revised SALT Cap

To address concerns from House Republicans representing high-tax states, the new draft raises the cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction from $10,000 to $40,000 for five years. The cap would snap back to its original level thereafter, with a modest 1% annual increase during the interim period. The deduction would begin phasing out for taxpayers earning more than $500,000 annually.

A House provision aimed at curbing SALT workarounds used by pass-through businesses was stripped from the text. While fiscal conservatives have criticized the SALT compromise as overly generous, the deal is expected to secure the support of swing-district Republicans and has been endorsed by the White House.

Senate Republicans also removed a controversial Section 899 “revenge tax” on foreign companies and investors following concerns from Wall Street and a request from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Tax Relief and Medicaid Tweaks

The legislation makes permanent the individual and corporate tax cuts first enacted in 2017 and introduces new temporary breaks for tipped workers, seniors, and car buyers. In a nod to moderate Republicans, the revised bill creates a $25 billion rural hospital fund intended to mitigate the effects of Medicaid spending reductions that critics warn could threaten services in underserved areas.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine had pressed for a $100 billion allocation but has not yet commented on whether the smaller fund will earn her support.

The new version delays the full impact of a 3.5% cap on state Medicaid provider taxes from 2031 to 2032. The cap, which would begin phasing in by 2028, applies only to states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Additionally, the bill imposes new work requirements for Medicaid recipients and would require ACA-expansion beneficiaries to contribute to their care through co-pays or deductibles.

Renewable Energy Rollbacks and New Land Sales

Republicans accelerated the phaseout of tax credits for wind and solar energy projects, now requiring such projects to be fully operational by the end of 2027 to qualify. That change, reportedly supported by Mr. Trump, could impact companies like NextEra Energy, the nation’s largest renewable developer.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the change, warning on social media that the rollback would “jack up your electric bills and jeopardize hundreds of thousands of jobs.”

The bill also ends the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit sooner than earlier versions proposed, cutting it off after September 30, 2025, including for used and commercial EVs.

A separate provision reinstated in the draft would authorize the sale of up to 1.2 million acres of federal land across 11 western states for housing and community development, a measure pushed by Senator Mike Lee of Utah. The plan could raise up to $6 billion but faces resistance from GOP senators in affected states.

Tax credits for hydrogen production, originally slated to end this year, would now continue through 2028 for projects started by then.

Broader Cuts and Debt Ceiling Increase

The legislation includes steep cuts to funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and federal food assistance programs, while increasing allocations for the U.S.-Mexico border wall. It preserves $15 million in funding for a task force to study alternatives to the IRS Direct File program, though it drops language that would have terminated the free filing service entirely — a defeat for tax software providers like Intuit.

A proposed tax on money transfers by non-citizens was scaled back from 3.5% to 1%, a win for companies like Western Union and MoneyGram.

Finally, the bill would raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, a move intended to avert a potential federal default projected for as early as August.

With internal GOP divisions still simmering, the path to final passage remains uncertain. Yet with Independence Day looming, Senate Republicans are betting that the new concessions will be enough to unify their ranks — and deliver a long-sought legislative victory for the president.

Tyler Durden Sat, 06/28/2025 - 23:43

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