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Simply the latest news, updated on the hour.

Sat, Jul 4, 2026, 2:16 AM EDT

World

AI Summary

  • US President Trump has announced a new initiative to create 'Trump Accounts' for newborns, allowing parents to enroll their children at the hospital, alongside a significant pardon for major donors and violators of the Clean Air Act, sparking debate about its implications for future financial policy.
  • Amidst escalating geopolitical tensions, Iran has commenced the multi-city funeral procession for Ayatollah Khamenei, drawing international attention and participation from countries including China, Russia, and Hezbollah, while the US believes Israel may have attempted to assassinate Iranian negotiators.
  • The global technology sector is grappling with data security concerns, as Alibaba bans employees from using Anthropic's coding tools due to a 'distillation scandal,' and Anthropic itself is taking measures to prevent Chinese tech firms from accessing its Claude AI.
  • With the US approaching its 250th anniversary, discussions are intensifying around the nation's past successes and future trajectory, juxtaposed with critical political commentary, including Mamdani's anti-America speech and Tucker Carlson's unveiling of a major political plan.
  • Extreme weather events are impacting global industries and daily life, with heatwaves disrupting Fourth of July events and straining power grids across the US, while Côte d’Ivoire experiences deadly floods and Australia records its hottest June since 1859.

ZeroHedge

  • Would The Founders Still Recognize Their Republic? 3 hours ago by Tyler Durden

    Would The Founders Still Recognize Their Republic? Authored by Andrew P. Napolitano Which is better — to be ruled by one tyrant 3,000 miles away or by 3,000 tyrants one mile away? — Rev. Mather Byles (1706-1788) Does it really matter if the instrument curtailing liberty is a monarch or a popularly elected legislature? This conundrum, along with the witty version of it put to a Boston crowd in 1775 by the little-known colonial-era preacher with the famous uncle — Cotton Mather — addresses the age-old question of whether liberty can long survive in a democracy. Byles was a loyalist

  • First $1 Billion, Now $50 Million: Khanna Says Wealth Tax "Must Not Stop At Billionaires" 4 hours ago by Tyler Durden

    First $1 Billion, Now $50 Million: Khanna Says Wealth Tax "Must Not Stop At Billionaires" Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) - fresh off endorsing California's November ballot measure to seize 5% of billionaire wealth - published a Substack essay Wednesday titled, no really, " Why I Support a Billionaire Wealth Tax ." He makes it roughly a dozen paragraphs before explaining that it isn't one. " The tax should not stop at billionaires, it must reach centimillionaires, " Khanna writes, before spelling out exactly what that means: every fortune of $50 million and up, hit with a 2% federal levy on

  • Alibaba Bans Employees From Using Anthropic's Coding Tool Over Distillation Scandal 5 hours ago by Tyler Durden

    Alibaba Bans Employees From Using Anthropic's Coding Tool Over Distillation Scandal While in the US, the government's periodic bans of the latest model from Anthropic (which has made AI doomerism - in hopes of getting the government to regulate everyone else expect Anthropic, yet repeatedly achieving just the opposite - into an art form) has been all the rage in recent months, in China it is the other way around, with China's tech giant Alibaba banning employees from using Anthropic's Claude ‌Code at work after the tool drew scrutiny for features that can help identify China-linked users, Reuters reported. The

  • US At 250: Why America Has Been So Successful And Can It Continue 5 hours ago by Tyler Durden

    US At 250: Why America Has Been So Successful And Can It Continue To mark the 250 year anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence, Deutsche Bank has published a report looking at how the US emerged as a global superpower, and why it’s likely to remain one despite new challenges. First, DB considers how the US went from being a comparatively small country to the world's pre-eminent global power. These reasons range from the US' natural advantages, like favorable geography, to factors like its institutional stability and risk-tolerant capital markets. DB then considers the challenges that threaten US outperformance

  • Mamdani Delivers Anti-America Speech For The Nation's 250th Birthday 5 hours ago by Tyler Durden

    Mamdani Delivers Anti-America Speech For The Nation's 250th Birthday New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sat at a desk to commemorate America's semiquincentennial, and the socialist wasted little time turning the occasion into an anti-America lecture. He told his audience they each hold "the power to determine what America means," then spent the rest of the speech explaining what it means to him, and it was mostly bad. " The powerful have always known their answer ," Mamdani said. " America, in their view, is an arena of supremacy, where only a select few are allowed freedom, where not all


The Guardian

  • ‘Give him any award, and he’ll come running’: Narendra Modi racks up honours on overseas trips a day ago by Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi
    Narendra Modi, India, Seychelles, South and central Asia, World news, Israel, Africa, Middle East and north Africa

    Indian prime minister has a habit of collecting awards on his travels, some as their first and only recipient As Narendra Modi touched down in Seychelles over the weekend, the archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean swiftly bestowed one of its “highest” honours upon the Indian prime minister. Modi beamed as he accepted the Guardian of the Blue Horizon award from Patrick Herminie, the Seychelles president, complete with a trophy and certificate. Continue reading...

  • Côte d’Ivoire floods kill 59 as west Africa endures torrential rains 2 days ago by Eromo Egbejule in Abidjan
    Côte d’Ivoire, Flooding, Extreme weather, Climate crisis, Ghana, Nigeria, Africa, Environment

    Authorities say rainy season getting deadlier, with Ghana reporting 13 dead and floods hitting Benin, Togo and Nigeria Floods in Côte d’Ivoire have killed 59 people since May, the communication minister told a cabinet meeting in Abidjan. There are fears the toll could further rise as rescue teams continue to search for victims during the rainy season, which runs from May until July, the minister, Amadou Coulibaly, added. Continue reading...

  • Understanding Ebola’s wildlife origins is crucial to preventing next big outbreak 2 days ago by Dan Salkeld
    Environment, Ebola, Infectious diseases, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa, World news, Wildlife, Science

    If we don’t know the source, not only do humans remain at risk but wildlife can suffer needlessly via retaliation While virologists and public health departments were palpitating over the news of an Andes virus infectious disease outbreak on a cruise ship (13 cases, three deaths), in the Democratic Republic of the Congo the Bundibugyo virus, the root of the current Ebola outbreak (currently more than 1,250 cases and at least 362 deaths), was smouldering under the radar. Bundibugyo virus is a horrifying, highly fatal pathogen. Symptom onset is sudden and includes headaches, diarrhoea, malfunctioning kidneys and liver, and, less

  • Sudan’s RSF committed crimes against humanity in El Fasher, Amnesty says 3 days ago by Carlos Mureithi in Nairobi
    Sudan, Amnesty International, War crimes, Human rights, Africa, Middle East and north Africa, World news

    Report accuses paramilitary force of crimes including ethnic cleansing in systemic campaign against civilians The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during its campaign to capture El Fasher, Amnesty International has alleged. Many of the crimes, including murder, torture, rape, enslavement and sexual slavery, were carried out as part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians and amounted to crimes against humanity, the human rights organisation said in a report released on Wednesday. Continue reading...

  • ‘Witch-hunt’ in Niger as military regime rounds up LGBTQ+ population 3 days ago by Sarah Johnson
    Niger, Global development, LGBTQ+ rights, Africa, World news, Human rights, Aids and HIV, Society, Burkina Faso, Mali, Uganda

    Fears of resurgence of HIV/Aids amid loss of access to PrEP drugs as at least 40 people arrested in ‘toxic’ climate A “witch-hunt” is under way in Niger, where dozens of people have been arrested for homosexuality in the west African state following the introduction of a new penal code earlier this year. Up to 40 people have been arrested and 16 men, including high-ranking military officials, have been imprisoned across the country, according to local media. Continue reading...


South China Morning Post

  • Thousands gather in Iran as Khamenei funeral ceremonies begin an hour ago by Agence France-Presse

    Funeral ceremonies for Iran’s late supreme leader Ali Khamenei officially began on Saturday, state television reported, an event drawing thousands and intended to serve as a show of strength to the Islamic republic’s foes. Iranian authorities say they anticipate between 15 and 20 million participants in Tehran alone over the next three days for tributes to the man who ran the country for three-and-a-half decades. Six days of funeral ceremonies are planned to commemorate Khamenei, who ruled the...

  • The end of ‘just in time’? Asia rejigs supply chains post-Hormuz 2 hours ago by Tom Hussain

    How many crises does it take to change the way the world trades? For Asia, the answer appears to be three. First Covid closed the factories that fed the logistics networks, then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine choked off Black Sea grain exports and sent energy prices spiralling. Now, the US-Israel war on Iran may have hammered the final nail in the coffin of “just in time” supply chains that some economists say are no longer fit for purpose. “Taken together, they show that serious disruption is now...

  • Trump warns American identity under ‘renewed attack’ as US turns 250 2 hours ago by Agence France-Presse

    US President Donald Trump lashed out on Friday at what he called a fresh threat against the country’s identity, taking aim at domestic “radicals and extremists” on the eve of America’s 250th birthday. In a speech dripping with patriotism, Trump lauded American exceptionalism and praised its past leaders, speaking at Mount Rushmore with its giant carved heads of four of his legendary predecessors. But he added at the foot of the iconic monument: “As we approach this magnificent anniversary, we...

  • Heatwave upends Fourth of July events across US, strains power grids 3 hours ago by Reuters

    A dangerous heatwave upended Fourth of July celebrations across swathes of the central and eastern United States on Friday, forcing officials in the nation’s capital and elsewhere to cancel or postpone dozens of parades, concerts and fireworks displays. Among the events disrupted by the sweltering heat was the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, a centrepiece of President Donald ‌Trump’s efforts to mark the nation’s 250th birthday. The fair, designed to showcase all 50...

  • New ghost shark species may have been found in Costa Rica 4 hours ago by Agence France-Presse

    Costa Rican scientists may have discovered a new species of ghost shark in Pacific waters near Cabo Blanco and Cano Island. The latest discovery has a “shorter” snout, a “darker coloration pattern” and a “much longer spine on its dorsal fin”, according to Arturo Angulo Sibaja, a biology professor at the University of Costa Rica. The discovery marked the only such species “known for the Central American coast”, Sibaja said, adding genetic analysis indicated the new species had “no reproductive...


New York Times

  • Trump Targets Not Just Georgia’s Vote, but Also Trust in Elections 7 hours ago by Zolan Kanno-Youngs
    United States Politics and Government, Presidential Election of 2020, Voter Fraud (Election Fraud), Conspiracy Theories, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Justice Department, Trump, Donald J, Georgia, United States, Voting Rights, Registration and Requirements, Republican Party, Smith, Jack (Attorney), Fulton County (Ga)

    The president has sent 260 F.B.I. analysts to Georgia, repeating his baseless claims of fraud in 2020. But critics say the intention is to undermine overall confidence in the electoral process.

  • At Mount Rushmore, Trump Veers From Patriotism to ‘Communism’ an hour ago by Shawn McCreesh
    United States Politics and Government, National Parks, Monuments and Seashores, United States Semiquincentennial (2026), Trump, Donald J, Mount Rushmore National Memorial (SD)

    On the eve of July 4, President Trump extolled the nation’s founders while branding his opponents as “communists” in what seemed to be a warm-up for November.

  • Trump Pardons Violators of the Clean Air Act and a Major Donor 5 hours ago by Kenneth P. Vogel and Karen Zraick
    Air Pollution, Amnesties, Commutations and Pardons, Clean Air Act, Environment, Fuel Emissions (Transportation), Environmental Protection Agency, Trump, Donald J, United States Politics and Government, Global Warming, Diesel Power, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Justice Department, Abramoff, Jack

    The president used his clemency power to further undermine environmental laws and to help a political supporter who pleaded guilty in a fraud involving Jack Abramoff.

  • Parents Will Be Able to Enroll Newborns in Trump Accounts at the Hospital 8 hours ago by Tara Siegel Bernard
    Child Savings Accounts, Social Security (US), Babies and Infants, Personal Finances, Social Security Administration, Bisignano, Frank J, United States Politics and Government, Trump, Donald J

    The Social Security Administration will introduce a process to sign up babies for the investment program at the same time they are registered for a Social Security number.

  • Once the Centerpiece of Celebration, a Faded Declaration Recedes 8 hours ago by David E. Sanger
    United States Politics and Government, Declaration of Independence (US), National Archives and Records Administration

    Sunlight and abuse have taken a toll on the document, encased in bulletproof glass. But the Trump administration “hasn’t put much emphasis on it,” a former archivist notes.


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