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Australia's Latest Temporary Military Deployment To Europe Is Connected To Containing China Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack, Australia agreed during last month’s NATO Summit to deploy an E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft and up to 100 troops to Europe till November at the bloc and Poland’s request in support of Ukraine. This will be carried out under “Operation Kudu”, which “is the Australian Defence Force commitment to the training of Armed Forces of Ukraine personnel in the United Kingdom.” It follows a prior such deployment to Ramstein Air Base so the latest one isn’t really all that newsworthy. That doesn’t mean that it’s insignificant, however, since it’s important for observers to understand why Australia is continuing to militarily involve itself in a conflict on the opposite side of the planet. The reason is that Australia is doing so as a quid pro quo for Anglo-American support in containing China through AUKUS. Regardless of whether one agrees with it, the Australia government nowadays considers China to be an adversary – largely due to Anglo-American influence – and formulates policy accordingly. Sending arms to Ukraine, training its troops in the UK, and once again carrying out a temporary military deployment to Europe isn’t just a way to pay back its AUKUS allies, but also a means for obtaining experience in the event that China gets involved in a regional conflict. Whether it’s against Taiwan, the Philippines, Japan, and/or the US, Australia expects to involve itself in a similar way as with Russia-Ukraine via the aforesaid means of arms shipments, training, and early warning and control missions. Moreover, by showing solidarity with NATO in its proxy war on Russia through Ukraine as explained above, Australia hopes that the bloc’s European members will repay the favor if it involves itself in a future AUKUS+ (AUKUS, Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines) proxy war on China. Even though they’d probably do this at their American “daddy’s” behest, albeit as a quid pro quo for “defending Europe from Russia” in this case (as they sincerely but wrongly believe), it’s a suitable pretext for the public. The larger goal is to craft the perception of a “Global West” that stretches across the Atlantic and Pacific to encompass both halves of Eurasia, thus enabling the US to “Lead From Behind” in containing China in the future and maybe once again Russia too depending on events. Australia’s role is therefore to serve as an example of an Asia-Pacific country contributing to the European front of the US’ present containment campaign against Russia to justify European countries contributing to a future Asian front against China. That being the case, Australia’s latest temporary military deployment to Europe actually advances a much grander strategic goal than most observers might have realized. In and of itself, Australia’s contribution to NATO’s proxy war on Russia through Ukraine is minimal and has no influence over the course of events, but it helps lay the ground for what might come next after that conflict finally ends. If Trump’s “total reset” with China fails, then the US-led “Global West” might more aggressively contain it. To that end, the precedent of Australia’s continued military involvement in the Ukrainian Conflict can be spun as the pretext for NATO’s European members involving themselves in a future AUKUS+ proxy war on China, which can be sold to the public as “paying back the favor out of solidarity”. The emerging “Global West” concept therefore isn’t just a “collection of democracies” like it’s been portrayed by some, but a collection of US military partners that can be relied upon for helping to contain its Eurasian rivals. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 23:25
How New Microschool Accreditation Pathways Are Opening Doors For Founders and Families Authored by Kerry McDonald via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), As a mother of nine in Tennessee, Sarah Fagerburg tried a variety of different schooling types, from public schools to homeschooling, but she always felt there had to be something better. In the spring of 2023, she discovered Acton Academy from listening to a podcast, and knew that this was the educational model she had been seeking. MCP Academy in Mansfield, Texas/FEE “My mind was blown,” said Fagerburg. “I had no idea education could be this good.” She applied to open her own Acton Academy, and was accepted into the fast-growing network of approximately 300 independently operated schools, emphasizing learner-driven education. Fagerburg launched Acton Academy Johnson City last fall with 13 students, including four of her own children. Today, she has 26 K-6 students enrolled in her secular microschool, with plans to add a middle school and high school program in the coming years. “Parents want this. They love it,” said Fagerburg, adding that some families drive up to 45 minutes each way for their children to attend her program. She says she sees enormous demand for the Acton Academy model, and hopes to open more locations in Tennessee, but access is a key concern. “I grew up poor,” said Fagerburg. “I never would have been able to attend a school like this.” With the current expansion of school choice programs, such as Tennessee’s new universal education savings accounts (ESA), many more families are able to access innovative schools and learning models. “It’s a complete game changer,” said Fagerburg, explaining how the ESA program enables Tennessee families who previously had limited education choices to now use a portion of state-allocated education funding to select the school or learning space that is best for their child. But there’s a catch. In order to participate in Tennessee’s ESA program, Fagerburg’s school must be accredited, and its current accreditation by the International Association of Learner Driven Schools isn’t recognized by the state. That is why Fagerburg jumped at the opportunity to participate in a fledgling program offered through the Middle States Association (MSA), one of the four major K-12 accreditation entities, with 3,200 member schools worldwide. In partnership with Stand Together Trust, MSA’s Next Generation Accreditation pilot program seeks to offer a faster, more affordable, and more flexible route toward accreditation for today’s emerging schools. “We created this flexible protocol around how a school actually works,” said Christian Talbot, President and CEO of MSA. “That gives mostly microschools, but really any innovative school, the opportunity to tell their story with the production of evidence that makes the most sense to them.” Talbot offered the example of a hypothetical urban “place-based” learning environment, with no designated school building and students taking classes at various museums, public parks, and historic sites throughout a city. “That school is going to have the opportunity to describe the learning environment in ways that existing accreditation protocols really don’t allow because you have to have a certificate of occupancy, or a lease, or some other thing that is tied to this mental model we have that school has to be in a building,” said Talbot. He emphasized that these innovative schools are “meeting all of the exact same standards of accreditation” as conventional schools, but they are able to demonstrate these standards in ways that reflect the ingenuity of their models. MSA is the world’s second-oldest accrediting agency. It launched more than a century ago, as interest grew from schools and colleges for independent, third-party verifiers of quality. For higher education, accreditation eventually became a requirement for US colleges and universities to participate in federal student financial aid programs, but at the K-12 level, mandatory accreditation is less common. Most states don’t require schools—public or private—to be accredited, but some schools choose to become accredited to earn an external “seal of approval,” which may help them to attract and retain students and educators. With the expansion of school-choice programs nationwide in recent years, certain states, such as Tennessee and Texas, require accreditation in order for a school to participate in these programs. Cammy Herrera had been exploring the possibility of accreditation for her secular microschool MCP Academy, in Mansfield, Texas, well before the state introduced a new universal school-choice program this spring. A former public school teacher, Herrera had been running a licensed in-home preschool for more than a decade when she decided in 2021 to add a Montessori-inspired school-age program. She now serves over 50 students through middle school, with plans to open a high school if she can find a larger space to accommodate more students. For Herrera, accreditation was appealing as a signal of quality, but she felt that most existing accrediting organizations took a traditional view of education that didn’t reflect her personalized, flexible approach. “Our school is so different. We are not trying to fit into a one-size-fits-all box when it comes to schooling,” said Herrera, whose students are technically considered homeschoolers. They can attend her school full-time at an annual tuition of $10,250, or customize their enrollment based on their own learning needs. Tuition for Herrera’s two-day-a-week option is about $4,000 annually. “Whoever we get accredited through has to believe in our vision and has to be on board with what makes our school special because we don’t want our school to lose that special part that makes us different from a traditional school,” she said. When Herrera learned about the MSA’s pilot accreditation program for microschools, she eagerly applied. Next Generation Accreditation would offer Herrera that third-party validation she has been seeking while retaining her program’s originality. It would also enable her to participate in Texas’s new school choice program, should she choose. MSA hopes to run the Next Generation Accreditation pilot with 10 to 15 innovative schools over the next several months to learn more about these schools’ distinct needs and structures, and then iterate and adapt protocols to provide a valuable accreditation pathway for today’s creative schooling models. As the creator of the Texas Microschools Facebook group, Herrera sees mounting interest in microschooling and the diverse educational models and methods that the movement fosters. She thinks that accreditation options that reflect this diversity can be beneficial to founders and families who value that credential, or who need it to participate in certain school-choice programs. But she also warns of potential drawbacks: “There are all these special schools, and if everybody has to follow the same standards to be accredited, then I think they’ll be more alike than different. That’s the only thing I could see being a downfall.” Originally published on The74, reposted from the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 22:35
Tipping Point: When Populations Peak As July 11 marks World Population Day, celebrating the approximate day that the world's population reached 5 billion on July 11, 1987, Statista's Felix Richter takes a closer look at one of the population trends that will affect many countries sooner or later in the 21st century: population decline. Especially prevalent across Europe and developed Asia, this demographic trend is a consequence of declining birth rates and ageing populations and poses significant challenges to the countries affected. You will find more infographics at Statista In countries like Japan and Italy, where population decline is estimated to have begun in 2010 and 2014, respectively, fertility rates have fallen below the replacement level of 2.1 percent a while ago. Influenced by factors such as higher education and career opportunities for women, shifts in societal norms regarding family and childbearing and an ageing overall population, natural population change, i.e. the difference between births and deaths, turned negative years ago. For several years, positive net migration stopped the overall population from declining until the (negative) natural population change eventually became larger than the population growth from migration. Countries with declining populations face a number of challenges, both economic and social. Economically, a shrinking workforce can lead to labor shortages, reduced productivity and increased pressure on social welfare systems. With fewer working-age individuals to support a growing elderly population, the financial burden on pension systems and healthcare services intensifies. Socially, a declining population can result in the depopulation of rural areas, shrinking communities and the ensuing challenges in maintaining infrastructure and public services. Addressing these issues requires comprehensive strategies. Raising the retirement age or increasing taxes/social contributions can help alleviate the financial burdens associated with a demographic imbalance. Policies to support work-life balance and affordable childcare can help slow the population decline and immigration of young, skilled workers can help address labor shortages and increase productivity. According to the latest revision of the United Nation’s World Population Prospects, many countries will face these challenges within this century if they don't already, such as the aforementioned Japan and Italy, China and South Korea, which were expected to see their first population decline in 2021. Brazil's population is expected to start declining in 2042, France's in 2049 and even India’s vast population is projected to start shrinking in 2062. Among developed nations, the United States, Canada and Australia are notable exception, with none of them currently expected to see their first population decline in the 21st century. Geographically, many African nations are still growing rapidly, resulting in a continental shift in global population that will see countries like Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Tanzania among the most populous nations in the world by 2100. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 22:10
Purges Of Top Tech Officials Show Cracks In China's Big Data Ambitions Authored by Michael Zhuang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), As U.S.-China tensions escalate over tech and national security, a new wave of corruption scandals is shaking the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) big data sector, one of the regime’s most strategically important industries. The public visit Data Analysis Center during the 2017 China International Big Data Industry Expo at Guiyang International Eco-Conference Center in Guiyang, China, on May 27, 2017. Lintao Zhang/Getty Images On July 2, Chinese state media reported that Yu Shiyang, head of the Big Data Development Department at China’s State Information Center, is under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law,” a phrase widely understood in China to mean political misconduct or corruption. In most cases, such investigations do not result in open trials. Instead, officials are often detained in secret, disappear from public view, and are quietly removed from their posts. Yu is the latest in a growing list of high-level officials in China’s data and tech sector to fall from grace. Yu, who once held a visiting scholar position at MIT, was considered a rising star in China’s digital governance sector, an unusual profile for a CCP official due to his international experience. He also served as executive deputy director of the Internet and Big Data Center under the powerful National Development and Reform Commission, Beijing’s top economic planning agency. The announcement was jointly issued by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the CCP’s top anti-corruption body, and its counterpart in Hebei Province, underscoring the political weight behind the case. Widespread Corruption at China’s Data Hub The investigation into Yu is part of a broader pattern that has plagued China’s big data sector, particularly in Guizhou Province, which the CCP has touted as a national data hub since 2016. Once hailed as China’s first national-level big data experimental zone, Guizhou signed a landmark deal in 2018 allowing a local government-backed company, Guizhou-Cloud Big Data, to partner with Apple in operating iCloud services within mainland China. However, behind the scenes, Guizhou’s data boom has become a political liability. Multiple senior officials spanning provincial data regulators, mayors, and executives at state-owned tech firms have been caught in sweeping anti-corruption probes. Notable among them is Ma Ningyu, Guizhou’s former top big data official and the original architect of the province’s digital transformation strategy. He was detained in August last year amid allegations of abusing public data resources for private gain. Projects he championed are now under scrutiny for fraudulent procurement practices. Another scandal involves Jing Yaping, who was purged on Feb. 24. Until her retirement, she led the provincial Big Data Development Bureau. She allegedly rigged bids for the Chinese regime’s IT contracts by embedding encryption watermarks in tender documents, ensuring her son-in-law’s shell company won lucrative contracts. The scheme reportedly caused a 2 billion yuan ($280 million) budget overrun. Investigators also alleged that government servers under her watch were secretly used to mine Bitcoin. Authorities discovered 327 remaining Bitcoins in the mining pool, worth around $35 million at current valuations. The discovery was particularly problematic given Beijing’s 2021 blanket ban on cryptocurrency mining, citing energy waste and financial risk. The purge shows no sign of slowing. On Feb. 26, Liu Lan, Guizhou’s deputy mayor overseeing big data, was removed from office, according to Chinese state media reports. On April 3, Yang Yunyong, head of a Guizhou provincial government-backed computing firm, was purged, and Li Gang, a former deputy director of Guizhou’s Big Data Bureau and provincial military-civil fusion office, fell under investigation on May 16. CCP’s Big Data Ambitions The fallout has raised alarm about the fragility of China’s efforts to build a global edge in artificial intelligence (AI). Big data is foundational to AI development, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping has long championed the integration of big data, artificial intelligence, and traditional industries since 2022. On June 26, RAND Corporation, an influential American defense and policy think tank [ZH: also absolute dicks], warned that Beijing sees data as a strategic asset in its bid to become a dominant world power in the field of AI. China’s local governments have launched so-called “data marketplaces” that allow state agencies and companies to trade datasets. These platforms aim to standardize and commercialize data exchange between state and private entities, fueling AI development without formal data ownership transfer. The goal is to build up AI capabilities by widening access to large-scale training data. In addition, big data is critical in the CCP’s attempts at foreign influence and espionage. Last year, Canadian intelligence chief Daniel Rogers raised national security concerns over China’s use of big data to carry out foreign interference activities. He specifically named the data held by TikTok as potentially being capable of ending up in the hands of the CCP. The CCP also seeks to acquire and exploit big data for its military use. The U.S. State Department states on its website that China wants to become the first nation to transition to “intelligence warfare” via military-civil fusion, a strategy that includes theft to acquire advanced technologies, which include big data. With top officials in Beijing’s data apparatus falling in rapid succession, the CCP’s ambitions for digital dominance may be unraveling from within. Tang Bing contributed to this report. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 21:45
China Could Push Russia To Attack NATO Member In Taiwan Distraction Ploy: Rutte In the scenario that China might one day invade Taiwan, Beijing will enlist Russia's help to tie up NATO forces in Europe, according to a prediction by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. Rutte, in a fresh interview with The New York Times, engaged in a rare bit of public speculation and grand strategy chessboard gaming regarding potential future moves by the two nuclear armed powers who have struck an "unlimited partnership" of the last few years. He described that if China made a move against Taiwan, President Xi Jinping "would first make sure that he makes a call to his very junior partner in all of this" - in reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin. This isn't the first time that Rutte has branded Putin the Chinese president's subordinate in public remarks, in something clearly meant as a jab at Moscow and aimed at belittling the Russian leader. In such a development, Xi would tell the Kremlin leader that Russia needs to "keep them busy in Europe by attacking NATO territory," Rutte said. "That is most likely the way this will progress," he added, in an interview where he generally heaped a lot of praise on President Trump, including in the following: "The American administration completely takes the view and shares it with the Europeans that this war in Ukraine is crucial for the defense of NATO territory going forward and that we have to make sure that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position to stop the Russians from taking more territory, and that when it comes to a cease-fire or, even better, a peace deal, that Ukraine with some help will be able to prevent Putin from ever attacking Ukraine again in the future." One end result of Trump putting pressure on Europe to take a stronger and more lead role in shouldering the common defense burden is that "The Europeans have now cobbled together $35 billion in military aid this year to deliver to Ukraine, which is more than last year." He said this came alongside the US expecting Europeans to "take more of the burden when it comes to the concrete support to Ukraine." Watch the part of the interview where Rutte assumes China and Russia will coordinate action related to future moves on Taiwan: NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte says if Xi Jinping decides to attack Taiwan, he'll call up his "junior partner" Putin and tell him to "keep them busy in Europe" by simultaneously attacking NATO territory. Rutte suggests this is one reason why Trump is so supportive of NATO pic.twitter.com/zsu1hlmJW7 — Michael Tracey (@mtracey) July 6, 2025 One additional area where Rutte praised Trump is on breaking the "deadlock" with Putin. "He is the one who broke the deadlock with Putin. When he became president in January, he started these discussions with Putin, and he was the only one who was able to do this," the NATO chief described. "This had to happen. A direct dialogue between the American president and the president of the Russian Federation," he added. But Rutte also acknowledged that this has stopped progressing of late. As for the Moscow-Beijing relationship, he is likely assuming too much in terms of closeness between these longtime, historic rivals turned 'friends'. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 21:20
Walmart, Amazon Truck Depots Display Multilingual Signs, Raising Alarms Over Migrant Drivers With No English Submitted by American Truckers United, In the shadow of record profits and centi-billion dollar valuations, the American trucker is being pushed further to the sidelines - not by automation or fuel prices, but by corporate betrayal. Walmart and Amazon — icons of "American" capitalism — are now placing signs at their distribution centers in foreign languages to accommodate an influx of non-domiciled, non-citizen truck drivers. Don't be fooled… this isn't about inclusion, it's about replacing those more expensive American truck drivers. Truck driving, once a blue-collar backbone of American prosperity, is being hollowed out in favor of cheap, foreign labor. Mega-corporations and their subcontractors are exploiting loopholes to flood the industry with drivers on work visas or temporary permits, often lacking any form of training to U.S. safety standards or language requirements. Safety and sovereignty are both being sacrificed at the altar of higher earnings per share. Donald Trump's Executive Order demanding English Language Proficiency (ELP) enforcement for commercial drivers wasn't just common sense — it was a line in the sand. You drive on American highways? You speak the language. Period. Likewise, Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, sounded the alarm on the abuse of non-domiciled CDLs — licenses issued by states to foreign nationals who may never permanently reside in the U.S. These are not minor regulatory gaps. They're open floodgates, and big retail is swimming through them with glee… they even have the signs to prove it! This is more than a labor dispute. It's a cultural and economic affront to every American trucker who played by the rules, paid their dues, and built this country mile by mile… "Covid's heroes" they once claimed… mega-corporation's collateral damage just a few short years later. The real "supply chain crisis" isn't the worry of shelves running empty… it is what power that big retail will continue to build if they continue their pillage of American Truck drivers and companies while handing our national security interests/domestic supply chain to non-citizens. * * * ZeroHedge Take: Under federal law, non-domiciled CDL (Commercial Driver's License) holders are required to understand and communicate in English. Yet, as the signage at Walmart distribution hubs and other major trucking depots reveals, instructions are now posted in foreign languages — a quiet admission that many of these unvetted migrant drivers don't speak English. This is a growing public safety threat. Tens of thousands of non-domiciled drivers, some with questionable training and zero English proficiency, are now behind the wheel of 80,000-pound steel missiles barreling down U.S. highways. Related: English Trucking Rule Takes Effect, Federal Probe Begins Of Sanctuary State Migrant CDL Pipeline Letter Urges Transportation Sec. Duffy To Ban Foreign CDLs Amid Series Of Highway Crashes Biden Handed Out CDLs Like Candy... Now U.S. Highways Are A Public Safety & National Security Nightmare Highway Mayhem: Trucker From Sanctuary State Illinois Arrested After Baltimore Shooting Spree Rolling Risk: Unvetted Migrants Behind The Wheel Of Big Rigs Threaten U.S. Safety & Security Advocacy Group Calls For US Probe On Non-English Speaking Migrant Truck Drivers After Deadly Austin Crash Washington may be asleep at the wheel, but the threat is very much real. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 20:55
China Smartphone Sales Plunge In May; Device Camera Counts Peak The latest data from Goldman Sachs shows smartphone shipments in China plunged 21% year-over-year in May to 23 million units. While shipments ticked up 1% month-over-month, they remain under pressure due to a high base effect from 2024, a particularly strong year in shipments. Cumulatively, shipments are down 5% year-to-date through May. China's smartphone market in May Smartphone shipments in China were -21% YoY to 23m units in May vs. -2% YoY in Apr 2025, per MIIT. The number of new smartphone models launched in China was -27% YoY to 27 models in May 2025 vs. +14% YoY to 32 models in Apr 2025, per MIIT. "For cameras, the number of cameras per phone peaked in 2022 at 3.8 cameras and was down to 3.3/ 3.1 cameras in 2024/ 2025 YTD; however, 20MPx+ penetration increased to 52%/ 51% in 2024/ 2025 YTD (vs. 39%/ 31% in 2023/22), in line with our view of camera specification upgrades for China smartphones," the team of analysts led by Allen Chang told clients over the weekend. The 5G segment demonstrated relative strength, with shipments increasing 7% from April to 21 million units, representing an 89% market penetration rate. However, the number of new 5G models launched plunged 52% year-over-year to just 13. Key China smartphone data in May (China 5G phone market in May): 5G phone shipments in China came in at 21m units in May, +7% MoM, -17% YoY, with a 89% penetration rate, per MIIT. The number of new 5G smartphone models launched in China was -52% YoY to 13 models in May 2025 vs. -14% YoY to 19 models in Apr 2025, per MIIT. Visualizing China's Smartphone Market In A Series Of Charts Smartphone Pipeline Chang forecasts shipment declines of 4% in Q2 and 2% in Q3, but highlights ongoing upgrades in hardware specifications and a shift toward premium models. The analysts are "Buy" rated Hon Hai, AAC, Largan, Luxshare, SZS, Fositek, BYDE, Transsion, Will Semi, MediaTek, and TSMC. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 20:30
"Troops Could Vanish Like Squid": New Bio-Inspired Camo Lets US Soldiers Evade Sight And High-Tech Sensors Instantly Authored by Eirwen Williams via the Sustainability Times, The fusion of biology and technology continues to break new ground, as seen in a remarkable project funded by DARPA and the Air Force. By leveraging the natural abilities of cephalopods, particularly the squid, researchers are developing advanced camouflage technology for military applications. Illustration of squid-inspired camouflage technology for military applications. Image generated by AI. This bio-inspired innovation promises to revolutionize how soldiers hide in plain sight, adapting to various environments by mimicking the squid’s adaptive skin. Such breakthroughs not only highlight the potential of bioinspired materials but also reinforce the crucial role of interdisciplinary research in defense and technology. The Science Behind Squid-Inspired Camouflage At the heart of this innovative research is the study of squid skin, particularly the light-reflecting cells known as iridophores. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, in collaboration with the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, have delved into the unique cellular structures of the longfin inshore squid. These iridophores contain tightly coiled columns of a protein called reflectin. These proteins act like natural Bragg reflectors, enabling the squid to change colors rapidly and efficiently. Through advanced imaging techniques such as holotomography, scientists have captured detailed three-dimensional views of these cells, revealing how the columns of reflectin twist and organize themselves to manipulate light. This ability allows the squid to transition from being transparent to displaying vibrant colors, a mechanism that could be pivotal in developing materials that mimic these changes for military use. Engineering Bio-Inspired Materials for Defense Building on the understanding of these biological structures, researchers have engineered a flexible composite material that replicates and even extends the optical capabilities of squid skin. This material combines the nanostructured Bragg reflectors with ultrathin metal films to enhance control over infrared light. Such a composite can adjust its appearance across both visible and infrared spectrums, making it an ideal candidate for adaptive camouflage and other advanced applications. By responding to environmental stimuli, such as changes in light or physical manipulation like stretching and bending, the material can dynamically alter its properties. This adaptability opens doors to a range of applications beyond military use, including smart textiles and thermal-management systems. The scalability of the fabrication techniques used also means that these materials can be produced on a larger scale, potentially transforming industries beyond defense. “Concrete That Heals Itself”: Scientists Create Lichen-Inspired Material That Uses Microbes to Seal Cracks Automatically Potential Beyond Camouflage This breakthrough in biomimicry extends beyond just camouflage. The principles used to develop these materials could enhance a variety of other technologies. The design concepts drawn from cephalopods may improve devices like lasers, fiber-optic filters, photovoltaic coatings, and chemical sensors. The ability to fine-tune optical properties dynamically is a game-changer for these applications, offering new levels of precision and control. As researchers continue to explore the possibilities, the full potential of cephalopod-inspired optics is yet to be realized. The work conducted at UC Irvine and its collaborators exemplifies how nature can inspire cutting-edge technological advancements, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in material science and engineering. Challenges and Future Directions Despite the promising outcomes, challenges remain in bringing these technologies to practical applications. Issues such as cost, durability, and integration into existing systems must be addressed. Moreover, ethical considerations regarding the use of such technology in defense and surveillance need careful evaluation. Looking forward, researchers aim to refine these bio-inspired materials, optimizing them for real-world applications. The interdisciplinary nature of this research, combining biology, engineering, and material science, underscores the importance of collaboration in solving complex problems. As we continue to draw inspiration from the natural world, the question remains: how will these innovations shape the future of technology and defense? As this research progresses, the implications extend beyond the military, potentially influencing various industries and everyday life. The integration of biological insights into technological advancements poses a thought-provoking question: how far can we push the boundaries of biomimicry, and what ethical considerations will arise as we increasingly blur the lines between nature and technology? Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 20:05
How Much Revenue Do Tech Giants Earn Per Employee? Which tech companies are generating the most profit per employee? In this graphic, Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu visualized 22 major tech companies by revenue per employee in 2024, highlighting the efficiency of business models that monetize user-generated content. The data for this visualization comes from Multiples. Revenue per Employee Leaders OnlyFans, Valve, and YouTube are the top three leaders in this dataset. All three are digital platforms that have successfully scaled up with a relatively small workforce. OnlyFans has 51-200 employees according to LinkedIn, while Valve operates Steam, the world’s largest PC gaming platform, with a workforce of just 350 people. YouTube has the largest headcount of the three, with 7,173 employees as of January 2024. By leveraging user-generated content (OnlyFans and YouTube) or digital distribution strategies (Valve), these companies differ from traditional companies that rely on labor-intensive operations. The Origins of OnlyFans OnlyFans was founded in 2016 by British entrepreneur Tim Stokely as a subscription-based platform where creators could monetize content directly from fans, initially targeting fitness influencers and lifestyle personalities. The platform’s growth accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has become extremely popular in the adult entertainment industry. In 2018, Stokely sold 75% of OnlyFans’ parent company to Ukranian-American billionaire Leonid Radvinsky, and later stepped down as its CEO in 2021. If you enjoyed today’s post, check out America’s Top 25 Companies by Revenue on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 19:40
Oil Closes At Session High As Houthi Rebels Hit Second Greek Vessel In Red Sea By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com A Greek-operated bulk carrier was attacked in the Red Sea on Monday in the second Houthi strike on commercial shipping in less than 24 hours, stoking fears of a renewed escalation in one of the world’s most critical oil transit corridors, Arab and Israel media report. The Eternity C, a Liberia-flagged vessel managed by Athens-based Cosmoship, was hit off Yemen’s Hodeidah coast using a combination of sea drones, rocket-propelled grenades, and small arms. Two seafarers were seriously injured and two more are missing, according to shipping intelligence sources cited by media. The vessel was reportedly en route to Iran with a cargo of steel. The attack follows Sunday’s strike on the Magic Seas, another Greek-managed bulk carrier. Houthi militants claim the Magic Seas has sunk. That vessel was hit southwest of Hodeidah and its crew abandoned ship before rescue. Both ships are Liberia-flagged, and neither was carrying Israeli cargo, according to tracking data. Shortly after the second attack, on Monday at 3:31 p.m. ET, Brent crude was trading up 2.08% at $69.72, near session high, while WTI was trading up 2.39% at $68.09; both ignored the weekend's bigger than expected OPEC+ output increase. Insurance premiums for vessels crossing the Bab el-Mandeb strait have already increased, with underwriters signaling more exclusions are likely in coming days. The renewed Red Sea volatility comes as Axios reports that Israeli officials believe Donald Trump would authorize pre-emptive military action against Iran’s nuclear program if he returns to office. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to raise the issue during a closed-door dinner with Trump this week. Tehran has restarted centrifuge operations at key enrichment sites, setting off fresh alarm in Tel Aviv. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 19:15
Jane Street & The Regulatory "Risk" In Risk-Reversals Via SpotGamma Substack, Days ago India barred Jane Street (JSG) from its security market, citing manipulation of markets. TLDR: We think JSG knew options skews could be heavily distorted, and traded large options positions trying to take advantage of the distortion. Additionally - a disclaimer: We have no idea what really happened, and we did our best to accurately quote from the SEBI & other documents. We have no idea if anyone is guilty of anything, nor are we alleging that. If anything in here is incorrect, we will do our best to update the post. The Indian regulatory body, SEBI, launched the investigation “Based on media reports titled ‘Jane Street-Millennium Suit: ‘Secret’ Strategy Concerns India, Hearing Reveals’ and ‘Ex-Jane Street trader pillories claims he stole trade secrets’, published during April 2024 wherein it was inter-alia mentioned that Jane Street and its associated entities alleged unauthorised use of their proprietary trading strategies in Indian options markets…” This recent banning was related to a 2024 regulatory investigation (and warning to JSG) into short-dated index options trading. After that ‘24 investigation, SEBI, India’s market regulator, accused Jane Street of manipulating the BANKNIFTY index on expiry day using aggressive futures flow and deeply skewed 0DTE option structures — a strategy that mirrors the same tactics Jane Street would later allege were stolen in its U.S. lawsuit against Millennium (more on this later) Critical to this, understand that Jane Street is/was not a registered market-maker in India’s options market. But according to SEBI’s 2024 interim order, they behaved like the most aggressive one in the room. SEBI found that the Jane Street Group ("JSG") ran the single largest risk-adjusted book on BANKNIFTY index expiry days. One day stood out above the rest: January 17, 2024. On element left from the report was that the day before, January 16, BANKNIFTY fell more than 4% following disappointing earnings from HDFC Bank. The January 17 session opened lower again — creating a setup where options prices were likely skewed to the extremes. On Jan 17 SEBI estimates JSG made ₹662 crore (~$79M USD) that day using what they call an "Intraday Index Manipulation" strategy. The allegation? That Jane Street pushed BANKNIFTY higher in the morning by aggressively buying stocks and futures, built massive short-delta positions in 0DTE options while the index was artificially elevated, and then sold their equities to drive the index lower and monetize the short-delta. This is also the depiction you hear on social media. But, as with most things, there is way more nuance. Both the equities market and the options market opened at 9:15 AM IST. Jane Street began executing its strategy immediately. From 9:15 to 11:45 AM, JSG bought ₹4,370 crore ($525M) of BANKNIFTY futures and stocks. This alone accounted for 15–25% of total traded value in those names. Simultaneously, they shorted delta* to the tune of ₹32,115 crore ($3.9B) via 0DTE options — selling calls and buying puts. In plain terms, Jane Street put on a massive intraday risk reversal by selling same day expiration (a.k.a. 0DTE) at-the-money (ATM) calls vs ATM puts. *As we noted before, the BANKNIFTY was down 4% the prior day, and was opening ~1% lower on the morning of the 17th. This is critical to understand, because they SEBI report goes to great lengths to detail the alleged delta exposure that JSG carried. With great respect to the regulator, we think that depicting accurate deltas into wild vols/skews is rather difficult. I suspect that Jane Street likely anticipated that volatility skew would be heavily mispriced at the open, potentially due to the prior day's steep index decline. When the market opened, they bought futures and stock simultaneously against extremely skewed options — selling richly priced calls and buying heavily discounted puts. This structure effectively established risk reversals vs long futures to exploit the skew differential. Initially, the position may have been close to delta-neutral — designed not for directionality, but to mine the skew. This is likely why they were buying stock (positive delta trades) and futures as they were entering into risk reversals (negative delta trades). Further, as the day progressed and the skew normalized, Jane Street ceased additional accumulation (per charts below). What made the setup unique was the sheer distortion in option pricing. At 9:15 AM, spot BANKNIFTY was trading at 46,814. The 46,800 ATM call was priced at ₹653.45 (blue); the ATM put, just ₹123.55 (red). While we have not studied Indian options prices before, one would expect ATM calls and puts to have much more similar prices. This inverted skew suggests calls were extremely rich vs puts, a perfect setup for the trade JSG implemented. By day’s end, that call expired nearly worthless (₹0.65), while put values exploded. This is a clear breakdown of put-call parity, one that SEBI argues was engineered by Jane Street itself. Their aggressive equity buying misled other participants and skewed IV pricing, particularly in the ATM strikes, allowing JSG to put on the risk reversal at an extreme edge. SEBI writes: “Participants in index options markets [were] misled by the support for BANKNIFTY.” The strategy was not just delta directional — it was vol- and skew-sensitive. Jane Street created short-term realized vol and harvested convexity on both sides. Notably, option volumes themselves appeared to collapse once the skew normalized. The SEBI states that JSG’s flow was the primary driver of the distorted vol surface that they were mining. We think this is the critical piece which the argument rotates around - did they knowing create this skew or was it the result of market volatility? By 11:47 AM, Jane Street began unwinding their long equity exposure as you can see above (bottom 2 bar plots). At this same time, the options volume dies out (center plot). SEBI notes that their selling was again aggressive and concentrated in BANKNIFTY components, disproportionately moving the index lower and inflating the value of their long puts. They reportedly closed some positions, letting others expire ITM. Though they booked losses on equities, the options PnL overwhelmed it. SEBI estimates a ₹662 crore net profit. This apparently wasn't a one-off. SEBI identified 15 other days using this same blueprint, plus 3 additional instances where Jane Street employed a variant: the "Extended Marking the Close" strategy. This involved building large delta positions in options during the day, followed by an aggressive equity ramp or selloff into the expiry window to influence the settlement print. How Does the Jane Street Millennium Lawsuit Tie In? In April 2024, Jane Street sued Millennium and two former traders, alleging misappropriation of a confidential strategy. The complaint describes an SPX-based strategy developed over six years, involving: Identification of latent market inefficiencies Use of intra-day models and machine-learning-driven heuristics "Expensive investigative trades" to test signal robustness A framework to predict directional bias based on a fusion of signal inputs and execution behavior Jane Street claims this strategy was unique and counterintuitive, and that its IP centered on exploiting subtle, repeatable intraday price dynamics. Internal chat logs cited in the complaint show the strategy was so profitable they considered hiding it from internal PnL tallies to avoid attracting attention. Jane Street alleges that immediately after the traders joined Millennium, a new competitor began mirroring their trades via the same broker infrastructure, including specific order types and risk throttles. The broker even paused execution due to the similarity in patterns. Jane Street's own profits reportedly collapsed concurrently. The Millennium lawsuit makes the BANKNIFTY trades even more revealing. According to Jane Street’s own complaint, their core strategy was explicitly designed to detect and trade on skewed volatility surfaces. It wasn’t just about forecasting direction — it was about identifying mispriced convexity and exploiting it through engineered flow. The “expensive investigative trades” described in the lawsuit align almost perfectly with the behavior SEBI observed in India: buying up underlying stocks to shift implied vols, then harvesting the reversion through options. In both cases, infrastructure mattered — Jane Street touted proprietary execution pipelines, broker logic, and near-automated rebalancing. The precision seen on January 17 — with flow ramping at open, peaking by 11:45, and reversing in size — fits the exact framework Jane Street claimed was stolen. If Jane Street had a strategy designed to weaponize short-term volatility dislocations using index-linked options and coordinated flows in the underlying, SEBI’s findings suggest it was indeed deployed. Subscribe to SpotGamma's high frequency expert options analysis here... Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 18:25
Syria Wants Lebanon's Tripoli In Swap For Israel-Held Golan Heights Amid ongoing talks with Israel, Syria's new Islamist-led government is considering a scenario in which it would relinquish claims to most of the Golan Heights to Israel, in exchange for carving the city of Tripoli and surrounding territory out of Lebanon and making it part of Syria. The development was first reported by Israel's i24News, which didn't address the question of how Israel would have any authority to trade another country's territory. Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967's Six-Day War and annexed it in 1981. In 2019, the Trump administration became the first country to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the 700 square miles of strategically-important land. Six years later, the United States still stands alone in doing so, as Israel's annexation is widely seen as a violation of international law and the United Nations charter. Following Assad's collapse, the Israeli army raced into Syria and seized what had been a demilitarized, UN-monitored "buffer zone" under a 1974 ceasefire agreement, and also ventured beyond it. Israel did so despite assurances from the new Syrian government's assurance that it would honor the 1974 agreement. Other violations of Syrian territory has been part of the Israeli routine for years, with periodic bombings that have continued after the fall of Assad. Now, the two governments are engaged in what an Israeli official characterizes as "advanced talks" on a bilateral security agreement. According to a source close to President Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria is demanding that Israel part with at least a portion of the Golan Heights, and has thrown two scenarios on the table: Scenario 1: Israel would retain strategic areas in the Golan Heights equivalent to one-third of its territory, hand over a third to Syria, and lease another third from Syria for a period of 25 years. Scenario 2: Israel keeps two-thirds of the Golan Heights, and hands over the remaining third to Syria, with the possibility of its lease. Under this scenario, the Lebanese city of Tripoli, close to the Lebanese-Syrian border, and possibly other Lebanese territories in the north of the country and the Beqaa Valley, would be handed over to Syria. -i24News. In May, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hosted President Trump and new Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa (White House photo) "There is no such thing as peace for free," said the Syrian government source, adding some concession by Israel on the Golan Heights is essential to al-Sharaa from the perspective of domestic politics: "Al-Sharaa would likely face significant internal resistance should he fail to [secure the return of some territory]." In addition to the port city of Tripoli, Syria is angling to take over surrounding Sunni-dominated Lebanese territory. According to one analysis, here's how Lebanon's population breaks down along religious lines: 32% Shia Muslim, 31% Sunni Muslim, 31% Christian and 6% Druze Muslim. However, Tripoli is something on the order of 81% Sunni Muslim. The city and surrounding territory were removed from Syria when the state of Lebanon was formed by France in 1920, following the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. Tripoli is Lebanon's second-largest city with a population of about 229,000, and is home to an important seaport. Tripoli is Lebanon's second-largest city, and began as a Phoenician colony in the 8th or 9th century BC The idea of a swath of Lebanon being carved off and handed over to an extremist government dominated by members of an al-Qaeda offshoot is certain to raise eyebrows -- most of all, because Lebanon is not a party to the discussions. While the Lebanese government has yet to issue a statement about the report, Ashraf Rifi, a member of the Lebanese parliament who represents Tripoli, dismissed the idea, telling the state-run National News Agency: "Syria is not giving up the Golan, and it is not engaging in any barter. Al-Fayhaa [a union of municipalities that includes Tripoli, Mina and Baddawi] is Lebanese, Lebanese, Lebanese — Tripoli is Lebanese and proud of its identity. The 10,452 square kilometers [of Lebanon] constitute a final homeland for us and all its people. Period.” We'll have to see if the State of Israel somehow manages to have the last word on Tripoli's future. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 18:00
Doctor Faces 35 Years In Prison For Issuing COVID-19 Cards To No-Vax Patients Via Died Suddenly on X, Vero Beach, Fla. - Utah plastic surgeon Dr. Kirk Moore is facing thirty five years in federal prison for destroying thousands of vials of COVID-19 vaccine, giving his patients vaccine cards without taking the shots, and injecting saline into children whose parents wanted them to believe they got vaccinated without risking the deadly side effects. Dr. Michael Kirk Moore Jr., 58, who operates his practice Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah, Inc. in Salt Lake County, Utah, begins his trial on Monday, July 7, 2025, at the Orrin G. Hatch U.S. Courthouse, located at 351 S. West Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah. As of this writing, a 'GiveSendGo' donation campaign for him is at just under $140,000 A rally that day at the steps of the courthouse at 350 South Maine Street, Salt Lake City, UT, is being organized by We Are The People Utah and will include veterans of the health freedom movement, such as vaccine safety activist Robert Scott Bell, as well as the team that produced the film Died Suddenly, Dr. Moore’s son Michael, Jason Preston, host of the organizing group, and Mike Schultz, the speaker Utah’s House of Representatives Countless other prominent figures in the MAHA sphere, such as Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, will be joining online to stand with Dr. Moore. Follow @DiedSuddenly_ on X for updates over the next three weeks as the trial progresses. The charges against Dr. Moore were filled in 2023 by the Department of Justice under Joe Biden, and have not been dropped yet by President Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has not formally intervened, despite his agency’s Inspector General’s involvement, but did publicly expressed his support in April of this year, saying on his government verified X account, “Dr. Moore deserves a medal for his courage and commitment to healing.” Officially, Dr. Moore and his co-defendant, are being charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to convert, sell, convey, and dispose of government property; and conversion, sale, conveyance, and disposal of government property and aiding and abetting. The “government property” being referred to is $28,028.50 worth of “government-provided COVID-19 vaccines”, also referred to by Pfizer as “government prototypes” due to their experimental, untested, and dangerous nature. Dr. Moore is also accused of specifically distributing at least 1,937 “fraudulently completed vaccination record cards” to his patients, none of which are testifying for or against him in this case, and also administering saline shots to some of their kids, admitted by the DOJ to have been carried out with the full knowledge and consent of their parents, so their children would actually believe and act as if they were vaccinated, and not have to lie to live a normal life with their friends amidst the pandemic mandates and madness. Dr. Moore was even arrested initially when the charges were made official in 2023. “In a blatant act of intimidation and punitive cruelty, Dr. Moore was arrested and incarcerated for 22 days—isolated for 22 hours each day—merely for attempting to communicate essential court information to co-defendants,” Dr. Margaret Aranda, who has followed the case closely, said on Substack. “Kirk Moore offered his patients a choice when others wouldn’t,” Dr. Bowden said of the doctors couregaous stand. “He received no compensation for his care and has paid a tremendous price for honoring his patients’ fundamental right to bodily autonomy.” Despite the aggressive and nastily toned characterization of Dr. Moore by the DOJ, he has no criminal record, is a devoted father raising two children alone after tragically losing his ex-wife to suicide in 2019, and is a decorated U.S. Navy Flight Surgeon who has tirelessly cared for patients throughout his career. “Amid the COVID-19 crisis, he courageously provided free medical care to those in need, making house calls and offering essential treatments without compensation,” Dr. Margaret Aranda said on Substack. “The individuals who turned to Dr. Moore did not do so lightly, nor did they seek refuge merely for convenience or leisure. These were men and women whose fundamental constitutional rights to medical autonomy were being compromised. They faced profound and life-altering threats: military personnel urgently seeking help as they faced imminent deployment—being unjustly threatened with court martial unless vaccinated; brave individuals who, within hours of seeing Dr. Moore, would leave to defend our nation’s freedom. Others were desperately awaiting life-saving organ transplants, yet cruelly denied these procedures due solely to their vaccination status, forced into a devastating choice between their beliefs and their very lives.” “Dr. Moore provided these individuals with a chance to uphold their deeply held personal convictions while safeguarding their futures,” Dr. Aranda pointedly concluded. The U.S. government team, previously headed by Biden-appointed prosecutor U.S. Attorney Trina A. Higgins, is now being overseen by Felice John Viti, Acting-U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah, who previously served on the Counterterrorism Section of the National Security Division and has investigated terrorists in war zones for most of his career. And prepare for war is exactly what the U.S. did in this case, involving everything short of the DOD, such as the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division and the FBI. This war footing has also had a chilling effect on the courtroom and the overseeing justice, Judge Howard C. Nielson, Jr., a Trump appointee in 2017 and former member of the Federalist Society, who has instructed the jury and opposing councils to not mention vaccines, covid-19, alleged “medical misinformation” and other details about Dr. Moore’s intentions and safety concerns, because it may “poison the jury pool.” “Shockingly, the prosecution has moved to deny Dr. Moore and his co-defendants their fundamental right to present a necessity defense—an essential opportunity to demonstrate that their actions were taken in good faith to prevent greater harm,” Dr. Aranda said. “Furthermore, the prosecution seeks to exclude testimony from patients harmed by COVID-19 vaccines, silencing crucial voices and denying the jury critical context. Such actions suggest not justice, but an orchestrated attempt to suppress evidence that might validate Dr. Moore’s ethically driven decisions.” Dr. Moore is also under surveillance by the Trump DOJ. “When they threw me in jail for contacting my co-defendant one of the further restrictions that I had for pre-trial release was only to communicate via text message and email,” Dr. Moore told this reporter. “I had sent them a message on Signal. They thought I was trying to hide communications. They put monitoring on my phones.” If you’d like to hear directly from Dr. Moore about his case and defense, watch his interview here on X with the Died Suddenly team, one of his last before the beginning of the trial. (or Rumble here) Due to the case being held in Federal court and not State, no livestream or recordings will be available throughout the trial, and unless you are physically in the courtroom, or part of the defense or prosecution teams, the public will not have timely access to developments or transcripts. Because of this, the Died Suddenly team is closely considering attending the trial in person as court reporters, to provide crucial updates for the American people, whose liberties are truly on trial in this case. “Before Fauci, before any pharmaceutical company, the U.S. government chose to prosecute a doctor that honored his oath, to do no harm to his patients,” Matthew Skow, the award winning film maker of Died Suddenly and partner of Gateway Studios, said after learning the details of Dr. Moore’s case. The line team of prosecutors are led by Todd Bouton, a former federal judge, who joined the DOJ at the height of the pandemic to pursue COVID-related and healthcare fraud, and his assistants are Jacob Strain, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Sachiko Jepson. Constitutional Attorney Jonathan W. Emord says the case is a prime opportunity for dismissal, and if convicted, President Trump should at the minimum consider pardoning Dr. Moore, especially based on his past statements, criticizing COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccination mandates, often framing them as overreaches of government authority or threats to personal freedom. “The left wing lunatics are trying very hard to bring back COVID lockdowns and mandates with all of their sudden fearmongering about the new variants that are coming,” President Trump said in a campaign video before the 2024 election, condemning the same tyrannical henchmen now gathering against Dr. Moore. “They want to restart the COVID hysteria so they can justify more lockdowns, more censorship, more illegal dropboxes, more mail-in ballots and trillions of dollars in payoffs to their political allies.” “Every COVID tyrant who wants to take away our freedom,” President Trump said, addressing those who sought to mandate the same Covid-19 vaccines that Dr. Moore refused to administer to patients. “Hear these words: We will not comply. So don't even think about it. We will not shut down our schools. We will not accept your lockdowns. We will not abide by your mask mandates and we will not tolerate your vaccine mandates.” You can watch President Trump’s statement here for yourself. President Trump’s words and Dr. Moore’s actions are only further justified by the FDA’s decision to add a new safety warning label to all mRNA COVID vaccines, stating the extremely high risk of Myocarditis and long term Heart Effects in young men who take the shots and boosters. The Hippocratic Oath that all doctors ascribe to, and Dr. Moore was following, says to prescribe only beneficial treatments, according to his abilities and judgment; to refrain from causing harm or hurt; and to live an exemplary personal and professional life. If the shots now officially cause myocarditis, wouldn’t refraining from administering them according to one’s judgment, be refraining from causing harm or hurt, and be the best example of living an exemplary personal and professional life? You can submit public comment by calling DOJ Public Affairs Specialist Felicia Martinez at (801) 325-3237 or email at Felicia.martinez@usdoj.gov Please share this article with your doctor, your friends, and your family. This case is proof the pandemic madness is not over, and if this trial is allowed to continue and result in the unjust conviction of Dr. Moore, no doctor, patient, or parent is safe to live their conscience and by common sense in the United States of America. Join us with the battle cry: “No Moore Tyranny” Support Dr. Moore’s legal fight by donating here. This report was produced by investigative journalist Edward Szall, a producer with the Died Suddenly team. If you have any tips, information, or comment please post below, or email me at Edward.r.szall@gmail.com If you enjoyed this report and others posted by the team, consider supporting our latest film project, Died Suddenly 2: Nano Sapiens, at DS2NANO.COM Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 17:40
"Runaway Spending": Canada on Track for $92 Billion Deficit, Think Tank Projects The federal government is on pace to post a $92-billion deficit this fiscal year — nearly double what was projected just four months ago, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. If accurate, it would mark the second-largest deficit in Canadian history, trailing only the $327.7-billion shortfall of 2020-21 during the pandemic, according to National Post. “The picture is definitely not pretty,” said Alexandre Laurin, C.D. Howe’s vice-president, who co-authored the report with William Robson and Don Drummond. The think tank now forecasts annual deficits of over $77 billion for the next four years, far higher than the government’s projections in its most recent budget — which is now more than a year old. The report criticizes the government’s delay in tabling a new budget, saying, “Delaying a budget until the fiscal year is more than half over is never good, but Canada’s current high-spending trajectory makes this delay especially bad.” National Post writes C.D. Howe attributes the worsening outlook to rising defence spending, Trump-era tariffs, tax cuts, and the scrapped digital services tax. It also questions whether promised revenue boosts from fines, penalties, and savings will materialize. The report notes Ottawa is making major fiscal commitments without disclosing key figures, including the expected tax intake, spending levels, and future interest payments. “Ottawa is making costly commitments… without showing key numbers to the public,” it warns. “It is widely accepted that Canada’s economy is at a critical crossroads,” the authors write. “So are Canada’s finances – beyond the economic drag of high deficits and rising debt, it is unfair to pass these burdens on to the current young and future generations.” In contrast, the Parliamentary Budget Officer had projected in March that the federal deficit would shrink to $50.1 billion this year, with continued improvements in future years — assuming no major new spending or tax cuts. C.D. Howe recommends the government cut operating costs, abandon some costly platform promises, consider increasing less harmful taxes like the GST, and reduce federal transfers. It also rejects Ottawa’s plan to separate operating and capital budgets: “The large deficits projected in this update cannot be downplayed or disguised by dividing the budget into two new categories.” The report concludes that greater transparency is essential: “The government must improve its accountability by sharing its revenue and spending figures with taxpayers.” Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 17:20
US Insurers Are Refusing To Cover Climate-Change Risk-Zones Authored by Felicity Bradstock via OilPrice.com, U.S. insurers are rapidly pulling coverage from homes in high-risk climate zones, particularly in California, Florida, and North Carolina. Millions of homeowners are facing nonrenewals, impacting their ability to secure mortgages and causing housing market instability. Government and local efforts are underway to mitigate risks and persuade insurers to continue coverage, but significant gaps remain. As countries worldwide experience more regular extreme weather events, insurers have become more reluctant to cover properties in high-risk areas. However, without insurance, it is impossible for many people to gain access to mortgage financing. We are seeing an insurance crisis in the United States, as insurers are becoming less likely to offer coverage for homes in certain areas, particularly those that have experienced natural disasters, such as flooding and wildfire, in recent years. Between 2018 and December 2024, over 1.9 million home insurance contracts were “nonrenewed”, meaning they came to an end. The nonrenewal rate tripled or more in over 200 U.S. counties, according to a congressional report. These figures became clear following an investigation spurred by the Senate Budget Committee, which demanded in November 2023 that the largest U.S. insurance companies provide the number of nonrenewals by county and year. Some states and cities are seeing greater nonrenewal rates than others, particularly those at greater risk of fire, flood, hurricanes and other severe weather events. Although there is still a lack of information on the reason behind the nonrenewals, the countrywide map of nonrenewals strongly reflects the climate crisis as it is being seen across the U.S. Some of the areas most affected include California, Florida, and North Carolina. Following the publication of the report, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said, “The climate crisis that is coming our way is not just about polar bears, and it’s not just about green jobs.” Whitehouse added, “It actually is coming through your mail slot, in the form of insurance cancellations, insurance nonrenewals and dramatic increases in insurance costs.” According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in 2024, there were 27 individual weather and climate disasters, coming only behind the record-setting 28 events in 2023. Last year was the fourth-costliest year on record in terms of these types of events, with a total cost of approximately $182.7 billion, coming after 2017 ($395.9 billion), 2005 ($268.5 billion), and 2022 ($183.6 billion). The 2024 weather events included storms, wildfires, droughts, flooding, tornadoes, tropical cyclones and other types of extreme weather. In addition to considering which areas are “high risk”, insurers also assess the building materials used for construction. Many mobile or manufactured homes are not covered by insurers. Companies may also impose restrictions on houses constructed out of wood and other fire-prone materials. However, even states with strict building codes are seeing more coverage denials. In California, which has strict building codes to mitigate wildfire risk, insurers have been increasingly rejecting requests for coverage. In certain counties, nonrenewal rates have risen by over 500 percent since 2018. The government has started to respond to the problem in some areas of the country. For example, in December, officials announced that they would make it easier for insurers to increase rates, but in exchange, they must agree to continue insuring consumers in fire-prone areas. Other state and local governments are carrying out prescribed burns in residential areas, as well as clearing vegetation close to houses, to reduce the risk of wildfire spread in these areas. Some companies have halted new insurance policies in certain parts of the country, such as AllState. In 2022, AllState paused the sale of new home and condo insurance policies in California. A spokesperson for the firm stated, “Our payments to help California residents recover from accidents and disasters have increased significantly in recent years due to higher repair costs and more frequent and severe weather… We continue to offer coverage to most existing home insurance customers.” State Farm, one of the biggest insurance providers in the U.S., followed suit in 2023 by halting the sale of new housing insurance products in California. In Florida, by the spring of 2024, at least 12 insurance companies had stopped selling housing insurance in the state. Farmers Insurance stated upon withdrawing from Florida, “This business decision was necessary to effectively manage risk exposure.” A 2024 report by the non-profit First Street Foundation, showed that 23.9 million properties in the U.S. were at risk from damaging winds, 4.4 million properties were at risk from wildfire, and a further 12 million properties were at significant risk of flooding – in addition to properties in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema)'s Special Flood Hazard Areas. The report stated, “Private insurance companies are effectively labelling areas as uninsurable.” The result of the withdrawal of insurance companies from certain parts of the country is the inability for consumers to get a mortgage, meaning fewer people can buy a house. As houses sit empty, it drives down property prices in the area and leads to less tax revenue being collected to invest in services. Many communities are facing these consequences and feel left behind. If the U.S. government does not take action to mitigate the risk of the impact of extreme weather events in these areas or encourage insurers to continue covering high-risk areas, this will happen to a greater number of communities across the country. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 17:00
Cotati Man Gets DUI After 70 Empty Bud Light Cans Found In His Car We're not really sure you can call it a "suspected" DUI at this point... But that's how it was reported when a driver in California was taken into custody for DUI after failing a field sobriety test and being found with dozens of empty beer cans in his vehicle, according to police. The Cotati Police Department said officers pulled the driver over on Sunday night after noticing he was “struggling to maintain their travel plans” , according to KBTX. During the stop, they spotted an open alcohol container in the vehicle’s cupholder. KBTX reported that following a field sobriety evaluation, officers determined the driver’s blood alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit. He was arrested for driving under the influence and for operating a vehicle with a suspended license — a suspension stemming from a previous DUI offense. During a subsequent search of the SUV, authorities allegedly discovered “more than 70 empty Bud Light cans,” according to the department. “We want to remind everyone that drinking and driving is not worth it! The outcome could have been much worse had our officers not stopped the driver,” the Cotati Police Department stated. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 16:40
"Who Knows What To Believe These Days..." Authored by James Howard Kunstler, Cage Match! “...[W}e are closing in on more disclosures and fixing past wrongs to personnel. We’re making sure this is done correctly. But it’s absolutely getting done.” - Dan Bongino, Deputy Director, FBI Who knows what to believe these days? Well, what would you expect after years, even decades, of anti-reality operations by everyone from the CIA to The New York Times to Harvard U. Is it any wonder that reality-optionality is making the people both apathetic and insane? We are told now by the FBI that there is no evidence that Jeffrey Epstein ran a blackmail operation against the politicos of Western Civ, or that a “client list” existed, or that JE was murdered in his jail cell. It well might be true that there is no evidence, strictly speaking. Messrs. Patel and Bongino, coming into office rather late in the Epstein game, were apparently left with big bag of nuthin. What else can they truthfully report? So, they had to put it out there, knowing a whole lot of people would be miffed. “We’ve got nuthin, sorry.” Were they chagrined to do that? Evidently so. Of course, this Epstein business has been going on for years and years and it is certainly possible that the most damning evidence has been destroyed by interested parties. Personally, I find it implausible that absolutely nothing ever leaked, no video of, say, Tony Blair or Bill Clinton violating a child, if it ever happened. Everything else in our world leaks, eventually. And there were supposedly how many cameras around the Epstein properties, and how many thousands of hours of video recordings? There is more video of Bigfoot than of compromised Epstein bigshots. Just sayin’. AG Pam Bondi, the FBIs boss, also has some ‘splainin’ to do. In February, she claimed to have the Epstein client list “sitting on my desk right now to review,” and hinted it would be released shortly. That material, when released, turned out to be the old dog-eared flight logs that have been circulating through every news outlet for years. Did she not know the difference between an alleged “client list” and the old flight logs? Let’s face it: seems kind of dumb. . . seems like the AG got played. . . and now the mob on “X” is having sport with her. Among the miffed, apparently, is Elon Musk. At the height of his feud with Mr. Trump, on June 5, Elon put out a message on his “X” platform saying, "@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!". This intemperate utterance naturally prompts you to wonder: how (or what) might Elon know about any supposed Epstein evidence? At this point, the FBI might send somebody to inquire. Did Elon, who has more money than even Scrooge McDuck, somehow manage to buy up all those alleged blackmail tapes? Does he otherwise know where they might have disappeared to? Has he ever seen anything? Anyway, he didn’t produce any actual evidence. Is Elon losing it, a little bit. His grip, that is. Mr. Trump thinks so. He declared over the weekend that Elon has “gone off the rails” . . . has become “a train wreck.” Well, what you can see in this very public, very regrettable cage-match between two giant public personalities is that Elon has lost his cool and the president has not. For one thing, Elon is apparently incensed over the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) just signed into law because it ends the electric vehicle mandate left over from the “Joe Biden” regime, as well as the whopping $7,500 federal tax credit for new electric cars — loss of which which is apt to break Tesla’s business model. The bill also calls for sunsetting subsidies for battery production by 2028, meaning Tesla’s Powerwall business is likewise affected. Mr. Trump took pains to explain that he’d informed Elon from the get-go (and repeatedly) that all those subsidies were done for when he got elected. Elon was visibly perturbed over the process that produced the OBBB, the proverbial political sausage-making (i.e., a nasty business you’d be appalled to watch). It appeared, he said, to un-do all of his DOGE spending cuts so laboriously made. Mainly, Elon deplored the failure to address the $36-trillion-plus national debt, widely recognized as a time-bomb on a short fuse liable to sink the whole USS United States. I will tell you a harsh truth: nobody will do anything about the national debt. The sheer math of our annual debt service is simply impossible. Our country is heading into some sort of bankruptcy proceeding, some kind of ferocious “work out” — as they say in the banking board-rooms. Mr. Trump is betting that re-industrialization of the USA will produce enough of the right sort of growth — that is, production of real things of real value, as opposed to mere financial shenanigans — that the debt reckoning can be overcome somehow. Or mitigated. It’s a bold risk, and many pieces of the scheme are indeed falling into place: tariffs, bigly investment capital from foreigners, a general realignment of trade relations, tax reform, downsizing of government. But a virulent opposition, the mad-dog remnants of the Democratic Party, seeks to wreck Mr. Trump’s program (and perhaps the USA altogether), and it is a miracle that the president has gotten this far with his plan. Personally, I’m doubtful that the energy resources will be there to underwrite this reindustrialization, but that is a topic for another day. And now Elon, peeved as he is, proposes to bring another big obstacle onto the scene, his proposed new “American Party.” Looks like he is making a tactical blunder, and his distraught emotional demeanor suggests poor decision-making. Frankly, I’ve been concerned about Elon’s soundness-of-mind since he came on-board Mr. Trump’s band-wagon last summer. There was something peculiar about his spastic rompings on stage, his jerky movements, his garbly speeches. You wonder if all the talk about his world-beating “genius” has messed with his mind. Also, frankly, I’ve long thought that attempting to colonize Mars was absurd, or at least premature. Shouldn’t we rather make an effort to demonstrate that we can live on this planet successfully before we venture off to a new one? After all, this Earth is perfectly suited to our needs and Mars is absolutely not. I doubt that even the most extreme transhuman program would avail to implant us up there. To cut to the chase: the grandiosity of Elon’s plans, and the oddness of his public performances, suggests to me that he has gone a bit crazy in the pure sense of the word. This new party he proposes looks like a crazy play by a crazy person. He can throw zillions of dollars into it, and create a whole lot of political mischief, but what would that prove? How would that make him any better than such obvious villains as George Soros and Bill Gates? Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 16:20
'Never Let A Crisis Go To Waste': Press & Pundits Push False Story On Trump Cuts Causing Texas Tragedy Authored by Jonathan Turley, Democratic strategist and former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel once stated that “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” That philosophy seemed to be the playbook for the media and pundits immediately after the flood in Texas as many rushed to claim that it was caused by Trump budget cuts to the National Weather Service (NWS). From George Stephanopoulos to Rosie O’Donnell, the hoax was spread that there was an understaffing at the NWS that may have caused these deaths. It did not matter that it was an easy matter to confirm or that the underlying claims of understaffing the NWS team were false. The weaponization of such tragedies has become commonplace in American politics. Previously, Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer bizarrely attempted to blame the crash of a Mexican ship in New York and air accidents around the world on Trump cuts.There are legitimate reasons to question whether cuts to agencies like the NWS might impact key programs, such as weather warning systems. There are also questions about whether long-standing forecast modeling failed to capture the severity of this particularly storm. However, basic honesty and decency would demand a modicum of inquiry before blaming the NWS for a failure that caused mass deaths, including a large number of children. Indeed, the rush to claim that the tragedy was caused by understaffing can make it more difficult to find any real failures in the system. It is also possible that this was a convergence of weather systems that happened so fast (and late at night) that few citizens could take meaningful action. Some reports indicate that the river rose by 20 feet in only 45 minutes.Nevertheless, many rushed to take political advantage of the tragedy. Grant Stern, the executive editor of Occupy Democrats wrote on X “It only took 9 days for Trump’s cuts to the [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] to kill dozens of children in Texas when Tropical Storm Barry landed this week.” In reality, the NWS had extra personnel working the storm and issued the first warning 12 hours before the flood. Moreover, even assuming that the cuts to the NWS might impact warning systems, they are not even scheduled to take effect until next year. While there were retirements and resignations early in the Trump Administration, there is no evidence that those departures are impacting weather warnings, let alone this emergency. However, the media pounced as the death toll rose. Even after the Administration refuted the false claims, they were still being promulgated by the press. On ABC’s This Week George Stephanopoulos ominously declared “We’re also learning there were significant staffing shortfalls to the National Weather Services offices in the region.” Whatever “shortfalls” are being reported “in the region”, they did not appear to impact the early warning given 12 hours earlier or the fact that there were extra, not fewer, staffers working the storm. Again, none of this mattered. Politicians and pundits, such as Hakeem Jeffries and Adam Kinzinger, joined the chorus to suggest that cuts would make this a repeated failure. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) told CNN Sunday the NWS should be investigated. “I don’t think it’s helpful to have missing key personnel from the National Weather Service not in place to help prevent these tragedies.” As parents mourned dead children, commentators rushed to lay the losses at the feet of the Administration. Ron Filipkowski, the editor-in-chief of MediasTouchNews, wrote “The people in Texas voted for government services controlled by Donald Trump and Greg Abbott. That is exactly what they (sic) getting.” Rachel Bitecofer, assistant director at Christopher Newport University’s Wason Center for Public Policy declared “What has happened to the girls at Camp Mystic is EXACTLY what one of the country’s best meteorologists, John Morales, warned would happen. Trump’s cuts to the NOAA & NWS have critically impacted storm prediction nationwide.” Rosie O’Donnell, who famously fled the United States for the safety of Ireland after the election, added to the false narrative: “What a horror story in Texas. When the president guts all of the early warning systems and the weathering forecast abilities of the government, these are the results that we’re going to start to see on a daily basis.” There are obvious familiar aspects to the news coverage. It takes very little for the media to seed a false, viral story. It quickly enters the echo chamber and is repeated on countless social media sites. When it is finally debunked, the media just shrugs and walks away. Whether it was the false story about agents whipping migrants in Texas or the photo op claim in Lafayette Park, false stories were disproven only to have a collective shrug from those who spread them. Heading into the presidential debate, the White House and the media attacked Fox News and other outlets for “cheap fake” videos designed to make the President look confused and feeble. For months, politicians and pundits insisted that Biden was sharp and commanding in conversations even after Special Counsel Robert Hur cited his decline as a reason for not charging him criminally. On MSNBC, Joe Scarborough stated “start your tape right now because I’m about to tell you the truth. And F— you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever. Not a close second. And I have known him for years…If it weren’t the truth I wouldn’t say it.” When the truth came out after the election loss, reporters ran around claiming that they were shocked by the fact that Biden was indeed mentally and physically diminished. By that point, it did not matter. Biden was out and the truth could be reported in a slew of belated books and articles. Yet, some media outlets have refused to acknowledge false stories even after they were debunked. At the Washington Post, columnist Philip Bump previously had a meltdown in an interview when confronted about past false claims. After I wrote a column about the litany of such false claims, the Post surprised many of us by issuing a statement that it stood by all of Bump’s reporting, including false columns on the Lafayette Park protests, Hunter Biden’s laptop, and other stories. That was long after other media debunked the claims, but the Post stood by the false reporting. Many media outlets pushed such stories because they knew that their readers want the claims to be true — and will not be outraged (or even convinced) when the stories are later debunked. Notably, when the New York Times recently ran a confirmed story that was negative for the Democratic mayoral nominee in New York, liberal readers and pundits were outraged. Once again, we need to see what went wrong in Texas to try to avoid such tragedies in the future. However, the NWS appears to have done its job with adding extra staff and reportedly issuing the first warnings 12 hours in advance. We need to look at precisely when those warnings were issued during the critical period and what information they conveyed. The hair-triggered response of the media to weaponize the tragedy should also be reviewed. However, it is far more likely that there will be changes to emergency procedures than any serious change to journalistic practices. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 15:45
US Ends Foreign Terror Designation On Syria's HTS, Nearly 2 Months AFTER Trump Met Its Leader The United States announced Monday that has formally revoked the foreign terrorist organization designation for Syria's ruling Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, ironically coming nearly two months after President Trump met with its leader, Syria's self-declared interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa (formerly Abu Mohammad al-Jolani). It's not just ironic, but scandalous, that Trump met with a US-designated terrorist during this Gulf tour while in Saudi Arabia. If any individual American citizen did the same, they would likely be investigated and prosecuted by the FBI. But Sharaa is the "former" al-Qaeda in Syria man who helped overthrow Bashar al-Assad, and that's apparently all that Washington cares about. The newly published State Department memo, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reads as follows: "In consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, I hereby revoke the designation of al-Nusra Front, also known as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham." The memo is actually dated to June 23, but has gone into effect at the time of publication. Recall that Trump had gone so far as to praise al-Sharaa as a "young, attractive guy" who has a "real shot at doing a good job". There was no mention at the time of protecting some of the world's most ancient churches and Syria's sizeable Christian community. The fruit of that 'good job' thus far has been a genocidal campaign launched against Alawites near Latakia, as well as attacks on churches, including last month's suicide bombing of St. Elias Orthodox Church in Damascus, which left at least 25 people - including children - dead. A group affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham actually took responsibility. Why aren't Christian leaders in the West more vocal about the plight of Syria's blood-soaked churches? "Shouldn't American Christians care about Syrian Christians, about their brothers in Christ? ...where are the Christians in this country when the IDF rolls into an all-Christian town in the West Bank?" — @TuckerCarlson with @scotthortonshow @BradRHoff pic.twitter.com/w6SpdZgLDC — Christian Malazarte (@ChristianMalaza) July 4, 2025 Not only has Trump dropped sanctions on post-Assad Syria, but is even encouraging historic rapprochement and normalization with Israel: Since assuming power, Sharaa has admitted that his government is holding "indirect talks" with Israel, and last week, Syrian authorities said they were willing to cooperate with Washington on reimplementing a 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel. Speaking earlier on Monday, the US special envoy to Syria and Lebanon, Tom Barrack, said "dialogue has started" between the two countries. Sharaa is likely to face opposition from his base and the broader Syrian population over a possible normalization deal, as Israel continues to wage war on hungry and besieged Palestinians in Gaza. Sadly, the message from the White House seems to be that Syria should prioritize ending the long-running state of conflict with Israel, but there's been barely a peep about the massacres being conducted against Syria's ancient Christian, Alawite, and Druze populations. While you're busy chasing the Epstein client list, here's what you missed: The Trump administration revoked the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation from Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham—aka al-Nusra Front, aka Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria. pic.twitter.com/x9HIAVyd1i — Kevork Almassian (@KevorkAlmassian) July 7, 2025 But this was all about the US-Gulf-Israeli push for regime change, and Jolani is now their #1 terrorist 'man in Damascus'. Assad and the Syrian Army ultimately lost the proxy war which was waged since 2011, with billions of dollars sunk into the effort from the Gulf and Western alliance. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 15:25
Goldman Sachs Expects Another OPEC+ Superhike In September Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com, The OPEC+ producers are expected in August to agree on another superhike in production for September that would complete the unwinding of the 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) output cuts, Goldman Sachs said after the alliance surprised the market with a larger-than-forecast boost for August. The OPEC+ group is set to unwind the last 550,000 bpd of the 2.2-million-bpd cut in September, the investment bank said in a weekend note. On Saturday, the eight OPEC+ producers withholding supply to the market decided to ramp up oil production more aggressively than anticipated in August. At the virtual meeting Saturday, the eight core members led by Saudi Arabia agreed to add 548,000 bpd to global supply—exceeding earlier expectations of a 411,000 bpd hike. The move sets the bloc on track to fully unwind 2.2 million bpd of prior cuts nearly a year ahead of schedule. “Saturday's announcement to accelerate supply hikes increases our confidence that the shift, which we started flagging last summer, to a more long-run equilibrium focused on normalizing spare capacity and market share, supporting internal cohesion, and strategically disciplining US shale supply, is continuing,” Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note carried by Reuters. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman cited “current healthy oil market fundamentals and steady global economic outlook”, as well as “low oil inventories”, for their decision to boost August production by more than previously expected. The decision reflects short-term bullish fundamentals for this summer. The superhike also reaffirms OPEC’s major pivot from defending oil prices to boosting output and market share for producers such as Saudi Arabia that have stuck to their quotas, and punishing producers that have overproduced and now have to forego most of their share of the production hike. Of these overproducers, Iraq and Russia appear to be trying to fall in line, but Kazakhstan continues to defy OPEC+ and pumps hundreds of thousands of barrels per day above its output ceiling, citing its inability to force foreign oil majors to cut production from new projects. The actual production increase from OPEC+ will be lower than the headline figure suggests, due to compensations for previous overproduction. Nevertheless, the superhike in August – and possibly in September – would accelerate the market glut after peak summer demand starts to wane in the autumn and winter, analysts say. Tyler Durden Mon, 07/07/2025 - 15:05
