*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00 AM.
Lead: Russian Escalation
Photo credit: BBC News
President Trump says that Russian President Putin has “gone absolutely CRAZY” and that Ukrainian President Zelensky is “doing his country no favors by talking the way he does” because “everything out of his mouth causes problems.”
This was a reaction to Russian drone attacks, which Russia says were on “Ukrainian military facilities in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure.”
Russia admits striking “Ukrainian defense plants that manufacture missile and drone components, as well as electronic intelligence and satellite communication centers.” They say that this was “following days of unprecedented massive drone attacks from Kiev.”
Now German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says that Germany no longer has a problem with Ukraine using long-range weapons to hit Russia.
“We will do everything in our power to continue supporting Ukraine militarily,” the chancellor said. “There are no longer any range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine, neither from the British nor the French, nor from us, nor from the Americans.”
On what authority does he speak for the Americans? The U.S. has recently reiterated that it will no longer send Ukraine free weapons but is willing to sell them.
Russia says that this talk of long-range weapons are “entirely at odds with our aspirations for a political resolution and with the efforts currently being made toward a settlement” and that these are “quite dangerous decisions, again – if they were indeed made.”
Concentration Camps 2025
Photo credit: Associated Press
The Israeli military says that it will occupy 75 percent of Gaza’s territory within two months and plans to “concentrate” the entire civilian population into three small areas in the Strip.
Concentrate. Interesting choice of words, no?
The plan that Israel has proposed to distribute humanitarian aid has been described as “concentration camps.” There are reports of military distribution of aid and the use of “mercenary forces and biometrics to police civilians.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz joined in the opposition to Israel’s mission in Gaza. In this video, he says that the harm inflicted upon the civilian population in Gaza can no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas terrorism.
Meanwhile, in Jerusalem this weekend, groups of young Israeli Jews were filmed chanting “Death to Arabs” and singing “May your village burn” on Jerusalem Day. Police arrested a number of individuals while Israeli opposition groups such as “Standing Together and Free Jerusalem tried to position themselves between the marchers and residents to prevent violence.”
It is important to note how many Israelis risk their freedom speaking out against the violence against Palestinians. A group of ex-Israeli military called Breaking the Silence recently published this report called The Perimeter in which they report details the systematic destruction of homes and agricultural land along the Gaza border to create an expanded buffer zone and how the IDF used Palestinian civilians as human shields during military operations in Gaza. The Associated Press corroborated this report a few days ago.
The FBI is currently investigating the cocaine discovery at the Biden White House, the Supreme Court leak of the Dobbs case that overturned nation-wide legalized abortion, and the DC pipe bombing, according to Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino.
The Biden White House never explained the cocaine that was found in 2023. It’s surprising that they ever publicized it at all.
It is surprising that they never investigated the abortion case leak too. It is not expressly illegal to leak supreme court opinions but the fact that no one was identified or punished only adds to the sense of unaccountability in high places.
These are valid questions but there are still so many unanswered promises from the FBI. The Epstein files, the JFK investigations, the Las Vegas shooter. This creates a crisis of trust that seems to be deepening with only half answers to major questions.
News By The Numbers
Photo credit: Disney
$183 million. That is how much Disney is expected to make on the live action Lilo & Stitch film over the holiday weekend, earning the “second-largest start across any four-day holiday weekend behind Black Panther’s 2018 record.
$77 million. That is how much Mission Impossible is expected to make at the box office this weekend, making it the best in the franchise.
46 years. That is how long Congressman Charles B. Rangel served in the House of Representatives. He died on Monday at the age of 94.
What’s Trending?
Photo credit: Netflix
Tylenol is trending because a new Cold Case show on Netflix examines the theories behind the unsolved killings from 1982.
Chick-fil-A is trending because people wanted to know if it was open on Memorial Day. It was.
Aldi is trending because the grocer had to recall Santa Monica Seafood of Rancho Dominguez.
The Shifty Macrons
Photo credit: AP Photo/Hau Dinh
Over the weekend, this video of French President Emmanuel Macron being shoved in the face by his wife, the First Lady Brigitte Macron, was trending because it is inexplicable and shocking.
The French government tried to deny the authenticity of the images but later said that the couple were just “horsing around” and “joking.”
It highlights uncomfortable truths about the Macrons, namely that the President was groomed by his wife as a young teenager and that their relationship began under power-imbalanced, ethically fraught conditions. This behavior begs the question about a continued unhealthy dynamic. Has it been like this since the President was a 14 year-old student?
It brings up continued unanswered questions about the couple, namely that they have never satisfactorily proven that she is a woman, that they have never answered for the fact that the works of André Gide, an avowed pederast, are featured in the Presidential portrait, and that their admission of his age when they met changed from 17 to 14.
If a woman had been groomed by a much-older male teacher and then caught on video being shoved in the face in this way, would we react differently? This is an uncomfortable thing to confront and getting even harder to ignore.
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This newsletter is written and researched by Natali Morris. Please feel free to reach Natali at [email protected] for any editorial feedback.
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