President Trump says that he has convinced Coca-Cola to use real sugar in their sodas instead of high fructose corn syrup. It will still rot your teeth, spike your insulin, and fuel a nationwide metabolic crisis—but now with patriotic cane sugar! 🇺🇸🥤
In Case You Missed It
🤖 Elon Musk’s new AI girlfriend app is raising alarms after reports that 12-year-olds are accessing emotionally manipulative, sexually suggestive content.
🇬🇧 Under Keir Starmer’s post-Brexit reset deal, Britain will be forced to pay the EU to reestablish closer ties—sparking backlash over sovereignty and broken promises.
🖊️ President Trump has signed the HALT Fentanyl Act into law, permanently classifying all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs in a bid to “deliver another defeat for the savage drug smugglers and cartels.”
🏛️ The U.S. Senate has approved a plan to slash billions in foreign aid, bowing to pressure from President Trump to redirect spending toward domestic priorities. Does it matter if foreign wars still get a blank check?
🇪🇺 Ursula von der Leyen has unveiled a €2 trillion EU budget, largely funded by borrowing, to boost strategic autonomy, defense, and industrial power across the bloc.
📺 Join us for Redacted’s live show today at 4 p.m. Eastern Time right here.
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*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00 AM.
The Lead: Billions More to Ukraine—And Russia Just Keeps Advancing
Photo credit: BBC
Western leaders continue to pump billions into Ukraine while pretending it will change the outcome. Russia’s response? Meh.
According to Russian media, the Kremlin sees the new Western security package—including long-term pledges from NATO countries and the G7—as largely symbolic. A Russian analyst says the aid is “more psychological than military” and lacks any capacity to shift momentum on the battlefield.
Even Ukrainian officials aren’t convinced. President Zelensky has publicly called the promises vague and inadequate, while his advisers privately admit that Western attention is drifting. Meanwhile, Russian forces continue to gain ground in Donbas and strike infrastructure across the country.
Despite all the tough talk at NATO summits and G7 pressers, the reality is simple: the West is writing checks for PR optics, not battlefield success and Moscow knows it.
Russia’s takeaway? The war is grinding on in its favor, and Washington’s strategy—drip-feeding Ukraine just enough support to keep it from collapsing, but not enough to win—has already failed.
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Israel Bombs Syria (Again), Because Who’s Going to Stop Them?
This week, as Israeli airstrikes killed at least 93 people in Gaza, including two elderly people at a Catholic church, warplanes also struck multiple targets in Syria, hitting sites near Damascus and Aleppo. Civilian casualties were reported. Infrastructure was damaged.
Why ramp up a war on Syria while Israel has its hands full in Gaza? They claimed they were targeting Iranian weapons shipments, militant movement and “security threats.” They did not present evidence to support those claims.
Israel has been bombing Syria for over a decade with zero accountability, using the cover of Iran’s presence to strike Syrian territory at will. These aren’t surgical strikes—they’re political statements. And they send a clear message: Israel can violate international law anytime it wants, and no one in the West will stop it.
As if that wasn’t already clear.
It’s also a convenient distraction. As Netanyahu faces a corruption trial and escalating war crimes allegations in Gaza, expanding the conflict into Syria makes sure the headlines stay bloody—and blurred.
But make no mistake: these are illegal acts of aggression. If anyone out there would care to enforce international laws? Bueller? Bueller?
1,300 light-years. That is how far away astronomers just observed the birth of a solar system for the first time in history.
30 years. That is how long Amy Bradley has been missing since she vanished from a cruise ship—now her case is getting renewed attention thanks to a new Netflix series, according to USA Today.
8675309. That’s not Elon Musk’s new phone number. He reportedly changed his number after his spat with President Trump—as if the President couldn’t just find the new one.
UK Government Caught Paying YouTubers to Push Propaganda
The UK government has been paying YouTubers to pose as independent voices while promoting official state narratives. A new investigation by Declassified UK reveals that the British Foreign Office secretly funded foreign influencers to push pro-government talking points—without ever disclosing the source of the funding.
The operation was run through a London-based PR firm, Valent Projects, which paid influencers to produce videos supporting UK positions on the war in Ukraine, COVID-19, and foreign policy in the Middle East. We don’t know which ones because they were not named in the report. We do know that some were foreign language channels delivered in Arabic, Russian in addition to English. The influencers presented themselves as organic, grassroots commentators—but behind the scenes, they were following a script.
The UK does have laws requiring influencers to disclose paid content but the government sidestepped them by outsourcing the propaganda through private contractors. These contractors then paid foreign influencers—many in countries with weaker transparency rules—and bound them with non-disclosure agreements. Viewers had no idea the UK government was behind the messaging.
While Western media continues to hyperventilate over Russian and Chinese disinformation, they stay remarkably quiet when it’s the UK laundering propaganda through a network of influencers. That silence isn’t accidental—it’s complicity.
War Crimes Abroad, Corruption Charges at Home—And Still the U.S. Shows Up to Cheer
Why Is the Israeli Ambassador Showing Up at the Trial of Netanyahu, Mafioso-Style?
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee—and apparently now an honorary member of Netanyahu’s legal entourage—showed up in court this week to support the Israeli Prime Minister during his corruption trial. He wasn’t alone. Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Michael Herzog, also made a surprise appearance, adding a bizarre layer of official endorsement to a man facing charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
This is highly unusual, if not outright inappropriate.
Ambassadors are diplomatic representatives of their own countries, not political cheerleaders for the domestic leaders of the states they’re posted in. Their role is to maintain formal relations, not interfere in internal judicial proceedings—especially not by attending the criminal trial of the sitting head of government.
Huckabee, ever the evangelical cheerleader for Israeli hardliners, called the trial “politically motivated” and said the charges would be “laughed off in most Western countries.” That’s one way to spin multiple corruption indictments during an active war.
What’s Trending?
credit: Hartford Courant/TNS
Dan Rivera is trending because he died while leading a haunted Annabelle doll tour, in what some are calling a “real-life paranormal event” according to The Guardian.
Emma Watson is trending because the Harry Potter actress reportedly lost her drivers license for six months and was fined £1,044 because she was speeding. She was caught going 38 mph in a 30 mph zone.
Tomorrowland is trending because the main stage at the Belgian summer music festival went up in flames just days before the event is scheduled to begin.
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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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