This weekend was the robot Olympics. Beijing hosted the inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games, featuring over 500 humanoid robots from 280 teams across 16 countries, including the U.S., Germany, and Japan.
In Case You Missed It
🚗 A man who illegally entered the U.S. in 2018 is facing three counts of vehicular homicide and possible deportation after allegedly making an unauthorized U-turn on Florida’s Turnpike on August 12, 2025, that caused a crash killing three people.
🤝 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not ruled out a partial hostage deal with Hamas—who, under renewed mediator proposals, appears open to negotiation—seeking to exchange some hostages and the deceased for a ceasefire while continuing talks on remaining terms.
📱 Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that the UK has dropped its mandate requiring Apple to create a backdoor for access to Americans’ data.
⚖️ The U.S. Justice Department has agreed to begin handing over investigation files related to Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal case to the House Oversight Committee starting Friday, in response to a congressional subpoena—though officials will redact sensitive content, including victim information and child sexual abuse materials.
*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00 AM.
Lead: Europe’s Leaders Finally Get the Picture
This is President Trump explaining to the slow kids who run Europe that Ukraine will never again control the territory in red.
The President hosted European leaders along with Ukrainian President Zelensky on Monday. He let them say all their favorite words about “peace,” “strength,” and “stopping Russia.” Then Trump cut through the noise: those leaders don’t have the weapons to take that red zone back, and the U.S. won’t bankroll another attempt.
Look at their faces: It looks like the message landed. Their fun little war — which cost hundreds of thousands of lives, wrecked Europe’s economy, and made them look like fools — was for nothing.
Trump later said he phoned Russian President Putin after sending the EU kids home, and started setting up another meeting with Putin and Zelensky. His words: “Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine.”
The Europeans don’t look happy. And they shouldn’t be. They prolonged a bloodbath on a lie and I hope they carry the shame of that to their dying day!
Sex Crimes, No Extradition, No Consequences
Photo credit: The Libertarian Institute
A 38-year-old man named Tom Artiom Alexandrovich was arrested in Las Vegas last week during a “multi-agency operation targeting child sex predators.” Before he could be prosecuted, he fled to Israel — where, it turns out, he is a senior official in Israel’s National Cyber Directorate.
The U.S. State Department insists he “did not claim diplomatic immunity and was released by a state judge pending a court date. Any claims that the U.S. government intervened are false.”
But that statement sidesteps the obvious question: how was he allowed to leave the country at all? Standard protocol in these cases would be to seize his passport. Instead, while supposedly awaiting a court date next week, Alexandrovich boarded a plane and vanished.
This case highlights a disturbing pattern: alleged sex offenders fleeing the U.S. to Israel — and Washington rarely, if ever, pressing for extradition.
Why would Israelis tolerate this? Aren’t they concerned about living in a country where sexual predators can roam freely under government protection?
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office released a statement denying that Alexandrovich had even been arrested — an obvious lie. He also claimed the arrest would have “no diplomatic implications” for the Washington–Tel Aviv relationship. That part is true: no American authority will care, even though the man allegedly tried to “lure a child with mental disabilities for sexual purposes.”
By letting him slip out of the country — with his passport in hand — the U.S. effectively chose not to protect the child victim, but to protect the relationship with Israel.
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When ‘Good Moral Character’ Means Whatever They Say It Means
AI-generated image (ChatGPT/OpenAI)
The U.S. will now screen U.S. citizens for “good moral character (GMC).” This isn’t necessarily new, but it is tricky in application.
Currently, would-be citizens have to show a clean criminal background check. Now, however, USCIS says that the absence of wrongdoing is not enough. Officers can disqualify applicants for “actions that, while technically lawful, may be inconsistent with civic responsibility within the community — such as reckless or habitual traffic infractions, or harassment or aggressive solicitation.”
But wait — aren’t traffic infractions and harassment unlawful? It doesn’t make sense. The new standard says lawful acts can disqualify you, then gives examples of unlawful acts. That’s the problem: the line between lawful, unlawful, and merely frowned-upon behavior is blurred to the point of meaninglessness.
The GMC clause has been part of the Immigration and Nationality Act since 1952. Screening for “good” character might sound like common sense, but in practice it’s wide open to abuse. The Supreme Court has ruled that naturalization is a privilege, not a right — but it also requires that the criteria be non-discriminatory and applied consistently. This new vagueness all but guarantees litigation.
And here’s where it gets dangerous: the U.S. has already begun deporting immigrants who publicly criticize Israel. Will that now be folded into the “good moral character” test? If traffic tickets and “aggressive solicitation” are enough to deny citizenship, what happens when political speech is labeled as inconsistent with “civic responsibility”?
News By The Numbers
Photo Credit: Jam Press/RM Sotheby’s
£19 million. That was the sales price at auction of this “one-of-a-kind black and Giallo Modena yellow Ferrari Daytona SP3 599+1,” making it the most expensive Ferrari ever sold.
100 push-ups. 50 pull-ups. All in under 10 minutes. That’s the requirement for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s “Pete and Bobby Challenge.”
$15 million. That is how much the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has on hand in cash, which is not great compared to the $80 million that the Republican National Committee has. The Democrats had $1.5 billion last year but blew most of it on the Kamala Harris campaign.
Jasveen Sangha is trending because the woman known as the “Ketamine Queen” will reportedly plead guilty to selling the drugs that ultimately killed Friends actor Matthew Perry. Two doctors, Perry’s assistant, and a middleman have also admitted guilt in the case.
Ticketmaster is trending because the FTC sued a major reseller accused of using thousands of fake accounts to scoop up Taylor Swift Eras Tour tickets and resell them at huge markups. Ticketmaster itself isn’t the one facing charges, but its flawed system made the scheme possible.
My Source? No Network
Photo credit: MSNBC
MSNBC changed its name to MS NOW — but the network is insisting that “journalists must write out MY SOURCE NEWS OPINION WORLD (MS NOW)” on first reference.
Clayton’s take: “It sounds like the fake company from Step Brothers. Prestige Worldwide.”
The name change comes after NBCUniversal sold the network. CNBC gets to keep its name since it originally stood for “Consumer News and Business Channel,” but it loses the peacock logo. Both MSNBC (sorry, MS NOW) and CNBC now belong to a new parent company called Versant.
Versant’s CEO promised the channel will serve a “progressive audience” and “hold political figures from both parties to account.” The network president admitted staff had “a little trepidation” at first, but claimed enthusiasm grew. Sure.
And the new logo? No one seems to know. Is it an equals sign? Melted noodles? A microwaved version of the Human Rights Campaign logo?
What a trainwreck — and it couldn’t happen to a more deserving group of professional liars.
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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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