Zero Rss

Backlash After Columbus, Ohio Announces It Will Raise Flag Of Somalia At City Hall

Via American Greatness,

The city of Columbus faced criticism from conservatives after a now-deleted social media post stated that City Hall would raise the Somali flag in recognition of Somali Independence Day.

The post, published Wednesday by the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department on X, read:

“Happy Somali Independence Day! As we celebrate the unification of the Trust Territory of Somaliland and the State of Somaliland into the Somali Republic in 1960, City Hall will be raising the flag of Somalia.”

The message quickly drew criticism from conservative commentators and elected officials, many of whom questioned why a government building would display the flag of another nation just days before the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its independence.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller wrote on X, “Columbus, Ohio raising the flag of Somalia for America 250.”

Journalist Mark Hemingway added, “No American government building should ever be raising another country’s flag. Ugh.”

Ohio attorney and political commentator Mehek Cooke also criticized the announcement.

“City Hall is not a foreign embassy,” Cooke wrote. “As an Ohioan, I am repulsed by the anti-Americanism here. Our leaders treat foreign nationalism as sacred while treating American patriotism as controversial. America’s public buildings should honor America.”

Ohio state Rep. Brian Stewart, a Republican, argued the celebration sent the wrong message.

“If Somalia is such a failed state that we need to take in tens of thousands of its citizens as ‘refugees,’ then we really don’t need to be celebrating its supposed ‘independence’ with patronizing posts on social media,” Stewart wrote.

“One more way in which we encourage the refusal to assimilate.”

If Somalia is such a failed state that we need to take in tens of thousands of its citizens as “refugees,” then we really don’t need to be celebrating its supposed “independence” with patronizing posts on social media. One more way in which we encourage the refusal to assimilate. https://t.co/V2l46urZ2G

— Brian Stewart (@BrianStewartOH) July 1, 2026

The Recreation and Parks Department deleted the post shortly after Fox News Digital sought comment.

After the story was published, a city spokesperson said the original post was inaccurate.

“A social media post created by a city department falsely stated that City Hall would raise the Somalian flag in recognition of Somali Independence Day,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “While the City recognizes and respects the aspirations of people around the world to live in freedom, this post was inaccurate and has been deleted.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 18:00

Independence Week

By Bas van Geffen, Senior Macro Strategist at Rabobank

It was a reassuring week for those who are concerned about central bank independence. At the ECB’s annual conference in Sintra, moderator Sarah Eisen channeled a bit of her inner Beyoncé, asking a panel of central bank heads “To all you [bankers], who are independent, throw your hands up at me.” All four policymakers, including Fed Chairman Warsh, confirmed the importance of central bank independence: “The Fed acted independently before the Supreme Court ruling, and the Fed will continue to do so after the ruling.”

The Supreme Court kept the FOMC’s Cook in her seat for now, pending “due process.” However, that does not bar Trump from continuing to try to fire her. In the same ruling, the court overturned a nine-decades-old precedent to allow the US president more freedom to fire the heads of federal agencies at will.

The justices did acknowledge that the Fed is a special case, and that the president’s power to fire a governor “for cause” was deliberately enacted by Congress to prevent that governors only serve at the president’s pleasure. And, the justices concluded, the burden of proof is not a low bar; since independence is key to the Federal Reserve’s design, they argue that “for cause” should be a substantial threshold.

So, the legal disputes will continue over what constitutes “for cause.” Bloomberg reports that the Trump administration is “doubling down” on their efforts to reshape the central bank, as Trump seeks to place more allies in the FOMC.

But the next line of the chorus was a bit more difficult for some of the panellists to sing along with. “All the [govvies], making money, throw your hands up at me” seems to have struck a nerve with the ECB’s Governing Council.

From the sidelines of the Sintra conference, Reuters reported that the central bank is considering increasing the minimum reserve requirement for banks from 1% to 2%. Tweaking the policy stance does not appear to be the reason. From a monetary policy perspective, the minimum reserve requirement is not a very potent instrument. Instead, it appears to be a cost consideration.

It wouldn’t be the first time that this is discussed. In 2023, policymakers changed the remuneration of banks’ minimum reserves – also motivated by some quick cost savings. Today, the ECB still pays more interest on the excess reserves that banks have deposited with the ECB than the central bank earns on the assets in its QE portfolios.

The result is negative net interest income, and various national central banks have thus been lossmaking in the past couple of years. That’s not an immediate problem for the central bank, but the ECB is certainly mindful of the optics and the political sensitivity. Last month’s decision to hike the policy rate by 25 basis points adds new impetus to that discussion.

At Sintra, Warsh also reiterated his aversion against forward guidance. The Fed chair refused to comment on the implications of economic data releases, or even which data series he prefers. But that doesn’t stop the market from drawing their own conclusions. On that note, US non-farm payroll growth disappointed. Companies added only 57,000 new jobs in June, and the 172,000 print for May was revised down to a much more moderate 129,000.

The employment statistics weren’t any better. The unemployment rate declined to 4.2% from 4.3%, but that was due to a large decline in the labor force. The fall in participation even outpaced the large decline in household employment. So, both the establishment survey and the household survey painted a picture of a weak labour market in June.

As a result, US money markets pared back their pricing of Fed rate hikes somewhat. That may also have given some new support to equities. Renewed AI-optimism also helps. The South-Korean Kospi index leads the charge, which appears to be led by Samsung Electronics. The company is up 8% after reportedly securing an order from Anthropic for customized AI chips.

Turning to geopolitics, negotiations between the US and Iran in Qatar have concluded, without much hiccups. The Washington Post reports that US officials feared that Israel might try to assassinate Iran’s negotiating team during the talks. So much so, that they even sent warning to Tehran. Similar risks may resurface as Iran holds the funeral ceremony for Khamenei. Iran warned both the US and Israel to refrain from attacks during the days of mourning.

Following the talks, President Trump told CNBC that Iran “agreed to just about everything we need.” Yet, reality still seems to be different. The US maintains that Iran will not get any frozen assets until it fulfills its part of the memorandum of understanding. Iran, meanwhile, is still demanding the reverse order of these events. And then there’s the issue of Hormuz tolls – or fees. The US insists that Iran does not impose any control or toll, but several European leaders have reportedly accepted the reality that some fees are unavoidable now.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 17:55

Massive Security Presence For Khamenei’s 'Multi-City' Funeral Amid Hezbollah, Hamas, Taliban, China, Russia Paying Respects

Via The Cradle

Intensive preparations and security measures took place on Friday for late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s massive funeral, as foreign officials and delegations began arriving in the country from dozens of nations to pay their respects. 

The heightened security measures, including airspace restrictions and mass deployment of security forces, began this week and extended into Friday.

via AFP

The event is being described as a "multi-city" funeral that will span several parts of Iran, including Tehran, Qom, and Mashhad. 

According to authorities, more than 10 million citizens are expected to gather in Tehran alone, with millions more expected to take part in ceremonies in the cities of Mashhad and Qom. 

Large-scale commemorations and ceremonies are also set to take place in Iraq, where the late Iranian leader was also revered. Tehran has coordinated these matters with authorities in Baghdad. 

The late supreme leader’s coffin arrived at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla in Tehran on Friday. 

Iranian authorities are finalizing major security and logistical arrangements ahead of a multi-day state funeral for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, following his assassination in a US-Israeli attack on 28 February. Today, the late leader's casket arrived at the Imam Khomeini Grand… pic.twitter.com/JMjoJ8J36e

— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) July 3, 2026

Several Iranian officials were seen paying respects to the assassinated leader, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. 

Footage also showed Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reciting a prayer in front of Khamenei’s coffin along with members of his delegation. 

Delegations representing Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Amal Movement and the Iraqi resistance faction Kataib Hezbollah were also present. 

🇮🇷 As world leaders landed in Tehran for Khamenei’s funeral, they were met with a memorial for the Minab school attack inside the airport.

Messaging doesn’t get more deliberate than this.

Writer: Monicapic.twitter.com/lGZtuANABT

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 3, 2026

Representatives from over 100 nations are expected to attend and have begun arriving, including from Turkiye, India, Russia, China, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"Ceremonies will continue on Saturday and Sunday with the body lying in state at the Grand Mosalla before a funeral procession through Tehran on Monday. Further rites are scheduled in the holy city of Qom, followed by ceremonies in Baghdad, Karbala, and Najaf in Iraq," IRNA reported. 

Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif, Army Chief Asim Munir, and their delegation paid their respects to Iran's late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. pic.twitter.com/bCiwMLbMu1

— Clash Report (@clashreport) July 3, 2026

Public farewell ceremonies will officially begin on July 4 at 6:00 am. The late supreme leader is set to be buried in the city of Mashhad on July 9. 

The night before the preparations kicked off on Friday, the Commander-in-Chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, was seen paying respects to Khamenei’s coffin in images released by Iranian media on Thursday evening. General Vahidi had not been seen in months. 

Senior leaders from Hezbollah and Hamas have paid their final respects to Iran’s late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, during funeral ceremonies in Tehran.

Among those attending was Mahmoud Qamati, Deputy Head of Hezbollah’s Political Bureau, who led a Hezbollah… pic.twitter.com/f6oZInk8N7

— BPI News (@BPINewsOrg) July 3, 2026

An Iranian military official warned the US and Israel on Thursday that any attack on the funeral or during its preparations will be met with a severe response. 

"We warn the ​enemies of Iran, especially the US and ​the Zionist regime, to avoid any miscalculation and ⁠to think about the harsh retaliation our armed ​forces would make to any threat and aggression against ​our country," said Ali Abdollahi, commander of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters. 

IRGC caretaker commander Ahmad Vahidi made his first public appearance since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran, seen paying respects beside the coffin of Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei in Tehran ahead of funeral ceremonies beginning July 4.

￭ The ceremony at Tehran's… pic.twitter.com/evi5ehyBKy

— VPol (@VocalPolitics1) July 3, 2026

In February 2025, a squadron of Israeli fighter jets flew over the funeral of late Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah – who was assassinated by Tel Aviv in a brutal attack on Beirut in September 2024.

Khamenei was assassinated by the US and Israel on February 28 – the first day of the latest war on Iran.

Several members of his family were killed in the attack, including his wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, and grandchild. His son Mojtaba, who was injured in that attack, has succeeded him as supreme leader of the Islamic Republic.

Ghalibaf and Araghchi in tears today at the farewell ceremony for Ali Khamenei and his family in #Iran. pic.twitter.com/heCafNagta

— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) July 3, 2026

Khamenei had refused to leave his residence despite warnings about a plot to kill him, telling his security team that he would only permit being moved to a safer location if the same could be done for 90 million Iranians. 

Similarly, Nasrallah had also refused to leave Beirut despite warnings prior to his assassination.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 16:40

US Believed Israel Tried To Assassinate Iran's Top Negotiators As Ghalibaf's Plane Made Emergency Landing

The New York Times has issued a new report citing unnamed US officials who believe that Israel came close to assassinating Iran's top negotiators Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

According to the report, a concrete Israeli threat against Ghalibaf and the FM emerged while they were traveling back to Iran from Islamabad following talks with US Vice President JD Vance on April 12.

Source: Mehr news

Prior to that point, during active fighting, Israel had worked its way through killing much of Iran's senior leadership starting with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but questions lingered over whether the country's top negotiators - who have come to represent Tehran on the global stage - could be deemed legitimate targets.

Even as Washington and regional brokers stepped in to try and halt the prospect of runaway conflict, wherein the US would find itself in yet another 'forever war' and quagmire, Israel still floated the potential for more assassinations targeting top Islamic Republic leadership. 

The NYT, citing officials, sets up the mid-April near-miss incident as follows:

In April, Mr. Ghalibaf was set to travel to Islamabad to meet with Vice President JD Vance. But Iranian security officials were concerned that Israel would use the opportunity to assassinate Mr. Ghalibaf or Mr. Araghchi to derail the talks, the officials said.

Iranians sought guarantees from the United States, through Pakistani and Qatari intermediaries, that Israel would not carry out any covert operations targeting the Iranian delegation, the officials said.

Pakistani fighter jets escorted the Iranian airplanes carrying a delegation of more than 70 Iranians from the border of Iran to Islamabad and back again when the session was over.

But on the way back to Tehran, an Israeli security threat emerged.

From there, Iranian security forces reportedly notified Ghalibaf's plane of intelligence indicating that Israel planned to attack the aircraft - and the delegation took the warning seriously enough to divert from the original flight path and make an emergency landing in Mashhad, northeastern Iran.

Ghalibaf and his entourage then opted to return to Tehran by land, the report says. The following sounds straight out of a Hollywood script:

Iran’s security forces notified the plane carrying Mr. Ghalibaf back to Tehran that they had picked up intelligence that Israel planned to attack the plane and that two Israeli fighter jets had entered Iran’s airspace from its western border near Iraq, the two officials said.

"Mahdi Mohammadi, a senior adviser for Mr. Ghalibaf, who accompanied him to Islamabad, confirmed this account on his social media page," the NYT notes. "The plane made an emergency landing in the city of Mashhad, Iran’s closest airport to the Pakistani border, and the Iranian delegation traveled some eight hours by land back to Tehran, Mr. Mohammadi and the two officials said."

Some commenters have expressed deep skepticism at the Thursday NYT story...

Well this sounds fake AF

— Emily Schrader - אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) July 2, 2026

Behind the scenes the Trump administration had reportedly been asking the Israelis to "back off" in order to allow space for negotiations. Certainly, had Ghalibaf or Araghchi been attacked and killed, the situation would have spiraled into all-out war, which still remains a prospect. 

Lately the Iranians have urged Washington to continue to 'muzzle' and restrain its more hawkish Israeli ally. FM Araghchi said Wednesday in reference to Trump that "POTUS has committed the U.S. to muzzling its pets in Tel Aviv. If they ignore their master, Iran will school them. Any threat against our People and Leadership will receive Immediate Powerful Response."

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 16:00

Foreign-Born Population Grows, But Relative Size Not Unprecedented

While the number of immigrants in the U.S. as well as their share of the population has generally been rising, Statista's Katharina Buchholz points out that the level of the foreign-born population is not unprecedented.

As of 2024, the latest year available through U.S. Census data, 14.8 percent of the U.S. population was foreign-born. 

Data aggregated by the Migration Policy Institute shows that throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the foreign-born population of the U.S. had been just as high, before reaching a low of just 4.7 percent in 1970.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Between mid-2020 and mid-2021, net migration to the United States (the number of immigrants arriving minus those leaving) only amounted to 247,000 people, down from the pre-pandemic figure of around 600,000 between 2018 and 2019.

Post-pandemic, this has risen to new heights, with the total immigrant population in the U.S. reaching 50.2 million as of the latest data.

An annual net migration of 2.4 million people was recorded in 2024, before this fell again quickly during the first year of the second Trump presidency. The number are even projected to turn negative this year, per the Census Bureau.

The term foreign-born refers to people residing in the United States who aren't U.S. citizens or weren't U.S. citizens at birth. This includes temporary and permanent residents, naturalized citizens, asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 14:40

"You Cannot Kill The Beast Until You Name It": Democratic Politician Denounces Declaration Of Independence

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

Pennsylvania state and socialist Chris Rabb, the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District, has joined the growing chorus of Democrats denouncing the founding documents and core institutions in the country on our 250th anniversary.

The Democratic socialist is running unopposed for Congress and will almost certainly be a member of Congress after November.

Rabb spoke at an event billed as “America at 250 — Trump Fascism, Historical Erasure, and the Battle Over Truth” at People’s Plaza on Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

He denounced the country as based on “stolen land and stolen labor.”

He lashed out at the Declaration of Independence:

“Those screeds that were very lofty but were notoriously catering to a performative aspect of collective genius that purposely erased indigenous and black peoples…It created distance from an empire to help very privileged people continue that privilege and ultimately institutionalize that through the U.S. Constitution many years later. But it certainly did not provide independence to indigenous and black peoples. And we cannot talk about anything today without acknowledging that this is a nation born on stolen land & stolen labor.”

It is entirely appropriate to raise the inherent conflict in the words of the Declaration and the continuation of slavery. In Rage and the Republic, I discuss the inherent hypocrisy of our Declaration in declaring natural rights without denouncing the enslaving of so many in the country:

“The Founders understood that inescapable truth of natural law when they signed a Declaration that ‘all men are created equal.’ Despite this defining line, even some who opposed slavery saw little hope for a revolution that would seek to overthrow both the monarchy and slavery. Jefferson would have to make the concession in striking critical language from his draft. While Jefferson’s legacy would be forever stained by his own maintenance of slaves, he did attempt to condemn the institution of slavery. He was rebuffed by his fellow delegates who were willing to acknowledge the existence of a natural law while ignoring its implications for the enslaved people in the new nation.”

Rabb goes further than raising the inherent conflict with slavery and suggests that our system is inherently fascistic and not worthy of celebration for the ideals that it articulated for a new nation.

He ignores how the Declaration laid the foundation for a more perfect union. Ours was the first major Enlightenment Revolution based on the belief that our rights came not from the government but from God. It embraced the principles that would ultimately prevail in ending this shameful stain on our nation.

“Fascism is not new. These systems of harm are built into the very fabric of this nation,..You cannot kill the beast until you name it. And that is difficult for many people who want to embrace certain tropes, certain narratives, whether it’s the American dream or American exceptionalism or the Protestant work ethic or so many other myths that do us no — they are a disservice.”

Rabb is not the first figure on the far left to denounce the “American dream” and “the Protestant work ethic” as harmful “myths.”

He pledged that he would be “one of the few unapologetic reparationists going to Congress,” joining a growing number of Democrats demanding billions in reparations for black Americans.

Many on the left are using the anniversary to condemn our founding principles or to decline to celebrate our Independence Day. This includes such demonstrations in states such as Massachusetts, which declined to join the celebration on the Mall for the 250th anniversary.

Recently, we discussed how a Massachusetts church ended the long-standing celebration of the Fourth of July to focus on the “on-going process within the congregation to better understand our own whiteness.”

John Adams once wrote his wife Abigail to predict that Independence Day would be:

“celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”

Adams was virulently opposed to slavery as were many of the Founders. Many openly discussed their hope that the new nation would address slavery after it succeeded in establishing its independence. Those lofty values were ultimately realized at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives in the Civil War.

The claim that fascism is a system “built into the very fabric of this nation” is absurd and demagogic. This nation defeated fascism and remains the oldest and most successful republic in history. Indeed, the left is claiming to be fighting fascism while seeking to take over the Supreme Court in a court-packing scheme while limiting such core human rights as free speech.

In “killing the beast,” the far left is threatening to unleash the very forces that destroyed the contemporary revolution in France at the time of our founding.

These voices are not new.

They have been part of this republic — and other republics — throughout history. They are the voices of mobocracy that we rejected 250 years ago. That is precisely why Benjamin Franklin was right that this is, and will remain, our Republic to keep.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 14:00

Anthropic Moves To Shut Loopholes Letting Chinese Tech Firms Access Claude

Days after the Commerce Department lifted three-week-old export controls on Anthropic's Fable and Mythos AI models over national security concerns, a new report says the company is moving to close loopholes that have allowed Chinese firms to access its most advanced models.

The Financial Times cites people familiar with the matter who say Chinese companies, such as Ant Financial, used overseas subsidiaries, cloud providers, and internal corporate networks to access AI chatbots such as Claude Code.  

To note, Alibaba owns about one-third of Ant Financial. Alibaba was recently blacklisted by the US Government over concerns that it was effectively an arm of the Chinese military. 

Related:

• Anthropic Accuses Alibaba Of Running Major "Adversarial Distillation" Campaign To Extract Claude Capabilities

Ant reportedly provided employees with corporate Claude accounts routed through its Singapore-linked intranet, while ByteDance employees have used VPNs and expense reimbursements for personal Claude subscriptions.

The workarounds do not appear to violate US or Chinese law, but they breach Anthropic's terms of service, which ban Chinese companies and Beijing-controlled foreign entities from using its models.

Anthropic said it prohibits access from unsupported regions, including China, and continuously updates enforcement systems to detect evasion.

FT provided more details on its crackdown:

As part of its efforts to crack down on unauthorised access, Anthropic has targeted "transfer station" services, which relay requests from users in mainland China through Claude accounts registered overseas before returning the responses.

However, larger Chinese AI groups generally avoid transfer stations because the services' operators are widely suspected of storing or reselling prompts. Executives worry rivals could analyse those requests to understand how they are using advanced models to improve their own systems.

What's ironic is that a company behind one of the world's most advanced coding models apparently failed to build the proper guardrails needed to keep Chinese firms from accessing it, even as it works to close those loopholes.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 13:20

Saudi Delegation Makes Unexpected Appearance In Tehran For Start Of Ayatollah's Funeral

Friday and Saturday kick off what will be up to a week of solemn funeral observances for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - a major historic event which is expected to draw some 15 to 20 million mourners in Tehran and across Iranian cities.

Iran on Thursday issued a warning to the United States and Israel, Reuters reported:

"We warn the enemies of Iran, especially the U.S. and the Zionist regime (Israel), to avoid any miscalculation and to think about the harsh retaliation our armed forces would make to any threat and aggression against our country," Ali Abdollahi, commander of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said in a statement carried by state media.

Coffins containing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei & members of his family at a mosque in Tehran, after their deaths during the opening of the US-Israeli 'Operation Epic Fury'. Getty Images

The funeral procession events are expected to extend all the way to July 9, upon which the late Ayatollah will be buried in his hometown of Mashhad. Qom, as well as Shia centers in Iraq will also observe large-scale funeral events.

Delegations representing various governments in the region have begun arriving in Tehran on Friday to pay their respects, though the Iranian government has made clear that no European governments were invited.

There has already been some surprises, with Reuters reporting that Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed El Khereiji and his delegation have showed up in Tehran to pay their respects - though they weren't officially expected, per Iranian state publications...

⚡️BREAKING: Unexpected arrival of Saudi Arabia's Deputy Foreign Minister at the funeral ceremony of Ayatollah Khamenei

While Oman and Qatar were on the list of foreign delegations, Saudi Arabia was Not pic.twitter.com/zjGrnKJ8TK

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) July 3, 2026

This is perhaps a symbolic sign of a thawing of sorts between Gulf GCC states and Iran, at a moment the extended ceasefire continues to hold in order to give peace negotiations centered in Qatar and Switzerland a greater chance of success.

Media reports have indicated that the Trump administration is holding off any further military action during the funeral proceedings, and given that in Washington major July 4th events will kick off over the weekend, which marks the 250th anniversary of America's founding.

One delegation which was indeed expected, and has arrived amid the cameras are the Russians, headed by Dmitry Medvedev, former president and now Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council:

Russia's Medvedev and the Russian delegation paid their respects to Iran's late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. pic.twitter.com/FjCjQGDs0R

— Clash Report (@clashreport) July 3, 2026

Also, regional media notes that "Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian paid his respects on Friday before the remains of Ali Khamenei, accompanied by government officials including the Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf."

"State television footage showed Masoud Pezeshkian praying before the former supreme leader's coffin, upon which a black turban rests," Middle East Eye reported. For more details on what to expect in the coming days, read our:

Buried On The 4th Of July: Mediators Pledge Quiet Between US, Iran To Allow For Ayatollah Khamenei's Funeral

Below is a round-up of some of the latest headlines and developments via MEE:

• Ali Khamenei’s body arrived at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla mosque, where mourners have begun gathering ahead of Saturday’s funeral.

• Iranian authorities expect more than 20 million people to participate in funeral ceremonies, which will conclude with Khamenei’s burial in Mashhad on July 9.

• A red flag from the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad was placed over Khamenei’s coffin during ceremonies in Tehran.

• Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, the new commander of the IRGC, made a rare public appearance during a memorial event in the Iranian capital.

• Pakistan’s interior minister arrived in Iran ahead of the funeral as foreign delegations continue to gather for the ceremonies.

• President Donald Trump said Iran has “almost agreed” to US demands and confirmed negotiations with Tehran will continue.

• Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said lasting peace in the region must be comprehensive and free from external interference.

• Iran’s UN representative warned that any US violation of the memorandum of understanding would trigger an Iranian response.

• Iran’s military command instructed vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to follow designated routes or face a “forceful response”.

• In Lebanon, President Joseph Aoun called for international pressure on Israel to implement the framework agreement, while Israel announced the Givati Brigade had completed its mission in southern Lebanon.

Below: Medvedev and the Russian delegation are given a warm red-carpet welcome in Tehran, after which he proceeds to where the slain supreme leader's coffin is displayed for mourners:

The Russian plane indeed carried Medvedev

The Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council & special envoy of Putin, arrived in Iran to participate in the farewell ceremony & pay his respects to the martyred leader of Iran. https://t.co/zI795Kzkuw pic.twitter.com/jfKGTf7AcE

— Arya Yadeghaar (Backup) (@AryJeayBackup) July 3, 2026

As for the Saudis visiting Tehran, this in and of itself is a rare, unexpected development in relations - given the two sides have only slowly reopened diplomatic relations in the past few years, with mutual embassies going active - a feat largely mediated by China. Might their be some backchannel diplomacy happening while the Saudis are there? 

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 12:50

Why The Left Really Hates Trump's America 250 Celebration

Authored by Fred Fleitz via American Greatness,

Earlier this week, I walked around the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Despite the heavy negative press coverage, I thought it was impressive and inspiring.

The event boldly portrays American patriotism and exceptionalism across our great nation to celebrate our country’s 250th birthday. It runs from June 25 through July 10, featuring more than 150 exhibits from all 56 U.S. states and territories, along with businesses, innovators, and civic organizations. There is a towering Ferris wheel, a stage with live music and performances, family-friendly attractions, military ensembles, flyovers, and daily cultural programming. An innovation center showcases booths from SpaceX and NASA.

A notable contrast: while the people of France and several other European countries are suffering from the summer heat because of their leaders’ environmental extremism, which hates air conditioners, all 150 exhibits at the Great American State Fair are air-conditioned.

On July 4th, the celebration will culminate in an epic Independence Day event featuring the world’s largest fireworks show over the nation’s capital.

This is just one part of President Trump’s bold America 250 initiative. He also hosted the UFC Freedom 250 event on the White House South Lawn—a high-energy night of championship fights watched cage-side by the president himself alongside his family and UFC CEO Dana White. And in August, the Freedom 250 Grand Prix will bring IndyCar racing to the streets of Washington, near the National Mall—the first motor race of its kind in the nation’s capital, showcasing American speed, ingenuity, and the thrill of competition around our iconic monuments.

These large-scale, energetic spectacles are classic Trump. That is why his many unhinged critics have viciously attacked these patriotic events saluting our nation’s 250th birthday.

At its core, much of the backlash reflects a deeper disagreement.

Trump’s events celebrate love of country, national pride, and American achievement—ideas that directly challenge the strain of anti-American sentiment common on the political left. Many critics view the United States not as history’s greatest force for peace, prosperity, and liberty, but as a flawed or villainous power. They tend to see patriotism itself as problematic.

This perspective was evident in prior administrations.

Under President Biden, aggressive DEI initiatives reshaped military policies, contributing to a recruitment crisis. Trump reversed those policies and restored merit-based standards, and military enlistment has rebounded strongly. Similarly, President Obama’s “apology tour,” when he traveled the globe to apologize for America’s supposed history of arrogance and immoral policies, and Obama’s public skepticism toward American exceptionalism treated our nation’s founding principles and achievements as sources of shame rather than of pride.

In education, many parents grew concerned about curricula that emphasized America’s flaws while downplaying the nation’s founders, the sacrifices of its military, and the principles that have made the country exceptional. Education Secretary Linda McMahon is now advancing reforms aimed at closing the federal Department of Education, returning more authority to states and localities, and promoting curricula that focus on America’s heritage and accomplishments.

President Trump is restoring patriotism and traditional values. His America 250 celebration and the Great American State Fair are central parts of this ambitious effort to reconnect Americans with the story of our nation’s greatness. The fair does not lecture or divide—it invites families to celebrate the people, traditions, innovations, and spirit that make America the greatest nation on Earth.

Despite the left’s predictable whining and the media’s relentless negativity, the vast majority of the American people are with Trump. They want to see their country honored, not torn down. They want their children to grow up proud of the United States, not ashamed of it.

Take your family to the Great American State Fair in DC this week. Bring your children. Ride the Ferris wheel. Explore the pavilions. Watch the performances. On the Fourth of July, stand together and witness the historic fireworks that will light up the sky over the National Mall.

This is what a confident, unapologetic America looks like. This is Trump and America 250—and it is exactly what our country needs right now.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 12:20

Secret Service Missed 102 Warnings Before Trump Assassination Attempt In Butler: Report

Authored by Tom Gantert via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. Secret Service missed multiple opportunities to detect, prevent, and disrupt the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024, including missing more than 102 radio transmissions warning of a suspicious person, a Department of Homeland Security report concluded.

The report, released on July 2 by the department’s Office of Inspector General, chronicles a series of communication failures, inadequate planning, limited intelligence sharing, and security lapses that combined to create the conditions that allowed gunman Thomas Crooks to open fire from the roof of a nearby building during a July 13, 2024, campaign rally in Butler. Crooks was fatally shot by a Secret Service agent.

Among the report’s most significant findings was that Secret Service members did not receive 102 radio transmissions “that local law enforcement officers in a separate communications room received concerning an increasingly intense search for a suspicious person. Instead, we found that the Secret Service received only five phone calls and three text messages about Crooks. As a result, Secret Service members did not alert President Trump’s protective detail about concerns of a suspicious person.”

The Secret Service would have delayed Trump’s speech or removed him from the stage had they been aware of the search for Crooks, the report stated.

The report also said the Secret Service failed to detect a drone that Crooks flew over the rally site about two hours before the shooting. Investigators said the agency’s counter-drone system was inoperable because of a malfunction, and the lone operator assigned to the event lacked sufficient training to repair the equipment. The system remained offline while Crooks flew the drone for nearly nine minutes, allowing him to survey both the stage and the rooftop he later used to carry out the attack.

The report also found serious communication breakdowns between the Secret Service and local law enforcement. The Secret Service never received three radio reports from law enforcement that Crooks had climbed onto a roof with a rifle.

The inspector general also found that classified intelligence concerning a long-range threat to Trump was not shared with the Pittsburgh field office or agents responsible for planning security at the rally. The report said broader dissemination of that intelligence likely would have resulted in additional security personnel being assigned to the event.

Investigators further concluded that the Secret Service failed to ensure the American Glass Research complex, where Crooks launched the attack, was secured by state and local law enforcement. In addition, the agency did not use available resources to block the rooftop’s line of sight to the stage, despite recognizing it as a potential vulnerability.

The inspector general issued seven recommendations to improve protective operations. The Secret Service agreed with all of them, and the report said some have already been implemented while others remain in progress.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 11:30

Centrus Energy Signs Billion Dollar Contract With DOE For Uranium Enrichment

Following up from the announcement earlier this year when the Department of Energy (DOE) chose multiple companies to receive grant money for restoring domestic uranium enrichment capacity, Centrus Energy has now finalized a contract valued over $1 billion (including options).

"Centrus is competing for funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to expand U.S. enrichment capacity."

Competing with whom?
How much you need? $5BN? $10BN? $20BN? Done https://t.co/i1t7vf3bdl

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 25, 2025

Centrus will transition the existing cascade at their Ohio plant from a government-supply production line to commercial operations. 

The centrifuges in the current cascade can produce about 900 kg of high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) per year. The company has produced about 1,900 kg for the DOE since initial production began in 2023. 

The transition to full scale commercial operations has been dragged out through multiple phases over the past decade:

2019 DOE demonstration contract: Centrus’ earlier HALEU work began as a technology demonstration. DOE contracted with Centrus to license, build, and operate a small centrifuge cascade at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio. The goal was to prove US enrichment technology could produce HALEU domestically.

2022 Production contract: DOE moved the project from demonstration to limited production. This allowed Centrus to begin producing HALEU for DOE using the Piketon cascade.

2023 HALEU production milestone: Centrus delivered the initial 20 kilograms of HALEU to the DOE.

2025 Contract extension: DOE extended Centrus’ production work through June 30, 2026. This kept the demonstration cascade operating and allowed Centrus to finish producing the initial 900 kg of HALEU.

January 2026 DOE award: DOE selected Centrus for a $900 million HALEU enrichment capacity award. Additional awards were announced for General Matter, Orano, and Global Laser Enrichment.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 11:10

The Fuel-Mix Saving America's Largest Grid From Blackouts Today

Power prices soared on Thursday across PJM Interconnection, the nation's largest grid operator serving 67 million people across 13 states, as a brutal multi-day heat dome pushed electricity demand toward critically high levels and raised the risk of rolling blackouts.

Ahead of triple-digit temperatures today across the Mid-Atlantic, including Washington, DC, Baltimore, and New York, PJM has declared a level 2 grid emergency and ordered emergency load reductions.

The alert, one step below a warning of imminent rolling blackouts, applied across PJM's territory from Illinois to Washington, DC.

Under North American Electric Reliability Corp. definitions, an Energy Emergency Alert 2 means the grid operator can no longer meet expected requirements but is still maintaining minimum contingency reserves.

GridStatus data shows the PJM grid was kept afloat Thursday almost entirely by natural gas, nuclear, and coal. As of Friday morning, the three fuel sources were supplying more than 94% of the grid's total power.

Wind and solar power generation were largely in the single digits when the grid needed reliable dispatchable power. This is an uncomfortable reality for the Democratic Party, which has become little more than a band of climate socialists hellbent on destabilizing the grid with an unreliable power mix. 

Average power prices across PJM are set to soar from late morning into late afternoon.

Current power prices (as of Friday morning):

Today's load forecast will crest around 160.85 GW by late afternoon - the moment when everyone will have their ACs cranking.

So far, the PJM grid has held. But with a few more days of triple-digit heat ahead, the takeaway is clear: fossil fuels and nuclear power are keeping the lights on, AC units humming, and preventing rolling blackouts.

Do not let the Democratic Party, now unhinged climate socialists, claim otherwise. The real question is why these socialists, who project anti-American rhetoric daily, remain so committed to destabilizing the grid with de-growth climate policies when fossil fuel dispatchable power is what saves the grid during peak-demand crisis hours.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 10:20

Interpol Fingers Snake-Tattooed Ukrainian Woman In Monaco Oligarch Bombing

Update 2: Interpol has identified 39-year-old Ukrainian woman Anastasiia Berezovska as the suspect in the Monaco bombing which targeted a Ukrainian tycoon. 

In a Red Notice posted on its website, the police organization released two photos of the suspect on Friday - noting that she has a tattoo - which appears to be of a snake, on her right arm which extends from shoulder to elbow. The notice also says she has dark hair and speaks German. 

The suspect was seen running away from Monaco on Monday while wearing a bucket hat, after 58-year-old oligarch Vadim Ermolaev, his mistress, Anna Nasobina, 46, and their young son were injured in the blast. 

The suspect captured fleeing the scene on CCTV

Monaco's Prosecutor General, Stéphane Thibault, confirmed the suspect is living in Germany, while a senior investigating source told the Daily Mail that the woman had "attempted to look like a man" during the attack, but a witness was able to identify her. 

* * *

Update: Earlier yesterday, Monaco authorities stated that a person was taken into custody - then released - in the probe of the blast that reportedly hurt Ukrainian tycoon.

However, a few hours later, prosecutors confirmed that they had identified the suspect in the bombing.

*  *  *

As Chris Summers reported earlier via The Epoch Times, a manhunt is underway for a bomber after a Ukrainian businessman - who was sanctioned by Kyiv for alleged ties to Russia - and two other people were seriously injured in an explosion in the foyer of an upmarket apartment building in Monaco.

Investigators examine the scene of a bombing—which injured three people—in Monaco on June 30, 2026. Philippe Magoni/AP

French media has identified Vadym Iermolaiev, a construction tycoon from Dnipro in central Ukraine, his wife, and his 13-year-old son as being the victims of the explosion, which took place on the evening of June 29.

Iermolaiev - who had renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and obtained a Cyprus passport - was sanctioned by Kyiv in June 2024 for allegedly selling vodka in Russian-occupied Crimea.

In a June 29 X post, the Monaco government said, "Tonight, shortly before 9 p.m., a violent explosion linked to a booby-trapped package was heard in the Principality not far from Place des Moulins."

"A suspect was spotted by the video surveillance system fleeing toward the municipality of Beausoleil on French territory," it added.

Prosecutor Stephane Thibault said on June 30 that the Monaco police had opened an attempted murder investigation, adding that it was not being treated as terrorism.

"In coordination with the French authorities, we are pursuing efforts to identify and apprehend him. I hope that will happen quickly, given the resources we are deploying," Thibault said.

Thibault said the female victim was in a life-threatening condition.

Monaco's ruler, Prince Albert II, described the bombing as "an odious act" and said the country had mobilized all its services to ensure security.

Christophe Mirmand, minister of state for Monaco, said the victims were "returning home peacefully" when the bomb exploded, citing surveillance footage.

"They were caught in the explosion as they crossed the threshold of their apartment building," he said.

"It appears that the family was specifically targeted."

He said surveillance footage suggested the suspect "had walked around the area several times while waiting for the victims."

'Unverified Allegations' Rejected

A public relations company, the Silver Eye Communications Agency, released a statement to Monaco Life in which it confirmed Iermolaiev was targeted but rejected media outlets' characterization of him as an "oligarch" and "unverified allegations" printed in numerous European newspapers.

"The use of an explosive device in an attempt on a person's life is a barbaric act that has no place in any civilized society," Silver Eye said.

"The fact that Mr. Iermolaiev's child was also injured makes this crime particularly shocking.

"Mr. Vadym Iermolaiev is not an oligarch. He has never held political office, never controlled strategic sectors of the Ukrainian economy, never enjoyed a monopoly in any industry and has never been part of Ukraine's political establishment."

Monaco is a tiny principality on the Mediterranean coast with a population of only 38,000 - many of whom are wealthy foreign nationals attracted by its minimal taxes. The country is completely surrounded by France, which also defends it militarily under the terms of a 2002 treaty.

The Monaco government said two adults and a child were taken to a hospital in the nearby French city of Nice.

Silvano Ippolito, a neighbor who lives opposite the scene of the explosion in Place des Moulins, said he saw a young boy on the ground and immediately called his wife, a doctor, who treated the boy’s badly injured mother.

“She intervened very quickly, before the emergency services arrived, to apply tourniquets and perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, as the woman was losing consciousness,” Ippolito said.

Suspect Caught On Camera

A photograph of the suspect, published by French media, shows a man in a black jacket, light-colored pants, and white shoes running along while trying to conceal his face with a black bucket hat.

Iermolaiev founded the Alef Group, a conglomerate involved in commercial real estate, manufacturing, and agriculture.

He was heavily involved in reshaping downtown Dnipro before the war with Russia began in 2022.

In an interview with Forbes Ukraine, Iermolaiev said he had renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and became a Cypriot citizen in 2017. Cyprus is a European Union member, allowing him to live in France or Monaco.

In April, Iermolaiev's son Artur, 35, pleaded guilty in Estonia to fraud charges in relation to a 100 million euro ($114 million) phone call scam, and was given a suspended jail sentence, and ordered to pay an 8.5 million euro ($9.7 million) fine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not commented on the incident in Monaco.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said its embassy in Paris, which is also responsible for Monaco, was liaising with the authorities in Monte Carlo, the capital of Monaco.

A view of the residential building where an explosive device seriously injured Vadym Iermolaiev, his wife, and his son, in Monaco, on June 30, 2026. Philippe Magoni/AP Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 10:18

Futures Rebound With Cash Markets Closed; Gold, Bitcoin Jump

While US cash markets are closed for the July 4th holiday, stocks around the world rebounded from yesterday's momentum rout as the latest round of jitters about the AI trade subsided, with Europe’s benchmark rising to an all-time high. S&P futures rose 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures rebounded 1.2% in thin holiday trading after South Korean memory giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics recovered, helping to drive a 2% rally in Asian shares after earlier tumbling with SK Hynix plunging as much as 30% from its all time high. Europe’s utility and technology sectors outperformed to set the Stoxx 600 up for a second straight record close. The dollar touched a two-week low amid another mjni flash crash in the USDJPY overnight while gold extended gains.

Friday’s gains marked the latest turn in a stretch of choppy trading as markets grapple with whether the second quarter’s AI-driven rally has gone too far. With stocks recovering after a two-day rout in chipmakers, investors are waiting for the upcoming earnings season as the next signal of whether massive spending on AI infrastructure can translate into profits.

“The fundamentals are still very, very strong and the market is still underpricing them,” Tim Moe, Goldman equity strategist told Bloomberg TV. “There still is a lot longer to go in the overall positive profit environment for memory stocks and the AI hardware supply chain space overall.” 

With momentum crashing, its funding counterparties in the momentum pair trades, bitcoin and gold, jumped. Gold rose 1.2% to around $4,170 an ounce, the highest level in nearly two weeks, after money markets dialed back expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate hikes this year. Bitcoin also moved sharply higher, reversing from its recent rout and rising above $62. Having previously dislocated dramatically, gold and bitcoin are back to trading as the same asset class. 

The outlook for easier monetary policy also weighed on the dollar, which headed for its worst weekly performance since May. Meanwhile, the yen swung between gains and losses as speculation grew that Japanese authorities may be less predictable in how they intervene to support the currency.

Worries that persistent inflation pressures would leave the Fed little choice but to tighten policy have subsided in recent days, with oil prices easing and an unexpectedly sharp slowdown in US labor market growth. The first fully priced-in quarter-point Fed hike has moved back to December, from October.

“Unless and until we see clearer signs that the energy spike has filtered its way through to underlying inflation, we think that the Fed will opt for a cautious approach to policy tightening,” noted Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at Ebury.

European stocks were little changed in early Friday trading, but still set to wrap up their fourth straight week of gains, as investors remained optimistic that the Federal Reserve will hold off on rate hikes for now.The Stoxx 600 traded little changed at to 648.41, with utilities outperforming while consumer and personal good firms underperform. Here are the biggest movers Friday:

• Genfit shares jump as much as 15%, with the French biopharmaceutical company saying it’s set to benefit from US Medicare coverage for a diagnostic blood test for liver disease, known as NASHnext, which is powered by Genfit’s technology
• Pluxee gains as much as 8.6%, to the highest in almost two months, after the employee benefits provider delivered a slight beat in the third quarter and maintained its full-year guidance
• MIPS gains as much as 19%, the most in nearly two years, after the Swedish helmet technology firm announced it settled a patent infringement lawsuit initiated by BrainGuard. Pareto Securities says the news removes a key overhang
• AFRY gains as much as 6.4%, the most since April, after the Swedish engineering consultancy’s recommendation was raised to buy from hold at Pareto Securities, expecting its upcoming second-quarter report to “mark a turn in AFRY’s earnings trajectory”
• Maersk gains as much as 4.6% after being raised to neutral from sell at Goldman Sachs, with the bank turning “less negative” on the 2027 supply-demand outlook, seeing a “slightly later and shallower acceleration in new capacity growth in 2027”
• Craneware shares tumble as much as 31%, the most in seven years, after the software company warned that FY26 financial performance is likely to be below market expectations
• Stellantis shares fall as much as 1.7% after the carmaker was downgraded to reduce at HSBC, which says it’s concerned about cash outflows and the potential need for de-stocking

Asian stocks rose at the end of a volatile week as shares of heavyweight South Korean semiconductor makers bounced back following a two-day slide. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rallied as much as 2.2%, erasing early losses. Samsung, SK Hynix and Japan’s Kioxia each jumped more than 8%. Anthropic is in talks with Samsung to be a manufacturing partner for a custom AI chip, according to a report. However, TSMC’s shares slipped, tracking declines in US chip stocks. Friday’s rebound in Asia was also aided by improved risk sentiment after weaker than expected US June employment data and lower oil prices challenged expectations for Federal Reserve rate hikes this year. The MXAP index lost 1.4% in the previous session, when chipmakers plunged on concerns over excess AI capacity and intensifying competition. It is up 1.5% for the week. This week’s price action has served as another reminder that the fortunes of Asia’s benchmark remain closely tied to a handful of tech names. The two Korean chipmakers and Kioxia carry a combined more than 12% weighting in the regional gauge. TSMC alone holds close to 11% — the most for a single stock.

“We’re looking much more forward now in terms of expectations, in terms of growth, what 2027 will look like,” said Billy Leung, investment strategist at Global X Management, in a Bloomberg TV interview. “The AI trade’s really got breadth now,” with infrastructure and energy supply names also offering opportunities beyond memory chips, he added.

Looking ahead, Samsung is expected to announce its preliminary quarterly earnings on July 7 while SK Hynix will list ADRs on the Nasdaq next Friday. Traders will be watching for monetary policy decisions from New Zealand and Malaysia’s central banks next week. Several other companies in the region are due to report earnings, including Fast Retailing, Seven & i and Tata Consultancy Services.

Brent steadied below $72 a barrel as traders weighed the outlook for increased supply through the Strait of Hormuz and continuing talks between the US and Iran.

Meanwhile, nervousness about AI valuations has seen investors turning away from US stocks at the fastest pace since March, according to Bank of America Corp. strategists. The country’s stock funds had $17.2 billion in outflows in the week through July 1, the team led by Michael Hartnett wrote in a note, citing EPFR Global Data. Investors turned to some international stocks instead, with Japanese equities seeing their biggest inflows in seven weeks at $1.9 billion.

Market Wrap

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% as of 9:26 a.m. New York time
• Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.2%
• Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%
• The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.5%
• The MSCI World Index rose 0.2%
• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
• The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1444
• The British pound was little changed at $1.3354
• The Japanese yen was little changed at 161.22 per dollar
• Bitcoin rose 0.7% to $61,973.66
• Ether rose 2.1% to $1,739.81
• Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 2.93%
• Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.80%
• West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed
• Spot gold rose 1.2% to $4,170.41 an ounce

DB's Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

Happy Independence Day to our US readers as they celebrate 250 years of AMEXIT. A reminder of our piece on the US quarter millennium success story and the prospects of that continuing in the decades ahead can be found at the Deutsche Bank Research Institute here.
As we reach the end of the week, the biggest dilemma facing those of us in England is whether to stay up—or get up—for a 1am kick-off against Mexico in their home stadium on Monday morning. Given the game is being played at 2,240 metres above sea level, where there’s around 23% less air than we're used to breathing on English football grounds, it's fair to say expectations are being kept at a sensible altitude.  

I learned yesterday that the human body tends to perform worst between two and five days after arriving at high altitude. Apparently, the optimal strategies are either to fly in just before the event or about two weeks beforehand. The latter was clearly impossible, but do bear it in mind for your next ski trip.  

Some pubs are reportedly opening at 1am on Monday morning for the occasion. The last time I was in a pub at 1am on a Monday, some members of my team had yet to be born. I'm not expecting to break that streak. If anything, it'll be a cup of hot chocolate on the sofa while writing the EMR. 

The tech altitude sickness of late is reversing a bit this morning with the KOSPI (+4.60%) back up after a difficult week. The rally has been led by Samsung Electronics, which has surged +8.2% on reports that Anthropic PBC is in discussions with the company to produce a customised AI chip. Chinese equities are also rebounding, with the CSI 300 (+1.15%) recovering after two consecutive losses, while the Shanghai Composite (+0.69%) is posting moderate gains. The Hang Seng (+1.57%) is extending its weekly gain to around +4.0%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 (+1.38%) is trading notably higher, supported by stronger-than-expected services sector activity. S&P 500 (+0.35%) and Nasdaq (+0.83%) futures are also higher.

Economic data released earlier this morning showed that China’s services sector expanded more than anticipated in June, driven by robust domestic and international demand. The RatingDog Services PMI eased slightly to 54.1 from 54.4 in May but beat the 53.0 expected. There was continued growth in new business, with both domestic and overseas orders increasing. Notably, services exports rose at their fastest pace since October 2024. Meanwhile, the S&P Global Australia Services PMI improved to 50.5 from 48.7 in May, signaling a modest recovery in activity.

It's also worth noting that Bloomberg are carrying a story this morning that the Trump administration and its allies are actively exploring ways to reshape the Federal Reserve by removing or replacing key officials. Despite a recent Supreme Court decision allowing Fed Governor Lisa Cook to remain in her role for now, efforts to challenge her position are continuing, with a renewed focus on following procedural grounds for potential removal. Former Chair Jerome Powell is also under scrutiny, according to the story, with ongoing political and legal pressure potentially creating an avenue for his departure.

At the same time, the administration is seeking to influence the central bank through upcoming appointments, including the presidency of the Atlanta Fed, a role seen as strategically important for its economic analysis and future voting power on interest rates. So one to watch.  
Ahead of that, markets put in another strong performance yesterday, as an underwhelming US jobs report led to mounting hopes that the Fed wouldn’t hike rates this year. Indeed, the newsflow was pretty dovish in general, as we saw Brent crude trade within touching distance of $70/bbl for the first time since February, though it ultimately settled +0.32% higher on the day at $71.80/bbl. This backdrop helped spark a decent rally across the board, including record highs for Europe’s STOXX 600 (+1.41%) and the German DAX (+2.16%). Germany has started to announce some serious reforms in recent weeks and over the last 36 hours we saw another that we’ll detail later which helped the domestic mood. The main exception to the global positivity was chip stocks once again, which saw another slump. This left the S&P 500 (+0.0001%) remarkably flat on the day even as most individual stocks were relieved by the dovish repricing, with the equal-weighted S&P 500 (+0.76%) surging to another all-time high as well.  

This strong performance came as the US jobs report hit the sweet spot for markets in several respects. It was still in positive territory, with payrolls up +57k in June, whilst the unemployment rate hit a one-year low of 4.2%. So it meant investors were still pretty optimistic on the near-term outlook. But because payrolls grew by less than the +113k reading expected, the print also helped to push back against the prospect of an imminent rate hike. Indeed, the details included downward revisions to the April and May prints of -74k in total, which took the 3-month average for payrolls down to +111k, so relative to expectations it generally underwhelmed.  

With the jobs report in hand, the speculation about an imminent July rate hike continued to ebb. Indeed, market pricing has shifted a lot in the last 48 hours, as we also had the comments from Fed Chair Warsh at Sintra on Wednesday that inflation risks had come down. So market pricing for a July rate hike has fallen from 34% on Tuesday, to 27% on Wednesday after Warsh’s comments, and just 18% by last night’s close after the jobs report. Moreover, just 30bps of hikes are now priced in by the December meeting, the fewest since the Fed meeting a couple of weeks ago when the dot plot surprised in a hawkish direction.  

In light of that, US Treasuries rallied yesterday, particularly at the front-end of the curve. So the 2yr yield (-3.9bps) fell back to 4.14%, whilst the 10yr yield (+0.5bps) was little changed at 4.48%. And notably, it wasn’t just Fed rate hikes being cast into doubt, as there were growing question marks about whether the ECB would deliver another rate hike as well. In fact, the probability of another rate hike by September fell beneath 50%, and even the probability of a hike by December was down to just 70%. That was partly down to the oil price decline during the European session. The moves also came as ECB President Lagarde said in an interview that the ECB were “convinced we made the right decision” with the June hike but that second-round effects “have not materialized so far”. The ECB repricing meant the 2yr German yield was down another -1.4bps to 2.49%. Nevertheless, long-end yields in Europe still moved higher, with those on 10yr bunds (+2.5bps), OATs (+2.6bps) and BTPs (+2.0bps) all rising.  

This backdrop of lower oil prices and a dovish repricing was generally a very strong one for equities. That was particularly clear in Europe given its exposure to the energy shock, and the STOXX 600 (+1.41%) hit a new record high, as did the DAX (+2.16%). In the US, equities also did very well for the most part, though the S&P 500 index rose by a mere hundredth of a point to 7483.24 (+0.0001%) as its advance was curtailed by another slump in chip stocks. Indeed, the Philly semiconductor index was down -5.44% yesterday, building on its -6.27% decline on Wednesday, with all 30 companies in the index losing ground. So given that semiconductor stocks make up around a sixth of the S&P 500, it was tough for the index to gain much traction, even though 70% of its constituents still advanced on the day. 

Elsewhere yesterday, Bloomberg reported that several European countries accepted that ships going through the Strait of Hormuz would have to pay fees to Iran and Oman. What might happen is still very unclear, but it spoke to concerns that the Strait of Hormuz won’t be going back to the status quo that prevailed before the conflict began.  

Speaking of Europe, as highlighted earlier, Wednesday saw the German government announce a big reform package, which includes income tax relief, pension reforms, and reductions in red tape. Our German economists have more details on the package (link here), and they write how it demonstrates the willingness of both coalition partners to compromise. In terms of next steps, the coalition partners have set themselves a clear deadline to implement these reforms by year-end, which should bode well for sentiment and dovetails with our economists’ forecast that growth will pick up in the second half of the year.  

Looking at the day ahead now, it’s a fairly quiet one with US markets closed for the Independence Day holiday. Otherwise, data releases include the final services and composite PMIs for June from several countries. Then from central banks, we’ll hear from ECB President Lagarde, the ECB’s Nagel and Makhlouf, and BoE Governor Bailey.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 09:54

Tibetan Man Sets Himself On Fire Outside UN Headquarters In New York

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

A Tibetan activist died on Thursday after setting himself on fire outside the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, according to the New York City Police Department.

Police responded to an emergency call at around 6.30 p.m. ET on July 2 and found the man with severe burns, a police department spokesperson said in a statement to multiple news outlets.

The man, who was an Uber driver, was carrying a Tibetan flag during the incident. He was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the spokesperson.

Police are still investigating the incident and have not disclosed the man’s identity or potential motive for him to self-immolate.

The Tibetan National Congress of New York and New Jersey said in a July 3 statement posted to Instagram that the man was a 52-year-old Tibetan activist named Lobsang Palden, also known as Lobga Rangzen, who has “dedistatement that the man was a 52-year-old Tibetan activist named Lobsang Palden, also known as Lobga Rangzen, who had “dedicated his life to participating in peaceful, non-violent demonstrations to expose China’s human rights abuses in Tibet.”

The organization said Rangzen broadcast a livestream on Facebook before self-immolating near the U.N. headquarters, in which he called for Tibetan independence and spoke about the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

The activist attributed his actions to his commitment to Tibet and emphasized that they were not driven by any personal circumstances, the Tibetan National Congress added.

In his final message, he said: “I don’t want you to mourn for me, I want you to continue the struggle for Tibetan independence, because the lack of independence is the root of all our problems,” according to the Tibetan National Congress.

“We must recognize and remember that Lobga Rangzen committed this act for the political freedom of Tibet,” Jamyang Norbu, founder of the Tibetan National Congress, said in the statement.

“It is a tragedy that he passed away, but his commitment to the independence of Tibet will not be forgotten.”

The Epoch Times reached out to the United Nations for comment, but did not receive a response by publication time.

According to nonprofit group Free Tibet, more than 150 people have self-immolated inside Tibet since 2009 in protest against the Chinese occupation in 1950. Rangzen’s death marked the first known case of a Tibetan self-immolation in the United States, the Tibetan National Congress said.

Free Tibet said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has intensified security forces’ activity in response to the protests, punishing protesters and their families. Some self-immolators who survived were detained, and their whereabouts remain unknown, according to the group.

During Human Rights Day in December 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two Chinese officials over their roles in the CCP’s human rights abuses in the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

The department said at the time that Tibetans have been subject to serious human rights abuses in the region, including ”arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, and physical abuse,” as part of the CCP’s efforts to “severely restrict religious freedoms.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 09:30

Cafe Bombing Kills 9, Wounds 22, In Busy Court Area Of Central Damascus

On Thursday a bomb ripped through crowded cafe in central Damascus, killing at least nine people and wounding 22 others, in an attack very near the main entrance of the Palace of Justice - in an area frequented by lawyers, courthouse employees and visitors.

Al Jazeera correspondent Obaida Hitto, who reported from the scene in the aftermath, stated that "The casualties are higher because it is such a busy area." The death toll could rise given that many bystanders are being treated for severe injuries at a Damascus hospital - some in critical condition.

The target was a well-known gathering place for attorneys. "According to lawyers' groups on social media, the names of six lawyers who were killed have been identified, while eight others were injured in the blast," Mohammed al-Tawil, head of the Syrian Bar Association, told Germany's dpa.

via Associated Press

And per the NY Times, "Syria’s interior ministry said the blast, near the main courthouse complex in Damascus, had been caused by an explosive device but did not say who was responsible."

The reported noted, "State media published images of bloodied floors and overturned chairs as emergency workers rushed through crowded streets to the scene."

Various jihadi groups, including ISIS, continue to threaten civilians all across the country, a reality which has only expanded in post-Assad Syria, and after the rise of US-backed, self-appointed President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former Al-Qaeda and Islamic State commander.

Government forces under Sharaa have been seen as tolerating and even cooperating at times with ISIS-style terrorist groups. But at the same time the Sharaa regime has sought to present itself to the outside world as 'moderate'.

Sectarian crimes and targeted killings, particularly against Syria's Alawite, Christian, and Druze communities have continued. Euronews reports:

"I ran to the place and saw people lying on the floor with blood pooled around them everywhere," he added, saying the scenes recalled the blasts that Damascus experienced during the nearly 14-year civil war.

Damascus has been the site of multiple attacks and incidents since the new authorities took over following the toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

The deadliest came in June 2025, when an attack on a Damascus church killed 25 people. The suicide attack was later claimed by a Sunni Islamist group, while the authorities blamed it on the Islamic State group.

In the meantime a new parliament is being sworn-in in Damascus, dozens of members which were handpicked by Sharaa. Some are well-known extremists.

"Among the 70 new appointees is Hassan Soufan, who was the head of Ahrar al-Sham, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated extremist group that fought as part of the 14-year CIA-backed insurgency against former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's government," writes Beirut-based The Cradle. The report further says:

While maintaining secular institutions such as a parliament, Syria is unofficially governed by extremist Sunni Muslim religious figures known as “sheikhs” who are embedded within government institutions and public service departments, including police stations, municipalities, and the judiciary.

BREAKING | Explosion in a coffee shop near the Justice Palace in Damascus, Syria. pic.twitter.com/qkbD7x28sf

— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) July 2, 2026

With Assad gone, mainstream Western press has basically stopped covering events in Syria, even though killings and terrorist attacks have persisted.

At the same time, the country has little in the way of military defenses to speak of, with Israeli bombings having largely wiped out anti-air defenses as well as offensive missile silos.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 08:35

Watch: Shocking Footage Of Britain's Two-Tier Policing

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

In the latest sickening example of two-tier policing under Keir Starmer's government, a female officer in Birmingham charged straight into a street attack, shielded the three black aggressors, and then turned her aggression on their white British victim - an inebriated teenager who had just been randomly assaulted.

While the attackers dispersed without consequence, multiple officers swarmed the white lad, barked obscenities at him, shoved him into a police car the wrong way round, and then dragged him back out again.

A bystander who tried to explain that the white kid was the victim was completely ignored.

3 blacks attack a drunk white kid in Birmingham, the female police officer comes in to protect the violent blacks and arrest the white kid

Absolutely disgusting the way white people are treated in England (@KnockoutAudit) pic.twitter.com/Nct3OcqxaQ

— ??????????????? (@Re_mi_gra_tion) July 1, 2026

This is not policing. This is ideological enforcement, where native Britons are treated as the problem and mass migration's imported violence gets a free pass.

The main footage of the attack and the officer's intervention spread rapidly on X.

Further clips reveal the tone of the encounter. One officer is heard snarling at the restrained teen: "You're going to walk to the car you fucking dick." The contrast with how such language would be deployed against anyone else is glaring.

"You're going to walk to the car you fucking dick"

They would never speak to a darkie like this pic.twitter.com/irPoNe9Yhg

— ??????????????? (@Re_mi_gra_tion) July 1, 2026

Another angle captures officers trying to force the handcuffed lad into the back seat the wrong way round while yelling "Get in the fucking car."

"Get in the fucking car"

Whilst they try to shove him into the back seat the wrong way pic.twitter.com/MpWJuZKhpo

— ??????????????? (@Re_mi_gra_tion) July 1, 2026

When that fails, reinforcements arrive - another eight officers in total - and they drag him out again because of the botched seating.

Another 8 police officers turn up

They drag him out of the car because he's not in the seat properly because they forced him the wrong way pic.twitter.com/zR3QJ2y3ON

— ??????????????? (@Re_mi_gra_tion) July 1, 2026

A witness wearing glasses can be seen on camera telling officers that the white lad had just been randomly attacked by the group. The officers brush past the information and continue processing the victim as the aggressor.

Public reaction has been swift and unforgiving. One observer captured the robotic programmed nature of the response:

?? British police in 2026 are genuinely like circuit-programmed androids

When they identify a scuffle, their sights lock on to the nearest white human regardless of the circumstances

Shameless cyborgs pic.twitter.com/uxlryjILci

— welshman (@welshmaan) July 1, 2026

The handling shows a blatant failure of duty, with the arresting officer targeting the white male despite clear evidence he was not the agressor. It is impossible the officer did not see the two black males actively attacking him.

We must demand the immediate release of the bodycam footage from the recent unlawful arrest in Birmingham.

The handling of this incident is a blatant failure of duty, as the arresting officer targeted the white male as the aggressor despite the clear reality of the situation.... pic.twitter.com/sDmwwZJoKf

— Anth?? (@AnthNFS) July 2, 2026

West Midlands Police have reportedly asked people to stop sharing the footage. Of course they have.

This is not an isolated lapse. It fits a documented pattern of selective enforcement and excessive force against native Britons while authorities tiptoe around minority perpetrators.

Earlier this month, outrage erupted over South Yorkshire Police officers filmed shoving, baton-wielding and Tasering teenage girls during a dispersal in Rotherham.

The footage showed male officers brutally shoving small teenage girls flying onto the concrete like ragdolls. These are young girls, not hardened criminals. One wrong landing and they could have smashed their heads open.

South Yorkshire Police later acknowledged: "The short clip on social media of the police response to an incident in Rotherham over the weekend appears nothing short of shocking." The force's Professional Standards Department said it was reviewing all available footage, including body-worn video, and that officers are expected to act in a "lawful, proportionate, and fair" manner.

The Rotherham location itself sharpened the hypocrisy. It remains the epicentre of the grooming gangs scandal in which authorities failed for years to protect an estimated 1,400 young victims from predominantly Pakistani Muslim gangs. Political correctness and fears of racism accusations paralyzed police and social services. Now the same forces apply heavy-handed tactics to young British girls celebrating a school leavers' event.

Similar incidents piled up around the same period. Footage emerged of officers manhandling a five-year-old boy - nearly yanking his arms from their sockets while forcing him into a police car - while pepper-spraying his father and confronting his mother who was holding a baby.

South Yorkshire police shove a five year old kid into a car while almost pulling his arms out of their sockets, pepper spraying the father and getting in the mother's face as she holds a baby in her arms. What on earth did they do? pic.twitter.com/BV40eH9sD1

— m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) June 14, 2026

Another clip showed officers smashing a man's head into a metal bollard, then handcuffing and dragging him while threatening the person filming.

This case is actually way worse than the initial footage revealed. This longer video shows that after smashing the guy head first into a metal bollard the police handcuff him and drag him around. They then threaten and shove around the person filming it. https://t.co/3rF0kufikg

— m o d e r n i t y (@ModernityNews) June 14, 2026

A further video captured police slamming Siobhan Whyte to the ground during a protest linked to the Henry Nowak case. Her daughter had been murdered by an illegal migrant, stabbed 23 times in the head with a screwdriver.

???BREAKING: British Police Slam Elderly Woman to the Ground in Broad Daylight!

Her daughter was stabbed 23 times in the head with a screwdriver – but Starmer's police don't care.

While arresting 5-year-olds, UK cops now beat Britons of any age. pic.twitter.com/SXag5tNjhe

— Mario ZNA (@MarioBojic) June 15, 2026

A 50-year-old military veteran and father of three with 13 pins in his right ankle was struck with riot shields and kicked in the head four times while sitting on a wall filming and stating he was doing nothing wrong.

These episodes form part of a growing catalogue of police interactions with native British citizens that many describe as disproportionately aggressive. The common thread is eroding public trust.

If you keep assaulting and arresting innocent members of the public, especially when they're being victimised, then the people are going to start turning on you.

Best stop it.

When consent is revoked, and it will be at this rate, you're nothing more than civilian thugs....

— Cthulhu Loves You (@CthulhulLovesU) July 2, 2026

The Henry Nowak case stands as the starkest recent precedent. On 3 December 2025, 18-year-old Henry was fatally stabbed five times in Southampton. His attacker, Vickrum Digwa, convinced arriving officers he was the victim and claimed racial abuse.

Police arrested and handcuffed the dying Henry instead of providing immediate aid. It took eight minutes for officers to discover the stab wound even though Henry repeatedly told them he had been stabbed and could not breathe.

Digwa was never handcuffed during his time in custody before being charged.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct confirmed it is investigating two Hampshire officers for potential gross misconduct. The evidence indicates both officers may have breached standards of duties and responsibilities, use of force, and discreditable conduct.

These relate to potential failures to recognise that Henry needed urgent medical attention, to immediately act after he said he had been stabbed and could not breathe, and the decision to arrest and handcuff Henry rather than provide immediate first aid.

There is also an indication one officer may have breached the standard relating to authority, respect and courtesy for appearing to dismiss Henry saying he had been stabbed.

'I don't just want these officers under investigation, I want them arrested!'

Adam Brooks (@EssexPR) discusses the police's failings following the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, who was handcuffed in his final minutes. pic.twitter.com/mVxtd9Xx68

— GB News (@GBNEWS) July 1, 2026

The officers face investigation but have not been suspended. Adam Brooks stated on GB News: "I don't just want these officers under investigation, I want them arrested!"

The Birmingham incident follows the same script. The white victim is processed aggressively while the actual attackers are permitted to leave. West Midlands Police have reportedly moved to limit circulation of the footage rather than address the conduct on camera.

This suggests the same institutional reluctance to confront anti-white bias that has already been admitted in training contexts around the Nowak case.

Britons pay for policing through their taxes. They have every right to demand officers who de-escalate rather than escalate against teenagers, who protect the vulnerable instead of dismissing them, and who operate without the stain of two-tier standards.

When footage repeatedly shows the opposite - and when legacy media largely ignores it until social media forces the issue - the contract between police and the public frays further.

Accountability mechanisms exist. Body-worn video exists. The public expects both to deliver transparency and consequences where warranted. Without that, resentment will only deepen.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 08:10

Apple Intelligence Fails To Ignite "Upgrade Activity," UBS Says

Apple Intelligence is not yet moving the needle or exciting the customer base the way Wall Street had expected when analysts pitched AI as the spark for a new iPhone upgrade supercycle. That narrative continues to sputter.

UBS analysts, citing their latest Evidence Lab survey of more than 7,500 smartphone users across five major markets, found that Apple's AI features are "not driving upgrade activity," with the share of respondents saying they would upgrade sooner for Apple Intelligence falling to about 24%, while those saying it has no impact on their purchase decision rose to about 31%.

Here's an excerpt from David Vogt, the UBS analyst covering Apple and other technology hardware names, who wrote Wednesday that Apple Intelligence has yet to spark the long-awaited iPhone upgrade supercycle:

Apple Intelligence is not driving upgrade activity as total respondents indicating that they would upgrade sooner for Apple Intelligence features declined to ~24% (-500 bps HoH) while those noting no impact on their purchasing decision rose to ~31% (+300 bps HoH).

Beyond the lack of spark behind Apple Intelligence, the survey found that 12-month iPhone purchase intent rose by about 300 bps year-over-year in the US market to about 20%, while in China it fell by about 100 bps to around 15%. The U.K. and Germany posted solid gains, up 600 bps and 400 bps, respectively.

Another bright spot: Interest in an Apple-branded foldable remains strong, even as the broader foldable phone market has cooled.

What Vogt said:

As Apple is expected to launch a foldable iPhone at its annual September event, we highlight interest in both a foldable smartphone and a foldable specifically by Apple. 'Net interest' in a foldable smartphone notably declined ~600 bps HoH to (8)% in aggregate. While 'net interest' in an Apple foldable also declined (-100 bps HoH), we note that the favorability spread of a foldable specifically by Apple over a foldable smartphone widened by ~600 bps HoH to ~48%. We believe that the sentiment towards an Apple foldable is directionally positive for iPhone demand, particularly as AI features recently announced at WWDC26 are unlikely to be a material driver in our view.

Vogt estimates FY26 iPhone units at 261.6 million, up 15.7% year-over-year, helped by stronger iPhone 17 demand and some pull-forward from expected price increases. He noted that a foldable iPhone could add as many as 5 million units initially, or about a 2% upside to his estimates.

The analyst maintained Apple's 12-month price target of $296, based on 30 times its CY27 EPS estimate of $9.86. He said the valuation already reflects stronger near-term iPhone demand and some AI optionality, while concerns over the product roadmap, China weakness, and possible price hikes have stunted some multiple expansion.

According to Bloomberg data, Wall Street analysts are largely bullish on the stock, with 35 "Buy" ratings, 19 "Holds," and 2 "Sells." The average 12-month price target is around $319.

Share are back over the $300 level.

Is Apple Intelligence a dud? 

Professional subscribers can read more notes on Apple and AI at our new Marketdesk.ai portal. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 07:35

These Are The World's Most & Least Free Countries

Global freedom declined for the 20th consecutive year in 2025, according to Freedom House. More than 50 countries saw political rights and civil liberties deteriorate, including the United States.

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Gabriel Cohen, ranks the world’s most and least free countries using Freedom House’s 2026 Freedom in the World report, which evaluates political rights and civil liberties across 195 countries and territories.

Finland topped the rankings with a perfect score of 100, followed by New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden at 99. Meanwhile, South Sudan scored 0, the lowest possible rating, highlighting the widening divide between the world’s strongest democracies and most repressive regimes.

Why Europe Dominates the Freedom Rankings

Europe accounts for most of the world’s highest-scoring countries, led by the Nordics and Western Europe. Strong electoral systems, independent courts, press freedom, and protections for civil liberties helped countries like Finland, Sweden, Germany, and the Netherlands rank near the top globally.

There are two European outliers with low scores out of 100: Belarus (7) and Russia (12). Both are run by repressive autocratic regimes that have been in power for over two decades. The two Eastern European countries feature neither press independence nor free and fair elections, and rank among the least free countries worldwide.

The below data table shows the countries with the highest freedom scores in 2025:

Outside of Europe, the world’s freest countries include New Zealand (99), Canada and Uruguay (97), and Japan (96).

Within each of these countries, robust civil society and independent journalism help keep elected officials accountable, while political transitions are handled without fear of violence.

The Decline of the U.S.

Alongside Bulgaria and Italy, the United States had one of the steepest declines in its score in 2025 among countries classified as Free. The world’s leading superpower fell to a score of 81, its lowest on record, tying South Africa and falling behind Panama (82).

Over the past two decades, the U.S. score has slipped by 12 points, driven by rising polarization and political violence. The 2025 decline was caused in part by government efforts to crack down on nonviolent expression by citizens and noncitizens alike.

The weakening of anticorruption safeguards and enforcement practices by the new U.S. presidential administration was also cited as contributing to the lower score compared to previous years.

The World’s Least Free Countries

While the U.S. remains firmly classified as “Free,” the gap between democratic and authoritarian countries remains stark. The lowest-ranked countries were concentrated across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, where elections are restricted, opposition movements are suppressed, and civil liberties remain severely limited.

South Sudan, one of the world’s youngest countries, obtained the worst possible score of 0, followed by a tie between Sudan and Turkmenistan (both 1). In each of these countries, minority rights are under assault and political freedoms are nonexistent.

Larger countries across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East also rank poorly. Vietnam scored 20, while Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates tied at 18.

Three regimes in the Americas also appear within this bottom tier of Not Free countries: Cuba (9), Nicaragua (14), and Venezuela (13).

Curious to see how other countries have changed their fortunes since last year? Check out The State of Freedom Around the World on Voronoi.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 06:15

What England Can Teach Us About 'Democratic Socialism'

Authored by Stephen Moore via The Epoch Times,

If you want to see modern-day socialism in action, look no further than to the other side of the pond at not-so-jolly old England. The story of Britain’s decline is a warning signal to those here in the States who are thrilled by the warm embrace of socialism.

Right now, the Brits are having the same debate about the merits of socialism as we are in our major cities and blue states. In England, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the Labour Party is out. But instead of turning to the right, it appears the UK will swerve further to the collective ownership of the left. Andy Burnham—the former socialist mayor of Manchester—is next in line. God save the queen.

As Greg Ip of The Wall Street Journal reports, “Burnham’s socialism is the real deal. He wants the state to control more of the means of production. ... (H)e advocates public ownership of water, housing, energy and transportation.”

Burnham calls it “business-friendly socialism.”

Sure.

That will make the trains run on time.

What short memories.

After World War II, the Brits experimented with creeping socialism for more than three decades. The Labour Party handed over to public bureaucrats and unions the means of production: the Bank of England, the coal mines, the airlines, iron, steel, and phone service, to name a few. Prices soared, nothing worked, unemployment lines lengthened, and the Brits got a lot poorer.

Britain’s share of world output fell by half, from more than 10 percent to less than 5 percent. About the only thing Britain had going for it was four lads from Liverpool called the Beatles, who singlehandedly brought deep pride back and caused a mini-stimulus. But in the 1970s, the downturn worsened.

We interrupt this story with the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979. She saved the kingdom by slashing taxes and privatizing everything she could get her hands on. It was the precursor to Reaganomics.

That didn’t last long. Now it’s Thatcherism in reverse—just as the left in America wants to reverse the Reagan and Trump legacies of deregulation, lower taxes, and sound money.

What seems to be driving this leap toward “democratic socialism” on both sides of the Atlantic is a middle-class fury over inflation. The idea of free food, housing, child care, and health care is alluring.

But prices have risen not because of a failure of capitalism. It was mostly caused by massive money printing, widespread shutdowns of private industry, retail businesses and schools, and stay-at-home orders during COVID-19. Government became the provider, and the leap forward in state expenditures was never entirely extinguished.

In both the United States and in England, the “affordability crisis” is mostly in government-owned, government-operated, or heavily regulated businesses. In the U.S., that’s health care, education, and college tuition. In Britain, it’s those industries plus energy, housing, and child care.

There is an infestation of socialism in Britain that has sucked the dynamic and wealth-producing spirit out of the UK.

We need a socialism vaccine in America.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/03/2026 - 05:30