Happy Wednesday Everyone! Todayâs newsletter: 1,138 wordsâŚ4.3 mins
đ Todayâs Edition: NYCâs Burning Churches Mystery, Strip + Advent Offer To Buy Paypal, Biden Drops Memoir, Trump Endorses MyPillow Guy for MN Gov, Anthropic IPO, Canada Rail Inferno, Washingtonâs âHell Sanctionsâ Gamble⌠& much more!
đ¨ Watch For:
POTUS to address the nation: Thursday, 9pm ET
PM Netanyahu will be in Washington to attend Sen. Lindsey Grahamâs funeral and meet with Trump: Saturday, July 18th through Tuesday, July 21st.
đTHE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
đ˝ NYCâs Burning Churches Mystery
New Yorkers have spent the past few months watching an unsettling pattern unfold: historic churches across the city have gone up in flames.
đ The most dramatic case came on June 19, when a three-alarm fire ripped through Brooklynâs South Bushwick Reformed Churchâthe 173-year-old âWhite Churchâ that had stood since the 1850s.
Nearly 200 firefighters battled the blaze as its iconic steeple collapsed, leaving behind little more than charred beams and rubble.
The case became even more unsettling when investigators upgraded it to a joint FDNY-NYPD arson probe after surveillance footage reportedly captured a person leaving the area moments before the fire started. No arrests have been made.
𼡠The Brooklyn blaze followed Aprilâs devastating fire at Astoriaâs First Reformed Church and came just days before a Queens man was arrested for allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at two houses of worship.
Social media quickly connected the incidents, with some warning of a broader pattern targeting religious sites.
đĄ Why it matters: For now, officials say thereâs no evidence of a coordinated campaign. Many of the damaged buildings were old, vacant, and vulnerable to electrical failures and structural decay. But as investigators search for answers, communities are left mourning the loss of landmarks that survived more than a centuryâonly to vanish in smoke.
âď¸THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
Train crew member films scene as flames engulf their train in Canada
đŹđ§ Britainâs Revolving Door at No. 10
Today marked Keir Starmerâs final Prime Ministerâs Questions (PMQs)âand his last appearance at the House of Commons dispatch box as Britainâs leader.
Less than two years after Labourâs landslide victory, Starmer delivered an emotional farewell, telling MPs he leaves the country âin better shapeâ and thanking colleagues, staff, and his family before receiving a standing ovation.
Now, all eyes are on Labour heavyweight Andy Burnham, who is widely expected to replace him.
Starmer will formally resign at Buckingham Palace next week (likely Monday)
đĄ Why it matters: If Burnham takes office as expected, Britain will have cycled through its seventh prime minister in roughly a decadeâa level of political turnover more reminiscent of Italy than Westminster.
đ Washingtonâs âHell Sanctionsâ Gamble
Washington is turning up the heat on Moscow. A bipartisan Senate bill unveiled this weekânicknamed the âHell Sanctionsâ packageâwould give President Trump sweeping powers to hit countries buying Russian energy with tariffs of up to 100%.
5 big targets: China, India, Slovakia, Hungary and Azerbaijan â crucial buyers of Russian oil since the Ukraine war began.
The legislation also targets Russiaâs shadow tanker fleet, banks, oligarchs, and defense sector.
The bill was championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham and now has strong bipartisan backing.
đĄ Why it matters: The proposal could squeeze Russiaâs war economyâbut it also risks rattling global energy markets and putting pressure on Americaâs own partners.
đĽ Canada's Rail Inferno: Crew Flees Through Flames Near Armstrong
A CN freight crew in northwestern Ontario filmed their own near-death escape as wildfires engulfed both sides of the tracks.
"We're encased in flames now," one worker radioedâCanadian understatement at its most chilling.
The crew detached cars, collided with their own train, fled on foot for 3 miles through smoke, and somehow all survived.
No hazmat leaks, but highways closed, and smoke drifting to Torontoâand the U.S.
đĄ Bottom line: Nearly 150 wildfires are tearing through Ontario right now â this crew's radio chatter is the closest anyone's broadcast from inside one.
đ˝THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
đşđ¸ Bidenâs Memoir Drop
Former President Joe Biden is heading back to the bookstore aisle with âPromise Me, America,â a memoir covering his four years in the White House.
The book will revisit major moments of his Presidencyâfrom COVID recovery and Ukraine support to January 6 and his decision to end his reelection campaign.
Set for release on November 17, just after the midterms, the timing has sparked political chatter.
đĄ For Biden, itâs a chance to shape the legacy conversation. For Democrats, it arrives as voters decide the partyâs next chapter.
đşđ¸ Trumpâs MyPillow Pick
Donald Trump is throwing his weight behind Mike Lindellâs bid for Minnesota Governor, endorsing the MyPillow founder ahead of the stateâs August Republican primary.
Trump praised Lindellâs loyalty and election integrity activism, calling him a âhard working Patriot.â
The endorsement highlights Trumpâs continued influence in GOP contests, as Lindell enters a crowded field seeking the nomination before a potential matchup with Democrat Amy Klobuchar.
đĄ Trumpâs backing remains a powerful force in Republican primariesâbut Minnesota voters will ultimately decide whether that influence translates at the ballot box.
đ¤ CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AIâs Black Mirror Moments
đ¸ PayPal Used To Be Worth $360B. Someone Just Offered $53B For It.
Stripe and private equity firm Advent just offered PayPal $60.50 a share â a 28% premium â and the stock still popped 16%. PayPal peaked near $360B. This bid values it at $53B.
Stripe and Advent would split the prize 50-50, backed by $50B in committed bank financing.
PayPal's ~439M active accounts would marry Stripe's tech-savvy, creating a fintech behemoth.
Michael Burry â the "Big Short" investor who owns PayPal stock and called the 2008 housing crash â says $60.50 is "simply too low," and thinks it's worth up to $115.
⥠PayPal's board hasn't blinked yet. Regulatory scrutiny? Oh, absolutely. This is just round one.
đ° Anthropic's Mega-IPO: AI's Biggest Bet Yet
Anthropic is scheduling investor meetings with Morgan Stanley, Goldman, and JPMorganâeyeing an October 2026 debut that could dwarf tech history.
Last valued at a jaw-dropping $965B after a $65B May funding round, the Claude-maker aims to beat rival OpenAI to the public markets.
OpenAI filed too â then pushed its own IPO back to 2027.
Confidential S-1 filed in June. Spokesperson: radio silence.
⥠Anthropic could become the first major AI challenger to go publicâsetting the marketâs price tag for the next AI era.
đş FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
đŚ A Shrimp's Heart Is Literally In Its Head
Not near its head â in it. Scientists call that region the cephalothorax, but translation: shrimp keep their heart tucked inside their skull, right next to their brain.
Somewhere, a shrimp is having a genuine headache and heartache at the exact same time.