Happy Tuesday Everyone! Today’s newsletter: 1,075 words…4 mins
🗞 Today’s Edition: Russia Says UK’s Plotting Tanker Sabotage, Putin Unfazed By Trump Deadline, Nuclear Reactor on the Moon, China’s Darwin Monkey, Dutch kick off NATO’s new war fund, Palantir hits $1B Quarter… & much more!
📜THE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
⚓️Russia Accuses UK of Plotting “False Flag” Tanker Attacks
Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claims British intelligence, with NATO backing, is plotting sabotage operations on Russian oil tankers — a high-stakes accusation dropped just as the U.S. ceasefire ultimatum approaches this Friday.
The alleged plot: The SVR outlined two possible UK-orchestrated "false flag" scenarios:
Staging an accident in a chokepoint waterway, justifying “emergency inspections”
Setting fire to a Russian tanker during loading at a friendly port — forcing an international probe and possibly blaming even Ukraine (think Nord Stream explosion)
Why it matters: The "shadow fleet" — vessels used by Moscow to quietly export sanctioned oil — are a lifeline for Russian war funding.
A UK-NATO move to brand them a global threat would tighten the noose and push for secondary U.S. sanctions on Russian trade partners.
🎭 Russia’s playbook move? Experts warn this could be classic Kremlin projection — accusing the West of what it might do itself. But even an unconfirmed claim ratchets up tensions and raises the risk of direct NATO-Russia confrontation on the high seas.
No UK comment yet. But the fuse is lit.
♟️THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
Main: Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte (left) and President Zelensky; Corner-left: PM of Netherlands Dick Schoof
🪖 NATO’s New War Fund Kicks Off — Dutch First In
The Netherlands just became the first NATO country to use the alliance’s new PURL system (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List).
This system let’s the allies:
Buy U.S. weapons for Ukraine —the Dutch are pledging €500M for Patriot missile components
Pool cash + fast-track orders from U.S. stockpiles
Skip the red tape: Instead of 20 separate orders, NATO now bulk-purchases from U.S. stockpiles, cutting delivery times to weeks, not months.
💡 Why it matters: With Russia ramping up airstrikes, this could be Kyiv’s lifeline—and a blueprint for long-term Western arms coordination. Next up? Sweden, Norway and Denmark have collectively raised $500M for their PURL contributions.
⛵ UK-France ‘One In, One Out’ Migrant Deal Kicks Off
Starmer's polling nightmare just got a Band-Aid solution. Britain will swap boat migrants back to France for "legitimate" asylum seekers with UK family ties.
50 returns per week versus 25,000 arrivals this year alone - to undercut smuggler networks and quiet the backlash at home.
Macron gets to look tough on smuggling while offloading his own migration headaches.
Critics say this move is purely symbolic and taxpayers are left paying the price
The problem: Public backlash at home, over Pakistani migrant gang-rapes and other migrant crimes, is reaching climax. Meanwhile, Nigel Farage's Reform UK is leading polls precisely because voters see through these cosmetic fixes.
🔍 Bottom Line: England’s illegal migration problem has reached a tipping point — and Starmer’s “one in, one out” fix isn’t quite cutting it.
🕰 Clock’s Ticking: Putin Unfazed By Trump’s Ceasefire Ultimatum
Trump gave Putin until Friday to agree to a Ukraine ceasefire—or face sweeping new sanctions, plus secondary sanctions and 100% tariffs on buyers of Russian oil.
Putin’s stance? Dig in deeper—Kremlin insiders say he still aims to seize four key regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson) before any deal.
The Kremlin's 70% through conquering those regions and is betting Trump will blink first.
A partial air truce might be under consideration, says Bloomberg. But previous partial truces have flopped.
🚨 Bottom line: After weathering three years of sanctions without economic collapse, Moscow sees Trump’s threats as just another manageable annoyance. This week’s Moscow visit by Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, may be the last shot at peace before an economic escalation spiral.
🗽THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
Foreground: Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent; Main: President Trump with Fed Chair Jerome Powell
🇺🇸 Trump's Fed Chair Reality Show: The Two Kevins Rise
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pulls himself out of the Fed Chair race—wants to stay put instead of herding economic cats.
President Trump revealed on CNBC that he is on the lookout for a replacement for Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends May 2026.
The Shortlist: Trump's down to 4 candidates, starring the "Two Kevins" (Warsh & Hassett)—both hawks-turned-doves who worship at the altar of low rates.
"Both Kevins are very good" = classic Trump non-endorsement endorsement.
Fed Gov. Adriana Kugler’s sudden resignation also gives Trump another board seat to fill.
💡 Bottom Line: Powell's out May 2026. Until then? Trump might appoint a "shadow chair" to troll Jerome; and Kugler’s board seat might just be the opportunity he needs.
Wall Street whisper: Traders already pricing in rate cuts by September.
🌛 U.S. To Announce Nuclear Reactor…On The Moon!
Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy — now also NASA’s interim chief — is fast-tracking a nuclear reactor for the moon, aiming for launch by 2030.
The plan? Beat China’s moon ambitions, justify a bigger crewed-space budget, and cement U.S. lunar dominance in the “second space race”.
Leaked docs show Duffy is doubling NASA’s speed, while juggling his day job.
💡 Why it matters: The reactor could enable permanent lunar bases but risks sparking a territorial "keep-out zone" conflict with China-Russia’s joint lunar project
🤖 CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AI’s Black Mirror Moments
🐵 China’s Darwin Monkey: Neuromorphic Goes Bananas
Chinese researchers have unveiled the Darwin Monkey, the world’s largest neuromorphic computer, simulating a macaque’s brain:
Packing 2B neurons into 960 AI chips
Powered by DeepSeek AI, it performs tasks like logical reasoning and content generation
Leapfrogs Intel’s owl-brained Hala Point (1.15B neurons) and runs on just 2,000 watts
🚨Why it matters: This is the closest AI has come to a biological brain—and a flex in the U.S.–China tech race. Robot monkeys? Closer than you think.
💸 Palantir Hits $1B Quarter
Palantir smashed expectations with $1B in Q2 revenue, up 48% YoY, riding the AI wave and a Trump-backed gov efficiency push that boosted U.S. contracts.
It now forecasts up to $4.15B in 2025 sales
Ranks among the top 10 U.S. tech firms, leapfrogging IBM and Salesforce.
CEO Alex Karp’s vision—"10x revenue with fewer heads"—mirrors Silicon Valley’s automation paradox.
💡 Why it matters: Palantir isn’t just cashing in on AI hype - it’s raking in billions as it scales with fewer people, more deals, and bigger military contracts. This isn’t just growth — it’s a power play to become the Pentagon’s favorite brain.
📺 FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
November 17, 1902: Cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman’s sketch of the famous incident appeared in the pages of the Washington Post.
The Origins of the Teddy Bear
The teddy bear was created in the early 1900s and named in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt, who famously refused to shoot a bear during a hunting trip in 1902.
A black bear had been knocked unconscious and tied to a willow tree by his hunting party, as they wanted to save the kill for the President. He refused, because that would be “most unsportsmanlike”.
This incident impressed and inspired Morris and Rose Michtom - a Russian-Jewish immigrant couple who owned a candy shop in Brooklyn, NY. - to create a stuffed bear, which they called "Teddy's Bear,"; and the rest is history.
💀 THE ROAST
Because World Leaders Beg To Be Dragged
