Happy Monday Everyone! Today’s newsletter: 1,162 words…4.4 mins
🗞 Today’s Edition: UK, Canada, France Recognize Palestine, Putin’s Nuclear Olive Branch, Former Al Qaeda Terrorist At UNGA, RFK Jr’s Tylenol Bombshell, Murdochs Might Be Part of TikTok Deal... & much more!
🚨 Watch For:
President Trump to address the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA): Tuesday, Sep 23rd
Jimmy Kimmel Live returns: Tuesday, Sep 23rd
TikTok deal to be signed this week
📜THE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
Left: PM Netanyahu, President Trump, PM Modi, PM Meloni, Chancellor Merz vs Right: Hamas, PM Starmer, PM Carney, President Macron
🌐The Great Recognition Split: Palestine Gets Diplomatic Upgrades
A diplomatic earthquake hit yesterday: the UK, Canada, Australia, and Portugal officially recognized Palestine—a sharp break with Washington—just two days before high-level sessions at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) commence, on Sep 23rd.
The UK went all-in, raising the Palestinian flag over an embassy in London with full diplomatic rights.
France joined in with it’s announcement today.
145+ UN states are expected to join in with this resolution at the UNGA.
What they said:
Hamas cheered the move, calling it a “deserved outcome of our people’s struggle.”
Israel blasted the recognitions as “an absurd reward for terrorism,” while Netanyahu warned it won’t free hostages or end Gaza’s bloodshed.
❝"Our focus remains on serious diplomacy, not performative gestures. Our priorities are clear: the release of the hostages, the security of Israel, and peace and prosperity for the entire region that is only possible free from Hamas".
Critics say recognizing Palestine while Hamas is still in power, risks legitimizing a terrorist group.
But Western governments argue this is about empowering the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas—and that recognition signals a real commitment to a two-state solution.
💡Bottom line: Symbolism is strong, but reality bites. Embassies and flags won’t stop bombs in Gaza. This might risk hardening Israel’s position even further by empowering the very militants these nations claim to sideline.
♟️THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
☢️ Putin's Nuclear Olive Branch
Putin just offered Trump a one-year extension of New START—the last U.S.-Russia arms control deal, set to expire Feb 2026.
Since 2011, it’s capped each side at 1,550 deployed nukes and kept inspectors on the ground.
Moscow’s caveat: the U.S. must honor limits and scrap “destabilizers” like space-based missile interceptors.
Why now? Without a deal, both superpowers can go full Oppenheimer sequel and build unlimited nukes.
💡Bottom line: Putin's offering Trump the geopolitical equivalent of "let's stay friends" after a messy breakup. Smart money says Trump takes it.
🇫🇷 🇺🇸 Brigitte vs. Candace: A Surreal Legal Circus
France’s First Lady, Brigitte Macron will present photographic and scientific evidence in a U.S. courtroom to prove—yes—that she is a woman.
The move comes as part of a defamation lawsuit against conservative commentator, Candace Owens, who has claimed that Brigitte was born male.
Evidence includes pregnancy photos and expert biological testimony.
The backstory: Owens created an eight-part podcast series "Becoming Brigitte" pushing conspiracy theories about France's First Lady being transgender—despite receiving a detailed retraction demand that "conclusively disproved" her claims.
The Macrons want a jury trial in Delaware, blasting the claims as “deeply distressing.”
💡Bottom line: This is a landmark moment in disinformation wars and a damning indictment of our political culture. A win for the Macrons and a loss for basic decency.
💣 From Al-Qaeda to the UNGA: Syria’s Wild Card Lands in NYC
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in New York on Sunday for the UN General Assembly—the first Syrian leader to attend in nearly 60 years.
The twist: This is the same guy who had a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head as an Al-Qaeda commander until Trump dropped it last year.
The play: Al-Sharaa's pushing for full sanctions relief while meeting with Syrian-Americans, including Jewish community leaders—a diplomatic rehabilitation tour that would make any PR firm jealous.
💡Bottom Line: 24 years after 9/11, a former Al Qaeda affiliate is now hobnobbing in New York as part of the UNGA. This is either the mother of all redemption arcs or Realpolitik just hit overdrive.
🗽THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. flanked by President Trump and the Head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) - Dr. Oz, making the announcement on Tylenol’s links to Autism.
🧬Trump & RFK Jr.’s Tylenol-Autism Bombshell
HHS Secretary RFK Jr., President Trump and Dr. Oz dropped a medical grenade, linking Tylenol use during pregnancy to a rising autism rate - 1 in 31 kids today, up 400% since 2000.
Pregnant women advised to limit the use of the common painkiller
FDA also greenlit leucovorin as the first recognized autism therapy.
NIH trials are launching, Medicaid will cover therapies
Kenvue (Tylenol’s maker) lost 6% in shares, blasting the claim as junk science.
💡 Bottom Line: This announcement has generated significant debate, with supporters praising the attention to autism and critics urging caution due to the lack of conclusive scientific evidence linking Tylenol to autism.
🤝 Musk and Trump Bury the Hatchet—at Charlie Kirk’s Memorial
Elon Musk and President Trump reunited at Charlie Kirk’s memorial in Arizona last Sunday, after months of a very explosive and very public breakup.
Musk initiated the handshake, posting a picture captioned simply, “For Charlie”; while Trump called it “pleasant” to reconnect.
Photos of them side-by-side lit up social media.
The feud—sparked by Musk’s opposition to Trump’s spending bill and Epstein file rumors—may be cooling.
💡Bottom line: A political bromance reboot could reshape GOP-tech ties ahead of 2026.
🤖 CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AI’s Black Mirror Moments
📱 TikTok’s American Makeover
The long-awaited TikTok deal is nearly done: Trump says Rupert Murdoch, son Lachlan and Michael Dell could join Oracle’s Larry Ellison in anchoring the new U.S. consortium.
Fox Corp (not Lachlan personally) gets a stake, Oracle handles data security, and the algorithm gets "retrained" under American oversight.
Six of seven board seats will go to Americans and the deal is expected to be signed this week.
⚡Bottom Line: With 170M U.S. users, TikTok’s survival hinges on this move—keeping Gen Z’s favorite app alive while giving D.C. its security blanket.
💸 Nvidia Bets $100B on OpenAI
Nvidia plans to pour up to $100B into OpenAI, funding 10 GW of AI data centers powered by its chips—set to start flipping on in 2026.
CEO Jensen Huang called it “the next leap forward,” while Sam Altman dubbed compute “the basis for the economy of the future.”
⚡Bottom line: With Nvidia already backing OpenAI in 2024’s $6.6B round, expect antitrust heat to follow this mega-alliance.
📺 FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
Ancient Rome’s Weirdest Beauty Trend
Roman elites were the original Goop shoppers. Wealthy women paid a fortune for sudor gladiatorum (Gladiator Sweat)—a moisturizer made from the sweat, oil, blood and dirt scraped off gladiators after a fight.
Documented by physician Galen, this bizarre anti-aging cream blended extreme skincare with celebrity worship. The ultimate status symbol and ancient aphrodisiac.