Welcome! Why was Josh Allen chewing on smelling salts in last night’s NFL game?
‼️ TODAY: Warren Buffett Steps Down as Berkshire Hathaway Chairman - Fox Business
🔥 STARTING HERE: A House Democrat in a swing district is running 𝕏ads against boys in girls’ sports.
⛪️ WHAT: Archbishop of Canterbury withdraws award from Muslim cleric who praised Osama bin Laden - BBC
❌ DATA: Yale University has 6,401 staffers and 6,667 undergraduates. - 𝕏X
😳 NEWSY: Patrick Clancy’s wife: “I don’t understand how the story’s been so twisted” - CBS
✅ ME AT THE FREE PRESS: Inside a Radical Right Plan to Infiltrate American Conservatism - TFP
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Saudi Aramco has told European refiners they will receive no crude shipments next month following the Houthis’ attack on the kingdom’s main oil pipeline to the Red Sea.
European buyers typically receive Saudi crude through long-term contracts that guarantee a steady monthly supply. But according to people familiar with the decision at Bloomberg, Aramco will suspend those deliveries to all European customers next month, another sign that the disruption is beginning to ripple through global energy markets.
The supply crunch is being compounded by a surge in shipping costs. The price to transport 2 million barrels of crude jumped more than 10% yesterday to roughly $22.50 per barrel, up from less than $6 per barrel earlier this summer.
The effects of compounding oil prices are continuing to ripple acrossthe airline industry. Executives at American Airlines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines said this week that elevated fuel costs are forcing them to reconsider flight schedules, particularly routes and flights that generate relatively little profit.Equally noteworthy was yesterday’s surprising post from JPMorganon its “lack of a baseline view” when it comes to the energy impact from the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Five-hundred colleges and universities in the U.S. now share one alarming distinction: At least 40% of recent students who borrowed federal loans aren’t paying them back. That’s according to the latest federal nonpayment-rate data published by the U.S. Education Department.
The data looks at the roughly 17 million borrowers who entered repayment for the first time between January 2020 and May 2025.
“These numbers are really jaw-dropping,” says Eileen Connor, head of the Project on Predatory Student Lending, a nonprofit that advocates for borrowers and that reviewed the data.
Full story at NPR.
Two weeks after a swarm of AI agents broke out of containment at OpenAI to hack the company Hugging Face, the ChatGPT maker learned about another AI-powered intrusion—and this time it was the target.
Independent security researchers had used Anthropic’s Claude software to gain access to an OpenAI employee’s ChatGPT account, giving them a way to read and suggest changes to the company’s private cache of software.
The team, who participated in an OpenAI bug-hunting program that offers a safe harbor for researchers to attempt to break into corporate systems, quickly reported their findings to the company. The team, to which OpenAI paid a $6,500 bounty, disclosed their work for the first time to The Wall Street Journal.
The new hack joins a long list of recent disclosures by leading technology companies and researchers alike of cyber intrusions aided by fast-evolving artificial-intelligence tools. Despite months of warnings about the capabilities of AI systems, the new intrusion shows how the complexity of today’s computer systems makes them difficult to defend.
Full story at WSJ (free).
Steve Eisman on the fear-mongering from OpenAI and Anthropic:
“What I think is happening is that token maxing is over. The open weight models are taking big market share. I think these companies are very nervous. They realize that there are no moats around their business whatsoever, and they're trying to manufacture a crisis that will create regulation, and that they think they can then manipulate to create the moats, to create the duopoly that they want."
Students on University of California campuses may struggle with basic math, but they are graduating at record rates.
Full story at NYT (free).
Russians are growing fearful that President Vladimir Putin may soon order a massive new mobilization for the war in Ukraine after this weekend’s parliamentary elections.
That fear stretches to officials in the Kremlin and army recruitment centers, who’ve been looking to open foreign bank accounts and move assets abroad while encouraging friends and relatives to leave Russia in recent months, documents seen by Bloomberg News show.
While Putin denies he has any such plans, a European security official says Russia’s preparing to draft an additional 300,000 men into the army by the end of the year.
Full story at Bloomberg (paywall).
Kylian Mbappé Leaves Nike for On -
NikeCalifornia Gov. Newsom issues executive order to rein in AI ‘before it’s too late’ -
CNBC2 ships attacked in Strait of Hormuz as Trump grapples with his next move -
CBSThe Purge: Princeton Faculty Reach Perfect Zero in Support for Republicans -
Jonathan TurleyRising jet fuel costs are forcing airlines to cut flights — and travelers could pay the price -
Consumer Affairs75% of Americans Say Tariffs Will Be Important to Their Vote in the Midterms -
CATONike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200 billion market-cap wipeout -
FortuneAmericans are richer than ever — and poverty hits an all-time low -
NY PostThe Three Dreaded Words No One Wants to Hear: What’s for Dinner? -
WSJ(free)
For years, I’ve warned about the dangers of big banks using the financial system to push political agendas. But thanks to Consumers’ Research and the Open Banking Rule, consumers have access to more competitive banking options than ever before. That’s why I’m proud to stand with Consumers’ Research as they fight to keep you in charge of your financial future, not big banks that discriminate against conservatives and crush competition. Learn more about their work here.
For years, my friends at the American Energy Institute sounded the alarm on the progressive war on affordable energy. But thanks to the Trump administration’s commitment to safe, reliable nuclear energy, America’s energy future is brighter than ever. That’s why I am partnering with my friends at American Energy Institute to drive economic prosperity through abundant, affordable, and reliable energy for everyone. Learn more about the bright future of American energy here.