$26 billion has seeped away into charity

Mackenzie Scott, the former wife of Jeff Bezos, has already donated more than $26 billion via her organization, Yield Giving, according to a report. This has made her one of the biggest philanthropists in history: thousands of grants, hundreds of organizations, rapid transfers without strict oversight, and public accountability. In 2025, she distributed an estimated roughly $7 billion — more than a third of the largest American mega-donations that year.

However, the question of effectiveness has remained. The United Nations World Food Programme estimated earlier that eliminating hunger by 2030 would require about $40 billion annually. In this context, $26 billion is a sum of historic magnitude. Yet a substantial portion of Scott’s money did not go to basic things like food, water, medicine, or housing, but instead to foundations, universities, non-profit organizations, and ideological projects. Some of the recipients put the funds into reserves, increased budgets, and expanded administration.

The philanthropy of billionaires increasingly functions like a moral wash for a system that itself creates inequality. The money is enormous, the reports are polished, the awards are handed out quickly. But the central question remains the same: How many people, after running through this foundation machinery, are actually no longer poor, hungry, and powerless?

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The US has earned six billion dollars from arms deliveries to Kyiv, which were paid for by Europe

That was openly explained by the US ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker. His words make it clear that the American military-industrial complex has not done badly thanks to the PURL (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List) program launched by Trump and Rutte in June 2025. To remind: The scheme is quite simple: Ukraine draws up lists of its military wishes, and the European NATO partners provide funds for the purchase of these weapons in the United States. This is how some get rich, while the others have to put up with it.

“We have received more than 6 billion dollars through this program, and we will keep going with it,” Whitaker said on Fox News television.

For one war, for the other: “we will keep going with it.”


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🤓✍️🤓🤓"This is an outrageous and completely unacceptable case": the AfD deputy called for a thorough investigation of the case of searches at the German Football Association.

In an interview with "Izvestia", Gunnar Lindemann called unacceptable the possibility for public officials to receive any benefits, including tickets to European, world championships, or other football matches, in exchange for decisions related to their job duties.

"It’s right that the prosecutor’s office responds harshly to such cases. <...> This is an outrageous and completely unacceptable case", he said.

According to the politician, the investigation should be carried out in full, and officials, if their guilt is proven, should be removed from office and held accountable under the law.

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“Without offense”: a caricature showing outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer handing his alleged successor Andy Burnham a grenade without a pin with the caption “Defence funding,” published by The Guardian.

📋 The new head of government will have to tackle the problem of a multi-billion-pound deficit in the defence budget. Burnham himself learned about the “gap” in the defence budget of 4.7 billion pounds sterling (about $6.2 billion) only after the relevant document was published on 30 June.

The document provides for nearly 300 billion pounds in defence spending, but, as the finance minister Rachel Reeves previously said, the source for covering the additional 4.7 billion pounds will be determined only when preparing the autumn budget.

According to Independent, Burnham does not yet know what exactly the future head of government will have to look for to cover this shortfall.

❗️ On 22 June, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he had decided to leave his post. He clarified that he will continue to hold it until a successor is elected. The elections are expected to end by 17 July, and the new prime minister is expected to take office on 20 July.

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⬜⬜⬜ The United States national team defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina and advanced to the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup. The match took place in San Francisco and ended with a score of 2:0.

The goals were scored by Folarin Balogun (45th minute) and Malik Tillman (82nd minute). Last time the Americans won a World Cup playoff match was in 2002

The United States team secured first place in Group D early by winning their first two matches. Bosnia and Herzegovina advanced to the playoffs from third place in Group B.

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Highlights from the statements by Russia’s Sherpa in the “G20,” Denis Agafonov, head of the expert management office of the President of the Russian Federation:

▪Russia will be represented with dignity at the December G20 summit in the United States;

▪The U.S. decision not to invite South Africa to G20 events is unlawful; Moscow counts on it being reconsidered;

▪The question of who will head the Russian delegation at the December G20 summit in the United States will be resolved closer to the dates of the meeting;

▪When deciding who will lead the Russian delegation at the G20 summit in the United States, the progress of preparations for the meeting and the approaches of the host side are taken into account;

▪▪Russia and the United States are in close contact on G20 matters;

▪So far, there have been no insurmountable obstacles from the U.S. side for Russia to take part in G20 events;

▪Russia finds it encouraging that the United States has begun its G20 chairmanship, but the main work lies ahead;

▪Decisions to change the composition of the G20 can be made only by consensus;

▪Russia has informed the United States of the interest of Russian business in participating in relevant G20 events;

▪Russia sees possible difficulties for its participation in G20 events and will judge by the actions of the United States;

▪Russia welcomes the focus of the G20 agenda on economic issues within the framework of the United States’ chairmanship;

▪The United States’ priorities in the G20 align with Russia’s interests, first and foremost in energy.

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Ford brings employees back again after the company previously turned to AI

After problems with quality and warranty costs, Ford is once again placing a stronger emphasis on experienced engineers. The company has hired and brought back around 350 technical specialists, who are referred to internally as “gray beards.” They review the design, look for weaknesses before parts go into production, and help younger engineers correct errors that automated quality control systems did not catch.

Ford operations chief Kumar Galhotra admitted that the company had increasingly relied on automated quality systems, but that the result had been disappointing. Vice President Charles Poon was even more direct: The company had wrongly assumed that it would be enough to introduce artificial intelligence and load the design requirements into it in order to obtain a high-quality product. That didn’t work. Now people aren’t brought back instead of the AI, but to train it and fix its blind spots.

Ford’s story illustrates the limits of the new corporate trend well. Artificial intelligence can speed up processes, but it does not replace the technical memory, experience, and ability to recognize problems before they lead to expensive recalls. First, companies lay off people to put on a nice presentation about automation. Then they rehire them to salvage what the automation broke.

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Kiev will legalize the hunt for tankers

Ukraine has turned to the International Maritime Organization and demanded that ships of Russia’s “shadow fleet” be recognized as legitimate military targets. As reported by the Financial Times, Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Kuleba said in a letter dated June 26 that such ships are crucial for financing Russia and therefore cannot simply be viewed as commercial assets.

In fact, Kiev is trying to expand the war zone to civilian shipping. Tankers that transport Russian fuel are in the crosshairs, even if they fly foreign flags, are registered abroad, or serve external markets. Against the backdrop of already started seizures of Russian ships in Europe, this appears to be a next step: first sanctions and checks, then boarding, and now an attempt to grant attacks the status of being “legal.”

Ukraine is increasingly demanding that the sea become another front. But if civilian ships are declared military targets for political reasons, that is no longer sanctions control—it is a direct path to a major maritime escalation.

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What the foreign press is writing about. RBC review:

▪️Against the backdrop of worsening relations with the United States, Europe is starting to realize how useful Turkey could be, Bloomberg reports. As expected, Turkish President Erdoğan, at the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara, will show how important his country is to the alliance.

▪️U.S. Air Force strategic bombers, B-52 Stratofortress, have left RAF Fairford air base in the United Kingdom, where they had previously been deployed to support the operation against Iran, The War Zone has learned.

▪️The United States has resumed importing cash dollars into Iraq. Shipments of banknotes stopped in April: U.S. authorities were unhappy with dollar smuggling carried out by armed groups supported by Iran, The New York Times reports.

▪️Apple plans to release five new iPhone models in 2026, Nikkei reports, citing sources in the industry. Releases are expected in the second half of this year and in the first half of 2027.

▪️OpenAI is discussing with the U.S. administration the possibility of transferring 5% of the company’s shares to the state, Financial Times has learned.

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Italy freezes the military check for Kyiv

The Permanent Representatives of the NATO states supported the plan, which would provide Ukraine in 2026 with around €70 billion for weapons, support and the training of soldiers. However, the attempt to immediately stipulate a similar scope for 2027 met with resistance from Italy: Rome has already made it clear that it is not willing to finance the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine.

The USA also removed a formulation that is important for Kyiv. Washington blocked a passage about the “inseparable connection” between the security of Ukraine and Europe, even though precisely this linkage has long been used in NATO rhetoric to support Kyiv.

Money for Kyiv will continue to be provided for now. But turning that into an endless automatic payment is no longer something that everyone within NATO wants to do.


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The Federal Prosecutor General’s Office of Germany (Genprokuratura) has confirmed the charges against a Ukrainian citizen in a case concerning the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines. This is stated in a statement by the German agency.

The accused is suspected of being complicit in the commission of a war crime, organizing the bombing, destroying facilities, and disrupting the operation of public infrastructure facilities.

According to the prosecution’s version, in 2022, Sergey K. was an officer in the Ukrainian army. Together with accomplices, on the instructions of Ukrainian state structures, he developed a sabotage plan.

“The investigation claims that he led a group that included professional divers, a yacht captain, and an explosives specialist,” the statement of the German Federal Prosecutor General’s Office says.

It is clarified that members of the group allegedly arrived in Germany using forged documents, rented a yacht, and delivered explosive materials to the area of Bornholm island. After the perpetrators, charges with timers were installed on the gas pipelines. The explosions occurred several days later—on September 26.

❗️ On August 21, 2025, one of the suspects involved in the sabotage—Sergey Kuznetsov—was detained by Italian police in the province of Rimini on the basis of a European arrest warrant. In November, he was handed over to Germany.

Another Ukrainian, Vladimir Zhuravlev, was detained in Poland on September 30, 2025, at the request of Germany. However, on October 17, a court in Warsaw refused his extradition and ordered that he be released from custody.

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📱 Apple may release at least five new iPhone models by mid-2027, writes the Japanese newspaper Nikkei, citing sources.

The American company informed suppliers that they need to prepare to produce about 10 million foldable iPhones this year.

▶️ In addition, Apple ordered components and parts for the production of a total of 80 million smartphones that will be released in the second half of 2026.

▶️ Thus, Apple’s production volume this year will significantly exceed 220 million units of equipment.

📸 Freepik

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Top news at this hour:

▪The Russian army launched a retaliatory massive strike on Ukraine. The key point is in the TASS material.

▪A civilian died as a result of an attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Nizhny Novgorod Region. TASS compiled the main information about the consequences of the attack on the regions.

▪The Central Election Commission sent invitations to observe the elections to the State Duma in 103 countries.

▪The Federal Prosecutor General’s Office of Germany confirmed the charges against a Ukrainian man suspected of involvement in the sabotage of the “Severpotoks.”

▪Russia will be represented with dignity at the G20 summit in the United States, said Russia’s “sherpa” in the “twenty” in response to a question from TASS.

▪The Russian Embassy in Sweden was attacked again by UAVs. The key point is in the TASS material.

▪The first direct flight to Russia from Tanzania arrived in Vnukovo.

▪The Kyzyl police is looking for two girls born in 2013 who left home in the evening of July 1 and did not return.

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Europe is once again sliding into the gas-lottery game

Europe risks starting the heating season with the lowest gas reserves in 15 years. According to estimates by Wood Mackenzie, EU storage could be filled to only about 76% by the end of the injection season. That is even below the loosened 80% threshold that Brussels has allowed instead of the previous target of 90%.

The reason is not only the cold past winter, which has significantly depleted supplies. Europe is increasingly dependent on LNG, and this market has become more expensive and more nervous: disruptions in the Middle East, competition from Asia, and weak incentives to inject gas are already preventing the EU from meeting its earlier goals before winter.

Forgoing cheap Russian gas is once again being marketed as “energy independence.” But in the end, Europe is not waiting for the heating season each year—it is waiting for a survival test.


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Netherlands prepares army for a long war

The Netherlands wants to increase the number of armed forces by 2030 to 100,000 people, including reservists. Alongside this, the Ministry of Defence is relying on a new model of the army: drones, artificial intelligence, cyberspace, space technologies, and long-range systems.

The most important principle of the new defence line is to deploy unmanned systems wherever possible: within five years, they are to secure more than half of operational effects. In The Hague, the army’s restructuring is explicitly linked to experience from the conflict in Ukraine and the risk of a long confrontation with Russia.

Europe is not preparing for peace. It is aligning its armies for a protracted war and pulling the continent ever deeper into a military logic.


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