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Asia’s biggest oil buyers, having stocked up aggressively during the four-month war that choked off Persian Gulf crude, are now in no hurry to resume buying from the Middle East—even as the Strait of Hormuz reopens and tankers begin moving again.

The reluctance is one reason oil prices have kept falling rather than spiking, and it points to a lasting change in how the world’s energy trade is wired.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently cut its 2026 global demand forecast, saying high prices and reduced availability have curbed consumption, particularly in Asia. EIA Administrator Tristan Abbey said any return to pre-conflict trade flows must account for “the partial restructuring of the global oil market that has already occurred.”

The clearest example is India.

According to a Bloomberg report, Indian refiners currently hold enough crude to last about two months, leaving them in no rush to buy Middle Eastern cargoes now able to flow through the reopened strait. Middle Eastern producers have approached Indian buyers to resume long-term contract volumes, but the buyers have been reluctant, and the Indian government has not yet authorized Indian tankers to sail to the Persian Gulf to load those cargoes.

India’s hesitation reflects a broader shift that took place during the conflict.

Historically, India was one of the largest buyers of Gulf crude because of its proximity to the region. But when tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz became unreliable, refiners rapidly diversified supply sources and turned heavily toward Russian oil, aided by sanctions waivers and discounted pricing.

Russian crude flows to India averaged approximately 1.76 million barrels per day in May, about 63% higher than in February, according to shipping data.

The wartime demand collapse across Asia was dramatic.

Chinese seaborne crude imports fell by roughly 3.6 million barrels per day between February and April. Major declines were also recorded in Japan, South Korea, and India.

Combined crude imports into China and Japan fell by roughly 40%, representing nearly 6 million barrels per day of reduced demand. Because Gulf producers normally supply about 60% of Asia’s imported crude, refiners were forced to slash processing rates, draw down inventories, and secure alternative supplies from Russia, the United States, and Atlantic Basin exporters.

Now the market faces a very different problem.

More than 60 million barrels of delayed crude shipments aboard nearly three dozen supertankers are expected to head toward Asia in the coming weeks as the Strait of Hormuz returns to normal operations.

But many refiners are already well supplied.

The combination of full storage tanks and a fresh wave of incoming cargoes is weighing on prices rather than lifting them.

Oil markets have responded accordingly.

Brent crude has fallen sharply from its wartime highs as fears of a prolonged disruption faded. Major banks have also reduced their forecasts.

Morgan Stanley now expects Brent to average around $80 per barrel during the fourth quarter, down from an earlier forecast of $100. Goldman Sachs has cut its fourth-quarter outlook to $80 from $90, while predicting tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will fully normalize by the end of July.

The decline represents a dramatic reversal from the fears that dominated markets when the conflict began. At the height of the crisis, some analysts warned that oil could reach $200 per barrel if Gulf exports remained disrupted.

Instead, one of the worst supply shocks in modern energy history has produced the opposite result.

For consumers, the reason is simple: Asia already has the oil it needs.

The stockpiles accumulated during the conflict, combined with softer demand and alternative supply routes, have reduced the urgency to purchase additional barrels from Gulf producers.

The larger story is who gained and lost market share.

During the disruption, Russia and the United States stepped into the gap left by Gulf exporters. Traders increasingly believe some of those gains could prove permanent if Asian refiners continue prioritizing supply diversification rather than returning to old buying patterns.

The next major signal for oil markets may come from China, the world’s largest crude importer. Many analysts view a return to China’s pre-war import pace of more than 10 million barrels per day as the event most likely to tighten global supplies and support higher prices.

Until then, Gulf producers are finding that reopening shipping lanes does not automatically bring customers back.

After months of scrambling to secure energy supplies, Asia’s refiners have inventories, alternatives, and time on their side. Their patience is quietly reshaping global oil flows—and helping keep energy prices lower than many expected.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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The IDF on Wednesday struck four rocket-firing positions that Hamas has newly constructed in Gaza since the October 2025 ceasefire.

In fact, according to the IDF, Hamas constructed these platforms relatively recently.

This could indicate that Hamas is now working harder than before to redevelop rocket firing capabilities on Israel to intimidate the Jewish state into heeding its demands.

Since October 2025, Hamas and Israel have been in a standoff with the Gaza terror group demanding that Israel allow substantial moves for rebuilding Gaza before it takes any disarmament actions, while Jerusalem has said it would only allow broader rebuilding once Hamas at least significantly enters the disarmament process.

While months ago there were rumors and reports that Hamas had agreed to partial disarmament in stages, since then, and especially since Iran was seen as pushing back on American power in the region, there has been little progress.

IDF strikes a Hezbollah launch position in Gaza (video credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

Increased pace of targeted killings of senior Hamas officials

Israel has also protested to the US that the 600-plus trucks per day of aid into Gaza are more than is needed and are just enriching Hamas, but Washington to date has rejected any reductions.

In the meantime, in recent months, the IDF, clearly with a green light from the US, has increased its pace of targeted killings of senior and mid-level Hamas officials.

After two consecutive military chiefs of Hamas were killed in mid-May, only weeks apart, the Gaza group has not even named a new leader.

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“Israel has no choice but to fully withdraw from all Lebanese territory, without retaining an inch,” Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Tuesday, in his second speech delivered in recent days.

“We will cooperate with the Lebanese Army to the utmost extent, just as we cooperated previously, and Israel has no right to interfere in Lebanon’s internal affairs,” the terror chief said, seemingly ignoring recent accusations from more than 400 Lebanese officials in recent days insisting that Iran cease its interference. “The political authority in Lebanon has a mere guarantee named the Resistance.”

“We exercised patience for 15 months; this patience was part of our strategy. Don’t mistake it for retreat. When we saw that the opportune moment arrived on March 2nd, we seized this opportunity and fought this battle,” he said, referencing the day Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into a renewed conflict with Israel in response to the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ceasefire in Lebanon is a key condition in the Memorandum of Understanding

While Beirut discussed a ceasefire and security measures in a Washington-brokered agreement, Iran has pursued a ceasefire in Lebanon as a key condition in its Memorandum of Understanding with the United States. “A Call to Save Lebanon,” endorsed by political and religious leaders in Lebanon, has asserted that such an agreement must be pursued by the legitimate state, not Iran.

The renewed conflict left 20% of Lebanon’s population displaced, and researchers have assessed, based on the growing attempts to establish political Shi’ite alternatives to Hezbollah, its dwindling numbers at rallies and public opinions expressed in Lebanese media that the war has severely damaged support for the group.

Qassem’s statement came as Israel and Lebanon shared another round of talks on a potential pilot solution, according to international reports.

While the Hezbollah official insisted that Israel would withdraw from the country according to an established “timeline,” Israeli officials have demanded the continued presence of a buffer zone along the border and the training and vetting of Lebanese troops to monitor Hezbollah’s adherence to a ceasefire agreement.

Hezbollah has frequently decried the diplomatic talks with Israel, even seemingly threatening to return the country to a state of civil war in May.

A senior Lebanese security official told Reuters that Wednesday’s discussions would focus on specific military-to-military issues, including on the pilot zones. He affirmed that a timeline for Israel’s withdrawal would be decided, but added that it would only emerge after the talks conclude on Thursday.

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Amid growing concerns over a potential kidnapping attempt in southern Lebanon, Israeli security officials said Tuesday that senior officials reviewed the situation involving dozens of Hezbollah terrorists trapped in the village of Tebnit.

The IDF recently succeeded in cornering dozens of Hezbollah terrorists in an underground complex in Tebnit. Shortly thereafter, troops managed to seal off the entrances to the underground system, and messages were subsequently relayed to Israel through various mediating parties in an effort to secure the safe exit of those inside.

According to a security source, “Israel’s response to all mediating parties was clear: surrender or be killed inside the underground system.”

Additional sources involved in the details of the negotiations told Walla that under the current ceasefire framework, the militants have the option to surrender to the IDF, but at this stage, they are choosing to remain inside the underground system

“Things can change in an instant, but until then, it is important to understand that Israel sees significance in an effective model that will enable the demilitarization of the area from militants and Hezbollah terror infrastructure. Therefore, the focus is on a pilot program,” a source familiar with the details told Walla.

The source added that a similar scenario previously unfolded with Hamas operatives who were trapped in Rafah, and who ultimately were forced to emerge and either fight or surrender.

Concern that Hezbollah will take IDF soldiers hostage to negotiate for their trapped comrades

Meanwhile, concern is rising among Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon that Radwan Force operatives in the area, who are currently avoiding direct confrontations and close-range engagements with Israeli troops, may attempt to identify an operational opportunity on the ground and carry out a kidnapping attack against IDF soldiers in order to facilitate negotiations.

Troops on the ground have been briefed and instructed to move in pairs or groups of three at all times, and to ensure rapid coordination between air and ground forces in the event of an attempted attack or assault on a tank, armored vehicle, jeep, or building.

A military source told Walla that “Some of Hezbollah’s underground systems in southern Lebanon could be intended to facilitate a kidnapping attack during an assault on IDF soldiers and assist in escape or holding captives.” The source emphasized that most of the entrances to the underground systems are camouflaged and difficult to locate.

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A startup developing treatments for eye diseases has raised $330 million from investors as it readies for late-stage testing.

Ollin Biosciences is about to begin a Phase 3 trial of a treatment for both diabetic macular edema and wet age-related macular degeneration. The conditions affect millions of Americans and can lead to vision loss. 

Ahead of the trial, Ollin told STAT it had raised the Series B funding from an assortment of established biotech investors, a pension fund, and even crossover investors — a breed of private investors who will take a stake in a company shortly before it moves over to the stock market. TCGX and ARCH Venture Partners co-led the funding round, which was one of the largest Series B rounds for a biotech company in the last two years. 

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick signaled that the Trump administration is preparing for a potential crackdown on heavily subsidized Chinese robotics imports, warning U.S. business leaders that the global race for robotics dominance is rapidly becoming a national-security issue.

Speaking at a closed-door meeting with top executives from SpaceX, Boston Dynamics, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Siemens, and Rockwell Automation, Lutnick said the Commerce Department is reviewing Chinese state-backed robotics imports and could take action once that review is completed.

“This is the arms race that is coming,” Lutnick reportedly told attendees, according to a Politico report citing participants in the meeting.

The comments mark one of the clearest signals yet that Washington may be preparing to expand its technology confrontation with Beijing beyond semiconductors and artificial intelligence into the rapidly growing robotics sector.

China currently dominates much of the global robotics supply chain. The country deployed approximately 1.8 million industrial robots in 2023, roughly four times the U.S. total, and analysts project Chinese companies could control nearly 80% of the global humanoid robot market by mid-2026.

Humanoid robots—machines designed to walk, lift, carry objects, and perform tasks traditionally handled by people—are increasingly viewed as the next major phase of automation. Chinese companies including Unitree, Inovance Technology, and Tuopu Group have emerged as leading players, aided by substantial government support and lower manufacturing costs.

According to attendees, Lutnick framed the issue as both an economic and national-security challenge. One executive reportedly warned that allowing critical industries to depend on foreign robotic systems could leave the United States with “an American brain and a Chinese body,” a scenario participants described as strategically dangerous.

The warning comes as congressional concern over Chinese robotics accelerates.

Just one day before the meeting, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party raised alarms over Chinese robotics manufacturer Unitree, which has been designated by the United States as a Chinese military company. Committee Chairman Rep. John Moolenaar and other lawmakers have pushed for restrictions on Chinese-made humanoid robots entering the American market, including sales through major online retailers.

The Commerce Department has already begun laying the groundwork for possible action.

Earlier this year, officials convened a robotics supply-chain roundtable, and on April 30 the department launched a national-security review examining Chinese drones and robotics systems. The review is expected to evaluate whether subsidized imports could undermine domestic manufacturing capabilities or create security vulnerabilities.

Potential responses under consideration reportedly include:

  • Favoring U.S.-made robotics systems in federal procurement.
  • Restricting Chinese robotic systems from sensitive infrastructure and government facilities.
  • Creating supply-chain standards that prioritize domestic and allied-country manufacturers.
  • Expanding financial support for American robotics startups and advanced manufacturing projects.

The Pentagon is also reportedly exploring financing options aimed at strengthening the domestic robotics industry.

The robotics debate arrives amid a broader escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions.

On the same day as Lutnick’s remarks, China’s Ministry of Commerce expanded export restrictions on ten American companies, including MP Materials and USA Rare Earth, two firms central to U.S. efforts to build an independent supply chain for rare-earth magnets and minerals.

Those materials are essential components in electric motors, industrial robots, military equipment, and advanced manufacturing systems.

The dispute highlights a challenge facing policymakers: while Washington wants more robotics manufacturing at home, China continues to dominate many of the raw materials needed to build those machines.

Business leaders at the roundtable also noted domestic hurdles that go beyond foreign competition. Executives cited permitting delays, financing challenges, and workforce shortages as major obstacles to expanding robotics manufacturing in the United States.

Some analysts believe sweeping restrictions may still be months away. Experts note that the administration remains focused on multiple trade, national-security, and election-year priorities, potentially limiting the speed of new policy actions.

Still, Lutnick’s remarks leave little doubt about the administration’s direction.

After years of battles over semiconductors, artificial intelligence, telecommunications equipment, and rare-earth minerals, robotics is emerging as the next major front in the competition between the world’s two largest economies.

For manufacturers, technology firms, investors, and workers, the message from Washington is increasingly clear: the future of automation is no longer just a business issue—it is becoming a matter of national policy.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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Massachusetts’s highest court has blocked a statewide rent stabilization initiative from the November 2026 ballot on a technicality.

A single religious exemption in the measure violated the state’s constitution, the court ruled.

In a unanimous ruling Tuesday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court killed a petition that would have capped annual rent increases statewide at either the rate of inflation or 5%, whichever is lower.

The decision lands at a fraught moment in the national housing debate. Tenant advocates have pushed rent stabilization to the forefront of affordability politics in some of the country’s most expensive markets. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won in large part on promises to expand rent stabilization. In Massachusetts, the failed petition would have applied automatically in all 351 cities and towns – one of the most sweeping state-level proposals in the country.

Problems with rent stabilization

Economists and real estate investors warned that the effort would choke off new development of the housing supply needed to bring rents down over time, citing St. Paul, Minnesota, and Montgomery County, Maryland, as examples of rent stabilization deterring apartment development.

“Because it was thrown out on a technicality and not on substance, rent control advocates will surely just regroup and run it back at some point in the near future,” apartment industry economist Jay Parsons wrote on LinkedIn. “That will keep most development capital on ice, and for good reason.”

Providence, in neighboring Rhode Island, still has rent stabilization in the offing. Incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley vetoed a measure the city council passed this year, siding with the supply-side argument. The council couldn’t override the veto. But challengers for Providence city council seats support rent stabilization, keeping the issue alive.

Legislative compromise

Had the Massachusetts question made it to the ballot, state leaders would have lined up to sell voters on opposing it. But rent stabilization isn’t completely off the table in Massachusetts. Gov. Maura Healey, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Somerville Mayor Jake Wilson have been pushing for a legislative compromise.

A bill circulating on Beacon Hill would allow individual Massachusetts cities and towns to opt into a limited form of rent stabilization rather than impose a statewide mandate.

“Too many renters live with the fear that one rent increase, one lease renewal, or one building sale could force them out of their home,” Wilson said in a statement last week. “We believe in helping tenants stay in their homes whenever possible – and reasonable rent regulation is one critical tool in the toolkit to help make this happen.”

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Alphabet, the parent company of Google, will join the Dow Jones Industrial Average next week, replacing Verizon Communications in one of the most significant changes to the iconic stock-market benchmark in recent years.

S&P Dow Jones Indices announced Tuesday that the change will become effective before trading begins on June 29, bringing one of the world’s largest technology companies into the 30-stock blue-chip index while removing a longtime telecommunications giant.

The move reflects how dramatically the American economy has evolved.

A generation ago, telecommunications companies occupied a central role in corporate America. Today, investors increasingly view artificial intelligence, cloud computing, digital advertising, and technology infrastructure as the primary engines of economic growth.

Alphabet sits at the center of those trends.

The company operates Google Search, YouTube, Android, Google Cloud, autonomous-vehicle business Waymo, and a growing portfolio of artificial-intelligence products that have become critical to businesses and consumers worldwide.

The decision also highlights a unique feature of the Dow.

Unlike the S&P 500, which weights companies according to their total market value, the Dow is a price-weighted index, meaning companies with higher share prices exert greater influence over the index’s movements.

Verizon, whose shares trade around the mid-$40 range, had become one of the smallest contributors to the Dow’s daily performance.

Alphabet’s shares trade at several hundred dollars per share, giving it significantly greater influence within the index.

According to S&P Dow Jones Indices, lower-priced stocks can eventually have only a minimal impact on a price-weighted index, prompting periodic adjustments to better reflect the modern economy.

The addition further increases the Dow’s exposure to technology.

Alphabet will join fellow technology leaders Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Nvidia, making Big Tech an even larger force inside one of America’s most closely watched market gauges.

The timing is notable.

Artificial intelligence has become one of the dominant investment themes of the decade, helping drive market gains and pushing several technology companies to record valuations.

Alphabet shares have gained more than 10% in 2026, continuing a multi-year run fueled by growth in AI, cloud computing, and digital advertising.

The Dow itself remains one of the most recognized financial benchmarks in the world.

Created in 1896, the index tracks 30 major U.S. companies and is often used by investors and the media as a shorthand measure of overall market performance.

Although most institutional money today tracks broader indexes such as the S&P 500, membership in the Dow continues to carry significant prestige.

The change will also trigger portfolio adjustments across investment products that directly track the Dow.

Funds linked to the index will be required to sell Verizon shares and purchase Alphabet shares to mirror the new composition.

A separate index adjustment is occurring simultaneously.

Honeywell International is moving forward with the separation of its aerospace business. The parent company will remain in the Dow under a new structure, while the aerospace business will join the S&P 500 following the transaction.

For Verizon, the removal is largely symbolic.

The company remains one of America’s largest wireless carriers, serving millions of customers and maintaining a significant dividend payout.

For Alphabet, however, joining the Dow further solidifies its position among the small group of companies widely viewed as bellwethers for the U.S. economy.

As artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital platforms continue reshaping business and society, the Dow’s latest adjustment serves as another reminder of where investors increasingly believe the future of growth resides.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Wednesday that regional countries alone should determine the Middle East’s political and security order, rejecting external involvement and calling for expanded intra-regional cooperation.

“No one’s security should depend on the insecurity of others,” Ghalibaf said at a meeting of the Parliamentary Union of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, as Iran and the United States seek to conclude a lasting peace agreement. His comments were broadcast on state television.

“The resistance of the Iranian people showed that the era of imposing one’s will on independent nations has ended,” he added, emphasizing the shift in regional conditions since the start of the war. 

Ghalibaf said the Baku meeting would offer an opportunity to explain developments after the recent conflict, according to Iran International.

“The war was not simply a military confrontation; rather, it was an organized effort to change the strategic balance of the region and impose its will on a free nation,” he said, according to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-linked Tasnim News.

Iran persevered, peace a result of ‘authority, respect,’ not ‘submission’

“The planners of this aggression thought that they could force the Iranian nation to retreat and rewrite the regional equations in their favor through military pressure, siege, psychological operations, and terrorist acts, but what happened was in complete contradiction to the calculations of the war planners… And you saw how the world admired this perseverance and victory.”

According to Tasnim, Ghalibaf emphasized that “lasting peace is not the product of submission, pressure, and humiliation, but rather the result of authority, dignity, and respect,” before going on to call the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding a declaration of defeat by the United States.

This is in contrast to US President Donald Trump’s recent insistence that the US-Iran MoU qualified as an “unconditional surrender” for Iran.

“It really probably is unconditional surrender. I think so,” Trump said when asked about the MoU.

Trump emphasized the damage the US had done to Iran’s military forces and senior officials, including Iran’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claiming that he had achieved regime change through killing the previous government officials.

Despite this, Iranian officials consider the MoU to be a major victory for Tehran. 

Ghalibaf concluded his speech by emphasizing the need for bilateral cooperation between heads of parliaments and delegations, particularly with Azerbaijan, which hosted the parliamentary union.

Goldie Katz contributed to this report.

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Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest cruise company, reported record second-quarter results on Tuesday — and watched its stock fall anyway. In a release dated June 23, the Miami-based operator said revenue hit a record $6.7 billion, with adjusted net income up over 20% to $569 million and net income of $537 million. Customer deposits, the money travelers put down in advance, reached an all-time high of $9.0 billion. Yet shares slid more than 5% during the session, dragged by a broad market selloff and a more cautious outlook for the rest of the year.

Demand for cruises remains strong. Carnival marked its 12th consecutive quarter of record net yields — a measure of how much it earns per passenger — and said its booked position for the rest of 2026 is ahead of last year at historically high prices. Chief Executive Josh Weinstein said the company delivered the record quarter while absorbing nearly 30% higher fuel costs and “extreme geopolitical headwinds,” beating its March guidance by $100 million.

So why did the stock drop? The outlook.

Management trimmed expectations for the back half of the year, citing the prolonged Middle East conflict, which has hit European deployments and was worsened by elevated airfares for North American guests. Carnival said it prioritized price integrity over occupancy in the affected regions, leaning on its advance bookings to hold pricing. For a stock that had climbed on a long streak of records, even a modest downgrade was enough to spark selling.

The report is a useful read on the broader consumer economy. For three years, Americans have kept spending on experiences — trips, concerts and dining out — even as they pulled back on goods, and Carnival’s record deposits suggest that preference is intact. The cruise industry continues to benefit from pent-up travel demand and consumers prioritizing experiences over goods. People are booking further out and at higher prices, a sign a meaningful slice of consumers still has room for vacations.

But the cracks Carnival flagged are worth watching. Higher airfares are a direct hit to the cost of a cruise, since most passengers fly to a departure port. When flights get pricier, the whole trip does, and some travelers trade down or stay home. The Middle East conflict has also forced lines to reroute ships, adding cost and limiting destinations. Fuel, up sharply because of the same tensions, raises the price of every voyage.

Weinstein framed the headwinds as temporary. He said recent June booking trends already suggest a reversal of the geopolitical impact, and that the 2027 booking curve sits at historical highs for price and occupancy, with European bookings for next year up mid-teens percentages. Cost-management efforts are expected to deliver structural benefits beyond 2026.

On the numbers, Carnival earned an adjusted $0.41 per share, up from $0.35 a year earlier and ahead of the $0.34 analysts expected. The company also accelerated shareholder returns, surpassing $450 million in stock repurchases. Wall Street’s view had been broadly positive, with 15 buy ratings, 6 holds and no sells, and the post-earnings drop owed as much to the day’s punishing market as to the results.

For everyday travelers, the takeaway is mixed. Cruise demand is strong enough that prices are likely to stay high into 2027, especially for popular European sailings — good for Carnival, less so for budget-minded vacationers. The wild card remains the Middle East: if the fragile calm holds and airfares ease, Carnival’s bet that the slowdown is temporary looks sound. If tensions flare again, the same forces that dented its outlook could linger into next year.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio begins a Middle East tour in earnest on Wednesday, seeking to reassure Gulf allies who view concessions in President Donald Trump’s Iran deal that include a proposed $300 billion fund as too generous to a regional foe.

Arriving in Abu Dhabi late on Tuesday for a three-day Gulf trip, Rubio is undertaking his first high-level diplomatic mission on the agreement reached last week to end the four-month-old US-Israeli war with Iran.

Asked on arrival if he planned to address allies’ disquiet with the accord, Rubio told reporters: “That most certainly will come up in these discussions.” He said they would also discuss issues not covered by the memorandum of understanding.

America’s top diplomat has been largely absent from Iran-related discussions in recent weeks, with Vice President JD Vance instead leading a round of talks with Iranian counterparts over the weekend in Switzerland.

Rubio’s remarks during his swing through the region will be closely scrutinized to see how the man once known as a hawkish critic of Iran frames a deal that many congressional Republicans argue amounts to capitulation.

A delicate mission: Defend Trump deal, address Iran concerns

Rubio and Vance, both former US senators, are widely viewed within Republican Party circles as potential candidates to succeed Trump, with party insiders and early polling often casting the race as a two-way contest between them.

Rubio’s mission is delicate: While he needs to defend a preliminary accord that Trump firmly supports, he also has to credibly address the concerns of his Gulf counterparts, who are more circumspect about the deal.

While Gulf leaders pushed for peace during the four-month-long conflict, many were surprised and disappointed by the terms of the accord.

US regional allies are especially concerned that Iran could use the proposed $300 billion reconstruction fund to rebuild its military. The accord also does not address Tehran’s ballistic missile capacity, a concern for Gulf states, all of which were struck by Iranian missiles and drones in the war.

Tehran has noted that the Gulf states made various logistical accommodations for Washington’s war effort, while hosting US military bases that were central to the conflict.

UAE, Kuwait host strategic US military bases, hit by Iranian missiles

Among the countries Rubio is visiting are the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. Both nations host strategic US military bases, and both were hit by an onslaught of Iranian missiles, resulting in civilian deaths.

The UAE faces particularly severe economic strains, as the war caused thousands of expatriates at the core of its non-oil economy to flee, provoking questions about the long-term viability of an expanding global financial center so close to a country that attacked it.

Last week, Reuters reported that Iran set up secretive new cells in Iraq to carry out attacks on Gulf countries, including Kuwait and the UAE.

Those cells carried out at least ​seven drone attacks against sites in Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia during a roughly one-month period in April and May, Reuters reported.

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday described a doctrine of “economic statecraft” that would link U.S. economic policy more closely to national sovereignty and security, contending that assumptions underpinning the postwar global order have created critical vulnerabilities that adversaries can exploit.
Speaking at The Economic Club of New York’s America 250 Gala Dinner on the eve of the nation’s 250th anniversary, Bessent argued that the United States helped build an open economic system that brought broad global benefits, but that system needs to be reconsidered.
“We came to believe that access to the American market could be extended without condition—and therefore without consequence,” Bessent said in prepared remarks. “We assumed that closer economic integration would result in a greater convergence of interests. That supply chains would function in every crisis. Low prices would compensate for lost capacity. And above all, that other countries would treat our firms as fairly as we had treated theirs.”…

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U.S. stock futures were mixed early Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average pointing lower while the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 edged higher, as technology shares attempted to recover from Tuesday’s global selloff and President Donald Trump opened a new front in his battle against inflation by ordering a probe into gasoline prices.

In a Truth Social post early Wednesday, Trump accused major oil companies of failing to pass lower crude prices on to consumers and said he had directed the Justice Department to investigate potential price gouging. “Gasoline prices better start going down a lot faster than what I’m seeing!” Trump wrote, though he did not identify specific companies.

As of early trading, Dow futures slipped 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures gained 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.5%, signaling a cautious attempt by investors to buy back into technology shares after Tuesday’s sharp decline.

The previous session was dominated by a selloff in semiconductor stocks that rippled across global markets. The S&P 500 fell 1.44%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.21%. The Dow managed to outperform, slipping just 0.09% as investors sought safety in defensive names including Walmart and IBM.

The latest market narrative remains tied to the aftermath of the U.S.-Iran conflict. Oil prices, which surged when fighting disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, have reversed sharply as shipping routes reopen. Brent crude has fallen below $76 per barrel, retreating to levels last seen before the conflict escalated.

That decline has not yet fully reached consumers at the pump, fueling Trump’s criticism. Energy analysts noted that retail gasoline prices typically lag movements in crude oil due to refining, transportation, and tax costs. Karen Young of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy described Trump’s comments as largely political pressure, noting that pump prices often take weeks to reflect lower crude costs.

Overseas markets found firmer footing after Tuesday’s turmoil. South Korea’s Kospi surged more than 3%, recovering part of the prior session’s steep decline, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.88%. Europe’s Stoxx 600 traded little changed as investors weighed growth concerns against falling energy prices.

Market movers

FedEx tumbled roughly 6% in premarket trading after delivering better-than-expected quarterly results but issuing a cautious outlook. The shipping giant cited higher transportation expenses and uncertainty surrounding trade policy, a warning that drew attention because FedEx is widely viewed as a barometer of global economic activity.

Cerebras Systems dropped about 11% after reporting its first earnings as a public company. The AI chipmaker posted strong revenue growth but larger-than-expected losses and warned that margins would remain below those of rivals including Nvidia.

Micron Technology rose approximately 5% ahead of earnings scheduled after Wednesday’s closing bell. Investors are closely watching the memory-chip producer for fresh evidence that demand tied to artificial intelligence remains robust after a year-long rally in semiconductor shares.

Elsewhere, Intel and Qualcomm each gained about 2% following Tuesday’s selloff, while Alphabet advanced after news it will join the Dow Jones Industrial Average next week. Homebuilder KB Home climbed roughly 3% after surpassing revenue expectations.

Commodities and volatility

Oil remained the market’s most closely watched commodity. WTI crude traded near $73 per barrel, while Brent crude hovered below $76, reflecting expectations that energy supplies will continue to normalize as shipping traffic resumes through the Persian Gulf.

In fixed-income markets, the 2-year Treasury yield remained near its highest level since early 2025 as investors continued to price in the possibility that the Federal Reserve, under Chair Kevin Warsh, could resume rate hikes later this year. Higher yields have created additional pressure on richly valued technology companies.

Investors now turn their attention to Micron’s earnings report, which many view as the next major test of the AI investment boom. Economic data due Wednesday include new-home sales, building permits, and earnings from payroll processor Paychex. Later this week, markets will receive the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, a report that could help determine the next move for interest rates.

For now, Wall Street appears caught between two powerful forces: optimism surrounding artificial intelligence and lingering concerns over inflation, rates, and consumer costs. Wednesday’s mixed futures suggest investors are willing to buy the dip—but not without caution.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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Despite elevated mortgage rates and high home prices, the majority of Americans still favor buying a home rather than renting in the current housing environment, a new report from Bank of America said.
BofA’s Homebuyer Insights Report, released on June 23, shows that 53 percent of survey respondents said buying a home is the preferred option versus renting or living with family members, the first time in three years of positive homebuying sentiment.
“We are seeing meaningful changes in attitudes toward homeownership,” Matt Vernon, head of consumer lending at Bank of America, said.
“Despite real and persistent challenges in the market, buyers and owners are increasingly optimistic, and many are starting to move forward rather than waiting on the sidelines.”…

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Journalists don’t usually appear in the byline of peer-reviewed scientific papers. But recently, I received an email I’d been waiting on for nearly three years: A prestigious journal had accepted the findings from a study I helped lead with more than 20,000 participants across all 50 states. It was published Tuesday evening in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

My team at NPR had joined forces with physiologist Keith Diaz’s at Columbia University Medical Center to test his lab findings. Specifically, we invited people to try taking movement breaks every 30 minutes, every hour, or every two hours. Our goal was to test whether short walking breaks, which have been shown to offset some of the damage of our sedentary, screen-bound lives, were actually feasible out in the real world.

Read the rest…

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What if you could precisely change the genome of a pre-implantation human embryo and then safely use that embryo to try to generate a healthier person? It’s a wild idea, but one that technology over the past decade has steadily made a bit less fantastical, at least practically speaking.

But even as CRISPR gene-editing research has advanced, including exciting work reported in a new preprint on base editing of human embryos from geneticist Dieter Egli’s lab at Columbia, the same tough ethical questions remain.

Read the rest…

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It wasn’t sure to be a slam dunk. By the time LivaNova launched a pivotal trial for its vagus nerve stimulator to treat heart failure in 2018, similar devices had shown mixed results. But the Food and Drug Administration had designated the device as a breakthrough, a label intended to speed promising technologies to patients with unmet needs: Maybe this would be the device to help heart failure patients when drugs weren’t enough. 

Over the last decade, the FDA’s breakthrough device program has helped bring nearly 200 innovative products to the American market. LivaNova’s vagus nerve stimulator, called VITARIA, wasn’t going to be one of them. 

With the FDA’s help, LivaNova and its investigators designed an adaptive trial that could help them act fast. The plan was to enroll patients 100 at a time; by judging progress at prespecified checkpoints, the trial could stop early if data looked promising, or dangerous. After enrolling 500 patients — half of the planned max — an independent data and safety monitoring committee in 2022 said the trial should continue: The signals weren’t strong enough to indicate they were at a stopping point. 

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to call for a Security Cabinet meeting on Wednesday regarding Syria in connection with Lebanon, following US President Donald Trump’s recent comments about handing over responsibility for Hezbollah to the Syrian regime of Ahmad al-Sharaa, N12 News reported.

“If Israel can’t do the job without killing everyone else, Syria should do the job,” Sharaa said in a bilateral meeting on June 16. “I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah, because to be honest with you, I think they’d do a better job of doing it.”

According to Arab News, Sharaa denied that “his country sought to intervene militarily in Lebanon where Israel and Hezbollah are at war, after US President Donald Trump repeatedly suggested Damascus could get involved.” 

In an interview with Dubai-based Lebanese outlet Al Mashhad, Sharaa said, “We are looking for economic channels between Lebanon and Syria, not military ones.”

In separate instances, the Syrian president said, “Lebanon needs joint solutions, and Syria is ready to anchor a new security path… Our goal is to back the Lebanese state, strengthen its institutions,” and “Syria can be relied upon to find a safe path toward a solution, but this does not mean war.”

Israel fears return to 2005 status quo, sees indication of Syrian entry

Despite these denials that Syria would deploy its army in Lebanon, N12 reported that Israel has identified indications that Syria is looking to seize control of parts of Lebanon. 

According to N12, analysts within Israel believe the Syrian regime is strengthening its influence in border areas, while also moving to take control of Lebanese power centers. They are concerned about a return to Syrian dominance in Lebanon, similar to pre-2005 regional reality, as well as strengthened ties between Syria, the United States, and the Gulf States. 

‘Like tossing a match into a powder keg’

In response to Trump’s proposed solution of handing over the Hezbollah issue to Syria, an Israeli official told N12, “This is like tossing a match into a powder keg; we will get al-Qaeda and [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan on our northern border.”

The al-Qaeda comment is a reference to Sharaa’s time as an emir within the terror group, before splitting from the global jihadist movement to form Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham during the Syrian Civil War.

According to N12, Israel’s defense establishment is searching for alternative solutions to dealing with Hezbollah that do not involve the “worst-case scenario” of Syrian intervention, which they believe would result in Turkish encroachment, with both Erdogan and Sharaa gaining favor with the White House in the backdrop of a potential falling-out with Netanyahu.

Israel’s weighing of a decision to hand over recently captured Hezbollah tunnels to the Lebanese Army may be a result of such considerations, said a source familiar with the details.

Seth J. Frantzman and James Genn contributed to this report.

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Two bills sponsored by Jewish California (formerly the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California) passed through their final policy committees on Tuesday and are set to be heard by the state senate in August.

SB 1387 – Recognizing Jewish ethnicity in state law, data

The first of the two bills, SB 1387, authored by Democratic Senator Henry Stern, concerns the recognition of Jewish ethnicity in California state law and in data collection.

The majority of US Jews cite ancestry and culture as being central to their Jewish identity, according to Jewish California, citing the Pew Research Center. Only 36% say that the Jewish religion is central to their identity. This identity gap, according to Jewish California, leads to undercounting, misclassification, and misunderstanding of California’s Jewish population.

For this reason, bill SB 1387 requires that all of the state’s ethnicity data collection systems include “Jewish” as an ethnicity option, not only as a religious identifier.

“For years, California has recognized that good data drives good policy – and has extended that recognition to community after community,” said David Bocarsly, CEO of Jewish California. “Jewish Californians deserve the same. This bill ensures our community is neither invisible nor misrepresented in the systems that shape public health, education, and civil rights decisions.”

SB 1387 will next be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee in August. If passed, it will be voted on by the full California State Legislature by the end of August. Should SB 1387 be enacted, the State of California would become the first state in the US to recognize Jewish identity as an ethnicity.

AB 1836 – Securing community events against hate

The second bill, AB 1836, was authored by Democratic Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel and co-sponsored by Jewish California and Equality California, an LGBTQ+ civil rights organization.

AB 1836 broadens the scope of the current California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program (CSNSGP). Currently, funds granted by the CSNSGP can be used to bolster security at a non-profit’s permanent facility and for the people within it.

AB 1836 allows for the funds to be used to secure off-site events as well, including religious observances, LGBTQ+ Pride events, cultural festivals, marches, and protests. The bill would also ensure that eligible nonprofits without a permanent physical location are eligible for funding.

“Our communities don’t just gather behind security doors – we gather for religious holidays in the park, we demonstrate, and we host public festivals and parades,” said CEO Bocarsly.

“Vulnerable communities should not have to worry about safety when practicing our traditions in the community. But with hate-motivated violence on the rise, the cost of securing these gatherings has become prohibitive for many organizations, threatening the very community-building that defines us. We thank Assemblymember Gabriel for his leadership in solving this problem, and we’re proud to work alongside Equality California to make sure every Californian can come together without fear.”

AB 1836 will next be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee in August. Like SB 1387, if passed, it will also be voted on by the full California State Legislature by the end of August.

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The de facto British, French, and German embassies in Taipei issued a joint statement on Wednesday expressing concern about recent Chinese activities off the east coast of Taiwan, where China has mounted coast guard patrols.

“We have noted with concern novel Chinese activity in the waters east of Taiwan. These actions threaten regional stability and the freedom of navigation and safety of international shipping,” the statement said.

This comes shortly after Taiwan announced that its military needs to test if it can respond immediately to a war with China breaking out.

Taiwan says warning time for any China attack is shortening

Meanwhile, Taiwan is holding five days of “immediate combat readiness” drills this week. Its military has begun basing some of its drills on a scenario in which China suddenly turns one of its regular exercises around the island into an actual attack.

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, and its military operates around the island on an almost daily basis. China’s newest aircraft carrier sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday.

The drills put greater emphasis on the ability to respond quickly and rapidly shift into combat readiness, Koo told reporters in parliament.

“It is intended to build the speed we believe is necessary for converting from peacetime to wartime status,” he said.

“In other words, given the current threat situation from the enemy, and as we believe the warning time is shortening, we need to verify that we can respond immediately.”

Taiwan holds regular military drills, including earlier this month when it fired its new US-made HIMARS rocket system, which is widely used by Ukraine, into the Taiwan Strait.

Its main annual Han Kuang military exercises are expected in August.

China claims Taiwanese military drills show ‘malicious intent’

Speaking in Beijing later on Wednesday, Zhang Han, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said the drills showed the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) “malicious intent to seek independence by force.”

“In the face of the powerful people’s army, the DPP authorities’ posturing is completely futile; it will only harm and destroy Taiwan and bring about their own destruction,” she said.

Zhang reiterated that Beijing was willing to make the greatest efforts to achieve “peaceful reunification.”

“However, we will never pledge to renounce the use of force, and we will never leave any room for separatist activities seeking Taiwan independence in any form.”

China held its most recent full-scale war games around Taiwan in late December.

Taiwan wants to modernize its military

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te is leading a push to modernize the armed forces, including a goal to boost defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product before 2030.

“I ask all senior generals to lead force transformation with innovative thinking,” Lai told a military promotion ceremony for generals on Wednesday.

Rapidly changing regional conditions and multidimensional, non-traditional, complex challenges made such efforts necessary, he added.

The United States, traditionally Taiwan’s most important international supporter and arms supplier despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties, has strongly backed the government’s plans to boost defense spending.

US allies in the region share a consensus on the need to prevent a “contingency from occurring and to build robust deterrence,” Raymond Greene, the top US diplomat in Taipei, said in comments shared by the de facto US embassy on Tuesday.

“In line with the US national security strategy, we aim to work alongside regional allies to maintain the status quo of the first island chain and prevent any attempts to take Taiwan by force,” Greene told Taiwan’s United Daily News in an interview.

The first island chain refers to an area stretching from Japan down to Taiwan, the Philippines and Borneo.

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Good morning! Pharma companies are on a biotech buying spree, an LSD pill just delivered unusually strong late-stage depression data, and the FDA reverses course of Regenxbio’s treatment.

Also: Today, thousands of industry players (and me!) are gathering in San Diego for BIO to talk deals, science, and whatever comes next. Check out the last item for a jaunt down memory lane about the conference.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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The fifth round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon opened on Tuesday in Washington, with the talks centered on creating “pilot areas” where Israeli forces would withdraw in order for the Lebanese army to prove its ability to disarm Hezbollah.

Just before the talks began, Hezbollah claimed that the IDF “violated” the ceasefire, saying that soldiers opened fire with “automatic weapons toward a group of civilians” near Nabatiya at approximately 11:30 a.m.

It called the alleged incident “treacherous” and claimed that two civilians were killed, and two more were injured.

This “constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire, which the resistance [Hezbollah’s term for itself] has been careful to uphold until now,” the terror group stated.

Israel’s Ambassador to US Leiter says Lebanon talks are a train wreck

Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter expressed grave concern over Iran’s continued influence in Lebanon and the question of whether Hezbollah will be dismantled and removed from the country, following the talks in Switzerland.

“This is the fifth round of talks, and I must say, we are heading toward a train wreck… that train is in danger of derailing,” the ambassador said at the onset of the talks.

“We agreed to a ceasefire on the condition that Hezbollah withdraw northward. Is that agreement still binding?”

Leiter expressed concern that Hezbollah could be given “a new lease on life” if increased funding flows to Iran under the Memorandum of Understanding, warning that such resources could be diverted to the group and used to sustain its terrorist campaign against Israel.

Before Leiter’s comments, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that his government would “accept nothing less than the end of the Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon.”

“We are heading into a new round that we hope will be decisive on the path to accomplishing what we want for the good of our country and people, and this good we see in restoring Lebanon’s full sovereignty over every inch of soil and extending the state’s authority over all our land,” he said during a Lebanese government cabinet meeting.

IDF strikes Hezbollah terrorists targeting soldiers in southern Lebanon

Hezbollah’s statement follows the IDF striking an armed Hezbollah cell operating near soldiers in the Ali Taher Ridge area of southern Lebanon, in the Security Zone.

The military confirmed the strike earlier on Tuesday.

Another strike reportedly happened on Tuesday, according to Lebanese media, with a drone attacking a parked vehicle between the villages of Beit Yahoun and Baraashit in southern Lebanon.

The IDF did not issue a comment on this strike.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lebanese media reported that negotiators were discussing returning the remains of missing Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad in exchange for Lebanese prisoners.

Israeli officials told the Post that they were unaware of this development and had no new information on Arad, but that they would be pleased to hear if Lebanese officials had new intel.

Amichai Stein contributed to this report.

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The Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) argued that two of its endorsed candidates in Tuesday’s primaries lost their elections over their support for Israel.

Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat lost the primary elections in New York’s 10th and 13th Districts, respectively.

Support for Israel became District 10’s key topic of debate

In New York’s 10th Congressional District, Lander faced off against Goldman in a highly contested Democratic primary, where the main issue became the two candidates’ views on Israel.

In the June 1 debate, Goldman claimed that “Israel is not the most important issue in this district,” however, it was ultimately where he lost the Democratic primary.

While both Lander and Goldman consider themselves Zionists, Lander describes himself as a “liberal Zionist,” whereas Goldman claims to be “unabashedly pro-Israel.”

Lander is also a former member of the Democratic Socialists of America. He left the group following the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, disappointed by the DSA’s participation in a pro-Palestinian rally on October 8.

“On October 8th, they advertised a rally that I thought was heinous, that spoke about Hamas in ways that I just thought were vile, and I could not continue to be a member,” Lander said during a June 1 debate broadcast by Spectrum NY1.

The former comptroller’s campaign emphasized his refusal to take money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and claimed that the pro-Israel lobby was funding Goldman’s campaign, something which he repeatedly denied.

However, JDCA congratulated seven endorsees who won the New York primaries in their districts following Tuesday’s election.

Halie Soifer, CEO of the JDCA, shared a statement congratulating their endorsed candidates on their victories across New York: “New Yorkers made their voices heard tonight, and we are pleased that seven of our endorsees won.”

She added that “JDCA congratulates Reps. Suozzi, Gillen, Meng, Torres, Latimer, Riley and Mannion on their well-deserved victories. These Democrats share our Jewish values, and we are confident that they will serve as a check on Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s extreme, authoritarian agenda in Congress.”

Soifer said, “JDCA extends our deep gratitude to Reps. Goldman and Espaillat for their leadership in Congress… We regret that Israel became a divisive issue in these races, especially in NY-10, and we will continue to support Democrats across the country who stand on principle in support of Jewish values, including democracy, against antisemitism, and in support of the US-Israel relationship.”

Espaillat lost to Mamdani-backed Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist who once helped organize pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, while Goldman lost to another Mamdani-backed candidate, former city comptroller, Brad Lander.

Goldman became the target of a dramatic online attack over Israel policy

On Monday, just hours before the Democratic primary elections, Goldman became the target of an extreme Instagram and Facebook post by Poetica Coffee, barring him from their shops.

The chain posted on their since-deleted accounts saying they “don’t serve racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers” after Goldman visited the cafe with his child.

The posts referenced Goldman’s support for Israel and accusations of campaign funding from AIPAC, saying, “We see that you stopped by our coffee shop today for a coffee. Do you see how it doesn’t taste like genocide juice?”

They added “We issued you a refund – we don’t need your money (it’s probably coming from AIPAC anyways).”

The situation quickly spiraled out of control as the chain began to receive death threats via email and doubled down on antisemitic rhetoric, posting dogwhistles.

The US Justice Department said on Monday it opened a probe into Poetica Coffee following the events

Mamdani described Goldman’s response to the situation as “extremely gracious,” while radio host Ari Hoffman said in a post on X/Twitter that “This story proves that no matter how left you are, you can never be left enough for the radicals.”

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Airlines should continue to avoid the airspace over Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon and remain cautious across the region despite the framework deal between Washington and Tehran, because violations remained possible, the EU aviation safety agency EASA said.

EASA said on Wednesday it was extending its conflict-zone advisory for the region until July 1.

Short-term violations of the US-Iran ceasefire remain possible, in particular in and around the Strait of Hormuz and neighboring airspace, the agency said.

The agency also flagged the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, creating the potential for military activity impacting the airspace of Lebanon.

EASA said all operators must exercise caution and take potential risks into account when operating within the airspace of Bahrain, Kuwait, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

US planes can ‘fly over Tehran’ safely, Trump says

US President Donald Trump claimed that Iranian airspace was safe for US aircraft during a speech given ahead of the midterm elections in Macungie, Pennsylvania, on Monday.

American planes can “fly over Tehran,” Trump said. “Nothing will happen.”

“We’re doing great,” the US president added. “Nineteen million barrels of oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday. That’s the largest amount of oil that’s passed through the Strait in its history.”

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to the report.

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svg{position:relative;top:2px;color:var(–color-inkSubtle);-webkit-transform:rotateX(180deg);-moz-transform:rotateX(180deg);-ms-transform:rotateX(180deg);transform:rotateX(180deg);}.css-1q7p60h-ArrowHiddenLabel{position:absolute!important;width:1px!important;height:1px!important;padding:0!important;margin:-1px!important;overflow:hidden!important;clip:rect(0, 0, 0, 0)!important;white-space:nowrap!important;border:0!important;}increase; up pointing triangle, the world’s largest owner of industrial real estate, said it made a 12.6 billion-pound ($16.63 billion) takeover approach for smaller U.K. peer Segro, which turned down the proposal.

Under Prologis’s proposal, Segro shareholders would have received 0.084 new Prologis shares for each Segro share held, implying a value of 925 pence a share, the U.S. company said Wednesday. This represents a 25% premium to Segro’s closing price on Tuesday, it added.

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The majority of the Israeli public believes that the lessons of the October 7, 2023, massacre require Israel to maintain defensible borders, buffer zones, and a security presence in strategic areas, according to a new nationwide public opinion survey conducted for the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) published on Tuesday.

The survey indicates broad support for preserving Israel’s territorial security components and significant skepticism toward alternatives based on international guarantees or territorial withdrawals.

The survey found that 54% of Israelis believe Israel’s borders are not sufficiently protected following the events of October 7, while only 42% believe they are protected. In addition, 56% of respondents believe that the security failure that enabled the terror attack was the result of a combination of factors, rather than a single isolated failure.

Regarding the Gaza Strip, 64% of Israelis believe that Israel should maintain a permanent military buffer zone along the border, and an additional 11% support this within the framework of a temporary arrangement. Overall, about three-quarters of the public support the continued existence of a security buffer zone in the strip.

On the northern front, 73% of Israelis support the IDF continuing to maintain a presence and a buffer zone in southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, while only 14% oppose this.

Israelis support border presence and reflect on past military decisions

There is also broad support for a continued Israeli presence on the Syrian border. 60% of Israelis support maintaining Israel’s control and security presence in the area, which was occupied after the fall of the Assad regime, whether by maintaining the status quo or expanding the buffer zone for security purposes.

In the West Bank, 57% of Israelis believe that Israel must maintain a permanent military presence in the Jordan Valley regardless of any future political settlement, and see this as a non-negotiable security necessity. Only 11% believe this presence can be relinquished.

The survey also shows a significant lack of trust in international solutions. 65% of Israelis do not trust international forces to replace Israel’s military presence on the country’s borders. Of these, 40% believe only Israel can defend itself, and another 25% cite the historical failure of international forces to provide effective security.

Accordingly, 61% of Israelis oppose a peace agreement that would require a complete withdrawal from the West Bank without Israeli-controlled buffer zones. Only 27% expressed willingness to support such a move.

The survey also shows that 48% of Israelis now define the Oslo Accords as a strategic mistake, and 56% believe that the Gaza disengagement plan was a strategic mistake. These findings reflect a reassessment by the public regarding past withdrawal policies and territorial arrangements.

JCFA President Dan Diker said: “The Israeli public has drawn a clear lesson from the events of October 7 and from security developments in recent years: national security cannot be based on hopes, international guarantees, or basic assumptions that have proven insufficient. Most Israelis today understand that defensible borders, strategic depth, buffer zones, and an Israeli security presence in vital spaces are necessary conditions for the defense of the state.”

According to him, “The survey findings indicate a broad consensus across many political camps regarding the need to maintain independent defensive capabilities and ensure that Israel has borders that can be defended even in a changing regional reality. This is a significant message both for decision makers in Israel and for Israel’s partners around the world.”

The survey was conducted as part of the “Defensible Borders” program of the Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Security Affairs, in collaboration with the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS), and was conducted in cooperation with Lazar Research led by Dr. Menachem Lazar among a representative sample of 503 Jews and Arabs aged 18 and over in Israel.

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US President Donald Trump criticized the US Senate in a Truth Social post on Tuesday night, saying that the newly passed war powers resolution was “meaningless” and “poorly timed.”

The Senate backed legislation on Tuesday directing Trump to halt US military action against Iran, the latest rebuke of the Republican president from an increasingly restive Congress.

The Senate voted 50-48 in favor of the war powers resolution, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this month, reflecting growing concern even among some of Trump’s Republicans about the unpopular conflict that began on February 28 when the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran.

“Four Republican Losers voted with the Dumocrats,” Trump wrote on Wednesday. “These Senators have just made my job more difficult, but I will get it done, one way or another.”

US planes can ‘fly over Tehran’ safely, Trump says

Trump also addressed the deal with Iran during a speech given ahead of the midterm elections in Macungie, Pennsylvania, on Monday.

American planes can “fly over Tehran,” Trump said. “Nothing will happen.”

“We’re doing great,” the US president added. “Nineteen million barrels of oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday. That’s the largest amount of oil that’s passed through the Strait in its history.”

Reuters and Idan Kweller contributed to this report.

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Aber Kawas, a Palestinian-American who ran on a platform of democratic socialism and defunding “Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” won the Democratic primary for the New York State Senate race in Queens on Tuesday.

Kawas became the first Palestinian Muslim woman elected in New York state after receiving New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s endorsement.

She was born and raised in New York to Palestinian parents.

The Democratic primary winner placed an emphasis within her campaign on changing the immigration system and countering the affordability crisis in New York.

Kawas’ win in the primary elections comes off the back of Mamdani’s three major primary wins in his attempt to remake the Democratic Party into a democratic socialist force.

Mamdani-backed NY Senate primary winner’s website shares anti-Israel rhetoric

Kawas’s website boasts of her role in developing and launching the “Not On Our Dime!” campaign alongside Mamdani, which aims to stop New York-registered organizations from giving money to Israel.

Their website says that Not On Our Dime was launched to stop “New York State is subsidizing Israel’s illegal settlement expansion and state violence against Palestinians,” and has the slogan “end NY funding of Israeli war crimes.”

It talks of “strategies of genocide” in the West Bank and Gaza, describing “egregious horrors” committed by Israel, and notably fails to mention October 7 when talking about the number of Palestinians killed since October 2023.

The associated bill proposed amending New York’s nonprofit law to “prohibit not-for-profit corporations from engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity.”

Mamdani said it would stop the flow of about $60 million a year from New York-based charities to settlements deemed illegal under international law.

The bill aimed to force any New York synagogue or Jewish corporation that gives money to ZAKA, United Hatzalah, or the One Israel Fund to pay a fine of at least $1 million or risk a lawsuit.

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South Korea’s stock market staged a strong comeback Wednesday after suffering one of its sharpest declines of the year, as investors cautiously returned to technology shares ahead of a closely watched earnings report from Micron Technology.

The Kospi rose more than 3%, recovering part of the previous session’s steep losses after a global semiconductor selloff rattled markets across Asia, Europe, and the United States.

Leading the rebound were South Korea’s technology giants.

Samsung Electronics climbed more than 8%, while memory-chip maker SK Hynix gained roughly 3%, helping lift the broader market after both companies were heavily sold during Tuesday’s rout.

The recovery helped stabilize investor sentiment following a difficult day for technology stocks worldwide.

On Tuesday, concerns about the sustainability of the artificial-intelligence spending boom triggered a sharp selloff across the semiconductor sector.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell nearly 8%, while major U.S. technology stocks and chipmakers posted significant losses.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped more than 2%, and semiconductor-focused exchange-traded funds suffered some of their largest declines of the year.

Now investors are focused on a single event.

Micron Technology’s earnings report has become one of the most anticipated corporate releases of the quarter because many analysts view the company as a key indicator of demand across the AI supply chain.

Micron manufactures memory chips used in artificial-intelligence systems, data centers, cloud-computing infrastructure, and advanced computing platforms.

Its high-bandwidth memory products have become especially important as AI developers race to build larger and more powerful computing systems.

The company has previously stated that its high-bandwidth memory production for 2026 is effectively sold out and that customer demand continues exceeding available supply.

That strength has helped fuel one of the most powerful rallies in the semiconductor sector.

But it has also raised expectations.

Investors are increasingly asking whether the massive amounts of money being spent on AI infrastructure can continue growing at the current pace.

Those concerns contributed directly to Tuesday’s market decline.

Analysts say Micron’s guidance may provide one of the clearest answers yet regarding whether AI-related demand remains as strong as the market has assumed.

A strong earnings report could reassure investors that spending remains supported by genuine customer orders.

A weaker outlook could reinforce fears that companies are investing ahead of actual demand.

The stakes are particularly high because semiconductor stocks have become a major driver of overall market performance.

A relatively small group of AI-related companies has accounted for a significant portion of stock-market gains over the past two years.

As a result, weakness in chip stocks increasingly affects major indexes, retirement accounts, pension funds, and technology-focused investment portfolios.

Investors are also monitoring broader economic developments.

Markets continue awaiting fresh inflation data, including the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.

Recent comments from Fed officials have reinforced expectations that interest rates could remain elevated longer than previously anticipated.

Higher rates tend to pressure high-growth technology stocks because future earnings become less valuable when discounted at higher borrowing costs.

Meanwhile, easing tensions in the Middle East and improving shipping conditions through the Strait of Hormuz have helped reduce oil prices, providing some relief to inflation concerns.

For now, the rebound in Seoul offers investors a temporary pause after a turbulent trading session.

Whether it marks the beginning of a broader recovery or simply a brief respite before further volatility may depend largely on what Micron reports.

In a market increasingly driven by AI expectations, one earnings report has become a critical test of whether the industry’s spending boom still has room to run.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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Former Gaza hostage Ilana Gritzewsky took the floor at the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday in order to confront the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women for her minimization of sexual violence used against victims on October 7, 2023.

“Your report speaks about violence against women. Why is there no mention of Hamas?” Gritzewsky demanded from the Special Rapporteur, Reem Alsalem.

She described her experiences during the October 7 massacre, being beaten by the Hamas terrorists who stormed Kibbutz Nir Oz.

“I woke up half naked with seven terrorists standing over me, not knowing what happened to me in those lost moments,” she said. “I went through days of pain and horror in captivity, and even now the feeling of being powerless and violated still lingers. I came back with a broken hip, a broken jaw, and a shattered soul.”

Gritzewsky accused Alsalem of choosing “silence and denial” when it comes to the Jewish victims of sexual abuse during and after October 7.

“I am standing here today – not as a report, not as a statistic,” Gritzewsky said. “I am a woman who survived. I am the living proof of sexual violence by Hamas. When I and other Israeli women begged not to be raped, why were you silent?”

Gritzewsky had previously visited the UN Security Council in August, 2025 to share her personal story as a former hostage.

During that visit, she recounted that, while she was on the way to Gaza, she lost consciousness when the captors began to touch her and sexually abuse her. She woke up lying naked on rocks surrounded by the Hamas terrorists. To prevent them from assaulting her, she told them she was on her period. They then threw a hijab at her.

UN special rapporteur denies mass rape during October 7 massacre

In November, 2025, Alsalem stated that “No independent investigation found that rape took place on October 7,” despite a UN report that detailed Hamas’s use of sexual violence during the October 7 massacre.

Alsalem also wrote that “No Palestinian applauded rape in Gaza,” during a social media exchange on the legal case against soldiers accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner in the Sde Teiman detention center.

In April, she doubled down on her denial, stating that the allegations of mass sexual violence against Israelis on October 7 were “misinformation” used in order to “justify the genocide against Palestinians.”

Danielle Greyman-Kennard and Darcie Grunblatt contributed to this report.

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Train service across Germany resumed early on Wednesday after a nationwide disruption of the digital railway radio system was fixed, operator Deutsche Bahn said in a statement.

“Our IT experts have been working non-stop to resolve the issue – and have succeeded,” a spokesperson for the company said, adding services were now gradually resuming.

Earlier, Deutsche Bahn had stopped all trains, citing an outage affecting the Global System for Mobile Communications for Railways, GSM-R, the main communication tool between train drivers and traffic control centers.

Transportation limited

Deutsche Bahn said services might still be limited and it would issue taxi and hotel vouchers to passengers and offer replacement transport where possible.

“DB apologizes to passengers for the situation,” it said.

Deutsche Bahn did not disclose the cause of the incident.

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Several of Israel’s rare and endangered species have begun producing seeds and flowering once again as a result of a joint conservation effort, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) announced last Sunday.

Many of the species that have flowered in recent months are yielding fruit for the first time, and the resulting seeds are being collected and stored at several protected locations, including the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Israel Plant Gene Bank.

The ongoing initiative is being spearheaded by KKL-JNF, Eshtaol Nursery, and the Jerusalem Botanical Garden to cultivate rare and vulnerable plant populations in the hopes of eventually strengthening their persistence in the wild.

Amongst the flourishing species is the nearly-endangered spiked fenugreek, a yellow-flowered plant used for cooking and traditional medicinal practices. Other breakthrough species include the bristly cephalaria, which germinated and bloomed without issue, representing a significant finding for species that are difficult to cultivate outside of their natural habitats.

“The research project on endangered plants is advancing in great strides, and today we know how to propagate more than 500 different species,” said Dr. Ori Fragman-Sapir, the scientific director of the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, and one of the authors of the Red Data Book on endangered plants in Israel.

“Our nursery team, and especially Nadav Herman, work tirelessly day and night and are succeeding in this mission through the fruitful and productive cooperation between the Botanical Garden and KKL-JNF,” he added.

The environmental initiative has seen numerous other successes, including the nursery cultivation of jointed goatgrass, which could prove useful in ongoing agricultural research, an unexpected population of white-tunicated garlic, and the first flowering of a phoenician rose in the Botanical Garden. 

Jerusalem Botanical Garden playing a new role

Though the Jerusalem Botanical Garden is well-known as a site for research and floral displays, these recent developments have given it a new role as a refuge for rare wild plants. 

“The greatest significance is not only that a rare plant succeeds in flowering here, but that it completes its life cycle, produces seeds, and sometimes even establishes itself independently in the field,” said Rotem Attias, manager of Eshtaol Nursery at KKL-JNF. “Every such seed is another layer of security for a species that could disappear from nature.”

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani scored three major primary wins in his attempt to remake the Democratic Party into a democratic socialist force on Tuesday.

Mamdani-endorsed former city Comptroller Brad Lander defeated two-term Representative Dan Goldman, while Assemblymember Claire Valdez beat Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso for an open congressional seat and activist Darializa Avila Chevalier narrowly defeated five-term Representative Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Taken together, those constitute big wins for the 34-year-old mayor, who shocked the political world with his 2025 election and is now consolidating his political power. The results in New York come on the heels of democratic socialist mayoral candidates winning the primary in Washington, DC, and making the runoff in Los Angeles.

Mamdani’s efforts to expand the democratic socialist base in the US follow a decade-long effort that was spurred on by Senator Bernie Sanders’ surprisingly popular 2016 presidential campaign and his efforts to nurture a new generation of democratic socialist leaders.

But some analysts and former officials say it is also in response to progressive Democratic voters’ anger at President Donald Trump’s agenda and governing style, and at the Biden administration’s backing of Israel’s war in Gaza following October 7. Israel’s response resulted in more than 73,000 Palestinian deaths.

“Energy on the far right ignites energy on the far left. Politics is reactive,” said Steve Israel, a former US House member from New York who late in his congressional career ran an operation to elect more Democrats.

 

Democratic party tensions run high

For months after Mamdani won his 2025 primary election, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries was dogged by reporters asking whether he would endorse his fellow New Yorker. Jeffries did so, but kept everyone guessing until just 11 days before the general election.

Meanwhile, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York remained silent on Mamdani throughout the campaign.

The rub is that Jeffries is positioned to ascend to US House speaker and thus second in line for the presidency if Democrats win November’s midterm elections.

The path to victory does not run through “blue,” solidly Democratic congressional districts. Instead, it’s the “purple” swing districts where Democrats need to beat Republicans.

Nonetheless, the defeat of five-term Democratic Representative Adriano Espaillat by Mamdani-backed democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier carries national implications that could complicate Jeffries’ task.

“If a DSA member could knock off the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, that could matter,” said Matt Bennett, co-founder of Third Way, a centrist Democratic consultancy.

Even more relevant could be stances Avila Chevalier has touted in past social media postings, such as calling for abolishing police and border controls and raising questions about Israel’s right to exist.

“This is precisely the kind of person that they (Republicans) love to use to weaponize against other Democrats” running for office in competitive races, Bennett said.

Former Representative Israel agreed and said in an interview: “I do worry that the strength of democratic socialists in places like New York and California will be misread as the center of gravity for Democrats across the country” this November or in the 2028 presidential election.

Avila Chevalier has since deleted her social media posts and apologized for some of the language she used.

But in an interview with a consortium of editors last week, Avila Chevalier said: “I think that we just should not have a system that allows (migrant) deportation to happen at all,” saying it “is rooted in deeply racist ideology.”

In response to her views, Espaillat said Avila Chevalier “can’t just sweep things under the rug.”

“Darializa has taken very extreme positions as reflected in her comments on social media not too long ago,” he said in a June 16 posting on X. “She is unfit for office and voters are smart enough to see that.”

 

Democratic socialists against Democrats

Alex Jacquez, a progressive strategist who was a senior adviser to Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, said in an interview that focus groups and opinion polls deliver the message that Democratic voters’ level of dissatisfaction with their leaders runs deep.

“That is really where you are seeing the fault lines. Are you willing to take on the wealthy and take on corporations and take on the status quo to deliver results. Or are you not,” he said of the populist message democratic socialists are trying to win on this fall and through the 2028 elections and beyond.

Meantime, outside of deep-blue districts of New York, California and other Democratic strongholds, the party is running women with strong military backgrounds in places like Florida and Colorado for example.

“Most of the competitive districts for Democrats are red and pink districts that you can only win as a Democrat in … where more moderate stances resonate in races against incumbent Republicans,” Israel said.

A presidential election is not won in blue states, he added. “It’s won in seven moderate battleground states.”

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South Korea’s military detained a North Korean soldier near the central section of the inter-Korean border on Tuesday night, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Wednesday.

Authorities were investigating the incident, JCS said in a text message to Reuters.

Yonhap News Agency reported the soldier expressed an intention to defect to South Korea, without citing a source.

North Korea should build two warships a year in next five years, Kim says

North Korea should build two warships as large ​as its 5,000-metric-ton Choe Hyon vessel every year ‌in the next five years, leader Kim Jong Un said at a commissioning ceremony of a destroyer on Tuesday, according ​to state media KCNA.

Kim attended the ceremony held ​at the Nampho port in North Korea to ⁠celebrate the deployment of the new multipurpose destroyer ​Choe Hyon, KCNA reported.

The destroyer successfully completed military operational ​tests over the past 14 months, KCNA added.
 
The country plans to deploy another 5,000-ton destroyer named Kang Kon Soon, along with ​10,000-ton strategic warships, Kim said, according to the report.

Kang Kon ​was repaired last year after partially capsizing during a launch ceremony.

The navy ‌had ⁠been the weakest part of North Korea‘s military forces, Kim said, adding that its capabilities would now be “something incredible beyond imagination.”

“Building a modernized naval base has ​emerged as a ​desperate and ⁠essential task,” Kim said.

He said officials of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee discussed ​plans to build new naval bases at ​a meeting ⁠on Monday.
 
The most important change for the navy would be a shift in its status, role, and scope ⁠of ​operations, Kim said, without elaborating.

The navy’s ​nuclearization is “advancing along its own course,” contributing to the country’s nuclear deterrence, ​he said.

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President Donald Trump signed two executive orders Monday designed to accelerate America’s quantum-computing capabilities while preparing federal agencies for the cybersecurity challenges the technology could eventually create.

The orders place quantum technology among the administration’s top national-security and economic priorities, reflecting growing competition with China and increasing concern that future quantum computers could undermine today’s digital security systems.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, administration officials described the initiative as a major step toward securing U.S. leadership in one of the world’s most strategically important technologies.

At the center of the first order is an ambitious goal.

The administration is directing federal agencies to pursue development of a next-generation quantum computer capable of supporting advanced scientific research by 2028.

The Department of Energy has been instructed to establish technical requirements for the system and explore partnerships with private-sector companies capable of helping build the technology.

The computer is expected to be housed within the national laboratory system.

Quantum computing differs fundamentally from traditional computing.

While conventional computers process information using bits that exist as either zeros or ones, quantum computers utilize quantum mechanical properties that allow them to perform certain calculations exponentially faster than today’s most advanced supercomputers.

Researchers believe the technology could eventually transform fields including drug development, advanced materials, artificial intelligence, energy production, logistics, and national defense.

The executive order also directs the Department of Defense to accelerate deployment of quantum-sensing technologies by September 2028.

These systems could help military aircraft navigate in environments where GPS signals are unavailable or disrupted and may eventually assist in detecting underground facilities, hidden infrastructure, and other difficult-to-observe targets.

The second executive order focuses on cybersecurity.

Federal officials increasingly worry that sufficiently powerful quantum computers could eventually break many of the encryption systems currently protecting financial transactions, government communications, healthcare records, critical infrastructure, and other sensitive data.

To address that risk, the administration ordered agencies to accelerate migration toward so-called post-quantum cryptography, a new generation of encryption designed to withstand attacks from future quantum computers.

Federal agencies will now be expected to transition their most sensitive systems by approximately 2030–2031, significantly ahead of previous timelines.

Each agency must designate a migration leader within 30 days and develop implementation plans designed to protect government networks before large-scale quantum systems become operational.

The urgency stems from growing concerns surrounding what technology experts often call “Q-Day” — the moment when quantum computers become powerful enough to break widely used encryption standards.

While experts disagree on exactly when that threshold may arrive, many believe the timeline is shortening.

Several major technology companies and research organizations have recently warned that practical quantum breakthroughs could emerge sooner than previously expected.

The executive orders do not include new funding appropriations.

Instead, agencies have been directed to utilize existing resources while coordinating with industry partners, research institutions, and national laboratories.

The orders follow recent federal efforts to expand investment in emerging technologies tied to artificial intelligence, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, and national security.

The business implications could be substantial.

The move provides additional momentum for companies operating in the quantum-computing sector, including technology giants such as IBM, Microsoft, and Alphabet, as well as a growing number of specialized quantum firms focused on hardware, networking, sensing, and cybersecurity.

Investors responded positively, with several publicly traded quantum-related companies posting significant gains following news of the initiative.

Still, many industry experts caution that the timeline remains aggressive.

Developing a large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer remains one of the most difficult engineering challenges in modern science. Several leading companies have previously suggested that fully operational systems may not arrive until the end of the decade or later.

Government targets alone cannot overcome the underlying scientific obstacles.

Even so, the message from Washington is unmistakable.

The United States is treating quantum technology not merely as a research project, but as a strategic national priority with major implications for economic competitiveness, technological leadership, cybersecurity, and national defense.

For businesses and consumers alike, the most important impact may ultimately be invisible: a race to strengthen the digital locks protecting financial data, communications, and critical infrastructure before future quantum machines become powerful enough to break them.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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As additional details emerge from the talks that took place between the US and Iran in Switzerland, they reveal the dire predicament that Israel is getting mired in.

A joint statement released by the mediating countries, Qatar and Pakistan, announced the creation of a deconfliction mechanism for Lebanon. According to reports on N12, it would limit Israeli military action to only responding to “imminent threats,” rather than to the broader category of “emerging threats,” according to a Monday report.

The N12 report noted that the new arrangement would depart from a previous framework, established in November 2024, that included representatives from Israel, Lebanon, the United States, France, and the United Nations. The new oversight body would include the US, Iran, Lebanon, Qatar, and Pakistan – but not Israel.

In essence, it’s creating an absurd reality that gives Iran – the nation bent on destroying Israel and fueling the Hezbollah holy war against the Jewish state – a senior role in determining whether Israel is violating the framework set up to defuse the war in Lebanon.

As such, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, predictably lauded the new mechanism, calling it a “major progress to end the Lebanon War.”

US VP JD Vance announces ‘deconfliction mechanism,’ says Israel part of talks

US Vice President JD Vance, when announcing the “deconfliction mechanism” in Burgenstock on Sunday, said that Israel would be part of the conversation. But without representation, Jerusalem is once again being shut out from vital decisions being made that affect the well-being of its citizens, a trend that has gained steam since the partnership with the US that launched the February 28 attack against Iran.

Naturally, Israel has lashed out at what’s taking place behind its back. President Isaac Herzog said on Monday that any negotiations to end the Israel-Lebanon conflict should be done by the two countries themselves and not by “Iranian extortion.”

Shortly after the N12 report aired, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a Hebrew-language statement stressing that Israeli troops in southern Lebanon have “full freedom of action” against both “direct or emerging threats” posed to them.

“The directive that the defense minister and I have given the IDF is clear and has not changed: Our forces in southern Lebanon have full freedom of action to thwart any direct or emerging threat against them or against residents of northern Israel. The IDF faces no restrictions in this regard,” Netanyahu said.

That view was reiterated on Tuesday in a joint statement issued by Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.

Lebanon, Aoun unhappy with ceasefire implementation, oversight

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun also seems none too pleased with the new mechanism.

As The Jerusalem Post’s Amichai Stein reported, although Aoun has publicly welcomed the initiative, senior Lebanese officials have privately questioned why the US is facilitating renewed Iranian influence in Lebanon after months of successfully reducing Tehran’s footprint there.

“We negotiate for ourselves, and we do not accept any other party doing so for us,” Aoun said on Monday, cautioning that although Beirut welcomes “any assistance that comes from any country to end the war,” it expects those countries to avoid “interfering in our internal affairs.”

The developments are taking place on Tuesday as Israeli and Lebanese delegations are meeting in Washington for another round of talks focused on the disarmament of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and continued discussions on the prospect of normalization between the two countries.

Lebanese officials expressed concern that Iran’s renewed role could encourage Hezbollah to refuse cooperation with any disarmament initiative. Signs of the group’s resistance are already evident in recent statements by senior Hezbollah officials, who now insist that Israel must complete a full withdrawal from Lebanese territory before the terror organization takes any steps toward disarmament.

Although we don’t know the full details about what’s being discussed between the US and Iran under the auspices of Pakistan and Qatar,  nevertheless, agreements made in Switzerland that affect the lives of IDF soldiers serving in Lebanon and Israeli citizens suffering the brunt of Hezbollah attacks must be made with the involvement of Israel.

Why we have been shut out and whether we’re impotent to do anything about it are matters that need to be considered when Israelis go to the polls this fall.

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The majority of Israelis view the agreement between the US and Iran negatively and feel that the war’s objectives were not fully achieved, according to a survey conducted by the Jewish People Policy Institute. 

The survey, which was conducted between June 2 and 8, included 772 respondents representative of Israel’s adult population and polled views on the US-Iran agreement, on the war’s objectives, and on trust in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump. 

While 55% of Israelis expressed concern about the emerging agreement, only 23% viewed it as beneficial for Israel. 

While this majority was stronger among Jewish Israelis, with 64% of participants viewing the agreement as beneficial, the majority of Arab Israelis, some 61%, viewed the agreement positively. 

Opinions on agreement consistent across political spectrum

Among Jewish Israelis, the majority remained somewhat consistent across the political spectrum: 77% of Religious Zionism voters, 85% of Yisrael Beyteinu voters, and 71% of Yesh Atid voters all assessed the deal negatively, marking it as a rare point of consensus among the Israeli public. 

This consensus did not extend to opinions on the goals achieved during the war. Some 65% of right-wing respondents said a large share or most of the objectives were achieved, whereas a majority of center and left-wing respondents believed the outcome was far from what Israel wanted, and a majority of the left believed the fighting harmed Israel. 

The outlook was even more negative regarding the Lebanon front. Only six percent of Israelis believed Israel had achieved most or all of its objectives in Lebanon, with the majority of respondents expressing disappointment with the outcome. 

These results also correlated with political ideology, with 60% of right-wing respondents identifying success and 55% of left-wing respondents saying the war caused Israel harm.

However, 58% of Israelis still support the original decision to go to war with Iran, with the figure rising to 69% among Jewish Israelis. 

The majority of Israelis expressed distrust in Netanyahu, with 44% reporting “very low” trust, and only 40% reporting high trust. These figures reflect the state of affairs observed at the end of 2025. 

Trust in Trump dropped significantly. Only 12% of Israelis now hold a “great deal of trust” in Trump with regard to US-Israel relations, in contrast to the 21% who did so in May, and the 34% who did so in March, after the start of the war. 

The number of those who express no trust at all has also risen to 37%. 

Overall, the survey found that two-thirds of Israelis do not feel that Israel is winning or has won the war. This remains consistent with the figures recorded in May, and is significantly below those in March. 

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The Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) has canceled its annual Pride Month event, as well as a variety of other pride-related plans, under the orders of the Shin Bet head David Zini, N12 reported on Tuesday.

According to sources, plans for the Shin Bet’s Pride Month event were well underway when the organizers were notified of its cancellation, with no clear explanation provided. 

Sources also listed to N12 the other pride programming planned to take place within the Shin Bet during Pride Month, which had been denied. These plans ranged from changes to the computer system’s screensavers and the addition of a banner on the screens to the issuance of stickers and the hanging of pride flags throughout the event.

The head of Human Resources at Shin Bet also received an order transferring the entire budget allocated for pride-related events and programming to the general organization’s budget.

“At the outset, we would like to note for the sake of good order that no official request on this subject has reached the office of the head of the service, the Shin Bet told N12 about the situation. “However, and not to be out of place, we would like to clarify that to the extent that a particular group wishes to gather and hear a lecture of its choosing, there is no impediment, provided that this complies with the service’s procedures, which have not been changed in this area since the current head of the service took office.”

Chikli supports Shin Bet decision to cancel Pride event

Several Israeli figures commented, both in support and in condemnation, on Zini’s decision.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli proclaimed that “It is not the role of national security organizations to promote gender and LGBTQ agendas.”

“The IDF and Shin Bet are not universities, nor are they political organizations,” he wrote in a post on X/Twitter. “Their role is one: to safeguard Israel’s security!”

On the other hand, Democrats chairman Yair Golan called out Zini, saying that the LGBTQ community is not a threat to Israel’s security.

“Discrimination, extremism, and messianism are the threat,” he stated. “The Shin Bet must be a home for everyone who serves the state with loyalty and professionalism – regardless of their identity.”

The Aguda Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel said that it was “shocked,” and demanded that Zini retract his decision, saying that “It would be better for the head of the Shin Bet to focus on Israel’s security rather than on silencing and excluding his employees from the LGBTQ community.

“David Zini – we just wanted to remind you of Section 7A of the General Security Service Law: ‘The Service is tasked with safeguarding the state’s security, the democratic regime and its institutions,'” the Aguda wrote.

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Two more suspects have been arrested by the FBI for alleged involvement in the thwarted drone plot during the UFC event at the White House last week, bringing the total to seven, according to a United States Department of Justice (DOJ) press release published on Monday.

According to the DOJ, William Lee Spartacus Falkner and Jordan W. Rincker were both charged with conspiracy to commit murder for their alleged roles in the plot.

Faulkner is alleged to have discussed the manufacture and piloting of drones in order to attack the event, including how to load explosives onto them.

“I’m pretty sure the effective kill radius is 50 meters,” Falkner allegedly said. “It will be loud, but it’ll be quick.”

Rincker, meanwhile, is alleged to have accepted $1,200 from another arrested conspirator, Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, in order to distribute it among individuals involved in the plan. He also gave Alvarez a 12-gauge pump action shotgun during a meeting in Omaha, the DOJ stated, exchanging it for a ballistic plate, face shield, night vision goggles, binoculars, a “wire checker,” an ammunition-filled bandolier, a 3D printer, 3D printing filament, and a minicomputer.

The 3D printer was intended for making drones, the DOJ said. However, Rincker claimed in an interview with investigators that he had never attempted to build drones and did not know how.

FBI thwarts drone attack at UFC Freedom 250

The FBI thwarted the potential attack involving explosive drones targeting the White House during the weekend’s UFC Freedom 250 event, FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed last week.

According to officials speaking to FOX News, the plan was to launch explosive drones to hit buildings near the event to drive spectators into a sniper ambush, and then storm the White House gates, with the goal being to target “capitalist elites,” “billionaires,” or politicians who received donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Shir Perets contributed to this report.

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MorningStar Farms is voluntarily recalling two plant-based food products sold in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Costa Rica because they may contain plastic pieces, according to a notice published by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The recall affects MorningStar Farms Buffalo Chik’n Nuggets and MorningStar Farms Hot & Spicy Sausage Patties. The company announced the recall on June 18, and the FDA published the notice Monday.

Consumers who purchased the affected products should not consume them and should instead discard the items and contact the company for a full refund, MorningStar Farms said. 

No other MorningStar Farms products are included in the recall.

THOUSANDS OF BOTTLES OF BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATION RECALLED NATIONWIDE

The recalled Buffalo Chik’n Nuggets were sold in 10.5-ounce packages with UPC code 00028989101105 and “Better if Used Before” dates of July 7, 2027, and July 8, 2027. 

The recalled Hot & Spicy Sausage Patties were sold in 8-ounce packages with UPC code 00028989100948 and “Better if Used Before” dates of July 5, July 6 and July 7, 2027.

The Chicago-based company said it initiated the recall because of the possible presence of plastic pieces in the food. The products were distributed in the United States, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica, according to the recall notice.

Food recalls involving foreign materials such as plastic can pose a choking hazard or risk of injury if consumed. The FDA classifies recalls involving potential foreign-material contamination among the more common food-related recalls issued each year.

POPULAR TEETHING TOY SOLD ON AMAZON FOR YEARS RECALLED OVER CHOKING HAZARD FOR CHILDREN

The announcement did not indicate whether any injuries had been reported in connection with the issue or how the possible contamination was discovered.

“At MORNINGSTAR FARMS, our highest priority is protecting the safety and wellbeing of our consumers,” a Mars spokesperson said in a statement to FOX Business. “On June 18, we announced a voluntary recall of two varieties of MORNINGSTAR FARMS products in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Costa Rica because of possible plastic pieces in the food.”

The spokesperson added that the recalled varieties are MORNINGSTAR FARMS Buffalo Chik’n Nuggets and MORNINGSTAR FARMS Hot & Spicy Sausage Patties, and that no other products are affected by the recall.

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Consumers seeking additional information can contact MorningStar Farms Consumer Affairs Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET by calling 800-962-0120 or texting 877-453-5837.

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Google’s YouTube has settled a social media addiction case brought by a 15-year-old in Florida who accused the platform of causing mental health harms to children, according to the plaintiff’s lawyers.

The terms of the settlement in the state court lawsuit against the social media giant were confidential, the lawyers said on Tuesday.

“YouTube’s decision to resolve this case before having to face a jury speaks for itself. We will continue fighting on behalf of all those affected by social media addiction to bring these companies to justice and compel them to prioritize the safety of their young users over their bottom lines,” the plaintiff’s lawyers said in a statement, according to Reuters.

“We will continue fighting on behalf of all those affected by social media addiction to bring these companies to justice and compel them to prioritize the safety of their young users over their bottom lines.”

META LOBBIES CONGRESS FOR IMMUNITY FROM LAWSUITS ALLEGING ONLINE HARM TO CHILDREN

Google spokesperson José Castañeda said in a statement to FOX Business that the lawsuit had been amicably resolved and that the company’s focus “remains on building age-appropriate products and parental controls that deliver on that promise.”

“For more than a decade, we’ve built YouTube responsibly — working with families to give young people safer, more helpful experiences online,” Castañeda said.

The teenager, who used the initials R.K.C. in court documents, argued that YouTube and other social media companies had designed their platforms to be addictive.

He said he started using social media when he was about 8 years of age and allegedly became addicted, losing sleep and suffering from depression and anxiety.

JURY FINDS META, GOOGLE LIABLE IN LANDMARK SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION TRIAL, AWARDS MORE THAN $6M IN DAMAGES

R.K.C. is also suing Meta, TikTok and Snapchat in a trial set to begin next month in Los Angeles.

More than 3,300 lawsuits involving addiction claims against social media companies are pending in California state court, while another 2,600 cases brought by people, school districts, municipalities and states are pending in California federal court.

The first trial ended in March after a woman claimed ⁠she became addicted to YouTube and Instagram at a ​young age because of their attention-grabbing design. She had accused the companies of intentionally making their platforms addicting to child users.

A jury in that case found the companies negligent, ordering Meta to pay her $4.2 million in damages and Google to pay $1.8 million. Earlier this month, the judge rejected the companies’ effort to overturn the verdict.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT RULES OHIO CAN REQUIRE PARENTAL CONSENT CHILDREN UNDER 16 ON SOCIAL MEDIA

The woman had also sued TikTok and Snapchat, but both platforms settled before trial for an undisclosed total.

A jury in New Mexico also ordered Meta earlier this year to pay $375 million for misleading users over the safety of its platforms for children.

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Google, Meta, Snapchat and TikTok also settled a case last month that was heading to trial in which a Kentucky school district accused the platforms of creating a mental health crisis for its students. 

The platforms paid a collective $27 million to settle that case.

Meta will also face a trial in a lawsuit brought by Tennessee next month. In August, a trial in federal court over the combined claims of multiple states will go forward against the social media giant. 

Reuters contributed to this report.

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The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange on Monday launched the Gulf’s first same-day settled spot gold contract, a milestone driven by the exchange’s chairman, Ahmed Bin Sulayem, who has spent nearly two decades building Dubai into one of the world’s leading centers for the gold trade.

Announcing the Gold Spot T+0 Contract, Bin Sulayem — who also serves as Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), DGCX’s parent company — said Dubai has become one of the world’s leading hubs for physical gold trading, connecting bullion flows between East and West.

The new product dramatically shortens the settlement process.

In most global gold markets, transactions settle on a T+1 basis, meaning buyers and sellers complete the exchange of money and metal one business day after the trade occurs. The DGCX contract reduces that timeline to T+0, allowing participants to execute, clear, settle, and take physical delivery of gold within the same trading day.

Only a limited number of international markets currently offer comparable capabilities.

The contract is structured around one kilogram of UAE Good Delivery gold, denominated in UAE dirhams, and cleared through the Dubai Commodities Clearing Corporation (DCCC). Physical delivery takes place through approved vaulting facilities within the UAE.

The DCCC acts as the central clearing counterparty, helping ensure that transactions are completed while reducing the risk that either side fails to deliver funds or bullion.

The exchange is targeting bullion dealers, refiners, institutional investors, brokers, clearing members, and other market participants seeking a regulated alternative to traditional over-the-counter gold transactions.

The launch represents the latest milestone in a long period of growth under Bin Sulayem’s leadership.

He joined DMCC during its formation in 2002 and became Chairman of DGCX in 2007. During that time, Dubai has evolved from a regional commodities center into one of the world’s leading trading hubs.

Under Bin Sulayem’s leadership, DMCC expanded from a small free-zone operation into a global business ecosystem that now hosts tens of thousands of companies from more than 180 countries.

Industry leaders widely credit him with helping establish Dubai as a major center for gold, diamonds, energy products, agricultural commodities, and other global trade flows.

The timing is significant.

According to industry data, the United Arab Emirates overtook the United Kingdom in 2025 to become the world’s second-largest gold trading hub, behind only Switzerland. The UAE now handles approximately 15% of global gold trade, making efficient settlement infrastructure increasingly important.

Why does same-day settlement matter?

In commodity markets, settlement delays tie up capital and expose participants to price fluctuations before ownership is finalized. By reducing settlement time to zero days, traders can free up capital faster, reduce risk, improve liquidity management, and move physical metal more efficiently.

DGCX also emphasized that the entire transaction process remains within the UAE.

The bullion, collateral, clearing, and settlement infrastructure all operate under UAE jurisdiction, an advantage the exchange believes will become increasingly valuable as governments, financial institutions, and investors place greater importance on custody, transparency, and regulatory oversight.

The launch comes during a period of strong global interest in gold.

Central banks continue adding bullion to reserves, while investors increasingly use gold as a hedge against inflation, geopolitical uncertainty, and currency volatility.

Whether the contract ultimately captures significant trading volume will depend on how quickly market participants shift activity from private over-the-counter transactions and competing exchanges.

But the launch sends a clear message.

In a global gold market where settlement practices have changed little for decades, Dubai is betting that speed, central clearing, physical delivery, and regulatory oversight can attract a larger share of the world’s bullion business.

For Dubai, it strengthens its position as a global commodities powerhouse. For Ahmed Bin Sulayem, it represents another step in a two-decade effort to place the emirate at the center of international trade.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved what lawmakers are calling the most significant federal housing legislation in decades, passing the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act by a decisive 358-32 vote and sending the measure to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law.

The legislation follows overwhelming bipartisan approval in the Senate, where lawmakers backed the bill by an 85-5 margin a day earlier.

The package represents one of the rare major bipartisan achievements of the current Congress and comes as housing affordability remains one of the top concerns for voters nationwide.

At its core, the legislation is designed to address what economists increasingly identify as the primary driver of rising home prices: a shortage of housing supply.

The bill includes provisions intended to speed up residential construction, reduce regulatory delays, encourage local zoning reforms, expand financing options for multifamily developments, promote manufactured and modular housing, and strengthen programs serving veterans and rural communities.

Supporters argue the reforms could reduce the time and cost required to bring new housing projects to market.

Lawmakers from both parties say increasing housing supply is essential if affordability is to improve for future homebuyers.

One of the most closely watched provisions targets institutional investors.

The legislation places new limits on large corporate investors purchasing single-family homes, an issue that has become increasingly controversial as private-equity firms and investment funds expanded their presence in residential housing markets over the past decade.

Many first-time buyers have argued that institutional investors contribute to affordability challenges by competing directly with families for available homes.

Republicans and Democrats spent months negotiating the provision before ultimately agreeing to retain it in the final bill.

While both parties supported the legislation, they emphasized different priorities.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott highlighted the importance of increasing housing supply and expanding opportunities for first-time homebuyers.

Democrats focused heavily on provisions aimed at limiting investor activity and increasing housing access.

Rep. Maxine Waters described the bill as an important step forward while acknowledging that additional housing reforms may still be necessary in future legislation.

Passage was not without controversy.

A group of conservative lawmakers initially threatened opposition because the package did not include unrelated voter-registration provisions supported by some Republicans.

Ultimately, congressional leadership moved forward with the housing legislation as a standalone measure.

All 32 votes against the bill came from Republicans, while every Democrat present voted in favor.

Housing experts remain divided on how quickly the measure will affect affordability.

Some economists argue that institutional investors play only a relatively small role in the overall housing shortage and that supply constraints remain the primary challenge.

Others believe investor restrictions could help ease competition in certain markets.

Many analysts note that the legislation’s largest impact will likely come from its supply-focused provisions, though those benefits may take years to materialize as new housing projects move through planning and construction.

The timing reflects growing pressure on policymakers.

Mortgage rates remain near 6.5%, affordability remains strained, and housing inventory remains historically tight across much of the country.

Recent studies show that starter homes now exceed $1 million in hundreds of American communities, while surveys continue finding that many Americans believe homeownership has become increasingly difficult to achieve.

For builders, developers, and local governments, the legislation creates new opportunities to accelerate projects and access federal support.

For prospective homebuyers, the bill represents a long-term effort to increase supply and improve affordability.

Whether it ultimately succeeds will depend less on the legislation itself and more on how many new homes are actually built in the years ahead.

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SpaceX shares recovered Tuesday after briefly falling below the stock’s initial trading price for the first time since the company’s highly anticipated public debut earlier this month.

The stock dropped as low as $146.88 during morning trading, slipping below the company’s first-trade price of $150 and briefly pushing its market valuation below $2 trillion.

By the closing bell, however, buyers returned.

Shares finished the session modestly higher, snapping a three-day slide that had erased nearly a quarter of the company’s market value.

The rebound followed one of the most dramatic stretches since the company’s June 12 initial public offering.

After pricing its IPO at $135 per share, SpaceX surged more than 50% in its first days of trading, briefly becoming one of the most valuable companies in the world and adding hundreds of billions of dollars to founder Elon Musk’s net worth.

The enthusiasm cooled quickly.

Investors began reassessing the company’s valuation after SpaceX disclosed plans Monday to enter the public bond market for the first time.

The company announced a senior unsecured notes offering expected to raise at least $20 billion, while also revealing that it held approximately $100.8 billion in cash and equivalents as of June 19.

For some investors, the combination raised questions.

If the company already holds more than $100 billion in cash, why raise billions more through debt?

Supporters argue the answer lies in the scale of SpaceX’s ambitions.

The company continues investing heavily in Starship, satellite infrastructure, artificial intelligence, data centers, and other long-term growth initiatives that require enormous amounts of capital.

Critics counter that the fundraising highlights just how expensive those ambitions may ultimately become.

Despite the recent volatility, SpaceX remains significantly above its IPO price.

Even after the pullback, shares continue trading roughly 10% above the offering price that investors paid less than two weeks ago.

Part of the stock’s volatility stems from its unusually small public float.

Only about 4.2% of outstanding shares were made available to public investors during the IPO. With relatively few shares actively trading, both rallies and selloffs can become amplified as investors rush to buy or sell.

The market is also continuing to evaluate the company’s financial performance.

SpaceX generated approximately $18.7 billion in revenue during 2025, but reported a net loss of roughly $4.9 billion as spending accelerated across major projects.

The company also continued reporting substantial investment-related losses during the first quarter of 2026 as it expanded operations and pursued new growth initiatives.

Bulls argue those losses reflect strategic investment rather than financial weakness.

Recent agreements tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure and high-performance computing have strengthened revenue expectations, with analysts citing several large commercial contracts that could generate billions in future revenue.

Wall Street remains divided.

Some analysts believe SpaceX’s dominance in commercial launch services, satellite communications, and emerging AI infrastructure justifies a substantially higher valuation.

Others caution that investors may have become overly optimistic following the IPO and that the company still faces significant execution risks.

Another major test is approaching.

Several insider lock-up periods begin expiring later this year, allowing early investors and company insiders to sell portions of their holdings for the first time.

The first significant unlock is expected following the company’s next earnings report, currently scheduled for August 6.

Investors will be watching closely.

The earnings release will provide the market’s first comprehensive look at SpaceX as a public company and may help determine whether the stock’s early valuation can be supported by operating performance.

For now, Tuesday’s rebound suggests many investors still view the recent pullback as a buying opportunity.

But the sharp swings also serve as a reminder that even industry-leading companies can experience significant volatility when expectations, valuations, and growth ambitions collide.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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FedEx delivered stronger-than-expected quarterly results Tuesday, but investors focused on the company’s outlook rather than its earnings beat, sending shares lower in after-hours trading.

The shipping giant reported adjusted earnings of $6.31 per share for its fiscal fourth quarter ended May 31, exceeding Wall Street expectations of approximately $5.96 per share.

Revenue reached $25.01 billion, also topping analyst forecasts and helping push full-year revenue to $94.7 billion.

Despite the strong performance, shares fell roughly 6% after hours, as investors weighed management’s guidance, rising costs, and the company’s transition into a new corporate structure.

The quarter marked a major milestone for FedEx.

It was the final reporting period that included FedEx Freight, the trucking business the company officially separated into an independent public company on June 1.

As part of the transaction, FedEx Freight paid approximately $4.1 billion to its former parent through a special dividend. FedEx also retained an ownership stake that it may monetize in the future.

The separation leaves FedEx more focused on its core package-delivery operations.

The company’s Federal Express segment generated $21.57 billion in quarterly revenue, benefiting from higher shipping volumes and pricing improvements across key markets.

Investors, however, were more concerned about what comes next.

FedEx recently shifted its fiscal calendar and now expects approximately 11% revenue growth for calendar year 2026, while projecting adjusted earnings between $16.90 and $18.10 per share.

Management also highlighted several near-term headwinds, including costs associated with separating the freight business, a new pilot labor agreement, and expenses tied to fleet modernization.

During the quarter, FedEx recorded a $23 million charge related to retiring ten aircraft from service.

After a year in which the stock had already climbed roughly 40%, even modest caution from management was enough to trigger profit-taking among investors.

The earnings report also provided an important snapshot of the broader economy.

Because FedEx transports goods for businesses and consumers across the country, analysts often view the company as a barometer of economic activity and consumer demand.

The picture was mixed.

Package volumes improved, pricing remained strong, and management reported steady customer activity. At the same time, executives described overall demand as somewhat muted amid shifting trade policies, tariff uncertainty, and broader economic caution.

One notable bright spot remains Amazon.

FedEx continues handling deliveries of oversized packages for the e-commerce giant under a long-term arrangement that has become increasingly valuable as competitors adjust their own logistics strategies.

Rising costs also remained a major theme.

Fuel expenses surged 66% year over year, reaching approximately $1.43 billion, largely due to higher energy prices following geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

Executives told analysts they have not yet seen elevated fuel costs significantly reduce shipping demand, but acknowledged the pressure on margins.

To offset those expenses, FedEx continued expanding its DRIVE cost-reduction initiative.

The company said the program generated more than $1 billion in structural savings during the year, while capital expenditures fell to $3.8 billion, representing approximately 4% of revenue, the lowest level in company history.

Chief Executive Raj Subramaniam said the company is entering a new chapter following the freight spin-off and believes the streamlined organization is better positioned for future growth.

FedEx ended the year with approximately $13.3 billion in cash and announced plans to repurchase up to $1 billion of stock through the remainder of 2026.

For investors, the message was clear.

FedEx is performing well operationally, generating strong cash flow, cutting costs, and maintaining pricing power.

The question is whether a leaner, package-focused company can accelerate growth in an environment where shipping demand remains steady but no longer enjoys the explosive growth seen during the pandemic-era boom.

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The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed the House of Representatives after clearing the Senate and now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for signature in the coming days.

The housing package aims to reduce homeownership costs and improve housing supply while incorporating priorities from Congress and the White House. Lawmakers from both chambers, who reached a deal on the package last week, want to deliver something to voters amid rising costs of living ahead of the midterm elections in the fall. 

“Washington just proved it can still do hard things on housing, and that’s worth celebrating,” Isaac Boltansky, head of public policy at Pennymac, said in a statement. “But one bill won’t solve an affordability crisis built over decades. It takes sustained effort, legislatively and administratively.”

Dennis Shea, executive vice president of the Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) called the bill’s passage through both chambers a “milestone.”

“For the families who’ve been priced out, squeezed out, or left behind by a broken housing market, this is a meaningful step — and it’s long overdue,” Shea said in a statement. 

“The House’s passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act marks a major milestone in the effort to address America’s housing challenges,” David M. Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference, said Tuesday night in a statement. “With both the House and Senate now having approved the legislation, the bill is on its way to the President’s desk. This achievement reflects years of work by housing advocates, industry leaders, community organizations, and policymakers from both parties who recognized the urgent need for action.”

Institutional investor limits

The White House pushed for the bill in part because it aligns with a Trump executive order on institutional investor acquisitions of single-family properties. Institutional buyers have faced criticism for purchasing homes that might otherwise be available to owner-occupants.  

The Senate’s version of the ROAD to Housing Act, released in March, would have broadly restricted large investors from acquiring additional homes and included a seven-year divestiture requirement for build-to-rent properties. After pushback from homebuilders, investors and House members, lawmakers removed the divestiture requirement and added carve-outs for several types of transactions.

The final compromise, reached in June, retains acquisition limits on firms that own 350 or more single-family homes but exempts certain transactions and does not require the sale of existing holdings.

“The housing market is not straining under a temporary shock; it is pressing against a structural shortage of homes that has been building for more than a decade,” Realtor.com senior economist Joel Berner said in a statement, citing data that shows the U.S. was short 4.03 million homes in 2025.

“Policy choices matter: States in the South and Midwest lead on affordability and homebuilding, while many states in the West and Northeast, where zoning and land-use rules tend to be more restrictive, continue to lag,” Berner added.

Mortgage and housing finance provisions

The legislation leans more heavily toward affordable rental housing than homeownership but includes several provisions that directly affect the mortgage industry.

Among them are a pilot program for small-dollar mortgages below $100,000, a required report on how loan originator compensation rules affect the availability of small-dollar mortgages, and a provision aimed at strengthening the appraiser workforce.

The bill also increases Federal Housing Administration (FHA) multifamily statutory loan limits for the first time since 2003 and authorizes a Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery program for three years.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), which commended the bill’s passage, backed reforms to the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service program tied to financing of accessory dwelling units and loan assumptions. The trade group also supported language to codify Fannie Mae‘s and Freddie Mac’s reconsideration-of-value appraisal processes without increasing lender liability.

“MBA applauds the bipartisan majority of lawmakers in both the House and Senate who voted in favor of this legislation this week, demonstrating a shared commitment to advancing practical solutions that address our nation’s housing challenges,” Bob Broeksmit, the trade group’s president and CEO, said Tuesday night in a statement. “Their work, alongside the leadership of Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee members and the Trump administration, helped forge consensus around meaningful reforms that will benefit renters, homebuyers, homeowners, and communities across the country.

“By advancing commonsense reforms that encourage housing production and improve program efficiency, Congress has demonstrated that bipartisan cooperation can deliver real results for consumers, communities, and the broader economy,” he added. “We look forward to President Trump signing this legislation into law and will continue working with Congress and the Administration to advance additional legislative and regulatory reforms that improve housing affordability, increase housing production, lower closing costs, and expand homeownership and rental opportunities.”

When the bill was before the Senate, the MBA continued to question the costs of “first look” programs that initially offer foreclosed homes to owner-occupants or nonprofits while also supporting language that narrowed the time requirements and coverage of those programs.

The MBA also said it would work with regulators on implementation of the VALID Act provision, which is designed to increase awareness of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) home loan options by revising the FHA single-family Informed Consumer Choice Disclosure form.

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The International Atomic Energy Agency will conduct inspections of nuclear facilities in Iran, the nuclear watchdog’s chief, Rafael Grossi, stated in an interview with Tokyo-based news outlet NHK on Tuesday. 

Grossi specified that the IAEA’s priority is confirming the location of Iran’s enriched uranium. While the IAEA has an idea of where the uranium is, Grossi said the agency still needs Iran’s confirmation, according to NHK. 

The IAEA intends to coordinate with Iran soon to set dates and details of inspections, and will study how to get to the nuclear material within storage facilities that have been attacked during the war, Grossi told NHK. 

“We think that the sooner the better, especially since this agreement has a time frame of 60 days, so we will have to be working without losing much time,” NHK cited Grossi as saying. 

Grossi also emphasized the IAEA’s independence as an organization, with NHK writing that he said “if Iran wishes to invite the United States or other observers, this is another matter,” and that “we do not foresee that somebody needs to help us or control us.”

Trump insists Iran agreed to inspections into future

Trump insisted on Tuesday that Iran has agreed to allow nuclear inspections long into the future, despite statements from Iran that it has not done so.

Trump also said in an early morning social media post that the United States would leave ships in the Strait of Hormuz in case it becomes necessary to reimpose its blockade of Iranian ports.

“This will insure (sic) ‘Nuclear Honesty,'” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“If they did not agree to this, there would be no further negotiations,” he added.

“Based on this and other major concessions being made by Iran, I have agreed to allow the Hormuz Strait to remain OPEN, with no further Naval Blockade. However, all ships are remaining in place should it be necessary to reinstitute the Blockade, which seems, at this point, highly unlikely,” he continued.

Trump, in a second Truth Social post, also stated that a “record” of oil flowed through the Strait of Hormuz.

“19 Millions Barrels of Oil flowed out of the Hormuz Strait yesterday, an all time RECORD. Oil prices are tumbling down, and the World is a much safer place!!!” Trump wrote.

Iran forgoes meeting with IAEA chief Grossi

Meanwhile, Iran has neither held a meeting with Grossi in Switzerland nor plans for the UN nuclear watchdog to inspect Iran’s damaged nuclear facilities, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Esmaeil Baghaei said there was no protocol for such inspections, adding that Iran would continue its current obligations as a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and under its safeguards agreement with the IAEA.

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Voters in New York’s Hudson Valley on Tuesday are choosing a Democrat to challenge the staunchly pro-Israel Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in a heavily Jewish swing district.

Two candidates have emerged as frontrunners in the Democratic primary in New York’s 17th Congressional District, a suburb of New York City that includes about 30,000 Orthodox Jews. 

Cait Conley, a military veteran and former national security adviser, leads by double digits in polls this month and prediction markets over Beth Davidson, a member of the Rockland County Legislature who has highlighted her Jewish identity. A poll from Tavern Research last week found that 28% of voters were still undecided as the election approached.

Both are appealing to residents anxious about the cost of living, housing, healthcare, and foreign conflicts. The winner will also aim to claw back moderate voters who supported Lawler, one of the most vocally pro-Israel members of Congress and a representative who has forged close ties with Orthodox Jewish voters.

Davidson and Conley have both said they support the United States alliance with Israel while opposing actions by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. During a candidate forum in April, they distanced themselves from Democratic efforts in the Senate to block certain military sales to Israel.

Polling far behind Conley and Davidson is Effie Phillips-Staley, a progressive who says Israel is an apartheid state that has committed genocide in Gaza. 

Conley and Davidson say they are marrying pro-Israel views with a liberal agenda, including fighting President Donald Trump. Davidson told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that she wants to create a political home for “Jews that have felt lost in the Democratic party.” She previously served on the board of her White Plains synagogue, Beth Am Shalom, and has touted Jewish values as driving her public service, including tikkun olam, or repairing the world, and welcoming the stranger.

Conley has presented her military experience as an advantage. A former national security adviser in the Biden administration, she has said that she supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and views Israel as a critical national security ally. 

Lawler is known to be pro-Israel despite not being Jewish

The winner will face off with Lawler, who has become so closely identified with the district’s Jewish community that he was recently attacked in comments by Sen. Rand Paul’s son, William Paul, who accused the lawmaker of being one of “you people,” although Lawler is not Jewish.

Often working with Democrats, Lawler has proposed a spate of legislation aimed at supporting Israel since he entered Congress in 2023. He co-sponsored the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act, which would require the Department of Education to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, a move championed by major Jewish groups and criticized by progressives for classifying some forms of Israel criticism as antisemitic. The bill passed in the House in 2024 but stalled in the Senate amid free speech concerns and was reintroduced in the House last year.

Lawler also introduced in 2024 the bipartisan Stand with Israel Act, which seeks to halt funding for United Nations agencies that “expel, downgrade, suspend, or otherwise restrict the participation of the State of Israel.” His bipartisan 2025 Bunker Buster Act seeks to equip Israel with massive bombs to target Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. 

This year, Lawler has partnered with Democrats on two new measures that he says will combat antisemitism. The Jewish American Security Act introduced this month proposes expanding federal security support for Jewish institutions, and a House resolution from April condemns leftist streamer Hasan Piker and far-right podcaster Candace Owens for “antisemitic hate-filled rhetoric and content.” 

Phillips-Staley represents the rising progressive wing of the Democratic Party that is sharply critical of Israel, differentiating herself from Lawler as well as Conley and Davidson. Phillips-Staley has said that her views solidified after she traveled to Israel and the West Bank in February. She was criticized by some Democratic officials for doing an interview with Piker.

She told JTA in March that many Jewish residents supported her belief that Israel has committed genocide and the United States should sever military aid.

“I get the most encouragement from lots of people, but a lot of encouragement from Jews who really challenged me, especially in the beginning, to be brave and say it like it is,” said Philips-Staley.

Republicans are suspected of jumping into the late stage of the race by funding a shadowy new group called Progressive Champions PAC, which mirrors GOP efforts to influence other Democratic primaries nationwide. Davidson publicly disavowed the PAC, which has spent $1.5 million on ads attacking Conley for her contract work for an AI company that works with the Department of Homeland Security, according to the Cook Political Report.

The primary winner will quickly rocket to national prominence in the general election, as Lawler’s seat is considered one of the most likely to flip in November. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the district, which former presidential candidate Kamala Harris won by less than one percentage point in 2024. 

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Voters in the United States’ most Jewish congressional district are heading to the polls on Tuesday to elect the successor to longtime Rep. Jerry Nadler, Congress’s most senior Jewish member.

The House seat for New York’s 12th district – which covers the Upper West and Upper East sides and midtown Manhattan, and is seen as a crown jewel in New York politics – opened up after Nadler announced last fall that he would retire at the end of this term.

Nadler’s preferred heir is Micah Lasher, a Jewish State Assembly member who has worked for the progressive stalwart and for other prominent politicians, including Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Lasher has the support of those former bosses, plus much of the West Side political establishment.

Fellow Assembly member Alex Bores, meanwhile, has built a coalition that includes both pro-Israel moderates and progressive groups critical of the Jewish state by emphasizing that he will be tough on artificial intelligence companies. Former congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who represented much of Manhattan’s East Side from 1993 until 2023, is among Bores’ supporters.

The winner of Tuesday’s Democratic primary is sure to win in November’s general election and succeed Nadler, who has been in Congress since 1992. Four candidates are polling in double digits: Frontrunners Lasher and Bores are neck-and-neck at 22% and 20%, according to the latest polling data, with a 4.8% margin of error. They’re followed by Jack Schlossberg and George Conway, at 11% and 10% apiece. Thirty-two percent of voters said they were undecided.

New York candidates stand out for pro-Israel stances

On the subject of Israel, the makeup of the NY-12 race has been unlike other contested New York City races: Elsewhere, at least one of the two leading candidates has accused Israel of committing a genocide in Gaza and supports placing conditions on US military aid to Israel.

But Lasher and Bores both describe themselves as pro-Israel and anti-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and neither one supports blocking weapons sales to the Jewish state.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is himself a voter in the district as a resident of Gracie Mansion, and he cast his ballot a few days ago, during the early voting period, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He has declined to weigh in publicly on the race. The mayor endorsed two democratic socialist candidates and Brad Lander, his Jewish ally who accuses Israel of genocide, and has positioned himself against both offensive and defensive military aid to Israel, in other races.

Lasher and Bores have both consistently advocated for universally applying the existing Leahy Law, which bars the US from providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights with impunity.

Schlossberg, John F. Kennedy’s grandson, has criticized Lasher and Bores for their stance, calling it an “insufficient answer,” and advocates for blocking offensive weapons sales to Israel while still funding the Iron Dome defensive missile system. He is the only one of the top-four candidates to call for conditions on aid to Israel and halting any weapons sales. After initially leading in early polls, Schlossberg’s support appears to have fallen amid questions over his lack of experience.

Conway, an anti-Trumper and longtime attorney who was married to former Donald Trump staffer Kellyanne Conway, rounds out the top four in the polling.

Nina Schwalbe, a Jewish public health expert who polled at 3%, is the only candidate to accuse Israel of committing a genocide and oppose funding for Iron Dome.

Throughout the election, candidates convened for forums at numerous synagogues in the heavily Jewish district – 23.3% of constituents are Jewish, according to a 2024 study – and answered questions related to antisemitism, Israel, and other Jewish-related issues.

Anti-Zionism is not same as antisemitism, Lasher says

Lasher has said at multiple forums that he doesn’t see anti-Zionism as being precisely the same thing as antisemitism, but that “often when you see one, you see the other.”

He and Bores have both touted their support for a statewide “buffer zone” bill – which Lasher introduced in response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations outside synagogues – that would curb protests outside houses of worship. Meanwhile, Schlossberg has pointed out at Jewish forums that the first policy his campaign released was “Jack’s Fast-Track Plan,” which would fast-track a doubling of funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which funds security at houses of worship and community centers.

During a June forum at Upper West Side synagogue B’nai Jeshurun, Lasher said he felt “exhausted” by how much the political dialogue – both in the NY-12 race and more broadly – is “obsessed” with Israel.

At another synagogue forum, Bores was asked about his endorsement from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ group Our Revolution. Bores said the group endorsed him despite not being aligned on Israel, and said that “we need to make it acceptable for there to be people in progressive spaces that still believe in the right of Israel to exist and to defend itself.”

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Just about the last thing I wanted to do on a summer weekend in the Berkshires was to see a play called The Zionists.

The title alone practically dares audiences to arrive with their defenses up. Its subject is the bitter family and communal fractures that followed Oct. 7, 2023. Its Jewish characters argue angrily, sometimes violently, over Israel, Zionism, antisemitism, the politics of protest, and Jewish identity, blurring the personal and the political. 

And yet the play, now running at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, after a premiere earlier this year at Miami New Drama, manages to turn the post-October 7 debates that have torn many Jewish families apart into something like catharsis. 

“This is ultimately what the world needs right now,” the playwright, S. Asher Gelman, told me Monday. “It needs us to lean into discomfort and to work through our discomfort with each other.” 

The Zionists (subtitled A Family Storm) follows the affluent Rosenberg family as ideological fault lines open up during a vacation in the Caribbean.

Mom’s a philanthropist and Jewish communal leader. One daughter is married to an Israeli. The family’s youngest son has embraced anti-Zionism and contributed to groups supporting the pro-Palestinian encampments. Other relatives hold varying relationships to Israel, Judaism, and Jewish communal life. Nobody leaves unscathed. (Did I mention it’s set during hurricane season?)

Artists are moving from avoiding to embracing Israel-related topics

Since October 7, artists and cultural institutions have frequently found themselves pressured to choose sides or avoid the subject altogether. A play called The Zionists risks alienating audiences before the curtain even rises, a possibility that suggests why there have been so few attempts by writers of fiction to tackle the ugly discourse. Two short stories published in The New Yorker since October 7 – “My Camp” by Joshua Cohen (Oct. 13, 2024) and “From, To” by David Bezmogis (April 14, 2025), each about families deeply split over Israel – are the conspicuous exceptions. 

Perhaps that’s shifting. In New York, Jonathan Spector’s play Birthright, running off-Broadway through July 26, explores some of the same territory as The Zionists.

The play by Gelman, 42, who wrote the Off-Broadway hit Afterglow, emerged from his own sense of alienation in the weeks after Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.

He recalls learning about the attack through social media posts from people he considered friends.

“They were busy contextualizing and explaining October 7,” he said, “and what caused [Israelis] to be raped and murdered and kidnapped.” 

What sounded like justifications for terrorism left him disillusioned with online discourse. Social media, he said, flattens complexity into slogans and rewards performance over conversation.

“Nuance goes to die there,” he said.

A play, he felt, could accommodate multiple truths, conflicting narratives, and uncomfortable questions. Instead of reducing arguments to memes or hashtags, it could place them in the mouths of fully realized human beings.

Gelman knew some theatergoers would arrive expecting propaganda and others expecting condemnation. He wasn’t interested in either.  

“Art is not supposed to be comfortable,” he said. “It’s to sit in the deep discomfort of the characters onstage and experience that catharsis.”

The play also examines a distinct slice of American Jewish life: wealthy, liberal characters who are materially and physically privileged yet still feel an unshakeable sense of vulnerability. For some that translates into a hypersensitivity to antisemitism; for others a universalizing, even self-erasing, empathy with the Other. 

Gelman took inspiration from his own family life

Gelman’s examination of this donor class, and the tensions over Israel that have put a strain on its members, draws heavily on his own biography. His parents are the longtime Jewish philanthropists Susie and Michael Gelman, each of whom has been president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, and who have in recent years backed liberal pro-Israel groups, including the Israel Policy Forum. A sister, Rachel Gelman, has helped fund left-wing Jewish and pro-Palestinian groups, before and after October 7. 

“They set an incredible example for me and my sisters, about how to be really active in your community, whether your local community or your national community or your participation in the global community,” he said.

Israel was an essential part of his upbringing. Starting at age 19, Gelman spent years living in Tel Aviv as a dancer and choreographer and eventually founder of an English-language theater organization. He moved back to New York in 2016 to pursue his stage career.

He is careful not to present The Zionists as a definitive statement about Israel or Zionism. No play, he said, could possibly contain every argument.

“It was never meant to be the end of the conversation,” he said. “It was meant to be the beginning of one.”

That meant creating characters whose arguments feel credible even when he disagrees with them. Gelman said he worked deliberately to give anti-Zionist characters some of the play’s strongest arguments.

“The people who feel themselves seen in those characters have appreciated that we didn’t write them to be dumb or uninformed,” he said.

‘The Zionists’ has received emotional reactions

That openness has produced some volatile reactions. During the Miami run, one audience member became so upset during an anti-Zionist monologue that he began shouting at the actor, forcing the performance to stop temporarily. The cast resumed after addressing him directly, and several audience members later assumed the interruption had been scripted.

The play arrives at a moment when many families – Jewish and otherwise – have been strained by political polarization, which is a polite way of saying “torn apart.” Audience members frequently tell him that the issue dividing their own families isn’t Israel at all, but politics, abortion, transgender rights, or something else entirely. Nevertheless, they see the Rosenbergs’ story as their own.

“By being quite specific about telling this very specific story about these very specific people,” he said, “it allows us to tell a more universal story.”

And yet the language and ideas in the play are deeply, even microscopically, steeped in the history of Israel and Palestine. Pamela Nadell, the scholar of Jewish history at American University, saw the play this month and said she would have loved to have brought her students. 

“What he captured for me, which was so stunning, was the emotional power of the history. What really jumped out is his ability to convey in two hours why there is the argument and how both sides tell the narrative,” said Nadell, whose most recent book is Antisemitism, an American Tradition.

The play’s development also reflected the tensions it depicts. Gelman described long conversations among collaborators who did not always agree with one another politically but remained committed to staying engaged.

That idea – staying in the room – has become something of a credo for the playwright, even if it becomes more difficult on other stages.

Again and again during a recent interview, Gelman returned to what he sees as the central challenge of contemporary life: resisting the urge to cut off people with whom we disagree.

He worries that Americans increasingly treat disagreement as danger and discomfort as harm. Social media’s block and mute functions, he argues, have become metaphors for how people navigate real-world relationships.

“We no longer have the tools to handle discomfort,” he said. “Discomfort is the price we pay for community.”

The Zionists, directed by Chloe Treat, plays through July 3 at the Boyd-Quinson Theater (30 Union Street, Pittsfield, Massachusetts).

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Former New York City comptroller Brad Lander is facing off against Rep. Dan Goldman in a highly contested Democratic primary Tuesday in New York’s 10th Congressional District, in which their views on Israel have become the main issue in the contest.

Lander, 56, has perched his campaign on a refusal to take money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying group. Goldman, an attorney who led the first impeachment inquiry against US President Donald Trump, was hailed for his efforts on that front, but his more supportive views on Israel have proven increasingly unpopular in his lower Manhattan and Brooklyn district in recent years.

Polling by Emerson College last month indicated a more than 30-point lead for Lander.

The winner of Tuesday’s primary in the heavily Democratic district, which runs from roughly below 14th Street in Manhattan to Brownstone Brooklyn and parts of Borough Park and Bay Ridge, is tantamount to winning the election in November.

Both identify as Zionists – Goldman says he is “unabashedly pro-Israel” – but Lander qualifies his views as those of a “liberal Zionist.” He is also a former member of the Democratic Socialists of America. But he left the group following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel, disappointed by the DSA’s participation in a pro-Palestinian rally on October 8. He says he has been a member since his freshman year of college.

“On October 8th, they advertised a rally that I thought was heinous, that spoke about Hamas in ways that I just thought were vile, and I could not continue to be a member,” Lander said during a June 1 debate with Spectrum NY1.

Lander endorsed by Zohran Mamdani

Lander ran for New York City mayor last fall and cross-endorsed with Mayor Zohran Mamdani in an effort to thwart former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani then encouraged Lander to run for Congress and, in February, endorsed him in a video calling out AIPAC. He has also been endorsed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New York City Councilmember Shahana Hanif, former Manhattan Borough President and activist Ruth Messinger, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, IfNotNow, the Sunrise Movement, United Auto Workers, and other progressive groups.

Lander has used the word “genocide” to refer to Israel’s actions against Palestinians in Gaza. He has also long criticized AIPAC and what he says are the group’s contributions to Goldman’s campaign. But Goldman’s team says AIPAC is uninvolved in his campaign.

“Israel is not the most important issue in this district,” Goldman said during the June 1 debate.

Goldman has outspent Lander more than 7-to-1 on the airwaves, according to data from political advertising tracker AdImpact. A multimillionaire and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, Goldman had also pledged to personally match each dollar donated to his campaign.

Lander is currently backed by a new super PAC called American Priorities, which has put forward $2 million into the primaries to fight AIPAC. American Priorities is also backing New York State Assemblymember and congressional candidate Claire Valdez, a Democrat in New York’s 7th Congressional District, and Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier in the 13th District. Both women are members of the DSA.

CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE Claire Valdez, Congressional candidate Brad Lander, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier raise their hands during a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) rally at King's Theater on June 18, 2026 in New York City. (credit: MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO/GETTY IMAGES)

Lander appeared with Mamdani, Valdez, and Chevalier in a post-Knicks game ad, where he passes a basketball to Chevalier, who was also at the October 8 rally that he and Mamdani condemned. Mamdani, Valdez, and Chevalier have been outspoken Israel critics.

Lander would vote against weapon sales to Israel

In a 2025 interview with Zeteo, Lander said he would vote to recognize a Palestinian state and oppose the sale of weapons to Israel. As comptroller, Lander maintained the city’s pension investments in Israeli military technology company Elbit Systems, which earned criticism from left-wing activists, but he defended the decision.

Goldman did not endorse Mamdani because he felt he “never fully got there,” he told The New York Editorial Board in late February. Goldman has been endorsed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York City Comptroller Mark Levine, and various public housing advocates and local unions.

There is one area where the candidates agree. They both said they would have voted against the Israel boycott at the Park Slope Food Coop, the famed worker-owned market in Brooklyn that was recently the subject of a contentious and successful BDS vote.

Lander’s campaign has faced its own controversy. In February, Jewish Insider reported that one of his campaign’s highest-paid staffers, Kaif Gilani, had circulated conspiracy theories about Israel on social media. Gilani, who was promptly removed from the Lander campaign, is also credited with starting the “Hot Girls for Zohran” campaign during last year’s mayoral election.

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A primary race on New York’s Upper West Side for a state legislative battle pits a rabbi against a Jewish lawyer in a referendum on where Jews stand on Mayor Zohran Mamdani and on the right to protest outside houses of worship.

Stephanie Ruskay would be the first female rabbi elected to state office in US history. Her opponent is the Mamdani-endorsed Eli Northrup, a public defender and the grandson of a Jewish civil rights lawyer who worked on Supreme Court cases to combat antisemitism and racial segregation in the 1950s.

The hotly contested Democratic primary is for the State Assembly’s District 69, which covers much of the Upper West Side and all of Morningside Heights, including the Columbia University campus, roiled in 2024 by pro-Palestinian protests over Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Endorsements tell a story of two New York establishments vying over prime legislative real estate: Mamdani’s Israel-critical progressives facing off against the city’s storied Jewish liberals.

Along with Mamdani’s blessing, Northrup has won prized endorsements from left-wing icons who ran now legendary insurgent campaigns: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose energetic presidential primary run in 2016 helped doom Hillary Clinton’s presidential run; and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose ouster of top Democrat Joseph Crowley in a 2018 primary paved the way for the youthful congressional “Squad.” Mamdani has roiled this election season with endorsements of democratic socialists challenging incumbent congressional Democrats.

Ruskay has been endorsed by leading Jews in New York politics, such as City Council Speaker Julie Menin, City Comptroller Mark Levine, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, and former Borough President Ruth Messinger. She also has the backing of ActJew, a nonprofit focused on combating antisemitism, and the New York Solidarity Network, a pro-Israel group.

Ruskay and Northrup, who both identify as progressives, are battling in a neighborhood where nearly one-third of households are Jewish. The Assembly seat opened in the fall when current Assembly member Micah Lasher, who is also Jewish, decided to run for Congress.

The district overwhelmingly supported Mamdani in the 2025 mayoral race, when his sharp criticism of Israel broke with the city’s Democratic establishment and fomented ongoing tensions with segments of the Jewish community.

Northrup supports Mamdani, Ruskay voices hesitation

Northrup is a full-throated supporter of the mayor who volunteered for his campaign. Ruskay has voiced more tepid views on Mamdani, acknowledging that many Jewish New Yorkers disagreed with his views about Israel.

“When we agree, I’ll be very excited to work together, and when we don’t agree or when I know that I represent people who have a very different perspective from what’s happening, then my job is to bring that into the room,” Ruskay told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in December.

Ruskay joined New York’s annual Israel Day Parade in May, while Mamdani skipped it. She said on X that she was “proud” to attend the gathering, which she described as a reminder of “the deep bonds between New York’s Jewish community and Israel, and of the strength, resilience, and vibrancy of Jewish life.”

Northrup has resisted the long tradition among Jewish Democrats of identifying as a Zionist. “I don’t know that it’s serving us to be categorizing people as Zionist or anti-Zionist,” he told JTA last month. “I certainly don’t see myself in those terms.”

Both candidates have cited their faith and Jewish values as driving their politics. They agree on building more affordable housing, filling the district’s many vacant storefronts, supporting unions, and enforcing labor laws. Both have also voiced their commitment to fighting US President Donald Trump and his crackdown on immigration.

NYC candidates disagree on protest buffer zones

One of their rare areas of disagreement is the fight over “buffer zones” to insulate synagogues from protests, a flashpoint in New York politics. The city and state both recently passed legislation that restricts demonstrations outside houses of worship. Some Jewish leaders and lawmakers championed the measures in the aftermath of a string of pro-Palestinian rallies outside synagogues, which were hosting events that promoted migration to Israel and real estate sales in Israel and the West Bank.

Ruskay supports the buffer zones. She has argued they are necessary to protect Jews from intimidation, saying during a candidate forum in May, “In the world as we wish it was, I don’t think that you should have [to] have a buffer zone. But in the world that we actually live in right now, I think that we do need one.”

Northrup, meanwhile, said in the forum that outlawing protest within a certain distance of an institution “wouldn’t pass constitutional muster,” citing Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. He told JTA that buffer zones were more symbolic than effective in addressing rising antisemitism, and that he instead supported multifaith education and building alliances across communities.

Various civil rights groups and Jewish progressives, such as Jews for Racial & Economic Justice, have said that buffer zone laws infringe on free speech and assembly. JFREJ has endorsed Northrup.

Northrup’s skepticism of the laws aligns with Mamdani’s views. The mayor resisted signing the City Council’s buffer zone bill pertaining to houses of worship, though it became law with a veto-proof majority, and he vetoed a separate bill implementing buffer zones around schools.

Ruskay has received $25,000 from the American Centerpoint PAC, which was formed on June 11, according to City and State. The PAC’s sole contributor was Adeena Rosen, a key figure in the Solidarity PAC that boosted pro-Israel candidates in 2024 state races.

In a race lacking publicly available polls, fundraising is a significant indicator. The candidates were neck-and-neck in fundraising on Election Day, with Ruskay gathering $436,381 and Northrup raising $443,522, according to Transparency USA.

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The Food and Drug Administration quietly told wearable maker Whoop last week that it would not take further enforcement action over a controversial feature that gives users a reading of their blood pressure.

In July 2025, the agency warned Whoop for releasing its Blood Pressure Insights feature without clearance, saying it was a medical device that required review. “The product is intended to provide a measurement or estimation of a user’s blood pressure, which is inherently associated with the diagnosis of hypo- and hypertension,” the agency wrote.

Whoop argued at the time that the feature could be released without review because it was intended for wellness purposes and not to diagnose or treat a disease. “We won’t let regulatory overreach dictate how people access their own health data,” CEO Will Ahmed wrote at the time.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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Samuel Adams founder Jim Koch says America’s craft brewers are facing a tough business climate, as rising costs, tighter margins and a crowded marketplace put pressure on independent brands.

But Koch, who helped build Boston Beer Co. into one of the country’s best-known beer companies, says he remains “very optimistic” about the future of craft brewing because the industry still has something technology cannot replicate.

“Over the last four decades, we’ve seen trends come and go, consumer tastes change, and new challenges emerge, but what hasn’t changed is people’s desire for authentic, high-quality products made by dedicated people,” Koch told FOX Business. “AI can’t brew beer.”

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Koch’s comments came ahead of Samuel Adams’ announcement naming Soul Mega, a Washington, D.C.-based beer brand, the 2026 winner of Samuel Adams’ Brewing & Business Experienceship, a mentorship program that gives emerging craft brewers access to business guidance, industry resources and the chance to collaborate on a specialty beer.

Koch said many up-and-coming brewers are facing the same types of obstacles he encountered nearly 40 years ago when he launched Samuel Adams.

“Many aspiring craft brewers are in the same position I was nearly 40 years ago, working their butts off to create an enduring business, which is why the Brewing the American Dream program and its signature Brewing & Business Experienceship were created,” Koch said. “These brewers have a great concept and passion, but lack nuts and bolts business advice and access to resources.”

Soul Mega was selected after Samuel Adams’ annual Crafting Dreams Beer Bash on June 11 in Brooklyn, where six finalists poured their beers and pitched their businesses to guests.

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The company began as a homebrewing project in 2011 before becoming a commercial brand in 2019. It has since expanded across the Mid-Atlantic and landed placements at retailers including Whole Foods Market and Total Wine.

The craft beer industry has been under pressure, with the Brewers Association reporting a production decline in 2025 amid broader softness in beer sales.

“Small brewers are dealing with rising costs, tighter margins, and the ongoing challenge of trying to get noticed in a crowded marketplace,” Koch said. “The good news is that craft brewers are resilient, and their communities show up when it counts, which is the main reason we’ve seen such exponential industry growth with over 10,000 craft breweries open in the U.S. today.”

For Koch, this year’s Crafting Dreams Beer Bash underscored why he still believes in the future of the industry.

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“Seeing the finalists and entrepreneurs gathered at this year’s Crafting Dreams Beer Bash was a great reminder of what makes craft beer special,” Koch said. “The success of this industry has never been about one brewery. It’s about an entire community of passionate brewers and drinkers who are raising the bar together. We are all independent brewers, and we succeed together or not at all.”

Since 2008, the Brewing the American Dream program and its signature Brewing & Business Experienceship have helped provide more than $123 million in funding to more than 4,600 small businesses and supported the creation or retention of more than 12,300 jobs, according to Samuel Adams.

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The biggest winner from the collapse of Spirit Airlines is not another airline. It is a 112-year-old bus company. Greyhound, the largest intercity bus operator in North America, is picking up budget travelers who lost their cheapest way to fly — and it is courting them with buses that look nothing like the ones their parents rode. After Spirit shut down on May 2, 2026, Rodney Surber, Greyhound’s chief operating officer, said the company’s upgraded fleet is “setting a new standard” for bus travel in North America.

That standard is a long way from the old image of intercity buses. As part of a multi-year overhaul, Greyhound has been replacing aging coaches with premium Prevost and Van Hool buses. The new vehicles come with ergonomic seats that have lumbar support and footrests, free Wi-Fi, a power outlet at every seat, quieter cabins, and an air system that filters the cabin several times an hour. They also carry modern safety gear, including collision-avoidance technology and onboard cameras. The first 60 of these buses rolled out on high-traffic routes like New York to Boston and Philadelphia, with hundreds more planned.

The timing could not be better for the bus company. Spirit Airlines ceased all operations on May 2, ending 34 years in business and stranding thousands of passengers overnight. It was the first time in 25 years that a major U.S. airline shut down because it ran out of money.

What killed Spirit was fuel. The airline had built its 2026 budget around jet fuel near $2.24 a gallon. By the end of April, the price had climbed to roughly $4.51. In a filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, the company blamed “recent geopolitical events” for a massive, sustained jump in fuel costs. Those events were the war with Iran, which began February 28, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries about a fifth of the world’s oil.

The fuel crisis did not stop at Spirit. Airfares climbed across the board. Domestic round-trip tickets averaged $623 in April, the highest in nearly four years, according to the Airlines Reporting Corporation, which tracks travel agency sales. Gas got expensive too. The national average hit $4.56 a gallon on May 21, according to AAA — painful timing as families started planning summer trips.

For travelers doing the math, the bus suddenly looked smart. A ticket from New York to Washington or Chicago to Detroit can cost a fraction of a plane fare, with no baggage fees and no airport. Joseph Schwieterman, director of DePaul University’s Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development, forecast in April that high gas prices and frustration with long flights would push more Americans onto buses by summer. His institute had already projected intercity bus ridership would grow about 4% in 2025, faster than its forecast for air travel or driving.

The company behind the comeback is German. Greyhound is now a brand of Flix North America, owned by Flix SE, which bought the iconic carrier in 2021 and folded it into the same platform as FlixBus. Together they serve roughly 1,800 destinations and carry more than 12 million passengers a year. Kai Boysan, the chief executive of Flix North America, has said the goal is to be “top of mind for anybody considering long-distance travel,” the way the company already is across Europe. For trips of five to seven hours, he argues, a bus can beat a plane once airport waits are counted.

Now comes a twist. The fuel crunch that started all of this is finally easing. On June 18, the national average for regular gas dropped below $4 for the first time since March 30, falling to $3.999, AAA reported. The decline followed a deal between the United States and Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. By that date, 28 states were already under $4 a gallon.

Cheaper gas helps drivers, but it does not bring Spirit back. The discount airline competition it provided is gone, and a missing low-cost rival tends to push average fares up over time, not down. The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects it to take until early 2027 for oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz to fully return to normal, with jet fuel staying sharply higher through 2026.

That leaves the upgraded bus as the budget option that did not disappear — and the timing is sharp. AAA expects record numbers of Americans to travel over the July 4 holiday. For a lot of them, the cheap seat this summer has wheels, Wi-Fi and a footrest.

JBizNews Desk

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The Department of Energy on Tuesday announced $17.5 billion in conditional loans for utilities and energy companies to buy parts that will strengthen the commercial supply chain for nuclear reactors.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that the announcement supports President Donald Trump‘s executive order by boosting the nuclear industrial base, helping to “unleash the next American nuclear renaissance.”

“To accomplish that mission, these conditional loans will play an important role in reviving the supply chain needed for America to once again build large-scale commercial reactors,” Wright explained.

“They will also help accelerate the timeline of building those large-scale reactors by up to three years, lowering construction costs and ensuring the United States is able to deliver on President Trump’s bold and ambitious energy addition agenda,” he added.

US PLANS TO BUILD NUCLEAR REACTOR ON THE MOON BY 2030, NASA SAYS

The conditional loans were provided by the Energy Department‘s Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF). The loans aim to help achieve the goal laid out in the president’s executive order, which is to have 10 new large nuclear reactors with complete designs under construction by 2030.

The $17.5 billion in conditional loans will help finance five eligible projects that are sponsored by utilities and energy companies to speed up the deployment of 10 large-scale commercial nuclear reactors across the U.S. by up to three years. Each of the five loans will support two reactors at a project site.

Westinghouse, which makes the API1000 units that are the only licensed large-scale commercial reactors operating in the U.S. today, will partner with the eligible utilities and energy companies on the procurement of long-lead items at a fixed price. 

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Long-lead items are complex components of a nuclear power plant that require the most time to manufacture and deliver, such as reactor vessels and steam generators.

Each of the projects will be jointly owned by Westinghouse and the utility or energy company partner, with both required to fully commit project equity of $500 million each, for a total of $1 billion, up front before they can access the Energy Department’s loan funds.

The U.S. industry has struggled to attract investment because nuclear projects are capital-intensive, prone to cost overruns and face complex regulations – creating a riskier proposition for investors than relatively cheaper, quicker energy projects involving natural gas and renewables.

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Wright told reporters that the loans have attracted strong interest from data center hyperscalers, which are tech giants that run cloud and computing infrastructure, as well as energy companies amid the rising demand for electricity due to the buildout of data centers that power artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

“We are confident that these projects will be economic for utility shareholders, ratepayers and hyperscalers,” Wright said. He added that seven utilities expressed interest, but wouldn’t disclose their names or the location of their projects.

Trump’s goal is to quadruple U.S. nuclear power capacity to 400 gigawatts by 2050, which is an aggressive target given that the last reactors built in the U.S. were delayed by seven years and faced billions of dollars in cost overruns.

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Three shuttered nuclear power plants are on track to resume operations in the coming years, including Palisades in Michigan, Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania and Duane Arnold in Iowa.

During Trump’s first term, he used what was then known as the Loan Programs Office to help finance reactors for the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia.

Wright said that the Energy Department expects the plants’ timing and cost to “well outperform what was done on Vogtle.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Suspected Ebola cases in Israel have been ruled out after two patients hospitalized at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa and Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer tested negative for the virus, the Health Ministry announced Tuesday.

The two individuals had recently returned to Israel from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and developed symptoms that prompted medical evaluation and isolation under strict protocols for high-risk infectious diseases. Their hospitalizations triggered heightened preparedness across Israel’s health system in recent days.

According to the ministry, both tests returned negative results, effectively removing suspicion of Ebola. Still, both patients continue to receive medical treatment in line with their clinical condition and additional findings.

The testing was carried out according to established professional procedures and internationally accepted guidelines for managing dangerous infectious diseases, the Health Ministry said. In the immediate aftermath of the hospitalizations, isolation procedures were activated, epidemiological investigations were launched, and hospitals prepared for the possibility of identifying Israel’s first Ebola case.

Officials stressed that no confirmed Ebola cases have been detected in Israel at this time.

New strain of Ebola currently has no vaccine

Ebola is not an airborne disease like influenza, COVID-19 or measles, the ministry warned. Instead, infection generally requires direct contact with a symptomatic patient or exposure to blood, bodily fluids or other secretions.

The suspected cases drew significant public attention after it emerged that both travelers had arrived from a region experiencing an active outbreak. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies the current Ebola outbreak as concentrated primarily in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with additional cases in Uganda.

According to WHO data published in June, hundreds of confirmed infections have been recorded, with additional suspected cases under monitoring. The outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. Unlike the Zaire strain, which caused the large West Africa outbreak about a decade ago, there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment for the strain involved in the current outbreak.

The WHO assesses the risk within the Democratic Republic of the Congo as very high, and the risk to neighboring countries as high. However, the risk to countries outside the region, including Israel, Europe and North America, remains low. The organization is not recommending broad travel or trade restrictions at this stage, but is urging countries to strengthen monitoring of travelers arriving from affected areas and to maintain readiness for rapid identification of suspected cases.

The Health Ministry continues to advise against non-essential travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, where active transmission is ongoing. Travelers returning from these countries who develop fever or unusual symptoms within 21 days are instructed to stay at home, avoid contact with others and contact the Health Ministry hotline for guidance.

As the ministry emphasizes, a fever following travel from affected areas requires immediate assessment, but Ebola remains rare among returning travelers. In most cases, other infections are far more likely.

Travelers should not go directly to clinics or emergency rooms, the ministry added, saying that instead, they should call the Health Ministry hotline 5400* and report travel history and symptoms at the beginning of the call.

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The Republican-majority US Senate backed legislation on Tuesday to halt US military action against Iran, but it was not immediately clear how it would affect the war as US President Donald Trump‘s administration negotiates a peace agreement with the Islamic Republic.

The Senate voted 50-48 in favor of the concurrent resolution, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this month, reflecting growing concern, even among some of Trump’s Republicans, about the unpopular conflict that began on February 28.

The vote was nearly along party lines, with four Republicans joining all but one Democrat in favor. Two Republicans did not vote.

The resolution directs Trump to remove US armed forces from hostilities with or against Iran, but it is likely to remain merely a symbolic vote.

Under the 1973 War Powers Act, the measure does not get sent to the White House for Trump’s signature. However, the White House has insisted that the legislation is unconstitutional and thus not binding.

Legal experts say it remains a contested legal question likely to be settled in the courts.

“The executive branch will likely ignore it on constitutional grounds, and it’s not clear who might have standing to sue to enforce it,” said Scott Anderson, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and senior editor of the online legal publication Lawfare.

The resolution had also passed the House with slim Republican support. The tally there was 215-208, with four Republicans and every Democrat voting yes.

Pentagon seeks $80 b. for Iran war

The successful passing of the resolution came following reports that the Pentagon had sought an additional $80 billion to cover the costs of the Iran war.

While an official request by the White House Office of Management and Budget has yet to be made to Congress, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg have been lobbying senators for the funds.

The Associated Press reported that the $80 billion request comes on top of the White House’s request to increase the Pentagon budget to $1.5 trillion, “a nearly 50% increase over the current fiscal year’s funding levels.”

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.

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US President Donald Trump said he will do what he has to if Iran does not stick to its agreement with Washington on Monday. 

“If Iran doesn’t live up to their agreement, or if they’re not behaving, I will do what I have to do,” Trump told reporters.

Trump said Iran was supposed to use the unfrozen funds to buy food exclusively from the United States, while Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency cited Iranian central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati as saying that Tehran is under no obligation to purchase agricultural inputs from the US under the current memorandum of understanding.

“All that money’s coming back in the form of purchases of food which they desperately need. They have 91 million people; they can’t feed them. So, the money that we lift is going to go to our farmers,” Trump asserted.

Hemmati said the remaining frozen funds will not necessarily be used solely for essential goods and could be sent to purchase other non-sanctioned goods, Tasnim reported.

Trump calls himself ‘problem solver’ in regards to Netanyahu statement

Trump also addressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s statement regarding the IDF remaining in Lebanon, saying the US would “take a look at it.”

When asked how he would ensure Netanyahu would not sabotage the deal, Trump said: “I’m not going to tell you what I’m going to do, but it’s solved.”

“I’m a problem solver. I get problems solved real fast, including with Bibi,” Trump added. 

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President Donald Trump on Tuesday visited the Mack Trucks facility in Macungie, Pennsylvania, to tout his economic agenda in a battleground district ahead of this fall’s midterm elections.

Trump spoke to a crowd at the Mack Trucks facility while accompanied by Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., who represents the Keystone State’s 7th congressional district where the plant is located. Mackenzie is running for reelection and will face Democratic challenger Bob Brooks this fall.

The president touted the impact of his economic policies on Pennsylvania, saying that they’ve helped boost job creation in the commonwealth with a particular focus on manufacturing jobs.

“More Americans are working today than at any time in the history of our country. And we’ve created over… 32,000 new jobs just starting in Pennsylvania alone. But you have to get credit for that,” Trump said. “And in the last few months alone, we’ve added 2,600 Pennsylvania manufacturing jobs, and that number’s going to go much higher as the factories start to open.”

JOHNSON & JOHNSON TO INVEST $1B IN PENNSYLVANIA MANUFACTURING FACILITY

Trump also praised the role of Mack Trucks, which is owned by Volvo Group of Sweden, in supporting both the regional and national economy with its production.

“For more than 100 years, this legendary company has been making trucks right here in Eastern Pennsylvania, building the heavy machinery that keeps our economy rolling on, factories moving and our industries rolling all across the nation,” Trump said.

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He also said that his move to roll back the Biden administration’s fuel emissions regulations, arguing that those more stringent standards would’ve raised costs on consumers and created problems for companies like Mack Trucks.

“I terminated Biden’s disastrous fuel emission standards that would have crushed Mack Trucks here,” Trump said. “It was the most insane environmental regulation ever conceived of by men. It was totally unreasonable and ridiculous, and you can sell trucks for much less money, that are much better trucks that work, that actually work.”

TRUMP ORDERS FEDERAL AGENCIES TO PRIORITIZE AMERICAN-MADE GOODS AND CURB WAIVER USE

Trump’s speech also referenced other notable investments in the region’s manufacturing industries, including the pharmaceutical, medical products and chip-making sectors.

“Eli Lilly has just announced — great company, by the way, drug company — a $3.5 billion investment in a brand-new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility right down the road that’s going to create over a thousand jobs. Just that one,” Trump explained.

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“Nokia is investing $30 million to expand its semiconductor testing and packaging operations, thousands of jobs,” he added. “And B. Braun has announced a $20 million expansion of its medical device manufacturing operation in Allentown.”

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The first New York Knicks NBA championship in 53 years has the entire city in rapture still days after beating the San Antonio Spurs in five games. 

This special moment in Knicks history is something the players especially have not taken for granted, and one of them working alongside 1800 Tequila to commemorate the moment in special fashion. 

Miles “Deuce” McBride teamed up with the tequila brand to gift his teammates with custom New York-themed bottles of 1800 Milenio Tequila, which is the brand’s luxury expression made for those legendary milestones like the Knicks had this season. 

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The bottles were designed specifically for the championship season by local illustrator and longtime Knicks fan Fefi. They feature New York City iconography, hometown sayings, and have visual nods to the grit, pride and energy that have been seen throughout this historic playoff run all around the bottle. 

There were only 30 bottles created and gifted to the roster and several staff members from McBride, with each one being a personal keepsake to remember this signature moment in New York sports history. 

KNICKS’ FANATICS CHAMPIONSHIP GEAR FLYING OFF THE SHELVES IN RECORD FASHION

McBride’s Knicks teammates, including NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, were captured receiving their bottles, taking in the artistry across them at the moment. 

The Knicks made 1800 Tequila the official tequila of the team, and that partnership was on full display during the playoff run. While having sold-out Knicks limited edition bottles, it also launched Row 18(00), which was a campaign featuring New York-based content creators that gave real Knicks fans who may have gotten priced out of attending playoff games at Madison Square Garden the chance to watch from Row 18 inside the arena. 

During the NBA Finals, Game 3 for the Knicks and Spurs, which marked the first finals game at MSG since 1999, had an average selling price around $7,683, according to Vivid Seats earlier this month. The cheapest ticket to attend was $3,940, and those four-figure prices were also seen earlier in the playoffs.  

That’s how astronomical the demand was to see the Knicks in “The Mecca,” with fans from all around smelling the history that was about to be made. 

The players believed it every step of the way as well, never giving up despite the double-digit leads the Spurs held in each of the five NBA Finals games. Game 4 at MSG will go down as one of the greatest moments in the sport’s history, as OG Anunoby’s tip-in with 1.6 seconds left to give the Knicks a one-point lead will forever be stamped in history as an iconic moment for the franchise and city. 

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That moment, and many more throughout this season, is why McBride made sure to partner with 1800 to always remind his teammates of how important this championship was, not just for themselves, but for a city that’s always had their backs through the highs and lows. 

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There’s vastly too much hand-wringing over President Trump’s diplomacy and potential dealmaking with Iran, and it’s coming from friends and foes alike. I think it has more to do with America’s crumbling political infrastructure, than it does regarding the merits of Mr. Trump’s efforts.

First of all, the so-called memorandum of understanding is a nonbinding political document which simply outlines topics to be covered in the months ahead for some kind of final deal. Some people are taking parts of this MOU completely out of context for their own political gain. Let’s step back for a moment.

Over the past year, beginning with Operation Midnight Hammer and continuing through Epic Fury and Economic Fury, American and Israeli allied forces have completely decapitated the Iranian leadership, turned their nuclear capacity into rubble, totally buried their enriched uranium, destroyed their navy, destroyed their airforce, destroyed their radar, destroyed much of their missiles, and drones, and destroyed virtually their entire industrial base. Inflation could be running at more than 200 percent. Food and medicine for average civilians are not available. Currency is worthless. The economy essentially shuttered. In other words, Iran’s military and economic capabilities have been decimated. And people know this whether they criticize it or not.  General Jack Keane observed that we’re not even seeing Iranian fast boats anymore in the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, the New York Post’s Miranda Devine writes that Iranian women at Tehran are now going around on motorcycles wearing skirts and without hijabs covering their hair, a crime that used to result in fines, jail, and savage beatings. Yet the morality police may be dead. Another sign that the radical Islamist Republic is crumbling from the inside.

Because of Mr. Trump’s courageous actions, the only president in the last 50 years to go after Iran forcibly and successfully. Its leadership has been decapitated, their military capabilities have been virtually eliminated, and their nuclear operations have been shut down. All reduced to rubble.

In short, their capacity for harm has essentially been eliminated for years to come with no boots on the ground. So, all this gives Mr. Trump the opening for diplomacy in the future. Why not try it? And that leads to at least a temporary suspension of the naval blockade to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and bring down oil prices to sustain the world economy.

It’s a risk worth taking. Indeed I don’t think there’s any risk at all. And not a single dime of money will reach Iran unless the final deal verifiably with inspectors ends their nuclear program and their enriched uranium. That’s the final deal, not some non-binding memo.

Even oil money will be put into an escrow account by the United States Treasury. And released only for buying the Iranian people food, farm, and medical help. Mr. Trump had this to say on the matter: “One of the things that we are doing also, and it came up last night, is money that’s being unfrozen is going to be used to buy food, and the food is going to be bought exclusively through the United States from our farmers. And corn, soybeans, all of the things they need are going to be bought from our farmers.”

That is quintessentially a Trumpian approach in deal making. The absolute key point is that the president, as he has said time and again, is going to end Iran’s nuclear capacity, period, full stop, with verification and inspection. Mr. Trump calls it nuclear honesty. And if Iran doesn’t play ball, then… We will go back to military, bombing, and the economic embargoes, and give them even more damage if that’s what it’s going to have to take.

Right now, Mr. Trump is making the right decisions. Opinion polls more and more are showing a favorable attitude towards his diplomacy and deal-making. So I say, let us stop this hand-wringing and let Mr. Trump do what he does best. Which is make a great deal for America.

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A new UN inquiry says Israel “deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children” as part of a strategy to “destroy the biological continuity of the Palestinians in Gaza.” 

The report, “The essence of childhood has been destroyed: Israel’s deliberate targeting of Palestinian children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 7 October 2023,” was released by the UN  Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday. The recording period ended on 31 March 2026.

It purports to examine violations and crimes against Palestinian children by the Israeli security forces since 7 October 2023, resulting in the death of “at least 20,179 and injury of 44,143 children.”
 
The paper refers to the killing of Palestinian children as “deliberate” and also claims Israel uses “torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, including sexual and gender-based violence, against Palestinian children.”

It is worth noting that the UN reports consider a ‘child’ to be “every human being below the age of 18 years.”

Israel has over 3,000 probes, over 100 criminal investigations into own conduct

At least until 2025, IDF officials told The Jerusalem Post that at least around 40% of those killed in Gaza were Hamas, which is not historically a poor percentage in wars. This is especially true taking into account that Hamas systematically used human shields, with some areas like Rafah having boobytraps in nearly every home, and hospitals and schools regularly used as command centers. 

A significant chunk of “children” killed have been Hamas fighters ages 16 and 17 years old, wielding arms and posing an equal danger to IDF troops as Hamas operatives over the age of 18. 

Israel has over 3,000 preliminary probes and over 100 criminal investigations into its own conduct, and due to the war continuing almost non-stop since October 7, it still has not had the capacity to put out its full narrative regarding various specific incidents, but likely will over the next year or years. Reports that make final judgments before knowing the Israeli side are premature.

Israel has admitted serious errors in the World Central Kitchen, Palestinian Red Crescent, Reuters journalists, and other cases. This means that when Israel rejects other allegations, it should be viewed as credible.

“Genocide” does not apply when a military makes errors, only when it is proven that a military purposefully commits mass killings. Throughout the invasions of Gaza, the IDF always used several methods to try to evacuate (often successfully) the general civilian population from areas it was about to attack. These warnings often cost the IDF by allowing Hamas to escape in the masses of civilians who fled.

Other than in July-August 2025, when the IDF admitted an emergency in food insecurity, for most of the war, while food supplies were sometimes down in Gaza as compared to pre-war, there is no evidence that mass starvation ever took place, and even in summer 2025, a food surge by the IDF ultimately prevented any large-scale starvation. For significant portions of the war, the number of food trucks entering Gaza was even significantly higher than pre-war. Since fall 2025, the food supplies to Gaza have been multiple times higher than pre-war.

Purported evidence

The report claims that multiple sources of information were consulted, including thousands of open-source items and remote and in-person interviews and group discussions with victims and witnesses.

However, it said, “where the risk of re-traumatization was high, the Commission did not contact the family [of children] directly but relied on information already collected by independent national and international organizations as well as open-source published photographs and videos assessed as ‘credible’ and used for the purposes of analysis and corroboration.”

It does not state what these “independent national and international organizations” are.

The statistics used in the report, such as “between 7 October 2023 and 7 October 2025, at least 20,179 children were killed, and 44,143 children were injured as a direct result of the hostilities in Gaza,” seemingly all rely on data provided by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

The framing of many of the case studies is also noteworthy.

For example, the report speaks of an incident on 29 November 2025, when two brothers, aged 10 and nine, were killed in an Israeli drone strike near Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The boys were said to be “gathering firewood for their wheelchair-bound father when the strike occurred.”

Israeli security forces stated that soldiers spotted two “suspects” crossing the ‘yellow line’, acting suspiciously and approaching their forces, so a drone eliminated the “immediate threat”.

The report then writes that “the soldiers should not have classified the boys as ‘suspects’ in the first place since they were clearly involved only in collecting firewood. By maintaining that the children killed were “suspects”, the Israeli security forces have deflected responsibility to Palestinian children, portraying them as “terrorists” rather than casualties. Such tactics by the Israeli security forces serve to distort the factual narrative and further marginalize affected children and their families.”

Here, the report takes a specific incident and creates a general assertion about Israeli policy. The two boys are extrapolated to “Palestinian children” in general, which works to undermine cases where under-18 Palestinians have, in fact, been shown to be terrorists.

The above section was about Gaza, but similar assertions are made with regard to Israeli actions in the West Bank.  

“The Commission assesses that the high number of boys killed reflects a policy of targeting boys due to their perceived threat as “terrorists” or “future terrorists”. There is no acknowledgment of the possible veracity of Israel’s claims.

Some of the data in the report cannot even be corroborated. For example, the report says, “Prior to October 2023, there were 90,000 children living with a disability in Gaza,” but the link provided is invalid.

Some of the more extreme case studies, especially those in Part E, are not possible to corroborate because they are anonymized.

Two of these involve highly-disputed claims about Israel’s use of dogs to commit violent acts against Palestinians.

“Children reported facing extremely abusive treatment when arriving at military detention facilities, including being forced to make confessions, being forced to strip to their underwear in front of others, being blindfolded and handcuffed while forced to kneel on gravel or asphalt, being beaten with weapons and kicked in the head and other body parts, and being terrorized by dogs.”

The report then says “a 15-year-old boy detained at Sde Teiman facility told the Commission that […] Israeli soldiers entered his cell with dogs, made him and other detainees lie on their stomachs, and released the dogs on them.”

There is another case study of another 15-year-old boy who reported being electrocuted through a needle inserted into his
shoulder.

Other accusations

The report echoes previous conclusions from a March 2025 report, where the Commission concluded that Israeli authorities have destroyed in part the “reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare, including the destruction of the Al-Basma In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Center, Gaza’s largest fertility clinic, in December
2023.”

The UN report also seemingly blames Israel for child marriage rates in Gaza.

“As the situation in Gaza has sharply increased child marriage and early pregnancy (see para. 223), it has in turn severely impacted the mental health of girls, exposing them to physical, psychological, and sexual violence.”

There is also significant focus on Israel’s alleged targeting of schools and hospitals, with no acknowledgment or discussion of Hamas’s use of hospitals, schools, and humanitarian zones for military purposes.

The Commission concludes that, based on the evidence reviewed, and consistent with its previous reports, there are “reasonable grounds that the Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces have continued to commit the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

Elliot Malin, who specializes in International Law, said the report’s assertion that Israel ‘deliberately’ targeted Gaza children in acts of genocide “is not a legally available conclusion.”

“Targeting children as a form of genocide would require demonstration either: (1) that a substantial portion of the children of Gaza, relative to the whole child population of Gaza, was destroyed with the intent to destroy the group as a whole; or, (2) that the intent was to destroy a substantial portion of the child population in Gaza with the intent to destroy the group as a whole.!

“To do that, you’d have to factor in the total population of minors in Gaza, which is 50% or 1.115 million. 20,000 alleged children being killed in Gaza is 1.7% of the children in Gaza. That’s not substantial enough to constitute genocide.”

Salo Aizenberg, of UN Watch, said the report fails to provide corroborating evidence of any incident of IDF soldiers targeting children.

“In none of the cases can the COI definitively establish that a civilian Palestinian child was identified by an IDF soldier and intentionally targeted for death. That conclusion is speculative throughout. The COI’s methodology effectively assumes that a child killed in Gaza was both killed by the IDF and intentionally targeted merely because the child died.”

He also notes how the UN presumes no military presence.

“Throughout its incident-by-incident assessments, the COI repeatedly makes comments such as: “The Commission could not find any indication of a threat towards members of the Israeli security forces” (g., para. 58). But the COI has no way of knowing whether Hamas or PIJ operatives were present, engaged in combat, or operating from the area at the time of an incident, especially given Hamas’s exclusive use of civilian clothes for combat and its operations from apartments and concealed tunnel shafts beneath civilian areas.”

Aizenberg also notes, as did the Post, the failure to acknowledge that not all minors in Gaza or the West Bank are innocent civilians. 

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Two of Wall Street’s biggest banks have been pulled into a federal inquiry involving Iran. According to officials familiar with the matter, the U.S. Department of Justice is examining whether JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup played a role in processing funds linked to a business network associated with Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. The investigation was first reported by Bloomberg News on June 18. Both banks and the Justice Department declined to comment, and no charges have been filed.

The review is part of a broader Justice Department examination into alleged money laundering and corruption involving entities tied to Khamenei. Investigators are examining large money transfers between firms connected to his network and the role that U.S. correspondent banks may have played in processing those transactions. Officials cautioned that the existence of an inquiry does not imply wrongdoing by any institution and noted that such reviews often conclude without enforcement action.

The figure at the center of the inquiry has become one of the most influential people in Iran. Khamenei became supreme leader in March 2026 following the death of his father during the Iran conflict. He was sanctioned by the United States in 2019. Prior reporting has described a business network spanning shipping interests, overseas bank accounts and real-estate holdings across Europe and the Middle East.

Part of the scrutiny reportedly involves financier Ali Ansari, whom the United States sanctioned in October 2025 for alleged support of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. U.S. authorities allege that shell companies were used to acquire luxury hotels and commercial properties across Europe. Ansari’s legal representatives have denied any connection to Khamenei.

For the banks, the inquiry raises compliance questions. Large global institutions such as JPMorgan and Citigroup process trillions of dollars in international payments and are required to maintain extensive anti-money-laundering and sanctions-screening programs. A federal review could examine whether those controls functioned as intended and whether additional safeguards are needed.

The timing is notable. The inquiry surfaced as Washington and Tehran pursue diplomatic negotiations and as regulators continue warning financial institutions about Iranian sanctions-evasion techniques, including the use of shell companies, third-country intermediaries and digital assets. For now, the likely response from the banking sector will be enhanced monitoring and cooperation with investigators as authorities continue tracing the transactions in question.

JBizNews Desk
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The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved a war-powers resolution aimed at blocking further military action against Iran — the first time the chamber has passed such a measure, on a vote of 50-48, a stunning turnaround after the 10th attempt. It marked the sharpest rebuke yet of President Trump’s handling of a war now in its fourth month. The resolution, which the House passed earlier this month, does not carry the full force of law and will not go to Trump for his signature, but it stands as the clearest sign that Republican support for the war — and the deal to end it — is cracking.

Four Republicans — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana — joined nearly all Democrats, while Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman voted against. The tally tipped partly because two Republicans were absent, including Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell, who was recently hospitalized.

For businesses and households, the vote matters most for what it signals about oil. The war began on Feb. 28, when the United States and Israel struck Iran, and it has kept a risk premium in crude prices and repeatedly threatened traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries a large share of the world’s oil. Democrats backing the resolution have pointed to the pain at the pump: the nationwide average price of gasoline had risen to $4.53, a figure they used to argue the conflict has cost ordinary Americans.

The timing is delicate. Trump signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tehran last week that started a 60-day clock for the two sides to reach a broader agreement over ending Iran’s nuclear program. Oil prices have eased on the diplomatic progress after talks in Switzerland, and that easing has pulled energy costs lower. Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine, who led the effort, said the pause in fighting is the moment for Congress to step back and assess “what should the next chapter be.”

Trump has fiercely opposed the measure, and the White House argues the 1973 War Powers Resolution no longer applies because of the ceasefire. Even with Tuesday’s passage, the president can ignore or veto it, and his administration questions the law’s constitutionality. The vote is, in practical terms, symbolic — but symbolism in Washington often shapes what Congress is willing to fund.

And funding is where the business stakes are largest. The Pentagon is seeking about $80 billion from Congress, mostly for the Iran war, to backfill munitions and stockpiles. That sits inside a far larger push: the administration wants roughly $1.5 trillion in defense funding this year, a 50% increase, including $350 billion it hopes to pass through a budget reconciliation package. For contractors that build missiles, interceptors and munitions, the war has meant a surge of new orders; for taxpayers, one of the steepest run-ups in military spending in decades.

The cracks in Republican ranks have widened for weeks. Texas Senator Ted Cruz said the president was “getting very poor advice on Iran,” and several Republicans argue Trump’s legal window to wage war without congressional approval has expired. Under the War Powers Resolution, a president has 60 days to engage in a conflict before Congress must authorize it. Some Republicans framed their votes as following the law rather than opposing Trump.

What happens next is uncertain. The resolution forces no immediate change, and the fragile truce is holding. But the vote raises the political cost of any return to open conflict and complicates the administration’s drive for military funding. For energy markets, the message is mixed: diplomacy is calming oil prices for now, but the Strait of Hormuz remains a pressure point, and any breakdown in the 60-day talks could send crude — and gas-pump prices — climbing again.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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A global retreat from technology stocks that forced the Korea Exchange to halt trading Tuesday rolled through Wall Street and stayed there into the close, dragging the tech-heavy Nasdaq to a second straight loss while the rest of the market wobbled. The selling started with memory-chip makers and spread across the artificial-intelligence trade, as investors questioned whether the months-long run in chip stocks had outpaced what the companies can actually earn. Adding fuel was a research note from Bank of America warning of up to three interest rate hikes this year — a sharp break from the cuts traders had been counting on from the Federal Reserve under Chair Kevin Warsh.

By the closing bell, the damage was lopsided. The Nasdaq Composite sank about 2.2%, or roughly 580 points, to 25,587.04. The S&P 500 fell about 1.4% to around 7,365, giving back an early attempt to hold steady. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished essentially flat, down just 45.87 points, or 0.09%, to 51,666.84, cushioned by steadier non-tech names. The small-cap Russell 2000 slipped 0.96% to 2,975.48, dropping back below the 3,000 mark it had crossed for the first time only a day earlier.

Market movers

Memory-chip maker Micron Technology led the rout, dropping more than 10% in its worst day since June 5, a day ahead of its quarterly results. The pain ran across the sector: Nvidia fell 3.2% to $201.97 and Taiwan Semiconductor dropped 5.2%, while Marvell Technology lost about 8% and Sandisk sank roughly 11%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF, which tracks the global chip industry, fell 6.5%. Alphabet slid about 2%, extending a 5% drop the day before tied to the departure of two senior AI researchers.

Oracle fell about 2% after disclosing in a regulatory filing that it cut roughly 21,000 jobs — nearly 13% of its workforce — over the past year. AMC Entertainment plunged nearly 24% after the theater chain announced plans to raise $200 million by selling stock to pay down debt.

There were pockets of green. IBM rose more than 4% after JPMorgan upgraded it to “overweight,” and Accenture gained nearly 2% after boosting its share buyback by $2 billion. With money rotating into safer corners, Walmart and Johnson & Johnson each added about 2%. And SpaceX, which had briefly erased all of its post-debut gains, clawed back in the afternoon to finish slightly higher, snapping a brutal three-day slide.

Analysts pinned the swoon on more than valuations. Anna Macdonald, investment strategy director at Hargreaves Lansdown, said strong results from Broadcom had failed to deliver the upgraded outlook investors wanted, triggering a selloff that began in U.S. chipmakers and fed through to Asia overnight.

Commodities and volatility

Oil kept sliding as traders weighed Monday’s U.S.-Iran agreement on a 60-day roadmap toward a final deal, which eased fears of a supply shock. West Texas Intermediate crude traded near $73 a barrel. Gold, normally a refuge when stocks fall, dropped about 1.8% to roughly $4,127 an ounce as investors raised cash. The mood showed clearly in the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” which jumped nearly 13% to 19.51.

In the bond market, yields stayed elevated, with the 10-year Treasury near 4.50% and the 2-year Treasury at its highest level since early 2025, reflecting renewed concern about potential rate hikes. Bitcoin hovered near its low for the year.

The day ahead

The earnings spotlight swings to delivery giant FedEx, reporting after Tuesday’s close, alongside Cerebras Systems, posting its first results since its May IPO. The bigger test comes Wednesday night, when Micron reports and offers the clearest read yet on whether demand for AI memory chips can justify the prices investors have paid.

Later in the week, investors will focus on the government’s release of May PCE inflation data and a final estimate of first-quarter GDP on Thursday, both of which could shape expectations for the Federal Reserve’s next move.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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As a child Boomer Foster, the nephew of Long & Foster co-founder Wesley Foster, wrote three goals on a scrap of paper in crayon:

  • Play in the NFL
  • Practice law with his dad
  • Be president of Long & Foster

“I was too slow for the NFL, but I played football all four years at University of South Carolina, and my dad passed away before I got the opportunity to practice with him, but I guess there was always something in the back of my mind about real estate,” said Foster, who still has that scrap of paper. 

After practicing law for nearly a decade, Foster made the pivot to real estate, thanks to a call from his ‘Uncle Wes.’

“In the early 2000s, my Uncle Wes started calling to see if I was interested in joining the family business,” Foster said. “Now I had two heroes growing up — one was my dad and the other was my Uncle Wes, so when he called it was a hard thing to say no to.” 

Foster started in the business as an agent before moving into management and eventually becoming the president of the firm in 2014. He left the brokerage in 2023 in a corporate reshuffle.

“He started me from the ground up and helped me learn the business from all sides and that was a great way to come through because I know what it’s like to be an agent and how to run an office,” Foster said. 

Through all of this, Foster said his Uncle Wes was an incredible source of support, mentorship and inspiration.

“My Uncle Wes came from nothing,” Foster said. “My grandparents were dirt farmers south of Atlanta and he went to the Virginia Military Institute on a football scholarship, but he still had to do things like work in the cafeteria to get by. It was out of pure determination, grit and surrounding himself with the right people that he was able to build Long & Foster.” 

Foster said one of the greatest lessons he learned from his uncle was that if you take care of people everything else takes care of itself. 

“He believed in prioritizing relationships, prioritizing service and being a servant leader,” Foster said. “He felt like he worked for everybody at the company and really set an example for me and set a standard I have tried to emulate throughout my career.” 

Continuing the family legacy

The latest place Foster is working to apply these lessons from ‘Uncle Wes’ is at his newly launched independent brokerage Paul Wesley Real Estate, which is named after his father Paul and his Uncle Wes. 

Foster said his decision to launch his own brokerage came because he feels that it is currently hard to find a brokerage that still values relationships and service the way his Uncle Wes did. 

“There is a gap in the industry as so many companies are putting their own profit and loss statements over the consumer and that was a gap I wanted to try to fill,” Foster said. 

Despite his desire to fill this perceived void in the industry, Foster acknowledged that it is a challenging time in the industry for smaller firms, especially with the backdrop of massive industry consolidation. However, he feels this wave of consolidation is why the industry needs small independent companies like his. 

“When you look at these big companies and leaders, they are beholden to shareholder calls and a board of directors that is pushing them to find ways to make more and more money and unfortunately, in a lot of situations, I think that is coming on the backs of the consumer,” Foster said. “If you look at some of the initiatives that are all over the industry news and that everyone is fighting about, it’s clear that the consumer is being put on the back burner as compared to company profitability and I think that is a huge problem.” 

Creating an alternative

A desire to create an alternative to this for both agents and consumers is why Foster said he decided to jump back into the industry. Although opening the firm in April, in the middle of the spring selling season, posed some challenges as many agents don’t want to change firms during such a busy season, Foster said things are going well for his fledgling company, which currently serves clients in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. 

“I had a plan of where we were going to open and what I am seeing is that a lot of that plan is taking effect, but we are also pivoting to where we are seeing people swimming towards us and getting excited about who we are and we didn’t expect that to happen,” Foster said. 

So far, this has led Foster to explore expanding the brokerage into Delaware, West Virginia, North Carolina and potentially into New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 

“It has been pretty amazing to see all of the people who decided to uproot their business in the middle of the spring market,” he said. “We only started onboarding agents in April, and we already have close to $250 million in production from about 30 agents. It has been amazing to have this many great agents and great people want to be a part of what we are doing.” 

A company with values

Looking ahead, Foster said he hopes to create a company that has values and can provide agents with a sense of belonging.

“I want to create a place where character, integrity and honor really mean something, and I hope to attract people who are as passionate and obsessive about the consumer experience as I am and as the agents we already have,” Foster said. “But, at the end of the day, I am not getting caught up in how big we get, I am really focused on how many people we can help and how many communities we can strengthen. You are going to have a way more fulfilled life if you are chasing smiles versus money.” 

While his journey in the industry may have been a bit unexpected given the early professional path he chose, Foster said he is glad he ended up in real estate, as he looks to carry on the legacy of his family.

“I didn’t know that I would fall in love with real estate. When I practiced law I was a trial lawyer representing big insurance companies and while the pay was good, it was not something that, when you look at yourself in the mirror at the end of the day, feel like you did something good for people today,” he said. “But in real estate, regardless of what role I have taken on in the industry, I get to help people everyday and that made me fall in love with the industry because I knew I was doing right by people every single day when I go to work.”

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A Wharton graduate who started out pressure-washing homes with his dad in upstate New York has raised $40 million in venture capital to streamline the operations of mom-and-pop businesses with artificial intelligence.

George Eliadis built Probook, an AI operating system, with the needs of electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians in mind. He said people running these types of businesses often find it difficult to efficiently dispatch their workers to the dozens of jobs they receive, which means they end up missing out on potential revenue.

“I started Probook to solve a problem in my own business,” Eliadis, 24, wrote on his company’s website. “I grew up pressure washing in upstate New York with my dad. Six summers in the truck. I spent two to three hours of my day driving between jobs. I’d be up on a ladder washing a house and miss calls because I couldn’t hear my phone ringing.”

After demonstrating his platform could boost profits for shops all around the country, Probook was able to raise a $34 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz and a $6 million seed led by Sequoia Capital, Fortune first reported.

MICROSOFT CEO SATYA NADELLA HAS A WARNING ABOUT THE AI RACE

Eliadis said that home service businesses have been sold many AI tools over the last three years that operate without input from one another and only create more headaches.

“The problem isn’t AI. It’s that AI sat on top of a fragmented system. That’s what got us here,” Eliadis wrote on the company website. “The next decade will…will be won by the platform that runs the customer experience end to end, where AI does the bulk of the work and your team manages the exceptions. Not five tools and three vendors. One platform that runs it all.”

Eliadis claims to have built a single platform capable of managing everything from answering calls, cleaning up job data, sending updates to customers.

An Indiana-based repair service with 14 locations and 260 technicians across the Midwest booked 2,873 jobs in their first month on Probook with zero human intervention, according to the company.

JEFF BEZOS PREDICTS AI WILL CREATE A LABOR SHORTAGE, NOT REPLACE HUMAN WORKERS

After using Probook for eight months, a similar business in Kansas was able to boost its revenue by 10% per job with a 40% smaller team, the company said.

Probook is also selling directly to private equity firms that are rolling up home service businesses and looking to maximize margins through automation.

From the customer perspective, Sequoia Capital described Probook as an easier, faster way to book repairs for your home.

“Your water heater goes out, and you call a local plumbing company that runs on the platform. Probook’s AI picks up immediately, already knowing each technician’s experience, availability and distance from your home, along with their close rates and ticket sizes. It assigns the right tech to the job, alerts them, and keeps you in the loop with an ETA,” Konstantine Buhler, a partner at Sequoia, wrote in a recent blog post.

CONFRONT THE REALITY OF AI OR LOSE MORE JOBS, GLOBAL ADVISOR WARNS

The only thing Eliadis hasn’t figured out how to deal with going forward is ServiceTitan, the $6.3 billion publicly-traded behemoth that operates in exactly the same field as Probook.

ServiceTitan has its own AI scheduling product, and for now, Probook is listed as a ServiceTitan partner, according to Fortune. This means the two firms work together and don’t necessarily compete.

However, the leaders at Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital believe in Eliadis because he has worked in the trades before, while also having the mindset of a Silicon Valley founder.

“Most founders building for the trades have never worked in them. George has,” Buhler told Fortune.

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Every June, rainbow flags appear, organizations post messages celebrating Pride Month, and communities reaffirm their commitment to inclusion and celebration of LGBTQ identity. Those gestures matter. But for too many LGBTQ Jews, especially those raised in Orthodox spaces, Pride Month can also raise a painful question: Am I actually welcome here?

As a straight ally working for JQY (Jewish Queer Youth), an LGBTQ Jewish mental health organization, I’ve spent years listening to queer Jewish teens describe how they experienced their communities growing up and what would have helped them feel more fully seen and supported within them.

Too often, the answers suggest how much work remains to be done.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned from working at JQY is that allyship cannot be assumed. It has to be visible.

One particular memory has stayed with me. I was having a conversation with a participant at JQY’s Drop-In Center shortly after I returned from parental leave. We were getting to know each other, they were asking me questions about my pregnancy and family, then suddenly stopped and said, “Oh, you’re straight?”

For many queer Jews, support is unexpected

What struck me wasn’t the question itself. Instead, it was what came next: the participant’s genuine confusion and surprise that someone who wasn’t queer would work in a queer space, advocating for queer people.

This revealed something to me: For many queer Jews, support is still unexpected. Showing up for queer people is often treated as an exception when it should be the norm.

As Jews, we understand this instinct. In times of rising antisemitism, we want allies who will speak out who are not Jewish. Antisemitism should concern all of us, not just Jews, and we hope our neighbors, friends, colleagues, and leaders recognize this and stand beside us.

You don’t need to share someone’s identity to support them. And you don’t need to share the same lived experience to help create a world where they can live safely and openly.

This visibility matters even more because many young queer Jews are navigating spaces where, because of parts of their identities, they are made to feel unwelcome, misunderstood, or unacceptable.

After Oct. 7, I attended the massive rally on the National Mall in Washington, alongside other members of the JQY community, to hand out flyers and swag to those marching with us, and to affirm the importance of Jewish LGBTQ identity. As we were handing out our JQY merch, someone challenged us: “Why does this have to be about the queer community?”

The answer seemed obvious to me: Because queer Jews are Jews, because queer Israelis exist, and because no one should have to set aside their identity to belong. But evidently it was not obvious to the person asking.

I’ve seen this dynamic play out in queer spaces as well, where Jewish participants wonder whether they will be welcomed. Over the past couple of years, many queer Jews have found themselves navigating assumptions about what they believe, where they stand politically, or whether they belong at all. Exclusion can be subtle. It can manifest as uncertainty about whether a conversation will become hostile, or hesitation before attending an event, or the feeling that just showing up will require an explanation.

Too many people assume that Jewish communities and queer communities exist in opposition to one another. In reality, queer Jewish people live at the intersection of both, and deserve communities that recognize the fullness of who they are.

Pride Month offers an important opportunity for allyship. Not because it’s the only time to support queer people, but because it reminds us that inclusion requires action, starting with giving voice to our values.

For members of the Jewish community, that could look like telling your children that queer people are welcome in your home. Challenging homophobic or transphobic comments when you hear them in your circles. Making it clear through words or actions that someone coming out would not threaten their place in your family or community, and recognizing the bravery of their honesty.

Choosing between identities, convinced of ostracism, abandonment

Many young people are making decisions about coming out and maintaining positive relationships within the larger Jewish community based on what they hear or see around them. If they have never heard acceptance expressed for queer people, they may assume it’s not okay and that there isn’t a place for them.

At JQY, I’ve heard stories about queer teens who became convinced they would be kicked out of their homes, ostracized, or forced to abandon their lives. These fears, whether true or not, can have profound consequences.

For members of the queer community, allyship means making space for Jewish voices. Resisting the urge to treat Jews as a monolith or to assume that every Jewish person shares the same beliefs, politics, or experiences as you. And recognizing that Jewish identity, like queer identity, is tremendously diverse.

Jewish tradition offers a concept that feels especially relevant today, and is the founding belief at JQY: Eilu v’Eilu, “both these and those.” Acknowledging that disagreement can exist without exclusion. We need more of that spirit in our communities.

No one should have to choose between being Jewish and being queer. No one should have to leave behind one identity to fully participate in another. And no one should be pushed out of Jewish life because of who they are.

At JQY, I have seen what’s possible when people are welcomed in their entirety. I have watched young people discover they don’t need to hide pieces of themselves to belong. I have seen conversations happen across differences in politics, religious observance, and personal experience. I have seen people find community where they once expected rejection.

That is what allyship makes possible.

This Pride Month, allyship is not just about posting a rainbow flag or attending a parade. It’s about actively welcoming LGBTQ+ Jews into our communities so that Jewish queer people never have to wonder whether they belong.

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Transportation Minister Miri Regev said on Tuesday that Likud will hold democratic primaries in which about 150,000 party members will choose the slate for the Knesset, and added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s voice will be heard in the process.

Speaking with Gideon Oko and Amichai Attali on the 103FM program Seven Nine, Regev (Likud) said that after several days of uncertainty, the party would hold primaries, with Netanyahu expected to receive reserved spots on the list, subject to the faction’s approval.

“I speak with the prime minister. At no stage did he tell me that he wanted a selection committee,” Regev said. “It is true that several people came to him, including heads of local authorities, and recommended that he go for a selection committee at this time, but at no stage did he say he supported a selection committee. It was completely clear to me that we are going to the primaries. 150,000 Likud members will come on primary day to choose the best team.”

Addressing the party chairman’s request for 10 reserved spots, Regev said the matter would be decided through joint discussion.

“In the end, Netanyahu brings us most of the votes. Of course, his opinion will be heard and will also be considered favorably. Can I tell you whether he will get 10 reserved spots or seven? In the end, the decision will be made through dialogue, but the prime minister will definitely get reserved spots, and this is not the first time.”

When Oko asked about reports targeting MK Tally Gotliv and concerns about losing mandates, Regev said the decision rests solely with the movement’s members.

“I am not entering into any campaign, I do not take polls, and I do not know the polls. We have excellent Knesset members and ministers among Likud members. Any lineup that Likud members choose, I will of course accept, because that is democracy.”

Regev refuses to call out Gotliv for Shin Bet affair

Oko reminded the minister that Gotliv had previously spread conspiracy theories alleging that Shin Bet personnel had spoken with Yahya Sinwar on the morning of October 7, 2023, but Regev refused to attack her colleague in the faction.

“If Likud members choose her, of course, we will be proud of her. In the end, Likud members will choose the list, which is the parameter. I suggest you let everyone express their opinion, and the members will choose the best list for the Knesset.”

On the security front, Regev, who is in the Security Cabinet, rejected claims of a diplomatic collapse on the northern front and stressed that the army is preserving sovereignty and neutralizing threats.

“We are deep inside Lebanon and operating in southern Lebanon,” Regev said. “Just the day before yesterday, they found a tunnel and areas with weapons under the ground, which the IDF dealt with operationally. We are blowing up underground infrastructure that reaches the fence area, so I do not know what collapse people are talking about. The IDF has freedom of action in southern Lebanon, and every threat to IDF soldiers and the state’s citizens, the army knows and understands its mission to neutralize it.”

Regev says Bennett is out of the loop on IDF 

She also sharply criticized former prime minister Naftali Bennett over claims he made regarding the soldiers’ rules of engagement.

“I do not know what Bennett is saying. He says something, and the next day he charges ahead, says something else, and flips on what he said before. So with all due respect, Naftali Bennett is not involved; he does not know what is happening,” she said.

In response to Attali’s remark that Bennett’s son is serving on active duty across the border, she said: “Even if he has a son in Lebanon, I am telling you that the IDF is operating in southern Lebanon.”

Regarding the diplomatic talks the administration in Washington is conducting with Tehran, Regev stressed that Israel remains highly alert and stands by its red lines.

“We always need to be concerned and make sure that the cooperation between the United States and us is such that the interests of the State of Israel are reflected in it. I know about the many talks Prime Minister Netanyahu has had with US President Trump. Even in the last cabinet meeting, when he went out twice to speak with him, he told him clearly: ‘I am not doing things you would not do to defend the citizens of the United States,’” she recalled.

“Therefore, for us, the most important thing is to make sure that the interests of the State of Israel are protected. Iran will not become nuclear, and we will not retreat from the yellow line in Lebanon until we understand that Hezbollah is being disarmed.”

At the end of the interview, the transportation minister described efforts to ease congestion at Israel’s main airport, which threatens to affect the summer flight schedule.

“I am very happy that after the pressure I exerted, we succeeded,” she said. “Of the 75 planes there, 24 planes were moved, and that is excellent, which allowed us to continue managing civilian aviation. There are still many American planes at the airport, and we are working on it. Almost every day, we hold status calls with IDF officials, the defense minister, and the National Security Council, to make sure they simply move the refuelers, because in July and August, we need to manage civilian aviation.”

Responding to the hosts’ claim that the foreign personnel are operating in the compound without regard for local needs, and citing a letter from the Airports Authority director-general published by Din Fischer on Channel 12 News, Regev reiterated her unequivocal demand to the security leadership.

“The Americans need to move the refueling planes out of Ben-Gurion Airport, whether to IAF bases or outside the State of Israel, so that we can manage civilian aviation. There is no other way, and I expect the defense minister and the Defense Ministry to do everything they need to do so that the American refuelers make room for civilian planes and foreign airlines.”

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A bird’s nest partly woven from fiber-optic cables discarded by combat drones was discovered in Ukraine’s Donbas region, according to a photograph shared on social media by Ukrainian anti-corruption advocate Olena Tregub. 

According to Tregub, the nest fell from a tree brought down by a Russian glide bomb. She credited Ukrainian researcher and serviceman Oleh Malchenko with documenting the discovery.

The nest appeared to combine grass with thin strands of optical fiber, a material increasingly scattered across areas where Russian and Ukrainian forces operate first-person-view drones. 

The discovery offers a stark example of wildlife adapting to debris generated by a war in which inexpensive drones have become central to reconnaissance and attack operations.

Israelis along northern border face danger of fiber-optic drones

In a direct tactical adaptation from Russia, Hezbollah has launched dozens of unjammable fiber-optic drones toward Israeli territory for several months.

While the Defense Ministry has reported positive developments in efforts to counter Hezbollah’s fiber-optic drones, Israel is still seeking a more effective solution to a threat that has caused casualties among IDF troops on the northern front.

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Neoconservatives have some ‘splainin’ to do, as Lucy’s television husband, Ricky Ricardo used to say.

The war on Iran has turned out to be a debacle of historic proportions.

After months of military escalation, tens of billions of dollars expended, critical weapons stockpiles depleted, and a region once again thrown into crisis, the United States now finds itself humiliated. The memorandum of understanding reportedly concluded last week does not represent the culmination of victory. It represents the codification of failure.

Many understood that nuclear disarmament and regime change in Iran could not be achieved through force. As I wrote in these pages a few months ago, more than a decade ago, we reached a solution designed to avert precisely the calamity that has unfolded. It was the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or, in layman’s parlance, the Iran nuclear deal.

As a certified denizen of the Swamp — I served in the Clinton White House’s communications shop and later founded a Washington, DC strategic communications firm — I was at the forefront of selling the Obama administration’s agreement to the American public.

I remember those days well — and I do not miss them.

The ever-retreating theory of victory

JCPOA defenders, particularly those of us in the Jewish community, were attacked in the ugliest terms imaginable. We were called appeasers, sellouts, self-hating Jews and worse. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington and outrageously warned Congress that the deal might pave the way to a second Holocaust.

JCPOA advocates never argued that the agreement signed in Vienna was perfect.

Its critics pointed to the sunset provisions. They objected that the deal did not address every malign activity undertaken by the Islamic Republic throughout the Middle East. These were legitimate concerns. Politics, however, is the art of the possible; geopolitics doubly so.

That agreement nevertheless achieved something extraordinary. Iran shipped out the overwhelming majority of its enriched uranium. International inspectors gained unprecedented access. A mechanism existed to monitor and constrain Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. The prospect of military confrontation receded.

The regime’s hardliners hated the agreement. The Revolutionary Guard fought it tooth and nail. Integration into the global economy threatened entrenched interests within the Islamic Republic. A growing middle class and increasing international engagement carried risks for those whose power depended on its isolation and perpetual confrontation.

Unfortunately, hardliners were not confined to Tehran.

The maximal-pressure advocates in Washington ultimately prevailed. During the first Trump administration, the United States withdrew from the agreement. Tore it up, as the president bragged. Despite the best efforts of our European partners, who had also signed the accord, the framework collapsed beneath the weight of renewed sanctions and diplomatic abandonment.

What followed, we were promised, was supposed to vindicate the critics.

Instead, it vindicated the critics’ critics.

The maximal-pressure advocates have spent years moving the goalposts. First, we were told, sanctions would bring the regime to its knees. They did not. Then economic isolation would force Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions. It did not. Then military pressure would succeed where sanctions had failed. It did not. Then leadership decapitation, covert action, and military escalation would produce regime change. They did not.

Each promised but failed breakthrough gave way to another promised breakthrough.

And now comes the final indignity: the so-called memorandum of understanding.

‘History has now rendered its verdict’

After years of threats, sanctions, covert action, military escalation and open warfare, the United States has agreed to resume negotiations with the very regime it set out to break. The Islamic Republic remains in power. Its leadership and political system remain intact.

Nor is that all.

The agreement reportedly provides waivers for Iranian oil exports and opens the door to sanctions relief and renewed access to many billions in frozen assets. It establishes yet another negotiating process on the nuclear question rather than resolving it.

It leaves unresolved many of the issues that maximal-pressure advocates once described as non-negotiable, including Iran’s missile capabilities, its regional proxy network, or the many canisters of near-bomb-grade enriched uranium — what the president calls nuclear dust.

Even the future status of the Strait of Hormuz, the critical passage for oil open before the war, and now established as a lever for Iran to exert pressure, appears destined for further negotiation rather than decisive resolution.

The advocates of maximal pressure promised a better deal than the JCPOA. They promised that Iran would be forced to make concessions unavailable through diplomacy.

Instead, after years of confrontation, Washington finds itself lifting pressure, restoring economic benefits, negotiating with a surviving regime and postponing the most difficult questions to future talks.

Hell, in Paris last week, Trump actually made the case for Iran to retain, build or buy missiles and maintain at least some nuclear power.

So, what, precisely, was achieved?

The tragedy is not merely that the war failed to accomplish its objectives. It is that we already possessed a framework that constrained Iran’s nuclear program without requiring military confrontation. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was imperfect, to be sure. Its supporters never claimed otherwise. But it reduced risk, established verification mechanisms and avoided precisely the cycle of escalation that has consumed the past decade.

Its opponents insisted there was a better way.

History has now rendered its verdict.

The United States ultimately abandoned a functioning diplomatic framework in pursuit of fantasies that proved unattainable. Having exhausted sanctions, threats and military force, it has arrived back at the negotiating table poorer, weaker and in possession of less leverage than before.

I’m afraid I told you so.

The defenders of the JCPOA were mocked as appeasers. Yet the memorandum of understanding now before us amounts to an admission of the very proposition we advanced all along: However distasteful it may be, the Islamic Republic is not a problem that can be bombed or sanctioned out of existence.

Diplomacy could have spared us the war.

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Former chairman of Hadash and MK Mohammad Barakeh was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly inciting terrorism during a public rally, Israel Police said.

According to the police spokesperson, Barakeh gave a speech in 2022 where he said “words of praise and identification with terrorists and terrorist organizations.”

Barakeh was arrested and questioned by the police, and Judge Oded Moreno from the Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court ordered that he be banned from entering the West Bank for 30 days, the police said.

His defense argued that Barakeh “is a politician who made a political speech, this is his political opinion and political expression is protected to the fullest extent of the law, and this is not the place to put political expressions into a mold of incitement and to criminalize political expressions that are uttered by Arab political representatives.”

Judge Moreno countered that “a review of the investigation file reveals the existence of reasonable suspicion of the commission of the alleged offense.”

Barakeh was arrested after he refused to be questioned

Barakeh was arrested after several attempts by the Ariel police to interrogate him without the need to detain him, something that he would “not respond to the occupation police in the Ariel settlement,” while also appointing the Adalah legal center to represent him.

The police argued that Barakeh had to appear for questioning like any other citizen, which he again refused, leading to his arrest.

His photo and fingerprints were taken, while he was also interrogated for four hours.

The Arab Higher Monitoring Committee, an organization that coordinates Arab political action and which Barakeh used to preside, accused the police of conducting a “politically provocative” investigation.

Arab Israeli leaders decry arrest

The committee says that this is “another dangerous episode in the series of political persecutions aimed at intimidating the Arab community and deterring it from legitimate political activity and its struggle against the policy of occupation, racism, and political oppression.”

According to the committee, this is a move “which is also directed at our Arab community and the Monitoring Committee, which is subject to intense incitement by the current and former ruling circles to suppress the legitimate political voice of our community and deprive our people of the right to fight for their national, ethnic and daily rights.”

“This is an unnecessary arrest for political investigation, for a speech that Baraka gave in 2022, as part of a campaign of police officers’ servility to their failed minister, who has been unable to fight organized crime for about four years,” Ja’far Farah, founder of the Mossawa Center for Arab Civil Rights, and who was recently elected second on the Hadash list for the Knesset, told Walla.

“After his government failed on all fronts, they are trying to create a new front against the Arab public and its leaders in order to prevent their defeat in the elections,” he added.

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WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Tuesday announced criminal charges against 455 people as part of a two-week health care fraud crackdown that officials say involved more than $6.5 billion in false claims submitted to insurers.

Among those charged is a nurse practitioner accused in Texas of billing Medicaid for medically unnecessary wound-care procedures and using the proceeds for fancy jewelry and luxury cars; a mental health company owner who prosecutors say exploited the homeless by billing for crisis stabilization services they did not need; and a hospice owner alleged to have paid kickbacks to a funeral home employee for information about Medicare beneficiaries.

Read the rest…

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For many years, generic drugs have accounted for roughly 90% of the prescriptions doled out to Americans thanks to their lower cost. Yet reliable supplies have been an issue due to inconsistent quality — more than 60% of the generic shortages have been attributed to quality concerns, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Numerous manufacturers, many based in India, have been cited for violating manufacturing protocols that led to product recalls and, sometimes, bans on sending drugs to the U.S.

But Kevin Schulman, a professor and deputy director of the Clinical Excellence Research Center at the Stanford University School of Medicine, believes a solution is within reach. Schulman — who has also worked with an independent lab called Valisure that found impurities in some widely used medicines — argues the FDA should encourage testing by independent, accredited laboratories.

We recently spoke with him about the subject. This is an edited version of our conversation.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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One of the most powerful financial jobs in America almost never draws a fight — until now. With New York’s Democratic primary just days away, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the sole trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, faces his first contested primary in roughly two decades, as challengers Drew Warshaw and Raj Goyle argue that the nearly $300 billion fund has been mismanaged. The fund is the third-largest public pension in the United States, and it is controlled by one person.

That concentration of power is the heart of the story. As sole trustee, DiNapoli manages close to $300 billion in retirement savings for more than a million current and former government workers without a board or a cosigner. He has held the office since 2007, when he was installed through an Albany legislative deal rather than elected to it, and has run without a serious Democratic challenger ever since. A recent poll found that 65% of New York Democrats had never heard of him.

The two challengers are making overlapping cases. Warshaw, a former official in the governor’s office and the Port Authority with a background in renewable-energy business, and Goyle, a former state lawmaker, both argue the office has been “asleep at the switch,” pointing to investment fees, what they call fiduciary shortcomings, and a fund they say has been pointed in the wrong direction. Warshaw has pledged to refuse campaign donations from law firms that do business with the fund — a contrast to reporting showing that DiNapoli accepted donations from attorneys at firms his office later hired to litigate on behalf of the pension fund.

DiNapoli’s supporters point to his record. Over nearly two decades, his office has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars through securities litigation and shareholder actions, with money flowing back to retirees. He has also become a prominent voice on corporate governance, executive compensation and climate-related shareholder initiatives.

The stakes extend well beyond Albany. How a $300 billion pool of capital is invested influences returns for retired teachers, police officers and civil servants, affects fees paid to Wall Street asset managers, and gives its trustee substantial voting power in corporate boardrooms across the country. The fund’s performance also affects taxpayer-funded pension contributions by state and local governments.

The race is unusual because statewide financial offices rarely attract public attention. Both challengers are drawing support from voters who normally focus on higher-profile contests, creating one of the most closely watched comptroller primaries New York has seen in years. With the election approaching, voters face a rare decision over who should oversee one of the largest public pension funds in the world.

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Procter & Gamble is making one of its biggest product-format bets in years with the national rollout of Tide Evo, a waterless laundry detergent tile designed to reduce plastic packaging and potentially reshape how consumers buy and use laundry products. The launch is significant because Procter & Gamble already controls roughly 60% of the U.S. laundry detergent market, meaning the company is not primarily defending market share but attempting to expand the category through innovation. Marchoe Northern President P&G Fabric Care said the company believes the new format has the potential to become a major growth platform within the Tide franchise, one of the company’s largest consumer brands.

The product consists of a solid detergent tile that dissolves completely during the wash cycle, eliminating the need for traditional plastic bottles. Measuring approximately 3.5 inches square, the tile contains multiple cleaning technologies compressed into six fiber-based layers that include stain removers, brighteners, odor-fighting ingredients, and cleaning agents. According to Jennifer Ahoni Director and Principal Scientist P&G Fabric Care, the company spent more than a decade developing the technology and secured more than 50 patents during the process. The project involved a team of approximately 15 chemists and engineers focused on creating a compact, waterless detergent format capable of matching or exceeding the cleaning performance of conventional liquid detergents and pods.

The launch underscores a broader trend among consumer goods manufacturers seeking growth through product redesign rather than simply increasing volume in mature categories. The U.S. laundry detergent market generated nearly $25 billion in revenue during 2024, making it one of the largest household products segments in the country. For Procter & Gamble, format innovation has delivered significant returns before. When the company introduced Tide Pods in 2012, the product helped transform consumer purchasing behavior and eventually grew into an estimated $2 billion annual business. Reflecting on the opportunity, Marchoe Northern President P&G Fabric Care told Axios, “It really does have the potential to be as big, if not bigger, than Tide Pods.”

Pricing suggests Procter & Gamble is positioning Tide Evo as a premium offering. A 42-tile package is listed at $19.99, compared with approximately $12.97 for a comparable package of Tide Pods. On a per-load basis, liquid detergent costs roughly 20 cents, pods about 31 cents, and Tide Evo approximately 48 cents. The higher price point may appeal initially to consumers prioritizing convenience, sustainability, and storage efficiency rather than value alone. Industry analysts have increasingly noted that premium household products continue to attract consumer spending despite broader economic pressures, particularly when products offer perceived environmental or performance advantages.

Sustainability remains a central element of the product strategy. Procter & Gamble has committed to reducing its use of virgin plastic and aims to make all consumer packaging recyclable or reusable by 2030. Tide Evo is packaged in cardboard containers sourced from Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper and designed for curbside recycling. According to Jennifer Ahoni Director and Principal Scientist P&G Fabric Care, the company evaluated several waterless detergent formats, including sheets, before selecting the multi-layer fiber tile design. “A lot of work was done to find the right way to stack these together in a format that was nice and compact but that also delivers superior cleaning and instant activation,” Jennifer Ahoni Director and Principal Scientist P&G Fabric Care said.

The competitive landscape is becoming increasingly crowded as consumer interest in waterless cleaning products grows. Established manufacturers including Church & Dwight, through its Arm & Hammer brand, and Unilever-owned Seventh Generation have expanded their presence in alternative detergent formats. Smaller entrants such as Clean Cult have also gained distribution through major retailers including Costco. While many competitors have focused on detergent sheets, Procter & Gamble is attempting to differentiate Tide Evo through its layered construction and proprietary cleaning technology.

The launch also reflects the challenges faced by large consumer products companies when introducing disruptive products within established categories. Executives have acknowledged that convincing retailers, distributors, and internal sales teams to support an entirely new detergent format can be as difficult as developing the technology itself. For a company that has generated decades of reliable revenue from liquid detergents, introducing a product that alters purchasing habits requires substantial organizational alignment and consumer education.

Looking ahead, Procter & Gamble expects Tide Evo to coexist alongside liquid detergents, powders, and pods rather than replace them. The company began national shipments on April 4 and is offering the product in multiple package sizes and three formulations: Original, Spring Blast, and Free & Gentle. As consumers increasingly seek products that combine performance, convenience, and sustainability, Marchoe Northern President P&G Fabric Care and Jennifer Ahoni Director and Principal Scientist P&G Fabric Care are betting that Tide Evo can become the next major innovation platform for one of the world’s largest household products companies.

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The Pentagon is seeking an additional $80 Billion from Congress to cover the cost of the Iran war, as US President Donald Trump’s ratings fall and Americans face steeper economic pressure, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

While an official request by the White House Office of Management and Budget has yet to be made to Congress, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg have been lobbying senators for the funds.

Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg claimed in his conversations with several congressional committees that the funding request has been sent to the OMB. 

The Associated Press reported that the $80 billion request comes on top of the White House’s request to increase the Pentagon budget to $1.5 trillion, “a nearly 50% increase over the current fiscal year’s funding levels.”

While the $80 billion request is far lower than the Pentagon’s initial $200 billion estimate floated before the war started, it still exceeds the $29 billion estimate that Hegseth provided to Congress during last month’s testimony.

The money, Hegseth said, would reportedly be directed toward “replacing munitions and repairing equipment, but also included operational costs to keep forces deployed,” according to the report. 

We need to replenish the military stockpile, but also consider the American family

Many legislators have provided a wide range of opinions on the matter, ranging from opposition to full support for the additional funding. 

Democratic Sen. Patty Murray (Washington) told Hegseth in a hearing last month, “You’re spending families’ hard-earned tax dollars on a war that many strongly oppose.”

Sen. Brian Schatz (Hawaii) doesn’t buy the current supplement figure and expects the actual price tag could be much higher, the AP reported. 

Alternatively, Senate Majority Leader John Thune anticipates that the funding request will move through Congress smoothly. 

“We need to make sure we’re doing everything we can to replenish, resupply a lot our munitions that have been depleted, not only just with what’s happening with Iran, but prior to that.”

Republican Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana also said that he thinks that the stockpiles should be replenished. 

“To me it’s less about the war, it’s more about the stockpiles. I would sell it to my state as an investment in our defense industrial base, reshoring defense production to Indiana.”

Sen. Jack Reed (Rhode Island) told the AP that funding for an Iran-related supplemental bill can’t move forward separately and needs to be part of a broader bipartisan deal on overall defense and non-defense spending. 

Hegseth declined to answer questions from reporters as he walked through the Capitol, but has previously framed the cost of confronting Iran’s nuclear ambitions as necessary, saying the real question is “what is the cost of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon,” while acknowledging that such a policy “comes with cost.”

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In two separate incidents on Tuesday afternoon, the IDF said that it had killed armed Hezbollah operatives approaching its positions in the Ali Taher Ridge, which is at the edge of Israel’s security zone.

Despite the two incidents interrupting the relative calm on the Lebanese front since Saturday and Sunday, the broader ceasefire seemed to hold.

During the first incident, the IDF stated that a group of Hezbollah terrorists approached the ridge and were struck by the military in response. According to local Lebanese media, the IDF killed two and wounded two.

In a second incident later in the afternoon, the military said it attacked four Hezbollah fighters who had likewise approached the ridge in a bulldozer and on a motorcycle.

The IDF said that the vehicles were an attempt to disguise the Hezbollah terrorists as civilians. However, the IDF said its forces were still able to identify them as a threat, with some reports stating they were trying to enter a nearby tunnel.

Hezbollah said Israel broke ceasefire but didn’t respond militarily

According to the Israeli military, its troops fired warning shots to deter the Hezbollah operatives from approaching.

When the Hezbollah fighters continued their approach, the IDF troops opened fire at them directly, striking at least one fighter.

It was unclear what happened to the other Hezbollah operatives, and also unclear why the IDF fired warning shots only in the second incident, but not during the first.

In both cases, Hezbollah said that the IDF had violated the ceasefire, though at press time, it had not responded with any drone or rocket attacks.

Similar incidents occurred after the November 2024 ceasefire between the two sides, as Hezbollah regularly tested how strongly the IDF would enforce its positions within southern Lebanon.

In another dramatic development, the 30 or so Hezbollah operatives trapped in a tunnel near Tibnin – which was recently surrounded by IDF soldiers – are being allowed to live without surrendering for now, pending negotiations about IDF withdrawals.

All of this is concurrent with Israel and Lebanon’s new round of direct talks in Washington. These talks addressed a wide range of issues, including when and to what extent the IDF will withdraw from southern Lebanon.

Israel is offering modest withdrawals, possibly from places like Tibnin and the Ali Taher Ridge, which the IDF took over only last week.

In one IDF proposal, it said it would withdraw from some of the newest areas it has taken over to see if the Lebanese army would properly clean out Hezbollah from those areas.

Some Israeli officials have drawn a distinction between withdrawing from areas where Hezbollah would have a direct line of fire on Israel’s northern villages and areas where this would not be the case.

However, the Lebanese government and Hezbollah are both pushing for a faster and wider withdrawal.

There are multiple options for withdrawal

Until May 26, Israel had not crossed over the Litani River or the Wadi Saluki area, and the IDF could withdraw to that initial line.

Second: there are at least three lines of Lebanese villages in southern Lebanon that the IDF has overrun, and it could withdraw back to any of those lines. For example, in fall 2024, most of the IDF’s forces had advanced only to the first line of villages.

This could involve reverting the IDF’s infiltration of 10 kilometers into southern Lebanon to merely three to five kilometers into the country.

The IDF may eventually withdraw to its five outposts, which it retreated to in February 2025. That particular withdrawal, however, took four months to occur.

Currently, it is expected that any IDF withdrawals will first test both Hezbollah’s continued ceasefire compliance and the Lebanese army’s willingness to confront and deal with Hezbollah.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have given the impression that the IDF will remain in parts of southern Lebanon for months or even years to pressure Hezbollah into disarming.

The two sides are also negotiating how to manage controversial incidents that may undermine the ceasefire.

On the one hand, there are de-escalation efforts involving Iran, the US, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Qatar, but these are occurring without Israel.

On the other hand, there is direct Israel-US coordination on these issues, and it is expected that there will be intense negotiations between Israel, the US, and the Lebanese government on these issues.

Before the most recent war, US Lieutenant General Joseph Clearfield was the main coordinator with Israel and Lebanon on these issues, with support from around 30 other American military officials.

CENTCOM was unsure at press time about whether Clearfield and the 30 officials would return to the same role or if their roles would shift during the upcoming negotiations.

Given recent history, the IDF was highly skeptical that the Lebanese army would be successful in containing Hezbollah.

In late 2024, the IDF complained that the Lebanese army was afraid of Hezbollah and was not nearly aggressive enough in handling the issues that Israel brought to its attention regarding Hezbollah’s ceasefire violations.

Then, by April 2025, the IDF told The Jerusalem Post that the Lebanese army had improved and acted on 500 separate complaints by Israel against Hezbollah.

By July 2025, however, the IDF said that the Lebanese army was losing its resolve to confront Hezbollah.

Part of the issue is systemic, as a large portion of the army is Shi’ite and sympathizes with Hezbollah as the leading force for its tribe when competing with Lebanon’s Sunni and Christian groups.

Another issue is that Hezbollah is still better-armed and seemingly has higher morale than the Lebanese army.

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Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite — longer than usual thanks to a holiday on this side of the pond — was relaxing and invigorating. Now, though, that oh-too-familiar routine of meetings, deadlines, and the like has returned with a vengeance. You knew this would happen, yes? To cope, we are relying, as always, on a cuppa stimulation. Our choice today is English breakfast. Feel free to join us. Remember, no prescription is required. Meanwhile, here are a few items of interest. Best of luck accomplishing your goals and we hope you conquer the world. And, of course, do keep in touch …

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will reconsider approving an experimental gene therapy for a deadly and rare childhood brain disorder that it rejected just four months ago, STAT tells us. The sudden turnaround is the latest in a series of apparent FDA reversals in the past two months, after leaders installed by the Trump administration resigned or were fired. Just last week, UniQure announced it was cleared to submit an application for a Huntington’s disease gene therapy that the agency had previously spurned and that former commissioner Marty Makary appeared to disparage on national television.

The U.S. launched a trade investigation into a German plan to lower its spending ​on pharmaceutical products, to see whether it is unreasonable or ‌discriminatory, Reuters notes. The probe by the U.S. Trade Representative comes under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and follows a move by the German Ministry of Health unveiled plans in April for a ​wide-ranging overhaul of the country’s statutory healthcare system to reduce a looming funding gap ‌by $23 billion. The plan, which would have introduced variable discounts on pharmaceuticals, is being replaced after the pharmaceutical industry expressed opposition to it.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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Extell Development last week secured a zoning bonus from the city required for the firm’s proposed 1,130-foot-tall tower at the site of Midtown’s former Wellington Hotel. The City Planning Commission last week granted the project at 871 7th Avenue a nearly 120,000-square-foot density bonus; in exchange, Extell will upgrade the nearby 50th Street subway station to be fully accessible. The approval allows for the project to expand by 20 percent, transforming it from a 27-story hotel into a 71-story mixed-use tower with 130 residential units and 156 hotel rooms. As first reported by Crain’s, the expansion utilizes the city’s Zoning for Accessibility (ZFA) program, which offers density bonuses to developers in exchange for transit improvements.

Previous conditions of 871 7th Avenue. Credit: CPC

Established in 2021, the ZFA program provides developers with density bonuses of up to 20 percent, or easements that can also increase the size of their projects, in exchange for committing to fund accessibility upgrades at nearby transit stations. The project at 871 Seventh Avenue marks the fifth bonus granted under the program, alongside eight prior easements, according to Crain’s.

It also complements the MTA’s 2022 commitment to make at least 95 percent of its subway stations fully accessible to riders with disabilities by 2055. For this project, Extell said it will add elevators at the northbound and southbound platforms at the 50th Street 1 train station, as well as add a stairway and fare control area at the northbound platform.

Miriam Harris, senior vice president of transit-oriented development at the MTA, told Crain’s that Extell’s investment will free up funds for station upgrades in other parts of the city where the zoning bonus is not yet desirable.

Rendering of 871 7th Avenue. Credit: CPC

In 2022, Extell purchased the 26-story Wellington Hotel from Richard Born’s BD Hotels for $94.5 million. It was among the many hotels that shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic, as 6sqft previously reported. The structure will be demolished to make way for the new tower.

The following year, Extell filed plans for a 27-story hotel at the site, spanning roughly 336,000 square feet and including 208 rooms, 35 parking spaces, a restaurant, office space, a lecture hall, and ground-floor retail.

In October, the firm filed a zoning application to secure a transit improvement bonus of 118,796 square feet of floor area.

The breakdown of the project is over 712,000 zoning square feet, with roughly 460,700 square feet for residential and 252,000 square feet for commercial, which includes 156 hotel rooms, office space, and retail.

While the CPC has approved the project, it has not been without opposition. In May, Manhattan Community Board 5 passed a conditionally unfavorable resolution, 21 in favor, eight against, with one abstention, recommending denial of the application.

The board expressed concerns about the lack of affordable housing, disruptive construction plans, and the impact of additional curb cuts on pedestrian safety.

During the June 17 CPC public meeting, Commissioner Leah Goodridge said Manhattan CB5 called Extell “a bad neighbor” and accused the developer of treating the property as a “dumping site” that it only cleaned up after applying for rezoning.

Commissioner Gail Benjamin also echoed concerns over the project’s lack of affordable housing. She said that because the approved zoning change is not a map change, the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing zoning tool—which requires developers to include a certain number of affordable units in new projects—does not apply.

Benjamin continued, recommending that the CPC “take a look” at policies surrounding affordable housing requirements for these types of projects. Despite her concerns, she voted in favor of the proposal.

“In Manhattan, if we are going to get more affordable housing through our programs, it is probably going to be on these types of special permits and authorizations,” she said. “It would be great if we could take a look towards finding a way to make that requirement more Manhattan-centric.”

Extell has led a similar project at 655 Madison Avenue. Originally planned as a 37-story mixed-use tower, the firm now seeks to build a 74-story tower in exchange for improvements to the Fifth Avenue–59th Street subway station.

It also joins a slew of other ongoing projects Extell has initiated in recent years. In April, the firm filed plans for an 86-story residential tower on the Upper West Side, which would become the tallest in the neighborhood and surpass its existing tower across the street at 55 West 66th Street on the former Disney campus.

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The “emerging trends” in housing story over the past decade or more has been a tale of magnitude variations on a theme: constrained supply eclipsed by growing demand.

If there is one conclusion that rises above all others in this year’s “The State of the Nation’s Housing 2026” report, it is that the industry’s challenge has shifted to a new, different, unsettling theme.

Supply is still constrained. But demand, and the demographic bedrocks beneath it, now point to – and beyond – an apogee.

Demand deterioration.

HH_growth_jchs_0626
Image courtesy of JCHS

Demand destruction.

immigration_jchs_0626
Image courtesy of JCHS

Demand deceleration.

usmigration_0626_jchs
Image courtesy of JCHS

You name it.

Demand decline now figures into long-term strategic and business plans that take stock of where we are.

Until now, housing leaders could reasonably assume that demographic demand would eventually absorb whatever product they could bring to market.

Harvard’s latest analysis suggests that this assumption warrants re-examination. Household growth slowed for a third consecutive year, falling to 1.1 million in 2025 after averaging 2 million annually during the pandemic-era surge. At the same time, job growth weakened dramatically, consumer confidence remained near historic lows, mobility fell to record lows, and immigration slowed sharply.

For builders and developers, the blend of those forces and factors is meaningful. Why? It weighs directly on the industry’s fundamental growth engine: newly-formed households.

The report documents a market in which fewer young adults are forming households, fewer people are relocating, and fewer international migrants are arriving to fuel household growth. Those trends are not cyclical noise. They represent meaningful pressure on housing demand growth over the next several years.

That reality helps explain many of the operating conditions builders experienced during the disappointing spring selling season of 2026.

10 insights homebuilding leaders need to reckon with

1. Household formation is slowing materially.
The housing industry’s largest long-term demand driver weakened for a third consecutive year. Household growth has effectively returned to pre-pandemic levels after the extraordinary surge of 2020 and 2021.

2. Immigration is becoming a major housing demand variable.
Harvard projects net international migration could fall to roughly 321,000 people in 2026, dramatically below historical norms. That shift has implications not only for household growth but also for labor availability across construction and building products sectors.

3. Mobility has effectively frozen.
Only 11.2% of households relocated in 2024, a record low. Existing homeowners remain locked into low mortgage rates, reducing both resale inventory and move-up demand.

4. Builders are already adapting their product.
The industry’s response to affordability pressures is clearly visible. Builders are delivering smaller homes, smaller lots, more townhomes, and more incentive-driven financing packages. Homes under 1,800 square feet increased their share of completions significantly, while townhomes reached 18% of single-family completions.

5. Unsold inventory is becoming a constraint.
Unsold completed new-home inventory rose 54% over two years and reached its highest level since 2009. That inventory overhang is helping suppress additional starts.

6. Build-to-rent has moved from niche to meaningful demand channel.
Single-family homes built specifically for rental represented 11% of completions in 2025, nearly three times historic norms. Builders increasingly relied on institutional rental demand as owner-occupant demand softened.

7. Multifamily is entering a different phase of the cycle.
The industry is still absorbing the largest apartment delivery wave in decades. New supply helped moderate rents in many Sunbelt markets, but the development pipeline is shrinking as units under construction decline.

8. Affordability remains historically broken.
Even with slowing home-price appreciation, the median existing-home price remains nearly five times median household income. Mortgage payments on a median-priced home remain roughly double where they stood in late 2020.

9. Housing costs now extend far beyond mortgage payments.
Insurance premiums increased 72% between 2019 and 2025, while property taxes rose 31%. Those cost increases are becoming increasingly important purchase-decision variables.

10. The housing shortage increasingly centers on affordability, not simply volume.
The report’s most sobering statistic may be that 11 million extremely low-income households compete for only 3.8 million affordable and available rental units. The nation’s biggest housing shortfall is no longer a generic unit shortage; it is a shortage of attainable housing.

Three opportunity areas emerging for builders

The report also highlights several strategic opportunities for builders, developers, capital partners, and suppliers willing to adapt.

1. The attainability innovation race

The companies that figure out how to deliver attainable housing at scale stand to capture disproportionate market share.

The report repeatedly points to the widening gap between what households can afford and what the industry can economically produce. That gap creates opportunity for innovation in lot design, floor plans, off-site construction, automation, value engineering, and entitlement efficiency.

2. Build-to-rent becomes core strategic, not reactive tactical

Institutional rental demand is no longer merely a backstop during slow sales periods.

The growth of build-to-rent suggests a structural evolution in how housing is delivered and consumed. Builders capable of serving both for-sale and for-rent demand channels may enjoy greater resilience during future market cycles.

3. Remodeling and existing-housing preservation

The aging housing stock is quietly becoming one of housing’s largest business opportunities.

Owner improvement spending reached $376 billion in 2025 and now rivals spending on new single-family development. With owner-occupied homes reaching a median age of 42 years, demand for repairs, retrofits, resiliency upgrades, energy improvements, and modernization appears likely to remain durable.

Three risks that could reshape the next 36 months

1. Structural demand deceleration

The combination of slower household growth, weaker immigration, lower mobility and diminished consumer confidence suggests that the industry’s long-assumed demand floor may be lower than many business plans assume.

2. Housing cost escalation beyond purchase price

Insurance, taxes, utilities, resiliency requirements and climate-related expenses increasingly influence buyers’ decisions. Builders who focus solely on purchase-price affordability risk overlooking the growing importance of monthly ownership costs.

3. Climate and disaster exposure

Harvard’s report identifies climate risk as a housing-supply issue as much as an environmental one. Billion-dollar weather disasters continue to rise, while federal disaster-recovery and mitigation frameworks face growing uncertainty. Those pressures could reshape land values, insurance availability, development economics, and geographic growth patterns across many markets.

Make no mistake …

What to learn from The State of the Nation’s Housing 2026 is that housing’s challenge is shifting from whether America needs more housing to whether it can produce housing that aligns with what households can afford.

Builders spent much of the past decade responding to undersupply. The next phase may require something more difficult: aligning product, land strategy, operations, capital structures, entitlement processes, and technology investments around a consumer whose purchasing power has weakened even as housing costs remain historically high.

The industry’s leaders have already begun that transition through smaller homes, smaller lots, incentive-driven financing, build-to-rent partnerships, and operational efficiency initiatives. Harvard’s report suggests these moves are not temporary responses to a soft market. They may instead mark the early contours of housing’s next operating model.

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Mortgage rates are moving higher as 2026 nears its midway point. And sentiment has shifted when it comes to rate expectations as more housing market observers are predicting at least one rate hike this year — a stark contrast to the start of 2026 when multiple cuts were on the table and sub-6% rates seemed possible.

At HousingWire‘s Mortgage Rates Center on Tuesday, rates for 30-year conventional loans averaged 6.79%, up 6 basis points in the past week. Rates for 30-year jumbo loans also rose 6 bps to 6.81%, while rates for 30-year loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) jumped 7 bps to 6.38%.

In the short term, rates have responded to the Federal Reserve‘s decision to hold benchmark rates steady for a fourth straight meeting, with stronger indications from Fed officials that a rate hike is more likely than a cut by the end of 2026.

A startling prediction was released Monday when Bank of America economists forecast three rate increases by the end of this year, which would bring the federal funds rate to a range of 4.25% of 4.5%, erasing all of the cuts made in 2025. But HousingWire Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami called those actions “a bit too aggressive” and said they are unlikely to come to fruition.

“Core inflation had been picking up before the (Iran) conflict, so any rate cuts are off the table, even after the conflict ended. The conflict ending removed the worst-case scenario. However, for now, I have one rate hike planned for 2026,” Mohtashami wrote.

Interest rate traders hold similar views, according to the CME Group‘s Fed Watch tool. As of Tuesday, about 36% of those surveyed were predicting a 25-bps increase at the Fed’s next meeting in July — up from 18% a month earlier. Roughly half of respondents have penciled in a hike by September, while roughly one-quarter think there will be a 50-bps increase by October.

Impact on purchase, refi demand

Rising rates are likely to factor into summer home sales and have been suppressing activity over the past month. HousingWire Data shows that weekly pending sales remain higher than a year ago, but existing home sales — which lag the pending sales data by 30 to 60 days — are likely to slow in July, according to Mohtashami.

“Mortgage applications declined for the fourth time in five weeks, underscoring borrowers’ continued sensitivity to higher mortgage rates compared to earlier this year. Purchase activity remained above year-ago levels, but constrained housing supply in many markets, elevated home prices and ongoing economic uncertainty continue to weigh on would-be homebuyers,” Bob Broeksmit, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), said in a statement.

Purchase application demand remains 3% higher than a year ago, the MBA reported. And consumer mentalities appear to be resilient despite affordability concerns. Bank of America survey data compiled in April and May shows that 53% of Americans would rather buy a home than rent or live with family — the first time in three years that a majority have expressed this view.

“The duration of the interest rate environment that we’re in today is now becoming a new normal, so versus the shock of movement from post-pandemic to the levels [near] 7%, now we’re consistently in this area, so this is a new normal from a market perspective,” Matt Vernon, head of consumer lending at Bank of America, told HousingWire.

“I think that is causing that clear inflection point in sentiment, where most Americans — or more Americans now — are thinking of homeownership as the preferred long-term choice.”

Refinance activity strong

Kyle Bass, production business manager at Refi.com, said that even with rates above 6.5%, more stability in recent weeks also seems to be supporting stronger refinance activity.

“For homeowners sitting on the sidelines, the question isn’t whether to refinance, it is whether you will be ready when the window opens,” Bass said. “This is why it’s more important than ever to prepare now. Those considering a refinance should complete the full pre-qualification process today, not because they’re ready to close, but because it reveals what needs to improve before they are, such as paying down credit card debt. Doing this now means you will be weeks ahead when rates reach your desired level.”

FHA loans, which represent about 17% of the mortgage market, also received a potential boost Tuesday when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a host of changes to the FHA’s single-family loan programs.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is rolling out 14 changes to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)’s single-family mortgage insurance program, including less stringent appraisal rules, expanded flexibility for the 203(k) rehab loan program and simplified closing forms. 

The updates impact FHA policies across the origination, servicing, quality control and appraisal realms. HUD said the goal is to remove outdated requirements, reduce administrative work and make FHA financing more efficient for both homebuyers and lenders. 

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Many people in the housing industry are wondering why mortgage rates haven’t fallen even as oil prices have dropped from $111 per barrel to less than $73 today. The 10-year Treasury yield is at 4.48% and mortgage rates are near their yearly highs.

This is a fair question, and we have already discussed where mortgage rates should go now that the conflict in Iran is truly ending. Today, we’ll give you a brief take on how I view the 10-year yield and mortgage rates — and why, for now, everything looks all right to me.

Fed policy accounts for the bulk of yields, rates

When I speak at events, I always show the chart below and say that this represents the slow dance between the 10-year yield and the 30-year mortgage rate. What drives the 10-year yield in turn drives mortgage rates. And Federal Reserve policy is what drives 65% to 75% of the headline figure.

For years now, my theme for rates has been labor over inflation. In fact, from 2023 through present day, every time the 10-year yield is below 4%, it’s because the market believes the economy is slowing down and the labor market is at risk.

If the Fed cuts benchmark interest rates down to 3%, getting below 3.8% on the 10-year yield is difficult. We’ve been below 3.8% twice recently — once in 2023 and again in 2024. On both occasions, traders believed the labor market was breaking and yields shot back up when it became clear it wasn’t.

chart visualization

This is why I don’t forecast anything below 3.8% on the 10-year yield. To me, this is a recession premise or because the Fed has gotten more dovish than the market is basing neutral policy on.

chart visualization

We went into 2026 with questions about the labor market and assumptions that the Fed would price in two or three cuts. But now we have one rate hike priced in for 2026. This is why I’ve said that, once the U.S.-Iran conflict is over and the Fed becomes less hawkish, we should think of 4.46% to 4.48% as the base point for the 10-year yield until more data or clarity on the Fed arrives.

As I’m writing this, the 10-year yield is at 4.48%. So, to make this point short, the Fed has gone hawkish in a year where rate cuts were initially priced in.

No comment yet from the Fed on the conflict ending

The Fed had a lot to say about the conflict lasting longer and the risk to inflation from higher oil prices. In fact, it made the Fed in general much more hawkish. But now? Nothing much has been said about oil prices since they went back to $73 per barrel.

chart visualization

Now the Fed hawks can say that ending the conflict will make them less hawkish. Maybe over the next few days or weeks, this could help the 10-year yield as Fed policy becomes less restrictive in the marketplace. But until then, don’t expect a change.

In fact, Wall Street firms are now debating how many rate hikes we will see in 2026. Bank of America says there will be three.

Labor data is firm and core inflation is running hot

Going into the year, the Fed was going to ignore tariff-related inflation, which made the inflation data hotter than normal, as officials believed that a one-time price shock would filter out in the second half of 2026.

They might still hold this belief, but the Iran conflict gave them a reason to adopt a more hawkish stance. In general terms, the heat from the inflation data was simply too much to ignore, so all rate cuts for 2026 are off the table for now.

chart visualization

On top of that, recent labor market stabilization has made it easier for the Fed — even with oil prices rising — to not talk about rate cuts, as they see the labor market growing enough to keep the unemployment rate low. With oil prices moving much lower, the hawks can change their mind, but until they guide the market on that, bond traders will keep the 10-year yield closer to yearly highs than lows. If the unemployment rate were at 5%, we would have a different story, but that isn’t the case.

chart visualization

Conclusion

I know some people were anticipating that the 10-year yield and mortgage rates would drop right away with oil prices at $73 a barrel, but a lot has changed in 2026 beyond geopolitics. It is a huge win that this conflict is over and oil prices are down, but the Fed needs to get that message out if they want to quiet a lot of the more aggressive rate-hike talk that some market participants are forecasting.

With the conflict ending, maybe Fed officials can get back to discussing core inflation and when they think it will start to cool off. I can understand the frustration of housing market professionals on this topic — but for now, mortgage rates and the 10-year yield look right to me.

This post was originally published on here.