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It marks the first time in the franchise’s existence that Gotham FC will be based in the five boroughs. 

These Boone teams generally have begun well and then lost health, focus and fundamentals.

"These investments will help reduce animal overpopulation, ease pressure on the shelter system, and ensure that New Yorkers are not forced to choose between basic needs and feeding their pets," advocates wrote.

Manslaughter Charges Filed Following Fatal Tesla FSD Crash

A fatal crash involving Tesla's driver-assistance technology has resulted in manslaughter charges against a Texas man after his vehicle slammed into a home near Houston, killing a 76-year-old woman inside, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Prosecutors say 44-year-old Michael David Butler told first responders he had been using Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) feature while making a DoorDash delivery on June 19. Butler claimed he changed the music on the touchscreen before losing consciousness. Authorities said he was the only person in the car and that toxicology tests found no evidence of alcohol or drugs.

However, data recovered from the vehicle paints a different picture. Investigators said Butler repeatedly overrode the FSD system by pressing the accelerator, with the Tesla reportedly reaching speeds as high as 73 mph in a residential neighborhood. Officials also said there was no braking in the final moments before the vehicle crashed into the home. Investigators further uncovered Google searches indicating Butler had been frustrated that the software was not driving aggressively enough.

The WSJ reported that Tesla has pushed back on Butler's version of events, stating that vehicle data shows the accelerator was held down by the driver both before and after the collision. The crash is now also under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as part of its ongoing scrutiny of advanced driver-assistance systems.

The crash is likely to intensify the long-running debate surrounding Tesla's Full Self-Driving technology. Although the software is marketed as capable of handling steering, braking, and acceleration in many driving situations, Tesla has consistently maintained that the system requires a fully attentive driver who is prepared to take control at any moment. Despite its name, Full Self-Driving is not an autonomous driving system.

Critics have argued for years that the branding has created confusion among some drivers, leading them to place more trust in the technology than Tesla's own warnings recommend. Regulators have repeatedly examined whether drivers are using the system as intended, while safety advocates have questioned whether the software encourages a false sense of security behind the wheel.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened numerous investigations into crashes involving Tesla's advanced driver-assistance features over the past several years, including several fatal incidents. Those investigations have fueled ongoing scrutiny of the company's autonomous driving ambitions as Tesla continues to make artificial intelligence and self-driving technology central to its long-term strategy.

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/07/2026 - 06:55

Wild video shows hordes of soccer fans brawling inside a FIFA Fanzone on Washington’s National Mall during the US-Belgium World Cup clash, which the USMNT ultimately lost 4-1. 

Now, with a season under his belt, a more muscular Dëmin isn’t just bigger, but is stepping into a bigger role despite his tender age of 20.

Britain Vs America: 1976 Vs 2026

Authored by John Perry via AmericanThinker.com,

July 4, 1976, the American bicentennial.  

Along with other American students at University College, Oxford, I attended a grand banquet celebrating the occasion.  In the high-vaulted dining hall, our familiar, plain wooden tables and benches were awash in linen, china, fresh flowers, silver, silver, and more silver: candlesticks, ewers, wine coolers, chargers, and items a young man from Spring Branch, Texas could not readily identify.  We feasted heartily, drank really good wine, heard speeches, and toasted President Gerald Ford.  It was a great night to be an American.

Looking back at that celebration fifty years on, it’s clear that the U.S. and Britain have gone in very different directions since then.  

Britain in 1976 seemed to this novice traveler like a downtrodden older cousin, tired and worn around the edges yet with a sense of history and purpose, a proud past, a charming personality, and the notion that “there will always be an England.”

Unfortunately, immigration, lawlessness, blind obedience to the global warming hoax, and a fading confidence in their own brilliant history have rendered Great Britain a shadow of its former self.

Britain today seems to have lost its way, given up, and virtually turned itself over to third-world invaders.  Great Britain resolutely held off foreign invasion through two world wars.  But over the past fifty years, in an era of relative peace and prosperity, they have turned one of history’s truly great and accomplished cultures over to gate-crashers who have diluted it almost beyond recognition and possibly beyond saving.

Fortunately, history has shown America a different way, though millions of illegals flooded in before our leaders saw the light.  With its ruinous and indefensible open borders policy, the U.S. nearly went down the same dark path as our British friends.  Only a change of command and a resurgence of common sense saved us in the nick of time.  For now.

In another unfortunate misstep, Britain has spent years destroying itself before the false god of climate change.  Their people freeze and roast while vast and easily extracted stores of coal sit unused.  Their North Sea oil and gas riches wait offshore, largely ignored and untapped today after an initial bonanza of energy production.  Windmills, solar panels, and electric car mandates will do still further damage.  Yes, the climate is changing.  It has always changed.  (Ask the Vikings who lived in Greenland until it got too cold in the 1400s.)  But fossil fuels don’t cause climate change.  And nothing the world does — or doesn’t do — will stop it.

Thank goodness America’s current leadership has the sense to throw out decades of junk science and embrace energy development that keeps Americans comfortable, healthy, and safe.  And gives us freedom to choose.  If you want an electric car, Elon Musk makes the best in the world.  If you can’t resist a scorching V-8, America has some brand-new ones that will make your eyes bug out.  

Even in 1976, the British seemed different from people back home.  Americans appeared more prosperous, ambitious, hopeful, independent, curious, and confident.  They had more sparkle and optimism.  On the train one morning in Oxford, I struck up a conversation with a passenger who was about my age.  Hearing my accent, he pumped me for information about the American West — Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas.  He dreamed of going there to work on a ranch and have his own place one day, he said, because in Britain the land was all bought up and no one had any way to improve his prospects.  No one expected to get ahead.  To him, America was the shining New World of opportunity.

I wrote in my journal that summer about crowds in the street seeming gray and listless, shuffling through the day in a joyless, inevitable sort of way.  I didn’t know exactly how to describe what I felt, but it centered on what my fellow passenger had said about how Americans seemed to have optimism about the future, a sense they could change their lives for the better, while the British were shunted onto a path somehow and that was it.  No New World for them.

Fifty years after my bicentennial celebration abroad, despite all the slings and arrows arraigned against it, the United States is still the United States.  Still the freest, most prosperous country in world history.  Still maintaining the highest per capita income and standard of living in the world (not counting Monaco, Liechtenstein, etc., which have no Democrats).  Still defending its founding principles anywhere and everywhere. 

On the other hand, the Britain of 1976 has disappeared, a victim of irresponsible and short-sighted leadership whose immigration and energy policies have driven the country to its knees.  A nation that was once quirky and a little past its prime, yet still solid at its core and capable of renewal, has devolved into one that is morally and culturally spent, bereft of an identity, embarrassed at its past triumphs, and imprisoned by forces determined to bring it down.

Many noteworthy comparisons between ’76 and today are in the little things.  In 1976, the mail in Oxford came twice a day.  This was of course so one could get a letter in the morning and, like any civilized correspondent, answer it the same afternoon.  Twice-a-day mail delivery is history now.  In fact, unless you pay a premium, routine mail is delivered only every other day and not on weekends.

British trains in ’76 looked as though Hercule Poirot might step off onto the platform at any moment.  Each car had individual compartments connected by an interior corridor along one side.  They were quiet, plush, and easy to get in and out of.  They had plenty of storage, and they lent a degree of British elegance to even the most routine train journey.  It’s all gone today.

Table service in ’76 was a dream for anyone who enjoys the experience and spectacle of dining.  The most mundane meals were enhanced by traditional tea service (strainer, stand, sugar cubes and tongs, milk pitcher), toast racks, fish knives, and an array of spoons from coffee (doll-like, half the size of a teaspoon) to soup (massive; don’t put the whole thing in your mouth).  Even expensive restaurants hardly make the effort now.

At the opera, excellent binoculars were provided in racks on the seat backs.  Those are long gone, I suspect, because they started disappearing.

But the biggest disappearance since 1976 is that in ’76, Britain was full of British people, and in ’26, they have disappeared.  During the course of a day, a visitor can interact with dozens of cashiers, shopkeepers, drivers, clerks, waiters, guards, officials, and strangers at the bus stop without encountering a single native English speaker.  What happened to them?  And why would any business hire employees who cannot clearly speak the local language when it’s the language of the world?

The British today seem embarrassed by their Britishness.  Swamped by a tidal wave of political correctness, they’ve been cowed into submission for even thinking about defending one of the great cultures of the world.

By any reasonable measure, Britain is better than any immigrant homeland.  Their courts, schools, hospitals, law enforcement, business environment, and other institutions are better.  Otherwise, why would hordes of people from Africa, Asia, and elsewhere clamor to get to the British Isles?

Britain has been diluted beyond recognition by foreigners who come not to build a career, but to mooch off the British welfare system.  Rather than compel them to pull their own weight and contribute to the greater good of the Commonwealth, the government allows them to fester, holding on to their third-world ways and customs — sharia courts, Islamic schools — chipping away at all the institutions that shaped Britain, brought it to life, and sustain it today. 

England’s laws are the bedrock of modern jurisprudence.  Its industry has been the template for the modern world.  Its culture and civilization led the way into the industrial age.  Its language is the first international language in history.  Yet somehow the English have allowed themselves to feel inferior to a host of invading cultures and civilizations.  Let us hope that the Spirit of ’26 — or ’76 — will inspire them anew.

After following Great Britain up the ladder to prosperity and influence, America came too close to following it back down these past fifty years.  Yet by God’s grace, our history has led us along a different path, upward to an ever stronger, safer, more prosperous nation — a shining New World of opportunity for all. 

On this glorious occasion of America 250, that’s truly worth celebrating.

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/07/2026 - 06:30

NYC's new housing voucher program may seem compassionate, but it’s actually blighting the life chances of those it seeks to help.

The Success Academy's just-released report on New York City public-school failure is so shocking and troubling that even anti-charter-school teachers unions should be shaking in horror.

Priced Beyond Perfection: Samsung Electronics Tumbles As Soaring Profit Not Good Enough

The memory bubble appears to be rapidly deflating.

After the semiconductor/memory sector was walloped in Monday US trading without any clear negative catalyst, the semiconductor-chasing world was eagerly waiting to hear what Samsung - the world’s largest memory maker - would report in its preliminary Q2 earnings report as investors sought to justify sky-high investments and valuations around AI. In the end, it was not good enough, and the stock is down 5% at last check. 

Samsung Electronics’s quarterly profit surged 19-fold due to relentless demand for memory chips needed in AI data centers. For the 3 months ended June 30, the company reported preliminary operating income of 89.4 trillion won ($58 billion) not only beating the median analyst estimate of 84.2 trillion won, but dwarfing its performance for all of 2025. Revenue more than doubled to 171 trillion won, also modestly beating expectations (Samsung will release a full financial statement, including net income and divisional breakdowns, around the end of the month).

Yet while the historicals were clearly strong, they were not strong enough for a company that had been priced beyond perfection, and where it didn't take much to disappoint investors just looking for a hint to take profit. And they go it:

• *SAMSUNG DROPS 4.5% IN PRE-MARKET ON NEXTRADE AFTER 2Q GUIDANCE

Indeed, investors had harbored extremely high hopes for Samsung, its peer SK Hynic and other chipmakers that are posting unprecedented profit margins thanks to a historic buildout of AI infrastructure worldwide. Yet that capex buildout is likely ending, after META lobbed the first shot across the bow of unlimited capital spending last week and sparked the biggest 2-day selloff of high beta momentum stocks since covid. 

“We will be looking for signs that this represents a sustainable step change in the company’s annual free cash generation,” said Brian Cho, a portfolio manager at Causeway Capital Management, adding that he would also be looking at management’s shareholder return policy.

A shortage in memory chips has become a key bottleneck for AI development, executives including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap have warned. Manufacturers are giving priority to high-end memory development to meet data centers’ needs, leading to inadequate volumes of conventional memory as well. Analysts expect shortages to last through 2027 at least, giving Samsung and rivals SK Hynix and Micron enormous pricing power. Meanwhile, China's own DRAM giant, CXMT, is rapidly catching up to its Korean peers, and rapidly taking market share, sparking concerns that China may soon do to commodity memory chips as it has done to, well, pretty much every other product it has competed against: sparked a deflationary tsunami. 

But not yet: the average operating profit margin for the big three chipmakers is projected to trend around 75% to 80% in the June quarter, according to market research firm Counterpoint. Some argue that such margins constitutes excessive profiteering, it said in a report. “There can be regulatory pressure on memory players if this situation continues,” it said.

Shares of Samsung, which has broad portfolio of chips and consumer electronic, have underperformed cross-town rival SK Hynix’s, which is more focused on high-end memory geared for AI’s computation needs. Samsung’s shares, which were hurt by a selloff in the five days to Friday, are up 165% this year, compared with SK Hynix’s roughly 260% gain.

Korea is hoping that the cartel pricing of Samsung and SK Hynix ends up creating an impenetrable moat which benefits the entire country: the two chipmakers are central to South Korea’s ambitions to pull ahead of other countries to take leadership in AI. Samsung Group and SK Group plan to build two chipmaking plants apiece in the nation’s southwest for a total of 800 trillion won to expand capacity quickly. The country aims to double its memory production capacity within five years. For 2026, Samsung has announced plans to spend over $70 billion in production capacity expansion and research. However, as we reported last night, one thing Seoul apparently forgot is the Chinese threat, and contrary to conventional wisdom that Chinese memory tech is far behind, Korean experts have warned that CXMT is closing the gap with Korea "far faster than expected."

And with Korea opening for trading, it's not surprising that Samsung stock, which was priced beyond perfection, is down as much as 5% in early trading

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/07/2026 - 06:19

Dave Portnoy railed against the "pathetic" USMNT in a curse-filled social media rant for the "embarrassing effort" in their blowout loss to Belgium Monday night.

Behind the viral appeal, doctors say a dangerous pattern is emerging — one that is sending children and teens to the hospital with severe burns amid "blood-curdling screams" of pain, requiring everything from skin grafts to medically-induced comas.

In total, a staggering 43% of the system’s approximately 912,000 students are in these failing schools, according to the shocking report released Tuesday.

Coffee Shorts Get Roasted As Arabica Stages Biggest Jump Since Dot-Com

Arabica coffee futures jumped the most since the Dot Com era as worsening weather in Brazil and shrinking exchange-managed warehouses intensified concerns about near-term supply. This comes as El Niño threats rise across critical agricultural belts worldwide.

New York prices jumped as much as 18.5% on Monday to $3.57 a pound, the highest since January. This was the largest single-session gain since July 18, 2000.

Context on the squeeze: Traders had been expecting a large Brazilian crop, but rains have slowed the harvest, and growers are holding back sales in hopes of better prices.

Bloomberg noted: 

Technical factors also were at play. The Intercontinental Exchange last week raised margin requirements as prices increased, making it costlier for traders to maintain positions and potentially pushing some out of the market, said Judy Ganes, president at J. Ganes Consulting.

"This move is just one of those fear days and people covering," Ganes said. But it's hard to justify it fundamentally."

Bloomberg quoted Rural Clima meteorologist Marco Antonio dos Santos as saying that rain is forecast for a large part of Brazil in mid-July, which will be "detrimental" to crops, including coffee. "This is directly linked to El Niño, which has been gaining strength week after week," he added.

The rally adds to a broader El Niño-driven surge across soft commodities, with sugar, rice, and cocoa also rising.

Latest El Niño coverage:

• El Niño Heat Wave Fuels HVAC Boom: Goldman Maps The Trade
• Super El Niño: Famine Follows War?

Arabica inventories in exchange-monitored warehouses are at their lowest levels since March 2024.

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/07/2026 - 05:45

Some of NATO's most prominent countries are struggling to get on track toward the defense spending goal President Trump set for 2030.

The fugitive being hunted for the Monaco bombing that injured a sanctioned Ukrainian oligarch and the woman he was with has been found shot dead in Ukraine, according to reports.

Russia's Oil Windfall Vanishes As Urals Crashes To $42 A Barrel

By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

Russian crude oil prices have fallen back to where they were before the Middle East war, with its flagship Urals averaging just $41.66 a barrel during the first three days of July.

The drop wipes out the revenue boost Moscow received from the conflict and pressures a federal budget that assumes oil prices of about $59 a barrel. 

Urals had averaged more than $59 a barrel every month since March and climbed to $60.92 in June after the U.S. and Iran reached an agreement to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Higher prices gave the Kremlin room to replenish its reserve fund for the first time in nearly a year and delay planned spending cuts. With Urals now back near $42 a barrel, that relief could be short-lived. Oil and gas account for roughly one-third of Russia’s federal budget revenues. 

Reuters reported Monday that a European intelligence assessment warned the country’s banking sector is becoming increasingly vulnerable after years of war-driven lending, with rising bad loans and deteriorating asset quality risking a wider financial crisis.

According to the assessment, Russian banks have absorbed much of the financial burden of the war by extending subsidized loans to defense contractors, state-backed companies and households. The report estimates that roughly 10% of corporate loans are now considered doubtful, while some major lenders have retail non-performing loan ratios as high as 15%. It also cites more than 500,000 personal bankruptcies in 2025.

Ukraine also continues with campaigns targeting Russia’s energy infrastructure. Bloomberg reported Monday that drones were intercepted near the Baltic ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk, two of Russia’s key crude export hubs. There were no reports of damage or disruptions to oil exports. 

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/07/2026 - 05:00

An Indiana substitute teacher accused of sending nude images of herself to a 14-year-old middle school student was sentenced to two years in jail.

Hamas Announces Dissolution Of Gaza Government, But Israel Warns It's A Sham

Hamas formally announced Monday the final dissolution of its government in Gaza amid preparations to hand power to a technical committee backed by the United Nations as part of a Trump-brokered ceasefire deal.

The hardline Islamist group, which has fought Israel in a war for survival - especially since its brutal Oct.7 2023 terror attacks on southern Israel - has not indicated whether it will fully disarm, however. There's as yet no indication it will comply with handing over security to an international force. A fragile truce has remained in force, but there has been sporadic flare-ups in fighting over the last months, which has also at times seen renewed Israeli aerial assaults.

via The Arab Weekly

For this reason, the development has been met with mixed reactions, with Israeli officials asserting this is a deceptive PR stunt with no real significance. 

"The alleged resignation of the Hamas government, where all of the Hamas members stay in their positions, is a spin that has no significance," an Israeli official told the Times of Israel.

The response came on the heels of Ismail al-Thawabta, general director of the Hamas-run Government Media Office, having announced that "only technical and professional staff" would remain in their positions to run the Gaza Strip's daily administrative affairs.

"All employees working in service provision are 'state employees' and are fully prepared to work under the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza," he said at the press event held in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

Additionally, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem touted that it marks "a positive step forward on the path to implement the ceasefire deal."

At the start of this year, back in January, special envoy Steve Witkoff said the second phase of the ceasefire plan would move the Palestinian enclave into a period that will see the demilitarization of Hamas and the establishment of a technocratic governance model.

This phase, now being implemented, is expected to also mark the start of reconstruction for the war-torn territory.

The Board of Peace, which is led by President Trump himself, issued a fresh statement linking any legitimate handover of power with a handover of weapons. "The core principle remains one authority, one law and one weapon," the board said on X. "This means the consolidation of all weapons under the control of the NCAG as provided for in the Comprehensive Gaza Peace Plan and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803," it continues.

We have taken note of the announcement today regarding the dissolution of the “Emergency Committee” in Gaza. Ultimately, our assessment will be guided by actions, not promises, to meet the critical needs of the people of Gaza. Decisions must be comprehensive with respect to the…

— Board of Peace (@BoardOfPeace) July 6, 2026

"A genuine transfer of authority must enable the NCAG to exercise its mandate independently, including taking the administrative and governance decisions entrusted to it," the statement says, which strongly suggests the Board of Peace itself is also skeptical of the Hamas announcement.

As for the committee which is to assume responsibility in the interim, the Associated Press describes that "The committee of technocrats, which is based in Cairo, is chaired by Ali Shaath, a Gaza-born engineer and former official with the Palestinian Authority. It has a mandate to restore essential services and oversee civilian affairs under the supervision of the U.N. and Board of Peace." At this point Hamas militants probably worry they will be massacred if they give up their arms. For this reason not all armed members are likely to agree even if they are ordered to lay down their weapons by commanders.

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/07/2026 - 04:15

Cuba's Entire Power Grid Collapses As Castro's Grandson Seeks Talks With Trump

Summary:

• Cuba's Power Grid Collapses 
• Castro's Grandson Ready To Talk With Trump 

Cuba Goes Dark

Hours after USA Today published an interview between one of its journalists and Cuban President Castro's grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the communist-run island experienced an island-wide power grid collapse.

The electrical workers' union said the entire power grid went offline and that officials were investigating the cause. Cuba's energy ministry confirmed the blackout and said crews were working to restore service.

"A total disconnection of the National Electric Power System is occurring. The causes are being investigated," the electrical workers' union wrote on X.

🔴 #AHORA || Ocurre una desconexión total del Sistema Electroenergético Nacional. Se investigan las causas.

Se continuará informando al respecto. pic.twitter.com/F7ksTBTakO

— Unión Eléctrica de Cuba (@OSDE_UNE) July 6, 2026

Time is ticking for the communists in Havana to make a deal with Trump or face further economic collapse, as Havana is a case study in the failure of communism and how that economic system has never succeeded. Yet the Democratic Party is trying to convince people otherwise as it embraces the far left.

"I Can Negotiate": Castro's Grandson Says He's Ready To Discuss Cuba's Future With President Trump 

Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, former Cuban president Castro's grandson and one of the more important shadow figures inside Cuba's communist ruling circle, told USA Today in an exclusive interview that he is prepared to speak directly with President Trump, signaling publicly a potential back-channel opening as the Trump administration intensifies economic pressure on Havana.

"I've never been interested in politics. It's never been a calling of mine," Rodríguez Castro told the outlet over the course of several days in June in Havana. "But if at some point the revolution needs me to step up, I will do it." He said that he would never abandon the principles of Cuba's 1959 revolution or the nation's sovereignty.

Rodríguez Castro is a lesser-known figure outside Havana's communist circles. He holds no formal government position, rarely appears on state television and has never spoken to a US news outlet before.

But the Castro family name gives him unique status inside Havana's opaque power structure and the ability to act as a back-channel liaison with access to the island's communist elite.

Now, the younger Castro is signaling he is ready to negotiate Cuba's future, saying he wants to deal directly with President Trump.

"I can negotiate with anyone designated by the U.S.," Rodríguez Castro said. "If given the opportunity, claro que con Trump." Of course, with Trump.

Why would Rodríguez Castro want to negotiate now and not earlier this year? Well, that's because Trump's gunboat diplomacy has unleashed an economic stranglehold on the communist-run island, and it continues to work, with pressure now crushing the already poorly managed economy and collapsing its tourism sector.

The island drew just 360,000 tourists in the first five months of 2026, down 58% from a year earlier, according to Cuban government data. The neighboring Dominican Republic attracted more than 10 times that number over the same period.

The Trump administration says the pressure campaign is aimed at forcing the communist government to open its political system after generations of economic misery under failed communism.

Havana can't turn to help from the socialists in Venezuela because the Maduro regime was taken out by US Delta Force operators. The Chinese and Russians won't dare send their militaries to the island en masse because of the US naval presence in the region.

For Havana, the regime's external lifelines have been disappearing one by one over the last six months.

Recall that CIA Director John Ratcliffe was recently in Havana meeting with communist officials. Now, Rodríguez Castro speaking with a US media outlet is another promising signal, suggesting that back-channel talks are likely already underway as pressure builds on the island's ruling elite.

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/07/2026 - 04:00