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Kean (R-NJ) greeted a New York Times reporter at his home in Westfield Wednesday evening, but declined to speak on his time away.

In an exclusive new interview with Page Six, Emmy-winning producer Geoffrey Mark details the pop star's final days before his tragic death in June 2009.

In an exclusive new interview with Page Six, Emmy-winning producer Geoffrey Mark details the pop star's final days before his tragic death in June 2009.

Heat Dome Sends European Power Prices Soaring

An intense heat wave continues to bake France and parts of Europe, with temperatures surging well above the 30-year average for this time of year.

Welcome to summer. 

They think we are stupid, that our memories cannot stretch back to when life was normal, and when our lives were not based on fear...

Summer, it gets hot, Winter it gets cold...

It's NORMAL. https://t.co/hYHvZ3dI2w

— 🇨🇭🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿InLucysHead🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇨🇭© (@InsideLucysHead) June 24, 2026

In France, the average daily temperature reached 85.6F on Tuesday, according to Météo-France, while Pissos in southwest France hit 111.7F.

The heat dome parked over Western Europe is set to fade by the end of the week, but temperatures will remain well above the 30-year seasonal average.

French evening power prices on Tuesday soared to their highest level since the 2022 energy crisis, while German power prices hit two-year highs. In Belgium, peak-hour power prices for Wednesday evening jumped to 933.28 euros per megawatt-hour on EPEX Spot.

French grid operator RTE is preparing for possible heat-related disruptions, including de-energizing power lines.

The heat is also straining climate-friendly power grids because of low wind generation, while heat-related restrictions at French nuclear plants have created a perfect storm of tight power supply just as millions of residential and commercial buildings crank up their air conditioning.

Red heat warnings have also been issued across Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the UK through Thursday.

Bloomberg noted, "France is at the epicenter of this month’s heat wave, as a high-pressure heat dome is reinforced by atmospheric shifts linked to a developing El Niño." 

Latest El Niño coverage:

• Super El Nino: Famine Follows War?
• Trader's Guide To Navigating The "Super El Niño"
• First Major Weather Organization Declares El Nino Onset As Food Inflation Risks Intensify

Meanwhile, it's quite nice in Washington, DC, right now, with average temperatures holding below 30-year averages. 

When Democrats are not ramming through radical de-growth climate bills, their climate propaganda machine goes quiet. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 06:55

Shop French skin care staples during Prime Day, without the trip.

Shop French skin care staples during Prime Day, without the trip.

It's an exclusive club no one wants to be a member of, as several people who lost a loved one gathered for a Grief, Sweat, & Tears double-header barre and spin class.

He’s not Mr. Ciao after all! Recent reports announced the sad news that Mr. Chow was leaving his beloved Tribeca location after 20 years.

He’s not Mr. Ciao after all! Recent reports announced the sad news that Mr. Chow was leaving his beloved Tribeca location after 20 years.

A Louisiana pastor is accused of attacking his neighbor who hurled expletives and allegedly threatened to rape and kill his wife as the pair brawled across from the church. Tony Spell, the 48-year-old pastor of the Life Tabernacle Church, was arrested on battery charges for beating his neighbor’s 20-year old son on Tuesday, according to...

Chinese Humanoids Take On Penalty Challenge As Messi, Ronaldo Light Up FIFA World Cup

Authored by Jijo Malayil via Interesting Engineering,

As the World Cup fever grows around stars like Messi and Ronaldo, Shanghai hosts a unique penalty shootout featuring humanoid robots.

Humanoid robots are stepping up for a penalty shootout.Boston Dynamics/YouTube

At MWC Shanghai 2026, humanoid robots are stepping up to the spot in the Humanoid Robot Football Penalties Challenge, testing the limits of robotics, AI, machine vision, and real-time motion control.

According to Chinese media outlets, the event showcases how embodied AI performs under pressure, highlighting next-generation autonomous technology through football-inspired challenges.

Ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Hyundai Motor recently launched a football-themed campaign featuring Boston Dynamics' Atlas humanoid robot.

Humanoid football test

On its opening day at MWC Shanghai 2026 on June 24, the spotlight quickly shifted from keynote speeches to a live demonstration of embodied AI in action: the Humanoid Robot Football Penalties Challenge.

Held within the Mobile AI Innovation Frontiers Zone at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, the event is designed as a controlled stress test for real-time autonomous decision-making, where humanoid robots must read the goal, judge angles, and execute penalty kicks without pre-programmed sequences, external control, or resets, reported CGTN.

While official details of the participating humanoid robots remain limited, videos circulating online suggest models from Booster Robotics and Unitree Robotics taking part in the challenge.

In the penalties challenge itself, participating humanoids are evaluated on perception accuracy, balance control, motion planning, and adaptive response under game-like pressure. Each robot must independently interpret ball position and goalkeeper movement before committing to a strike, making split-second corrections based on sensor feedback.

The format escalates through semi-finals and a final scheduled for June 25, intensifying constraints to simulate high-pressure competitive conditions. By turning a universally understood sports moment - the penalty kick - into a robotics benchmark, the showcase highlights how far embodied AI has progressed toward coordinated, human-like physical intelligence in unpredictable environments.

Atlas soccer showcase

In a recent football demonstration by Boston Dynamics, an Atlas robot is shown standing before a large display screen, closely tracking player movements, body positioning, and in-game reactions across football footage. After each clip ends, Atlas moves into a practice zone where it immediately attempts to reproduce the actions it has just observed, effectively linking visual perception with physical execution in real time.

The footage highlights a series of football-inspired motions. In one sequence, the robot shifts its weight, swings a leg forward, and smoothly guides a ball across the floor with controlled contact. It then progresses through rapid training drills focused on balance, coordination, and timing. As the session continues, Atlas's movements appear increasingly fluid, suggesting the system is being evaluated not only for strength but also for agility, reflex response, and adaptive motor control.

Some of the most notable moments show Atlas imitating human emotional reactions. After completing a drill, it raises its arms in celebration, mirroring a footballer's goal celebration. In another instance, it drops to one knee and pauses, recreating an injury response seen in match footage it had just observed.

Hyundai Motor Company, parent of Boston Dynamics, described the demonstration as Atlas's first exposure to football under its "School of Football" initiative. The company has also indicated potential plans to showcase Atlas and the quadruped robot Spot at the FIFA World Cup, though their exact roles remain undisclosed.

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 06:30

Ideology, not student performance, is the priority in many states' public schools -- because state laws force teachers to be trained as activists.

Democrats oppose anti-fraud rules, such as those in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, claiming they cost folks their health care — as if it's wrong to do any checks to stop scams if it means one patient who could legally qualify has to wait to finish the paperwork.

IBM says it has created the world's first known chip tech below 1 nanometre - but it will be some time before it's ready for production.

Many militaries, including the US, Ukraine and Russia, are working on swarming drone capabilities — just one possible explanation for what an American F-15 pilot saw over Iran.

"Napalm Girl" is among the all-time disturbing images showing the horrors of war. A documentary claims that it was taken by someone other than the credited photographer. The truth will hopefully come out in a French courtroom.

These Americans were not only dreamers. They were doers. They were people who expected hard things, accepted hard things and then did hard things anyway.

European Rearmament Efforts Snuffed By Chinese Control Of Critical Materials

Yesterday we reported that, in a tit-for-tat move, China announced it is targeting US rare earths firms in response to a Pentagon list of Chinese firms: this, as Rabobank noted, is largely a symbolic move, but it still underlines the tensions in this area. So does the Nikkei reporting that ‘China minerals control threatens EU rearmament, as bloc seeks new sources’: because, as Rabo's Michael Every notes, even if you can afford a dagger, you can’t make it without rare earths, and Europe still hasn’t secured enough supply. 

Taking a closer look at the report, Nikkei writes that the European Union's aggressive plans to boost defense capabilities are hampered by China's export controls and sales restrictions on critical raw materials, with the bloc's leaders now calling on countries to accelerate the diversification of their supply chains.

The European Commission last week said that it will propose a new law that will require companies in the bloc to expand their suppliers to address economic imbalances, although it did not name China.

Russia's war in Ukraine and growing uncertainty over Washington's security guarantees have pushed governments in Europe to increase military spending and production. But for 17 of the 34 materials classified as critical by the EU, China accounts for at least 70% of global mining or refining, a report published by Teer in May shows. Eight of those 34 materials are subject to Chinese export controls.

"China is in the process of pulling the rug out from under Europe's rearmament efforts," said Joris Teer, a policy analyst at the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), the bloc's agency for foreign, security and defense policy analysis.

"By just deploying this weapon, China has already increased its leverage, signaling both its capacity and willingness to squeeze supply at any moment of its choosing," Teer wrote.

Escalating geopolitical developments and intensifying global competition for critical raw materials underline the growing need to strengthen Europe's supply chains, said the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe. The organization represents over 4,000 companies including the U.K.'s BAE Systems, France's Thales and Germany's Rheinmetall.

European defense manufacturers are pursuing several strategies including vertical integration, recycling, diversification and stockpiling. Rheinmetall told Nikkei Asia it had "no dependencies" and was "well prepared with regard to critical minerals."

"Rheinmetall has stored key raw materials, enough to last for several years," a spokesperson said. "We have implemented IT systems that enable us to centrally monitor and control raw material consumption across the group with precision."

Rheinmetall's FV-014 loitering munition drone on exhibition at a recent aerospace trade show in Berlin. The German multinational company is repurposing two plants that make automotive parts into weapons manufacturers

But analysts warn that stockpiling alone will not be enough.

"Stockpiling is an important buffer against immediate disruptions, but on its own it is unlikely to reduce structural damage over the long term," said Maria Shagina, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. She said it would take years for alternative sources to replace either the volumes or the range of critical minerals that Beijing controls.

In 2024, the EU introduced the European Critical Raw Materials Act, aimed at rebuilding domestic supply chains for such minerals. It sets 2030 targets for domestic extraction, processing and recycling, while capping reliance on any single third-country supplier at 65%. A 3 billion-euro ($3.5 billion) fund was launched last year to accelerate strategic projects.

But the European Court of Auditors notes that the 2030 targets are nonbinding and that the bloc remains far from achieving them. Industry groups say policy inconsistencies could slow progress further.

The Cobalt Institute, representing an industry vital to jet engines, advanced batteries and defense alloys, said proposed EU rules involving chemicals risk hollowing out the sector.

"Europe is one foot in, one foot out," said Michael Blakeney, head of government and public affairs at the London-based institute. "It is saying all the right things, but what it is doing is incoherent."

Europe's efforts coincide with an aggressive approach by the U.S. to secure critical mineral supply chains.

"The U.S. is deploying more capital, taking larger financial risks and in some cases acquiring equity stakes to secure and build capacity," Shagina said. "By contrast, Europe has generally been more cautious ... leaving [it] at a relative disadvantage in competing for critical minerals."

In April, the EU signed an agreement with the U.S. to coordinate critical mineral supplies. Following initial resistance over fears it could dilute the bloc's strategic autonomy, member states authorized the commission earlier in June to sign up to the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative, which coordinates investment and export-control policies.

Teer urged the European bloc to use ongoing U.S.-EU-Japan negotiations as the "nucleus" of a wider coalition to make non-Chinese critical mineral production financially viable, backed by state support, price floors and procurement rules.

"Particularly important are raw material producers, or deposit holders, like Malaysia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil and Indonesia, as well as countries with vast skilled-workforce potential like India," he wrote in the paper.

To deter further Chinese restrictions, he said the EU also should activate its anti-coercion instrument, which allows it to impose tariffs and restrictions as a response to economic coercion by countries outside of the bloc.

A European Commission spokesperson said the bloc had "long recognized the risks linked to the EU's dependencies on critical raw materials."

"The objective is clear: Anticipate disruptions early and reduce the EU's vulnerabilities as we scale up our industrial and defense capacities," the spokesperson said.

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 05:45

A powerful earthquake struck off Japan’s northern coast on Thursday, but the country’s meteorological agency said there was no danger of a tsunami.

“When you’re feeling dizzy, sit your ass down,” Richie told the crowd.