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Trump made several new tariff announcements. The big red tariff button on the Oval Office desk was smashed multiple times yesterday as President Trump revealed a slew of new trade policies. First, he slapped a 25% tariff on India, plus a “penalty” for the country buying energy and military equipment from Russia. He later hit Brazil with an added 40% tax, partly in retaliation for what he claims is a “witch hunt” against former President Jair Bolsonaro. Trump ended the day by slapping a 50% tariff on all copper imports and then revoking the de minimis exception, which exempts packages worth less than $800 from tariffs, for all countries (he had suspended the provision for packages just from China and Hong Kong in May). The president also said he will not extend tomorrow’s deadline for his reciprocal tariffs to restart on countries that have not made new trade deals with the US.
Microsoft cloud revenue is soaring. The House that Gates Built is as strong as ever, reporting fiscal fourth-quarter revenue that demolished Wall Street’s expectations, thanks to big-time growth in cloud computing. Microsoft’s cloud unit, which includes the Azure platform, generated nearly $30 billion in revenue last quarter, up by 26% from the same period a year ago. Azure produced more than $75 billion in fiscal 2025, Microsoft said—the first time the tech giant has disclosed Azure’s numbers. Microsoft shares were up 20% prior to yesterday’s earnings report and then jumped another 7% in after-hours trading.
High Noon recalled some vodka seltzer drinks mislabeled as Celsius. In what amounts to a “Who’s on First?” routine for drinks you’d find at a post-senior prom party at the Jersey Shore, High Noon announced it was voluntarily recalling its Beach Variety 12-packs after its supplier accidentally labeled them as Celsius energy drinks, which do not contain alcohol. “Consumption of the liquid in these cans will result in unintentional alcohol ingestion,” the company said. The mislabeled packs were sent to stores in New York, Florida, Michigan, Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin between July 21 and July 23. You either die a spiked seltzer or live long enough to see yourself become Four Loko.—AE
Robert Reich
The Trump regime is taking over every major institution in America. Here's how.
Friends,
Today I want to describe for you the specific mechanism of control the Trump regime is using over the core institutions of America — the media, higher education, our largest corporations, and Wall Street.
It's all in the fine print.
Start with CBS. It’s now owned by Skydance Media. Under its Trump-appointed chairman, Brendan Carr, the Federal Communications Commission insisted, as a condition of allowing Paramount to sell CBS to Skydance, that the new owner install an “ombudsman.”
What will that ombudsman do? According to Skydance Media’s agreement with the FCC, the ombudsman will “receive and evaluate any complaints of bias or other concerns involving CBS” for at least two years.
The agreement doesn’t specify the meaning of “bias,” nor does it define whose “complaints” are to be responded to, nor enumerate what “other concerns” might trigger action. But none of this is difficult to imagine. Trump himself could complain of CBS’s bias or anything else. In fact, he probably will. He already has at least once.
At A Glance
Adult summer camps are making a comeback.
The grocery store where prices change 100 times a day.
Australia bans YouTube accounts for children under 16.
Does drinking a hot drink cool you down?
MLB pitcher switches teams after being traded between games.
It's a "black cat boyfriend" summer.
Reese's and Oreo announce cookie-candy mashup.
Hot blob beneath Appalachians heading to New York.
Clickbait: Introducing radioactive wasps.
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Thirteen novels tapped for prestigious 2025 Booker Prize for fiction longlist, featuring authors from across nine nations (More)
> Beyoncé's "Cowboy Carter" tour hauls in over $400M in ticket sales, with Beyoncé becoming the first American artist to top $400M in two separate tours, including her 2023 "Renaissance Tour" (More)
> American Katie Ledecky wins 1,500-meter freestyle at 2025 World Aquatics Championships to extend her record for most world championship individual gold medals with 17 (More)
Science & Technology
> OpenAI unveils Study Mode, using ChatGPT with instructions tailored by educators to provide information structured in a way similar to classroom teaching (More) | Everything you need to know about OpenAI (1440 Topics)
> Jewel wasps are capable of slowing down their rate of aging as larvae, significantly extending their life span and decelerating their biological clocks (More) | Can aging be reversed? (1440 Topics)
> Scientists capture first image of the sugar coating surrounding individual cells with atomic-scale resolution; results may lead to new drug delivery techniques (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.3%, Dow -0.5%, Nasdaq -0.4%) as US-China tariff talks stall and investors await today's Federal Reserve interest rate decision (More) | Securities and Exchange Commission allows in-kind creations and redemptions by authorized participants for crypto exchange-traded products (More)
> Spotify shares drop 11.6% after the company’s second quarter revenue falls short of projections (More) | Sony sues Chinese gaming company Tencent for allegedly knocking off its "Horizon" franchise (More) | JPMorgan Chase in advanced talks to replace Goldman Sachs as Apple’s credit card program partner (More)
> Boeing delivers most planes since 2018; cuts quarterly losses to $176M, compared to $1.1B a year prior (More) | UPS shares drop 10.6% after package volume and earnings decline in second quarter (More) | Novo Nordisk shares fall 21.8% after company names new CEO and slashes Wegovy forecasts (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> United Kingdom says it will recognize a Palestinian state in September, barring a ceasefire deal and the resumption of UN aid in Gaza (More) | UCLA reaches $6M settlement over allegations it discriminated against Jewish students (More)
> Former Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell agrees to testify before the House Oversight Committee on the condition she is granted immunity, clemency (More) | President Donald Trump tells reporters Epstein poached employees from his Mar-a-Lago club (More) | Senate confirms Emil Bove as a federal appeals court judge amid whistleblower complaints about his conduct (More)
> The US and China continue trade negotiations, with uncertainty over whether President Donald Trump will extend tariff truce (More) | See tariff tracker (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Social Security & Retirement
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The average Social Security monthly payment is right around $1,500 which amounts to $3,000 for a couple and hardly enough to pay monthly bills, on average, in the USA.
Consequently, it is up to the individual to supplement their potential Social Security by have other retirement accounts and investments such as real estate and/or stocks and bonds.
The average cost of living in the USA currently is right around $6,500/month which means the average couple is going to need twice what they receive in Social Security. The average individual is going to need three times as much.
It does not seem fair but that is the way the game is played these days.
On average, one can receive $400/month per $100,000 when invested in a mutual fund providing the principal is never withdrawn. This means that the average couple is going to need to have $800,000 invested in a mutual fund when they decide to retire.
Full retirement age currently is 67.
Ancient Tombs Older Than Egypt’s Pyramids Emerge in Poland
Also known as Giant’s Graves or Kujawian mounds, after the area in northwestern Poland where they were first identified in the mid-1930s, the pyramids were megalithic tombs built in the 4th millennium B.C.E. to house the remains of a single important community figure. Less dramatic than their later Egyptian equivalents, the pyramids were built by agricultural settlers in the dense forests of Central Europe and take the form of elongated triangular earth mounds lined with massive stones.
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