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Today’s Big Story

Trump Aligns With Russia

Zelenskyy Brings Backup to the White House

This was never going to be easy. Even for a president who constantly promises quick deals. But on Saturday, President Donald Trump officially split from Ukraine and key European allies after his summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, backing the Kremlin’s plan for a sweeping peace agreement based on Ukraine ceding territory it controls to Russia, instead of the urgent cease-fire Trump had said he wanted before the meeting.

According to the Washington Post, Trump “rolled out the red carpet for Putin, showcasing his fondness for the leader in an extraordinary welcome for the Russian president”, who had not set foot on American soil in years. Trump’s rush for Ukraine peace created an advantage for the aggressor, leaders and analysts say, since only the Kremlin can order an end to the invasion of its neighbor and deliver the peace Trump so dearly wants.

Skipping cease-fire discussions would give Russia an advantage in the talks, which are expected to continue when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine visits Trump at the White House later today. Zelenskyy is traveling to D.C. alongside several European leaders and made clear in his posts to social media that while they “all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably,” he won’t cede territory to Russia.

Zelenskyy suggested new security guarantees would need to be stronger than those that “didn’t work” in the past, citing the loss of Crimea to Russia, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014. “Ukrainians are fighting for their land, for their independence,” he said, adding that he hoped the show of strength from the U.S. and Europe would help “force Russia into a real peace.”

In a post to Truth Social Sunday night, Trump appeared to place the onus of ending the war on Zelenskyy, while emphasizing that Ukraine must give up Russian-annexed Crimea—a key demand from Putin—and pulling Obama into the fray. “President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump said. “Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”

100 Foot Waves Are Heading for the U.S.

Hurricane Erin is one of the fastest rapidly intensifying storms in Atlantic history

That escalated quickly … The massive storm swirling in the Atlantic went from “tropical storm” to Category 5 hurricane in no time at all. The effects of Hurricane Erin are expected to be felt up and down the East Coast, even if the storm remains at sea. CBS News reports that much of the shore from Florida to the Mid-Atlantic could see a high risk of rip currents as soon as today.

And as the hurricane winds arrive so, too, could some massive waves—reaching more than 100 feet in height. Yesterday, the storm was impacting the Turks and Caicos Islands while wreaking havoc in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The hurricane initially reached Category 5 status, before weakening as it gets closer to the U.S. But while the storm has been downgraded to a Category 4, one scientist in ocean modeling told Newsweek that he believes monster waves are possible, due to the severity of the incoming storm. “The latest forecast does indeed indicate that the largest significant wave height could reach values in excess of 50 feet with an associated most likely largest wave of more than 100 feet," he said.

Even more hurricanes are rapidly intensifying in the Atlantic as the oceans and atmosphere warm in response to fossil fuel pollution and the global warming it causes. This likely makes Erin another example of the increasing extremes of a warming world. Furthermore, Hurricane Erin is now one of only 43 Category 5 hurricanes on record in the Atlantic—which makes it rare, though not as rare in the context of recent hurricane seasons—as peak strength is becoming easier for storms to achieve. It is the 11th Category 5 hurricane recorded in the Atlantic since 2016, an unusually high number.

AI Hacking Is Here

Hackers and cybersecurity companies have entered an AI arms race

Artificial intelligence isn’t just for drafting essays and searching the web. It’s also a weapon. And on the internet, both the good guys and the bad guys are already using it. It’s an arms race of sorts—bots and algorithms perpetrate much of the world’s cybercrime. Con artists use them to generate deepfakes and phishing scams. Want malware to steal someone’s data? A chatbot can write the code.

One cybersecurity company boasted that its AI hacker can “locate files on Nimitz-class aircraft carriers in less than five minutes.” WIRED reports that RunSybil, a startup founded by OpenAI’s first security researcher, is deploying agents that probe websites for vulnerabilities—part of a new AI era for cybersecurity.

The technology has so far not revolutionized hacking by turning complete novices into experts, nor has it allowed would-be cyberterrorists to shut down the electric grid. But it’s making skilled hackers better and faster. “It’s the beginning of the beginning,” Heather Adkins, Google’s vice president of security engineering, tells NBC News. Last year, her team started on a project to use Google’s LLM, Gemini, to hunt for important software vulnerabilities, or bugs, before criminal hackers could find them. So far, they’ve discovered at least 20 important overlooked bugs in commonly used software and alerted companies so they can fix them. That process is ongoing. None of the vulnerabilities have been shocking or something only a machine could have discovered, she said. But the process is simply faster with an AI.

Federal Judge Guts Major Portion of Florida’s Book Ban

It’s being called “a major win for intellectual freedom”

Let’s be clear: Book bans are lame. Trying to control what kids read is a fool’s errand. And most parents don't even want them. An American Library Association survey found that 70% of parents oppose banning books in public libraries, with most parents having a high level of confidence in librarians to make decisions about age-appropriate book selections. Nonetheless, there’s been an uptick in restrictions on titles. And a new wave of book bans just hit Florida school districts—with hundreds of titles being pulled from library and classroom shelves as the school year kicks off.

The Republican-dominated state, which has already had the highest rate of book bans nationwide this year, is continuing to censor reading materials in schools, but a judge just ruled that the state’s law allowing parents to challenge books over purportedly unseemly content was “overbroad and unconstitutional.” District Court Judge Carlos Mendoza declined to strike down the law completely, writing that the law’s reference to “pornographic” content can be read as synonymous with content considered “harmful to minors” under Florida law, which means some books could still be banned but only if they meet a rigorous standard for obscenity known as the “Miller Test”.

Psychologists continue to fight censorship to keep culturally diverse books available to everyone. The American Psychological Association found that books about nontraditional family structures, LGBTQ+ topics, and people of diverse racial-ethnic backgrounds are being removed at much higher rates than other material. And research shows that “diverse books can increase children’s reading time and reading levels and reduce in-group favoritism”. So, remember to read banned books.

From Italy to NASDAQ Reservations

From Italy to a Nasdaq Reservation

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