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JD CEO Warns 700,000 Delivery Workers Will Be Replaced By Robots "Sooner Or Later" The founder of China's largest e-commerce and logistics companies fired off a warning shot to hundreds of thousands of delivery workers that the rise of automation and AI adoption in the last-mile will result in hundreds of thousands of job losses "sooner or later."  Richard Liu, founder and chair of JD.com, told the audience at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Forum in Beijing on Sunday, according to the Financial Times, that 700,000 delivery workers will be replaced by robots "sooner or later." "In the future, when robots are delivering parcels, sooner or later, there will be a day when couriers are basically no longer needed," Liu said, adding, "It will definitely be robots delivering parcels. But I really do not want our 700,000 brothers to go without meals, without jobs." Liu's timeline for the robotic takeover of last-mile delivery was vague ...

"F**k Around And Find Out": Philly DA's Campaign Slogan Comes Back To Bite Him Authored by Jonathan Turley, District Attorney Larry Krasner is something of a bargain for Philadelphia. According to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, he has not only been serving as the city's prosecutor but effectively as its top public defender. Krasner's record is the subject of a scathing new opinion, which accuses him of leading a dishonest effort to undermine major criminal cases to engineer new trials for defendants. Krasner has long cultivated a reputation as the champion of the left. We were both liberal students in the same class at the University of Chicago. While I moved to the political center, Krasner moved even more dramatically to the far left. Funded by George Soros as part of his campaign to elect social justice warriors as prosecutors, Krasner has used his office to threaten to arrest FBI agents and to “hunt down” ICE officers, to the delight of the far left. The chest-poundin...

"I Want Guns": Bill Maher Blasts California's "Ridiculous" Self-Defense Laws Bill Maher just cornered California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna when he admitted he 'wants a gun,' - but that it makes "no sense" to own one in California because "you might be the one to go to jail" for using it. Khanna's answer was some grade-A bullshit. As The Vigilant Fox notes:  Bill Maher confronts Ro Khanna over California's "ridiculous" gun laws. Maher caught Khanna off guard when he revealed he wanted a gun — but complained it makes "no sense" to own one in California, because "you might be the one to go to jail" for using it. Khanna tried to sound... pic.twitter.com/cf0nmkcINf — The Vigilant Fox ? (@VigilantFox) June 20, 2026 MAHER: "What does the panel think of the Supreme Court ruling that habitual marijuana users can't be banned from owning guns? Now you have my attention... That's awesome. That's fair. I want guns and...

When Will Gasoline Prices Return To Pre-War Levels? Authored by Robert Rapier via OilPrice.com, Oil futures have quickly priced in a favorable outcome from U.S.-Iran diplomacy, but physical oil flows, shipping networks, and refinery supply chains take much longer to normalize. Low global inventories and the need to replenish strategic and commercial stockpiles could create significant demand for crude even after supply disruptions ease. Gasoline prices are influenced by refining capacity, inventories, distribution costs, and seasonal demand, meaning pump prices may remain elevated even if crude oil continues to fall. Gasoline prices have started to fall, and that is welcome news for drivers. After months of pain at the pump following the war with Iran and the disruption of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, even modest relief is noticeable. But falling from crisis levels is not the same thing as returning to normal. That distinction may define the next several months in the oil...

Judge Quashes "Blatantly Unlawful" DOJ Subpoenas Targeting Walz And Ellison In ICE-Obstruction Case A federal judge has quashed six DOJ grand jury subpoenas issued to Minnesota officials, including Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties. US District Judge Patrick J. Schlitz ruled that the subpoenas amounted to harassment, and said that the Justice Department inquiry into whether Minnesota officials obstructed or impeded law enforcement is illegitimate.  "Initiating a criminal investigation in order to harass political opponents or to coerce them into taking official action, particularly official action that the federal government cannot directly require those political opponents to take, is a blatantly unlawful and unethical use [of] the grand-jury process," Schlitz wrote in his ruling.  Tensions between the Trump administration and Minnesota's Democratic lea...

Slouching Toward Peace With Washington In Good-Cop/Bad-Cop Mode Authored by James Howard Kunstler, ". . .They are running the Accords logic to its conclusion: every adversary becomes a counterparty, every conflict becomes a deal, every closed economy becomes an investable market." - Patrick Wood That squawking you hear is Iran getting dragged kicking and screaming out of its jihad delirium into something that might look like reality-based relations with the rest of the world. They have to loudly declare that it's not happening, even as it's happening, to gaslight their own home folks, who might be getting a little sick of economic free-fall — and probably sick of the IRGC regime itself. And, of course, they know that the Lefty-left half of the USA is rooting for this whole business to fail so they can get their mitts back on the levers of power to avoid prison. Things are at a pretty pass, all righty. The sticking point of the moment is Lebanon. Everybody is twanging on Israel t...

Definium Soars As Much As 50% After LSD-Based Depression Drug Meets Late-Stage Clinical Trial Goal Definium Therapeutics shares surged as much as 54% on Monday, reaching $37.90 in morning trading as investors reacted positively to developments in the biotech company's research pipeline and potential strategic opportunities. Definium Therapeutics said its LSD-based depression drug, DT120, met the main goal of a mid-stage trial, reducing depression scores by 8.1 points more than placebo after six weeks, according to Reuters. Patients showed improvement within one week after a single dose, with benefits remaining at 12 weeks. Analysts had said a 4–5 point placebo-adjusted improvement would be a strong result. DT120, a psychedelic that activates serotonin receptors, was generally well tolerated, with mostly mild side effects occurring on dosing day and no serious safety concerns. The trial included 149 adults with major depressive disorder, a condition affecting about 21 million U.S. adults. Re...

Nadella's Hedge: Microsoft Wants To Make AI Models Cheap - Then Own The Rails They Run On The entire AI capital cycle - roughly $700 billion in hyperscaler capex this year, an estimated $2 trillion-plus through 2028 - is collateralized by one belief: that intelligence is scarce, and therefore priceable. That belief is already under strain. Per-token inference prices have fallen on the order of 200× in a year, and the only thing holding revenue up is volume; the cost of intelligence is dropping even as the cost of deploying it climbs. Hyperscaler free cash flow is rolling over. The Fed has named AI capital spending a systemic risk.  And after falling behind in the race to build the best AI, Microsoft is setting up for a massive hedge. The company is on track to spend north of $120 billion this fiscal year - most of it on GPUs and the data centers that house them, $37.5 billion in a single quarter alone, pushing free cash flow negative for the first time in a generation. That is a company be...

The Technical Backdrop: When Flows Meet A Hawkish Fed Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, Here's the setup most investors are underrating right now. Over the next two weeks, the tape will trade on plumbing rather than fundamentals. We just cleared the largest options expiration in history. Quarter-end pension selling comes next, and then July 1 reopens the passive-money firehose into a market that already routes forty cents of every S&P 500 dollar into ten stocks. The whole market technical backdrop points higher into July. But Kevin Warsh's first meeting as Fed chair just put a rate HIKE back on the table, and that quietly changes the math underneath every one of those flows. I want to give credit where it's due. Scott Rubner, the chief equity and derivatives strategist at Citadel Securities, laid out the mechanical case in a note last week, and I agree with most of his map.1 Citadel sees about 35% of all US retail order flow, so when they describe positioning, I liste...

Another Ukrainian Drone Wave On Moscow Temporarily Shuts Down All Four Capital Airports Yet another major Ukrainian drone attack wave on Moscow has shut down all regional airports, and sent parts of the capital city into temporary panic, and involved dozens of drones shot down overnight. Over 80 drones were intercepted in the past 24 hours, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced Monday on Telegram. He didn't offer numbers in terms of casualties or damage, but emergency services were dispatched to several areas, given there was debris fallout and key neighborhoods impacted. Image source: Astra Across Russia more broadly, hundreds of drones were reportedly downed overnigh, but most of the attacks seemed concentrated on the Moscow area. The Moscow Times reports of the Moscow region's four commercial flight hubs, "Civil aviation authorities said operations at Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports were suspended during the multi-hour attack for safety reasons. The flight ...

Nursing School Owner Pleads Guilty After Issuing Nearly 3,000 Fake Diplomas Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, Carleen Noreus, who owned two nursing schools in South Florida, has pleaded guilty to her role in a scheme that sold nearly 3,000 fraudulent nursing diplomas, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a June 18 statement. A person receives a vaccine in Los Angeles, in this file photograph. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images The defendant, 52, from Plantation, Florida, was president of the Carleen Home Health School Inc. in Plantation and vice president of Carleen Home Health School II Inc. in West Palm Beach. "Noreus conspired with others to sell fraudulent nursing diplomas and educational transcripts to individuals who had not completed the required coursework or clinical training to earn Registered Nurse (RN), Licensed Practical Nurse/Vocational Nurse (LPN/VN), or Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) credentials," the DOJ said. "The fraudulent diplomas and...

Trump Renews Threat Of Legal Action To New York Times Over Iran Coverage Authored by Owen Evans via The Epoch Times, U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his threat of legal action against The New York Times on June 21, accusing the newspaper of publishing "treasonous" coverage that downplayed the impact of the nearly four-month war with Iran. The New York Times Building in New York City on Feb. 5, 2024.Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times "I will be adding all of their false and ridiculous reporting to my multi Billion Dollar lawsuit against them. They are Criminals," Trump wrote in a June 21 post on Truth Social. "The headline in the Corrupt and Failing New York Times: 'What Changed After Almost 4 Months of War? Analysts Say Not Much.' REALLY?" Trump wrote in a separate post. "Their Military is DONE, their Navy is GONE, their Air Force is GONE, their Launching Pads, Missiles, Drones and Manufacturing of same, is almost GONE, their top two sets of Leaders are GONE, their Inflation is at 250%, their...

"DeepSeek Of The West" Reflection Inks Major Compute Deal With SpaceXAI SpaceX shares tumbled for a third straight session, down around 9% late in the U.S. cash morning, after the Elon Musk-led company said it would sell investment-grade bonds for the first time. However, a new headline crossed around 11:05 a.m. ET via Axios, reporting that Reflection, the Nvidia-backed open-source AI startup, had signed a major compute deal with SpaceXAI. Under the deal, Reflection will pay SpaceXAI $150 million per month starting next Wednesday, July 1, through 2029, following an initial ramp period. SpaceX $SPCX signed a compute deal with open-source AI startup Reflection AI for access to $NVDA GB300 chips at Colossus 2, per CNBC. Reflection will pay SpaceX $150M per month starting July 1, 2026, totaling about $6.3B if the deal runs through 2029. SpaceX has now signed… pic.twitter.com/CKOu4CUcjc — Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) June 22, 2026 The deal gives the startup, founded by former Google...

Iran Tried To Bring IRGC-Linked Individuals Into US With World Cup Delegation: Homeland Security Chief Via American Greatness, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Sunday that Iranian officials attempted to bring multiple individuals with alleged ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps into the United States as part of the country's World Cup soccer delegation. Mullin made the remarks during an interview with Fox News as U.S.-Iran negotiations were U.S. officials subjected members of Iran's traveling delegation to heightened scrutiny after President Donald Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security to conduct extensive vetting of individuals seeking entry into the country. Mullin said more than half of the additional representatives Iran sought to bring into the United States had connections to the IRGC, which U.S. officials view as a hostile military organization. “When we started doing the research on him, he had only been put in place since 2022, and we didn...

Rep. Hunt: Racial Argument Against Voter ID Is 'Insulting' Authored by Catherine Salgado via PJMedia.com, Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) emphasized to Congress the importance of passing the election integrity SAVE America Act and rejected woke arguments against voter ID as racist and condescending. Democrats' idiotic arguments against requiring ID to vote include claiming that black Americans are somehow mysteriously unable to get IDs. Aside from the obvious elitism and racial prejudice of such a claim, it is practically impossible to live in America and not have identification. They are required at doctor's offices, airports, bars, liquor stores, car rentals, welfare programs, and many more places. But somehow expecting IDs at polling places is unreasonable?  Democrats claim requiring proof of citizenship to vote is racist and discriminatory. I've been Black my entire life, and that's one of the most insulting arguments I've ever heard. ✅ Black Americans can get IDs. ✅ Hispanic Americ...

Repairs To Reflecting Pool Will Begin Immediately, Trump Says, Citing Vandalism Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, President Donald Trump said on Sunday that work to repair the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington will begin immediately after it was damaged by vandalism. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is refilled after it was repaired and repainting as part of President Donald Trump's “Make the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful” initiative ahead of America's 250th anniversary in Washington on June 4, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times The reflecting pool had been renovated ahead of the 250th anniversary of the country's Independence Day on July 4 under Trump's order, which included repainting its surface blue. But problems have emerged in recent days with algae blooming in the pool and peeling paint. Trump said in a Truth Social post on June 21 that he inspected the pool and found it had been "seriously vandalized." He said the pool's con...

Chevron Lands 20-Year Deal To Power Microsoft's AI Expansion Microsoft has signed a 20-year agreement with Chevron to power a massive new AI-focused data center campus in West Texas, underscoring the growing race among tech companies to secure reliable energy supplies, according to Bloomberg. The project, known as Project Kilby, is expected to begin generating power in 2028 and eventually reach 2.67 gigawatts—enough electricity for more than 530,000 Texas homes. Chevron is developing the project with Engine No. 1 and expects to make a final investment decision later this year. Despite the enormity of the deal and the inroads into powering AI directly, Chevron stock was little changed after the cash open: Bloomberg writes that the site near Pecos, Texas, will use natural gas from the Permian Basin to fuel GE Vernova turbines and generate electricity directly for Microsoft's planned data center campus. Because the facility will produce its own power, it will not draw from the grid. “Consum...

Diverging Markets And Converging Talks? By Teeuwe Mevissen, senior macro strategist at Rabobank Financial markets continue to navigate an increasingly complex macro landscape, defined by the interaction of geopolitical shocks, resurgent inflation pressures, and diverging central bank responses. The key theme remains the tension between resilient risk assets—particularly equities—and a more cautious signal emanating from fixed income markets. This divergence reflects a broader uncertainty about the persistence of inflation and the implications for monetary policy and economic growth. Meanwhile Iranian and U.S. negotiators have concluded an initial round of high-level talks in Switzerland, with both sides reporting progress. They agreed on a roadmap aiming for a final peace deal within 60 days. Key outcomes include plans to establish a mechanism to de-escalate the conflict in Lebanon and to ensure safe shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. A joint statement confirmed that further technical ...

Key Events This Week: Core PCE, Global PMIs, Micron Earnings And Fed Talk The main data highlights this week are the global flash PMIs tomorrow, and the US core PCE on Thursday. Elsewhere, other data of interest include the Ifo survey in Germany (Wednesday), Tokyo CPI in Japan (Friday), and CPI reports in Canada (today) and Australia (Wednesday). Also focus will be on the UK where Keir Starmer announced his resignation earlier today and attention will turn on succession planning.  After a hawkish FOMC last week with a clear shift in style from new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, DB economists now have two 25bps hikes in their Fed forecast while Bank of America raised their forecast and now expect 3 hikes in 2026, reversing its prior no-change forecast on strong data and a hawkish Fed under Chair Warsh. DB warns that the US economy needed tighter policy but were waiting for the meeting to confirm the tightening view. The central scenario sees two rate increases this year, likely in September and Decemb...

Scottish Court Rules Against Biological Males Being Held In Women's Prisons Authored by Jonathan Turley, There is a major ruling in Scotland where a court declared that it is generally unlawful to house a transgender biological male in a women's prison. The decision follows the ruling of the top UK court that a woman is defined by her biological gender at birth. The timing is notable as we await a couple of transgender rulings from our own Supreme Court this week. The decisions also highlight the anomaly of police continuing to arrest people who object to transgender policies under the aggressive anti-free speech laws in the United Kingdom. In her published opinion, Lady Ross declared that “in all the circumstances, the prison's guidance is unlawful.” The decision came after a controversy involving convicted rapist Isla Bryson – formerly known as Adam Graham. Despite being convicted of raping two women in 2023, Bryson was initially sent to the Cornton Vale women's prison. Scotland c...