Important Takeaways:
- One in six British adults say they are addicted to ultra-processed foods, according to new research.
- Eating a lot of ready meals, sugary cereals or mass-produced bread has been linked with health problems such as heart disease and some cancers.
- These ultra-processed items – which normally don’t contain ingredients found in a normal home kitchen – often lack essential nutrients while typically high in added sugar, fat and salt, additives and other chemicals.
- However, most adults say they regularly consume food they consider to be ultra-processed.
- Nearly nine in ten said they eat ultra-processed food (UPF) at least once a week. A quarter said that they eat UPFs every day.
- Concerningly, 17 per cent considered themselves addicted. The findings come from a survey of 5,000 adults carried out by healthy-eating platform Lifesum, which also found a third ate UPFs when stressed. A further third enjoyed the convenience.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Bidenomics: Fast Food Costs Soar — McChicken up 199%, Frosty up 111%, Taco Bell Burrito up 132%
- Popeyes, Taco Bell, and Chipotle raised prices by at least 75 percent, according to the Food Institute:
- Popeyes Regular Mashed Potatoes & Gravy (+134 percent)
- Taco Bell’s Beefy 5-Layer Burrito (+132 percent)
- Wendy’s Small Frosty (+111 percent)
- Taco Bell Chalupa Supreme (+110 percent)
- Burger King Small Icee (+101 percent)
- Taco Bell Cheesy Gordita Crunch (+100 percent)
- McDonalds McChicken (+199%)
- Chick-fil-A raised prices by 10.6 percent between mid-February and mid-April, Gordon Haskett Research Advisors estimated, along with Starbucks by 7.8 percent and Shake Shack by 7.7 percent.
- A majority of voters (51 percent) believe their financial position is worse off under Biden’s economic policies, a Financial Times/Michigan Ross poll recently showed. The poll also found damaging results for Biden’s reelection chances
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- The company is feeling the pinch as high prices on essentials keep consumers’ wallets tight. The Minneapolis-based retailer reported another tough quarter, with revenue and profits falling short of expectations.
- Target’s comparable sales, which include stores and digital channels open for at least a year, dropped 3.7 percent in the three months ending May 4, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of decline. Revenue fell 3.1 percent to $24.53 billion, just above Wall Street’s forecast of $24.52 billion. Net income was $942 million, or $2.03 per share, slightly missing analysts’ projections by three cents, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- Shares plummeted nearly 9 percent in premarket trading and were trading down around 6.7 percent midday, reflecting investor unease over the continuing sales slump.
- Target appears to be weathering the inflation storm worse than its competitors. Indeed, consumer spending has been rising even while Target’s sales fall, suggesting the company is losing market share. Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, saw a 3.8 percent rise in comparable store sales. Amazon and Costco are also doing well.
- Target has been sharply criticized in recent years for embracing a woke agenda and leftwing views of sex, including prominently displaying children’s apparel promoting transgender ideology as part of its celebration of so-called “Pride month.” The company recently decided to limit its “Pride themed” merchandise this year, restricting apparel to adult sections and selling them in only around half of its stores, after sales took a hit because of customer backlash against the promotion of transgender ideology.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Germany will arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he enters the country amid allegations of war crimes by the International Criminal Court, a spokesperson has confirmed.
- Steffen Hebestreit, a spokesperson for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, confirmed on Wednesday the country would ‘abide by the law’ and arrest the under-fire Israeli leader should he visit the EU nation.
- This comes after British prosecutor Karim Khan announced on Monday that he is seeking warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas terror chiefs including Yahya Sinwar, the ruler in Gaza who masterminded October 7.
- Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday Prosor wrote: “This is outrageous! The German “Staatsräson” is now being put to the test—no ifs or buts.
- Staatsräson refers to Germany’s long-standing commitment to the defense of Israel, a policy declared by former Chancellor Angela Merkel during a 2008 speech to the Knesset.
- The public statement that Israel has the right to self-defense loses credibility if our hands are tied as soon as we defend ourselves.’
- Netanyahu has furiously condemned the ICC for ‘daring to compare’ Israel with ‘mass murderers’ after an arrest warrant was issued for both the Israeli prime minister and Hamas leaders.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- After his “sobering visit” to Kyiv, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wants the White House to allow Ukraine to strike inside Russian territory with American-supplied arms, The New York Times (NYT) reported on May 22, citing undisclosed official sources.
- The ban has prevented Kyiv from attacking Russian forces, which were amassing near Kharkiv Oblast for their offensive launched earlier in May, with advanced U.S. weaponry like ATACMS missiles.
- The news outlet noted that the proposal is still “in the formative stages” and that it is unclear how many other high-ranking officials in Biden’s team will support it.
- The plan would include permitting strikes against Russian military facilities but perhaps not oil refineries and other infrastructure that Ukraine has been hitting with homemade drones, according to the outlet.
- The Pentagon has also reiterated this position, but Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently hinted that the rules might be different in regards to aerial targets.
- “The aerial dynamic’s a little bit different,” Austin said during a press conference on May 20 but avoided saying explicitly whether attacks against Russian aircraft with U.S. arms are off-limit or not.
- Unlike Washington, the U.K. said it does not oppose Ukraine using British-supplied arms – which include Storm Shadow missiles – to strike Russian soil, provoking threats from Moscow.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Russia launched counter-space weapon capable of attacking U.S. satellites in orbit, Pentagon says
- Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder told reporters that Russia launched the weapon on May 16. He said the weapon is similar to other counter-space payloads that Russia launched in 2019 and 2022. But the most recent launch comes amid fears in Washington that the Kremlin might consider putting a nuclear weapon in space, and against the backdrop of the broader reality that space is shaping up to be a key battleground in 21st-century conflicts.
- “Russia deployed this new counter-space weapon into the same orbit as a U.S. government satellite,” he continued. “And so, assessments further indicate characteristics resembling previously deployed counter-space payloads from 2019 and 2022.”
- “Certainly, we would say that we have a responsibility to be ready to protect and defend the domain, the space domain, and ensure continuous and uninterrupted support to the Joint and Combined Force,” Gen. Ryder said. “And we’ll continue to balance the need to protect our interests in space with our desire to preserve a stable and sustainable space environment.”
- Speaking before the vote, Mr. Wood called the resolution “disingenuous.”
- “Colleagues, we are here today because Russia seeks to distract global attention from its development of a new satellite carrying a nuclear device,” he said.
- Last month, Russia vetoed a U.S.-backed resolution designed to prevent an arms race in outer space. The failure of both countries’ resolutions underscores how difficult it will be to find international agreement on the issue of weapons in space.
- Russia has been making advances on the space-based weapons fronts for years. In 2021, Russia conducted a “hit-to-kill” test that destroyed one of its own satellites, smashing it into what the Pentagon described as “more than 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris”
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Two sets of earthquake swarms have hit California. What’s going on along the Mexico border?
- Another earthquake swarm has been rumbling along the California-Mexico border.
- More than two dozen quakes greater than magnitude 2.5 have occurred since just after midnight Saturday, with epicenters about 175 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles and 100 miles northeast of San Diego, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
- They have occurred largely along farmland between the towns of Brawley and Imperial in Imperial County. The largest quake was a magnitude 3.9 that struck at 4:05 p.m. Saturday, bringing light shaking to the Imperial Valley as well as south of the border and rattling Mexicali.
- An even larger earthquake — a magnitude 4.1 — occurred at 5:17 a.m. Monday about 28 miles northwest of the swarm that began Saturday.
- The epicenter of that quake was in a remote desert area east of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and weak shaking was felt as far away as San Diego, parts of Orange County, Temecula, the Coachella Valley, El Centro and Holtville.
- A separate swarm of earthquakes occurred a week ago, about 40 miles southeast of the most recent quake activity. Last week’s swarm occurred about 18 miles southeast of Mexicali in Baja California, with the largest a magnitude 4.2 that was felt as far away as El Centro in California and Yuma, Ariz.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Norway, Ireland, Spain to Recognize Palestinian State; Israel Fights Efforts to Handcuff Jewish State
- From the International Criminal Court at The Hague to the frontlines at Rafah, Israel is fighting battles on multiple fronts as nations take sides on the ICC’s decision to push for the arrest of Israeli leaders and three countries decide to recognize a Palestinian state.
- Norway, Ireland, and Spain all announced Wednesday that they would give recognition to a Palestinian state, even as Israel is fighting to destroy the fighting capability of Hamas in Gaza.
- Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris stated, “Each of us will now undertake whatever national steps are necessary to give effect to that decision. In the lead-up to today’s announcement, I’ve spoken with a number of other leaders and counterparts, and I’m confident that further countries will join us in taking this important step in the coming weeks.”
- The announcement comes after this week’s decision by the ICC to consider arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
- Norway’s government declared Tuesday that if warrants are issued, they would enforce them.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Netanyahu Reacts to ICC Indictments: ‘Pouring Gasoline on the Fires of Antisemitism’
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the decision by International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan on Monday to seek warrants against him and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the war in Gaza.
- Khan also announced that he would pursue indictments against three Hamas leaders. Still, the unprecedented prosecution would place Israel on a morally equivalent level with Hamas and delegitimize defenses against terror.
- Here is what he said:
- The outrageous decision by the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, to seek arrest warrants against the democratically elected leaders of Israel is a moral outrage of historic proportions. It will cast an everlasting mark of shame on the international court.
- Israel is waging a just war against Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization that perpetrated the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Hamas massacred 1200 Jews, raped Jewish women, burned Jewish babies, took hundreds hostage.
- Now, in the face of these horrors, Mr. Khan creates a twisted and false moral equivalence between the leaders of Israel and the henchmen of Hamas. This is like creating a moral equivalence after September 11th between President Bush and Osama Bin Laden, or during World War II between FDR and Hitler.
- What a travesty of justice!
- What a disgrace!
- The prosecutor’s absurd charges against me and Israel’s defense minister are merely an attempt to deny Israel the basic right of self-defense. And I assure you of one thing: This attempt will utterly fail.
- Eighty years ago, the Jewish people were totally defenseless against our enemies. Those days are over. Now the Jewish people have a state and we have an army to defend our state.
- Notwithstanding the blood libels Mr. Khan has leveled, Israel will continue to wage this war in full compliance with international law. We will continue to take unprecedented measures to get innocent civilians out of harm’s way and to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches those in need in Gaza.
- Khan also sets a dangerous precedent that undermines every democracy’s right to defend itself against terror organizations and aggressors. The ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel and Mr. Khan’s actions will not stop us from waging our just war against Hamas.
- But Mr. Khan’s abuse of this authority will turn the ICC into nothing more than a farce.
- He’s doing something else. He is callously pouring gasoline on the fires of antisemitism that are raging across the world. Through this incendiary decision, Mr. Khan takes his place among the great antisemites in modern times. He now stands alongside those infamous German judges who donned their robes and upheld laws that denied the Jewish people their most basic rights and enabled the Nazis to perpetrate the worst crime in history.
- Two weeks ago, on Holocaust Memorial Day, I pledged this: No amount of pressure and no decision in any international forum will prevent Israel from defending itself against those who seek our destruction.
- To all the enemies of Israel, including their collaborators in The Hague, I renew that pledge today. Israel will wage our war against Hamas until that war is won. Because never again is now.
- Separately, South Africa — joined by several other sympathetic nations — is pressing the International Court of Justice (IDJ), a separate legal body, to declare that Israel’s defensive war against genocidal terrorists is itself a “genocide.”
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Nearly 70% of Gaza Aid from US-Built Pier Stolen
- Close to three-fourths of the humanitarian aid transported from a new $320 million floating pier built by the U.S. military off the Gaza coast was stolen on Saturday en route to a U.N. warehouse, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
- Eleven trucks “were cleaned out by Palestinians” on the journey to the World Food Program warehouse in Deir El Balah in the central Strip, with only five truckloads making it to the destination.
- “They’ve not seen trucks for a while,” a U.N. official told Reuters. “They just basically mounted on the trucks and helped themselves to some of the food parcels.”
- According to Israeli estimates, Hamas has been stealing up to 60% of the aid entering the Gaza Strip, and a Channel 12 report last week revealed that the terrorist organization has made at least $500 million in profit off humanitarian aid since the start of the war on Oct. 7.
- Reuters also reported that “food and medicine for Palestinians in Gaza are piling up in Egypt because the Rafah crossing remains closed.”
- Israel took operational control of the crossing weeks ago, but Cairo so far has refused to cooperate with Israeli authorities to facilitate the entry of aid through Rafah. The Israeli government wants to allow aid into Gaza through the crossing but is unable to do so without Egyptian cooperation.
- Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz last week placed the responsibility for averting a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip squarely on the shoulders of Egypt.
Read the original article by clicking here.
