News From Around the Web
#1 U.S. Soldier Charged With Using Classified Intel to Win More Than $400K in Bet on Maduro Raid - Hallie Golden for AP/PBS, Reuters, The Calvin Coolidge Project, U.S. Department of Justice, Hartford Courant, and ynet Global on X
A U.S. soldier involved in the military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been charged with using classified information about the mission to win more than $400,000 in an online betting market, federal officials announced Thursday. Gannon Ken Van Dyke was part of the operation to capture Maduro in January and used his access to classified information to make money on the prediction market site Polymarket, the federal prosecutor's office in New York said. He has been charged with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and making an unlawful monetary transaction. He could face years in prison. Van Dyke, 38, was involved in the planning and execution of capturing Maduro for about a month beginning Dec. 8, 2025, according to the federal prosecutor's office. He signed nondisclosure agreements promising to not divulge "any classified or sensitive information" related to the operations, the office said...
#2 US Reduces Marijuana Restrictions in Lift to Ailing Industry - Chris Strohm and Redd Brown for Bloomberg/MSN, Reuters, Florida's Voice, NTV Kenya, WION, and Goodness and Mercy on X
The US Justice Department reclassified state-regulated marijuana as a less dangerous drug, a major shift that could increase legal cannabis sales and help a struggling industry. The directive signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche moved licensed marijuana products from Schedule I — the same federal category as heroin and LSD — to the less strictly controlled Schedule III. The action stops short of fully legalizing the drug for recreational use nationwide, but it meets the demands of many advocates who have long argued for looser restrictions...
#3 Sens. Katie Britt and John Fetterman Warn Against Inaction on Social Media Guardrails for Young People - Raquel Coronell Uribe for NBC News, Sean Ross, FOX Business, Washington Examiner, Alabama Daily News, and Yellowhammer News on X
Sens. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and John Fetterman, D-Pa., on Thursday pushed for more legislation to address social media use by children and teenagers. In a wide-ranging interview with NBC News, the senators warned of social media's effects on mental health for young people, saying they've introduced and co-sponsored bills because they feel a need to put up guardrails for the next generation. “We did this together, not just as senators, but as parents, because we have young children too,” Fetterman said alongside Britt in a sit-down interview with NBC News' “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker...#4 Harvard Built It. DARPA Paid for It. Nobody Governs It. - Tracy Beanz and Michelle Edwards for The HighWire, Gigi Bowman, IEEE Spectrum, Amp Emisson, and Evan McGloughlin/Michael Levin on X
Scientists at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have created something that did not exist six weeks ago: a tiny living robot with a functional nervous system that it built itself. No plug. No battery. No remote control. The little creature swims, explores its environment, and responds to drugs the way a nervous system is supposed to respond—because it has one. They call it a neurobot. To understand what that means, a bit of context is necessary, because this creature has been decades in the making.#5 Netanyahu Reveals He Was Treated for Prostate Cancer but Held Back Publicizing Diagnosis Due to Iran War - James C. Reynolds for Independent, Election Wizard, Bloomberg, BBC News (World), FirstPost, and The Jerusalem Post on X
Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed he underwent treatment for early-stage prostate cancer. The Israeli prime minister, 76, announced on Friday that doctors found an early-stage malignant tumor during routine monitoring, following surgery on a benign enlarged prostate at the end of 2024. He said that successful treatment at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem had “removed the problem and left no trace of it”. Mr. Netanyahu said he had asked to delay the release of his annual medical record until now to avoid his health concerns being shared at the height of the Iran conflict...
#6 West Palm Police CONFISCATE ALL of James O’Keefe’s Firearms in Shocking Escalation - Jim Hoft for The Gateway Pundit, James O'Keefe, Owen Shroyer, Evan Kilgore, and Spaceballs the X Account on X
#7 US at Risk of Running Out of Missiles if Another War Breaks Out After Depleting Stockpile in Iran Operations - Zachary Cohen and Natasha Bertrand for CNN, 𝕵𝖆𝖛𝖆𝖓 𝕺𝖓𝖌𝖚𝖗𝖚™, Taffy Pie/Drop Site, MRLVW/HorribleFour, and Watching Trending on X
The US military has significantly depleted its stockpile of key missiles during the war with Iran and created a “near-term risk” of running out of ammunition in a future conflict should one arise in the next few years, according to experts and three people familiar with recent internal Defense Department stockpile assessments. Over the last seven weeks of war, the US military has expended at least 45% of its stockpile of Precision Strike Missiles; at least half of its inventory of THAAD missiles, which are designed to intercept ballistic missiles; and nearly 50% of its stockpile of Patriot air defense interceptor missiles, according to a new analysis conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Those numbers closely align with classified Pentagon data about US stockpiles, according to the sources familiar with the assessment...
https://believer.com/raybyers1/status/2047436153301917709?s=20
#8 Grandson of Mob Boss John Gotti Sentenced for COVID Fraud - ABC7 Eyewitness News, Rasheed Johnson, Jörg, USA Herald, NewsBOLT, and PISSED OFF on X
The grandson of mob boss John Gotti was sentenced by a Long Island judge to 15 months in federal prison on Monday. Carmine Agnello pleaded guilty to lying on applications for COVID relief and illegally receiving about $1 million in loans. In addition to the 15 months in prison, Agnello will also have two years of supervised release. He also has to pay $1,268,302 in restitution. Prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Agnello to 2.5 years in federal prison. He will turn himself in on July 20...
#9 Social Media Erupts After Mamdani’s Far-Left Supporters Turn On Him Over Homeless Shelter: ‘Oops' - Andrew Mark Miller and Leo Briceno for Fox News, Commentary: Rush Limbaugh News, M.A. Rothman, Vote RED, Owen Gregorian, Brian Warren, and GRANDPA's FREE ADVICE on X
East Village residents who voted for New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani by a 40-point margin are now suing to stop a building in their neighborhood from becoming a temporary homeless shelter. The lawsuit, filed with the New York City Supreme Court on Monday, shows hesitation even among Mamdani supporters about the cost of implementing some of his plans. News of the lawsuit has prompted conservative mockery online, with figures like Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, noting the irony of Mamdani’s supporters turning on the fruits of his administration...
#10 Trump Says He’ll Resurface the Bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Turning It Blue - Joe Walsh for CBS News, StefStuff, The MAGA Mall, c papen/MJTruthUltra, NBC10 Philadelphia, and Diane LenningJD on X
President Trump's renovation kick has now reached the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The president told reporters Thursday that his administration is planning to pour down a new surface onto the bottom of the pool, atop its stone flooring. The swimming pool-style surface — made out of the "latest and greatest filament" — will be colored "American flag blue," he said. Built in the 1920s, the Reflecting Pool and its surroundings were comprehensively renovated in 2012, paid for by $34 million in Obama-era stimulus funding. The National Park Service has carried out some renovations since then, and the pool is also periodically drained to scrub out algae, garbage, goose droppings, and other detritus.
And Now for Something Special 
Restaurateur Invites Homeless People to Sleep and Eat in His Restaurant: ‘We’re All Human Beings’
Every Wednesday, Ali Riza Dogan, who runs Ali Baba Mediterranean Cuisine in Midtown Manhattan, loads a car with catering pans of hot food to transport to Chinatown. He’s been running a meal program for homeless people in New York City for years. “Between 7th and 8th Avenue, doesn’t matter how cold, rain, doesn’t make a difference,” Dogan tells TODAY.com. “Every Wednesday night, we give them food around eight o’clock. I’ve been doing this for five, six years.”
