"FAFO": Student’s Taunts at Charlie Kirk Vigil Lead to Arrest, Expulsion

Welcome back!

Here’s your must-read news this morning:

• Tiktok “framework”

• Mars trip breakthrough 

• Student’s vile Kirk vigil taunts lead to arrest

I’ve got all the details for you, so let’s dive in.

— Josh

MARKETS

💰 TikTok Deal "Framework" Reached Between U.S. and China

The Scoop: The U.S. and China have struck a "framework" agreement on TikTok's future, with commercial terms settled between private parties, as announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during trade talks in Madrid—potentially shifting control of the popular app to U.S. owners just ahead of a September 17 divestiture deadline, CNBC reports.

The Details:

• Bessent confirmed the deal involves ByteDance divesting TikTok's U.S. operations to avoid a nationwide ban, with Trump and Xi set to discuss final terms on Friday.

• The agreement follows multiple extensions granted by Trump via executive orders in January, April, and June, after Congress labeled TikTok a "foreign adversary-controlled application" last year.

• Potential U.S. buyers have included figures like Oracle's Larry Ellison, Tesla's Elon Musk, AI startup Perplexity, and Frank McCourt's Project Liberty, though Trump has teased a group of "very wealthy people" without specifics.

What’s Next: U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer indicated the deadline may be extended briefly to seal the deal, but no further delays are expected; if finalized, this could resolve national security concerns while preserving TikTok's U.S. operations, potentially easing broader U.S.-China trade frictions.

Markets Roundup

🏦 Economy & Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: The CBO forecasted stronger U.S. economic growth through 2028, with GDP 0.1% higher and 2026 growth at 2.2%, driven by the Trump’s tax cuts. (BN)

• A U.S. appeals court rejected Trump's bid to oust Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook amid allegations of mortgage fraud. (RTS)

• The Senate narrowly confirmed Stephen Miran to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in a 48-47 vote. (FBN)

• Trump called for U.S. public companies to replace quarterly earnings reports with semiannual filings. (CNBC)

🏢 Industry & Deals

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Elon Musk bought $1 billion in Tesla shares, his first open-market purchase since 2020, signaling confidence in the company’s AI and robotics shift. (CNBC)

• Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah claimed she was fired over posts criticizing "excessive, false mourning" for assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk. (NYP)

• Alphabet joined the $3 trillion market-cap club alongside Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft. (RTS)

• Tyson Foods will eliminate high-fructose corn syrup, along with sucralose, BHA/BHT, and titanium dioxide, from its branded products by year-end. (TF)

• TBPN, a tech-focused daily live video podcast, hired Dylan Abruscato as president to triple ad revenue to $15 million in 2026. (WSJ)

🛢️ Energy & Commodities

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: California lawmakers have passed Senate Bill 237, authorizing up to 2,000 new oil well drilling permits annually in Kern County to bolster in-state crude production. (OP)

• Gold prices surged to fresh record highs near $3,700 an ounce amid heightened expectations for a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut. (INV)

• Rodatherm Energy is developing a geothermal system that employs refrigerants rather than water to make energy, promising lower costs and reduced water consumption. (FP)

• The U.S. is considering expanding its strategic uranium reserve to mitigate risks from Russian supplies. (BBG)

🌕 Crypto

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: PayPal unveiled a new feature on Monday allowing users to send Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins directly through its peer-to-peer payment platform. (ST)

• The SEC and Gemini reached a resolution to settle a lawsuit over the unregistered sale of securities through the exchange’s lending program. (TB)

• Coinbase-incubated Base network is exploring the creation of a native token. (CT)

• Polymarket launched a new category for forecasting earnings of publicly traded companies. (FM)

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TECH

💻 Nuclear Rocket Breakthrough Could Halve Mars Mission Times

The Scoop: Ohio State University researchers have developed a groundbreaking centrifugal nuclear thermal rocket (CNTR) using liquid uranium to heat propellant, promising to cut Mars mission times and enable deep-space exploration with unprecedented efficiency, The Independent reports.

The Details:

• The CNTR system directly heats rocket propellant with liquid uranium, offering greater efficiency than traditional chemical rockets and other nuclear propulsion designs.

• Funded partly by NASA, the technology could use propellants like methane mined from asteroids, reducing fuel needs and enhancing mission flexibility.

• The system could shorten human round-trip missions to Mars from three years to one and enable robotic missions to outer planets like Saturn and Neptune.

• Technical challenges remain, with a laboratory demonstration planned to test performance under extreme conditions, expected to take five years.

What’s Next: If successful, the CNTR could revolutionize space travel, making Mars missions faster and safer while opening the door to robotic exploration of the outer solar system. The research team is pushing for sustained funding to prioritize nuclear propulsion development, with a prototype demonstration as the next critical step.

Tech Roundup

🧠 AI

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Artificial intelligence is transforming emergency medicine by accelerating triage, diagnosis, and resource allocation through tools for medical imaging analysis and clinical decision support systems. (NM)

• Google announced a £5 billion ($6.8 billion) investment over two years in the U.K.'s artificial intelligence sector. (BBC)

• OpenAI unveiled an upgraded version of its Codex AI coding agent powered by GPT-5-Codex, featuring dynamic "thinking" times of up to seven hours for complex tasks and enhanced code review capabilities. (TC)

• OpenAI hired Mike Liberatore, the former CFO of Elon Musk's xAI, as its business finance officer to oversee surging compute expenditures. (CNBC)

🤖 Hardware & Robotics

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: AI-powered robotics and algorithms are accelerating manufacturing efficiency for products ranging from shampoo and dog food to contact lenses and batteries. (BI)

• Unitree has open-sourced its Unitree World Model, a generative AI system for quadruped robots, aiming to accelerate global robotics development. (YG)

• Clone Robotics unveiled its water-driven humanoid robots using hydraulic artificial muscles and over 200 degrees of freedom to mimic human motion for tasks like opening doors. (IE)

• University of Michigan researchers have developed an AI framework called LEGO-H that enables humanoid robots to autonomously navigate and hike rugged terrain. (TEX)

🚀 Defense & Space

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: The U.S. reclassified advanced military drones as fighter jets under the 1987 Missile Technology Control Regime, easing exports to allies like Saudi Arabia. (RTS)

• The U.S. Army has launched the Fuze initiative, embracing a venture capital model to streamline technology investments and procurement. (DN)

• The U.S. Army successfully tested a drone-mounted grenade delivery system, enhancing tactical precision for infantry units by enabling remote explosive deployment. (SSB)

💰 Venture Capital & Deals

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Nothing, the London-based consumer tech startup, has closed a $200 million Series C funding round led by Tiger Global at a $1.3 billion valuation. (TC)

• Divergent Technologies, a startup specializing in AI-driven 3D printing and robotics, raised $290 million in a funding round led by Rochefort Asset Management, achieving a $2.3 billion valuation. (SA)

• Doctronic, an AI-native platform offering generative AI-powered health guidance, raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. (PYM)

• Clarity, an agentic AI startup focused on customer service, raised $12 million in a funding round led by Prosus Ventures. (PR)

FREEDOM

🏫 Texas Tech Student’s Vile Taunts at Charlie Kirk Vigil Lead to Arrest and Expulsion

The Scoop: An 18-year-old Texas Tech University student, Camryn Giselle Booker, was arrested and expelled after a viral video captured her taunting mourners at a campus vigil for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, shouting profanities and confronting participants in a heated exchange, the New York Post reports.

The Details:

• Booker was filmed jumping around and yelling, "F–k y’all homie dead, he got shot in the head," while disrupting the Friday vigil honoring Kirk.

• In the footage, she confronted a man in a MAGA hat, shoving her phone in his face and accusing him and others of racism after they called her aggressive, leading to her arrest for simple assault when she allegedly struck him.

• Charged with battery, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and assault, Booker was released on a $200 bond the next day; Texas Tech confirmed she is no longer enrolled.

• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott shared the video on X, posting "FAFO" alongside her arrest photo and praising the university for standing against the taunting.

What’s Next: The incident could prompt reviews of university conduct policies and inspire similar disciplinary actions against those celebrating the activist's death.

Freedom Roundup

🏛️ Policy & Culture

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: At the Emmys, comedian Hannah Einbinder, gave a profanity-laced speech chanting “F–k ICE and Free Palestine,” praised by Hamas’s Quds News Network, which censored her bare shoulders in a propaganda video. (NYP)

• Clemson University fired one staff member and stripped two faculty members of their teaching duties over "inappropriate" social media comments about the murder of Charlie Kirk. (CF)

• Actor Rainn Wilson drew sharp backlash from the left after posting an Instagram tribute praising Charlie Kirk's courage in facing hostile crowds. (DM)

• China is bolstering its sway in Africa by supplying surveillance technology to governments without the conditional strings often attached to Western aid. (BBG)

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