Mason on finance and markets · June 24th

A worker handles US dollar banknotes at a currency exchange office in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Monday, June 8, 2026. Indonesia’s finance and central bank officials said over the weekend they will boost efforts to stabilize the currency and attract inflows after the nation’s stocks tumbled at the fastest pace worldwide last week.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered a special address at the Summer Davos forum in Dalian on Wednesday. He said Beijing will continue to expand domestic demand and accelerate the large-scale application of new technologies. Bloomberg's Minmin Low reports.

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times, The Trump administration on June 23 proposed increasing the cost of becoming an American citizen in a move that would nearly double the price of naturalization. The proposal would raise the government’s fee for filing an online naturalization application form, the N-400, from $710 to $1,280, an 80-percent increase, according to the proposal from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. For paper filings of the N-400, DHS said that it wants to raise the fee from $760 to $1,330, an increase of 75 perce

The Strait of Hormuz was disrupted or nearly closed for roughly three and a half to four months, offering Gulf states aligned with the U.S. one clear message: energy flows - or tanker transits - must be rewired through pipeline networks that bypass the maritime chokepoint. By creating alternative pipeline export routes through the UAE, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, Oman, or Turkey, regional producers can reduce the risk that Tehran can once again use Hormuz as a leverage tool to disrupt tanker traffic through one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints. TotalEnergies SE CEO Patr

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News, Fresh reporting reveals that Melissa Casias, administrative assistant at the Los Alamos nuclear lab, left home with everyday possessions that suggest she intended to survive - not end her life - raising new questions in the widening pattern of mysterious deaths among nuclear and UFO-linked personnel. Some have suggested that Casias committed suicide, yet new details about her final moments show that before walking out the door of her Ranchos de Taos home on June 26, 2025, Casias took her toothbrush and thyroid medication with her. Los Angeles Magazi

One day after the House Select Committee on China sounded the alarm over China-based Unitree selling humanoid robots on Amazon to U.S. consumers, a new Politico report states Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick held a closed-door meeting with top U.S.

Authored by J.Michael Waller via American Greatness, Russian theorist Alexandr Dugin offers a vision to address widespread cultural despair and the desire for a revival of national sovereignty and Christian tradition. He offers a way out of wokeness and globalism. His price? The end of the United States and Western civilization. Dugin has tapped into a legitimate vein of frustration and fear about where sacred traditions have gone and what the future holds. But he is a false prophet.

This article is republished with permission from Laser Wars, a newsletter about military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology. The U.S. Defense Department demonstrated several high-energy laser and high-power microwave weapons for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, the first publicly known instance of a sitting U.S. defense secretary personally observing a live directed energy weapon firing. The demonstration, which occurred at the U.S.

David protein bars went from startup to one of the hottest consumer products in America in under two years. But the ride has been anything but smooth. Founder and CEO Peter Rahal discusses building a breakout brand through lawsuits, a Jeffrey Epstein association, and the kind of social media heat most companies would run from. But can controversy—even the manufactured kind—be a net positive for a brand? Peter argues yes. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by former Fast Company editor-in-chief Robert Safian.

Gloria Steinem is ensconced in a plush red armchair in her living room. On her right is Louise McDonald Herne, a Mohawk Bear Clan Mother, dressed in white linen with burgundy and purple ribbons. On her left is Michelle Schenandoah from the Oneida Nation Wolf Clan, creator of a show on PBS discussing rematriation: the process of centering Indigenous women’s voices and philosophies into daily life. On this Monday afternoon, Steinem’s living room is filled with 20 or so people: a diplomat from the Netherlands, a publisher, an impact investor, Emmy nominee and comedian Baratunde Thurston, as well