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Good morning! Today is Friday, the 29th of May, 2026 and this is the Friday Morning Edition of GEORGE, the newspaper prepared by curious thinkers for curious thinkers.
Indeed, GEORGE is how the curious catch up on global stories that matter, each and every weekday morning. It’s your tool to stay ahead of the news with reporting and commentary on what you need to know today.
As of today, the daily greeting column you are reading has a name, @The Lede. A “lede” is journalism jargon for the opening sentence or introductory paragraph of a news story. It is deliberately misspelled to avoid confusion with the metal “lead” used in old printing presses to separate lines of type.
The United States and Iran “have the makings of a deal” to extend their current truce, this according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, but this isn’t the first time the world has been led down this road, only to be disappointed. Check in with our @The War Room reporter for the latest on the various wars around the world and read our @Radetzky on War and Warfare columnist’s take on the history of warfighting technology.
GEORGE’s @Doppler on Science columnist has the honor of informing readership that it’s Manhattanhenge season again. Manhattanhenge is when the sun is perfectly aligned to offer spectacular view of planet Earth’s home star setting in the west, flanked by Manhattan’s famous streetscapes.
In what really should be reported by Ripley’s Believe It or Not rather than by GEORGE, a well-funded robotics startup, the Bot Company, appears to be using unsuspecting Airbnbs as test homes for robots that have yet to be fully housetrained. Full details in @Today in Brief.
Meanwhile, don’t miss any of these stories in our Friday Morning Edition.
— One million car buyers have exited the market for new and used cars
— Anthropic is now the world’s most valuable artificial-intelligence company
— How Italy’s Guardia di Finanza found a dead mob boss’ $230 million financial empire
In addition, GEORGE has other exclusive news in today’s edition so don’t touch that dial. Simply scroll down and read more GEORGE, starting with today’s editorial cartoon in @The Sketch. GEORGE will be back tomorrow with a brand-new editorial cartoon, even more news, and stories you won’t find elsewhere.
Until then, remain curious!
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A stack of newspapers in Vienna’s Café Prúckel, each in an Original Wiener Zeitungshalter
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VOLUME VI… № 1,725
@THE LEDE (above)
@THE SKETCH (above) Robbie the Robot
IN THIS ISSUE
@INTERMEZZO I Paris La Défense
@THE WAR ROOM
@INTERMEZZO II Versailles Palace
@TODAY IN BRIEF
@INTERMEZZO III Stonehenge
@RECENT DISPATCHES OF NOTE
@INTERMEZZO IV 1970s Ford LTD
@RADETZKY ON WAR AND WARFARE
@ABOUT GEORGE
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Paris La Défense
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U.S.-Israeli War in Iran
— The United States and Iran appear to be closing in on an agreement to end hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, it is understood. Negotiators said that they reached an agreement to end the conflict between the U.S. and Israel alliance and Iran, but it requires approval from U.S. President Donald Trump and senior Iranian leadership.
— At the White House, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that the tentative agreement is “multifaceted” and awaiting Trump’s potential approval. “He has several red lines,” Mr. Bessent, later adding: “He’s not going to take a bad deal.”
— Iran mostly shook off an overnight skirmish with U.S. forces in which it lost Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fighters, remaining at the negotiating table
— Iran is pursuing two intertwining goals in its negotiating strategy with the United States, it is understood: securing financial relief for an economy that is under severe strain without giving enough ground on its nuclear program to allow President Trump to claim victory
Russo-Ukrainian War
— Ukraine agreed to buy 20 modern Saab JAS 39 Gripen E/F multirole fighter jets from Sweden, while the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was on a visit to Sweden. Last year, Ukraine signed a letter of intent to purchase as many as 150 of the Gripen Model E jets. Until it can buy the remainder, it will also receive 16 older planes. Deliveries of the Model E will begin around 2030 and are being funded using a €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion) package from the European Union’s Ukraine Support Loan. The deal also secures long-range Meteor air-to-air missiles for Ukraine.
— Ukraine is establishing a 15-km (9.3-mile)-deep “Drone Line” along the front lines and simultaneously expanding its short-range strike or “kill zone” to 100 to 150 km (62 to 93 miles) behind Russian lines. The kill zone is the area behind the front line where Ukrainian systems can strike Russian troops, vehicles, and logistics, and its size increased from 50 km (31 miles) in a very short period of time. Integrated into the Unmanned Systems Forces, the Drone Line initiative relies on first-person-view, or FPV, drones, autonomous systems, and 15,000 new specialized recruits whose job it will be to cut off Russian logistics and supply routes.
7 October War
— Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he ordered the Israeli army to seize control of 70% of the Gaza Strip. The move could put the current and rather fragile cease fire in peril and worsen conditions for those who live in the Gaza Strip. Speaking in the West Bank, he explained his reasoning: “We are squeezing Hamas.” The prime minister’s order would violate a ceasefire agreement that the United States brokered in October, in which Israel agreed to leave just over half of the enclave occupied.
Democratic Republic of the Congo-Rwanda Border War (née Kivu Conflict)
— The World Health Organization called for a ceasefire in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has seen the majority of cases in the current Ebola outbreak, with over 900 reported there. Fighting between the army and M23, a rebel group led by ethnic Tutsis that is part of a larger political alliance called the Alliance Fleuve Congo and is backed by Rwanda, has hindered response efforts and exacerbated the spread.
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Palace of Versailles, France
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Manhatttanhenge photographed from East 57 Str.
Manhattanhenge returned Thursday exactly at 8:14 p.m. (20:14) EDT, and the extravaganza will repeat the spectacular view of the sun setting in the west, flanked by Manhattan’s famous streetscapes, Friday evening at 8:13 p.m. (20:13) EDT.
A “Manhattanhenge” occurs when the bottom or the midpoint of the sun grazes the Manhattan’s iconic street grid,. The street grid was established by the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811, a visionary civic design that imposed an orderly, rectilinear layout of numbered streets and avenues across the island.
When Manhattanhenge occurs, it is a most impressive visual spectacle, and one can look down the center line of the street westward toward New Jersey at sunset and see the full solar disk slightly above the horizon and in between the profiles of the buildings.
Manhatttanhenge photographed from East 57 Str. in 2018
The term “Manhattanhenge” was coined by analogy to Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, comprised of a ring of stones, each 13 feet (4 m) high, seven feet (2.1 meters) wide, with an approximate weight of 25 tons (22.7 metric tons) each
There will be a second set of performances in July as well.
The best streets to view are those with an unobstructed view of the horizon, including 57th Street, 42nd Street, 34th Street, 23rd Street, and 14th Street. It is advisable to grab a prime viewing spot early, as Manhattanhenge attracts a fairly large live audience. If the reader sees someone positioned with an SLR and tripod in the middle of a major crosstown street, he should not think it odd as there will be many such eccentrics braving streets usually driven with utter precision by fearless, rule-bending, hyper-aggressive cabbies.
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Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. The whole monument, now ruinous, is aligned towards the sunrise on the summer solstice.
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Four airports in the United States – John F. Kennedy International in New York City, Washington Dulles International, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, and George Bush Intercontinental in Houston – have been designated as arrival hubs for travelers flying into the United States from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan, countries affected by a deadly Ebola outbreak, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced. The move comes amidst an outbreak of the deadly virus that has killed 223, with a total of 906 suspected cases. Initial symptoms of Ebola include fever, muscle and joint pain, severe headache, which after around four to five days can turn into a loss of appetite, unexplained bleeding, and gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and diarrhea
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Jerry Carroll, the frenetic, rapid-fire pitchman for the now-defunct electronics retailer Crazy Eddie, used to proclaim: “Crazy Eddie, his prices are in-s-a-a-a-a-ane!” The electronics chain closed in 1989 and, at that point, the average price of a new automobile in the United States was $14,372. Today, that sentiment is being applied not to Crazy Eddie’s prices but to the cost of a new vehicle in the United States in 2026, which is just under $50,000. When combined with high fuel prices, rising interest rates, and stubborn inflation, the result is car buyers who are staying home, keeping their current vehicles longer, and leaving new cars sitting on dealer lots, and one million prospective buyers have exited the new-car market since the start of the decade… and they aren’t expected to return any time soon.
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Anthropic surged past competitor OpenAI to become the world’s most valuable artificial-intelligence company after raising $65 billion in a new round of fundraising. The move put its market valuation at $965 billion, ahead of OpenAI’s last valuation of $730 billion, as the two firms compete to dominate the AI space. The higher valuation comes on the heels of the company’s highly-publicized duel with the U.S. Department of Defense over AI-powered warfare and, separately, its release of a powerful new AI model, Mythos, that it said was extremely capable of finding and exploiting hidden flaws in software. Earlier in the week, it was revealed that the company had advised Pope Leo XIV on his papal encyclical that was delivered on Monday, in which the warned the world about safeguarding humanity from AI’s most disruptive effects.
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The European Commission fined Temu, a low-cost Chinese online marketplace,€200 million ($232 million) for breaching EU rules on the sale of illegal products, such as baby toys and chargers that do not meet safety standards. It is the largest fine issued to date under the bloc’s Digital Services Act, introduced in 2022 to regulate online platforms. Temu said it disagreed with the fine, which it called “disproportionate.” Temu can appeal the finding. The company is required to submit a plan to address the breaches by 28 August of the current year.
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Washington Union Station
Ford Motor Company announced plans to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States of American with a special exhibit and experience space. From 1 July through 14 July, the storied automobile manufacturer will host “Driving America Forward: A Ford Experience at Union Station” in the Main Hall of Union Station in Washington, D.C. The exhibit connects 123 years of Ford to 250 years of the United States, using a never-before-seen collection of historic Ford vehicles and artifacts that have played a role in shaping the nation’s history.
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A company that is designing a “helpful robot” for the home happened upon an ingenious way to test out prototypes of its robot without risking the destruction of the design team’s individual residences: Have designers and testers, under the cover of darkness, let complete homes from Airbnb operators and let their robots have complete run of the house, that is if the house were Camp Runamok. Bot Company, which is backed by a litany of highly-regarded venture capitalists including Greenoaks, NFDG, Spark, Eclipse, Kleiner Perkins, and Y Combinator, doesn’t appear to have used any of the $300 million it has reportedly raised thus far to build a home robot test house. The story was first reported by the San Francisco Standard. Instead of a test facility, the company’s employees descended en masse at the entrance of a poor unsuspecting Airbnb owner who was told that “eight colleagues were visiting the Bay Area for work.” That Airbnb owner was Sean Donovan, who filed suit against the company for $12,383.50 in damages to his home and his belongings, as well as for lost revenue while the Airbnb was closed for over a week for repairs, and Mr. Donovan is apparently not alone. Other Airbnb operators have come forward with similar experiences. The Bot Company, which has not yet revealed its first robot offering, says on its website that it is “building a helpful robot for every home” that can do “all the little things that eat away at our time. Its employees come from other tech firms including Tesla, Cruise, OpenAI, Google, Pixar, and many other great companies,” according to its website. At press time, the Bot Company had not responded to an e-mail from GEORGE seeking comment.
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Italy’s Guardia di Finanza, or financial police, have uncovered a dead mob boss’s $230 million business empire, almost three years after he died in custody. Matteo Messina Denaro, a Sicilian ganger, had eluded capture for three decades. He was finally apprehended in 2023 while using an assumed name at a cancer clinic in Palermo where he was receiving treatment. At the time of his death, however, the Guardia di Finanza had few clues about the extent of his global financial empire. The Guardia di Finanza followed the money in an investigation that spanned numerous countries including the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Lebanon, Luxembourg, and Monaco among others, but it was a tip from officials in Andorathat concerned the rather significant assets of a wealthy Sicilian woman from the same town as Signor Messina Denaro. That woman, her husband, and her son, none of whom who were named, have been arrested, charged with having managed the investments of the late mobster.
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A 1970s Ford LTD with an EPA fuel-economy rating of 17 mpg (13.83 l/100 km). Today’s sedans average from 27 mpg (10.46 l/100 km) for a Cadillac CT5 to 30 mpg (9.42 l/100 km) for a Toyota Crown.
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Russia warned foreigners to leave Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, ahead of “systematic strikes” targeting defense facilities in the city. The Russian defense ministry said these would be a response to a deadly Ukrainian attack on a student dorm in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region. The warning comes just days after carrying out one of its largest attacks on the city since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war. The new strikes will target “decision-making centers and command posts,” alongside drone manufacturing facilities in the city, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement. Ukraine said Russia’s threats were “nothing short of shameless blackmail” and urged allies to increase pressure on Moscow. With its warning to foreign nationals, the Kremlin is “effectively admitting that its shelling is aimed, among other things, at intimidating the foreign diplomatic corps,” the statement continued.
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Ukraine is establishing a 15-km (9.3-mile)-deep “Drone Line” along the front lines and simultaneously expanding its short-range strike or “kill zone” to 100 to 150 km (62 to 93 miles) behind Russian lines. The kill zone is the area behind the front line where Ukrainian systems can strike Russian troops, vehicles, and logistics, and its size increased from 50 km (31 miles) in a very short period of time. Integrated into the Unmanned Systems Forces, the Drone Line initiative relies on first-person-view, or FPV, drones, autonomous systems, and 15,000 new specialized recruits whose job it will be to cut off Russian logistics and supply routes.
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An older NJ Transit train at Liberty State Park in New Jersey
Everyone who is anyone is talking about the great technological advances that the world is seeing in warfare and weaponry such as drones. But just like the world at large, there have been myriad equivalent advances ranging from the use of railroads starting in the 1820s, the telegraph in the 1840s, rifled muskets in the 1850s, airplanes in the very early 1900s, submarines in the mid-1910s, and then tanks, radar, guided missiles, nuclear weapons, helicopters, satellites, the list goes on and on…
Yet so many marvel how different war is today. In Ukraine and the Middle East, battlefields are becoming the stuff of science fiction with swarms of armed drones and AI-enabled targeting systems. On the battlefield, no one leads a charge. But given all of these advancements, is it even possible to discern which side is winning – and are there truly any winners? And even if war is fought remotely, is it also moving closer to each of us?
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George presents important news and events of the day clearly and concisely in a format better suited to the modern reader’s limited time and focus, without forsaking the founders’ traditional commitment to fact-driven news, commentary, and dispatches – all prepared by curious thinkers, for curious thinkers.
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Jonathan Spira, Alexander Khusid, Tim Perry, Christian Stampfer, Kurt Stolz, Anna Breuer, and Paul Riegler contributed to this issue of George.
The mark “George,” the tagline “A daily newspaper…,” and all of the newspaper’s content, images, photographs, and associated material are subject to copyright law.
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