Good morning. In this edition:

• 🤑 How Meta is structuring its AI mega-deals
• 🤥 Lying on resumes
• 🧠 Our weekly news quiz

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.28-minute read (1,138 words).

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“[There] can be no greater gift than that of giving one's time and energy to help others without expecting anything in return.”

–Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

Russia has further escalated its aerial attacks against major Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, culminating with massive drone strikes on back-to-back nights over the past two days.

• On Wednesday, Moscow conducted its largest drone assault since the start of its full-scale invasion, launching 728 drones and 13 missiles in an attack that killed at least one Ukrainian.
• Russia followed things up with another major attack a day later involving 540+ drones, which targeted Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities.

Both strikes came after the White House ordered a pause on US shipments of defensive weapons to Ukraine, then reversed course one week later.

The situation on the ground is also changing. Ukrainian troops have been almost entirely ejected from Russia’s Kursk region following a short-lived incursion that first launched last August, with Russian troops now pouring over the border into Ukraine’s Sumy region. Moscow has currently amassed ~50,000 troops in the area, outnumbering Ukrainians there by a ~3-to-1 margin, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Not Putin it there, pardner

As Russia continues ramping up its attacks against Ukraine, efforts to reach a ceasefire have largely stalled, causing frustrations to mount in Washington. Following a call with Russian President Putin on Tuesday, President Trump said he was “very disappointed” with the discussion and criticized the Russian leader for only pretending he wants the war to end.

• “We get a lot of bullsh*t thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said in a Cabinet meeting. “He’s very nice all of the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”

Trump’s sentiments are shared by Congress. A bipartisan group of 83 US senators are cosponsoring a new Russia sanctions package that would levy significant tariffs on Moscow, as well as any country that buys its oil, gas, or uranium.

Looking ahead…Top Republican leaders say they’re prepared to bring a vote on new Russia sanctions as early as this month, though the question of Trump’s approval is still up in the air.

📊 Flash poll: In general, how do you feel about the way America’s role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict has changed since President Trump took office?

• Support
• Oppose
• Unsure/other

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This week, Meta poached Apple’s top AI executive, Ruoming Pang. He’ll now join CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s superintelligence team, which is working to develop artificial intelligence models smarter than humans that could be integrated into platforms like Instagram and Facebook, as well as products like its Ray-Ban smart glasses.

It marks the latest hire by Zuck, who in recent months has been personally wooing VIP researchers and engineers, offering multiple signing bonuses and pay packages in the nine figures while touting Meta’s steady cash flow and access to vast computing power, according to Bloomberg.

But the payout isn’t guaranteed

Each superintelligence comp package consists of a base salary, signing bonus, and Meta shares (the heftiest part), Bloomberg reports.

• These shares vest over a period of years (typically four), with payouts tied to things like overall company growth targets.
• However, in cases where a recruit would have to walk away from significant startup equity, the signing bonus may be juiced to account for that lost opportunity.

Who’s receiving the big bucks? Meta’s AI Avengers are led by Alexander Wang, an acqui-hire of sorts whose startup, Scale AI, Meta is seeking to plug with $14.3 billion in investment. The team also features at least ten former OpenAI developers, as well as talent poached from Google DeepMind and Anthropic.

Big picture: The hiring push comes as Meta faces AI-related challenges, like the underwhelming performance of its latest model, Llama 4.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📈 US markets rise across the board as investors shrug off tariff worries (S&P 500: +0.3%; Dow: +0.4%; Nasdaq: +0.1%); the S&P and Nasdaq both close at record highs.
• 🥣 Ferrero, the Italian family-owned chocolate company on a US acquisition spree, to purchase cereal maker WK Kellogg (Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes, etc.) for ~$3 billion.
• 🧲 US Defense Dept. to become the largest shareholder in rare earth magnet producer MP Materials; company plans to build a second manufacturing facility in the US with the support of the Pentagon.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with OPC

• 🦸 James Gunn’s Superman hits theaters today; film marks reboot of DC Universe (DCU) cinematic world; it’s expected to earn $120 million-$130 million domestically on opening weekend.
• 🎶 Paul McCartney sets first full North American tour since 2022, with 19 shows across US/Canada starting Sept. 29.
• 🏆 Amanda Anisimova upsets world #1 Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon to reach women’s final, where she’ll face Iga Świątek; the men’s semifinals take place later this morning (ft. Sinner v. Djokovic and Alcaraz v. Fritz).

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🌌 Three major meteor showers will light up the night sky over the next month-and-a-half, starting with the Alpha Capricornids this weekend. | Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy named new interim head of NASA.
• 🍅 Wild tomato species in the Galápagos Islands could be a rare case of “reverse evolution,” per new research.
• 🤖 xAI holds public demo to showcase latest version of Grok, which scores as the best-performing AI model based on benchmark tests; move follows a series of antisemitic posts made by the chatbot on X. | Elon Musk separately says Grok coming to Tesla vehicles next week.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

in partnership with Niphtio

• 🤝 Britain and France agree to first-ever nuclear weapons pact, pledging to work together to deploy nukes if Europe comes under extreme threat.
• 🏛️ Federal judge blocks President Trump’s attempt to eliminate birthright citizenship from taking effect nationwide; ruling grants class action status to all affected children.
• 🧑‍⚖️ Appeals court affirms jury verdict that found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll and ordered him to pay Carroll $5 million.

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☝️ Paris Haute Couture week wrapped up yesterday, with renowned global fashion designers gathering to present their Fall-Winter 2025/26 collections over the course of the four-day event.

🤔 Did You Know? Human babies are born with kneecaps made from cartilage. They eventually start turning to bone around 2-6 years, and finish the process around the age of 10-12.

📰 Worth a Read: Why the $25,000 car is going extinct

🖱️ Clickbait: America’s top states for business in 2025

Here are five stats from this past week that made our team go “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.

🧓 The US population aged 65+ grew 13% between 2020 and 2024, while the number of Americans under 18 fell by 1.7% over the same period.

🍿 Home theater installation requests across the US rose 562% in 2024 compared to the previous year, per new Yelp data.

💼 10% of US job seekers admit to lying on their resume—and 60%+ say their lie(s) helped secure them a job offer.

🚨 Around half of murderers in America end up getting away with it, while just 8% of car thefts result in an arrest, per federal data.

🇺🇸 58% of US adults say they’re extremely (41%) or very (17%) proud to be an American, the lowest figure since Pew first asked that question in 2001.

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How well did you pay attention this week? Find out here.

🐠 Two subway cars, submerged by officials off the coast of Georgia, are teeming with the beginnings of a new coral reef.

🌊 The island of Tierra Bomba in Colombia has a major waste problem, and local Amigos del Mar is tackling it one surfboard at a time; the Amigos are transforming the thousands of plastic bottle caps polluting the island into recycled surfboard fins, and offering free lessons for residents.

👴 Eric Hughes, 85, has been a runner most of his life; he now volunteers at free 5K Parkruns around the UK, hoping to give back to the community that has been a part of his life for decades.

+Note: These stories previously appeared in a Sept. 2024 edition of Positive DONUT, our weekly newsletter surfacing all the good things you don't hear about in the news.

Below are three lists of ingredients. All you have to do is give us the completed dish they make.

☝️ Recipe #1:

• Rice noodles
• Chicken
• Salt & pepper
• Eggs
• Bean sprouts
• Green onions
• White onions
• Cilantro
• Peanuts
• Ketchup
• Fish sauce
• Sugar
• Garlic
• Peanut butter
• Lime
• Red pepper flakes
• Soy sauce

✌️ Recipe #2:

• Flour
• Cornmeal
• Sugar
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Butter
• Oil
• Milk
• Eggs
• Honey

3️⃣ Recipe #3:

• Lettuce
• Pepperoni
• Mozzarella
• Garlic croutons
• Cucumber
• Sunflower seeds
• Parmesan cheese
• Olive oil
• White wine vinegar
• Parmesan cheese
• Italian seasoning
• Sugar
• Dijon mustard
• Salt & pepper
• Red pepper flakes

🥸 I <3 u, send bitcoin: Inside a billion-dollar celebrity impersonation scam.

💼 That’s interesting: A visual look at the most-common job in each state last year.

🥤 Don’t forget: Today is 7/11, aka Free Slurpee Day.

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*A message from our partners

☝️ Recipe #1: Chicken Pad Thai

✌️ Recipe #2: Cornbread

3️⃣ Recipe #3: Italian green salad