• Development banks are prioritizing big industrial farms over small farmers, creating a massive funding gap. Between 2020 and 2024, 16 development banks gave about $13 billion to industrial animal farms, while smaller, diversified farms received only $9 billion, signaling a shift away from supporting rural communities.
• Industrial agriculture causes severe environmental and health damage. These factory farms drive deforestation, rely on harmful pesticides and use high levels of antibiotics, which has created a global crisis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that kills over a million people each year.
• Local communities pay the human cost. People living near these facilities face constant pollution, bad smells and sickness. For example, a Guatemalan company, CMI Alimentos, received $725 million in support while expanding its U.S. fast-food chain, yet nearby Indigenous Xinka families reported their animals getting sick and were never consulted about the farm's arrival.
• These funding decisions contradict the banks' own stated goals. The report highlights a clear "misalignment" between the banks' commitment to fighting issues like poverty and their actual investments, which worsen income inequality and concentrate land ownership among the wealthy.
• A better approach exists and is simpler than it seems. Instead

• President Trump publicly rejected a Ukrainian request for additional Patriot missile interceptors, stating U.S. stockpiles require replenishment first.
• The rebuff comes after a Russian missile and drone barrage on Kyiv on August 5 resulted in 17 deaths and zero intercepted missiles due to ammunition shortages.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Western-supplied interceptor deliveries have dropped by two-thirds compared to 2025 levels.
• The Pentagon faces reported shortages of precision-strike munitions and has exhausted nearly 80% of its THAAD interceptor inventory amid the conflict with Iran.
• Zelensky announced a pivot toward developing domestic ballistic missile capabilities with European partners in response to stalled U.S. aid.

Washington's rejection highlights strategic shift

President Donald Trump on Thursday publicly dismissed Ukrainian requests for additional Patriot anti-air missile systems, prioritizing the replenishment of depleted U.S. arsenals over immediate military aid to Kyiv. The statement, delivered in the Oval Office, comes as Ukraine struggles to defend against intensifying Russian aerial bombardments, including an August 5 attack on Kyiv in which air defenses failed to intercept a single incoming missile, resulting in 17 fatalities and 44 injuries.

The exchange underscores a critical juncture in the U.S.-Ukraine alliance, as Kyiv faces

• Senate committee voted 8-5 to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt after he invoked the Fifth Amendment over 100 times during a July hearing.
• Sen. Rand Paul has requested a Department of Justice investigation into alleged perjury by Fauci regarding COVID-19 origins and NIH-funded research.
• Fauci received a presidential pardon in early 2025, but Republicans argue perjury committed during the recent hearing could still carry consequences.
• The committee referred the contempt vote directly to DOJ rather than the full Senate, a procedural move Democrats criticized.
• More than 150 infectious-disease experts signed a letter defending Fauci, stating no credible evidence supports the charges against him.

A new chapter in the pandemic's political legacy

Six years after COVID-19 upended American life, the pandemic's most contentious questions have returned to center stage as Republican lawmakers pursue accountability against Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former National Institutes of Health immunologist who became the face of the nation's public health response.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted 8-5 on Thursday to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress. The action follows a combative July 29 hearing during which the 85-year-old

• Unfiltered coffee (e.g., French press, boiled, Turkish) contains diterpenes (cafestol and kahweol), compounds that raise LDL ("bad") cholesterol, while paper-filtered coffee (e.g., pour-over, drip) removes them.
• Research shows paper-filtered coffee has the lowest diterpene content. Switching from unfiltered to paper-filtered coffee could meaningfully reduce cardiovascular disease risk over time.
• Drinking about three to four cups of coffee daily is linked to lower mortality and heart disease risk, but these benefits are closely tied to using filtered preparation methods.
• Health authorities, like those in the Nordic countries, now explicitly advise against unfiltered coffee due to its cholesterol-raising potential and associated higher risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Coffee offers broad health benefits, but individuals monitoring cholesterol can easily optimize them by choosing paper-filtered brewing, allowing enjoyment of coffee's advantages without the diterpene drawback.

For millions, the morning ritual is sacred: the grind, the aroma, the first life-giving sip. But new research suggests the tool you use to brew that cup may be as important as the beans themselves for your long-term heart health, turning a simple daily choice into a potential health intervention.

A growing body of evidence is drawing a clear line between unfiltered

For the first time in nearly three years, the machinery of Israeli justice has ground forward just enough to charge a Jewish settler with the death of a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank. The August 2026 indictment of Yinon Levi for reckless homicide in the fatal shooting of community leader Awdah Hathaleen is being presented as a step toward accountability, but the surrounding context tells a far more damning story. With more than 1,100 Palestinians killed by settlers and soldiers since October 2023, and over 90% of cases historically closed without charges, this singular prosecution appears less as a triumph of justice and more as a calculated exception that reinforces a deeply entrenched system of impunity.

Key points:

• The indictment of Yinon Levi is the first for a settler killing a Palestinian in the West Bank since 2019.
• Human rights groups document over 1,100 Palestinian deaths in the West Bank since October 2023 with no prior prosecutions.
• Levi was sanctioned by the Biden administration as a "violent extremist" but removed from the US list by President Trump.
• The killing occurred during an illegal land grab for a new settlement outpost in

• Episode 13 explores Dr. Alphonzo Monzo's model of the human body as an interconnected seven-cycle system where biological functions, emotions, sensory experiences and spiritual concepts are viewed as deeply connected.
• The episodes examine how systems involving the heart, kidneys, gut, brain, hormones, breathing and energy distribution may function as part of a larger network of communication and balance.
• The discussion highlights connections between emotional patterns and specific cycles, including fear, shame, relationships and the relationship between the heart, gut and brain.
• Episode 14 focuses on a restoration framework using specific points, pathways and cycles to address physical challenges such as broken bones, respiratory concerns, heart issues, tinnitus, digestive problems and immune support.
• Together, the episodes present a vision of the body as a dynamic system where anatomy, energy, emotions and consciousness interact, emphasizing restoration, harmony and interconnected wellness.

Brighteon University is streaming an episode a day of the self-help touch therapy training course "ATB Personal Restoration Class" from Aug. 8 to Aug. 21. It will broadcast a replay of Episodes 1-7 on Aug. 22 and Episodes 8-14 on Aug. 23. Catch the complete course marathon on Aug. 24. Register here to learn