Following Ukraine's long-range drone assault on June 1st which was dubbed 'Operation Spider's Web' - and which resulted in the destruction of at least several aircraft, including strategic bombers - Russia has relocated dozens of strategic bombers to remote airbases, new satellite imagery shows.
Ukraine had claimed that during the daring operation airbases Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ryazan, and Ivanovo, were hit, damaging or else completely destroying up to 41 aircraft, including Tu-95s, Tu-22M3s, and A-50s. However, Russian media sources have repeatedly said these numbers are exaggerated, and in some instances have claimed decommissioned and inactive planes were hit.
The Russian military is scrambling to reduce the vulnerability and exposure of the country's most advanced and expensive aircraft, as Ukrainian drones have continued to come over the border on a nightly basis, sometimes in waves of hundreds.
The air force's bomber fleet is also likely to be rotated more often, including to remote or even previously inactive airfields.
According to analysis of the new satellite imagery in the Amsterdam-based Moscow Times:
Satellite imagery analyzed by the OSINT research group AviVector shows that all Tu-160 bombers previously stationed at the Belaya airbase in Irkutsk and the Olenya airbase in Murmansk had vacated their positions by early June.
Two of those bombers were redeployed to Anadyr in the Chukotka region, three to Yelizovo in the Kamchatka region and another three to the Borisoglebskoye airbase in the republic of Tatarstan.
Tu-22M3 and Tu-95MS aircraft were also relocated from Murmansk to bases in Tatarstan and the Amur and Saratov regions, as well as to Mozdok in the republic of North Ossetia — a facility that had not been actively used by the Russian military in recent years.
Example of the new satellite imagery evaluated by AviVector...
For another example of what looks like a Moscow decision to move these valuable military assets as far away from Ukraine as possible is as follows:
Located on the desolate Chukotka Peninsula, the airfield is around 410 miles from Alaska and was set up during the Cold War.
The supersonic Tu-160 bombers can carry nuclear weapons and are by far the most expensive in Russia’s inventory, with a price tag of around $500 million per unit. By comparison, the B-52 Stratofortress, the mainstay of the US’s bomber fleet, has an estimated value of roughly $94 million.
'Spider's Web' added some insult to injury given that in some cases some of Russia's most high-dollar aircraft were hit by "cheap drones" which had first been shipped into Russia "right under the nose" of Russian security forces.
The drones had been activated once near the airbase targets while on modified wooden cabins mounted on the back of lorries. It seems that in many cases the very truck drivers were seemingly unaware of their role in the elaborate covert operation.
Update 8:35pm: AP cites an Israeli official who says that the targets are Iran Nuclear and Military sites; Meanwhile Iran has suspended all flights into its international airport, while Israel has closed all airspace.
*ISRAEL OFFICIAL CONFIRMS ATTACK TARGETED IRAN NUCLEAR SITES: AP
*IRAN SUSPENDS FLIGHTS AT TEHRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: TASNIM
The Israeli defense forces add that dozens of IAF jets complete the first stage of Iran strikes.
Meanwhile, the US State Department is pretending like it had zero involvement in this latest neocon-inspired debacle.
*RUBIO SAYS US IS NOT INVOLVED IN ISRAEL STRIKES AGAINST IRAN
*RUBIO: IRAN SHOULD NOT TARGET U.S. INTERESTS OR PERSONNEL
*RUBIO: ISRAEL TOOK UNILATERAL ACTION VS IRAN
Good luck with Iran buying that.
* * *
Futures and yields are tumbling, and gold and oil are surging following reports of successive explosions in Iran as a result of what Al Arabiya reports are Israeli airstrikes; Axios has confirmed that the Israeli Air Force conducted a strike in Iran, "attacking its biggest and best-armed adversary, without clear backing from the U.S." It was not immediately clear who Israel is targeting.
Strikes on Tehran reportedly targeted air-defenses and other military sites throughout the city. pic.twitter.com/T3WX4Re1Gq
As Axios adds, sirens are sounding across Israel on Thursday night. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared a special state of emergency across the entire country, and said he expects retaliation after the preemptive Iran strike.
Smoke seen rising from several sites across the Iranian capital of Tehran, following strikes by the Israeli Air Force. pic.twitter.com/9DkweHmHIJ
"Following the State of Israel's preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the state of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future," Katz said.
An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said only "necessary" activities should take place in Israel starting Friday morning local time. That includes a ban on "educational activities, gatherings and workplaces, with the exception of essential businesses."
Ahead of the Israeli strikes, the US notified several allies in private on Thursday that Israeli strikes were imminent and made clear it was not involved, one of the Axios sources said.
Sure enough, moments after the airstrikes, CNN reported that Trump is convening a cabinet level meeting.
Meanwhile, as Trump said earlier today, his administration already told Israel it would not participate in any strikes on the nuclear program, however, the U.S. has previously helped defend Israel from Iranian attacks and would likely do so again if this strike kicks off a retaliatory cycle according to Axios.
In doing so, the US president will likely lose substantial backing from those who do not want to be associated with neocons. But at least Lindsay Graham will have wonderful things to say about Trump.
While it is unclear what the targets of Iran's airstrikes are, some have speculated that since the targets are residential buildings that these are targeted assassinations.
In kneejerk response, stock futures are tumbling...
... as are bond yields...
... while Oil (where we recently warned that the record shorts will be badly burned)...
... and gold are soaring.
The question now is whether this is all performative theater, like the two cases of "non-war" a year ago when the two sides exchanges violently dramatic if completely ineffective strikes against each other, or if this is the real thing and shortly Iran's nuclear facilities will be a pile of rubble.
Kenvue is exploring the sale of some of its skin health and beauty brands, four people familiar with the matter said on Thursday, as the consumer health firm prunes an underperforming business segment to focus on core products.
The company, which was spun out of Johnson & Johnson in 2023, is zeroing in on smaller brands in the unit to sell such as Clean & Clear, Maui Moisture, Neostrata, its German baby care brand Bebe, and Japanese brand Dr.Ci:Labo, the sources said.
It plans to hold onto the bigger names in the unit, such as Neutrogena and Aveeno, the sources said. There are about a dozen brands in the skin health and beauty unit, and sources cautioned that the divestiture package could change and no deal was guaranteed.
Investment bankers at Goldman Sachs are working with Kenvue on the divestment process, they added.
Kenvue and Goldman declined to comment.
The around half-dozen brands earmarked for sale would generate more than $500 million of revenue together, two of the sources said, a small portion of Kenvue's overall revenue, which was $15.5 billion in 2024.
The skin health and beauty unit has been a drag on Kenvue's earnings, but the company has dedicated more money to marketing, especially on Neutrogena ad campaigns. The unit's organic sales declined 4.8% year-over-year in Kenvue's latest quarter that ended March 30.
Kenvue, which also makes Tylenol and Band-Aids, has faced activist pressure over the last year from Starboard Value, Toms Capital Management and Third Point. It settled with Starboard in March, when it added the investment firm's founder to its board.
Some of the activists have been pushing the company to consider selling itself or certain brands.
In May, the company brought on new Chief Financial Officer Amit Banati from Kellanova, Kellogg's spun-out snacking unit.
Most of us were blissfully unaware of one of the potentially dire consequences of the recent trade wars with China: a shortage of rare-earth magnets, which are a critical component of car engines, smartphones and military weapons systems.
China’s April export ban on magnets and six rare-earth elements was payback for President Trump’s tariff hikes.
It threatened to cripple automotive production lines and risk national security.
(From left) US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Chinese International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang pose for a photo during trade discussions at the Lancaster House in London on June 9, 2025.US Treasury Department/AFP via G
China has a near-monopoly on these crucial resources, which is a frightening reality in today’s interconnected world.
But two can play that game, and the Trump administration swiftly matched Chinese aggression with some potent weapons from our own trade arsenal after trade talks last month in Geneva failed to resolve the issue.
The retaliatory measures, cooked up by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, included a ban on critical American aircraft parts, semiconductors and a petrochemical called ethane, which China uses to make plastic.
Secretary of StateMarco Rubioalso threatened to “aggressively revoke” visas for Chinese students.
Every couple of days there was new payback from the US, as Trump ratcheted up the pain in stages.
The pain was what finally brought the Chinese back to the table this week.
In addition to punishing tariffs, the payback measures hit the already sluggish Chinese economy hard.
Export growth is down more than 30%, and factory activity reportedly is slowing, while domestic demand is weak.
‘Planely’ in trouble
By last week, when Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a long, conciliatory phone call, China had 250 planes grounded and another 250 planes a week due to become inoperable.
After the call, Trump declared that he wants to “open up China” and dispatched Bessent, Lutnick and trade envoy Jamieson Greer to London for truce talks with a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who pulled off the first trade deal under the new Trump tariff regime, provided neutral territory for the negotiations in Lancaster House, an elegant 19th-century building in the St. James district of central London, around the corner from King Charles’ residence.
Trump’s presence was acutely felt by the US negotiators, not least because the room in which they worked from early morning to close to midnight Monday and Tuesday features gilt-edged cornices, golden chandeliers, rich red draperies and red and gold carpet, an echo of the newly redecorated Oval Office.
At night, the Americans ate British pizza while the Chinese ordered in KFC and McDonald’s.
The Chinese negotiators incessantly brought up the readout of Trump’s call with Xi, periodically losing their cool and growing “passionate,” as one observer described it.
But in the end, they did the deal — or at least de-escalated tensions in preparation for a final trade agreement between the world’s two biggest economies.
China will resume supply of the magnets and critical rare earths “up front,” and Chinese students will be welcome again at US colleges and universities, the president wrote on Truth Social Wednesday morning.
The other pain points will ratchet down over time.
“OUR DEAL WITH CHINA IS DONE, SUBJECT TO FINAL APPROVAL WITH PRESIDENT XI AND ME. FULL MAGNETS, AND ANY NECESSARY RARE EARTHS, WILL BE SUPPLIED, UP FRONT, BY CHINA. LIKEWISE, WE WILL PROVIDE TO CHINA WHAT WAS AGREED TO, INCLUDING CHINESE STUDENTS USING OUR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (WHICH HAS ALWAYS BEEN GOOD WITH ME!). WE ARE GETTING A TOTAL OF 55% TARIFFS, CHINA IS GETTING 10%. RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!”
Wall Street rallied at the news, although there is still work to flesh out the rest, with tariffs to stay at levels agreed to in Geneva, potentially yielding $250 billion annually.
It was an important test for the cohesion of the US side, which Trump has had an eye on lately.
Competition between Bessent and Lutnick has been the talk of DC as the billionaire former Wall Street alphas butt heads over their overlapping responsibilities and distinctly different personalities.
Trump often praises the reserved, patrician Bessent as “straight out of Central Casting” and native New Yorker Lutnick as “a killer.”
Tag-team negotiators
But Lutnick could not have been more complimentary about Bessent in an early morning phone call Wednesday as Lutnick was jetting home from London.
“The combination of Secretary Bessent, Ambassador Greer, and me played incredibly well,” he said.
“Scott was really strong [and] there was a lot of respect … The three of us were tight. You couldn’t get a wedge between us …
“When we needed it, Scott played a certain hand … when it was right for him to be pissed off, he closed his book [as if he were going to leave] or wagged his finger.”
This was a marked change from a report in Nikkei Asia earlier this month that “open disagreements, competition and confusion” among the three US negotiators had marred tariff talks with Japan.
“At one point, the three Cabinet officials put the talks with the Japanese side on hold and began debating right in front of them,” a source told Nikkei.
But according to Lutnick’s account, any philosophical differences they may have on trade and economics have been resolved and they presented a united front for the Chinese, to the great benefit of America.
While Trump’s detractors bemoan his upending of world trade, Bessent describes the president’s approach as “strategic uncertainty,” which can yield surprising benefits. Despite the angst, so far it seems to be paying off.
U.S. PresidentDonald Trumpand executives from the tech and energy sectors will appear at an artificial intelligence and energy summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on July 15, the office of the state's U.S. Senator Dave McCormick said on Thursday.
McCormick's inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit will be held at Carnegie Mellon University, his office said in a statement.
Axios reported that tech executives like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai were on the summit's guest list. Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods, Shell CEO Wael Sawan and Chevron CEO Mike Wirth were also on that list, according to Axios.
White House AI czar David Sacks, who is also expected to attend the summit, expressed concern earlier this week that regulating U.S. AI too tightly could stifle growth and cede the critical market to China.
The comments indicated the Republican president's approach to AI could be centered on expanding markets abroad for U.S. AI chips and models. Democratic former President Joe Biden had emphasized policies that countered risks the chips could be diverted to China and used to bolster Beijing's military.
A group of 40 state attorneys general, including Republicans from Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas, Utah and Virginia and other states, have pushed back against Republican attempts to block states from regulating AI, saying states should develop and enforce common-sense regulation to protect consumers.
Ashospital executivesandhealthcare organizationsexpress concern about how tariffs may affect the medical supply chain, a recent industry analysis found that about 70% of medical devices marketed in the U.S. are manufactured solely overseas.
GlobalData, which tracks the medical device supply chain, reported that while 75% of U.S.-marketed medical devices are produced internationally, 69% of those are only available through foreign manufacturers.
About 13% of the overseas-manufactured devices originate from China. On June 11, President Donald Trump stated that the total tariffs on products made in China stand at 55%.
In 2024, the U.S. imported more than $75 billion worth of medical devices and supplies, according to the American Hospital Association. These imports include single-use blood pressure cuffs, stethoscope covers and sterile drapes, as well as commonly used devices such as anesthesia instruments, cautery pencils, needles, syringes and pulse oximeters.
“The low-margin nature of these products makes them difficult to produce within the U.S.,” the AHA wrote in a June 11 letter to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health. “At the same time, disruption in the availability of these devices would curtail hospitals’ ability to perform life-saving surgeries and keep patients safe from contagion, as well as hinder providers’ ability to effectively diagnose, monitor and treat patients.”
Oracle Health is building AI agents into its EHR that will be the envy of the technology world, Oracle co-founder and chair Larry Ellison said in a June 10earnings call.
Oracle is developing agentic AI across its business lines, including healthcare, picking up customers that freed up as other tech companies got out of the AI business, Mr. Ellison said.
“We use the most modern application generators and AI database technology to build our application suite,” he said. “And then we add AI and analytics using OpenAI, xAI, Google, Llama and other popular LLMs on top of that application data. No other company is even attempting to build the depth and breadth of AI-based applications that we have already built.”
Voice-activated AI will reportedly be a big part of the new EHR Oracle Health is developing to replace the legacy Cerner platform.
“There’s no other apps company that is trying to build such a broad-based integrated suite of AI cloud applications,” Mr. Ellison said. “Who’s closest? There’s no one … attempting to do what we’re doing.”
