Jul 11, 2026

Every month 14 ships leave a quiet port on the west coast of Ireland, carrying alumina towards St Petersburg. Alumina is a fine white powder. Once smelted, it becomes aluminium, a metal essential to modern industry and also to military production, including aircraft, armoured vehicles, missiles and other weapons systems.

I began investigating this supply chain after reading a report in The Irish Times earlier this year. I contacted the refinery with questions, but my calls and emails went unanswered. So I booked a flight home to Ireland and decided to investigate it myself. What I expected to be a short report about a single supply route became one of the largest and most difficult investigations I have ever undertaken.

It led me through the ownership of the refinery, its connections to Russia, the environmental damage experienced by people living nearby, the silence surrounding the operation and the political system that allowed it to continue largely unchallenged. I met local people who had been asking questions for years. Farmers who said their lives had been devastated. Workers who were frightened to speak publicly. Independent reporters who had tried to raise the alarm long before the rest of the country began paying attention.

As I started publishing reports from the ground, the story spread further than I could ever have expected. The videos received more than 11 million views across my platforms. Within days, the investigation moved from social media into local, national and international coverage. Ministers were questioned. European officials became involved. A refinery that very few people had heard of suddenly became the centre of a major argument about Ireland, Russia, sanctions and the war in Ukraine.

After weeks of filming, research and painstaking editing, this is the full story. It includes the investigation itself, the people we met, the political confrontations, the moments that happened behind the scenes and the extraordinary chain of events that followed once the public began paying attention.

This film was made entirely independently. Many major Irish media organisations receive substantial public funding. I have chosen to keep this channel independent of governments, corporations, sponsors, billionaires and private interests. There are no sponsorship deals behind this film and no wealthy backers deciding what I can or cannot investigate. The work is funded almost entirely by the people who watch it. Those who become members through Patreon are not simply supporting a channel. They are helping produce all my independent journalism and making investigations like this possible. You can join and support my work through the Patreon link below. https://linktr.ee/CaolanRobertson You can also contribute directly towards the cost of this investigation through PayPal. Producing the film required extensive travel, cameras, accommodation, research and weeks of editing. Every contribution helps me continue working independently. https://www.paypal.me/CaolanRobertson I am incredibly proud of this report, but I am also deeply grateful to everyone who trusted me with their story, shared the investigation and helped force these questions into the open. Please share the film with someone who needs to see it, and leave a comment telling me what stayed with you. I am now heading back to eastern Ukraine to begin work on the next frontline report. Thank you for watching, and thank you for making this work possible.

Transcript

Jul 9, 2026

Is the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran over? Is the memorandum of understanding dead? On Wednesday, those questions were put to President Donald Trump at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, a gathering that came on the heels of renewed strikes between the U.S. and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz. Here, to make sense of the fragile state of the strait, the stalled negotiations in Iran, and the big ticket questions about the European alliance, Turkey, and China, is Free Press columnist Niall Ferguson. He breaks down how the ceasefire fell apart, why the pathway to managing the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on cooperation from the Gulf States, and what the new status quo looks like—plus: Will the U.S. let Turkey buy F-35 fighter jets, after it was previously barred from doing so? How have hostilities between Russia and Ukraine escalated? And what is China learning from the sidelines?

https://www.gzeromedia.com/video/gzero-world-clips/how-do-iranians-feel-about-their-future

How do Iranians feel about their future?

GZERO Staff

July 08, 2026

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The war may have shifted the geopolitical balance in Iran’s favor, but for many Iranians, it has brought little relief. In this clip from GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, New York Times Iran correspondent Yeganeh Torbati describes a country still living with the aftermath of mass protests, a brutal government crackdown, and an economy that continues to deteriorate.

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An 86-year-old Pennsylvania farmer chose preserving his land over a massive $15 million payday, turning down AI data center developers to protect his 261-acre family farm.

For over 60 years, Mervin Raudabaugh has farmed his 261-acre property in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania—the very land where he raised his family and nurtured a thriving wildlife habitat.

When AI developers targeted his rural area for a massive data center expansion, they offered him over $60,000 per acre, totaling more than $15 million. Rather than sell to developers, the 86-year-old farmer resolutely declined. “I was not interested in destroying my farms,” Raudabaugh explained, choosing instead to sell his development rights to a land preservation program for just under $1.9 million.

This selfless decision ensures the productive farmland, woodlands, and wetlands will never be built upon or dug up, protecting it in perpetuity. Raudabaugh’s stand highlights a growing national tension as tech companies rapidly expand energy-hungry, resource-intensive AI data centers across the rural United States.

These massive infrastructure developments require immense acreage and electricity, often sparking local opposition over lost agricultural land, water depletion, and environmental disruption. While the financial temptation for struggling farming families is immense, Raudabaugh hopes his conservation efforts inspire others to protect America’s agricultural heritage.

For him, safeguarding his lifelong home so that future generations could live there and experience its natural beauty was worth infinitely more than any tech-fueled windfall. source: Thompson, C. (2026). Why this Pennsylvania farmer said no to $15 million from A.I. data center developers. PennLive.

Shining Science

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Albert Einstein was famous for prioritizing his rest, frequently sleeping for 10 hours a night and taking regular daytime naps.

He often used a technique where he would hold a metal spoon or ball while drifting off; as he fell asleep, the object would drop and wake him up, allowing him to capture the creative insights formed during the transition into sleep.

Modern neuroscience supports this approach to rest. During deep sleep, the brain activates the glymphatic system to clear metabolic waste, while also consolidating memories and reorganizing information.

This cognitive processing directly enhances problem-solving and creativity, making rest a functional part of mental clarity.

Einstein also balanced his intense work with quiet, unscheduled thinking time, frequently taking long walks or sailing to let his mind wander.

This state of cognitive rest allows the brain’s default mode network to activate, which is highly associated with deep insight and creative breakthroughs.

His routine serves as a reminder that sustained intellectual performance relies heavily on deliberate rest and giving ideas time to develop naturally.