Explained When Amazon Holds the Money How a change in Amazon's payout system is squeezing small businesses — and raising questions far beyond seller reserves By Olga Nesterova • 6 min read
Daily Brief May 28: Canada Rises, China Expands, Ukraine Rearms KEY DEVELOPMENTS 1. Ukraine is getting Gripens. Ukraine and Sweden launched a major defense agreement that includes the potential purchase of up to 20 Gripen E/F fighter jets and the future transfer of 16 Gripen C/D aircraft. Sweden also announced its largest military aid package to Ukraine to By Olga Nesterova • 3 min read
News Trump on a $250 Bill Is Not Just Strange. It Runs Into the Law. Trump administration officials have reportedly pushed the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to prepare designs for a new $250 bill featuring Donald Trump’s portrait for America’s 250th anniversary. There is one immediate problem: current federal law prohibits living people from appearing on U.S. currency. Treasury Secretary Scott By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
News Pentagon’s $9.7 Billion Microsoft-Dell Deal: Follow the Infrastructure, Then Follow the Money The Department of Defense awarded Dell Federal Systems a five-year agreement valued at about $9.7 billion to provide Microsoft software licenses, cloud subscriptions, secure communications, collaboration tools, and productivity technologies across the military, intelligence community, and Coast Guard. Officially, this is about modernization: Microsoft 365, cloud access, zero- By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
News China Is No Longer an Abstraction — While the U.S. Leaves Diplomatic Chairs Empty China is no longer experienced only through headlines about tariffs, Taiwan, or military competition. It is increasingly experienced through logistics networks, payment systems, AI tools, scholarships, e-commerce platforms, industrial supply chains, cyber infrastructure, and digital ecosystems woven into daily life around the world. That is the core takeaway from By Olga Nesterova • 2 min read
Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Advisor – Commissioner of the President for Sanctions Policy held a meeting with ambassadors of European countries. Photo: Zelenskyy Office News Russian Missiles Still Run on Foreign Parts Ukraine showed European ambassadors components from Russian Zircon, Kalibr, and Kh-101 missiles, as well as Geran-2 drones used in Russia’s May 24 attack. The finding is blunt: Russia’s war machine is still getting access to foreign-made technology. According to Ukraine’s presidential office, some components By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
Prime Minister Carney speaking at the Economic Club of New York, May 28, 2026 | Photo: ECNY via Carney X Explained Carney in New York — Canada Is No Longer Waiting for Permission ONEST reports from Mark Carney’s Economic Club of New York address, where Canada’s prime minister outlined a sharper global strategy on energy, defense, critical minerals, AI, trade, China, Ukraine, and sovereignty. By Olga Nesterova • 4 min read
Swedish Saab JAS 39 Gripen escort President Zelenskyy’s aircraft | Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy X News Ukraine’s Gripen Deal Changes the Air War — But Not Overnight Ukraine and Sweden have moved from political promise to defense architecture. In Uppsala, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson initiated a major agreement for Ukraine to acquire up to 20 new Gripen E/F fighter jets, financed with €2.5 billion from the EU-backed Ukraine Support By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
Daily Brief May 27: Hormuz Talks, Canada’s Defense Pivot, Digital Sovereignty, and Washington’s Secrecy Push KEY DEVELOPMENTS 1. The U.S.-Iran Hormuz talks are not settled. Iranian state media reported a possible framework to reopen commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, lift the U.S. naval blockade, withdraw U.S. forces, and potentially formalize the deal through a UN Security Council resolution. The By Olga Nesterova • 2 min read
News Britain and Poland Are Building a Post-Brexit Security Bridge The United Kingdom and Poland are signing a new defence and security treaty designed to strengthen cooperation on Russia, border security, organized crime, cyber threats, and European defence. The treaty follows similar UK agreements with France and Germany, and it is part of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s broader effort By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
Image shared on X by Ambassador Gor News The Quad’s Critical Minerals Push Is About China — Even When It Doesn’t Say China The United States, Japan, Australia, and India have announced a Quad Critical Minerals Initiative aimed at building more secure and diversified supply chains for minerals needed for advanced technology, industrial production, and defense. The framework says the four partners intend to mobilize up to $20 billion in public and private By Olga Nesterova • 1 min read
News Canada’s GlobalEye Decision Is About Defense — and Sovereignty Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada has entered negotiations to procure Saab’s GlobalEye airborne early warning and control aircraft, built around the Canadian-made Bombardier Global 6500 platform. The aircraft would give Canada long-range air, sea, and land surveillance capability, including the ability to track objects and By Olga Nesterova • 2 min read
