Photo: Selimaksan, Getty Images

Each week, BIV staff will share with you some of the interesting stories we have found from around the web.

Timothy Renshaw, managing editor:

Of scams and survivors: a fresh entry in a-sucker-born-every-minute file, the Federal Trade Commission recently released an analysis of money lost by consumers in cryptocurrency flim-flams, a rapidly growing arena for fraudsters, cheats and shysters. Can’t blame them for slithering into the cryptocurrency swamp when a billion dollars or so has been bilked out of unsuspecting and likely ill-informed crypto-investors.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/06/new-analysis-finds-consumers-reported-losing-more-1-billion-cryptocurrency-scams-2021?utm_source=govdelivery

From suckers to survivors: this survivor in the Chilean Andes at last count was set to celebrate its 5,400th birthday. – Science Alert

https://www.sciencealert.com/new-estimates-on-the-age-of-a-huge-tree-in-chile-could-make-it-a-record-breaker

And this restaurant in Madrid is closing in on its 300th year in business. No word on whether it is having trouble securing enough staff to make it to 300. – Tasting Table

https://www.tastingtable.com/888717/this-may-be-the-worlds-oldest-restaurant/

Nelson Bennett, reporter:

With the prospect of the war in Ukraine spreading, NATO members, especially in Europe, have been beefing up military budgets. But of the 30 NATO member states that agreed in 2006 and again in 2014 to spend 2% of their GDP on military, only 10 are spending 2% or more. Canada remains a laggard. A new report by the Parliamentary Budget office says Canada only spends 1.4% of GDP on its military, and would need to increase its military spending by $75 billion by 2027 to meet the 2% commitment. – PBO

https://distribution-a617274656661637473.pbo-dpb.ca/2e61c150ee17ee7fc0594b3c01632c13ffb4dcb4d848b9f259a81a318d997a3c