Athing

I think this is the key quote:

Since 1981, JECFA has said aspartame is safe to consume within accepted daily limits. For example, an adult weighing 60 kg (132 pounds) would have to drink between 12 and 36 cans of diet soda – depending on the amount of aspartame in the beverage – every day to be at risk. Its view has been widely shared by national regulators, including in the United States and Europe.

12-36 cans per day. That's a lot of diet cokes. Even for Trump.

The western news keeps using the term “mercenary” but I don’t think it’s quite right. They are “mercenaries” in the same way as the US security contractors are “mercenaries”, which is to say they are commercial entities paid to fight. If it were the US army though, we would call them “contractors”.