Why are some people mosquito magnets? Clues appear at Phys.org
Buddhist sect adopts humanoid robot Gabi at Yonhap festival
‘Think twice before taking pictures of handprints’: Experts warn of fingerprint theft Straits Times
Massimo Mazzucco’s loss of heritage (translation by GeoPolitiQ)
Why do people still go by boat? Convenience, value outweighs health risks, CBC experts say
Hantavirus
Thursday 14th May. Here are the major developments in the last 24 hours regarding the hantavirus situation of the MV Hondius Andes:
Current case count
European public health authorities now report:
11 cases in total
8 confirmed
2 is possible
1 incomplete
3 in total died
Importantly, nothing new…– Roger Seheult, MD (@RogerSeheult) May 14, 2026
Argentina Races to Find Root of Hantavirus Contagion New York Times
One Californian has been exposed to hantavirus in a deadly cruise ship outbreak, officials announced to the Los Angeles Times. “The newly identified passenger disembarked the MV Hondius before this was known, returned to California for a while and then traveled abroad. This person is currently in the Pitcairn Islands.”
How the CDC’s Hantavirus Response Became a PR NOTUS Crisis. Or maybe the CDC’s best hope is a public health problem, not PR. Although Hantavirus does not go pandemic.
Hantavirus Doesn’t Spread Easily, But Officials Can Minimize Risks New York Times
Omg even in the National Quarantine Unit where hantavirus contacts, they still only use surgical masks when quarantined people come in contact with medical staff. If one of them gets infected, you will know why. pic.twitter.com/8et7yl6btO
— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) May 14, 2026
Climate/Environment
Hantavirus is a HOT weather issue
Back to the future: trace lead in the air from burning wood fuel Nature
Life Lessons in the Anthropocene (From the World’s Most Pessimistic Climate Writer) Lit Hub
An epidemic
Where is COVID? Infection Control, Emergency Management, Safety, and General Considerations
Ensitrelvir for Covid-19 Postexposure Prophylaxis in Household Contacts The New England Journal of Medicine
Water
Too much rain is depleting the ground’s water storage
An explosive device was found and detonated in WALA reservoir
China?
Reading Between the Lines of the Xi-Trump Summit Reads Inside China
Beijing Comes Prepared to Invent US-China Relations First New China Literacy
Xi issued a decision to arm Iran during the Beijing talks: Trump TRT World. As for his claim that 200 Boeing planes are being ordered, there is no confirmation from the Chinese side.
Chinese FM answers whether China, US leaders talk about Iran during a discussion of views on major international and regional issues, including the situation in the Middle East China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Global Times
Xi on Trump: No to Taiwan, Yes to Business, Beware the Thucydides Trap George Chen
US Taiwan policy unchanged after Trump-Xi summit in Beijing: Rubio Focus Taiwan
How the Hormuz Crisis Threatens Oil Prices for Taiwan’s Power Grid
Tensions run high at Trump-Xi summit as disputes erupt over media access, Secret Service standoff Firstpost
India
DOJ May Drop Gautam Adani’s Fraud Charges Amid US$10 Billion Investment Plan EconoTimes
How Modi Abandoned Protectionism for Indians in Favor of Free Trade Bloomberg
India’s Market Access Challenges in its FTA with EU India Forum
Unresolved Challenges in US-India Semiconductor Cooperation Carnegie India
Syracistan
Israel Kills At Least One Palestinian Child Weekly In West Bank: UNICEF Countercurrents
Leaked Documents Show Cisco Systems Deep Ties to Israel Security State Drop Site
Israel’s Netanyahu says he is suing New York Times over Palestinian rape article Al Jazeera
Old Blighty
Weasel Streeting abandons Starmer’s leadership challenge – let’s take a look at his resignation letter The Canary
The breakup of Europe
Warsaw denies reports of cancellation of US troops in Poland Notes From Poland
US Set to Become Europe’s Largest Gas Supplier, Overtaking Norwegian Maritime Authority
It doesn’t matter what Europe’s GDP is Ian Welsh
Fighting the Monks London Review of Books
Africa
The price of survival in Africa
Ivory Coast Rushes to Protest Cocoa Farmers As Unpaid Beans Rot and Disaster Spirals in West Africa Weeks
O Canada
Vancouver mayor slams ‘disinformation’ after it uses 11 AI agents to do CBC work
The New Cold War
Rutte wants triple aid to Ukraine Nordic Times
Bail for Zelensky’s former aide has been set at $3.2 million as a corruption case is opened
How Ukrainian drones went astray pushed Latvia’s prime minister to resign France24
Russia Continues to Attack US Firms in Ukraine. The White House is Quiet. New York Times
Human rights groups urge Poland to stop facilitating US deportations to Ukraine Notes from Poland
South of the Border
CIA Chief Visits Havana Amid US Conflicts TeleSur
Cuba announces it has exhausted all fuel reserves: ‘We have nothing at all’ El Pais
Day 3 of Bolivia’s general strike demanding the ouster of neoliberal President Rodrigo Paz.
All major roads are blocked by protesters. A long traditional march towards the capital, as it passes through each town and village many people join. pic.twitter.com/FQxNDTQtP6
— Ollie Vargas (@Ollie_Vargas_) May 14, 2026
Spook Land
How Tulsi Gabbard’s Secret Army Filed Behind the Scenes
The GOP Funhouse
Launch Efforts to Repeal Thomas Massie One Week Before Basic Green Apples
Democracies are simple
The Same Praxis of Jim Crow and Lord Voldemort (Or, Why the Democratic Party Isn’t Harry Potter) Black Agenda Report
VA Dem Gov Vetoes Collective Bargaining Rights Extension – Chicago Dems Rollback Tipped Wage Phase Out – LA Dems Vote to Delay Minimum Wage Increase Payday Report
Green New Deal champion AOC absent as New York weakens climate law Politico
Imperial Collapse Watch
Pentagon unveils contracts for new framework to acquire cruise missiles worth 10,000 Breaking Defense
BRICS
Iran and the UAE clash at the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi TRT World
Police State Watch
Contracts Show ICE Planned Detention Work at Storage Facilities Designed as Short-Term Resource Project Box
FBI insiders: Kash Patel ‘crunches the numbers’ to boost his MS arrest record Now
Big Brother is Watching You
HOUSTON GREENLIGHTS AI TRAFFIC CAMERAS BY NRG AS NEIGHBORS CRY BIG BROTHER Hoodline
The Accelerationists
The battle of Elon Musk v Sam Altman is a distraction The Guardian
Not being trusted
Your Mattress Was Bad on Purpose Bad on Purpose
The AI
The Internet of Shit: AI Poop Analysis App Offered to Sell Me Its Users’ Poops 404 Media Database
“FREE”
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigns over Quartz vape policy controversy
Bezzle
The US Senate Banking Committee votes to advance the CLARITY Act Coin Telegraph
Class War
Military Shooters Are Put Out of Work by Drones WSJ
Overworked AIs Turned Marxist, Researchers Find Out
Rights require money Aeon
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s links and the Antidote du Jour here.
