Nepalese mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa climbs Everest with a record 32nd Anadolu Agency
A timelapse showing the dramatic movement of the growing vine, showing both the sedating movement to catch, and the thigmotropic response to grasping and holding.
📽: Roger P Hangarter pic.twitter.com/BBPAp9os7j
– Wonder of Science (@wonderofscience) May 14, 2026
Empty Waymo taxis have been invading Atlanta neighborhoods and circling cul-de-sacs for hours in the morning. pic.twitter.com/rBx85f8OLv
– Dexerto (@Dexerto) May 15, 2026
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The original soundtrack for Doom is officially at the Library of Congress Engadget
We haven’t seen a dark object yet. But what if we can hear it? Space.com
Those Goddamn Federalist Papers HOGELAND’S BAD HISTORY
Meat allergy marker, another rare virus is spreading: What signs to watch for The Hill
Climate/Environment
Lurking beneath the surface of the equatorial Pacific is possibly the most impressive blob of above-average ocean temperatures we’ve ever recorded since we’ve had the ability to measure these things. The next time that shower overflows… pic.twitter.com/Olip0bQwRN
— Matthew Gross (@HurricaneAddict) May 17, 2026
Declare the climate crisis a global public health emergency, experts tell WHO The Guardian
Fire changes public areas of Western Colorado Newsline
Do renewables make electricity cheaper or more expensive? Bright Spots
Amid the fertilizer crisis, Africa has a chemical-free option: Agroecology Al Jazeera
Ebola
The Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (press release).
Unconnected reports #Ebola The cases in Kampala and the case in Kinshasa are of great concern.
Kampala and Kinshasa are densely populated cities with millions of residents and major regional and international transportation hubs. Combined with continued distribution to mining towns with…
— Krutika Kuppalli, MD FIDSA (@KrutikaKuppalli) May 17, 2026
Public Health Experts Point to Trump Aid Cuts as WHO Declares Emergency over Ebola Outbreaks in DRC, Uganda Common Dreams
In the Ebola outbreak, a number of Americans in the Congo are believed to have faced charges of alleged STAT. “…there is an ongoing effort to quickly get Americans out of the DRC. These efforts may be made more difficult by the fact that one of the facilities that can house people suspected of being infected with a deadly virus like Ebola and care for them if they become infected is currently occupied by Americans who were aboard the MV Hondius, the cruise ship on which the hantavirus recently broke out.
Hantavirus
Canada from hantavirus-hit cruise ship examines BBC
Water
The US plan for the Colorado River could reduce the supply of 40% of Arizona, California and Nevada The Guardian
China?
MOFCOM tells the media about the first results of economic and trade consultations between China and the US, the two sides reach an agreement including agricultural products, tariffs and the purchase of aircraft Global Times
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Defends Historic Deals with China, Bringing American Workers, Farmers, and Industries to the White House
Lai says Taiwan will not be ‘given away or sold’ after Trump Focus Taiwan comment
Chinese Hegemony Doesn’t Happen…It’s Not Diplomatic
Beijing draws line on digital dollars East Asia Forum
India
India is betting on data centers and even water, energy consumption concerns are rising Mongabay
Syracistan
Israel will raise troops in the ruins of the UNRWA office and destroy TRT World
In the Iraqi Desert, Two Israeli Sites Were Kept Secret for Months New York Times
ICC Prosecutor Requests Arrest Warrants For Israeli Officials, Source Says Haaretz
Israel’s shock in the north: Hezbollah reveals the limits of the ‘Arrows of the North’ The Cradle
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From Shared Suspicion to Political Acceptance: How the US Learned to Stop Worrying and Loving the Pakistan Drop Site
Pakistan’s New Mind for Limited War May Not Keep Limited War on the Cliffs
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Trump’s Hormuz ship insurance agency did $0 FT business
⚡️JUST ENTER
Iran has created an Insurance Company to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz
Ships pay their Insurance Payments in Bitcoin
The move will hurt the world’s largest marine insurance companies pic.twitter.com/80iGCqmnKW
– Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 16, 2026
Crumbling regime: FBI offers huge bounty on ex-military operatives who defected to Iran The Canary
The breakup of Europe
Ryanair plans for ‘Armageddon’ as CFO warns weak European carriers may not survive jet fuel crisis CNBC
EU foreign policy chief warns US, China, Russia seek to weaken European Anadolu Agency
Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez’s party suffered a historic loss in key Andalusian elections Euronews
No, Bulgaria’s New Prime Minister Is Not a Pro-Kremlin Jacobin
Africa
Trump Says US Military Operation Killed ISIS Leader In Nigeria Antiwar
Old Blighty
Prime Ministers continue to be forced out of Downing Street. Can fixing poverty save them? Big Problem. Any politician who successfully finds a way to oppose neoliberalism can be elected for life.
The New Cold War
Putin signs decree to reduce Russian citizenship to Moldovan residents in Transnistria incident, Anadolu Agency
Why the Russians feel the need to strike anything in Kiev to retaliate for Ukraine’s earlier display of military impotence is beyond me, but never bother your enemy if they make a mistake.
— Armchair Warlord (@ArmchairW) May 18, 2026
The Corrupt Prince of Kiev Bleeding Tarik Cyril Amar
And Friends Like These… Landmarks: A Journal of International Dialogue
CURRENCY INCOME IN RUSSIA HAS REACHED ITS HIGHEST LEVEL IN 18 YEARS. Natylie’s Place: Understanding Russia
Imperial Collapse Watch
The Technocratic Takeover: Bringing Down Nations of AI Control by Fiorella & Vanessa Beeley WBAI
Defense groups complain about delay in US ban on rare earthworms FT
US Needs Another Decade to Fix $1.2 Trillion Global Disaster Bloomberg
South of the Border
BREAKING: The US military and Bolivian police are preparing an operation to kidnap Evo Morales and kill indigenous communities in the area.
The police, who are opposed to this plan, have leaked documents confirming the project. pic.twitter.com/ZFvK7ggwMn
– Ollie Vargas (@Ollie_Vargas_) May 16, 2026
Venezuela offers Maduro funds to US to show loyalty to Trump Intellinews
The Economic Consequences of a World War II
Trump 2.0
How Trump’s New Counterterrorism Strategy Puts You at Risk for Intercept
The GOP Funhouse
Iran War vs. Epstein Files Ken Klippenstein. “What Gallrein represents is what both parties have been quietly building for twenty-five years: a national security state as its source of political legitimacy, floating above democratic accountability, unaccountable to the public it claims to serve.”
Senator Bill Cassidy Loses Senate Primary in Louisiana American Conservative
The Republican politicians who block the adoption of America’s national icon, the American bison, are not true conservationists Ben Goldsmith.
Big Brother is Watching You
What’s at stake in Chatrie v. United States Tech Policy Press
Mamdani
Filling the Gap Ghost Runner. “Mamdani and Menin Status Budget.”
MAHA
After USDA cuts, complaints about food safety spike Investigate the Midwest
The AI
AI as the new avatar of American capitalism Blood in the Machine
MALTA OFFERS FREE CHATGPT PLUS TO ALL ADULTS AFTER AI COURSE Malta News Agency
US Uses AI to hunt insider trades Polymarket Wired
Casino Nations
‘They can shape the results they claim to predict’ – could Polymarket influence the election? A sensor
Guillotine Watch
Monopoly Round-Up: The Rage of the Billionaires Comes Matt Stoller
Industrial Capitalism Needed Us. Primitive Accumulation does not. Un-Diplomatic. That’s what they have think.
The economy
Falling wages, rising credit card debt Stephen Semler
The housing market is starting to look like a K and Yahoo! Finance
Mr. Market Plays Disciplinary
Bond market rout deepens as investors fear ‘stagflationary shock’ from high oil prices – business live The Guardian
Class War
We Developed Weakness, Failure, Denial–and Rage Charles Hugh Smith
Fisker went bankrupt and the owners built an open source automotive company from the ashes of Electrek
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s links and the Antidote du Jour here.
