Physicists find evidence that the universe is not perfectly uniform – which could reveal a 100-year-old Live Science cosmology model
Private equity advocates criticize ‘runaway’ legal fees from top law firms The FT
Glasgow Man Crashes Car Into Tunnel Wall NDTV
Poppy Watch Parenting in the Climate Crisis
Climate/Environment
Record glacier loss in Central Asia by 2025 IOP Science
The predictions for the mother of all great El Nino’s keep getting worse
This beast has the power to tear through global weather patterns and bring chaos to the world
But are governments making plans to try to deal with – uhm, No pic.twitter.com/PHndmYBBxF
— Bill McGuire (@ProfBillMcGuire) May 14, 2026
Hantavirus
CDC does not require hantavirus cruise passengers to self-isolate at home The Hill
French hantavirus patient critically ill and on artificial lung as outbreak grows to 11 AP
Inside the race to develop the Rare Andes Hantavirus Wired trial
The second woman to be airlifted around the world after leaving a ship infected with hantavirus, no one sees Disaster Girl.
Hantavirus outbreak should reset WHO’s default approach to air risk The BMJ
An epidemic
Tissue-specific autoantibody signatures reveal immune alterations undetected by conventional serology in chronic COVID
🚨83% of chronic COVID patients have false antibodies that attack their heart, lungs and blood vessels, and all routine blood tests completely miss it. VERY… pic.twitter.com/EVyJIOkbcN
– Harry Spoelstra (@HarrySpoelstra) May 13, 2026
Japan
Bessent brings assurance but Tokyo is watching Beijing Observing Japan
Japan’s new spy agency gets FBI backing with eyes on China and Russia South China Morning Post
China?
Xi Jinping says China and the US should be partners, not rivals, as the summit continues
US-China summit: Trump sees ‘better’ relationship, Xi warns on Taiwan, as talks wrap up Business Times
China Sent A Strong Message To Trump… Did He Understand It? Larry Johnson
The future of China-US relations is bright: Global Times Editor Global Times
This Is Not a China Story That Encourages Pekingnology
Syracistan
⭕️ The Day After NYT’s Kristof Wrote About Israel’s Systematic Rape of Detainee Palestinians, CNN, AP, BBC, and NYT Offer Very Uncritical Reporting on Unverified Israeli Report
One day after New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof published a sourced… pic.twitter.com/yJk1mWcTjq
– Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) May 13, 2026
Israel in English: Accusing us of r*pe is a blood crime😿
Israel in Hebrew: We MUST fight for the Palestinian people and make it an official “state controlled policy”😼
Translation is Israel’s Achilles’ heel & kryptonite. The worst curse in their Hasbara machine. One click and it crashes! pic.twitter.com/TMZlmb4S4x
— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) May 13, 2026
Report: Coalition Prepares Knesset Dissolution Bill as Haredi Revolt Deepens MediaLine
***
Pakistan army chief says deal to bring Turkey, Qatar into Saudi defense pact ‘finalised’ The Cradle
Declassified CIA Analysis Finds Trump Can’t Hold on to Gulf Allies for Wider Iran War Capital & Empire
Saudi Warplanes Attack Iraqi Forces During War, Sources Tell Reuters
Another Blow to Pentagon Hype: 90 Percent of Iran’s Missile Sites Remain NYT Simplicius Finds
“Mother’s” special duties appear in Diego Garcia’s The After-Action Report
The breakup of Europe
Bringing together a strange world, Europe is watching the US-China war alongside the South China Morning Post
Hungary has run out of tactical storage facilities, many gas stations are closed: diesel shortage imminent? Daily News Hungary
Commission Denies Hungary’s “Russiagate” Despite Its Complicated Part in Tisza’s Campaign to Dump More Information Hungary Today. March seems so long ago:
The certainty that Russia has access to EU secret information thanks to Orban spreads across the headlines: “It would be foolish to think otherwise” El Mundo. March 24.
Old Blighty
PALESTINE ACTION BARRISTER WINS APPEAL IN CONTEMPT CASE Dropped in UK. For procedural reasons. The Judge may refer the contempt allegations to the Attorney General or another Supreme Court judge sitting in the Federal Court.
NOW – King Charles: “My ministers will continue with the introduction of Digital ID.” pic.twitter.com/hH328WC9g3
– Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) May 13, 2026
The New Cold War
RUSSIA’S LARGEST DRONE ATTACK OF THE WAR
Russia launched what many outlets described as one of the largest single-day drone strikes since the start of the all-out offensive, striking Ukraine in 14 regions on May 13. Ukrainian President Zelensky confirmed that at least… pic.twitter.com/5HYLw2zjqo— Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) May 14, 2026
Germany, Ukraine To Jointly Produce Long-Range Drones In Expanded Defense Partnership Kyiv Post
How Europe Stopped Fearing Deterrence Kautilya the Contemplator
Yermak consulted a fortune teller about the appointment of Ukrainian civil servants Intellinews
The Duma approves the use of the military to protect Russians imprisoned abroad TASS
Imperial Collapse Watch
Late Capitalism at War Dmitry Pozhidaev, The Wise Mind
The kingdom is not saved. It is being completed. William Murphy
Asia is quietly and quickly buying the America Asia Times
South of the Border
Bolivian Miners Join Protests Against Rodrigo Paz Amid Fuel Shortages TeleSur
The Caucasus
Turkey opens bilateral trade with Armenia after decades of closure OC Media
Spook Land
Did the CIA hack MKUltra files for controversial ‘mind control’ experiments in Tulsi Gabbard’s office? First Post
Trump 2.0
Trump’s ICE Pick Is A Longtime Private Prison Veteran Huff Post. Venturella was also the guy who drove ICE to Florida to pick up Amanda Ungaro, a Brazilian model brought by Epstein to the US when she was 16, who was Trump’s “confidant” partner Paolo Zampolli, and his hidden threats probably influenced Melania’s public statement.
Vance announces the suspension of $1.3 billion in Medicaid payments to California NBC News
Trump officials, billionaires and the quiet reshaping of America’s public spaces Floodlight
Democracies are simple
Tonight, after a year of clamoring for ICE accountability, 144 House Democrats joined 203 Republicans to pass CORCA, a bill that gives DHS and ICE new powers to collect the personal information of American citizens under the guise of fighting trafficking crimes.
– Max Burns (@themaxburns) May 13, 2026
Senate Iran War Powers Resolution Fails by One Vote—Thanks to John Fetterman Common Dreams
Here’s How Democrats Should Talk About Climate Change The New Republican
Police State Watch
ICE Plans to Deploy 1,570 Additional Iris Scanners Nationwide Under No-Salt Box Contract Project
Violence as Work, or Work as Infrastructure? Roman Khimich
Big Brother is Watching You
Wall Street Pairs With Military To Build Data Centers Indeed
ICE Agents Have List of 20 Million People on Their iPhones Thanks to Palantir 404 Media
The Accelerationists
Andreessen Horowitz Spends on Politics Like No Other The New York Times
The AI
About 50,000 Lake Tahoe residents must find a new power source after their power source looks to reroute lines to Fortune data centers.
ChatGPT is accused of sharing your chat query topics, user IDs, and email addresses with Google and Meta, according to a new class action lawsuit filed today. pic.twitter.com/w5txL6HBCk
— Rob Freund (@RobertFreundLaw) May 14, 2026
Our Famously Free Press
Effective financial journalists face questions about Press Gazette credentials
NEW: The NYT sent an email to freelancers today prohibiting contributors from submitting “any material for publication that contains content generated, edited or enhanced” by artificial intelligence.
“Reminder” follows a series of AI incidents in the paper:
— Maggie Harrison Dupré (@mags_h11) May 12, 2026
The economy
California has 6 weeks of gas supply. After that, it gets expensive Cal Matters
🌾Due to poor crop health and a record low planted area, the United States will produce the least amount of wheat since 1972.
The 2026 winter wheat output (67% of production complete) by class is seen at low levels from:
All winter: 1965
The hard red winter: 1957
Soft red winter: 2020 pic.twitter.com/OcIP3DA0VS– Karen Braun (@kannbwx) May 12, 2026
Guillotine Watch
Self-report fraud and free travel, New York prosecutors told the Wall Street FT
Mr. Market
Since the start of the Iran war, traders have increased their bets on rising food prices Follow the Money. Naturally.
Class War
Will Hersheypark open this summer? Strike threatens to delay PhillyBurbs season
Marxism is a child’s Kaimataara
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s links and the Antidote du Jour here.
