Authored by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes via TheDailyEconomy.org,

Over the past decades, Europe has created little of real relevance in terms of technological platforms, social networks, operating systems, or search engines.

In contrast, it has built an extensive regulatory apparatus designed to limit and punish those who have actually innovated.

Rather than producing its own alternatives to American tech giants, the EU has chosen to suffocate existing ones through regulations such as the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The DSA aims to control the content and internal functioning of digital platforms, requiring the rapid removal of content deemed “inappropriate” in what amounts to a modern form of censorship, as well as the disclosure of how algorithms work and restrictions on targeted advertising. The DMA, in turn, seeks to curtail the power of so-called gatekeepers by forcing companies like Apple, Google, or Meta to open their systems to competitors, avoid self-preferencing, and separate data flows between products.

These two regulations could potentially have a greater impact on U.S. tech companies than any domestic legislation, as they are rules made in Brussels but applied to American companies in an extraterritorial manner. And they go far beyond fines: they force structural changes to the design of systems and functionalities, something that no sovereign state should be imposing on foreign private enterprise.

In April 2025, Meta was fined €200 million under the Digital Markets Act for allegedly imposing a “consent or pay” model on European users of Facebook and Instagram, without offering a real alternative. Beyond the fine, it was forced to separate data flows between platforms, thereby compromising the personalized advertising system that sustains its profitability. This was a blatant interference in its business model.

That same month, Apple was fined €500 million for preventing platforms like Spotify from informing users about alternative payment methods outside the App Store. The company was required to remove these restrictions, opening iOS to external app stores and competing payment systems. Once again, this was an unwelcome intrusion and a direct attack on the exclusivity-based model of the Apple ecosystem.

Other companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft and even X are also under scrutiny, with the latter particularly affected by DSA rules, having been the target of a formal investigation in 2023 for alleged noncompliance in content moderation.

Big Tech, by its very nature, is the primary, focused target of this new European legal framework. These companies operate on a global scale, rely on business models centered around the collection and monetization of data, integrate multiple layers of the digital ecosystem vertically, and hold dominant positions in key areas such as search engines, social networks, and operating systems.

With around 450 million consumers and a high level of digital purchasing power, the EU is the second-largest digital market in the world. For Big Tech, leaving Europe is not an option. And that is precisely where Brussels derives its power: by imposing demanding rules, it forces global changes, since maintaining different versions of a product for each region is costly and technically unfeasible. In this way, the European Union becomes a de facto global legislator, exporting its regulatory vision to the rest of the world.

Despite living under different institutional realities, Europeans and Americans share fundamental values: individual liberty, private initiative, and open innovation. It is in the name of these values that they must now walk a common path of resistance to this regulatory overreach, reaffirming a transatlantic alliance in defense of innovation, digital sovereignty, and freedom itself.

The number of zombie homes – vacant properties abandoned by owners during the foreclosure process – rose in 30 U.S. states and the District of Columbia in the second quarter of this year from the previous quarter, real estate data analytics company ATTOM said in a May 29 statement.

Zombie homes, which can fall into disrepair and negatively impact the value of other properties in the neighborhood, are a sign of distress in the housing market and the broader economy.

As Naveen Athrappully reports for The Epoch Times, among states with at least 50 zombie homes, North Carolina saw the largest percentage increase in these properties year-over-year, with their numbers rising by 52.5 percent during this period.

This was followed by Iowa and Texas, both seeing an over 50 percent jump in zombie properties. South Carolina and Kansas were the next on the list.

According to ATTOM’s analysis, Peoria County in Illinois ranked at the top in the list of U.S. counties with the highest zombie foreclosure rates.

Broome County in New York came in second, followed by Cuyahoga County in Ohio, Baltimore City County in Maryland, and Indiana’s Marion County.

On a positive note, things looked better from a nationwide perspective, with only one out of every 14,207 being zombie properties in Q2, which ATTOM said was a low rate, indicating the strength of the post-pandemic U.S. housing market.

“Thankfully, we’re not seeing a lot of homes sitting vacant due to pending foreclosures, which is good for families, neighborhoods, and the market,” said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM. “However, foreclosure filings have shown a recent uptick—with April seeing a 14 percent increase compared to the same month last year.”

“So far, buyers seem to be scooping up these repossessed homes relatively quickly, so they aren’t sitting empty,” he added. “Nobody wants to see a return to the days of the 2008 housing crisis when vacant, blighted homes were common in many parts of the country.”

Meanwhile, the number of property foreclosures had risen by 11 percent in the first quarter of this year from the previous quarter, breaking away from the trend of three consecutive quarterly declines, ATTOM said in an April 11 statement.

“While levels remain below historical averages, the quarterly growth suggests that some homeowners may be starting to feel the pressure of ongoing economic challenges,” Barber said.

“However, strong home equity positions in many markets continue to help buffer against a more significant spike in distress.”

Consequences of Zombie Properties

According to a June 18 post by financial services company Rocket Mortgage, zombie homes can negatively affect homeowners even after they abandon the properties.

For instance, the owner may continue to owe property taxes that could end up becoming a tax lien. Similarly, the zombie property may continue accruing homeowners’ association fees, which, if unpaid, could result in a lawsuit.

“These consequences can result in a major hit to your credit score, among other financial and legal implications. This could prevent you from moving on with your life and regaining your financial footing,” said the post.

“Abandoned homes can fall into disrepair and affect the surrounding property values. A vacant property can become a shelter for squatters and attract vandalism or other crimes. This could drive away potential new residents and force current ones to reconsider whether their neighborhood is still safe to live in.”

Lawmakers are taking action to tackle the issue of zombie properties putting unnecessary burdens on people.

In mid-May, the Connecticut Senate passed SB 1336, a bill seeking to protect homeowners having “zombie mortgages,” the Connecticut Senate Democrats said in a May 15 statement.

The bill, co-sponsored by state Sen. Pat Billie Miller, places a statute of limitations on lenders regarding the collection of long-dormant second loans on properties, also known as zombie mortgages.

It prohibits lenders from starting foreclosure proceedings on secondary mortgages 10 years after the scheduled final loan payment date or 10 years after the lender stopped communicating with the borrower.

“This bill protects our homeowners from foreclosure threats based on debt that’s been dormant for more than a decade,” Miller said. “The change puts Connecticut in alignment with national trends as states across the country move to shield consumers from the delayed impact of predatory lending practices.”

“No one making reliable payments on their primary mortgage should face foreclosure because someone made an opportunistic decision to resurrect a secondary loan, years after deciding that collection wasn’t worth the effort when property values plummeted in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.”

The bill passed the House and Senate, and now needs to be signed by the state governor.

Authored by Cyril Widdershoven via OilPrice.com,

• Despite public rhetoric, Europe’s reliance on Russian energy remains substantial.

• A proposed bipartisan U.S. Senate bill could reshape global energy trade, imposing massive 500% tariffs on countries importing Russian fossil fuels.

• European leaders face mounting pressure to act decisively, as ongoing energy imports continue to fund Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Despite European politicians’ efforts to reduce Russia’s natural gas dominance in national markets, the reality is quite the opposite. The media often highlights the obstructive policies of Eastern European and Balkan countries like Slovakia and Hungary. However, the bigger picture reveals that Brussels and its bureaucrats face a significant challenge. According to Reuters, Gazprom’s natural gas pipeline supplies via Turkstream to Europe surged 10.3% in May 2025. This increase underscores the growing dependence on Turkstream as the sole option for Russia to transport natural gas to Europe via Turkey, following Ukraine’s decision not to extend the transit deal on January 1.

According to Reuters, based on data from Europe’s gas transmission group ENTSOG, Russian exports via Turkstream increased by 4.3 million cubic meters per day, hitting 46 mcm per day in May, compared to 41.7 mcm in April. Y-o-Y, however, the volumes were 1.2 mcm down.

Russia’s total supply is far from historic records. During 2018-2019, annual flows to Europe were between 175 and 180 BCM; in 2024, they were just around 32 BCM.

European trade with Russia is still massive, as it entails natural gas or LNG, coal, oil, and uranium. In February 2025, as media articles (Bild) indicated, the European Union purchased more than $2 billion energy-related products from Russia. Experts agree that Russia’s war machine is supported by Moscow’s export revenues, especially as long as China, India, Turkey, and major Arab countries are still very interested in taking Russian volumes. In 2024, Russian LNG exports increased by 4%, hitting around 47.2 BCM. One of the results is that Russia is the EU’s 2nd largest LNG supplier, with an estimated value of €7.3 billion ( $7.96 billion) from these exports. EU Commissioner Dan Jorgensen stated in February 2025 that USLNG and others should substitute Russian supplies.  Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU member countries have imported €209bn of Russian fuels, which is realistically financing the ongoing military onslaught by Putin.

For anti-Russian parties in Europe, and Ukraine’s president Zelensky, help could be coming from an unexpected corner, US President Trump’s MAGA Republicans. In a move to confront Putin’s refusal to end the war with Ukraine, a new bill is being discussed targeting a 500% tariff on countries buying Russian fossil fuels. The latter Senate bill, a bipartisan proposal, including that of leading US Democrats, could support Brussels’ move to remove Russian gas from the European markets in an interesting way.  For European members, especially the ones still hooked on Russian gas supplies, such as Slovakia and Hungary, the Lindsay Graham (R) and Richard Blumenthal (D) bill will also potentially hit European members. The bills seem to have already secured 81 signatures in the 100-seat Senate.  In addition to hitting Moscow’s revenue base, the main underlying threat is secondary tariffs on countries doing business with Moscow. The bill entails a tariff of “not less” than 500% on any country that “knowingly sells, supplies, transfers, or purchases oil, uranium, natural gas, petroleum products, or petrochemical products that originated in the Russian Federation.”  The tariffs will also be hitting countries that are the main inroads for Russian LNG to European markets, especially the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal. Southern European countries, such as Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Hungary, and others, are on the target lists, as they import Russian gas via Turkstream and crude oil via the Druzhba pipeline. This highlights the urgency for these countries to find alternative energy sources in light of the potential impact of the US tariffs. 

European leaders now need to get their act together. The war in Ukraine is a potential game-changer for the security of the European continent and the economic growth potential. Taking out Russian hydrocarbons is a necessity, not only to quell the still-existing reliance on Moscow, but also to push a stronger military position of Ukraine. After this weekend’s surprise drone attack on Russia’s air force and naval assets, Moscow’s answer could be tough, possibly even targeting energy infrastructure linked to Europe. Talking about confronting Russia has been very dysfunctional until now; now, Brussels and European leaders should be blocking Moscow’s revenue base. It will be a significant hit again for natural gas prices in Europe, but it also will force Brussels to set up and implement, for once, additional long-term gas contracts with non-Russian aligned partners.

How long can the average person expect to live in your country?

The average life expectancy of a country reflects the cumulative impacts of economic development, quality of life, healthcare systems, and various other factors that affect overall well-being.

Across the globe, life expectancy differs sharply between high-income and low-income countries. This infographic, via Visual Capitalist’s Niccolo Conte, shows the 25 countries with the lowest life expectancy (at birth) in the world, using data from the UN’s World Population Prospects portal.

Africa Dominates the Countries With the Lowest Life Expectancy

The African continent hosts 24 of the 25 countries with the lowest life expectancy, many of which are also among the least developed countries in the world.

Here’s a look at the countries with the lowest life expectancy:

Nigeria’s average of 54.6 years is around 32 years lower than Monaco’s, where people live the longest. Nigeria ranks among Africa’s largest economies, but life expectancy is shortened by widespread diseases, high poverty rates, and lack of adequate infrastructure.

In Central Africa, Chad also has one of the world’s lowest life expectancies at 55.2 years. Other nations in the region, such as the Central African Republic and South Sudan, continue to be affected by political instability and limited access to basic healthcare services. Meanwhile, Nauru, an island country in Oceania, is the only non-African country on the list and one of the smallest nations in the world.

Additionally, women outlive men in almost every country on the list (except Guinea). Mozambique has the largest gender-life expectancy gap, with women living longer by 6.2 years on average.

Has Life Expectancy Improved in Africa?

While the figures remain alarmingly low in some African countries, life expectancy on the continent as a whole increased from 53.7 years in 2000 to 63.8 years in 2023.

Furthermore, the continent hosts some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, including South Sudan and Niger, where life expectancy is currently low.

With potential for economic growth and infrastructure development, Africa’s life expectancy is projected to improve to 66 years by 2035 and over 68 years by 2050, although it would remain below the global average.

To learn more about this topic, check out this infographic on the Countries With the Highest Infant Mortality Rates, on the Voronoi app.

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Migrant households are siphoning almost £1 billion in welfare benefits every month in Britain, a report has claimed.

The Telegraph highlights government figures from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) which reveal that registered households with at least one foreign national in March received £941 million in universal credit.

The welfare scheme allows low-income or unemployed people in Britain to claim government subsidies.

£1Billion a month funded by the taxpayer. pic.twitter.com/pKk4Oijn0O

— Pugh Himple (@GBullstein) May 31, 2025

The figure just three years ago was £461 million, meaning it’s on course to double in just half a decade.

It’s hardly surprising given the massive increase in mass migration to the country under the so called Conservative government.

2023 saw migration climb to a record of 906,000. The latest data shows that 948,000 people came to Britain in 2024.

Migrants are eligible to apply for universal credit as soon as they acquire residential or refugee status in the Britain. 

The report notes, however, that the total cost to the taxpayer of foreigners is way higher, when healthcare, education, and housing are factored in.

A recent study conducted by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) discovered that housing asylum seekers, a great deal of whom are in the country illegally, has increased to approximately £4.7 billion a year.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage commented that leftist Prime Minister Kier “Starmer is choosing migrant benefits over winter fuel for pensioners.”

Starmer is choosing migrant benefits over winter fuel for pensioners.https://t.co/9PGWX0CxpH

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) May 30, 2025

“On the day that we learn migrant benefits cost us £1bn a month, many hundreds are currently crossing the English Channel. Labour are ruining our country,” Farage urged.

On the day that we learn migrant benefits cost us £1bn a month, many hundreds are currently crossing the English Channel.

Labour are ruining our country.

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) May 31, 2025

£1 billion a month to bankroll illegals while Brits queue at food banks, sleep in cars and get told there’s “no budget” for cancer care.

This isn’t just unsustainable. It’s national betrayal.

And the boats? They’re not a crisis. They’re a conveyor belt.
Every dinghy that lands…

— Red Lip Riots (@RedLipRiots) May 31, 2025

£1 billion a month.

While British pensioners ride the bus to stay warm.
While veterans die alone in bedsits.
While parents skip meals to keep the lights on.

But Starmer’s priorities?

💷 Full benefits for foreigners.
🔥 No heating for your gran.
🇬🇧 No loyalty to the people who…

— Red Lip Riots (@RedLipRiots) May 30, 2025

😱£0.5bn more per month than March 2022. This is an astonishing rise. Perhaps we need to be more like Denmark. There residents with less than 9 years residence or under 2.5years full time employment to qualify. Else, families receive a sufficiency payment of €800 (50% reduction…

— Ollyp3 (@ollyp3) May 31, 2025

The migrant problem in Britain has gotten so advanced that even Starmer himself has had to pivot, admitting this month that mass migration has failed and undermined social cohesion to such an extent that Britain risks becoming an “island of strangers”.

*  *  *

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

NATO aims for its members to spend at least 3.5% of their GDP on defense, but those dreams of NATO expansion – at a moment the proxy war in Ukraine is becoming dangerously close to entering hot war between the West and nuclear-armed Russia – are dying.

Dutch parliament on Tuesday slapped down a proposal to increase defense spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), key to NATO’s capability targets, in a non-binding motion.

While it doesn’t have legal force at this point, this makes clear parliament’s opinion, unleashing deeper tensions among NATO allies, and as the Trump White House exerts pressure to rapidly raise collective defense.

This comes at an ultra-sensitive political moment, given that as we reported earlier Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders pulled his Party for Freedom (PVV) out of the coalition that governs the Netherlands.

This sets up the likelihood of new elections after the man dubbed the “Dutch Donald Trump”, withdrew the PVV, related to immigration policy failure. 

According to the latest developments, Prime Minister Dick Schoof has just announced that he would offer his resignation from the Netherlands’ ruling coalition while continuing in a caretaker government, setting the stage for a likely snap election:

“Wilders has plunged the Netherlands into another round of political chaos,” said Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group.

“The Dutch parliament can try to find a new majority or else there will be early elections. But the immediate outlook is one of chaos and uncertainty.”

The country has been in turmoil since Rutte resigned in 2023 after his coalition failed to pass comprehensive immigration legislation.

Critically, the air war over Ukraine and Russia is heating up, also in the wake of Ukraine’s ‘Operation Spider’s Web’. Funding for air defenses, particularly among ‘eastern flank’ NATO members is seen as paramount, from Brussels’ perspective.

“NATO is asking European member states to expand ground-based air-defense capabilities fivefold as the alliance races to fill a key gap in response to the threat of Russian aggression, people familiar with the matter said,” Bloomberg reports separately on Teusday.

“The ramp-up will be discussed at a gathering of North Atlantic Treaty Organization defense ministers in Brussels on Thursday, the people said on condition of anonymity as deliberations take place,” the report underscores.

And who will magically step forward to fill this massive funding gap?

Dutch Lawmakers Oppose 3.5% NATO Spending Target (Dutch need to spend up to €19 Billion more to meet NATO target)

And just like that Europe’s defense budget dreams go up in flames.

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) June 3, 2025

Certainly, the United Sates under the Trump administration, which has called for the bar to be raised to a whopping 5% of GDP, won’t.

In the background is the fact that Western populations are ‘war weary’ and don’t want to see escalation of NATO force strength in Ukraine. Trump himself is facing a revolt among conservative pundits on the American domestic front, as some European leaders, particularly Hungary’s Orban, are warning of a protracted conflict in Eastern Europe if the West and warring parties don’t climb down the escalation ladder soon.

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

The Swedish Social Democratic Party has approved a new integration strategy that aims to forcibly diversify the country’s residential areas, pushing for what party officials call a “socio-economic mix” of Swedes and migrants in housing developments.

The policy, adopted at the party congress ahead of the 2026 general election, includes proposals to limit immigration to vulnerable areas and to use housing construction to engineer a more integrated society.

“We are serious about the fact that we intend to break segregation and use housing policy as an engine in that work,” said Lawen Redar, the party official responsible for designing the new platform, as cited by Aftonbladet.

Redar described the shift as a “U-turn” in the party’s approach, acknowledging that past strategies had failed.

The new policy includes scrapping the right of asylum seekers to choose their own accommodation and banning municipalities from placing new arrivals in already struggling districts. Instead, migrants will be relocated to wealthier areas in an effort to engineer demographic diversity and “repay the integration debt,” as the party put it.

Jonas Attenius, a senior party official newly elected to the executive committee and chairman of the municipal board in Gothenburg, emphasized the long-term nature of the project. “Yes, we need to mix the population in the long run. I usually say ‘in a generation’. This is long-term,” he said. He argued that integrating migrant families into more prosperous neighborhoods would be key to breaking entrenched segregation.

But critics have described the plan as ideological social engineering. Richard Jomshof, a member of parliament for the right-wing Sweden Democrats, responded sharply:

“No, we don’t need your forced mixing. What we need are closed borders and a return migration (policy) worth the name. But sure, you socialists can mix as much as you want, just pack your bags.”

On the contrary, the Sweden Democrats announced last month they will campaign in the 2026 general election on a pledge to stop migration to the country.

The plan comes amid growing concern over crime and integration failures in Sweden’s suburbs, many of which are dominated by immigrant populations. In recent years, the country has faced a wave of gang-related violence, including record numbers of explosions and shootings, often tied to second-generation migrant youth. Some suburbs now rank among the most dangerous areas in Europe.

Despite the backlash, Social Democrat officials are confident the new approach will not alienate the party’s newer, affluent urban supporters — voters it began attracting after the 2022 election, in part due to the collapse of the traditional center-right Moderates.

“I’m convinced of that,” said Attenius. “But again, this requires a strict migration policy.”

Attenius also issued an apology to migrants who had been concentrated in struggling districts. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Sorry for doing that. Now it is time for the whole of society to take over.”

Read more here…

Authored by Julio Rivera via American Greatness,

By now, the apocalyptic whispers that once belonged solely to science fiction are starting to sound more like realistic forecasts. Artificial intelligence, once hailed as the great liberator of human productivity and ingenuity, is now moonlighting as a con artist, data thief, and spy.

The machines are rising, yes—but they’re not doing it alone. As we embrace AI with reckless abandon, it’s not the code that’s dooming us. It’s the carbon-based lifeforms behind the keyboard making forehead-slapping mistakes. If civilization does collapse under the weight of digital warfare, it’ll be a joint project between rogue AI and good old-fashioned human idiocy.

Let’s talk about the Rise of the Machines, 2025 edition—not in the form of Terminators with glowing eyes, but as lines of sophisticated code hell-bent on manipulation, infiltration, and destruction. Whether we are willing to accept it or not, AI-powered cyberattacks are becoming disturbingly common and alarmingly sophisticated.

We’re seeing the proliferation of deepfake scams, hyper-personalized phishing attacks, and AI-assisted password cracking that make traditional defenses look as flimsy as a paper umbrella in a hurricane.

Take the case of deepfake fraud, where criminals now impersonate CEOs and executives with astonishing accuracy. These aren’t your cousin’s sloppy Photoshop jobs. These are full-motion, pitch-perfect, AI-generated replicas of real people, used in schemes to authorize fraudulent wire transfers, manipulate employees, or simply throw entire organizations into chaos. It’s not just unsettling. It’s an outright weaponization of trust—an erosion of reality itself.

And don’t forget AI-generated phishing emails. These aren’t the hilariously broken English scams from 2006. AI now writes flawless prose, mirroring the tone and style of your boss, your bank, or your kid’s school, tricking you into clicking that one wrong link that detonates ransomware across your organization like a digital IED. The machines aren’t playing chess anymore—they’re playing you.

But even as AI’s capabilities soar into dystopian territory, the greatest cybersecurity threat isn’t machine intelligence. It’s human incompetence. You could hand someone the most secure system in the world, and they’ll still manage to set it on fire with a reused password or a click on an “urgent invoice” from a Nigerian prince.

A report by NinjaOne drives this point home with a sledgehammer: nearly 95% of cybersecurity breaches are caused by human error. Think about that. Not Skynet, not Chinese cyber commandos or North Korean hackers in basements—but Steve in Accounting, who uses “123456” as his password and clicks on pop-ups promising free iPhones.

The attack vectors are depressingly mundane: downloading unsafe software, failing to update systems, weak passwords, falling for phishing scams, and misconfigured security settings.

It’s like locking your house with a deadbolt and then leaving the window wide open with a neon sign that says, “Come on in!” And yet, these mistakes are committed daily in both small businesses and Fortune 500 firms alike.

Compounding this mess is the cyber climate we find ourselves in. While the Biden administration made a lot of noise about cybersecurity (including a 2021 executive order that read like a cyber-fantasy novel), the reality has been more bark than bite. The cyber talent shortage identified during his term is still here. In fact, it’s worse.

Across the board, we are woefully understaffed. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), for example, is running with fewer hands. Meanwhile, budget cuts threaten to kneecap already stretched-thin federal cyber teams. But here’s the catch: this isn’t a dig at DOGE. Frankly, it’s not the government’s fight alone.

In an era where the bureaucracy is clearly not nimble or robust enough to be the cyber bodyguard of every business, school district, and hospital, it’s time for individuals and private entities to shoulder the digital shield. The idea that Uncle Sam can magically protect every database, email server, and Wi-Fi-enabled lightbulb from hostile AI is, quite frankly, a joke—and not a funny one.

So, where does that leave us?

It means that responsibility, like it or not, is decentralized. Your small business, your city council, your local school, and yes, your grandma’s Wi-Fi router all play a role in national cyber resilience. Everyone from the CEO to the intern must realize that the click of a mouse can ignite a digital inferno.

This isn’t paranoia. This is math. The AI-fueled cybercriminals don’t sleep, don’t blink, and don’t need to take lunch breaks. They can run cyber threats around the clock, generating thousands of enticing money-related phishing schemes per second or trying billions of password combinations while sipping binary lattes. The only thing stopping them is us—and right now, “us” is losing.

The solution isn’t some magical new firewall or sexy blockchain band-aid. It’s basic digital hygiene. It’s updating software. It’s using multi-factor authentication. It’s protecting social media accounts and credentials. It’s training staff not to download every sketchy app they’re offered, like over-caffeinated lab rats. It’s investing in AI-powered defense tools to fight fire with fire—automated threat detection, behavioral analysis, and predictive breach detection. In other words, if the machines are evolving, so must we.

But none of this works without awareness. The greatest virus we face isn’t malware. It’s apathy. Too many Americans still treat cybersecurity like flossing—important, sure, but something they’ll get around to eventually. Meanwhile, AI doesn’t wait. It doesn’t procrastinate. It hunts.

So yes, the rise of the machines may well usher in the end of civilization—but only if we stand by and let it happen. The antidote isn’t panic. It’s preparation. It’s competence. It’s proper AI oversight. And it’s waking up to the fact that we are all soldiers in a quiet war where the front lines are firewalls, not foxholes.

Because at the end of the day, the machines aren’t coming to destroy us.

We’re just really, really good at destroying ourselves.

When it comes to its trade war with the US, Brussels is quick to parade just how anti-Trump it is, how unfair US trade practices are (just ignore the fact that Europe was far more protectionist for decades) and how much it loves free trade, honest. But in Europe’s growing trade war with China (you don’t really hear much about it because the media would rather public attention be soaked up by the far less important transatlantic feud, and away from the far more important Chinese trade war) thing are rapidly disintegrating. 

As Rabobank’s Michael Every points out, the “We Love Free Trade” EU just used its International Procurement Instrument for the first time to freeze Chinese medical devices out of its public procurement markets for five years unless China opens its market to EU equivalents. As Every notes, “that’s economic statecraft with muscle, underlining that there are lots of tools in the mercantilist toolkit besides tariffs.”

In response, Beijing took some time away from its constant criticism of US trade policy to also criticize as protectionist the European Union’s plan to curb Chinese medical device manufacturers’ access to public procurement contracts, and vowed to take action to protect the country’s interests, Bloomberg reports.

China urged the EU to handle any differences through dialog and cooperation to safeguard trade relations, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. “China will closely monitor the EU’s follow-up actions” and will take measures to protect the rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, the ministry said.

Beijing’s comments come after EU member states overwhelmingly agreed to the curb, which would represent the first use of its International Procurement Instrument, a 2022 law that’s meant to promote reciprocity in access to public procurement markets, and represents a unique slant on how creative mercantilists can and will get when their markets are threatened. It allows the EU’s executive arm to impose various restrictions on firms seeking to participate in procurements, ranging from score adjustments in tenders to an outright ban from public contracts above €5 million ($5.7 million).

The dispute adds another irritant to relations and comes just as Beijing seeks to shore up ties with the EU, positioning itself as a more reliable partner as Donald Trump alienates the bloc over issues from tariffs to defense. In reality, when it comes to capturing market share, the only thing mercantilists are “reliable” in doing is slashing prices to boost exports. 

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao is due to meet with EU trade officials early this month in Paris, where he may address the bloc’s trade grievances including a lack of fair access to China’s own procurement market. European leaders will travel to Beijing for a summit next month with their Chinese counterparts. 

“At first glance recent EU moves relating to China seem a bit contradictory, reviving senior level interaction while taking measures against unfair imports,” said Wendy Cutler, a former senior US trade negotiator now at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

“But, in light of different types of pressures from member states, Brussels needs to navigate carefully when it comes to China,” she said. “It has no choice but to look for avenues of cooperation while sending a clear signal that the EU will stand up for European companies that are facing unfair competition.”

Only problem is that from China’s point of view, the competition is completely fair, and it will retaliate accordingly.

Indeed, a Chinese business lobby group warned earlier that EU’s plans would hurt trade ties and the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU expressed “profound disappointment” over the move, according to a statement on Monday.

“Its targeted application against Chinese enterprises sends a troubling signal—not only adding new complexity to China-EU economic and trade relations, but also contradicting the EU’s stated principles of openness, fairness, and non-discrimination in market access,” said the organization, whose members include the Bank of China, Cosco Shipping Holdings Co. and BYD Co.

“Beijing appears to be sending a warning to all advanced economies that actions against China will have consequences,” said Gerard DiPippo, associate director of the RAND China Research Center. “The odds of an EU-China rapprochement are lower than some speculated after the trade war with the US started.”

Which, of course, will be music to Trump’s ears, even if it will be difficult for the mainstream media to explain to its naive audience how the global trade war which it had repeatedly portrayed as “Trump against everyone”, was really “everyone against everyone.”

In response to a question on the EU’s move, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian on Tuesday called on the bloc to stand by its commitment to market rules. 

The EU launched an investigation into China’s procurement of medical devices last April, with the probe finding in January that Beijing discriminated against foreign firms. Consultations failed to find alternative solutions, Bloomberg previously reported.

The Chinese commerce chamber argued that market reciprocity must be based on “an accurate understanding of historical and practical realities.”

“For years, European medical device companies have enjoyed significant access to the Chinese market, playing a key role in supporting the modernization of China’s healthcare system and achieving substantial growth,” it said. “The EU’s current decision fails to acknowledge this context and undermines the spirit of balanced engagement and mutual benefit.” 

By Noi Mahoney of FreightWaves

Authorities at the Port of Long Beach on Friday seized 55 tons of dicumyl peroxide, a chemical used to make methamphetamine.

The shipment originated in China and was destined for the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico, according to a news release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The dicumyl peroxide was identified as a result of an initiative launched by ICE in 2019 to identify suspicious shipments of chemical precursors from China, India and other source countries that are destined for drug cartels in Mexico.

Since the initiative was launched, it has led to the interdiction of almost 1,900 tons of chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamines and fentanyl.