Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Skittles no longer contains titanium dioxide, a chemical identified as potentially problematic by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s commission in a recent report, the candy’s manufacturer said on May 27.

“Our commitment to quality is what has enabled Mars to be enjoyed by consumers for over a century, and nothing is more important than the safety of our products,” a spokesperson for Mars Inc. told news outlets this week. “All our products are safe to enjoy and meet the high standards and applicable regulations set by food safety authorities around the world, and that’s something we will never compromise on.”

The company did not respond to requests for more information, including when the chemical was removed.

In the May 22 report from the Make America Healthy Again Commission, which Kennedy chairs, the commission said that titanium dioxide was an additive “of potential concern” and that it “may cause cellular and DNA damage.”

The commission cited a review that concluded that possible adverse outcomes of titanium dioxide exposure included cancer and damage to the heart, and an assessment that said titanium dioxide may cause immune issues, inflammation, and neurological problems.

“Based on all the evidence available, a concern for genotoxicity could not be ruled out, and given the many uncertainties, the Panel concluded that E 171 can no longer be considered as safe when used as a food additive,” the assessment from the Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings, commissioned by the European Commission and published in 2021, stated.

Kennedy hailed the move from Mars.

“You don’t need titanium dioxide to make rainbows,” he wrote on social media platform X. “Mars has announced the removal of titanium dioxide from Skittles. I’ve long been critical of the use of harmful additives in our food, especially when companies are fully capable of producing safer versions for European markets. When corporations take steps that help make our children—and America—healthy again, it’s a move in the right direction.”

The Environmental Defense Fund and other groups asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a division in Kennedy’s department, in 2023 to ban titanium dioxide from food products. The FDA says on its website that it is still reviewing the petition.

Skittles still contains artificial colorings, including Yellow No. 5 and Red No. 40.

The FDA said in April it was banning two other artificial colorings used in foods and beverages, in addition to a third that was previously prohibited. Officials also said companies would voluntarily remove the other six dyes that have regulatory approval, including Yellow 5.

Following the announcement, PepsiCo executives said the company was quickening its transition away from artificial colors. In-N-Out said it was removing dyes from its strawberry milkshakes, pink lemonade, pickles, chilis, and house spread.

Update (1240ET):

On Sunday, the Russian Ministry of Defense issued an official statement that a coordinated Ukrainian drone swarm attack targeted and damaged military aircraft across several airbases located deep within Russian territory.

Affected airfields reportedly include:

• Murmansk Oblast

• Irkutsk Oblast

• Ivanovo Oblast

• Ryazan Oblast

• Amur Oblast

Multiple U.S. media outlets—including Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, and CBS News—have independently confirmed the Ukrainian drone swarm operation targeted and destroyed approximately 40 Russian military aircraft across four airbases. 

According to Ukrainian intelligence officials cited by CBS News, the aircraft destroyed include Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 bombers, which play a central role in Russia’s strategic and nuclear-capable long-range aviation forces.

✈️✈️✈️🤩🤩🤩 pic.twitter.com/XeI5i8Bd39

— MAKS 25 🇺🇦👀 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) June 1, 2025

The Military Balance+, a database maintained by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, indicated that Russia had a fleet of 54 Tu-22M3s and 58 Tu-95MS bombers before the attack. It remains unclear how many of these long-range bombers were destroyed.

⚡️34% of Russia’s strategic aviation (cruise missile carriers) worth about $7 billion was hit by today’s Spiderweb attack – Security Service of Ukraine. https://t.co/hrhHCFlpqL pic.twitter.com/5AMADG5Vil

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) June 1, 2025

A Ukrainian security official told the Associated Press that planning for the attack took about 1.5 years and was personally supervised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

While White House spokespeople didn’t provide a comment to CBS on the attack, administration sources told the outlet that the Trump administration was not aware of it beforehand. 

Meanwhile, Trump admin sources told CBS that the White House wasn’t aware that today’s large-scale drone attack by Ukraine on the Russian military aircraft was coming

Someone is lying https://t.co/o0zQfuWzhw

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) June 1, 2025

However…

Ukrainian official: We notified the Trump administration in advance of the attack on Russian airports

— First Squawk (@FirstSquawk) June 1, 2025

Latest headlines:

• RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY ACCUSES UKRAINE OF TERROR ATTACK: IFX

• RUSSIAN DEFMIN SAYS UKRAINE USED DRONES AGAINST AIRFIELDS: IFX

• RUSSIA SAYS SEVERAL PLANES CAUGHT FIRE AFTER DRONE ATTACK: IFX

• RUSSIA SAYS NO CIVILIAN OR MILITARY CASUALTIES IN ATTACK: TASS

Odds of nuclear weapon detonation (view Polymarket)…

Odds of nuclear weapon detonation in 2025 on Polymarket rise from 13% to as high as 19% in last 4 hours https://t.co/VProhE8DV8 pic.twitter.com/isaog1pEkD

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) June 1, 2025

Nothing like starting the morning with a cup of coffee and watching the Ukraine war inch closer towards major escalation.  

Additional headline from earlier:

• Zelensky Calls Meetings With Putin ‘Meaningless’ And Asks For More Military Aid

And does this mean Russia pulls out of tomorrow’s peace talks? 

*   *   *

Open-source footage circulating on X depicts a coordinated Ukrainian drone swarm targeting Russian long-range strategic bombers—aircraft capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear payloads—deep within Russian territory.

The scale, precision, and depth of the drone swarm attack on multiple Russian airfields have led some military observers to describe the operation as a “Russian Pearl Harbor.” 

Bloomberg reports that over 40 strategic bombers—including Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 aircraft—were damaged in a Ukrainian drone swarm attack on multiple airbases, including the Belaya military base, located deep in eastern Siberia.

Here’s more color on the Ukrainian offensive deep within Russia via Bloomberg:

Ukraine’s Security Service chief Vasyl Malyuk led the operation and losses assessed to be around $2 billion, the official said. Ukrainian drones on Sunday attacked a military base near the settlement of Sredniy, Igor Kobzev, the governor for the Irkutsk region that’s some 5,190 km (3,220 miles) from Moscow, said in a Telegram statement. He didn’t specify the scope of the damage. The settlement of Sredniy is in the immediate vicinity of the Belaya military base.

Russian Telegram channels also published unverified reports of a drone attack near the town of Olenegorsk, around 1,840 km from Moscow. The Olenya aviation base is located near Olenegorsk.

Bloomberg couldn’t independently verify reports of large- scale damage to the Russian military bases. Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

X user Visegrád 24 reports that drone swarm attacks targeted four Russian airfields. 

Russia’s strategic bomber fleet burns!

Drones were lunched from trucks near 4 airfields deep inside Russia.

More than 40 planes destroyed at:
– Olenya Air Base in Murmansk
– Belaya Air Base in Irkutsk
– Ivanovo Air Base in Ivanovo
– Dyagilevo Air Base Ryazan
Via @ConflictDISP pic.twitter.com/0weP2viqa2

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) June 1, 2025

Open-source video footage shared by conflict monitor OSINTtechnical on X appears to show a coordinated Ukrainian drone swarm launched from heavily modified shipping containers on a trailer near Russia’s Belaya Airbase.

Afterwards, the Ukrainian launch truck self-destructed. https://t.co/aCaeDOPlBY pic.twitter.com/q5OdkM5A33

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 1, 2025

BREAKING: Video shows Russian men climbing onto a truck launching Ukrainian drones in an attempt to stop them from taking off. pic.twitter.com/si4VU7jCL3

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) June 1, 2025

More footage—transmitted via video link from the kamikaze drones—captures multiple strikes on long-range Russian bombers, reportedly resulting in significant damage. Social media accounts claim the attacks targeted both the Belaya and Olenya Airbases.

BREAKING: Major Ukrainian FPV drone swarm hits Russian airbases.

Massive FPV drone attacks struck Olenya and Belaya airbases.

Several Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers on fire. pic.twitter.com/GFxWt4EJ1O

— Clash Report (@clashreport) June 1, 2025

According to X user Insider Paper, Russian military bloggers have likened the scale and impact of the strike to a “Russian Pearl Harbor,” underscoring that a dramatic escalation by Russia in the war in Ukraine could be imminent. 

To note, this attack deep within Russia comes just a day before Moscow and Kyiv prepare to send delegations to Turkey for the second round of peace talks. 

Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a three-way summit with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, likely in response to Russia’s accelerated gains on the eastern front as well as the mass missile and drone attacks on Kyiv.  “If Putin is not comfortable with a bilateral meeting, or if everyone wants it to be a trilateral meeting, I don’t mind. I am ready for any format,” Zelensky stated after admitting that the Kremlin had amassed at least 50,000 troops near the northern Sumy region of Ukraine. 

The Kremlin responded with suspicion to the idea, noting that Zelensky was looking for ‘clout’ and a ‘legitimacy boost’ by inserting himself at the table between Russia and the US in the initial talks.  And, to be fair, the real diplomatic discussion is between Russia and the US, not Russia and Ukraine.

The conflagration in Ukraine is a clear proxy war with NATO officials managing the details of the conflict behind the scenes.  Ukraine’s entire intel apparatus is reliant on NATO reconnaissance technology and their long range missile and drone strikes require NATO personnel and satellites to aim and guide the weapons.  The Ukraine war is between Russia and NATO; Ukraine and Zelensky are incidental.  

Zelensky appears to have taken offense to Russia’s claim that he is chasing clout in a recent statement in which he asserted that meetings with Russia were “meaningless” without more pressure from the US and Europe.  He also begged for even more money and weapons to be sent to Ukraine from western partners while suggesting that long range attacks were the best way to bring the war to the Russians and convince them to accept a ceasefire agreement.

In other words, it appears that Zelensky was indeed interested in diplomatic negotiations until it became clear that he would not be at the center of them. 

Over the course of the past few months the establishment media and European officials have hinted that the war in Ukraine is not going well.  The realities of attrition warfare are taking hold and eventually Ukraine and NATO will have to admit that they are losing.  It’s a reality many analysts have been trying to warn about for at least the past year, but anyone listening to the propaganda from the western media would assume that Ukraine is on the verge of sweeping the Russian out of the country.

This is simply not the case.  Russian forces are breaking through on multiple fronts and they seem to be massing for a large scale offensive in the north.  Ukraine’s military is on it’s last legs, which is the only reason why Zelensky has deigned to entertain the idea of peace talks at all.  He is also realizing that it is highly unlikely that the US will ever intervene with boots on the ground – The fundamental strategy of Kyiv and NATO officials was to lure the US and European public to support troop deployments and direct war with Russia.

European politicians are keen on the idea of sending in troops, but without US involvement they will not be able to effectively fight Russian forces in a brand of warfare far different from the typical maneuver warfare they are used to.

Donald Trump has sought to balance his peace negotiations with carrot and stick incentives for both sides of the conflict, but it may be too late for a deal as neither government is anxious for a realistic agreement.  Zelensky is forever demanding greater intervention by NATO countries and wants all territory taken by the Russians to be returned.  This isn’t going to happen. 

Vladimir Putin, perhaps rightfully, is concerned about negotiating a ceasefire only to have progressives take power again in the US and upend any deal that is struck.  The motivation for Russia to press for a total victory and the removal of the government in Kyiv is high.        

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1 is causing more infections worldwide, as China’s health agency said it’s the dominant variant.

The new strain was named as a “variant under monitoring” by the UN health body last week, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed a small number of cases were circulating in the United States.

WHO Says New Variant Spreading

WHO said in an update on May 28 that the variant is driving up cases in parts of the world and is currently spreading in Southeast Asia, the western Pacific regions, and the Mediterranean.

“The recent increases have been observed in four countries and areas to date: Cambodia, China, Hong Kong … and Singapore,” the UN group said.

The variant LP.8.1 is currently the dominant version worldwide, according to WHO. But both LP.8.1. and NB.1.8.1 have not shown signs that they would cause an “increased public health risk” when “compared to other circulating variants,” the U.N. health body stated.

Reports From China

In a recent update, the Chinese CDC said that NB.1.8.1 makes up the majority of cases in China, while some Chinese doctors have gone on record in state-run media to say that one symptom that is being reported is a sharply painful sore throat.

The Chinese CDC has been criticized over the years for not being transparent with its case and death figures throughout the pandemic. The Trump administration and some U.S. intelligence officials have said that the virus appeared to have emerged from a top-level laboratory in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 before the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempted to cover it up and downplay its significance.

Some outside experts have questioned the actual death toll and case numbers reported by the regime since the pandemic’s start in early 2020.

Dr. Jonathan Liu, professor at the Canadian College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, director of the Kang Mei TCM Clinic, and skeptic of data Chinese CDC figures on COVID-19, said official data for March reported that seven people died from COVID-19 that month. He suggested in an interview with The Epoch Times that such a number is unreal.

“With normal epidemic rates, such a low figure is implausible. Canada, with a sparse population and good sanitation, reported 1,915 COVID deaths from August last year to May this year—over 200 per month. How could China, with its dense population, have only seven deaths monthly?” Liu told The Epoch Times last week.

The Chinese CDC also “has not reported the rate of severe cases, hospitalization rate, or mortality rate,” said Sean Lin, assistant professor at the Biomedical Science Department of Fei Tian College, former U.S. Army microbiologist, and Epoch Times contributor.

Other countries “cannot know the actual situation” in China because of the CCP’s attempts to downplay the true state of COVID-19 domestically, he added.

WHO’s recent update noted that new variant cases have increased in the western Pacific region, which includes China.

Other Governments Respond

Officials in South Korea on Friday said its government is closely monitoring COVID-19 cases in China and Hong Kong, while the country’s Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters conducted a meeting that morning on the situation.

“COVID-19 cases are increasing in some neighboring countries, including Hong Kong, China and Thailand, which is concerning,” Second Deputy Director General Lee Han-kyung of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety told JoongAng Daily. “People aged 65 and older, as well as residents of high-risk facilities, should get vaccinated now to prevent severe illness and death.”

The Korean Medical Association also said it has “concerns” due to large fluctuations in the daily weather temperatures and “increased population movement due to domestic and international travel.”

“There is considerable concern about a COVID-19 resurgence, and with more indoor activities likely due to the hot weather, the risk of respiratory infections spreading may increase,” the association told the JoongAng Daily.

In India, Delhi Health Minister Pankaj Singh told the PTI news service on May 26 that there is no need to panic over the strain.

“We have advised hospitals to be ready with beds, oxygen, essential medicines, and equipment, just in case. This is a part of standard preparedness,” he told the newswire service. “There is no need to worry. COVID caused by the new variant is similar to a normal viral illness. The patients who have come in so far are experiencing mild symptoms like fever, cough, and cold.”

This week, officials in Taiwan sent an alert about COVID-19 and stated that people in the country should wear a mask and wash their hands. Taiwanese officials earlier this month had reported a rise in cases.

CDC Says Case Numbers Are Low

U.S. officials appeared to downplay the significance of the new variant, suggesting that it’s not worse than any of the ones that are currently in circulation.

In a statement to The Epoch Times on Sunday night, a CDC spokesperson said that the health agency “is aware of reported cases of COVID-19 NB.1.8.1 in China and is in regular contact with international partners.”

“It has not met the threshold for inclusion in the COVID Data Tracker dashboard. We monitor all SARS-CoV-2 sequences, and if it increases in proportion, it will appear on the Data Tracker dashboard,” the spokesperson added, noting that fewer than 20 sequences of the variant have been found so far.

Via Remix News,

There is growing outrage after a discount retailer in Berlin, Norma, launched a sale on machetes, marketing the blades as low as €9.90 per machete despite a surge in knife crimes reported throughout the city and the country.

The first deputy federal chairman of the German police union (PolG), Manuel Ostermann, wrote on X: “79 knife crimes per day in 2024 and at the discount store you can buy a machete with a barb for 9.90 euros. Hello Norma, are you still feeling any impact? Why not just give it away to potential knife murderers? Unbelievable.”

Ostermann also posted a photo of the advert being promoted by Norma, which showcases the deadly-looking blades and their discount price.

pic.twitter.com/ACcj0TIFMe

— Manuel Ostermann (@M_Ostermann) May 28, 2025

In addition, the German Police Union (DPolG) chairman, Rainer Wendt, also reacted with outrage. He said that the ease of obtaining such weapons presents the police with a large security problem.

“It’s hard to beat the cynicism. No one in Germany needs such items,” Wendt told Bild newspaper. “The police can barely keep up with the checks – even children are sometimes armed.”

The 79 knife crimes a day applies to all of Germany, which reported nearly 30,000 knife-related crimes in 2024 and record high levels of violent crime. However, Berlin itself accounts for a large share of these knife crimes and attacks, recording 3,412 in 2024 alone, a 2-percent decrease from the 10-year-high hit in 2023. That amounts to nearly 10 knife attacks per day.

🇩🇪🗡️ Machetes are on sale from a Berlin discount store despite a huge surge in knife attacks across Germany.

“79 knife crimes per day in 2024 and at the discount store you can buy a machete with a barb for €9.90,” wrote the German police union deputy chairman @M_Ostermann.

The… pic.twitter.com/gL5YuUKi9X

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) May 30, 2025

The special blade offer has been in place since last week and includes machetes, bush knives, and axes in the multicultural neighborhood of Kreuzberg for €9.99 each. The company promotes these blades as “ideal for gardening, camping, and the outdoors,” — not typically the type of activities people in the middle of the city enjoy doing. In fact, gardening with a large machete would be illegal in most public gardens, and very few people own a private garden in Kreuzberg.

The blades are up to 56 centimeters long (22 inches), some with barbs. For security reasons, they are not stored openly, but are only handed out upon request to only those 16 years and older. It is legal to possess such blades, but carrying them in public is illegal. The store indicated that they only support people using such blades for their intended purpose.

Remix News wrote an in-depth article on the recent wave of knife crime in Germany, detailing the toll it is taking on Germany. An extremely high number of these attacks are perpetrated by foreigners or those with a migration background, which is especially worrying given their overall smaller share of the population.

Remix News has occasionally posted some of the most egregious machete battles recorded in Berlin, such as this recording from Leipzig last year. It is not possible to embed in this article, perhaps due to EU restrictions placed on the post.

Read more here…

Authorities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are investigating the grim discovery of an abandoned boat with 11 decomposing bodies found near Little Bay on Canouan Island on May 26, 2025, according to ABC.

The 45-foot vessel reportedly carried passports indicating the deceased may be from Mali, a West African country over 6,000 kilometers away.

The Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force called the incident “deeply concerning” and said they are working with both regional and international partners to identify the victims and establish how the boat ended up there.

This tragedy echoes previous cases involving West African migrants attempting dangerous Atlantic crossings.

In January 2025, a similar vessel was found off St. Kitts and Nevis with 19 bodies, some carrying Malian documents. In May 2021, another boat from Mauritania, containing over a dozen deceased men, was discovered near Trinidad and Tobago. Investigators believe those men had tried to reach Spain’s Canary Islands but were instead swept off course.

ABC writes that the Atlantic route remains highly dangerous, driven by factors such as political instability and economic hardship in countries like Mali. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees notes that migrants often target the Canary Islands, but ocean currents and limited navigational skills can push them far from their intended destination.

Authorities continue to investigate the Canouan case, determined to understand how this tragedy unfolded.

Submitted by Thomas Kolbe,

Germany is planning to introduce a 10% special tax targeting U.S. tech giants. At least now we know what the German government needs a “Minister of State for Culture and Media” for: to invent new taxes.

If the ongoing trade dispute with the United States has taught us anything, it’s that Europeans are no innocent lambs when it comes to protectionism. On the contrary, they’ve mastered the art of shielding their markets through subtle mechanisms—while their media machine works overtime to conceal these maneuvers from the public.

Weimer’s Unexpected Mission

Wolfram Weimer, recently appointed Minister of State for Culture and Media, traditionally oversees a largely symbolic post linked to coalition horse-trading. Now, however, the office is being used to launch a direct political strike: a new tax to intervene in the tariff conflict with the U.S.

Weimer frames the digital tax as an act of social justice. With his “Platform Solidarity Contribution,” he aims to hold big tech companies accountable and break up their “quasi-monopolistic structures.” According to Weimer, Germany must reduce its dependence on U.S. infrastructure and contribute to “media diversity.” This is precisely where caution is warranted. When politicians start preaching solidarity, it usually ends up costing taxpayers and consumers dearly.

A Deliberate Provocation

Forget solidarity—this tax is nothing less than a calculated provocation aimed squarely at Washington. At a time when Donald Trump has paused threatened 50% tariffs on EU imports until July 9, hoping to find a negotiated solution, Europe responds with a punch in the face.

Moves like this digital tax won’t bring Brussels closer to a deal. Quite the opposite: they sour the climate and push transatlantic relations further into confrontation. Whether Germany realizes it or not, this tax confirms what many in the U.S. already suspect: Europeans are not truly interested in free trade—they’re protectionists at heart.

This isn’t the Art of the Deal—this is the Art of Closing the Door.

Europe’s Tech Failure

The underlying issue is both well-known and uncomfortable: Europe has failed to build its own competitive tech sector. Instead, the continent has meticulously crafted a vast and questionable regulatory framework. One wonders who this regulation is meant to serve when the sector it targets barely exists.

It’s a bureaucratic chimera—a Brussels-born behemoth now fed by Berlin, following Austria’s lead with a similar tax that met widespread criticism. In Vienna, that criticism also fell on deaf ears.

As is often the case with new levies, there’s a real concern that companies will simply pass on the added costs to consumers—through digital services, advertising, or subscriptions. What officials claim won’t affect users may well end up hitting them directly.

Industry groups like Bitkom already warned back in April that a digital tax could drive up prices for software, cloud services, and digital tools—slowing digital adoption and hurting both consumers and businesses.

Risk to Germany’s Innovation Landscape

Beyond the obvious financial burden for users, the proposed German digital tax carries serious structural risks. Though it targets international tech giants, its ripple effects could weaken Germany’s digital economy as far as it exists.

Startups and mid-sized IT firms reliant on global platforms would face rising costs. Innovation would be penalized, not rewarded—sending the wrong message to investors and stalling Germany’s already sluggish digital transformation.

On top of this looms the risk of escalating trade tensions: those who tax digital services must expect analog retaliation. Ultimately, this tax undermines Germany’s competitiveness without delivering a viable homegrown tech alternative.

Symbolic Politics Instead of Real Strategy

In the end, the digital tax is a symbolic gesture—politically driven, economically questionable. Europe again gets lost in micromanagement, passive-aggressive policies, and a complete lack of creative, future-oriented thinking.

When all else fails, the reflex is always the tax hammer. But this tax won’t hit the monopolies—it will hit their users. Not the tech behemoths, but the small players in the digital ecosystem.

And once again, it reveals the old European habit of making rules where freedom and competition would be far more productive.

Trade war uncertainty has sparked a surge in buying in the secondary watch market, driven by a sharp increase in demand in April amid a multi-year downturn. Luxury timepiece prices, which peaked in early 2022, have since been halved, making the recent surge all the more notable, and hope that the used watch market may have found a bottom. 

The Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index, which tracks prices for the 50 most-traded watches by value on the secondary market, recorded a surge in buying activity in April following end-of-month paychecks. 

Last month’s post-payday watch buying spike was 160% above normal trading levels, far surpassing the 112% average seen on other paydays over the past year, according to a Bloomberg report.

Christy Davis, founder of London-based Subdial, told Bloomberg that used watch sales surged last month across the U.S. and U.K. because “people heard about the tariffs and went, ‘Oh shoot, let’s buy now’… and waited for payday and then sales volumes just went through the roof.” 

Here’s more context about the tariff-fueled buying spike:

The phenomenon echoed another trend seen in Switzerland, where watch exports jumped by nearly a fifth in April — with shipments to the U.S. more than doubling ahead of expanded tariffs threatened by Trump. Watches made from precious metals, steel and bimetallic materials, products also targeted by Trump, saw the most growth, according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.

The question now is whether the Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index has finally found a bottom after plunging from its $60,000 peak during the Covid-era cheap money bubble in early 2022 to around $30,000 earlier this year.

Vontobel analyst Jean-Philippe Bertschy told clients that the spike in buying was driven mainly by exporters rushing to avoid tariffs rather than actual structural demand entering the market. 

Additionally, we should note that watch demand is sensitive to interest rates, which are expected to remain elevated in the U.S. throughout the year. Interest rate swaps are currently pricing in 2 25bps cuts through year’s end. 

Despite a gradual rebound in the Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index, many investors tracking the secondary timepiece market are questioning whether this marks a bottom—and if so, what kind of recovery shape might follow. On the other hand, lingering risks are elevated interest rates that may thwart a sustainable recovery. 

Via Remix News,

Alternative for Germany (AfD) leader Alice Weidel used the stage at CPAC Hungary to raise awareness of what she says is growing authoritarian behavior from the German government towards millions of Germans. She points to calls to ban her party, the second-largest party in the country and the leading opposition party, as well as attacks on free speech and spying from the country’s powerful domestic intelligence agency.

“Let’s be clear, and this is what we want you to know. What we want the world to know what’s going on in Germany. Influential politicians in Germany have their minds up on banning the strongest opposition party on banning us the alternative for Germany,” said Weidel.

“They would eliminate a political force which will soon form the government in several East German regions. Furthermore, they want to ban a party and has caught up with and overtaken the chancellor’s party itself. It is grotesque. It is authoritarian. And yes, this is a path they pursue, but they will not prevail. They will not prevail,” she added.

🇩🇪 @Alice_Weidel exposes the state of modern Germany:

“Mass migration, exploding crime, high taxes, silenced dissent. The regime wants to ban the strongest opposition party — us, the AfD. This is grotesque. This is authoritarian. But, they will not prevail.”#CPACHungary2025 pic.twitter.com/E8myopUXpT

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) May 30, 2025

Weidel’s party, the AfD, had not been previously invited to any CPAC events in Hungary in the previous three years, but this pattern appears to have been broken. Orbán, who said that he had not previously conducted outreach with the AfD due to threats from the German government and in order to maintain ties with Berlin, publicly backed the AfD before national elections in Germany last year.

Weidel has only grown in popularity since those elections, and her party has even broken into first place in many polls for the first time. Approximately one in four Germans now backs the party, yet, the establishment has only upped its assault on the party, including the domestic spy agency, the Office of the Protection of the Constitution (BfV):

“The attempt to silence critical voices by framing them as right wing and extremist. Under the pretext of fighting hate speech and disinformation, legitimate opinions are being criminalized. And finally, there is our domestic intelligence service, the so-called Office for the Protection of our Constitution. In reality, it’s nothing but a service for protecting the establishment’s dwindling power.

When it comes to regular intelligence work uncovering terrorists and preventing terrorist attacks, this office is a complete failure. Instead of attending to the proper task, they spy on the opposition with one goal in mind to denounce the AFD as an enemy of the constitution and fabricate a pretext for outlawing our party.”

🇩🇪 @Alice_Weidel: “Only by excluding our party from government can the woke leftist elites cling to power against the will of the majority.

“To exclude more than 10 million voters from proper representation destroys the very foundations of democratic rule.”#CPACHungary2025 pic.twitter.com/KncK0uqXFP

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) May 30, 2025

Weidel says that the establishment parties in Germany are looking to stop her party instead of addressing the legitimate issues driving her party’s growing popularity.

“In today’s speech, I am going to shed some light on the situation in Germany. For you to get some transparency about what’s going on in our home country. Our legacy media and establishment politicians fear us like no other party with good reason. More and more voters in Germany are simply fed up with being lied to and watching their quality of life deteriorating year for year.

Establishment politics have turned Germany into a danger zone for its citizens. Its people suffer from mass migration, exploding crime rates, high taxes, energy prices, inflation and the destruction of wealth. That’s why they voted out the old left-green government only to get a government that continues down the same disastrous path.

They got a government that pretends to prevent illegal immigration while leaving the gates wide open. In a futile attempt to evade his domestic problems, our chancellor travels the world fomenting conflict and throwing German taxpayers’ money out of the window as we see in the Ukraine. But when it comes to the daily horrors of imported migrant violence and Islamist terror on the streets, our chancellor remains silent.”

She also accused Merz of essentially stealing the AfD’s program, and then once winning the election, turning his back on all the promises he once made. Most notably, Merz immediately abandoned his promise to not take on more debt and relax the debt brake, instead choosing to take on nearly a trillion in debt.

“Mr. Merz won the election with copy-and-paste promises taken from us, the Alternative for Germany’s, program. The day after the election he went back on his word in every regard. He sold his soul to the leftists and kept them in power in exchange for being elected chancellor himself. Desperately clinging to power by all means has become the primary concern of our establishment politicians,” said Weidel. “Driven by panic, they bent laws, manipulate the constitution and eliminate the fundamental rights of the parliamentary opposition in order to prevent a democratic transfer of power. The current government continues a war on free speech started by its predecessors.”

Weidel said that her party represents 10 million voters, yet, these voters are being excluded by the firewall all parties say they have established against the AfD, which means they refuse to work with the party in government.

“The wind of change is blowing strong in Europe and in the Western world. The future belongs to free, patriotic citizens and sovereign nations. This conference gives testimony to that fact. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, thank you and your country for hosting us. You are truly a beacon of freedom. Thank you,” said Weidel towards the end of her speech.

Read more here…

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

Al Jazeera recently published a detailed piece about how India, Pakistan, and Iran are all nowadays wooing the Taliban, which is true, but they left out how Russia and China are as well while also making no mention of the newfound pressure that the US is placing upon the group.

In the order that they were mentioned, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held an historic call with his Afghan counterpart in late May, the first between officials of their level in over a quarter century.

He thanked him for condemning April’s Pahalgam terrorist attack that led to the latest Indo-Pak conflict and for not falling for fake news meant to stir trouble between them. They also discussed expanding bilateral ties. India and Afghanistan have shared threat perceptions of Pakistan, the first due to the Kashmir Conflict and the second as regards Islamabad’s alleged attempts to subordinate Kabul. Closer cooperation between them thus advances their interests but prompts deep suspicion from Pakistan.

Segueing into that country’s interests, Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of harboring terrorist groups, which the Taliban denies. The improvement of their ties upon alleviating their resultant security dilemma could pioneer a Central Eurasian Corridor from Pakistan to Russia and beyond. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi organized a meeting between their top diplomats in Beijing in late May to that end, but it’s unclear whether any tangible progress will be achieved. Mutual mistrust might ultimately prove insurmountable.

Moving along to Iran, that country had long-standing tensions with the Taliban over water rights and migration, but its Foreign Minister just visited Tehran in an attempt to help resolve them. Whether or not that happens is another story, but Iran has an interest in sincerely doing so due to the newfound pressure that the US is placing on the Taliban, which will be touched upon later on in this analysis. The point is that ties appear to be thawing, and at the very least, tensions might remain manageable for now.

Iran’s ties with Afghanistan sharply contrast with Russia’s, which recently removed the Taliban’s terrorist designation, just hosted a delegation at the recent Russia-Islamic World Forum in Kazan where they signed several agreements, and has a grand geo-economic vision for Afghanistan that was detailed here. The aforesaid overlaps with Pakistan’s earlier mentioned connectivity plans, which partially explains their rapprochement in recent years and could position Russia to mediate between it and Afghanistan.

On that topic, China is already mediating as was written above, but Russia objectively seems to be closer to the Taliban nowadays than they are given the latest agreements that were just signed. In any case, China is poised to play a major role in Afghanistan’s reconstruction, though continued security threats stemming from ISIS-K appear to have thus far hampered the implementation of its plans. Nevertheless, these plans still remain in place, and it’s possible that they could be speedily implemented in the future.

That’s precisely what the US wants to prevent, however, thus explaining the newfound pressure that it’s placing upon the Taliban through Trump’s demand to reobtain control over Bagram Airbase and Rubio’s implied threat to redesignate the group as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” (possibly only if it refuses). Pakistan’s possible collusion with the US will be pivotal in determining what happens. If the US succeeds, then it could reshape South Asian geopolitics, much to India’s detriment and possibly also China’s.

Given the renewed interest that major stakeholders – India, Pakistan, Iran, Russia, China, and the US – have in Afghanistan, the Taliban’s return to the international spotlight might portend a new era of cooperation and competition between them. The main variable is whether or not the Afghan-Pakistani security dilemma is soon alleviated and on what terms if so, such as Eurasian-mediated (Russia and/or China) or American-coerced, which will in turn place these dynamics on very different trajectories.