According to the University of Michigan’s latest Index of Consumer Sentiment, a record number of Americans have negative views of the economy. This is yet more evidence that the American people are dissatisfied with their economic condition. Some commentators have claimed to be perplexed by the people’s negative views of the economy since government statistics show that most Americans have good jobs that pay them good salaries.
One problem with this defense of the economy is that government statistics are manipulated to understate the true rates of inflation and unemployment. Trip Powers, writing on Substack, looks at the situation using a more accurate definition of unemployment than what is used by the government. By, for example, including those who have given up looking for work and those working part-time because they cannot find a full-time job, the unemployment rate is over ten percent. An unemployment rate that high indicates a significant economic downturn.
The main reason why even many Americans with above average incomes are dissatisfied with the economy is high prices. According to the latest Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, which is known as the Federal Reserve’s favorite measure of inflation, prices have increased by an understated 3.8 percent over the past year. The culprit behind the price increases is the Federal Reserve. Today, prices are several times higher than they were when President Nixon in 1971 severed the last link between the US dollar and gold, thus removing any restraints on the Federal Reserve’s ability to inflate the currency.
With inflation rising more than incomes, many Americans have suffered a loss of purchasing power even though their nominal income increased. The erosion of Americans’ purchasing power has led to a debt-based economy. This has created a number of bubbles that likely will soon burst. According to an analysis of Federal Reserve data by economist Mike Shedlock, total car, credit card, and student loan debts are now higher, measured in real dollars, than nearly 20 years ago during the Great Recession.
Of course, the greatest debtor is the US government.
The Federal Reserve’s practice of buying government debt in order to pump more money into the economy enables maintaining the largest government in history.
Without the Federal Reserve, the US government would have to finance the welfare-warfare state via direct taxation, instead of through the central bank’s hidden (and regressive) inflation tax.
Many Americans voted for President Trump in 2024 because of his promise to lower prices. Now, Democrats may gain control of one or both houses of Congress by running as the party of “affordability.” Unfortunately, most politicians think the way to address the affordability crisis is with more government spending facilitated by the Federal Reserve. That will only worsen the affordability crisis.
Eventually, Congress will be forced to cut spending as the soon to be over 40 trillion dollars Federal debt leads to a dollar crisis. This crisis will result in the collapse of the welfare, warfare, and fiat money system. Whether it is replaced with an even more authoritarian system or a restoration of liberty depends in part on whether those of us who know the truth do all we can to spread the ideas of liberty.
If we are successful, we can make America free, prosperous, and affordable.
Alphabet Raising $80BN In Equity To Fund Capex, Including $40BN ATM Offering And $10BN Deeply Discounted Deal With Berkshire
As we have discussed ad nauseam in the past years, perhaps the biggest mystery surrounding the entire AI supercycle, is where will the hyperscalers find the funds to pay for the trillions in projected capital spending now that most of their Free Cash Flow is flat or negative (with the exception of Microsoft).
And while many are forced to resort to aggressive debt issuance with Morgan Stanley estimating that credit markets will fund $1.5 trillion of global data center spending through 2028…
… or participating in murky rating-boosting SPV deals, which as we discussed recently indicate an unwillingness to exhibit AI related assets on their balance sheets something others are also catching up to…
That’s what Google parent Alphabet did after the close today when it announced it was raising $80 billion in equity offerings, including an investment deal with Berkshire Hathaway, to help fund its massive AI capex plans.
The offering includes a $40 billion so-called at-the-market (ATM) program, traditionally reserved for short-squeezed meme stocks selling directly to retail for which there is no clear institutional demand, to sell shares from time to time beginning in the third quarter, according to a statement Monday.
The company will also offer $30 billion in underwritten offerings of shares and mandatory convertible preferred stock, as well as a $10 billion private placement with Berkshire.
“AI is driving an expansionary moment for Alphabet,” the company said in the statement. “By scaling its investments, the company seeks to expand its foundational infrastructure to support the significant growth opportunity ahead.”
Alphabet intends to use the proceeds from the various offerings for “general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures to scale AI infrastructure and global compute.” Remarkably, Google revealed that it will use the bulk of the ATM offering to pay for tax obligations related to vesting of employee equity awards. In other words, the multi-trillion company is using retail investors to pay taxes.
The mandatory convertible stock and the underwritten common equity offerings are expected to price Tuesday after the market closes in New York, according to terms of the deal seen by Bloomberg News.
Berkshire Hathaway started building a stake in Google’s parent last year, and held Class A and Class C shares collectively worth about $16.6 billion as of the end of March, according to regulatory filings. To incentivize Berkshire to invest alongside the ATM offering, Google agreed to sell $10 billion to Berkshire at a solid discount to its closing price of $376, namely a ~6% discount for the $5 billion Class A Common Stock, and an almost 8% discount for the $5 billion Class C offering at $348.20.
This is the second notable investment by Berkshire in just two days as the company starts to put its massive cash hoard to use.
Greg Abel, who took over the reins of the firm after Warren Buffett retired last year, has started to invest its record $397 billion cash pile. On Sunday, Berkshire announced its intention to buy home builder Taylor Morrison for $6.8 billion, providing a vote of confidence in the US housing market.
Google is seeking federal approval for a new program called “Debug” that would release up to 32 million mosquitoes in California and Florida to combat disease-carrying mosquitoes already found in the wild.
Pitched as a program to “stop bad mosquitoes by raising and releasing good ones,” Google’s Debug brings together a group of scientists and engineers to create technology to breed and release sterile mosquitoes to try to eliminate the ones that transmit diseases to animals and humans.
Despite their small size, mosquitoes are considered the “deadliest animal” in the world, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There are more than 3,700 types of mosquitoes worldwide, and some are more dangerous than others.
The species Google’s Debug is targeting – Aedes aegypti – carries dengue, Zika, yellow fever, and chikungunya. Some mosquitoes carry West Nile virus, malaria, and lymphatic filariasis, killing more humans than any other creature worldwide.
Malaria alone killed at least 597,000 people throughout 83 countries in 2023, the last year the data were available. That same year, the United States saw cases of “locally acquired” mosquito-transmitted malaria for the first time in two decades.
A “locally acquired” case of malaria means the victim was bitten by a mosquito carrying the parasite in the United States, rather than contracting the illness abroad while traveling.
There are roughly 2,000 cases of malaria reported in the United States every year, with most of them coming from people traveling overseas in places where malaria is rampant. West Nile virus is the leading culprit of mosquito-borne disease in the United States. More than 120 deaths are reported each year, with roughly 2,000 people experiencing the illness.
In Debug’s landing page, Google notes that most mosquito-transmitted diseases lack effective vaccines or treatments.
“Attacking mosquitoes with pesticides is unsustainable because they’re becoming less effective over time and can be toxic. Clearing standing water is not enough because people can never find all the places that mosquitoes breed,” Google states on the project’s website. “We need a new approach.”
Google said it is using male mosquitoes carrying a naturally occurring bacterium, Wolbachia, that prevents them from reproducing with female mosquitoes in the wild. Since only female mosquitoes can bite and spread disease, the goal is to continually reduce the number of “bad mosquitoes” over time.
Google’s technique “uses a naturally occurring bacteria and uses no chemicals, no toxins and doesn’t involve genetic modification. Similar approaches have been used to safely combat other pests for decades,” Google states. “We’re combining the Debug team’s scientific and engineering expertise with the help of international partners to raise and release lots of good bugs and stop bad mosquitoes that can spread disease.”
Google said its Debug program has already completed multiple field trials with “promising results.”
“Male mosquitoes don’t bite, so residents within a trial area shouldn’t notice any increase in nuisance biting mosquitoes,” Google states on the project’s FAQ page. “We expect to see a population decrease within weeks to months of the initial releases. The number of released male mosquitoes should also reduce over time as the neighborhood population decreases.”
At least one lawmaker has criticized the company’s approach.
In a May 31 post on X, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said:
GoPro Warns It May Not Survive As AI Memory Crunch Bites
GoPro shares have been under pressure since last fall, when memory prices began to soar as AI data center buildouts tightened global supply and diverted capacity away from consumer electronics.
On Monday, GoPro filed an 8-K with the SEC, warning of “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern and stating that it expects to file an update to its financial statements.
The action-camera maker, once a $12 billion-plus Wall Street MoMo darling after its 2014 IPO, has plunged into micro-cap territory, with a total market cap of around $190 million as of late Monday afternoon.
Revenue plunged 26% in the first quarter. The company has already needed lender waivers after breaching loan covenants, and it does not expect to comply with several future covenants.
Last month, GoPro’s own filing warned of an “unprecedented increase and volatility in memory component costs.“
The AI memory boom has crushed GoPro, and the market punished GoPro shares as early as last fall, when the memory price spike began.
Bloomberg noted that in April, one of GoPro’s suppliers planned to reduce memory supply, which dented the company’s forecasted sales. This only suggests higher input costs, weaker margins, and reduced pricing flexibility.
GoPro is seeking to pivot away from its consumer-camera market, exploring aerospace and defense as potential new markets and product categories.
By the way, it’s easier just to wear Meta RayBans for action sports …
Without the second Trump Administration, we would surely not have discovered, and most importantly, acted upon, the fraud being committed around the country, most notably in blue states like Minnesota and California. So much has been discovered so rapidly, President Trump appointed Vice President Vance to head an anti-fraud task force, and the DOJ hired additional prosecutors to handle the dramatically increasing number of cases. Federal officials are suggesting the sheer amount of fraud, discovered and yet to be discovered, is so staggering clawing back that money could balance the federal budget.
Instrumental in exposing sufficient fraud so it could no longer be ignored by local or state officials is independent journalist Nick Shirley, who exposed the infamous “Quality Learing Center” day care fraud in Minneapolis, as well as many less well-known fraudulent day cares. So effective was Shirley, and so quickly did his work anger local fraudsters and state officials, Shirley received so many death threats he apparently decided to give California a try. This was the immediate result:
Graphic: X Post
Independent journalist Nick Shirley has released a devastating 40-minute investigative video that exposes what appears to be massive waste and potential fraud in California’s hospice, Medi-Cal, and daycare programs. His report, now viewed more than 7.7 million times on X, uncovers over $170 million in questionable billings tied to ghost hospice and daycare operations that show virtually no signs of actually caring for patients or children.
Shirley found that focusing mostly on Victory Blvd. in Van Nuys:
Graphic: X Post
In Minnesota and California, honest public employees tried for years to expose fraud, but their superiors and the state Attorney General’s Office ignored them. But with Shirley’s discovery of incredible levels of fraud, the California Legislature was prodded into action: they’re criminalizing exposing fraud:
Independent journalist Nick Shirley accused California lawmakers of trying to shield taxpayer-funded organizations from scrutiny after the state Assembly advanced AB 2624, dubbed the “Stop Nick Shirley Act,” a bill the author says is intended to protect immigration service providers from harassment and threats.
“I obviously hit a nerve,” Shirley said during an appearance Wednesday night on “Fox News @ Night” with Trace Gallagher.
“What’s interesting about this, this bill is it’s protecting NGOs and nonprofits,” Shirley said. “These are organizations and groups that receive our tax dollars, yet they want to make it so we can’t find out what they’re doing with our tax dollars.”
Shirley argued the proposal would discourage investigations into organizations receiving public funds.
And that’s obviously the point of the legislation. But why would legislators, people sworn to protect the public, presumably at least in part by catching criminals defrauding taxpayers of billions, want to protect those criminals? It’s a puzzler, unless, perhaps, those NGOs and nonprofits are primary funding sources of the Democrat Party and Democrat politicians? But surely that can’t be happening in a single-party state like California, where corruption is all but nonexistent? Shirley explained:
“The Somalis in Minnesota, they stole hundreds of millions, billions of dollars, and then the hospice fraud that took place inside California,” Shirley said.
“Everyone was saying that was bogus. And then her husband actually tried to take credit for exposing the hospice fraud after I had went and exposed the hospice fraud.”
Shirley was referring to Assemblymember Mia Bonta’s husband, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who has not responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
“The fraud has been going on for so long. These fraudsters thought they could get away with it for so long that so many people started committing this fraud.”
Graphic: X Post
What’s really amazing, though utterly unsurprising, is Shirley is only talking about hospice fraud. That’s only the shrink-wrap packaging on the box of a 100-story-tall fraud package.
To paraphrase Shakespeare, something is rotten in the bluer than blue state of California.
Trump On Iran Halting Talks: ‘I Don’t Care’ – Will ‘Keep Blockade’, Not Worried About Oil Prices
Summary
Iran announces halt to all exchanges with US, citing Israeli aggression in Lebanon. Trump says ‘haven’t heard’ this from Tehran, vows to keep US naval blockade in place.
Iran overnight initiated fresh attacks on neighboring Kuwait and even released video showing footage of a ballistic missile launch.
The US bombed radar & drone sites in Iran in response to the Iranians having shot down a US drone over the weekend. Reports of foreign jets over Iranian airspace.
Iran negotiator Ghalibaf charges US with breaking the ceasefire: “the naval blockade and escalation of war crimes in Lebanon” were “clear evidence of US noncompliance with the ceasefire.”
Yemen’s Houthis warn they are ready to join Hezbollah’s military efforts against Israel.
Trump Truth Social: “Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end – it always does!”
Trump has shrugged off the apparent collapse of talks with Iran, after Tehran earlier said it has halted all communications with Washington over Israel’s expanded assault on Lebanon and Hezbollah. Trump has freshly told CNBC by phone, “I don’t care if they’re over, honestly.”
“I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less,” he added, and indicated he was “going to ask” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “what’s going on with Lebanon.” This suggests Trump could pressure America’s ally to lower tensions.
Trump appears to be betting the US can ‘outlast’ the Islamic Republic, in terms of inflicting economic pain amid the growing global oil supply crisis due to the Hormuz Strait closure. On this, he reacted as follows:
He also said he wasn’t worried about oil prices, which spiked following the report in Iranian state media that Tehran is vowing to “completely block” the Strait of Hormuz in addition to halting negotiations.
“I think the oil will be dropping like a rock in the very near, you know, the very near distance,” Trump said.
Trump Reacts
President Trump tells NBC News that he’s not heard from Iran on reports they’re suspending talks, and on Iran, “I think we’ve been talking too much if you want to know the truth, going silent would be very good”
We’ll keep the blockade in Hormuz.
I think I can wait as long as they want. They’re losing a fortune.
“It’s an appropriate thing to say, because they’re better negotiators than they are fighters,” he said in a brief phone call. “But they haven’t informed us of that.”
“It doesn’t mean we’re going to go and start dropping bombs all over there,” added Trump, who said Friday he would soon decide on a proposed deal to extend an ostensible ceasefire agreed to in early April. “We’ll keep the blockade.”
State Media: Iran Stops Exchanging Messages with US
Merely last week, Western MSM press reports were touting the usual ‘close to a deal’ headlines, but this morning demonstrates how illusory such claims were and are, as Iranian state media now suggests a total halt in communications between the sides.
Per state Tasnim, “Iran stops exchanging messages with the US in protest against Zionist crimes.” This as the IDF has sent ground forces deep into Lebanon, past the Litani River – in the deepest operation in decades. Tehran has insisted on linking up any US-Iran deal with a Israel-Lebanon peace. Tehran is now warning to “completely block the Strait of Hormuz, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait” – the latter with the cooperation of Yemen’s Houthis. All of this has direct impact on the US-Iran ceasefire:
IRAN’S STATE TV SAYS PROBABILITY OF CEASEFIRE BETWEEN IRAN AND U.S. ENDING IS HIGH IF ATTACKS ON LEBANON DO NOT STOP
• “The determination of the Iranian armed forces and all axes of the resistance front to respond to Zionist crimes and open new fronts“.
• “Tasnim has obtained information indicating that, given the continuation of the Zionist regime’s crimes in Lebanon and considering that Lebanon was one of the preconditions for the ceasefire and that this ceasefire has now been violated on all fronts, including Lebanon, the Iranian negotiating team is stopping “talks and exchange of texts through a mediator”.”
• “The immediate cessation of the Zionist regime’s aggressive and brutal army operations in Gaza and Lebanon and the necessity of the regime’s complete withdrawal from the occupied areas in Lebanon have been emphasized by Iranian officials and negotiators, and there will be no talks until Iran and the resistance’s views on this matter are met”.
• “Also, the Resistance Front and Iran have set their agenda to completely block the Strait of Hormuz, and activate other fronts, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait, in order to punish the Zionists and their supporters”.
Oil jumps on the headline of halted talks…
Futures slide…
Author and University of Chicago professor of the ‘realist’ school Robert Pape says the following on Monday published report: “We will run out of our cushion of oil inventories in July, whether it’s the middle or end of July,” he said. “And Iran knows that. So what Iran is doing is just stringing out the clock to get a better deal.”
“What that tells me is they’re not interested in returning the price of oil back to where it was before the war,” he said. “I think what we need to understand is Iran’s goal is to continue instability, continue elevated price of the world’s oil because it gains from that.”
CENTCOM: Intercepted Pair of Ballistic Missiles on Base
On Monday morning US Central Command issued its official statement and explanation over the earlier tit-for-tat brief flare-up in fighting, which appears to have ended…
“Last night at 11 p.m. ET, U.S. forces successfully intercepted two Iranian ballistic missiles targeting American forces based in Kuwait. These missiles were immediately defeated and no American personnel were harmed,” it said. “U.S. Central Command remains vigilant and will continue to protect our forces from Iranian aggression while supporting the ongoing ceasefire.”
Fresh Missiles on Kuwait
The extended US-Iran ceasefire is once again being severely tested, after Iran earlier in the daylight hours of Monday initiated fresh attacks on neighboring Kuwait and even released video showing footage of a ballistic missile launch. Kuwait in turn confirmed that has been intercepting inbound drone and missile fire.
It hosts a major American base, which is again being targeted, though it’s unclear if anything has been hit. The IRGC subsequently identified that it targeted the US base in response to weekend US strikes on Iranian sites. According to a description of the released propaganda video:
The start of the video includes a close-up of what looks to be a sticker on the body of a missile depicting a bruised US president Donald Trump, on the phone asking for help, and overlaid on a “closed” Strait of Hormuz. The caption reads: “Until the last American soldier leaves the region.”
Iran’s IRGC released footage showing the moment it launched missile attacks on what it claimed to be US airbases in Kuwait early Monday.
All sides, including the Iranians and Kuwaitis, are saying they have a right to defend themselves. The United States, for its part, has said that it bombed radar and drone sites in Iran in response to the Iranians having shot down a US drone over the weekend.
Kuwait, GCC Condemnation
After the US base in Kuwait was freshly targeted, Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the following: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates the State of Kuwait’s condemnation and denunciation, in the strongest terms, of the heinous and repeated Iranian attacks, which represent a dangerous escalation and a direct assault on the security and stability of the State of Kuwait, as well as a flagrant violation of the rules of international law, the United Nations Charter, and Security Council Resolution 2817 of 2026, not to mention the grave threat they pose to the safety of civilians and vital facilities in the country,” it said in a post on X.
“The continuation and repetition of these aggressions undermine efforts aimed at de-escalating tensions and threaten security and stability in the region, emphasizing the State of Kuwait’s categorical rejection of these aggressive practices,” it added.
Also, a swift reaction was issued by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It expressed its “strongest condemnation” of Iran for its attack on Kuwait, blasting it as a “dangerous and irresponsible escalation”. Saying Kuwait remains a crucial part of the GCC, the bloc stated it stands “united and firm” and they fully support “all the measures and procedures it [Kuwait] takes to protect its security, preserve its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and maintain the security of its citizens and residents.”
IRGC Navy seeks to flex with increasing fast boat patrols of Strait of Hormuz:
IRGC fast boats running 24/7 patrols in the Strait of Hormuz, per new footage from Iran’s navy. The boats are steering commercial vessels through the waterway and intercepting any that don’t follow orders. pic.twitter.com/tG5Vh71DMK
Iran Latest Warnings: “The Bill Comes Due”; Ceasefire Breached
Top Iranian negotiator and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said that the continued American naval blockade of Iran’s ports and Israel’s intensifying offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon illustrate that the US is not truly complying with the ceasefire.
He wrote on X that “the naval blockade and escalation of war crimes in Lebanon” were “clear evidence of US noncompliance with the ceasefire.” He stressed by way of warning: “Every choice has a price, and the bill comes due. It will all fall into place.”
As things in Lebanon intensify, given the IDF has plunged past the Litani River and plans to expand its ground force occupation. Yemen’s Houthis say they are ready to join Hezbollah’s efforts against Israel, per Tasnim. Iran’s Foreign Ministry has also freshly addressed the Lebanon crisis:
For immediate attention:
The ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon.
Its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts.
The US and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation.
Iran’s FM Spokesperson Baghaei: The other side keeps shifting its demands and sending contradictory messages, which is dragging out negotiations. Israel’s escalation in Lebanon is aimed at destroying any chance diplomacy could work. The U.S. and Israel cannot be seen as separate.… pic.twitter.com/VFbOUwX9V2
Although we don’t know the details of the rumored agreement between the United States and Iran—or even if one will eventually be reached—anyone with a triple-digit IQ understands that Israel and the United States made a colossal blunder when they started the war. None of their stated goals have been achieved: The Iranian regime did not collapse, it did not surrender its nuclear stockpile, and its missile and drone capabilities are intact. It has demonstrated that it can shut down the Strait of Hormuz anytime it wants to inflict significant damage on its neighbors. All of U.S. President Donald Trump’s and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bragging and bluster over the past three months has been exposed as a lot of hot air.
Iran Touts More Breaches of US Blockade
A total of 15 vessels, including four oil tankers, have successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz over the last 24 hours, according to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
The IRGC navy confirmed that the ships only completed their passage after receiving explicit permission and coordinating directly with its command structure. Washington and its Gulf allies (with the exception of Oman) have repeatedly condemned any attempt to impose an ‘Iranian protocol’ involving the extraction of tolls.
In an official statement carried by Fars News, the IRGC issued a stark warning to the region, declaring that any cooperation with “hostile forces” would be viewed by Tehran as an “imminent security threat” that will be “dealt with accordingly”. This is tantamount to warning foreign vessels they could come under direct attack if they don’t comply.
More Latest Developments
via Newsquawk…
Iran may propose changes to the US peace draft memorandum of understanding, according to Tasnim. This follows a report that President Trump proposed further changes to the existing text, while a source stated that text exchanges continue and that Iran may submit its own edits.
Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi told state media that talks and message exchanges with the US are ongoing, and that the talks cannot be judged until a clear result is reached.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said the negotiation team’s visit to Qatar was positive.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that they have a legal obligation to prevent aggressors from using their territory and facilities to attack another country.
Iran’s Presidential Office denied reports that Iranian President Pezeshkian submitted his resignation to the Supreme Leader, and stated that the stories were spread by some foreign media.
Iranian Supreme Leader’s military adviser Mohsen Rezaei said Iran has no intention of yielding or compromising with the US and will not place itself in a weak position, while he also stated that US President Trump is betraying diplomacy for the third time by continuing a naval blockade on Iran and making excessive demands.
IRGC said following aggression of US Army on a communication tower on Sirik Island, located in the Homozgan province an hour ago, fighters of the IRGC Aerospace Force targeted airbase where aggression originated and predicted targets were destroyed.
Iran’s top negotiator said “The naval blockade and escalation of war crimes in Lebanon by the genocidal Zionist regime are clear evidence of US noncompliance with the ceasefire”.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said at this moment they do not believe that the US has good intentions towards Iran.
Iran’s FM Baghaei said “No negotiations have taken place on the details of the nuclear issue at this stage”. One point being discussed is the allocation of funds for reconstruction. We are considering options for responding to the escalation of Israeli attacks in Lebanon.
Iran’s Baghaei said a ceasefire in Lebanon is an integral part of any agreement and end to the war; lack of trust and constant change in US and Israeli positions in Lebanon are causing a delay on the diplomatic process. The continuation of maritime piracy and attacks on Iranian shipping is an example of a violation of the ceasefire. The diplomatic apparatus is closely following developments and we will take every measure to defend Iran’s sovereignty. The exchange of messages is still ongoing.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Gharibabadi said Iran’s goal is not to hold ships in the Strait, but to declare a procedure that is not contrary to international law; these arrangements are not temporary and Iran will not back down. Stopping ships behind the Strait of Hormuz incurs storage and delay costs, and war insurance has increased by up to 500%. Accompanying Iranian forces costs less than war insurance and eliminates the risk of stoppage, inspection, and seizure. Iran’s goal is not to hold the ships, but to declare a procedure that is not contrary to international law; these arrangements are not temporary and Iran will not back down.
“Three consecutive explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas”, Iran International reported.
US President Trump reportedly sent tougher terms to Iran regarding the peace framework, according to officials cited by The New York Times.
US President Trump posted “Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the U.S.A. and those that are with us”. Full post “Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the U.S.A. and those that are with us. But don’t the Dumocrats, and various seemingly unpatriotic Republicans, understand that it is MUCH tougher for me to properly do my job and negotiate, when political hacks keep negatively “chirping,” at levels never seen before, over and over again, that I should move faster, or move slower, or go to war, or not go to war, or whatever. Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end – It always does! President DJT”.
US President Trump posted “Fake News CNN said today, routinely, that my Iran Nuclear Deal doesn’t talk about Nuclear, when actually it states, very clearly, that Iran will not have a Nuclear Weapon”. Full post “ScraperFake News CNN said today, routinely, that my Iran Nuclear Deal doesn’t talk about Nuclear, when actually it states, very clearly, that Iran will not have a Nuclear Weapon. It then goes on, in very strong and lengthy detail, to discuss various other aspects of Nuclear. In fact, that’s what most of the agreement is about. CNN, and so many others in the Fake News Media, is a Low Ratings disaster. Even with new ownership, it is unlikely to ever get better!!! President DJT”.
US Secretary of State Rubio spoke in the last 48 hours with Lebanon’s President and Israel’s PM to try and promote a new ceasefire initiative, according to a senior US official cited by Axios’s Ravid. said:. US senior official said that the new initiative was proposed as part of the negotiations taking place between Israel and Lebanon, as another round of talks between diplomats from both sides is scheduled to take place this week in Washington. In order to advance the talks, US proposed that as a first step, Hezbollah stop all attacks on Israel, and in return, Israel will refrain from escalation in Beirut.
US Central Command confirmed military forces conducted strikes against Iranian radar at command and control sites located in Goruk and Qeshm Island over the weekend.
Kuwait Army said air defences are intercepting hostile missile and drone attacks.
When presented with uncomfortable irrefutable statistics on migrant crime, those on the left don’t debate—they threaten violence and scream about history as an excuse for chaos today.
That’s exactly what unfolded outside the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, Saunday. GB News chief US correspondent Ben Leo was on the ground covering anti-ICE protests—already marked by days of clashes, a hunger strike by detainees, and assaults on officers—when he calmly laid out basic facts about illegal migrant crime patterns in the UK while engaging with the ‘protesters’.
The furious black nationalist got inches from Leo’s face, accused Brits of colonizing the world “through rape, murder and pillaging,” and warned he was “holding everything back not to break your f***ing jaw.”
Me: certain nationalities in UK are more likely to commit sexual offences than Brits
Leftist nutcase: “I’m gonna break your f*****g jaw.”
Leo stood his ground without flinching. Lurking right behind the seething guy, a spectacled soy leftist pathetically attempted to pile on, weakly joining the intimidation effort by demanding Leo “go back to your country”—the height of irony at an open-borders rally.
The incident, captured on video and shared widely, shows how facts about immigration enforcement trigger outright rage from open-borders activists. While ICE works to secure America’s borders under policies prioritizing law and order, protesters treat any challenge to mass migration as a personal attack worth physical intimidation.
In the clip, Leo began by referencing data showing certain nationalities in the UK are disproportionately involved in sexual offences compared to native Brits. The protester immediately pivoted to colonial history.
“The BRITS that colonised the whole world you mean? That raped and pillaged the WHOLE WORLD to get the power they have THE BRITS,” he shouts.
“YEAH The BRITS who did THAT. And YOU guys have the audacity TO SAY AFGHANS AND SOMALIS DID WHAT?”
Leo responded evenly: “Well it’s not Audacity. It is just a fact.”
The man escalated, demanding: “IS IT NOT A FACT THAT Y’ALL COLONIZED THE WORLD THROUGH RAPE, MURDER AND PILLAGING, RIGHT OR WRONG?”
The guy then repeated insults—“you’re a piece of s,” “you’re a liar”—and got inches from Leo’s face, spitting as he ranted about how he “came out here for violence,” not to talk.
Leo stayed composed, pointing out the obvious: “This doesn’t make your argument look good. That’s the left. That is the degenerate violent left. You give facts. You get data. And they get violent.”
The exchange ended with the soy leftist in the background yelling “go back to your country.” Leo’s deadpan reply: “I live here.” When asked how he got there: “Aeroplane.”
On GB News, Leo later reflected on the moment. He explained he could have countered with historical facts—Britain’s role in abolishing the slave trade, Royal Navy efforts against it—but prioritized de-escalation and safety amid the aggression. “I was more concerned about watching his hands… making sure that he wasn’t about to swing for me.”
‘The clip demonstrates that the left lunatics are exactly that.’@Benleo reacts to the moment when an anti-ICE protester aggressively confronted him after he presented some simple facts on migrants in Britain.
He also addressed the police response, calling it “chilling” and “worrying.” Officers appeared uninterested after the threat, with one suggesting Leo’s questions were “provocative.” Leo noted: “It didn’t really seem like the police were bothered… presenting simple facts and asking what you’re doing here… is somehow provocative.”
‘It didn’t really seem like the police were bothered.’
GB News Presenter @Benleo says the police response at the New Jersey detention centre, as he was being confronted, was ‘chilling’ and a worrying sign that authorities are too sympathetic towards agitators. pic.twitter.com/ixexJlXw1O
This isn’t isolated. Protests at Delaney Hall have turned violent for over a week, with reports of objects thrown, entrances blocked, and even an ICE agent bitten. Detainees allege poor conditions, but federal officials call the strike a political stunt amid efforts to deport serious offenders.
The confrontation exposes a deeper hypocrisy. Leftist activists rage against “colonialism” while ignoring how British institutions—rule of law, abolitionism, and innovation—built much of the modern world migrants flock to. They excuse crime waves from unchecked migration by pointing to the past, yet demand America absorb endless inflows without consequences.
Leo’s calm handling underscores a key truth: facts don’t care about feelings. When open-borders ideology meets reality—rising sexual offences, strained resources, cultural clashes—it produces not debate but threats. This is the same mindset behind attacks on figures like Charlie Kirk and repeated assassination attempts on President Trump.
America First policies, like robust ICE operations, exist precisely because ignoring these patterns endangers citizens. The left’s violent reaction proves they know the data is irrefutable—they just refuse to accept it.
The left’s mask slips when challenged. They’re not tolerant—they’re unhinged when their narrative cracks.
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.
French Commandos Board & Seize 4th Russian ‘Shadow Fleet’ Vessel Since September
France announced Monday another weekend interdiction of a Russian “shadow fleet” vessel in international waters near its coast. The French Navy boarded and detained a sanctioned oil tanker, President Emmanuel Macron announced Monday, in an operation which had the assistance from the UK Royal Navy and other allies.
This marks the fourth time since September that French commandoes have intercepted a boarded a sanctioned Russian vessel in regional waters.
The vessel, identified as the Tagor, originated from Murmansk, Russia, and was taken by French authorities while it traversed around 400 nautical miles (740 km) west of the tip of Brittany.
“It is unacceptable for ships to circumvent international sanctions, violate the law of the sea and fund the war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for more than 4 years,” Macron wrote in a post on X.
The apparent legal justification France’s navy has relied on for such actions is the practice of “flag-hopping” – which involves a crew repeatedly changing displayed flags, along with often invalid registrations to thwart international tracking monitors.
At the time of boarding, via soldiers rappelling from helicopter, the ship was falsely flying a Cameroonian flag while reportedly en route to the coastal African city of Limbe, Cameroon.
Macron confirmed further on X: “This operation took place in the Atlantic Ocean, on the high seas, with the support of several partners, including the United Kingdom, in strict compliance with the law of the sea.”
The Kremlin again condemned such ‘unlawful’ seizures in international waters, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying, “We consider these acts as illegal, they border on international piracy … Russia is taking measures to ensure the safety of its cargo.”
The vessel’s captain is a Russian citizen, according to an embassy disclosure from Paris. According to more:
Guillaume Le Rasle, a spokesperson for the prefecture, said the tanker was under EU and US sanctions. “It is a vessel that was known and tracked,” he told AFP.
“The decision to divert it was taken Sunday evening. The objective of the diversion is to verify the validity of its flag,” Le Rasle said, adding that the tanker, which has frequently changed flags, was “almost empty” at the time of boarding.
La Marine nationale a arraisonné hier matin un nouveau pétrolier sous sanctions internationales en provenance de Russie : le Tagor. Notre détermination est constante et totale.
The last several seized tankers were also flying flags of African nations, and these interdictions have stretched back through last year. In some instances, Russia has been sending military escorts – which of course has seen French and European militaries hold off executing any action.
Anthropic Confidentially Files For IPO As Frontier AI Labs Race To Go Public
Four days after releasing its latest Claude Opus 4.8 model and raising $65 billion at a $900 billion valuation, Anthropic confidentially filed a draft Form S-1 with the SEC late Monday morning for a proposed IPO of its common stock.
“This gives us the option to go public after the SEC completes its review. The proposed initial public offering will depend on market conditions and other factors,” the maker of the Claude chatbot wrote in a press release.
The move puts Anthropic and OpenAI in a race to become the first major frontier AI lab to tap public markets, as investor appetite for AI infrastructure and all things SpaceX remains hot into early June.
It’s “worth noting: filing first ≠ pricing first a confidential draft S-1 starts the SEC clock but sets no date,” CNBC reporter Deirdre Bosa pointed out on X.
The surprise news comes four days after Anthropic raised $65 billion at a $900 billion valuation, nearly tripling its prior valuation and potentially surpassing OpenAI as the most valuable frontier AI lab.
That round was led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, and Sequoia, with additional participation from major investors including Baillie Gifford, Blackstone, Brookfield, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and Singapore’s Temasek.
The funding comes shortly after Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.8 and follows a prior $30 billion raise at a $350 billion valuation just three months earlier.
The Anthropic-OpenAI race to IPO comes as SpaceX is targeting an IPO for June 12, or next Friday, with shares expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SPCX.
The U.S. Department of Commerce has issued new guidance to prevent Chinese companies from obtaining advanced U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) chips, such as Nvidia’s most sophisticated Blackwell processors, through overseas subsidiaries.
The May 31 guidance clarifies that export licenses are required for entities headquartered in China or Macau, regardless of where their affiliates are located.
The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) said that licensing requirements for advanced computing items destined for China- or Macau-headquartered entities were first established in November 2023 and remain in effect.
The agency said the requirement applies even when those entities are located outside China or Macau.
The clarification follows confusion over a May 2025 announcement by the BIS that it would not enforce certain parts of the Biden-era AI diffusion rule.
The rule was designed to restrict sales of advanced AI chips to strategic rivals while allowing broader access for U.S. allies.
The BIS said the policy change did not remove existing licensing requirements for exports involving Chinese or Macau-based customers, meaning companies must still obtain licenses unless an exemption applies.
The guidance also states that legitimate data center operators can continue to use, maintain, store, or replace advanced AI chips and equipment they already own.
The clarification does not require companies to shut down or remove existing systems.
Nvidia’s sales of advanced AI chips to China remain subject to U.S. export controls.
The Trump administration created a framework in 2025 allowing certain chips, including the H200, to be sold to approved Chinese customers under Commerce Department oversight.
Trump said in a Dec. 8, 2025, post on Truth Social that sales would be permitted subject to a 25 percent fee benefiting the U.S. government and limited to approved Chinese customers.
President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as they discuss investing in America, at the White House on April 30, 2025. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
An Nvidia spokesperson told The Epoch Times that the BIS guidance doesn’t impact its business.
It “simply reaffirms that NVIDIA’s current sales and vetting process is correct — licenses are required to ship controlled products to [China] headquartered companies,” the spokesperson said.
The Epoch Times reached out to AMD, another major supplier of AI chips, for comment, but did not receive a response by publication time.
Analysts Warn of Potential Gap
Former U.S. State Department official Chris McGuire, who focuses on technology and national security issues, said in a May 31 post on X that the ambiguity surrounding BIS enforcement may have enabled overseas subsidiaries of Chinese firms to legally acquire advanced U.S. AI chips without export licenses.
“Chinese companies have been buying these chips, very likely at scale,” McGuire wrote in the social media post.
He argued that the lack of clarity about which export controls remained in effect created an opening that may have allowed subsidiaries of Chinese firms operating in countries such as Malaysia to purchase Nvidia’s Blackwell processors.
McGuire said the new BIS guidance appears to close that pathway by making clear that exports to China-headquartered companies outside China still require licenses.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang eats a bowl of noodles on a street in Beijing on May 15, 2026. Jiang Panpan via AP/Screenshot via The Epoch Times
He said that BIS has not clarified whether it will enforce due diligence requirements that apply to semiconductor foundries such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) when assessing whether advanced AI chips could ultimately benefit Chinese companies.
“This is a massive loophole that still needs to be closed,” McGuire said.
The Epoch Times reached out to TSMC for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow at Hudson Institute specializing in U.S.–China relations, raised enforcement concerns.
“This looks like an apparently MASSIVE loophole at the Department of Commerce,” Sobolik said in a May 31 post on X.
Quoting McGuire’s analysis, he questioned the effectiveness of export controls if they are not consistently enforced.
