‘Catnomics’: How Japan’s fascination with cats became a multi-billion dollar industry The Guardian
Where are the economies of scale in residential construction? Construction Physics
Blue Origin rocket explodes during launch pad test in Florida France 24
Achieving complete randomness for the first time Phys.org
Climate/Environment
Decade-long heat fluctuations in the Atlantic ‘warming hole’ are driven by ocean heat transport rather than surface fluxes Geophysical Research Letters
‘King of mangoes’ faces heat: weather ravages Maharashtra’s Alphonso belt Business Today
Potential for global hail damage increases in a warming world Nature
Outdoor lighting can lengthen mosquito season Science
Discontinuity is the job Snap forward
Toxic events in the air
The company behind the California chemical leak was manufacturing F-35 parts amid a flood of orders from the U.S. and Israel.
pandemic
Long-term persistence of the novel coronavirus and surveillance gaps in the JAMA network of 58 U.S. hospitals. “…cumulative prevalence continues to increase until mid-2024, making it clear that the syndrome is accumulating burden rather than resolving.” That cannot be true. The pandemic was declared over in May 2023.
ebola hemorrhagic fever
Kenyan High Court blocks Kenya’s plan for US Ebola isolation facility Reuters
China?
The expiry of neutrality: China’s dilemma in the Middle East Li Haokai
The root causes and misconceptions of China’s undiplomacy
China’s Industrial Transition Warwick Powell
China’s private funds see assets surge by more than $400 billion amid tech boom South China Morning Post
China’s lithium holding rate will reach 39% by 2030: WoodMac Mining.com
MIT researchers develop low-cost technology to extract lithium from rocks MIT News
syrakistan
Israel seizes land for army base in West Bank city for first time since Oslo +972 Magazine
Israel is providing military drones to ISIS-linked gangs to aid in further ethnic cleansing in Gaza. dissident
Prime Minister Netanyahu instructs military to occupy 70% of Gaza ‘cradle’
Hungry Palestinians in Gaza protest as World Central Kitchen scales down amid rising food costs and Israeli blockade
According to a new report from Reuters, Israel has issued an evacuation order covering 20% of Lebanon, far beyond the “buffer zone” it previously announced for the Litani River.
More than half of the areas where evacuation orders were issued were “north” of Ritani.
Gaza tactics in Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/R7zLp8xHhk
— Rosemary Kelonic (@RKelonic) May 28, 2026
***
Scoop: U.S. and Iran reach deal, but requires final approval from President Trump, officials tell Axios
Iranian official tells Jeremy: “President Trump’s decision cannot be considered final until financial markets close this weekend.” https://t.co/KJfNq013NT
— Ryan Grimm (@ryangrim) May 28, 2026
Exclusive: Israel kills Iran’s chief negotiator, privately pressuring US to launch new attack on capital and empire
discord in europe
Politico von der Leyen prepares for battle over China trade relations
China directly warns EU about overproduction of tools in China
Open Letter to Chancellor Friedrich Merz Jeffrey Sachs
Europe tells data center boom to cool before water and power shortages
Microsoft suspected of leaking data of Dutch civil servants working on high-tech law to US government Cyber News
Africa
Sudan: RSF defection raises troubling questions Sawahir
A new war that’s not so cold war
Live: Drone crashes into Romanian apartment, NATO blames ‘Russia’s recklessness’ France 24
One step closer to the brink: NATO’s march toward all-out war with Russia Thomas Fudge
The future of NATO drones takes shape in Latvia’s pine forests Euractiv
New analysis from Meduza finds that long-range attacks in Ukraine are twice as deep but will not emerge in 2026. Meanwhile, Russian refineries continue to recover. medusa
south of the border
Guatemala agrees to allow airstrikes on US territory as US escalates military intervention in Latin America
How a Drug Enforcement Agency stabbing led to a Colombian rebel drop scene
Trump 2.0
President Trump’s friends funneled millions of dollars in Israeli government cash to US media
White House steps in to secure $620 million deal for company tied to Donald Trump Jr. ProPublica
Company led by Republican fundraiser pardoned by President Trump wins $106 million federal contract The Guardian
National park admission fees will fund Trump’s D.C. projects The New York Times
Treasury Secretary Bessent approves limited action for $250 bill featuring Donald Trump Associated Press
What do weapons-grade plutonium, private companies, and dead/missing nuclear scientists have in common? Rare
Democrats are the worst
Pentagon’s pressure on Wall Street draws ire from Democrats
imperial collapse watch
The Pentagon has known for years that enemies can track military cell phones. Now it’s connected by wire
our famous free news agency
Wow, the student journalist who won the Mike Wallace Memorial Scholarship at the News Emmy Awards called CBS News.
“While I would like to thank CBS News for providing this generous gift to my education, I also want to acknowledge how tainting the news organization’s recent direction has been… pic.twitter.com/zjPVjDrDij
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) May 28, 2026
A.I.
🚨 The ROI numbers for AI are starting to look very ugly.
Even under “best-case” assumptions (zero costs and only return on capital investment), the Financial Times calculated the implied return on hyperscalar AI investments from 2025 to 2030.
Only one of them will clear positive. pic.twitter.com/JAlvMUL6K1
— Thierry by arvy 🇨🇭 (@ThierryBorgeat) May 28, 2026
The company forgot about usage limits and accidentally spent $500 million on Claude AI in one month.
Heavy machinery towards slanted materialism
police state surveillance
Exclusive: New Intel Bureau Focuses on AI Data Centers by Dan Boguslow and Ken Klippenstein
big brother is watching you
Headway Therapy Patients are forced to scan their faces to continue treatment 404 Media. As of 2024, Headway operated in all 50 states, had 34,000 mental health care providers in its network across more than 40 insurance plans, and processed more than 600,000 treatment appointments each month.
economy
‘Debt and money anxiety are causing mental and physical problems’: Study finds more than 30% of Americans are unable to make monthly debt payments Benzinga
More workers are raiding their 401(k)s as average balances decline, Fidelity reported on CNBC
Exxon and Chevron executives: Oil & Gas Journal just weeks after oil prices soar
We are about 9 million barrels away from reaching subsistence storage levels for gasoline and distillates.
Once there, even a minor disruption (power outage of any kind) will result in the gas lines at the gas station being shut down.
I guess they’re really doing it… pic.twitter.com/63XG5L9b73
— HFI Research (@HFI_Research) May 28, 2026
The real surprise today is that the real GDP growth rate for the first quarter has been revised downward to an annualized rate of +1.6% from the originally expected +2.0%. If you recall, there was a time mid-quarter when the much-hyped Atlanta Fed nowcast model was predicting the numbers just fine…
— David Rosenberg (@EconguyRosie) May 28, 2026
White House rejects ‘catastrophic view’ of economic semaphore
accelerationist
Why Peter Thiel is retreating to the ends of the world The New York Times
basil
Breaking news: Bad news for three of the biggest IPOs in history Gary Marcus
antitrust law
Splenda owner to acquire Equal sweetener maker Food Dive
class war
More people are going hungry in the U.S. now than during the pandemic six years ago NPR
OSHA has just six inspectors to keep West Virginia’s 60,000 workplaces safe. What This Means for Workers Mountain State Spotlight
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