Leftist Party Wants Voting Rights For All Foreigners Who've Lived In Germany For 5 Years

Via Remix News,

Germany’s Left Party is pushing for a major overhaul of the German electoral system by proposing that foreign residents without a German passport be granted voting rights after five years of legal residency.

To achieve this, the Left faction in the Bundestag has submitted a formal application demanding that anyone residing legally in the country for at least five years be permitted to vote in federal elections, irrespective of their nationality.

The move would serve as a major electoral boost for left-wing parties, with foreigners overwhelmingly voting for these parties when given the opportunity. Data from the Federal Statistical Office cited in the motion reveals that over 14 million people living in Germany in 2025 lacked German citizenship, a figure that includes roughly 5 million EU citizens. This foreign population has resided in the country for an average of 15 years. In other words, this pool of potential voters for the left is massive.

The initiative also urges the federal government to collaborate with individual states to implement identical changes for state and municipal elections, according to German news outlet Tagesspiegel. The party argues that the current system suffers from an expanding democratic deficit due to the fact that non-German nationals are systematically blocked from participating in federal, state, and most local elections.

The Left finds this exclusion “intolerable, “ given the democratic principles outlined in the Basic Law, arguing that it ignores the reality of Germany as an “immigration society.”

Addressing potential legal hurdles, the Left Party points out that while the Federal Constitutional Court blocked voting rights for foreigners back in 1990, this stance deserves reconsideration due to shifting global dynamics and the fact that EU citizens have since gained local voting rights. They also highlight a linguistic nuance in the constitution, observing that the Basic Law uses the word “people“ in critical sections rather than explicitly restricting terms to “the German people.”

The proposal, which is officially titled “Introduce voting rights for foreigners,” was initiated by a group of lawmakers including Ferat Koçak and the wider Left Party parliamentary group, with signatures from group leaders Heidi Reichinnek and Sören Pellmann.

This motion continues a long-standing political campaign by the Left Party, which references its own 2014 draft legislation as part of a multi-year effort to expand suffrage.

Recently, Elif Eralp, the party’s top candidate in Berlin, echoed these demands.

This has not even been the most radical demand from the Left. In 2023, then German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser proposed to give asylum seekers the right to vote in local state elections after just six months in Germany. The program, if implemented, would have translated into millions of new voters overnight.

At the time, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was immediately critical of what it described as an attempt to stack the vote with migrants, releasing a statement that read:

“Interior Minister Faeser (SPD), as the top candidate in the Hessian state elections, is campaigning for local voting rights for all people who have lived in Germany for ‘longer than six months.’ This means that supposed ‘refugees’ from Afghanistan, Syria or Turkey would also be allowed to vote – even without German citizenship.

“The German passport is thus turned into a piece of junk. But above all: Faeser and the SPD want to attract people who have no connection to Germany at all as new groups of voters. This is not surprising, because the locals who are ridiculed as ‘non-migrants’ are running away from (Chanceller Olaf) Scholz’s SPD.”

Under current constitutional rules, federal voting rights are restricted to German citizens aged 18 and older, while Berlin state elections require voters to be at least 16. The only current exception exists at the municipal level, where EU citizens can vote for district parliaments.

In response to such demands, the Federal Ministry of the Interior website states that “Migrants living in the Federal Republic of Germany for many years have the opportunity to become naturalized citizens under German citizenship law. In doing so, they also acquire the right to vote.”

However, the Left faction argues this pathway is insufficient and the requirements for citizenship are too burdensome.

The right has long contended that the left is using mass immigration as a tool to solidify political power. Foreigners are notoriously prone to voting for left-wing parties, with the logic being that more left-wing policies means more immigration for their fellow countrymen and more social welfare benefits for them and their families.

Many of these foreign groups often tend to vote quite conservatively in their own nations while shifting to the left in Western nations, such as the case of the Turkish community in Germany, which has approximately 1.5 million individuals with dual citizenship between Turkey and Germany. Half of these Turks vote for strongman Islamist leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkish elections and then shift their vote to the left in Germany.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/29/2026 - 02:00

NATO Warns Russia's Hybrid War Is Targeting Europe's Energy Grid

Authored by Simon Watkins via OilPrice.com,

• European officials fear Russia’s “grey war” is entering a more dangerous phase, with gas pipelines, electricity interconnectors, offshore networks, and subsea infrastructure increasingly vulnerable to sabotage and cyberattacks.

• Security sources say Moscow is escalating pressure because the Ukraine war is becoming harder to sustain militarily and economically.

• Recent incidents involving Russian-linked vessels and surveillance operations in the Baltic and North Seas have heightened concerns that Europe’s energy grid is becoming a frontline target in the broader confrontation with Russia.

While many may be focusing on the transfer of nuclear weapons from Russia to Belarus on NATO’s northeastern Baltic States border, the bloc's security apparatus is at least as concerned about imminent attacks on the region's energy infrastructure, a senior source who works very closely with the European Union's (E.U.'s) energy security complex exclusively told OilPrice.com last week.

“Russia’s effectively been at war with the West since February 2007 when [Russian President Vladimir] Putin condemned NATO’s expansion to the East, which was followed by a huge cyber-attack against Estonia,” he said. “Then we had the beginning of the land pushback, with Russia’s war on Georgia in 2008, where we [the West] did nothing to dissuade him from further actions Westwards, then the first invasion of Ukraine and annexation on Crimea in 2014, where we did nothing much again [as analysed in full in my latest book on the new global oil market order], and then the second invasion of Ukraine in 2022,” he added. “We’re into the final phase now, in which we’re making a stand, and Russia’s testing how resolved we are,” he underlined.

So, what happens next in terms of Europe’s crucial energy infrastructure?

“We expect hybrid attacks of the sort we’ve seen in recent years, and more direct physical ones, which have also increased in recent months, primarily against gas infrastructure, electricity cables, offshore networks, and control systems,” said the source. “The full array of these measures has already been used by Russia in Ukraine, so they’re ready to roll out whenever Putin wants -- it’s just a question of how far he’s willing to push the boundaries before he thinks we’ll react with true deterrent force,” he added. As also highlighted by the E.U. Institute for Security Studies, there have been several incidents since Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine in 2022 in which undersea energy cables were severed by Russian-affiliated vessels. For example, in December 2024, Russian shadow fleet vessel Eagle S was apprehended by Finnish authorities after severing EstLink 2, a critical electricity interconnector linking Finland and Estonia. The ship had military-grade detection hardware in its hull, indicating a direct, premeditated, and malicious attack on European energy infrastructure. Similarly, a Russian vessel, the Scanlark, was detained by authorities after being caught launching surveillance drones and carrying spying equipment near the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Station in Finland.

“Subsea electricity interconnectors and gas pipelines in the Baltic and North Seas are also highly vulnerable to the same style of attacks, with the same capabilities also available for the targeting of power grids to trigger cascading regional blackouts across the highly interconnected European electricity grids,” the E.U. source told OilPrice.com last week. Indeed, an attempted dual nature energy-telecommunications hit was tried by Russia within the last couple of months, as revealed by the British Ministry of Defence on 9 April. Three Russian submarines were mapping and surveying vital gas pipelines in the North Sea, and undersea electricity interconnectors vital to trading power with mainland Europe. “This is all part of Russia’s ongoing grey war with the West, focused on Europe right now, which aims to critically undermine us without crossing the boundary that triggers Article 5 and outright war between NATO and Russia,” the source underlined.

The key reason why there has been a surge in the scale and scope of Russia’s grey war in recent weeks is that Putin thinks time is running out for his ‘Special Military Operation’ in Ukraine, according to security sources in Washington and London exclusively spoken to by OilPrice.com last week and exclusively confirmed by a very high-level Moscow-based source in the current Russian Administration. Part of Putin’s belief comes from the burn rate of Russian soldiers on the frontline, with only 70% of those killed now able to be replaced by new recruits. “This is the big problem, because it means that the [recruitment] net will have to be widened to areas that could cause political problems,” said the Moscow source last week. In this context, much of the burden of the war to date has been borne by Russia’s ethnic minorities and those from poor regions, for whom the relatively high military salaries and death benefits are life-changing money for them and their families, whether they live or die. So far, the more affluent, better-connected, and more highly educated ‘middle class’ Russians from the major metropolitan hubs -- specifically Moscow and St Petersburg -- have been largely insulated from the war. But, with Putin’s choice now being either an end to the war on Ukrainian terms or extending recruitment to the previously protected class, this could change, although both possibilities have been prepared for.

On the one hand, Putin said on 9 May that the Ukraine war is ‘coming to an end’ -- the first time in over four years of fighting that he has used this specific phrasing. 

On the other hand, Russia rolled out a unified digital conscription registry last May, which sends draft notices electronically via state portals.

The likelihood of major protests erupting if this system is used across Russia’s major metropolitan hubs may have been foreshadowed by the Kremlin’s drive to isolate the country’s internet, allowing it to suppress the kind of widespread dissent that fuelled the Arab Spring uprisings.

There are three other factors in the ‘why now’ equation for Russia, according to the Washington, London, and E.U. sources, again confirmed by the very highly placed source in Moscow.

• The most immediate catalyst was the unblocking of the €90 billion E.U. package for Ukraine, following the removal from power of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who acted as Putin’s de facto blocking vote on E.U. legislation the Russian premier did not want. Two-thirds of this money is strictly earmarked for spending by Ukraine on hard defence assets rather than just keeping the government afloat. Even without this, Ukraine has dramatically expanded its capabilities of hitting key military and civilian infrastructure targets deep inside Russia for the first time, with repeated hits on key sites connected to its ability to monetise its oil and gas resources by exports. Last year, according to industry figures, Russian oil firms suffered RUB1 trillion roubles (US$12.9 billion) in combined losses across 120 recorded energy facility strikes. But since January alone this year, Russia has already lost over US$7 billion in oil revenue, driven by the prolonged downtime of facilities and steep export reductions from disrupted Baltic Sea shipping hubs like Ust-Luga and Primorsk. Worse still for Putin is that his long-running project to keep U.S. President Donald Trump on its side has backfired as, no longer under the shackles of U.S. arms supply deals, Ukraine is no able to keep hitting any target it wants inside Russia up to 1,200 miles, putting over 70% of the Russian population within Ukraine’s crosshairs. Putin knows that this is only going to get worse, as Ukraine continues to develop the range and accuracy of its own missiles and drones with the funding from the new €90bn package.

• The second reason for Russia stepping up its pressure on the West is that Europe is moving ahead with new sanctions designed to end all imports of Russian gas and oil and cut off Moscow’s access to the financing that supports them. Liquefied natural gas imports will end by the end of this year, natural gas by 30 September next year, and crude oil and petroleum products by the end of next year. To this end, its latest (20th) Sanctions Package, adopted on 23 April, was structured specifically to cut off Russia's financial loopholes and squeeze what remains of its energy revenue. It focuses on eliminating its Shadow Fleet of vessels still transporting Russian oil and gas covertly around the world, and on ending crypto escape routes that allow Russia to use digital assets to circumvent traditional Western banking blocks.

• And the final reason, again an unintended by-product of Putin’s misjudgement in attempting to use Trump for his maximum benefit to Russia, is that because of Europe’s uncertainty now over the U.S. commitment to NATO’s Article 5, it is rearming at pace, at scale, and in size. Even before this current round of military build-up, the chance of Russia defeating a united European military force -- without the U.S. -- was minimal, which is why Moscow has continued to fight a grey war under the boundary that would trigger outright conflict. But European NATO’s membership has expanded since the Ukraine invasion, and commitments to new spending and realised new expenditure have increased dramatically.

In the end, Europe’s energy grid is no longer just infrastructure — it is the front line.

And Russia’s grey war will keep pressing against it until Moscow is convinced.

European officials fear Russia’s “grey war” is entering a more dangerous phase, with gas pipelines, electricity interconnectors, offshore networks, and subsea infrastructure increasingly vulnerable to sabotage and cyberattacks. The West is finally prepared to push back in a way that convinces Putin that he must go no further.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 23:25

US Nuclear Recycling Plant Could Extract 100 Times More Energy From Uranium Fuel

Authored by Georgina Jedikovska via Interesting Engineering,

A US startup has joined forces with the nation's first national laboratory to recycle spent nuclear fuel into energy for fast reactors by using advanced pyroprocessing technology.

New York-based nuclear technology company BLSK Energy announced on May 18 that it had signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in Illinois to commercialize the method.

Used nuclear fuel containers.

Pyroprocessing (or pyrochemical processing) is a high-temperature metallurgical process that could enable the reuse of nuclear fuel. When used with fast reactors, it could extract up to 100 times more energy from uranium.

The company plans to launch a pilot recycling facility by 2034 that would convert nuclear waste into material suitable for advanced fast reactors. "The path ahead is ambitious but achievable," Bruce Landrey, BLSK Energy's managing director and co-founder, said.

Recycling Nuclear Waste

The US has accumulated about 95,000 tonnes (104,000 US tons) of used nuclear fuel. They are currently stored at over 75 locations across the country. However, spent nuclear fuel is radioactive and thermally hot when removed from a reactor.

Moreover, even though up to 96 percent of it is made up of leftover uranium, the main fuel used in nuclear reactors, it also contains radioactive waste products and elements heavier than uranium, like plutonium, which is incredibly hazardous.

While long-delayed plans for the permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel remain unresolved, the nuclear industry faces another challenge in securing enough fuel for future reactors. Limited fuel supplies and rising costs are both major hurdles for advanced reactor development.

To tackle the challenge, BLSK Energy's pilot recycling facility will use pyrochemical processing to convert nuclear waste into usable reactor fuel. The company gained exclusive access to the technology through its agreement with ANL, which in turn, first developed the process.

The deal further gives the firm access to ANL's experienced nuclear reprocessing scientists, engineers, as well as research facilities. "BLSK has the rare opportunity to address the two critical issues facing nuclear power; answering the question, 'what about the waste?' while delivering a reliable cost-effective supply of fuel for advanced reactors," Landrey continued.

A New Fuel Plant

Pyroprocessing uses molten salts and electricity to separate and recover valuable nuclear materials from highly radioactive waste. It is believed to offer improved efficiency and proliferation resistance.

The technology would reduce waste volumes while extracting additional energy from used fuel. When paired with fast reactors, it could reportedly unlock up to 100 times more energy from uranium than traditional reactors.

According to ANL, the technology could provide a long-term supply of affordable uranium fuel. By recycling all actinides, radioactive chemical elements that follow actinium in the Periodic Table, the process could significantly reduce the amount of nuclear waste produced.

It could also lower the time the waste must remain isolated from roughly 300,000 years to 300 years. "Having the IP and facility design as a starting point places our effort at a high level of maturity, improving certainty through reduced technical, regulatory, and investment risk," Landrey concluded in a press release.

ANL's support will be led by Yoon Il Chang, PhD, a senior nuclear project director and ANL distinguished fellow, who created the pyroprocessing technology.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 22:35

Threat Of 2030s Lunar War Has NASA, Elon Musk Racing To Build Major Moon Base

NASA unveiled plans earlier this week for a lunar base as the U.S. finds itself locked in a multi-domain race with China, one that stretches across energy, compute, weapons, drones, trade, rare earths, shipbuilding, and now the Moon.

The next front with Beijing is no longer just about returning humans to the lunar surface. It is about establishing permanent infrastructure, securing access to lunar resources, and eventually determining whether the U.S. or China will set the rules for space in the 2030s and beyond. 

Elon Musk commented on NASA's X release about the new lunar base, saying, "Time to build a major base on the Moon!"

Time to build major base on the Moon! https://t.co/frVoXiV0tn

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 26, 2026

So why the sudden urgency for NASA to establish a lunar base?

A new Mitchell Institute policy report says the U.S. Space Force should prepare to put active-duty Guardians on space stations and eventually on the Moon to counter China's military-led space ambitions.

The paper noted: "With a potential 'in-person' lunar conflict with China as the contextual touchstone, the U.S. must begin a pragmatic, multi-decade effort, leveraging its Space Test Course (STC), as well as partnerships with NASA and commercial space companies, to deliver the skills, tools, and concepts needed for future Title 10 activities to enforce U.S. spacepower-enabling norms and standards." It added, "These efforts will require additional funding from Congress for both U.S. Space Force human spaceflight opportunities and residencies at commercial space stations."

The 22-page policy report frames the Moon as the next great-power battleground, warning that competition over lunar resources, territory, logistics routes, and future space infrastructure could eventually turn into conflict.

"Competition for control of lunar resources and territory will likely reach a tipping point, at which time the modern-day space race could turn into conflict. The anarchic nature of the Moon combined with China's record of belligerent use of hard power yields a predictable future where United States lunar interests are put at risk," the paper warned.

The think tank noted, "U.S. national security, strength, and prosperity are dependent on securing space dominance in ways that require Title 10 authorities, to include space and lunar habitation." 

In other words, astronauts and commercial crews would not have the training, legal authority, or warfighting mandate needed to defend U.S. lunar interests. 

From spy-movie parody Austin Powers ... 

Lunar wars in the 2030s? 

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 22:10

Judge Declines To Block Trump's Order On Mail-In Voting

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

A federal judge on May 28 allowed President Donald Trump's administration to implement an executive order imposing restrictions on mail-in voting.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, based in Washington, rejected a request from Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), for an injunction against the order.

US President Donald Trump walks towards the Rose Garden for a "Rose Garden Club" dinner in honor of Police Week at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 11, 2026. Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images

Absent an injunction, the federal government would compile lists of U.S. citizens and would coerce states into only allowing people on the lists to register to vote and vote in elections, even though the sources for the list are known to be deficient, plaintiffs argued in court filings.

Nichols disagreed, writing in a 26-page decision that while the order directed federal officials to compile the lists, it "does not mandate any action by a State once a List has been transmitted to it, and in any event, no infrastructure for compilation or transmission of the Lists has been established."

The situation may change if the U.S. Postal Service issues a final rule affecting plaintiffs, or if the government develops lists that erroneously omit certain individuals, the judge said.

"Plaintiffs may, of course, renew their motions if and when those future actions occur," he wrote. "Until then, however, Plaintiffs cannot show that preliminary injunctive relief is warranted."

The development means Trump and the federal government can implement the order, but the case will continue.

Trump signed the order on March 31. It states that only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections and that new measures were necessary to "enhance election integrity" for mail-in ballots, which have become increasingly used in recent years.

It directed the secretary of homeland security to compile lists of adult citizens living in each state and to transmit the lists to each state. It also said that the U.S. Postal Service shall propose new rules specifying that all ballots must be mailed in envelopes marked for elections, and that the service "shall not transmit mail-in or absentee ballots from any individual unless those individuals" are on the citizenship lists.

"The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary. It's horrible what has been going on," Trump said when signing the order. "If you don't have honest voting, you can't have, really, a nation."

Democrats said the order exceeded a president's authority and disrupted state oversight of elections.

"President Trump has tried again and again to rewrite election rules for his own perceived partisan advantage," their complaint said, noting that a similar order from Trump, signed in 2025, has been blocked by courts.

Government lawyers told Nichols in a recent filing that the litigation was premature, given that agencies had not taken any steps to implement the order.

A woman casts her mail-in vote at an official ballot drop box in Washington on Nov. 5, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 21:45

Visualizing The Beef-Margin Bloodbath Behind Tyson CEO's Exit

Tyson Foods CEO Donnie King is stepping down after five years at the helm of the nation's largest meatpacker, with the stock having languished under his tenure as the company battled some of the worst cattle-market conditions in a generation.

Jeff Schomburger, a long-time Tyson board member, will become president and CEO on October 4. King, a 43-year Tyson veteran, will remain on the board and help with the transition beginning in July.

"The board and I are confident in Jeff Schomburger's ability to lead Tyson Foods into its next chapter of growth," said John Tyson, Chairman of the Board of Tyson Foods.

He added, "The Board looks forward to working with Jeff to drive sustainable growth, enhance shareholder value, and build on the strong momentum Tyson Foods has established."

"Donnie King's long tenure at Tyson Foods, including his leadership as CEO, has strengthened our business and shaped our culture," Tyson said. "We are grateful for his steady guidance and look forward to continuing to leverage his expertise within the Board."

Shares of Tyson have severely underperformed under King's tenure, down around 18% as of Wednesday's close.

King's exit comes after Tyson navigated one of the tightest U.S. cattle markets in decades, which pressured its beef business and contributed to losses in the segment.

There is some good news for Schomburger: The U.S. cattle herd rebuilding phase is underway, as initial 2026 data show a higher year-over-year heifer retention rate, according to Rabobank analysts.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 21:20

Treasury Appointees Push To Put Trump's Face On A Brand-New $250 Bill

Two political appointees at the Treasury Department spent months pressing Bureau of Engraving and Printing staff to develop prototypes for a $250 bill bearing Donald Trump's portrait, even as bureau officials repeatedly warned them the project had no legal foundation and could take nearly a decade to execute properly, the Washington Post reports.

U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach and senior adviser Mike Brown, both political appointees, began pushing bureau staff last year to prepare designs for the note. Beach handed over mock-up materials in August and September, including a design placing Trump's face at the center of the bill, flanked by Trump's and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's signatures. The effort would mark the first time a living person appeared on U.S. currency since 1866, and current employees, speaking anonymously out of fear of retaliation, claim the internal pressure was real.

The artist behind the designs, British painter Iain Alexander, said he discussed the project directly with Trump and received feedback on specifics. "He likes to call me his favorite British artist," Alexander said.

Trump reportedly pushed for American flag colors and a "250" logo tied to the nation's semiquincentennial, and Alexander said Trump "absolutely loved" the proposed reverse side of the note, which would feature a women's liberation theme with Betsy Ross.

Bureau director Patricia "Patty" Solimene, a 24-year Army veteran and the first woman to lead the bureau, told Beach and Brown plainly that the project was unauthorized. One employee described her position this way: "She had told them we're not authorized to do this. We can't progress any further, and all the stakeholders have not even met to discuss the next steps." The same employee noted that "currency often takes six to eight years to produce a new bill, particularly one of such high value."

Solimene was reassigned from her position on April 27. The following day, she sent a farewell email to staff that read, in part, "The buck stopped here," and acknowledged the move was "not my choice." Brown subsequently became the bureau's acting director. Treasury declined to comment on the circumstances of Solimene's reassignment, and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Legally, the proposed bill faces several obstacles. Federal law restricts living individuals from appearing on U.S. currency, a rule that has been on the books for over 150 years. Beyond the portrait question, the bureau is authorized to produce only specific denominations, and $250 is not among them. Former bureau director Larry R. Felix explained that "a $250 note is not statutorily authorized" without congressional action, adding, "The secretary has to be given authority to do that." Alexander said he, too, had been told legislation was necessary.

And it is unlikely that Congress would approve it. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) previously introduced a bill in February 2025 directing the Treasury to issue $250 Federal Reserve notes featuring Trump's image, tied to the 250th anniversary celebrations beginning in July. The bill stalled in the House Financial Services Committee and did not receive a hearing.

A department spokesperson said the bureau is "conducting appropriate planning and due diligence" and would proceed with a commemorative $250 note only if Congress passes the required legislation. Treasury also said Beach has "never asked staff to print the bill before congressional passage." At the same time, the department confirmed Bessent would recognize Trump's "historic achievements" by adding his signature to existing currency, noting no law prohibits a sitting president's signature on bills. Solimene and her staff had separately agreed to print $100 bills featuring Trump's signature, which employees said were already in production at the bureau's Washington facility.

What's next?

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 17:20

DOJ Launches Criminal Probe Into E. Jean Carroll Over Alleged Perjury In Trump Lawsuits

The Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the veteran advice columnist and author who won two major civil lawsuits against President Donald Trump, CBS News reports. Carroll accused Trump of sexually abusing her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s and then defaming her when he denied the encounter ever happened.

The probe focuses on Carroll's 2022 deposition. She stated under oath that no outside parties were helping fund her cases. Later it came out that a nonprofit backed by billionaire Reid Hoffman – a sharp Trump critic and major Democratic donor – had covered some of her costs.

The investigation is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Illinois, led by Trump-appointed Andrew Boutros. No charges have been brought yet, and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has stepped aside from the matter.

The Core Allegation: A Deposition Discrepancy

During her October 2022 deposition, when asked directly if anyone else was paying her legal fees, Carroll said she was on a contingency arrangement with her lawyers and denied any outside funding. But in April 2023, her team disclosed that money had come from American Future Republic, a nonprofit largely funded by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.

Her lawyers called it an honest oversight – she simply forgot about the arrangement at the time. Trump’s side, however, called it suspicious and potentially damaging to her credibility.

The Carroll-Trump Verdicts

The lawsuits ended with big wins for Carroll:

• In 2023, a jury held Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, awarding Carroll about $5 million.
• In 2024, a second jury slapped him with an $83.3 million defamation verdict.

Trump has vigorously appealed both outcomes, describing the entire process as a politically driven effort against him.

The Reid Hoffman Connection

Reid Hoffman has never hidden his dislike for Trump, and he’s poured tens of millions into Democratic causes over the years. He defended funding Carroll’s case as a way to make sure an ordinary person could afford to take on someone as powerful as a former president.

As the NLPC noted in March of 2025: 

Through yet another nonprofit (or possibly the same one), Hoffman also paid the legal bills for Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll, who sued him for defamation over her allegations of rape against him going back to the 1990s. To set the stage for the lawsuit to be able to move forward – through yet another secretive nonprofit group backed by Hoffman – Carroll told CNN that she helped New York Democrats to pass a new law in 2022 to extend the statute of limitations for sexual assault civil lawsuits beyond 20 years, which enabled her to sue President Trump during a one-year window. And Hoffman also said last year, just days before the assassination attempt in Butler, Pa., that he wished he could have made Trump a real “martyr.”

The investigation is still in its early days. Prosecutors will be digging through transcripts, financial records, emails, and anything else that might show whether Carroll intentionally misled the court.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 17:00

Next Drone War: Hidden Shipping Containers Launching Kamikaze Swarms

Continuing our theme that the endgame in drone warfare is nowhere near complete, and in many ways is only just beginning, a U.S. company called DZYNE Technologies has developed a containerized mass-launch system for kamikaze drones.

Under the guise of a regular shipping container, DZYNE's BlitzBox signals the next phase of drone wars: not just cheaper drones, but the ability to launch them at scale from concealed, mobile, and rapidly deployable platforms. 

The American company Dzyne has introduced the BlitzBox system, a container for covertly launching a swarm of attack drones. On the outside, it looks like an ordinary cargo box, but inside, it can hold up to 100 Blitz drones, ready to launch in minutes.#DroneWars #UAS #UAV pic.twitter.com/w9aRaZYrCZ

— Drone Wars (@Drone_Wars_) May 27, 2026

The battlefield is shifting from individual launches to containerized swarm warfare, where dozens or even hundreds of low-cost suicide drones can be launched in waves to overwhelm some of the most advanced air defense systems, strike high-value assets, or generate mass effects at relatively low cost.

DZYNE's Connor Toler told defense tech outlet TWZ that BlitzBox can be operated with as much human control or automated functionality as the mission requires.

Toler noted that DZYNE is working on a 40-foot shipping container capable of launching upwards of 100 one-way attack drones.

He added that DZYNE has already "worked with several customers across the DOW [Department of War]" regarding the BlitzBox.

The drone playbook with BlitzBox appears similar to Ukraine's move about a year ago, where a box truck full of attack drones was deployed deep within Russia to strike several long-range bombers on the tarmac of a military base.

Asymmetric and irregular warfare is shifting into hyperdrive. As we've noted, Ukraine has become the world's AI weapons laboratory, and the drone wars are still only in their opening chapters. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 16:40

US To Start New Trade Talks With Mexico

Authored by Tom Gantert via The Epoch Times,

The Trump administration said Wednesday it will begin a series of trade negotiations with Mexico this week tied to the first review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), with no talks involving Canada announced so far.

The talks are part of the first formal review process for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement since it replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer speaks during a tour of the Atomic Industries manufacturing facility in Warren, Mich., on April 9, 2026. AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

The U.S. Trade Representative's office said the negotiations will focus on economic security, industrial rules of origin, agriculture, and maintaining what it described as a "level playing field" for American workers and businesses. Rules of origin determine how much of a product must be manufactured within North America to qualify for tariff-free treatment under the trade pact.

The announcement made no mention of negotiations involving Canada, despite the agreement formally including all three North American countries.

U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) stated on X that the first review of the USMCA "will be a key test of whether the pact reinforces confidence in the North American market or creates more uncertainty."

"The prices of fertilizer, fuel, and equipment, and whether corn, soybeans, and pork have steady buyers, all hinge on the outcome," Young wrote.

Young said the USMCA "is not perfect" and said that Mexico's threats against U.S. corn products and Canada's import controls of its dairy market "should be confronted directly."

The United States expects tariffs to be part of trade negotiations with Mexico this week as officials begin discussions on renewing the USMCA, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said May 26.

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C., Greer said President Donald Trump remains concerned about the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico and indicated tariffs would remain part of U.S. trade policy. He also said negotiators are expected to discuss increasing requirements for American-made content in goods produced in North America.

Greer said Mexico has benefited from U.S. efforts to diversify supply chains away from China and said the administration wants a broader distribution of production. He added that the United States wants more supply chains based in the Americas following shortages experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Greer said negotiations with Mexico are expected to be productive, but described trade talks with Canada as more difficult. Canada and China were the only countries that retaliated against the United States over tariffs.

U.S. officials said the negotiations are intended to strengthen North American manufacturing and reduce reliance on overseas supply chains.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 15:20

Trump Dismisses Delaney Hall Protesters As 'Paid' Amid Growing Scrutiny Of ICE Detention Facility

Authored by Evgenia Filimianova via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump has dismissed protesters outside a New Jersey immigration detention facility as “fake” and “paid for” as demonstrations intensified and Democratic lawmakers demanded investigations into conditions inside the center.

Video footage from the scene showed protesters clashing with ICE agents outside the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, on May 25 as tensions escalated over immigration enforcement.

Speaking during a Cabinet meeting on May 27, Trump praised federal immigration officials amid allegations of medical neglect and “perpetrating cruelty” against people.

“These aren’t protesters,” Trump said. “These people are fake. They’re all paid for.”

President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin weighed in on anti-ICE protesters at Delaney Hall in NJ.

Here's why Trump called the protesters "fake": https://t.co/IkJdGqtR2l pic.twitter.com/HXTpL2cRui

— PIX11 News (@PIX11News) May 27, 2026

Trump also said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials “run the finest facilities anywhere in the world of their type.”

The comments came after days of protests outside Delaney Hall, where detainees and family members accused officials of poor medical care and mistreatment inside the privately run immigration detention center.

The controversy escalated this week after Reps. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.) and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) conducted an oversight visit at the Newark facility.

Nadler said in a May 27 post on X that what he observed inside the detention center was “deeply disturbing” and warranted further investigation.

“The medical neglect—denying people access to potentially life-saving care and withholding necessary medicine—is abhorrent,” Nadler wrote, calling for Delaney Hall to be closed immediately.

Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said he rushed to the facility on May 24 after hearing detainees had launched a hunger strike.

In a series of May 24 posts on X, Kim described seeing an 18-year-old high school student “crying and saying she just wanted to graduate senior year,” a pregnant woman allegedly unable to receive full obstetric care, and another woman who allegedly suffered a miscarriage while detained.

Kim said that the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are spending “tens of billions of dollars” on detention policies that he described as “perpetrating cruelty against people.”

Trump Administration Rejects Allegations

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rejected accusations surrounding conditions inside Delaney Hall and said that Democratic politicians are spreading misinformation about the facility.

DHS said in a May 25 statement that detainees receive “3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries.”

The agency also said detainees have access to phones, lawyers, and medical care, including dental and mental health services.

“For many illegal aliens, this is the best healthcare they have received their entire lives,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stand near a gate at a detention centre in Newark, N.J., on May 7, 2025. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

She said the actions of those she described as “sanctuary politicians” were a political stunt for fundraising clicks.

“There is no hunger strike at Delaney Hall. There are no subprime conditions or abuse at the facility,” Bis said.

Kim alleged on May 24 that he had seen hunger strikes at the center.

Delaney Hall houses individuals accused or convicted of crimes, including murder, sexual assault, and drug trafficking, the DHS said.

“These types of smears are contributing to our officers facing a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them as they remove the worst of the worst,” Bis said.

During the Cabinet meeting, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin criticized Democrats for protesting outside the facility.

“It shows the radical left Democrats’ priorities,” Mullin said, describing detainees as “rapists, child predators, murderers,” and drug dealers.

He also said that local police have refused to intervene during demonstrations.

Mullin also dismissed reports of a hunger strike, saying only a small number of detainees had refused food because they wanted meals tied to their ethnic preferences.

He said detainees were receiving adequate food, sanitation, and care, adding, “This isn’t Holiday Inn.”

Protests outside Delaney Hall have continued for days as immigration activists, community groups, and Democratic officials demand greater transparency over conditions inside the detention center.

Trump said protesters carried professionally produced signs.

“You can see by the signs,” Trump said during the Cabinet meeting. “The signs are all made by the same beautiful factory.”

Delaney Hall is owned and operated by private prison contractor GEO Group under a 15-year contract with ICE. The group announced the contract in February 2025.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 14:40

NANO Nuclear Demonstrates Key Supply Chain Role Covered By Recent Acquisition

NANO Nuclear Energy connected the dots on two stories we’ve been following closely. 

$NNE pleased to announce "Recently Acquired NANO Nuclear Subsidiary Secured Transportation Services (STS) Completes Three DOE and NNSA Aligned Nuclear Materials Transport Missions" The completed missions include a record-setting international shipment of high-assay low-enriched… pic.twitter.com/XuVYrFZn1o

— NANO Nuclear Energy (NASDAQ: NNE) (@nano_nuclear) May 28, 2026

The company's recently acquired subsidiary, Secured Transportation Services (STS), served as prime logistics contractor for the largest single international HALEU shipment in NNSA history (1.7 metric tons) from Japan, plus support for removing 13.5 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from Venezuela’s dormant RV-1 research reactor.

NANO also notes they transported an additional shipment of HALEU for advanced reactor testing in the US. 

As we covered recently, the NNSA framed the Japan transfer as a landmark win for America’s advanced nuclear fuel supply and nonproliferation goals. The Venezuela operation eliminated a long-standing proliferation risk in the Western Hemisphere. Logistics details stayed quiet at the time.

NANO acquired STS for $13 million. The deal instantly converted the pre-revenue microreactor developer into a revenue-generating business. STS posted roughly $1.3 million in profits for the twelve months ended December 31, 2025. 

Today’s update revealed that STS was the lead operator behind those exact missions. The company handled international licensing, maritime transport, port operations, security planning, customs, and final overland delivery for the Japan campaign; the full scope of a record-setting effort. 

It also provided planning and U.S. domestic transfer support for the Venezuela HEU removal and executed another domestic HALEU run supporting fuel qualification programs.

This is real execution on the logistics side of the nuclear supply chain, one of the parts that has been painfully missing from America’s broader nuclear comeback.
 

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 14:15

Federal Judge Given "Private Reprimand" After Holding Sexual Trysts In Chambers... And Then Lying About It

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

There is a bizarre controversy out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, where a federal judge has been reprimanded for engaging in repeated, loud sexual encounters during office hours in chambers with a police officer. While the judge lied to investigators and disrupted the work of court staff, the Eleventh Circuit decided to give only a “private reprimand” and to withhold the identity of the district court judge. However, legal sleuths have pieced together clues and identified one judge in Atlanta as the likely culprit.

In February, the Judicial Council issued an order with a “private reprimand.” The order contained an array of details that law professor John Blackman analyzed with impressive research. While he admits that he cannot conclusively prove that she is the referenced judge, he declared that “there is only one judge who checks all of those boxes: District Court Judge Eleanor Ross.”

Ironically, among the clues about the judge’s identity, the order mentions that the judge attended the “victory party for a District Attorney” in 2024, the night before “the judge’s summer interns’ first day.” The Georgia primary was on May 21, 2024, and the date coincides with the victory party for Fani Willis, who won the Democratic primary for Fulton County District Attorney. The irony would be crushing since Willis destroyed her own case against Trump and his associates after appointing an attorney with whom she had a sexual relationship.

Putting the judge’s identity aside, I am more concerned with the Circuit’s conclusion that the judge should be left with a private, anonymous reprimand, given the astonishing scope of the misconduct found by the Judicial Council.

The Court describes repeated sexual encounters during office hours that were so audible that clerks and staff were left in uncomfortable silence. The other individual is described as “a high-ranking PD officer.” The court states that

“It is also worth noting the fact that the Subject Judge created a vulnerability to extortion. For two years, the Subject Judge was a federal district judge who routinely heard criminal cases engaged in a secret extramarital relationship with a prominent officer of a large law enforcement agency in the judge’s district—with the affair consisting of sexual intercourse in the Subject Judge’s chambers during working hours.”

The Court describes the awkward moments as staff were subjected to moans and noises from the judge’s chambers as these trysts took place. The court recounts:

“The Subject Judge characterized the allegations as ‘outrageous’ and ‘baseless’ and specifically denied each one.11 Apparently aware that Law Clerk A was the source of the allegations, the Subject Judge noted that the judge had repeatedly chastised Law Clerk A for performance issues, including ‘being on [the clerk’s] cell phone in court and in the office,’ ‘arriving to the office late,’ and wearing attire that the judge considered ‘too casual.’ The Subject Judge implied that Law Clerk A might have made allegations as a means of retaliating against the Subject Judge.”

So this judge not only lied but attacked the clerk. The court order contained emails and communications in which the judge states that the clerk is disgruntled and unreliable. The result was an investigation as the judge continues to lie about the long-standing affair.

The other individual is described solely as a high-ranking police officer.

This is an extraordinary and serious series of ethical violations. It directly undermined the integrity of the court and created a dysfunctional work environment. The officer and the department are likely parties in cases before the court. The judge must be independent in dealing with officers and the department. The use of the chambers for sexual encounters must have created a hostile work environment for many clerks and staff.

Then there are the repeated lies to fellow judges and investigators. Lying to federal investigators can be a crime under 18 U.S.C. 1001, and such cases can come before this judge.

All of this leaves me baffled about the decision to enter a private reprimand. The judge agrees not to serve as Chief Judge or take positions on judicial committees. Yet the judge is allowed to continue to perform that most important function of being a judge. More importantly, counsel and parties are left without confirmation of the judge’s identity. There are myriad cases in which a judge could have a conflict of interest. Parties should be able to raise such conflicts rather than be left wondering if they have “that judge” in random assignments.

The use of court property for sexual liaisons with a police officer and then lying about it should warrant a bit more than an anonymous order, private reprimand, and a waiving of future positions. This judge, who has shown serious ethical concerns, will continue to render judgments on others.

If an officer had repeatedly lied to the court, would the contempt citation for the individual be anonymous with only voluntary waivers of future positions?

In the end, determining the identity of the judge is less challenging than the reasoning of the Judicial Council.

Here is the opinion: Eleventh Circuit Order

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 14:05

Florida Governor Calls For Special Session To Eliminate Property Tax For Homeowners

Authored by Jacki Thrapp via The Epoch Times,

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 27 called for a special legislative session to pass his plan to exempt homeowners from paying property taxes on their permanent residence.

The Republican governor revealed his plans to sign a proclamation that would require state lawmakers to convene in Tallahassee and discuss his “Save Our Homes” proposal starting on June 1.

“Taxing something that you own repeatedly, which is a property tax, is the worst way to do taxation,” DeSantis said in a news conference on May 27.

DeSantis said he hopes that eliminating taxes from Florida homesteads could be a bipartisan effort.

“You pay all these taxes to acquire that property, and then year after year, you’re just having to write a check just for the privilege of being able to maintain ownership of something that is supposedly yours,” he said.

The proposal contemplates phasing in the exemption and creating a state trust fund to compensate local governments for lost revenue. Because the measure would involve a change to the Florida Constitution, if it passes the state Senate and state House, which are both Republican-controlled, it would need to be approved by voters in November.

Property tax revenue collected by local governments in the Sunshine State has nearly doubled in seven years, to $60 billion from $32 billion, according to the governor’s office.

DeSantis wants to make local governments use property taxes only for core public needs such as public safety, education, infrastructure, and natural resources.

The proposal would require new Florida residents to maintain residency for up to five years before they can receive the homestead exemption.

The proclamation comes as the term-limited Republican nears the end of his term as governor, set for Jan. 5, 2027.

“I want to make sure people can go and vote for something, and then see something that’s going to be very, very meaningful in their lives, and the way to do that is to focus on the homestead property owners,” he said.

Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell warned that eliminating property taxes would have “devastating consequences” for county budgets.

“We’re open to solutions that create affordability but not at the expense of working families, our small businesses and local governments who rely on property taxes to repair roads, provide public safety through law enforcement and police department and fire to maintain beautiful parks and support our schools and so much more,” she said.

Driskell suggested that the governor’s focus on eliminating property taxes was a “distraction” from the state’s skyrocketing property insurance rates, as well as grocery and gas prices.

The Miami-Dade Democratic Party previously warned in November 2025 that eliminating homestead property taxes could cause budget shortfalls, which could result in local governments raising the sales tax to make up for lost funds.

By contrast, the proposal was welcomed by state Sen. Ben Albritton, a Republican, who urged his peers to act quickly.

“All Senators are encouraged to watch this meeting and to be prepared for the Floor on Tuesday and, if necessary, Wednesday,” Albritton wrote in a memorandum on May 27.

The Epoch Times contacted the Florida Senate Democratic Caucus for comment but did not hear back by time of publication.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 13:30

Stellar 7 Year Auction Sees 3rd Highest Foreign Award On Record

In the week's final coupon auction, the US Treasury sold $44 billion in 7 Year notes to stellar demand. 

Extending on the strength yesterday's solid (if tailing) 5 Year auction, today's 7 Year sale printed at a high yield of 4.290%, up from 4.175% and the highest since Jan 2025. It also stopped through the When Issued 4.291% by 0.1bps, the first stop through since December 2025.

The bid to cover was 2.518, up from 2.513 and the highest since July 2025; it was obviously higher than the six-auction average of 2.478.

The internals were stellar, with Indirects surging from April's los 58.35% to a stunning 78.39%, the 3rd highest indirect award on record!

Naturally, for Indirects to soar this much, one of the other two categories had to drop, and sure enough Directs plunged from 30.01% to 11.19%, the lowest since December 2024. Dealers were left largely unchanged at 10.42%, down from 11.64%.

Overall, this was a fitting close to a solid week for Treasury auctions, as today's 7Y auction was an absolutely blockbuster, with all metrics stronger but it was the surge in foreign demand that was the showstopper. It appears that EMs are no longer dumping US paper - which they did in record mounts in March and April - to fund oil purchases and to prevent their currencies from crashing. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 13:22

EU Wants Crisis Powers To Seize Control Of Chip Supplies, Seeks Restrictions On Chinese Imports

The EU - which is badly lagging the rest of the world when it comes to AI development - is preparing sweeping emergency powers to intervene in Europe’s semiconductor supply chains during shortages, including by forcing chipmakers to override existing contracts, the FT reported. So much for the sanctity of those "contract-backed" backlogs... 

The draft law also enables common purchasing to boost the bloc’s negotiating power, and would mark a clear expansion of the EU’s powers to intervene directly in industrial supply chains.

Amid tensions between Beijing and Washington, there are growing fears in Europe that semiconductors can become a tool of economic coercion, heightened by European reliance on Taiwan for high-performance chips.

The clearest example of Europe's heavy hand was laid bare last year when the Dutch government took control of chipmaker Nexperia from its Chinese owner over concerns that it was moving production and assets out of Europe. The flow of chips from Nexperia’s China arm slowed dramatically, forcing some European car companies to reduce production.

The Dutch government last year took control of chipmaker Nexperia from its Chinese owner over concerns it was moving production out of Europe

The draft law, which is still subject to change ahead of its expected publication next week, would allow the European Commission far-reaching powers in the event of semiconductor shortages that threaten supplies of weapons, medical devices, digital infrastructure and other key categories of goods. In such a crisis, the Commission could impose fines of up to €300,000 on companies that fail to provide requested information on their supply-chain capacity. It could also “force semiconductor manufacturers to prioritize orders for crisis-critical products, overriding existing contracts”, the draft reads.

Brussels could also enable common purchasing to “strengthen negotiating power and prevent competition between EU countries for limited supplies”. The Commission would then act as a central buyer for multiple EU countries, as it did to acquire vaccines during the pandemic.

According to the FT, the so-called Chips Act forms part of a wider push from the bloc to reduce its dependence on US technology by backing European alternatives in sectors from semiconductors and cloud computing to AI. In the document, Brussels acknowledges that the bloc is “almost entirely dependent on the US and Asia” for the most advanced chips.

Semiconductor supply chains are vast and complex, with a typical Nvidia system tapping thousands of suppliers in dozens of countries. And yet, the EU currently produces less than 10% of global semiconductors. Earlier plans to double the EU’s global market share in semiconductors by 2030 are far behind schedule.

The bloc, like the rest of the world, is overwhelmingly dependent on Taiwan for its supply of high-performance chips, with the home of semiconductor company TSMC accounting for more than 90 per cent of leading-edge chip manufacturing. China has made repeated threats to use force against Taiwan if Taipei continues to resist its sovereignty claims. Any conflict in the region could cause global shortages of components critical to electronics from smartphones and AI data centres to cars and medical gear. 

Separately, the Guardian reports that EU commissioners will meet on Friday for talks aimed at imposing new restrictions on imports from China amid growing concern that Beijing is fuelling conditions for US-style rust belt towns in Europe.

The surge in imports of everything from electric cars to key components in machines, medical devices and food stuffs - which many including us warned long ago would lead to collapsing European domestic production as Chinese exports are dumped in European markets and overwhelm local producers - has been dubbed China Shock 2.0, potentially mirroring the experience in the US 25 years ago when Beijing joined the World Trade Organization.

Ironically, it was the Trump administration which warned that Europe's attempts to offset US sanctions by overreliance on China, would lead to just this outcome. Well, Europe is now there. 

Commissioners representing each member state have been asked to bring examples of Chinese activities in all 27 portfolios, spanning trade to agriculture, defence, health and digital initiatives to the talks. While no decisions would be taken on Friday but the talks would help “align” the commission’s thinking and address overproduction in China, which is leading imports into the EU to be sometimes up to 40% cheaper than local products.

It will also feed into the next leaders summit on 18 June when China will be one of the handful of items on the agenda.

Ignacio García Bercero, a senior fellow at the Brussels thinktank Bruegel and a former official at the European Commission’s trade department, said the EU needed to formulate “a clearer strategy about how to deal with China”.

He said quotas and tariff rate quotas could be introduced on Chinese goods, as they were safeguards that were much faster to implement than tariffs and could focus on areas that China is targeting, such as hybrid cars and chemical components.

“I think that sometimes there’s a little bit of a tendency to sound very tough, but then not to act tough, and I don’t think that is a clever way to handle things.”

He said while showing it was prepared to act, the EU must also engage with China.

“The US has an engagement with China, Canada has an engagement with China. Everyone is having an engagement with China. I think in my view … we need to find a way to make sure that we are properly respected by China when we have that engagement.”

Earlier this month industry leaders told the Guardian of fears that EU factories would cannabilise themselves through their reliance on Chinese components, an issue which rarely makes the headlines.

Longer term, the EU could also look to a slew of laws: its never used anti-coercion instrument; legislation such as the cybersecurity act 2.0 that could stop procurement of certain Chinese products and the industrial accelerator act commonly known as the “made in EU” law.

Grzegorz Stec, the head of the Brussels office of the Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics), said China has not set out to destroy European business but it is potentially the consequence of its steeling focus of the survival of its own industries now, and into a post-AI world future.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 13:00

DOJ Urges Supreme Court To Take Up Case That Could Lead To Pre-Election Voter Roll Cleanups

Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case that could determine whether states are allowed to remove noncitizens from their voter rolls in the 90 days leading up to an election.

In the case, the DOJ argues that the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 does not prevent states from taking noncitizens off voter rolls before elections.

The National Voter Registration Act is also known as the Motor-Voter law because it allows people to register to vote with relative ease at motor vehicle agencies and government offices. The NVRA requires states to make a reasonable effort to remove ineligible individuals’ names from voter rolls, but a federal appeals court ruled that names cannot be removed in the 90 days before an election.

The DOJ made its argument on May 26 in a brief urging the high court to grant the petition in Republican National Committee (RNC) v. Mi Familia Vota.

If the Supreme Court grants the RNC’s petition, states may be allowed to purge voter rolls close to elections.

Arizona law allows only U.S. citizens to vote in federal elections. It requires people registering to vote to produce documentary proof of citizenship, such as a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization papers. It also allows the names of noncitizens to be removed from voter rolls.

If election officials procure “information” from periodic inspections of the state’s voter rolls that confirm a “person registered is not a United States citizen,” they “cancel the registration,” according to the brief.

A 2018 consent decree, reached as part of a court-enforced settlement from a previous lawsuit, required the state to register applicants who lack proof of citizenship as “federal-only” voters who could participate in federal elections but not state or local elections. A consent decree is a legally binding court-enforced settlement made with the consent of the litigants.

Mi Familia Vota and other groups sued, alleging that the Arizona law violates the NVRA and the consent decree.

A federal district court ruled mostly for the plaintiffs, issuing an injunction that blocked certain parts of the state law, including the proof of citizenship requirement, the brief said.

The Supreme Court in August 2024 issued a partial stay of the district court order that allowed Arizona to continue to enforce its proof of citizenship requirement when voters register using state forms.

In February 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the injunction, finding that the consent decree blocks the proof of citizenship requirement and that the NVRA preempts, or supersedes, the requirement—among other things. The appeals court also blocked the removal of names from the voter rolls in the 90-day run-up to an election, a practice it said the NVRA already forbids, according to the brief.

The Supreme Court’s partial stay prevails over the Ninth Circuit’s block of the proof of citizenship requirement. The high court’s stay will remain in effect until the circuit court disposes of the appeal, or the Supreme Court issues a final decision or denies the RNC’s petition for review.

Does Not Apply to Noncitizens: DOJ

The DOJ argues in its brief that the NVRA’s restrictions on taking individuals’ names off the list of eligible voters in the 90 days preceding an election “do not apply to noncitizens who were never eligible to register in the first place.”

The Ninth Circuit’s ruling to the contrary is “badly mistaken,” deepens a split among federal courts of appeals, and “risks significant harm,” said Hashim Mooppan, filing as acting U.S. solicitor general for the purposes of this case. Solicitor General D. John Sauer himself is recused in the case.

Using the reasoning of the Ninth Circuit, “a State could never remove a noncitizen from its voter rolls once registered,” he said.

“That cannot be correct and cries out for reversal,” Mooppan said, urging the Supreme Court to grant the RNC’s petition.

Although the current federal voter registration form requires only that applicants attest that they are citizens, the NVRA gives states the flexibility to mandate that applicants supply documentary proof of citizenship when using state voter registration forms, he said.

Mooppan said the Supreme Court in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona Inc. (2013) gave Arizona’s prior proof of citizenship requirement as an “example” of the rule that “state-developed forms may require information the Federal Form does not.”

The Ninth Circuit’s decision “cannot be reconciled” with this precedent, and the majority on the circuit panel “did not even try,” he said.

The RNC’s petition “presents both of these questions and provides a good vehicle to address them,” Mooppan said.

It is unclear when the Supreme Court will consider the petition.

The Epoch Times contacted the RNC’s attorney, Gilbert Dickey of Consovoy McCarthy in Arlington, Virginia, and Mi Familia Vota’s attorney, David Fox of Elias Law Group in Washington, for comment. No replies were received by publication time.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 12:45

Consumer Isn't Dead Yet: US Retail Stocks Surge As Resilient Shoppers Surprise Markets

The S&P Retail Select Industry Index rose more than 1% Thursday morning as shares of Kohl's, Best Buy, and Dollar Tree surged on better-than-expected earnings results. Results suggest the U.S. consumer was stronger than feared in the prior quarter, even as households were battered by a fuel-price shock at the pump, persistent inflation, and softening confidence, which has led to them draining what little savings they have left.

As Bloomberg notes, the three chains operate in very different parts of the retail sector, yet all surprised investors to the upside in a sign of strength by US consumers who are facing multiple hurdles. Here are the earnings highlights from this morning:

• Kohl's comparable sales declined 1.1%, beating the estimated decline of 1.71%
• Best Buy reported first-quarter sales of $8.9 billion, beating analyst estimates, with comparable sales rising 2%
• Dollar Tree boosted comparable sales 3.5% in the first quarter, topping estimates, driven by a 4.5% gain in average transaction

The result was a surge in their respective stock prices: 

With gas prices soaring since the start of the war in Iran, and workers worried about the impact of artificial intelligence amid still elevated inflation, consumer confidence has collapsed. And yet, Americans are still opening their wallets. US data released Thursday showed that consumer spending edged up in April despite accelerated price increases. In fact, spending growth is now drastically outpacing income growth, in a trend that is certainly unsustainable and the only buffer - personal savings - is rapidly being depleted.

This is unsustainable: personal spending growth is surging while income growth is collapsing, resulting in an extremely rapid drain of personal savings https://t.co/uXTN4wOKNp pic.twitter.com/d0uujZknU0

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 28, 2026

At Kohl’s, stronger-than-expected sales boosted the department-store chain’s turnaround. Electronics seller Best Buy said revenue across major categories gained and this month was off to a strong start. Dollar Tree highlighted that customers spent more per transaction.

“Across all income levels, customers are value focused and definitely prioritizing affordability,” Dollar Tree CEO Creedon said on the earnings call.

Shares of all three retailers jumped on Thursday. Kohl’s soared 25%, followed by Dollar Tree with a 16% advance and Best Buy at a roughly 8% gain.

Despite these results, retailers and consumer brands have been saying throughout this earnings season that there is plenty to worry about. S&P Retail Select Industry Index has been range bound since mid-2025. 

Last week, big-box retailers including Target and Walmart signaled that shoppers remain resilient despite years of elevated inflation. But higher prices on essentials like groceries and gas have squeezed shoppers’ discretionary budgets, pushing them to trade down to cheaper brands and cut back on less essential purchases. Earlier, new personal savings rate data showed that Americans are frantically digging into their savings to keep up with inflation.

Earlier this month, Kraft Heinz CEO Steve Cahillane said lower-income Americans were “literally running out of money at the end of the month” because of higher costs, especially gasoline. 

At Dollar Tree, its lower-income customers are visiting less because of their pressured finances, wrote Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, in a note to clients. The retailer boosted comparable-store sales last quarter 3.5%, but that growth came from a gain in shoppers spending more on each transaction as the number of purchases fell 1%. 

“The trips they’ve cut out are those of a more discretionary nature which, on some level, is pleasing because they’re still using Dollar Tree for essentials,” Saunders said. 

Meanwhile, Burlington Stores shares tumbled 14%, the most since May 2022, despite beating Bloomberg Consensus estimates.

Some chains have kept prices low amid their own rising costs to maintain market share. But it’s not clear how long they can maintaining that strategy. Walmart warned last week that if fuel prices stay at current levels, prices across the board could rise throughout the year.

While wealthier shoppers have been the driving force behind the US consumer economy for some time, even they are feeling pressure and increasingly trading down to cheaper options. Dollar Tree and other low-priced chains have been courting higher-income shoppers, often with great success. That’s a good outcome for these retailers, but raises doubts about the sustainability of these spending levels.

US consumer confidence edged down this month amid anxiety over the economy, according to the Conference Board. Two-thirds of shoppers reported cutting back on spending due rising prices, with many respondents saying they are delaying expensive purchases and buying cheaper versions of the same item.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 12:30

'Tank Bottoms' Loom At Cushing After Across-The-Board Inventory Draws, Another Huge SPR Drain

Oil prices bounced higher overnight after the US and Iran exchanged new strikes despite their purported ceasefire, rekindling uncertainty about an end to the Middle East war.

The latest strikes were the most serious since an April ceasefire, and came despite a series of headlines suggesting talks on a deal were progressing.

"A fresh exchange of strikes between the two countries is testing the fragile ceasefire and forcing a reassessment of the chances of a near-term agreement which can reopen the Strait of Hormuz and dial down the pressure the crisis is putting on the global economy," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

But then, around 1000ET, Axios reports that U.S. and Iranian negotiators have reached an agreement on a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire and launch negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.

That sent oil prices reeling lower...

With the geopolitical headlines so dominant, this morning's official US crude inventory and supply data is taking a back seat to Washington and Tehran again (despite some chunky draws reported by API overnight).

API

• Crude -2.8mm

• Cushing -2.9mm

• Gasoline -3.19mm

• Distillates +1.1mm

DOE

• Crude -3.33mm (-3.2mm exp)

• Cushing -2.79mm - biggest draw since Aug 2023

• Gasoline -2.57mm

• Distillates -2.11mm

Inventories saw across the board drawdowns with Cushing standing out. Distillate draws returned as gasoline stocks fell for the 15th straight week

Source: Bloomberg

'Tank Bottoms' loom as inventory at Cushing is the lowest for this time of year since 2014...

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve saw another major drawdown (over 9mm barrels)...

Source: Bloomberg

US Crude production ticked higher as rig counts are rising rapidly...

Source: Bloomberg

The market has backed away from believing the Axios report (after a denial from Iranian news) and the big draw is helping WTI recover...

"The bigger picture is that crude is still on course for a second weekly decline, suggesting investors are not yet pricing in a worst-case disruption," Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Britzman said.

"For now, the market looks caught between short-term nerves over renewed hostilities and a lingering hope that both sides still have enough incentive to get energy flows moving," he added.

Investment strategist Ed Yardeni wrote in an overnight note that "oil markets will be in dire straits" if the Strait of Hormuz doesn't open soon. He sketched out looming crisis points that have turned the U.S.-Iran negotiation into the "ultimate game of chicken."

The U.S. blockade of Iranian ports means the country's oil industry is producing too much and storage capacity is quickly filling. Yardeni concludes that Iran has until mid- or late June before storage is maxed out, forcing a sharp cut in production to domestic consumption levels. "The toll on Iran's oil industry and its broader economy is certainly one of President Trump's best negotiating cards," he wrote.

Yardeni further notes that oil inventories in Asia are already approaching minimum levels, meaning the war-driven dearth of oil imports will soon lead to shortages.

Europe faces the same situation, possibly by late June.

Yardeni highlighted International Energy Agency Director Faith Birol's warning that depleted stocks and high usage during the summer travel season could push global oil markets into "the red zone in July or August."

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 12:09

Bank Of Canada Warns Markets More Vulnerable To Sharp Correction Due To AI Concentration, Basis Trades

The Bank of Canada said the global financial system has functioned (surprisingly) well through recent global shocks, but underscored the risk of a sharp asset price correction as well as vulnerabilities related to the role hedge funds are playing in debt markets.

The central bank’s 2026 financial stability report released Thursday noted financial asset valuations have continued to rise, while the stock market is increasingly concentrated in a handful of large tech companies that are heavily invested in artificial intelligence. That makes asset managers more vulnerable to a sudden correction, and a negative shock to AI sectors would have an outsized impact on broader stock indexes.

The central bank also reminded markets that the risk of basis trades remains front and center, warning that the increased role of hedge funds in overnight funding markets poses a vulnerability to the overall financial system, Bloomberg reported.

“A sharp pullback in hedge fund activity in government debt markets, for example, could negatively affect the liquidity and functioning of these markets and other fixed income markets. This, in turn, could generate financial system stress,” the report said.

While senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers said individually, these vulnerabilities look “manageable", he added that “the economic and geopolitical environment has become more volatile. And this has made it more likely that a new shock or a combination of shocks could cause several vulnerabilities to crystallize at once."

The report analyzes risks to the Canadian financial system, but doesn’t assign probability and isn’t a projection from the central bank.

Meanwhile for households and businesses, the bank said the main financial health vulnerability relates to a geopolitical or economic shock that leads to a deep recession and a spike in unemployment. While the central bank previously flagged mortgage renewals as a concern, it noted on Thursday that most borrowers have managed this risk well.

“With the final wave of these renewals set to happen over the next 12 months, we expect this risk to have fully passed by the second half of 2027,” Deputy Governor Toni Gravelle said.

While the ratio of household debt to disposable income has increased slightly over the past year, the central bank noted households appear better off when wealth is taken to account.

It attributes that improvement to higher home prices over time, but noted the recent increase in net worth has been driven by gains in financial markets as the housing market softened.

As for Canada’s big banks, the report says they have become more resilient over the past year amid higher profitability and healthy capital buffers.

“They have also set aside additional funds to absorb potential loan losses. This positions them to support the economy and financial system, even in a severe downturn,” Gravelle said.

The report cautioned that in the stress‑test scenario, as unemployment rises and housing prices fall, households and businesses come under significant stress. Rates of mortgage arrears increase and reach a multi‑decade high. Businesses face increased costs and a decline in demand, which pushes corporate default rates close to levels seen during the global financial crisis.

Meanwhile, the aggressive use of repo markets has further increased their importance in Canada’s financial system. More than $130 billion in repo transactions now take place in Canada each day, about double the amount from five years ago. A wide range of market participants use repos to obtain leverage, borrow and lend securities, earn returns on extra cash and manage funding liquidity.

The report cautioned that repo activity is rising in part because more Government of Canada bonds are being issued and traded.

Repos are a flexible and cost‑effective way to finance trading in government bonds and therefore play an important role in facilitating dealers’ market‑making activities. They also allow hedge funds to finance their activities, including basis trades in government bonds and futures. These activities, in turn, support liquidity and efficiency in the markets for government securities.

Government bonds are widely used as collateral and liquid assets to manage risks. They are also used as pricing benchmarks for other securities. Because of this, a disruption in repo markets would have broad implications for the financial system. These include:

• A sudden deleveraging by asset managers. For example, if hedge funds or other asset managers cannot obtain repo funding, they may need to quickly sell government bonds, further reducing market liquidity.
• A reduction in overall market liquidity. Wider bid‑ask spreads and higher trading costs in government bond markets could spill over into other fixed‑income and derivative markets. If this led to significant margin calls, it could result in a liquidity spiral as market participants are forced to sell liquid assets to raise cash.
• Sharp movements in the Canadian Overnight Repo Rate Average (CORRA). This would affect the large numbers of financial instruments that use CORRA as a risk‑free rate, such as interest rate derivatives and floating rate notes.

The report concludes that if any of these situations were to occur, "borrowing costs across the economy would go up, leading to potential second‑round effects."

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 12:00