ZeroHedge News

Tesla Posts Strong Registration Growth Across Europe In May

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 09:45:00 +0000

Tesla Posts Strong Registration Growth Across Europe In May

Tesla showed signs of regaining momentum in Europe during May, posting strong registration growth across several major markets, according to Reuters. New registrations climbed to 1,750 vehicles in Denmark (+136%), 1,690 in Spain (+113%), and 858 in Sweden (+71%), based on data released by local industry groups.

Reuters writes that the trend extended across the region. Norway recorded 3,345 Tesla registrations, up 29% from a year earlier, while France saw registrations rise to 5,446 vehicles—more than seven times last year's level.

The gains come as demand for electrified vehicles continues to strengthen across Europe. Battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and hybrid vehicles represented more than two-thirds of all new registrations in April, with total electrified vehicle registrations increasing roughly 21%, according to ACEA.

Industry observers note that Tesla is benefiting from the overall expansion of the EV market, particularly in Scandinavia, while countries such as Spain are beginning to catch up in adoption. Consumer incentives, emissions-focused policies, and elevated fuel prices are also helping accelerate the shift toward electric mobility.

The recent improvement follows a difficult period for Tesla in Europe. The company lost a significant share of the regional market in 2025 as competition intensified—especially from Chinese manufacturers—while a limited refresh cycle and controversy surrounding CEO Elon Musk also weighed on demand. Registration figures from Germany and the UK, Europe's largest auto markets, are still to come.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/02/2026 - 05:45

Britain's White 'George Floyd' Moment?

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Britain's White 'George Floyd' Moment?

Update: Vickrum Singh Digwa, 23, received a life sentence with a 21-year minimum on Monday for the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak.

Judge William Mousley describes Nowak as a “much-loved, kind, hard-working and ambitious young man, devoted to his family and with a bright future.”

Mousley includes agonizing testimony from Nowak’s family: Nowak’s death has caused his sister’s world to “fall apart,” she said; Nowak’s father describes his son’s death as a “life sentence” for the family.

The judge then details the extensive lies he believes Digwa told to evade responsibility for the murder.

'His murderer was afforded decency. He was believed'

Henry Nowak's father says the 'contrast' in the police's treatment of his son and his murderer is 'unbearable' in a statement after Nowak's killer was sentenced to 21 years in prison. pic.twitter.com/9w8A35hpMp
— GB News (@GBNEWS) June 1, 2026

As Daily Caller noted, Mousley more or less excused the actions of the responding police officers, writing they “honestly believed that there were reasonable grounds for suspecting Henry had committed an offence and arrested him.”

* * *

As Bruce Oliver Newsome detailed earlier via American Greatness, this had all the ingredients (except inverted) to become Britain's white 'George Floyd' moment.

If police see racism before they see a man bleeding out, something has gone profoundly wrong with justice.

Police handcuffed and arrested an 18-year-old while he was bleeding out from multiple stabbings because the stabber, a Sikh, accused the victim, a white man, of racism.

The stabber showed no signs of being the victim of violence. He said the man lying in his own blood on the ground had knocked off his turban in a drunken racist attack. And for that, the police arrested and handcuffed the victim.

The victim had been stabbed once in the face, twice in the legs while trying to escape over a fence, and once in the lung. But somehow the police claim not to have been aware of his wounds.

Vickrum Digwa, the 23-year-old stabber, was carrying two blades: an 8-inch “shastar” openly, and a smaller “kirpan” around his neck and under his clothing. During the trial, the prosecutor said that Digwa had “been training with weapons since the age of 12,” slept with weapons, and used “loving terms” when speaking about the murder weapon.

Digwa’s defense barrister claimed religious allowance for openly carrying knives that are illegal for the rest of us to carry. And the judge instructed the jury to consider whether the stabber had a good reason, such as self-defense or religion, to carry his weapons. The national government says that courts should decide what is legal to carry. The police federation says there is no limit on the size of the blade that can be carried with religious allowance.

Police initially arrested and handcuffed the victim without treating his wounds and without detaining the stabber.

On Thursday, May 28, the stabber was convicted of murder. The court found that the stabber had certainly not told the whole truth. He had told arriving officers of racist provocation but denied stabbing anyone.

There is no evidence for any racism other than the retrospective verbal claims of the stabber and his brother, who arrived after the stabbings and who made a call to emergency services claiming his brother was a victim of racism. He too did not mention any stabbing.

The perp’s father and mother also showed up at the scene. The mother helped to conceal the weapons.

The victim did not know his murderer. The victim was walking home around 11:30 p.m. on December 3, 2025, from a night out with his university soccer team in Southampton. He was well-dressed and well-groomed. He had drunk less alcohol than would have put him over the driving limit. But Digwa claimed to be attacked by a racist drunk. And the police believed him.

What will the consequences for the police entail?

The police force (Hampshire) referred itself for independent investigation but is also making excuses.

They claim that the stabbings were not obvious to officers, despite a trail of blood, and despite the victim repeatedly saying he had been stabbed and couldn’t breathe.

The police force maintains that officers could not have known the victim was suffering from internal bleeding. Yet the victim had been stabbed five times, of which one stabbing went 8 cm (more than 3 inches) into his lung. The blade itself is 21 centimeters (8 inches) long.

The police force isn’t publicly pondering whether the police officers should have examined rather than arrested the victim.

The police force says the victim couldn’t have been saved, but the victim didn’t die for another hour.

The police force says it is the victim of the stabber’s lies and that its officers were obliged to act on the stabber’s false accusations of racial provocation. But aren’t officers trained in judgment, to use their freaking eyes, to not make hasty judgments, and to care for even the perps? Wasn’t the victim’s plight obvious and the other party’s rude behavior equally obvious?

Note that the police force didn’t refer itself for investigation until the day of the conviction, almost six months after the murder.

And the police force still hasn’t released bodycam footage, even though one justification for introducing bodycams was to reassure the public of impartiality in racially sensitive cases, following the BLM explosion in 2020. The trial has concluded, so there can be no concerns around contempt of court by releasing footage.

[ZH: police just released the bodycam - its not embeddable]

Note that in other cases, such as the stabbings of girls at Southport in 2024 and the rape of a child in Nuneaton in 2025, local police, courts, and national government fell over each other to cover up the non-white race of the perpetrators, to warn against white racist misinformation, and even to prosecute some of the supposed misinformers for supposedly promoting hate.

I bet the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) won’t be investigating what journalists and opposition politicians have already identified: the racism of anti-racism.

Matt Goodwin, an academic and candidate for Parliament representing Reform UK, writes that “Henry Nowak now joins a growing list of people that most people in Westminster have probably never heard of—Terence Carney, Thomas Roberts, Victoria Agoglia, Lucy Lowe, Charlene Downes, Wayne Broadhurst, Rhiannon Whyte, among countless more—all of whom happen to belong to the wrong identity group to be considered worthy of serious discussion and attention,” after being murdered or raped by immigrants or the progeny of immigrants.

The Critic’s Tom Jones tweeted that “were the races reversed, this could be a story from the Jim Crow South that became a cause célèbre of the Civil Rights movement.”

The Spectator’s David Shipley wonders whether the police are so primed to posture as anti-racist (that is: anti-white racist) that they were blind to the evidence on and from the victim because he is white and gullible towards the stabber because he is not white.

Ed West, author of the classic The Diversity Illusion, reports that even the prosecutor went out of his way to avoid accusing the perpetrator of racism. “This is not a case about Sikhism. This is not a case about racism. This is a case about murder.” But as Ed West notes, the same defender made this a case of anti-racism.

This is a case with a false accusation of racism and a false justification of anti-racism for homicide, including labeling the victim as racist partly because of his different color.

So isn’t that racist?

You won’t find such questions in the mainstream media. The Guardian does not report the police’s actions at all and was at pains to specify the justifications for carrying a kirpan.

Worst of all, where the BBC reports on the police force’s decision to refer itself for investigation, the BBC goes out of its way to claim that “Digwa . . . had used a blade he said he carried because of his Sikh faith.” In fact, the jury had not formally agreed with that claim from the defense.

Anti-racism is racism, and British police are racist.

The name of the victim is Henry Nowak. Say his name.

And remember his last words: “I can’t breathe.”

But protesters aren’t blockading the streets. Keir Starmer isn’t taking the knee. Politicians aren’t calling on the public to chant his name or his last words, unlike in the case of the career criminal George Floyd, who almost certainly died of a fentanyl overdose.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/02/2026 - 05:00

The Cost Of The Grain That Feeds Half The World Just Posted Biggest Monthly Surge Since 2008

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 08:15:00 +0000

The Cost Of The Grain That Feeds Half The World Just Posted Biggest Monthly Surge Since 2008

Asian rice prices logged their biggest monthly gain in nearly two decades in May, as a Gulf energy shock collides with an expected El Niño event later this year. The spike adds to the mounting risks of a broader food price shock that could emerge as soon as six months from now.

Any time rice prices spike, it is a major concern because the grain feeds more than half the world's population, estimated at 3.5 to 4 billion people.

Thailand white rice, a regional Asian benchmark, surged 20% in May, the largest monthly increase in data going back to 2008, according to Bloomberg. Chicago rice futures rose 15% last month.

Seasonality:

BMI analyst Bin Hui Ong warned that an expected El Niño event later this year will unleash adverse weather conditions across major rice-growing belts in Asia, including hotter, drier conditions. She noted this adds further upside to rice prices in the months ahead.

It is not just the threat of a severe El Niño event on analysts' radars. There are also continued elevated diesel and fertilizer costs tied to disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz. This will further weigh on rice production yields across import-reliant Asia.

Rice farming is already highly fertilizer-intensive, while irrigation systems often depend on diesel-powered pumps.

In Vietnam's Vinh Long province, a farmer told Bloomberg that he plans to skip one of his usual three annual crops due to rising input costs and extreme heat.

Fertilizer prices in Thailand, Cambodia, and the Philippines have soared by nearly 50% since late February, according to the International Rice Research Institute.

The Philippines has warned that a strong El Niño could cut rice production by up to 700,000 tons, or 3.5% of its annual production target.

Already, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of globally traded food commodities, is trending upward and risks a further leg higher.

Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, warned in mid-March that disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz would spark shortages of energy and fertilizers, translating into higher food prices in "six to nine months from now."

Last month, ZeroHedge Debates held a roundtable to ask: How bad will the food inflation mess get?

View here:

Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld outlined where food inflation is expected to hit the hardest, on a country-by-country level, this year (see report)

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/02/2026 - 04:15

Potential Offshore Strike In Norway Could Add Fresh Uncertainty To Global Energy Markets As Wage Talks Collapse

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 07:30:00 +0000

Potential Offshore Strike In Norway Could Add Fresh Uncertainty To Global Energy Markets As Wage Talks Collapse

By Michael Kern of OilPrice.com

A potential strike over wages could threaten smooth operations offshore Norway, Western Europe's top oil and gas producer, at a time when the world is scrambling for oil and gas supply amid the Middle East crisis.

Almost 8% of oil and gas workers offshore Norway could go on a strike from June 5 if trade union negotiations with industry fail to reach an agreement in a government-brokered mediation process, according to data from the labor unions on Monday.

More than 600 workers out of about 8,100 in total offshore Norway could begin a strike later this week, Reuters reported on Monday, citing the office of the government-appointed mediator.

Negotiations between the offshore industry and the workers organized in the Styrke, Lederne, and Safe trade unions continue.

At the end of last week, talks between Offshore Norway, which represents the oil industry in the wage talks, and the unions broke down.

Offshore Norway and the trade union Styrke held negotiations on May 27 on the onshore base agreements, which cover approximately 875 employees at supply bases along the Norwegian coast. But they failed to reach agreement on a new collective agreement for supply base employees.

“By evening, the parties remained too far apart, and the negotiations ended in a breakdown,” Offshore Norway said last Thursday, citing disagreements over advance payment of sickness benefits, parental benefits, and care benefits.

While talks continue, the possibility of a strike is looming over the oil and gas operations offshore Norway. It’s not clear how a strike would affect Norway’s oil and gas output, if at all.

Norway produces more than 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, with oil and gas nearly equally divided at 2 million boepd each. Norway is shipping crude as far as Asia, which struggles without a large part of the Middle Eastern supply. Norway is also Europe’s single biggest gas supplier, having replaced Russia in 2022 when Putin invaded Ukraine.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/02/2026 - 03:30

How Contagious Is Ebola?

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 06:45:00 +0000

How Contagious Is Ebola?

More than 200 people are suspected to have died in Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, according to the latest figures published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 29.

The vast majority of these are in the DRC.

With no vaccine available for this strain, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern on May 17.

As Statista's Anna Fleck details below, Ebola is a severe and often fatal disease which is spread through direct contact with blood, secretions or other bodily fluids of infected individuals or through contact with contaminated surfaces.

There are six strains of Ebola, four of which are known to cause disease in humans, with varying fatality rates.

The Zaire ebolavirus, commonly known as just the Ebola disease, is the most lethal strain, with historical case fatality rates reaching up to 90 percent among those who have not been treated.

The Bundibugyo strain of the ebolavirus is currently causing outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

While the Zaire ebolavirus' basic R₀ value, which is the measure for counting how easily disease spreads, is lower than several other diseases, transmission through close contact makes it highly dangerous in healthcare settings.

According to data published by Encyclopædia Britannica, the average number of people infected by an individual with the Ebola disease is 1.5 to 2.5.

You will find more infographics at Statista

By contrast, the Omicron variant of Covid-19 had a basic R₀ value of spreading to eight to 10 people from every infected individual.

Measles is even more contagious, with a value ranging from 12 to 18.

It is spread by droplets released into the air by coughing and sneezing, with the virus able to remain in the air for up to two hours.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/02/2026 - 02:45

Britain's Nuclear Renaissance Faces Mounting Cost Pressures

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Britain's Nuclear Renaissance Faces Mounting Cost Pressures

Authored by Felicity Bradstock via OilPrice.com,

Sizewell C and Hinkley Point C are expected to play a major role in expanding Britain’s nuclear generation capacity and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
Both projects have faced concerns over delays and rising costs, with Hinkley Point C’s estimated price nearly doubling from its original forecast.
The U.K. aims to increase nuclear capacity to 24 GW by 2050, supported by large-scale reactors and emerging small modular reactor technologies.

The United Kingdom is focused on diversifying its energy mix away from fossil fuels to boost energy security and support decarbonisation aims.

This includes expanding its nuclear power capacity with the development of two large-scale nuclear plants - Sizewell C and Hinkley Point C, as well as developing small modular reactors (SMR).

However, its nuclear ambitions have not quite gone to plan, following years of delays and rising construction costs.

Sizewell C in Suffolk, eastern England, received its planning approval in 2022, was greenlit in 2025, and is expected to be operational by around the late 2030s. Investment for the development comes from the government, EDF Energy, Centrica, La Caisse, and Amber Infrastructure Limited. The project is expected to create 17,000 jobs during peak construction, including 7,900 in Suffolk. Once operational, the nuclear plant will produce up to 3.2 GW of clean electricity to power up to 6 million homes.

The government expects the plant to cost around £38 billion to develop and says it could provide around £2 billion a year in savings from the electricity system, compared to using other low-carbon technologies. However, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the chair of the public accounts committee, which oversees the work of the National Audit Office (NAO), warned that “Sizewell C is a project of exceptional scale, complexity and significance for taxpayers… Experience from comparable nuclear projects in the UK and overseas highlights their vulnerability to delays and cost overruns.”

To date, the French nuclear firm EDF has invested £1.1 billion for a 12.5 percent stake in the project, while the U.K. government has invested £14.2 billion as the majority stakeholder. The NAO fears that if not properly managed, construction could run significantly over budget, as seen with other nuclear developments in recent years. This would make the break-even time much longer for consumers footing the construction costs through their taxes.

The NAO has, therefore, urged the government to mitigate the risk by using “close monitoring, greater transparency to parliament, and by securing value for money from the significant public and private investment”.

Lessons for building Sizewell C come from the construction of EDF’s Hinkley Point C plant, the first nuclear plant to be developed in the U.K. in over a decade. Hinkley Point C was approved by the U.K. government in 2013 and was greenlit in 2016. It is expected to begin operations in 2030, a year later than originally planned.

The project has faced several delays and price increases, the most recent of which was announced by EDF in February, adding a projected £2.16 billion. The plant is now expected to cost around £35 billion in total, almost double the original £18 billion 2016 estimate. EDF’s CEO, Bernard Fontana, said the new forecasts were “more realistic” and said that the 2030 launch of operations was “within a range that has not changed” since 2024, when it said operations would start between 2029 and 2031.

Once operational, Hinkley Point C is expected to provide around 7 percent of Britain’s electricity demand. While EDF’s two U.K. nuclear projects could help diversify the country’s energy mix and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, critics worry that the development of the two plants will face further delays and come in significantly over budget. EDF’s only other nuclear project using the same reactor type, at Flamanville in France, became fully operational in December after a delay of over 12 years; meanwhile, costs soared from an initial estimate of £2.85 billion to over £11.4 billion.

In 2025, the U.K. was deemed the “most expensive place in the world” to build nuclear power plants in a government review.

This was largely owing to “overly complex” bureaucracy around the sector. Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce said that “radical reset” of the rules around nuclear power could save Britain “tens of billions” in costs and reverse the industry’s “decline” in recent years. This suggests that the government must work to streamline bureaucratic processes without compromising safety and consider other cost-cutting options to avoid cost increases in nuclear development.

At the time, the Taskforce chair, John Fingleton, stated, “Our solutions are radical, but necessary. By simplifying regulation, we can maintain or enhance safety standards while finally delivering nuclear capacity safely, quickly, and affordably.”

In 2024, the U.K. government announced a target to increase the country’s nuclear power capacity fourfold, to 24 GW by 2050.

This will be achieved through the development of Sizewell C and Hinkley Point C, as well as through the deployment of innovative small-scale nuclear technologies.

This is an ambitious target, but through the development of a wide range of nuclear technologies, it could be achievable.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/02/2026 - 02:00

London Bans Israel Critics Hassan Piker, Cenk Uyghur From Entering UK

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 03:25:00 +0000

London Bans Israel Critics Hassan Piker, Cenk Uyghur From Entering UK

Via The Cradle

Pro-Palestine streamer and commentator Hassan Piker was banned from visiting the UK by the British Home Office, ahead of his planned meeting with former Labour Party chief Jeremy Corbyn. Piker was also due to meet with Green Party leader Zack Polanski. "The UK has revoked my visa as well. All at the behest of Israel. The west is betraying ‘liberal values’ for a genocidal fascist foreign government. Soon we will all become Israel," Piker said on X on 1 June.

Cenk Uyghur, Piker’s uncle and host of the “Young Turks” political commentary program, said earlier that he was also denied entry into the UK. The Young Turks show has been highly critical of Israel.

The British Home Office justified the move by declaring Uyger a "serious risk to the public order" following his claim that “Israel controls the American government through donations to 94% of Congress,” according to an X post made by the Young Turks founder.

“I’ve been banned from the UK. I tried to get on a flight to London to attend SXSW London and give a speech at Oxford. I’ve been banned for criticizing Israel. Are we free anymore? This is oppression of Western citizens by our own governments on behalf of a different country!” Cenk said on social media.

“It's an honor to have made Israel's enemies list. I'm very proud to have fought against their genocide. The mighty United Kingdom is afraid of speech that shows you who's responsible for those war crimes. But no amount of censorship will get us to stop telling the truth,” Uyghur added.

Polanski condemned London’s decision to ban both commentators from visiting the UK.

The British government is saying they're banning me because I am "a serious risk to the public order" due to my criticism of Israel.

They say that my charge that Israel controls the American government through donations to 94% of Congress, while factual, is antisemitic…
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) May 31, 2026

“People often talk about dangerous road we'd go down under a Reform government – this is another clear warning we're down there already.” He also demanded an immediate explanation from UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Corbyn, who was expelled from the Labour Party years ago over criticism of Israel and allegations of "antisemitism," also strongly criticized the UK decision, saying on Monday that banning Uyghur and Piker was an “attack on the freedom to criticize Israel, as well as the UK government’s own complicity in genocide.”

British authorities have cracked down heavily on pro-Palestine activism in recent years.

Last year, the UK proscribed activist group Palestine Action as a terror organization. Since then, thousands of people have been detained across the UK in connection with Palestine Action protests.

Corbyn calls the move "authoritarian"...

Banning Cenk Uyghur and Hasan Piker from entering the UK is an absurd and cowardly decision from an increasingly authoritarian government.

Let us call this what it is: an attack on the freedom to criticise Israel, as well as the UK government’s own complicity in genocide. https://t.co/c6jUrF3prA
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) June 1, 2026

The group has, for years, stood against Israeli occupation and UK military support for it. Earlier in 2026, several Palestine Action activists went on hunger strike over a $2.7 billion British military training contract to Israeli arms maker Elbit Systems’ British subsidiary.

The hunger strikers reached a critical phase before ending the strike in January, following the government’s decision to cancel the contract. The UK High Court ruled the July 2025 terrorist proscription on Palestine Action unlawful in February 2026.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 23:25

Iran Has Dug Out More Missile Tunnels Than Previously Thought: Satellite Analysis

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 03:00:00 +0000

Iran Has Dug Out More Missile Tunnels Than Previously Thought: Satellite Analysis

During the current but tenuous ceasefire, Iran has successfully managed to excavate multiple key sites tied to its missile program that were previously bombarded by the American-Israeli warplanes during the initial five weeks of Operation Epic Fury.

While the revelation is not exactly new, a fresh CNN report has confirmed through recent satellite imagery that more missile tunnels have been dug out than previously thought.

Tehran utilized basic construction equipment to dig out several missile launchers and reopen subterranean tunnels tied to its missile program. The visual analysis determined that Iran was able to successfully clear the entrances to 50 out of 69 targeted tunnels, alongside 18 distinct missile production sites.

"Iran has repaired other parts of the bases as well, including roads that the US and Israel bombed to prevent missile launchers from using them," CNN wrote. "Satellite images show almost all these craters have now been filled, and at two sites, even repaved."

CNN/Airbus: A satellite image of an underground missile base near Khomeyn, Iran, shows at least 10 construction vehicles working to clear a tunnel entrance on April 15, 2026.

This assessment heavily mirrors a series of leaked intelligence reports that have surfaced over the past month. CNN underscored that the US intelligence community currently estimates that Iran still has over 75% of its missile launchers fully available, and there's been a constant production of drones ongoing throughout the ceasefire.

Sam Lair, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies who analyzes told the outlet that "There’s nothing to prevent the launchers from being armed with the ample stockpile of missiles that the Iranians still have."

He sought to highlight the limits of American firepower, in terms of damage, and given that it hasn't been sustained:

“The US military is good at delivering tactical successes, and entombing and suppressing the Iranian missile force is a great example of that,” said Lair.

“However, if that isn’t accompanied by a set of reasonable strategic war aims and an achievable theory of victory, it can end up being a strategic failure.”

President Trump has been touting the near annihilation of Iran's arsenal, and has lately said the rest of its launch sites could be taken out in a day if he gave the order.

Despite that peace talks are not really going anywhere, and Tehran even announced they've halted as of Monday morning, the White House doesn't look in any hurry to start dropping bombs again.

Iran is poised to fire far more long-range missiles at Israel and other Middle Eastern nations after rapidly digging out its buried arsenals – an effort that highlights the limits to US bombing strategy, experts said. https://t.co/Rny1xTfFKl pic.twitter.com/STJFMe6L2O
— CNN (@CNN) May 31, 2026

So far both sides have settled in for a long conflict, centered on blockading the Hormuz Strait, and in anticipating of outlasting the other side in terms of absorbing economic and political pain.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 23:00

A Three-Part Story: These Were The Best And Worst Performing Assets In February

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 02:35:00 +0000

A Three-Part Story: These Were The Best And Worst Performing Assets In February

The Middle East continued to dominate market attention in May, as constant, daily, recurring hopes and media leaks and trial balloons for some kind of US-Iran deal meant that Brent crude oil fell -19.3%, marking its biggest monthly decline since March 2020 as the pandemic lockdowns began. Those hopes for an end to the conflict meant that fears about stagflation eased dramatically, which pushed yields lower and supported risk assets as well. Indeed, the S&P 500 was up another +5.3% in total return terms to a new record, with chip stocks doing particularly well as excitement around AI returned. For instance, the Philadelphia semiconductor index rose another +22.2% in May, taking its YTD gains to a record +81.5% (in 2000 Semis got there faster but... well, you know the story).

And in South Korea, the KOSPI was up another +28.5% in May, taking its own YTD gains to +102.4%. Admittedly, it wasn’t all good news, and sovereign bond yields briefly hit multi-year highs towards mid-May. But as hopes for a US-Iran deal rose, bonds also recovered into month-end as oil and inflation concerns fell back again.

Before we get into the details, a quick summary from Deutsche Bank's Henry Allen how for markets, May played out like a three-part story:

The first part started strongly, as an Axios report on May 6 said the US and Iran were close to a one-page memo to end the war (it's almost a month later and the two sides still haven't agreed on any memo). Oil prices fell sharply, with Brent crude down from $114/bbl on May 4 to $100/bbl on May 7. So stagflation fears eased considerably, particularly as the US jobs report featured another upside surprise for payrolls.
The second part was more pessimistic, as Trump posted that Iran’s proposal was “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” So that raised fears of an escalation, whilst a strong US core CPI print added to concern about more persistent inflation, particularly with the Strait of Hormuz still blocked.
This period saw bond yields hit multi-year highs in several countries. On May 19, the 30yr Treasury yield closed at a post-2007 high of 5.18%, 10yr bund yields hit a post-2011 high of 3.19%, and Japan’s 10yr yield hit a post-1997 high of 2.78%.
The third part saw optimism return, as multiple reports suggested a US-Iran deal was again close. In fact, oil prices ended the month at a one-month low, the S&P 500 posted 7 consecutive gains, and the 10yr Treasury yield fell for 7 consecutive sessions for the first time in over a year. So the full numbers pointed to a decent performance overall.
While events in Iran continued to dominate attention, the other big story in May was the return of AI excitement, with chip stocks massively outperforming. For instance, the Philly semiconductor index was up another +22.2%, and the KOSPI was up +26.2% in USD total return terms. That took their YTD gains to +82% and +94% respectively, after just 5 months of the year. In fact, in local currency terms, the KOSPI is up more than +100% YTD. So, despite all the geopolitical volatility this year, the AI story is still center stage for financial assets.

With that in mind, here is a high-level macro overview of the month that was.

Markets got May off to a strong start, with oil prices coming down as hopes grew for an end to the conflict. Most notably, Axios reported on May 6 that the US and Iran were close to a one-page memo that would end the war and set a framework for more nuclear negotiations. So that raised hopes that the war might soon be over, and Brent crude oil fell from $114.44/bbl on May 4th, to $100.06/bbl on May 7. Then shortly after on May 8, there was then fresh support from strong US data, as the jobs report for April surprised on the upside. That included a +115k increase in payrolls, which on the current series of revisions is the first time since 2024 that payrolls have been above +100k in consecutive months.

But despite that optimistic start, sentiment began to turn again towards the middle of the month. That was primarily driven by geopolitical developments, as Trump posted on May 10 that the proposal from Iran was “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” That raised fears of a fresh escalation, and Trump said on May 11 that “the ceasefire is on massive life support”. So with no sign of a peace deal and the Strait of Hormuz still blocked, oil prices began to recover again. Moreover, Trump openly speculated about an escalation, saying on May 19 that “I hope we don’t have to do the war, but we may have to give them another big hit”.

For markets, matters weren’t helped in this period by a strong US core CPI print on May 12, which raised fears about more persistent inflation, particularly as oil prices kept moving higher as well. Indeed, on May 18, the 6-month Brent future closed at $92.76/bbl, which was its highest level since the conflict began. So investors were pricing in a more protracted period of high oil prices that extended to the end of the year.

That backdrop meant that bond yields reached new highs in multiple countries. For instance, there were several records set on May 19, as the 30yr Treasury yield closed at a post-2007 high of 5.18%, the 10yr bund yield closed a post-2011 high of 3.19%, and Japan’s 10yr yield closed at a post-1997 high of 2.78%.

Meanwhile in the UK, a few days earlier on May 15, the 10yr gilt yield had also hit a post-2008 high of 5.17%. That came as speculation mounted around PM Keir Starmer’s position after the governing Labour Party lost seats in the local elections. In turn, that triggered multiple ministerial resignations, including Health Secretary Wes Streeting. Shortly after, a by-election was then called after an MP stood down, and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham announced he’d be standing for Parliament. That initially saw gilts lose ground, as Burnham had previously said that the UK shouldn’t be “in hock” to the bond markets, and had suggested that defence spending should be considered outside the fiscal rules. However, Burnham later ruled out changing the fiscal rules, which led to a clear rally for gilts. So coupled with easing fears of stagflation, the 10yr gilt yield actually fell -20bps over May as a whole, closing at 4.81%.

But even though sovereign bond yields hit multi-year highs in the middle of the month, more positive sentiment returned towards the end of May. That was driven - again - by multiple reports suggesting that a US-Iran deal might be moving closer. For instance on May 27, Iran’s state TV reported on an unofficial draft for an interim peace deal, raising hopes that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen. Then on May 28, an Axios report said that a deal had been reached on a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire, with negotiations also starting over Iran’s nuclear program. And a similar message was then reported by other outlets. So that led to a decent fall in oil prices towards month end, meaning Brent crude ultimately closed at $92.05/bbl, its lowest level in over a month. And markets more broadly ended the month very strongly, with the S&P 500 up 7 days in a row, whilst the 10yr Treasury yield also fell for 7 consecutive sessions for the first time in over a year.

Which assets saw the biggest gains in May?

Equities: It was generally a strong month for equities, as hopes rose for some kind of US-Iran deal. In total return terms, the S&P 500 was up +5.3%, the STOXX 600 rose +3.2%, and Japan’s Nikkei was up +11.9%. Meanwhile, South Korea’s KOSPI surged another +28.5%, taking its YTD gains to +102.4%.
Sovereign bonds: As fears of stagflation receded, sovereign bonds advanced, particularly in Europe. So Euro sovereigns were up +1.1% in total return terms, and gilts rose +2.0%. US Treasuries saw a smaller advance as investors brought forward expectations for Fed rate hikes, but they were still up +0.1% in total return terms.

Which assets saw the biggest losses in May?

Oil: The prospect of a US-Iran deal meant Brent crude fell -19.3% in May, marking its biggest monthly decline since March 2020 when the pandemic lockdowns began.
Gold: With real yields moving higher and fears about inflation receding, gold prices fell back for a third consecutive month, falling -1.7% to $4,540/oz.
Bitcoin: it was a dismal month for the crypto currency which swung higher in April, defying the initial post-war gloom in gold and other anti-fiat assets, but then erased almost all April gains, to trade down almost 4%.

Finally, here is a visual recap of the best performing assets in May (in domestic and USD terms).

... and YTD.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 22:35

Florida Becomes First State To Sue "Unsafe" OpenAI And Sam Altman Over AI Harms

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 02:10:00 +0000

Florida Becomes First State To Sue "Unsafe" OpenAI And Sam Altman Over AI Harms

OpenAI no longer has to worry about being last in the AI IPO race and lagging ARRs when compared to Anthropic, not to mention a potential Supreme Court showdown against Elon Musk (pending appeal). Earlier today, Florida became the first state to file a lawsuit against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, launching a new broadside in a growing rebellion against the alleged safety failings of artificial-intelligence chatbots.

The lawsuit, filed Monday by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, claims OpenAI and Altman knowingly released an unsafe product and ignored warnings that it could harm users, the WSJ reported.

The 83-page suit alleges that OpenAI allowed ChatGPT to aid and abet mass shooters, encourage people to take their own lives, degrade users’ critical thinking skills and addict minors to a tool that feigns human compassion.

“This litany of harms is driven by Defendants’ insatiable quest to win the AI arms race and amass large fortunes, despite knowing the danger of ChatGPT,” the suit said.

According to the WSJ, lawmakers, legal authorities and public interest groups have increasingly been raising concerns about the personal and societal risks posed by AI, one of the fastest-growing consumer technologies in history.

The suit says it seeks to protect Floridians from OpenAI’s conduct and mitigate what it describes as a dangerous public nuisance. The suit also seeks to hold Altman personally liable for harm it says he has caused Floridians.

Uthmeier opened a criminal investigation into OpenAI in April over the role its chatbot played in a mass shooting that killed two people at Florida State University last year.

The suit opens with a screenshot of an OpenAI blog post that says ChatGPT was built with safety in mind.

“Not so,” reads the suit’s text under the screenshot.

The suit alleges that OpenAI marketed ChatGPT as reliable despite its tendency to frequently generate dangerous misinformation, which is to be expected from a generative LLM trained on such toxic, liberal cesspools as Reddit and Wikipedia.

“ChatGPT was designed by the Defendants to keep users hooked into conversations by any means, regardless of the truth, because it leads to more use of the chatbot, more training data for its improvement, and more market value for OpenAI,” the suit alleges.

The suit also claims the company exploits human compassion to collect user data and lacks necessary safeguards for minors.

The suit describes a lack of safeguards in ChatGPT for teens and minors as reckless, and refers to instances of adolescent users being encouraged by AI to take their own lives.

The suit says OpenAI created some parental controls, but does not require children’s accounts to be linked to a parent’s account.

At FSU, the suspect turned to ChatGPT as a confidant and sounding board to plan the attack. He asked ChatGPT how many classmates he needed to kill to attract national media attention, and also how to use a gun. The chatbot promptly dispensed advice for his questions.

Until now ChatGPT has mostly faced litigation over copyright infringement claims. In November, OpenAI was ordered by a federal judge to turn over 20 million anonymized ChatGPT user logs to the NY Times and other newspapers suing the chat giant over its generative AI model. The newspapers had demanded the user logs to inspect how ChatGPT is used to create outputs they say infringe their copyrighted works. OpenAI pushed back, citing privacy concerns.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 22:10

L.A.'s Choice: More Dysfunction Or Spencer Pratt?

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 01:45:00 +0000

L.A.'s Choice: More Dysfunction Or Spencer Pratt?

Authored by Victoria Taft via PJ Media,

Spencer Pratt has a "shot" to win the Los Angeles mayor's race, according to the latest polling.

The first thing Angelenos need to begin the biggest turnaround in L.A. history, however, is to admit the city has a problem: self-imposed dysfunction. Then they need to vote for someone who didn't relish in causing it.

The choice going into Tuesday's top two primary election is really that simple.

As we go into the final day of voting in the Los Angeles mayoral race, there are three candidates leading the pack: the worst and most destructive mayor of all time, Karen Bass, Bass's radical, ideological twin and stalking horse, Nithya Raman, and Spencer Pratt.

Bass and Raman have been accused of teaming up to flood the zone with commies to game California's top-two primary system. The top-two system is the Democrat protection act in real time. For normies, to the extent L.A. has them, Pratt is their only hope in this race.

Voters, some of whose ballots were burned up in a "safe" downtown L.A. drop box over the weekend, need to move the needle to the only person in the race who thinks there's a problem.

Pratt believes that the answer to "homelessness" is drug treatment, welcomes the feds' raid of cartel-run open-air drug and human trafficking, and thinks current laws on the books should be enforced to clean up the city. He has made animal abuse by drug addicts on L.A.'s Skid Row a signature issue.

If that addict on your street were your own son, what would you do? That is the defining question that guides my 5 step plan to fix the homelessness problem in LA. We *must* end this evil racket of corrupt politicians and NGOs who profit off the misery of these poor souls. They... pic.twitter.com/9VGwwe6srh
- Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) May 21, 2026

An L.A. area Democratic adviser told the Los Angeles Times that "anyone has a shot" in this race.

And the latest polling by U.C. Berkeley and the L.A. Times shows that it's a dogfight. Karen Bass has 26% support by those polled, Raman is at 25%, and Spencer Pratt, whose house was destroyed in Bass's Pacific Palisades fire disaster, is at 22%.

Pratt describes this campaign as his destiny. The former reality TV star, whose recent days have been spent touting his wife's music career and taking care of their sons, feeding and loving his Pacific Palisades hummingbirds which he uses as his campaign's logo, and trading in valuable crystals (at one point he believed he'd lost $1 million in crystals in the fire), he has become a man on fire after learning and publicly exposing the incompetence and unpreparedness leading to the January 2025 fires.

Pratt says, "We are going to win."

But don't take his word for it. Watch how his top opponents have attempted to retcon their own public records by suddenly declaring that homelessness and crime are big issues. Bass, the anti-cop, pro-Cuban revolunciónista, has done next to zero to clean up drug and trafficking encampments around businesses and schools, and has fought efforts to do so, but now touts she's "reduced street homelessness by 17.5%." Suddenly, she's the solution to her own problem!

And how bad are things in Bass's L.A.? She's touting a plan to switch street lights to solar power because all the druggies have stolen the copper in the current ones. How brave and visionary is the woman who stops cops from doing their jobs?

Hilariously, the defund the police and fire lady is also taking credit for President Donald Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel's drop in crime that the L.A. Times straight-facedly reports, "includ[es] a homicide rate not seen since the mid-20th century." Do tell, Karen.

Raman, a sitting councilwoman who endorsed Bass until she was convinced that the best way to help her friend was to take up space in the mayor's race, has made similar 59th minute of the 11th hour political conversions.

The only way L.A. can solve its problems is to hire the guy who wants to solve them, not just talk about it.

Go Spencer.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 21:45

Jill Biden's Memoir Tour Is Getting Trashed From The Left

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 01:20:00 +0000

Jill Biden's Memoir Tour Is Getting Trashed From The Left

Jill Biden has launched a book tour for her new memoir, View from the East Wing, in what appears to be an effort to salvage her husband's political legacy after his 2024 campaign collapsed following his disastrous debate with President Trump.

Instead, she's reopening a wound Democrats spent two years trying to let heal. Now, former aides, party operatives, and even friendly media figures are speaking out.

Last week, the former first lady sat down with CBS News correspondent Rita Braver and claimed that when she watched her husband onstage opposite Donald Trump during last year's debate, she feared the worst. "I was frightened, because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since, never," she told Braver. "I mean, as I watched it, I thought, 'Oh my god, he's having a stroke. And it scared me to death.'"

NEW: Former First Lady Jill Biden says she thought her husband was having a stroke during his 2024 debate against Donald Trump.

Jill famously boasted on stage with Joe Biden after the debate about how he did "such a great job."

"I thought, 'Oh my God, he's having a stroke,' and... pic.twitter.com/wfYBoIpxWx
- Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 27, 2026

However, many are pointing out that after the debate, she praised his performance. That contradiction now defines her memoir rollout, and virtually nobody on the left is happy about revisiting it.

"It feels unfair, essentially, at this point, to the party, that if you want to cement any piece of your husband's legacy, let people move on from this and win some more elections, and then they can point to things and say, like, we're building on the successes that we saw under the Biden administration," Democratic strategist Jessica Tarlov said on Fox News last week.

🔥NEW: @greggutfeld *TORCHES* Jessica Tarlov after she complains Jill Biden hurting Dems by reminding Americans about Biden's decline

"You guys used him as a Trojan horse - and now you're paying for it. He was an old empty white male you foisted on the American public to trick... pic.twitter.com/hHdsvwm6pE
- Jason Cohen (@JasonJournoDC) May 28, 2026

"I appreciate that we now get to see at least some version of a truth that she's putting out there," CNN's Abby Phillip said last week, "because I think, yeah, the conversation should be had about the deceptiveness that was behind this. Like that's the conversation that I think ought to be had. The autopsy that the Democrats did didn't delve into that, but it should. What kind of political system covers that up? And makes it OK to lie to people about what everybody knows is true?"

CNN's Abby Phillips slams Democrats for lying about Joe Biden's cognitive problems.

"What kind of political system covers that up? And makes it okay to lie to people about what everybody knows is true?" pic.twitter.com/EH5XILtQ9f
- Jeff Charles, Asker of Questions (@jeffcharlesjr) May 28, 2026

On The Today Show on Monday, host Craig Melvin also didn't accept her story at face value. He walked Jill through the gap between her private fear and her public assurances in the days that followed the debate, asking how she squares thinking Joe may have had a stroke with what she was telling the country afterward.

"I'm his wife," she replied. "I'm not going to get out on the stage there and say, Joe, you really screwed that up," she said. "I had to support him. I couldn't come out and, I mean, really, publicly, say, Joe, you did a terrible job in a debate?"

"That's a pretty low bar," Melvin pointed out.

But it's not just media pundits criticizing Jill Biden. Several Biden aides are furious about what Jill Biden has done with her memoir.

One former Biden official told Axios, "I just wish they would give some more time and space and let people move on. It all feels so disingenuous." Another drew a direct line to the broader pattern of the post-election blame tour, telling the outlet, "The throughline between her book and Harris's is that they blame everyone but themselves for the loss."

Another former senior Biden official was even more blunt about the collateral damage.

"President Biden actually has a legacy that is impactful and should be celebrated at some point - getting us through the pandemic and passing life-changing bills," the official said. "Why does he keep stepping on it himself?"

The sharpest indictment came from a former campaign aide who saw the whole thing from the inside. "It's just so selfish," they said. "The Bidens preached selflessness and service above all - and every decision they've made since he decided to run for reelection has been about themselves. It's also ironic - the only people undermining President Biden's legacy are the people closest to him."

On Fox News, Democratic operative Melissa DeRosa recounted how the Democratic Party treated those who raised questions about Biden's cognitive decline. They were accused of disloyalty and of handing the election to Trump. "We were told not to believe our lying eyes," she said. Then came the kicker: "So a lot of Democrats privately are saying, you know what, Lady Macbeth, exit stage right. We don't want to hear it anymore." DeRosa also noted that just days after the debate, Jill Biden appeared on the cover of Vogue with the line "we will decide our future," hardly the posture of a woman privately convinced her husband had just suffered a neurological event.

Former Jill Biden spokesman Michael LaRosa was quite candid about what he thinks Jill's book tour is actually trying to accomplish. "They're trying to change the tape in people's minds about who she is," LaRosa said. "That's why she's sort of changing her tune a little bit about her reaction in real time. She wants to say, 'Oh no, my reaction was just as concerning and was just as severe as everyone at home. I was shocked.'"

Jill Biden set out to rewrite history, but she's only managed to reopen the chapter Democrats most want to forget. Even her own party's operatives, aides, and media allies aren't buying the revised narrative, and the backlash makes clear that her book tour hasn't salvaged Joe Biden's legacy. It's torched what little was left of it.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 21:20

Trump Reportedly Ripped Netanyahu In Phone Call, Demanded Lebanon Truce: 'You're F**king Crazy, I'm Saving Your Ass'

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 01:15:00 +0000

Trump Reportedly Ripped Netanyahu In Phone Call, Demanded Lebanon Truce: 'You're F**king Crazy, I'm Saving Your Ass'

Summary

Axios reports angry call between Trump and Netanyahu; Trump is said to have told Netanyahu "you’re fucking crazy’" while demanding Lebanon truce: "I’m saving your ass,"
Trump has announced the "shooting will stop" in Lebanon, after phone calls with both sides. Says Iran talks back on "at rapid pace"; Lebanese presidency confirms Hezbollah agreed to US ceasefire proposal
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."
Trump Truth Social: "Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end - it always does!"

US x Iran permanent peace deal by July 31, 2026?
Yes 39% · No 62%
View full market & trade on Polymarket

* * *

Trump Steamrolls Netanyahu: Axios

A bizarre and unexpected evening report from Axios says that President Trump ripped into Netanyahu during a phone call, cussing at him and essentially 'steamrolled' him - angry over breaking the Lebanon truce and demanding that Israel's military not attack Beirut.

Trump is said to have told Netanyahu "you’re fucking crazy’" while demanding Lebanon truce: "I’m saving your ass," he also reportedly said. Iran early Monday said it halted talks with Washington because of Israel's escalation in Lebanon. From the report:

One U.S. official said Trump told Netanyahu that following through on his threats to bomb the Lebanese capital would further isolate Israel around the world.

Two of the sources said Trump claimed he'd helped keep Netanyahu out of jail — a reference to his support during Netanyahu's corruption trial.

Summarizing Trump's remarks to Netanyahu, the U.S. official said: "You're fucking crazy. You'd be in prison if it weren't for me. I'm saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this."

A second source briefed on the call said Trump was "pissed" and at one point yelled at Netanyahu: "What the fuck are you doing?"

And more:

The second U.S. official claimed that, in reality, Trump had "steamrolled" Netanyahu on the call. "Bibi said, 'OK, OK, just make sure everything is taken care of,'" according to the official.

The level of detail in this call 'leak' is remarkable, suggesting it was an 'official leak' or intentional.

Reports of Ongoing Fighting in South Lebanon

Fresh reports of fighting, amid shaky truce declaration:

Sirens sound in the border community of Metula amid an apparent Hezbollah rocket attack from Lebanon.

The rocket fire comes despite US President Donald Trump announcing that Hezbollah would stop carrying out attacks on Israel amid the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Iran claims it attacked a US container ship in the Sea of Oman (Fars News).

Lebanon Truce Affirmed

The Lebanese presidency has announced that Hezbollah agreed to a US proposal on the mutual cessation of attacks, which will expand to all Lebanese territory.

Per a regional Arab correspondent:

As we emphasized, the Israeli attack on Lebanon was obstructing the reaching of the agreement. The mediators exerted great effort today, and after the American pressure and the Israeli retreat, the doors are now open to return the negotiations to their natural and positive course, and there is no longer much left.

Iran Talks Back On?

Wishful thinking or already a reality? ...following a proclaimed Lebanon truce, uneasy at best:

Trump Suggests He is Forging Lebanon Ceasefire

Trump has announced the "shooting will stop" in Lebanon, after a flurry of phone calls, including with Netanyahu. This came shoon on the heels of Hezbollah signaling it is ready to agree to an immediate truce. Israel too has reportedly halted plans to begin new airstrikes on Beirut.

The Lebanon crisis caused Tehran to earlier announced it is halting all contacts with the US. Will the US-Iran talks now be back on?

Trump to CNBC: 'I don't care' if talks are over

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.

His comments to NBC:

“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

Below is the full translated statement:

• "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."

For more, read our:

"Approaching Unheard Of Inventory Levels": Exxon, Chevron Issue Apocalyptic Warning About What Happens Next To Oil

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.

READ MORE: https://t.co/yRpPilUQ9S pic.twitter.com/f1Q2l5OnMu
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) June 1, 2026

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
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) June 1, 2026

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.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) June 1, 2026

More...

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
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) June 1, 2026

Trump: "Sit Back & Relax"

Trump's latest Truth Social: "Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end - it always does!"

And here's pushback from Stephen Walt in Foreign Policy magazine:

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.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 21:15

BP Sells 5% Stake In Australia's Newest $35 Billion LNG Project

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:55:00 +0000

BP Sells 5% Stake In Australia's Newest $35 Billion LNG Project

By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com

BP will sell 5% in the $35-billion Browse LNG project in Australia, which Australian energy giant Woodside is looking to progress, the UK-based supermajor told Reuters on Monday.

BP is selling the 5% stake, out of its total of its 44% interest, to South Korea's GS Energy.

“The dilution reflects BP’s disciplined approach to portfolio management by bringing in a committed partner,” BP said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

The Browse LNG project in Australia, proposed by Woodside Energy, entails the Browse to North West Shelf (NWS) Project to deliver natural gas from the Calliance, Torosa, and Brecknock fields to the existing Karratha Gas Plant.

The Browse project proposes to connect the natural gas fields via a 900-kilometre pipeline, connected to two floating production storage and offloading facilities, while a CCS solution has been incorporated into the offshore design.

Production capacity at Browse is planned to be 11.4 million tonnes per annum (LNG, LPG, and domestic gas) and a peak condensate production rate of 50,000 barrels per day.

The project is currently in the concept definition phase, and key activities continue in support of progress towards front-end engineering and design entry, Woodside said last month.

Woodside is the operator of the project with a 30.6% stake in the Browse Joint Venture. Before the BP-GS Energy deal, the British major held 44.33%. The sell-down will reduce BP’s interest in the joint venture to 39%.

Japan Australia LNG (MIMI Browse) Pty Ltd and PetroChina International Investment (Australia) Pty Ltd were the other shareholders in the joint venture before GS Energy joins the project with the 5% stake acquired from BP.

The Browse LNG project may have good chances to pass all pre-development and pre-construction stages in the coming years as Australian and Asian energy demand is rising, while the Middle Eastern crisis has created new energy security concerns among buyers.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 20:55

How U.S. Retailers Are Absorbing The Fuel-Price Shock

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:30:00 +0000

How U.S. Retailers Are Absorbing The Fuel-Price Shock

We have diligently tracked the Gulf-related fuel-price shock hitting the American consumer, with prices rising at the fastest rate in three years, personal savings depleted, and spending still running hot, a trend Goldman flags as increasingly troubling for the broader economy. This cocktail has revived uncomfortable memories of the 1970s: higher energy costs, squeezed households, and a consumer still spending into weakness.

But another important area of coverage is how companies are faring as freight, fuel, and supplier costs, along with tariff pressures, bleed through supply chains.

Early read-throughs from Goldman analysts led by Kate McShane indicate that management teams at major retailers are absorbing higher logistics costs today, but the real risk is that a sustained fuel price shock in the back half of the year could begin to deteriorate margins.

McShane and her team spoke with the IR and management teams of AutoZone, Bath & Body Works, Best Buy, Costco Wholesale, Dick's Sporting Goods, Dollar Tree, and Walmart, focusing on commentary on freight and inflation.

The key read-through is that most of these retailers have so far absorbed higher oil prices, domestic trucking surcharges, ocean freight costs, and supplier cost pressures without a major P&L shock.

However, the warning from several management teams is clear: if elevated costs persist into the back half of the year, the ability to offset them through vendor negotiations, logistics efficiencies, or other creative ways becomes increasingly difficult.

At that point, the risk shifts from manageable cost pressure to margin deterioration, and potentially another round of retail price increases.

Here is McShane's cheat sheet on retailer commentary on freight and inflation:

As oil prices continue to rise and the macro environment remains volatile, we are monitoring 1Q26 earnings for any company commentary on freight and inflation.

Specifically, we are watching for commentary on incremental freight costs and its impact on the P&L, and the company's inflation outlook, and its impact on ticket.

Each week, we will update this chart as companies in our coverage continue to report.

The takeaway is that management teams are still largely framing the energy shock as manageable for now. The next big concern is that elevated fuel and logistics costs through the summer would make it increasingly difficult to absorb and offset costs, likely resulting in either margin pressure or another round of price hikes on consumer-facing goods later this year.

Professional subscribers can read the full Americas Retailer note here at our new Marketdesk.ai portal.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 20:30

Mystery Deepens: Remains Of Missing Los Alamos Nuclear Lab Employee Discovered In Forest

Tyler Durden — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:05:00 +0000

Mystery Deepens: Remains Of Missing Los Alamos Nuclear Lab Employee Discovered In Forest

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity,

The body of Melissa Casias has been found in a remote area of New Mexico's Carson National Forest, almost 11 months after the Los Alamos National Laboratory employee walked out of her home and vanished.

This discovery marks another chapter in the disturbing wave of deaths and disappearances involving individuals tied to highly sensitive government programs. It arrives after President Trump ordered full UFO disclosure and two sets of classified files have now been released to the public.

Casias, 54, worked as an administrative assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the historic site of the Manhattan Project and a hub for ongoing nuclear weapons research. She was last seen alive on June 26, 2025, in Ranchos de Taos.

BREAKING: Human remains belonging to a lab employee have been found in the Carson National Forest in New Mexico.

Investigators say a gun was found near the remains of Melissa Casias, who worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Casias was last seen alive on... pic.twitter.com/kBjzd6QW01
- Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 1, 2026

New Mexico State Police confirmed the identification of her remains after a hiker found them in the McGaffey Ridge area. A handgun was recovered alongside the body. The cause and time of death remain undetermined pending further investigation by the Office of the Medical Investigator.

The circumstances of her disappearance raised immediate red flags. Casias left behind her phones and identification after performing a factory reset on both devices, wiping all records of contacts and activity.

Surveillance captured her walking alone eastward on State Road 518 around 2:20 p.m. that day. Her husband, also a LANL employee, and daughter reported unusual behavior that morning involving a claimed forgotten security badge.

Family members and private investigators have maintained that Casias lost her security clearance due to financial troubles and that the disappearance stemmed from personal stress rather than foul play.

New Mexico State Police have indicated it appears she may have left voluntarily. Yet the discovery of her remains in a heavily trafficked forest restoration zone - where crews began active work in December 2025 - has only intensified public scrutiny.

Melissa Casias, Los Alamos National Lab scientist missing since June 26, 2025, has been found dead.

A handgun was recovered right next to her remains.

This matches a strange pattern... roughly half of these cases turned out to be "suicides."

Yeah, suuuure, like Epstein,...
- Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) June 1, 2026

Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker previously expressed concern over the case, noting: "In a classified lab, or just a high clearance lab, they would basically be in the know on what's going on. And it wouldn't be the first time their administrative assistant has been targeted."

Casias was one of several New Mexico-linked individuals with defense and nuclear program connections who went missing under similar conditions. The pattern has drawn nationwide attention since the February 2026 disappearance of retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland, widely described as a UFO gatekeeper. His vanishing occurred just days after President Trump issued a full disclosure order.

That incident kicked off intensified coverage of a broader series of cases. By mid-April 2026 the tally had reached at least 11.

These reports detail repeated losses among personnel with overlapping expertise in NASA projects, nuclear propulsion, aerospace engineering, JPL rocket technology, and potential UFO-related programs.

From a NASA scientist found charred in a Tesla crash to an aerospace engineer and family killed in a plane incident, the cases accumulated. Speculation around JPL disappearances and experts tied to "dark project secrets" added layers, highlighting vulnerabilities in fields critical to U.S. superiority.

Despite the mounting cases, President Trump has stated the incidents are not connected. In remarks to reporters he said there is "not much of a connection" and expressed hope they represent coincidence involving "a lot of scientists."

NOW - Trump says string of missing and dead scientists are not connected: "There's not much of a connection." pic.twitter.com/BSaOPYDOuo
- Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) April 30, 2026

Two major tranches of UFO-related disclosure files have since been released under the Trump administration, giving Americans unprecedented access to previously hidden documents and videos, although it's not clear what many of the footage shows.

Official narratives continue to treat each case in isolation, pointing to stress, personal issues, or unrelated accidents. Yet the clustering of nuclear lab employees, aerospace engineers, JPL rocket scientists, and figures with documented access to classified propulsion and advanced technology programs has left many questioning whether the deep state apparatus is working overtime to protect its secrets even as disclosure moves forward.

Los Alamos remains central to America's nuclear security infrastructure. Administrative staff in such environments routinely handle sensitive information. The pattern now spans multiple states and facilities, with several cases involving wiped devices, abandoned personal items, and sudden, unexplained exits - hallmarks that fuel legitimate concern rather than idle conspiracy.

The discovery of Casias's remains does not close the book. It opens new questions about timing, access, and potential motives at a moment when the American public is finally receiving long-suppressed information on unidentified aerial phenomena and related technologies.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 20:05

Indian Refiners Freeze Domestic Jet Fuel Prices

Tyler Durden — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 23:40:00 +0000

Indian Refiners Freeze Domestic Jet Fuel Prices

Indian refiners have frozen the price of jet fuel for domestic flights after airlines asked for a respite from fuel price hikes, Bloomberg has reported, adding that in April, jet fuel prices jumped by 8.6% in response to tighter supply.

In an additional concession to airlines, Indian fuel makers also reduced the price of jet fuel for international flights, the report also said, citing unnamed spokespeople from state-owned refiners.

Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp, and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. have hiked fuel prices four times in the past month in response to the Strait of Hormuz crisis. These are the first fuel price hikes in four years in India, as the government has taken pains to insulate consumers from the fluctuations in global oil markets. India depends on imported crude for over 80% of its consumption.

As we explained two weeks ago, "Where To Find The Next Phase Of The Global Energy Shock", European refiners had ramped up production away from cheaper gasoline and toward much more expensive jet fuel, in response to widespread shortages of kerosene. This was coupled with higher imports from the US, Nigeria and Norway, which also helped to stabilize supply.

But while Europe may have procured much needed jet fuel, in many cases thanks to state subsidies which will transform into more expensive debt as Japan found out this week, India has been less lucky.

The world's third-largest crude importer saw its wholesale inflation jump to 8.3% in April from a year earlier because of the Middle Eastern war and its impact on global oil supply. This was a significant acceleration from 3.88% annual inflation in March, driving wholesale fuel prices higher. These surged in April, with gasoline prices up by 32.4% and diesel prices up by 25.19%. That’s up from a monthly rise of 2.5% for gasoline in March, and 3.62% for diesel.

At the end of May, Kpler analysts revised down their demand projections for India by as much as 39% for this year, expecting growth of just 77,000 barrels daily, down from earlier forecasts of 128,000 barrels daily.

That’s despite a sanction waiver on Russian crude, which accounts for a third of India’s total oil imports and which the United States has extended twice already. Still, India was also importing quite a lot of oil from the Middle East. These flows have been crimped by the Iranian closure of free ship movement in the Strait of Hormuz, despite a deal between Tehran and New Delhi that has allowed several vessels carrying energy commodities to pass through the chokepoint and deliver oil and gas to India.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 19:40

Ron Paul: The Federal Reserve Is Why The People Are Unhappy

Tyler Durden — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 23:15:00 +0000

Ron Paul: The Federal Reserve Is Why The People Are Unhappy

Authored by Ron Paul via The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity,

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.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 19:15

Alphabet Raising $80BN In Equity To Fund Capex, Including $40BN ATM Offering And $10BN Deeply Discounted Deal With Berkshire

Tyler Durden — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 22:45:00 +0000

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...

Source

... 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...

Source

... others opt to sell stock instead.

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.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 18:45

"Debug": Google Seeks Federal Approval To Release Millions Of Mosquitoes In California, Florida

Tyler Durden — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 22:25:00 +0000

"Debug": Google Seeks Federal Approval To Release Millions Of Mosquitoes In California, Florida

Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,

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.

A laboratory technician holds a mosquito at the World Mosquito Program factory in Medellín, Colombia, on June 4, 2024. Scientists have long released biologically modified mosquitoes to curb transmission of diseases such as chikungunya. Jaime Saldarriaga/AFP via Getty Images

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.

The Federal Register noted on May 1 that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing Google's request for an experimental permit under section 5 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Public comment on the permit request must be received by June 5.

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:

This close-up photograph shows a mosquito in Montlouis-sur-Loire, central France, on Oct. 21, 2022. Guillaume Souvant/AFP via Getty Images

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 18:25

GoPro Warns It May Not Survive As AI Memory Crunch Bites

Tyler Durden — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 22:00:00 +0000

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 ...

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 18:00

California Legislators Shriek: 'Stop Nick Shirley!'

Tyler Durden — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 21:40:00 +0000

California Legislators Shriek: 'Stop Nick Shirley!'

Authored by Mike McDaniel via AmericanThinker.com,

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.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 17:40

Massachusetts Sues UnitedHealthcare Over Alleged $100 Million Fraud

Tyler Durden — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 21:00:00 +0000

Massachusetts Sues UnitedHealthcare Over Alleged $100 Million Fraud

Authored by Sylvia Xu via The Epoch Times,

Massachusetts sued UnitedHealthcare on May 29, alleging the company defrauded the state’s Medicaid program by making seniors appear sicker than they were to secure higher payments.

The company contracted with MassHealth to provide a Senior Care Options—which combines Medicare and Medicaid benefits into one plan—for seniors aged 65 and older.

UnitedHealthcare allegedly received more than $100 million in fraudulent payments from MassHealth between 2015 and 2025, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell stated in the complaint.

UnitedHealthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, said the complaint is “meritless and doesn’t accurately describe our Senior Care Options program” in ‌a statement emailed to The Epoch Times.

The legal complaint alleged UnitedHealthcare inflated payment rates in three ways.

Upcoding

Massachusetts paid UnitedHealthcare a per-member, per-month rate for each senior enrolled in the plan based on UnitedHealthcare’s assessments of the member’s health conditions.

UnitedHealthcare allegedly labeled members as having behavioral health disorders such as depression or anxiety, or substance use disorders to gain higher reimbursement rates, according to the complaint, when the members had no diagnosis or treatment on record for such conditions.

An analysis by the attorney general’s office revealed that nearly 30 percent of UnitedHealthcare’s 2014 through 2024 behavioral health assessments lacked any matching medical claims to support the mental health diagnoses reported to the state.

Keeping Overpayments

The insurer’s internal reviews identified that many members were incorrectly placed in the highest and most expensive level of care despite not qualifying for it, according to the lawsuit.

While the company eventually downgraded these members to lower-paying levels, it allegedly failed to inform the state of the prior errors or return the extra money it had already collected.

Story continues below advertisement

Unneeded or Nonexistent Nursing Services

The insurer was paid $1.4 billion for members who did not qualify for the most expensive status, but the insurer justified the rate by submitting assessments claiming members required daily or frequent skilled nursing care, the complaint alleged.

However, an investigation revealed that most of these members neither received nor actually needed the specialized nursing services, according to the complaint.

Out of more than 88,000 assessments for the highest payment level, UnitedHealthcare asserted that 99.3 percent of those members were receiving nursing visits seven days a week. However, the complaint alleged that almost 90 percent of those members had not received a single nursing visit in the week before UnitedHealthcare filed the assessment.

Arguments

A January Senate report accused UnitedHealth Group of using high-tech scanners and a team of specialists to capture profitable, extra diagnoses in beneficiaries to maximize federal payments from the Medicare Advantage program.

The corporation issued a statement that same day, citing studies that it had commissioned to argue that Medicare Advantage saves money for both the government and beneficiaries.

The Attorney General’s Office alleged that these were intentional failures, the result of a “growth at all costs” strategy employed by UnitedHealthcare that incentivized and encouraged field nurses to code MassHealth members as sicker or less able than they were.

Bernadette Di Re, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s plan in Massachusetts from 2011 through 2020, allegedly attributed pressure to “cut staff,” “[g]et more numbers,” and “[g]et more money from the state” as the reason she resigned and left the company, the lawsuit stated.

“The state’s managed care plans need to act in good faith on behalf of their members and the financial resources of our state’s Medicaid program. Our investigation found that UnitedHealthcare knowingly violated these obligations by manipulating health assessments to increase its profits,” said Campbell in a statement.

The company responded in a statement: “The Attorney General is simply wrong that Massachusetts seniors with complex care needs should not be receiving the support and services UnitedHealthcare is helping to provide. We remain focused on working with our state partner to help our members live healthier lives.”

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 17:00

The Latest Graham Platner Scandal Could Be His Undoing

Tyler Durden — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 20:40:00 +0000

The Latest Graham Platner Scandal Could Be His Undoing

Graham Platner built his Senate campaign on a carefully curated image: the decorated veteran, the Maine oyster farmer, the working-class progressive who talks straight and fights for the little guy.

Despite a slew of scandals, including a Nazi-linked tattoo and many extremely problematic Reddit posts, Maine Democrats handed him the keys to one of their most coveted 2026 targets: the Senate seat held by incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Gov. Janet Mills, who ran against Platner in the Democratic primary, launched attack ads targeting his Reddit comments before suspending her campaign ahead of the June 9 primary and clearing the field for him. That left Platner as the consensus Democratic standard-bearer in a race the party views as essential to reclaiming the Senate majority.

Now, a cascade of new revelations about his past is forcing an uncomfortable reckoning for the Democratic Party, as some Democrats are now asking, in public and in private, whether the party rushed to embrace a candidate who was never fully vetted.

A new report from the Wall Street Journal revealed that days after Platner formally announced his Maine Senate bid last year, his wife, Amy Gertner, quietly pulled a campaign aide aside to disclose that she had previously discovered sexually explicit text messages between her husband and multiple women on a private messaging app called Kik. She had found them in the spring of 2025, early in their marriage. She raised them again with campaign staff in late August as part of the campaign’s internal opposition research on him, out of concern that the messages could blindside the operation as momentum was building.

Campaign aides weighed the disclosure, then decided the texts were a private marital matter. In a statement released through the campaign, Gertner framed the episode as a test the marriage passed. "We did the hard work that marriage requires. We went to counseling. We were honest with each other in ways that weren't easy," she said. "And we came through it, not in spite of how much we've been through, but because of how much we love each other and the life we've built. Our marriage today is stronger than ever before."

However, the text messages are more problematic than just a mere marital issue, because the platform itself carries serious baggage. Anti-exploitation groups have described Kik as a haven for online predators.

The app has appeared in multiple prosecutions in Maine alone in recent years, and the Center on Sexual Exploitation called it a "predator's paradise" and warned that it has a "huge child exploitation problem."

One law enforcement professional told The Maine Wire, "only pedos use Kik."

Following these latest allegations, we learned on Sunday that Platner’s campaign manager, Morris Katz, attempted to prevent Genevieve McDonald from publicly discussing information she had about Platner’s alleged infidelities.

From @bangordailynews, Platner’s campaign manager Morris Katz tried to stop Genevieve McDonald from sharing information about Platner’s infidelities (which he had since the beginning of the campaign) with threats of defaming her. pic.twitter.com/LTUbROD0Ja
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) May 31, 2026

According to McDonald, the campaign offered her $15,000 to sign a nondisclosure agreement, which she refused. She claims that after declining the offer, the campaign worked to discredit her through local media outlets.

That story. Genevieve McDonald said the campaign offered to pay her $15,000 to sign an NDA. She declined. Platner's campaign then smeared her in local outlets https://t.co/lMk8ryylqk pic.twitter.com/Al5VisaOC9
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) May 31, 2026

McDonald also shared a message from Katz warning that if the story became public, the campaign would state “on the record, and by name” that she had “violated the personal trust of Amy and Graham” and spread “explicit falsehoods to sabotage the campaign.”

Platner campaign advisor Morris Katz to Genevieve McDonald: “If the story goes in its current iteration, we’ll communicate directly on the record, and by name, that Genevieve violated the personal trust of Amy and Graham and shared explicit falsehoods to sabotage the campaign.” pic.twitter.com/O1F1FlBOZz
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) May 31, 2026

Platner’s use of the app comes on top of a growing pile of damaging information that has been accumulating for weeks, but the sexting revelations and the NDA threats are structurally different from every prior scandal: they don’t just describe a flawed man; they describe an active cover-up by his own campaign.

Every scandal that surfaces makes the carefully curated version of Graham Platner harder to believe, and harder to see how his campaign can survive.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 16:40

'The Mad & The Free': Can American Society Debate Its Way Out Of Psychosis?

Tyler Durden — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 20:20:00 +0000

'The Mad & The Free': Can American Society Debate Its Way Out Of Psychosis?

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

Psychodrama

“A sane society cannot debate its way out of psychosis. It must diagnose the patient with lethal precision and restore the ancient boundary between the mad and the free.”

- LHGrey on X

When you watch video of the shenanigans at the Delaney Hall ICE building in Newark, NJ, you must suspect you’re seeing a hopped-up political vaudeville act. Freaky as the “protesters” may be — with their tatts and piercings, gummi bear hair color, rolls of blubber, perpetually hoisted cell phones, drums, whistles, and pitiful umbrellas — they are no less actors than Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney out in Hollywood.

New Jersey State Police Cavalry to the Rescue!

The Delaney Hall mobbers are allegedly paid by someone or some entity. You’d think the authorities and the news media would be racing to find out who that is. But, so far, no official announcements and, wouldn’t you know, The New York Times did not even report on doings over there in its Monday morning edition.

Independent reporter Nick Sortor, undercover in Antifi garb, discovered their “craft services” tent adjacent to the action in the industrial wasteland where Delaney Hall stands next to the reeking Passaic River.

The tent was full of riot gear, tactical supplies, snacks, energy drinks, hot meals (lasagna!) delivered on the hour, first aid supplies, and other “protester necessities,” as if the siege of Delaney Hall was a major Hollywood production shoot.

Anyway, after days of freaks and geeks playacting “oppression” at Delaney Hall, the New Jersey riot cops showed up, including the mounted cavalry, and stuffed several busloads with arrested “protesters,” many of them from out-of-state. Did they bother to interview the folks manning the craft services tent to inquire what organization was paying for all the merch? Isn’t it about time for whoever is signing those checks to get indicted for fomenting and abetting insurrection?

The Democratic Party is reduced to psychodrama, and the nature of psychodrama is that it’s about nothing — nothing real, at least. It’s all concocted sound-and-fury to give the (false) impression that some injustice is occurring. In the case of Delaney Hall, a holding facility for illegal border-jumpers awaiting deportation, the alleged injustice is “unsanitary conditions, inadequate food, poor medical care, and physical and psychological torture.” In reality, conditions there are arguably better than the average Motel 8. Many of the inmates are murderers and rapists, of course, the worst of the worst.

You might suppose that the objective of the melodrama at Delaney Hall was to create another martyr a la Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti out in Minneapolis this past winter.

Those two unfortunate dupes were induced by the party script to FAFO, leading to their tragic and pointless deaths. Alas, the incidents failed to incite the sort of national uprising that the Lefty-left will not stop seeking.

And now summer is nearly here and (the old song goes) “the time is right for dancing in the streets.” Or, rather, fighting in the streets.

The time is also right for the FBI and the DOJ to shut down the funny money supply line for it, and it’s hard to figure now how they might fail to do that.

The Delaney Hall arrests give them a vast opportunity to debrief the players, find out exactly how these stunts are being organized.

To see exactly how much nothing the Democratic Party stands for, you need only get a load of the California primary campaigns, with the election to be held tomorrow (Tuesday June 2).

For instance, Tom Steyer, the hedge funder running for governor, staged an event Friday to support transgender track star AB Hernandez, who has been dominating in the 2025 and 2026 California state women’s track championships by notable margins.

AB Hernandez is a biological male subject to extreme cosmetic and hormonal procedures to impersonate a female, but it does not alter the fact that he is a biological male and he is engaged in impersonation.

Men in women’s sports is increasingly a losing issue in American politics.

Twenty-seven states have enacted laws against it.

The International Olympic Committee has banned biological men competing in women’s events (and the Olympics are coming to LA in 2028). Yet, there is candidate Tom Steyer on-screen trying to sell himself on the most nakedly reality-optional issue-of-the-day.

Sheer psychodrama.

Steyer’s rival, Xavier Bacerra, is arguably more pathetic and idiotic. As California Attorney General from 2017 to 2021 he allowed massive public services and campaign finance fraud to blossom across the state. Then, as HHS Secretary under “Joe Biden,” he presided over the Covid-19 fraud and let hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant children to go missing during the four-year-long open border operation. We’re talking world-class incompetence.

Down in Los Angeles, the current mayor, Karen Bass, is so devoid of accomplishment that she’s reduced to merely smiling like a Cheshire Cat as she goes through the final motions of the contest. Her campaign slogan is “Let’s Do This Together.” Do what? Run Los Angeles further off a cliff? Outsider Spencer Pratt has crept up to about even with Mayor Bass in the polls. His prospects remain pretty dim, though hopes are high for him. Similarly, outsider Steve Hilton in the race for governor. The question to be answered Tuesday: has reality-optional politics finally run out of mojo in California? And will that be “roll credits” for the Democratic Party?

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/01/2026 - 16:20