UK Will Get No Special Treatment from EU, European Ministers Say

THE GUARDIAN: There will be ‘no cherrypicking’ of policies, EU says, after Starmer says he hopes to negotiate single market for goods

This screenshot comes from this Guardian> article. | Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
The UK will get no special treatment in its future economic relationship with the EU, European ministers have said, in a further blow to Keir Starmer’s hopes of negotiating a single market for goods.

The EU’s ministers for Europe, who met on Tuesday, said they wanted deeper cooperation with the UK, but this had to be in line with fundamental principles, including no cherrypicking of EU policies, according to three diplomatic sources, who spoke about the private discussions.

The Guardian revealed last week that the government had pitched the creation of a single market for goods between the UK and EU to Brussels, but the proposal was rejected by EU officials.

A single market for goods, long hinted at by the prime minister and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, would be a radical departure for the EU. Since the Brexit vote nearly a decade ago EU leaders have said that the single market encompassed four freedoms: free movement of goods, services, capital and people.

Europe ministers had no appetite for the British proposal of free movement of goods only, although the idea was only briefly mentioned at Tuesday’s meeting, EU sources said. “Member states reaffirmed the established legal framework underpinning the relationship and negotiations, with continued emphasis on the indivisibility of the four freedoms, balance of right and obligations, autonomy of EU decision making and the avoidance of cherrypicking,” an EU diplomat said. » | Jennifer Rankin and Lisa O’Carroll in Brussels | Wednesday, May 27, 2026

This is the kind of mess a country gets itself into when, instead of listening to reason and common sense, it listens to the rantings of a charlatan! We Brits didn’t recognize a good thing when we had it! All those opt-outs and all! Thatcher must be rolling over in her grave!

Now, we Brits will have to eat humble pie; and humble pie will indeed have to be eaten, however unpleasant and however unpalatable the taste. Our future depends on it. And Europe’s does, too.

In this tumultuous world, Europe must be united. It must function as one. This country’s place is in Europe. We should act as a brotherhood, seeking peace and prosperity. So, a half measure will not do in the long run. This country needs to regain full membership of the exclusive club. Only then will Britain, and Europe, begin to realize their full potential on the world stage. Long live Britain! Vive l’UE ! Vive l’Europe ! — © Mark Alexander

Global Supply Shortages Deepen, Threatening Jobs and Growth

THE NEW YORK TIMES: After three months, the fallout of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is spreading, with developing countries bearing the brunt of the shortfall.

At the onset of the war in the Middle East, industry officials and experts warned that the closure of one of the world’s most vital maritime waterways would trigger acute shortages of oil, gas and other critical commodities. Three months into the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, those warnings are materializing across the globe.

Before the war, roughly a quarter of the world’s seaborne crude oil and a fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas passed through the strait. The region is also among the world’s largest suppliers of products derived from oil and gas, including fertilizer and naphtha, a liquid used in everything from plastic wrap to industrial inks.

Much of the world has largely experienced the crisis through price shocks. Physical supply shortages have afflicted economies across Asia. Developing countries everywhere, especially in Asia, have been hit the hardest, as shortfalls of oil, gas and their derivatives have strained everything from farming and cooking to medical imaging. Governments across the region have rationed power, drawn down emergency stockpiles and scrambled for alternative supplies.

“It’s not just a price shock, it’s explicit shortages,” said Krishna Srinivasan, a director at the International Monetary Fund. “In the context of shortages, industry scales back, people lose their jobs, and this has a secondary impact on growth,” Mr. Srinivasan said. » | River Akira Davis, Catie Edmondson, Eshe Nelson, Peter S. Goodman and Suhasini Raj | River Akira Davis reported from Tokyo, Catie Edmondson from Seoul, Eshe Nelson from London, Peter S. Goodman from New York and Suhasini Raj from New Delhi. | Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Pope Leo Gets a Close Look at First Fully Electric Ferrari

May 27, 2026 | Pope Leo XIV got the chance to sit in the driver's seat of the newly unveiled Ferrari Luce in Castel Gandolfo, Rome, Italy on 26 May. John Elkann, the chairman of the Italian brand, accompanied by other company executives and technical staff, presented the pontiff with a Ferrari steering wheel during the meeting. Ferrari test driver Raffaele de Simone knelt beside the pope while explaining the vehicle's controls and driving modes to the religious leader.

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Why is Ferrari facing such a backlash to its first electric car?: The Italian marque has broken with the past with its four-door, €550,000 Luce and traditionalists are furious »

Ventilateurs, glaces, salades... Comment la canicule transforme les habitudes de consommation des Français

LE FIGARO : Face au dôme de chaleur qui étouffe la France, les achats de produits dits « météo-sensibles » s’envolent, provoquant déjà tensions et ruptures chez certains distributeurs.

La France suffoque sous un « dôme de chaleur », qui devrait porter les températures jusqu’à 39°C localement, selon Météo-France. Désespérant de se soustraire à cette chaleur écrasante, certains Français peu scrupuleux déboulonnent sauvagement les bouches à incendies dans les rues pour en faire jaillir un peu d’eau fraîche. D’autres adaptent leurs habitudes de consommation. Les premiers chiffres sont éloquents : glaces, sodas, boissons rafraîchissantes, mais aussi ventilateurs, climatiseurs ou encore piscines de jardin ont vu leurs ventes exploser ces derniers jours. Au point de mettre certains distributeurs sous tension.

Chez les principaux e-commerçants français - Galeries Lafayette, Darty, La Redoute, Leroy Merlin -, le basculement vers des achats estivaux est aussi brutal que précoce. Les produits dits « météo-sensibles » s’envolent, tirés par une quête simple : se rafraîchir. Sans surprise, les commandes de ventilateurs explosent de 196% par rapport à mai 2025, celles de climatiseurs grimpent de 61%, tandis que les piscines de jardin et les maillots de bain enregistrent des hausses respectives de 144% et 42 %, selon les derniers chiffres de la start-up Stockly, spécialisée dans la mutualisation des stocks des e-commerçants. La hausse la plus spectaculaire revient toutefois aux... machines à glace : +247 % ! » | Par Jean Kedroff | mercredi 27 mai 2026

Trump Has Lost the War - David Cay Johnston

May 27, 2026

Jeffrey Sachs an Bundeskanzler Merz: Verhindern Sie offenen Krieg mit Russland!

BERLINER ZEITUNG : Der Ökonom und Diplomat Jeffrey Sachs fordert Bundeskanzler Merz auf, mit Russlands Präsident Putin unverzüglich Gespräche über Frieden in Europa zu beginnen. Der Brief im Wortlaut.

Dieser Screenshot stammt aus diesem Artikel der Berliner Zeitung. | Jeffrey Sachs, hier beim Antalya Diplomacy Forum 2025 in der Türkei, warnt vor einem Krieg in Europa und der Zerstörung der deutschen Wirtschaft. | © IMAGO/Emin Sansar
Offener Brief an Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz

Sehr geehrter Herr Bundeskanzler Merz,

als ich Ihnen vor einem halben Jahr einen offenen Brief schrieb, habe ich an Deutschland appelliert, die Diplomatie gegenüber Russland zu suchen, anstatt den Krieg zu normalisieren. Sechs Monate später hat sich die Lage in Europa dramatisch verschlechtert. Europa und Russland schlittern in einen offenen Krieg. In dieser Situation tragen Sie, Herr Bundeskanzler, eine einzigartige Verantwortung. Kein anderer europäischer Staats- und Regierungschef – weder in Paris, noch in Warschau, noch in Rom – verfügt über das Gewicht Deutschlands oder hat die Macht, die Sie persönlich besitzen, diese Katastrophe zu verhindern. Werden Sie sich für den Frieden einsetzen?

Sie selbst forderten im Januar 2026 gemeinsam mit Premierminister Meloni und Präsident Macron die Wiederaufnahme der Beziehungen Europas zu Russland und bezeichneten Russland als „ein europäisches Land“. Dennoch haben Sie die Diplomatie nicht verfolgt. Angesichts der Zukunft Europas, die auf dem Spiel steht, ist dies ein beispielloser Verzicht auf Ihre Führungsrolle. Haben Sie in Ihrer Zeit als Bundeskanzler auch nur einen einzigen substanziellen Dialog mit Präsident Putin versucht? Hat Ihr Außenminister jemals einen substanziellen Dialog mit Außenminister Lawrow versucht? Echte Gespräche, so wie jene, die den Kalten Krieg beendeten? Soweit die öffentlichen Aufzeichnungen belegen, lautet die Antwort: Nein. Nicht ein einziges Mal. Und nicht etwa, weil die Dringlichkeit nicht erkannt worden wäre. Lesen Sie den Brief weiter » | Michael Maier Jeffrey Sachs | Mittwoch, 27. Mai 2026

États-Unis : des morts et « plusieurs blessés graves » après un accident dans une usine

LE FIGARO : Une cuve contenant de la « liqueur blanche », une solution chimique contenant de l’hydroxyde de sodium et du sulfure de sodium utilisée dans la fabrication du papier, a cédé sur le site de la société Nippon Dynawave Packaging.

Plusieurs personnes sont décédées et d'autres ont été grièvement blessées lors d'une fuite de produits chimiques survenue dans une usine de papier de l'État de Washington, dans le nord-ouest des États-Unis, ont annoncé les autorités mardi.

Une cuve contenant de la « liqueur blanche », une solution chimique contenant de l'hydroxyde de sodium et du sulfure de sodium utilisée dans la fabrication du papier, a cédé sur le site de la société Nippon Dynawave Packaging, selon un communiqué publié conjointement par l'entreprise et les pompiers de Longview. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | mercredi 27 mai 2026

Steve Rosenberg: Russians Who "Harm Russia" from Abroad May Have Their Property Seized

May 27, 2026 | In today’s Russian papers: “nuclear rhetoric” in the Duma. And a new law that allows the seizure of property from citizens who’ve left the country and who “continue to harm Russia” from abroad.

At the Epicenter of A.I., Pope Leo’s Warnings Are Dismissed

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Pope Leo XIV’s spiritual message on artificial intelligence arrived as Silicon Valley’s A.I. enthusiasts pursue their own spirituality through technology.

When Pope Leo XIV presented a 42,300-word open letter to the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics on Monday, calling for protections against the rise of artificial intelligence, he was joined by Christopher Olah, a co-founder of Anthropic, which is one of the tech industry’s leading A.I. companies.

As Leo urged corporate executives, government regulators and other citizens of the world to safeguard humanity from the dangers of A.I., he included Mr. Olah as a symbol of the dialogue he hopes to foster between the leaders of the spiritual and technological worlds.

But for Jeremy Nixon, Monday’s gathering at the Vatican showed that those two worlds are far from aligned. While the pope said that A.I. was fundamentally not human, Mr. Nixon, a well-connected figure in the Bay Area’s frenetic A.I. scene, argued that Mr. Olah’s remarks seemed to hint at the opposite.

“They are not in dialogue,” Mr. Nixon said during an interview at A.G.I. House, a San Francisco “hacker house” with deep ties to many of the people who helped create the A.I. technologies discussed in the pope’s encyclical. “Their perspectives are distinct.”

The difference between the humanist’s view of A.I.’s risks and the technologist’s dream of what it could become is something that has long been discussed in Mr. Nixon’s community. “It is the reason the community exists,” Mr. Nixon said. “It is its underlying purpose.” » | Cade Metz | Reporting from San Francisco | Tuesday, May 26, 2026

"'Trump Has Engaged in Corruption More Than Other Presidents' as 'Slush Fund' Criticism Mounts

May 26, 2026 | US President Donald Trump's administration has announced the creation of a $1.776 billion fund for Americans deemed to be victims of political "weaponization," like January 6 Capitol riot defendants. But the announcement has brought in a lawsuit from a coalition of Trump critics adding to mounting backlash over the fund, seen as an additional act of corruption. FRANCE 24's Douglas Herbert looks at why.

Trump reeks of corruption, How can Americans tolerate this? — © Mark Alexander

Bolivia: President Halves His Own Salary after Weeks of Protest and Unrest

May 26, 2026 | Bolivia is in crisis with violence, food and fuel shortages, and protests on the streets growing over President Rodrigo Paz.

Elected after decades of left-wing rule, Paz now faces accusations of governing for elites and failing to address rising economic hardship and inequality. His government, meanwhile, blames drug traffickers for fuelling unrest and destabilising the country - claims that experts say lack evidence.

In this episode of the breakdown, Channel 4 News speaks with Enrique Castanon Ballivian, a lecturer at University College London specialising in Latin America, to examine what started the escalating unrest in the country and how it could end.


LIRE AUSSI :

Bolivie : des affrontements à La Paz malgré les concessions du président »

Kuba: Insel unter Schock | ARTE Reportage

May 18, 2026 | Mit der Verhaftung von Venezuelas Präsidenten Maduro durch die USA verlor Kuba einen treuen Verbündeten und mit ihm auch die Lieferungen von venezolanischem Öl, das gut die Hälfte seines Bedarfs deckte – ein schwerer Schock für die von Krisen gebeutelte Insel.

Im letzten Quartal 2025 lieferte Caracas an Havanna noch täglich zwischen 30.000 und 35.000 Barrel Öl, 50% des Bedarfs. Ohne Maduro und mit dem verschärften Embargo der USA unter Donald Trump herrscht auf Kuba nun eine Energieknappheit, die die Wirtschaft ruiniert. Der Alltag der Kubaner wird täglich schwieriger, viele erinnern sich noch an die "Sonderperiode" der 1990er Jahre, gleich nach dem Zusammenbruch der UdSSR, damals kollabierte Kubas Wirtschaft.Das Fehlen des Verbündeten Venezuela und die US-Sanktionen verschärfen heute die Isolation des Landes und sie schüren eine wachsende Wut in der Bevölkerung. Unsere Reporter erkundeten, wie Exil-Kubaner in Florida schon eine politische Wende Kubas in Richtung USA vorbereiten. Und sie filmten auf Kuba, wie die Bevölkerung von der neuen Krise mit voller Wucht getroffen wird. Durchhalten, irgendwie, lautet die Devise…

Video verfügbar bis zum 19/04/2029


Ce documentaire peut être visionné en français ici.

Franco’s Spain in the 1950s: How the Dictatorship Gained Legitimacy | Full Documentary

May 22, 2026 | In the 1950s, Spain under Francisco Franco entered a new phase known as the “Leaden Age.” After years of international isolation following World War II in 1945, the regime began to regain legitimacy. Key agreements, such as the 1953 Pact of Madrid with the United States and the 1955 admission of Spain to the United Nations, marked a turning point in Franco’s foreign policy and international standing.

These developments brought economic opportunities and a sense of stability to the country. While Spain appeared to move forward, political opposition weakened and resistance largely disappeared. Behind this controlled progress, Franco’s dictatorship remained firmly in place. This period reveals how international recognition and economic change helped secure the long-term survival of one of Europe’s most enduring authoritarian regimes.

Trump Is Trapped

He can’t find a way out of the hole he has dug for himself! Michael Lambert explains.

The Bankers Who Funded Hitler — And Who Were Never Punished | WW2

Feb 20, 2026 | In the spring of 1943, an American banker travelled freely through Nazi Germany, held meetings with Reichsbank officials in Berlin, and boarded a German escort vessel back to Switzerland. Nazi U-boats had standing orders not to sink his ship. His name was Thomas McKittrick, and he was the president of the most powerful international bank in the world.

This is not a conspiracy theory. Every institution, every document, and every name in this video is a matter of verified historical record — sitting in the National Archives, in declassified Treasury memos, and in the minutes of the Nuremberg proceedings.

What you won't find in most history books is the full story of how Wall Street bankrolled the economic conditions that brought Hitler to power, how Standard Oil shared critical war technology with Nazi Germany while withholding it from the US military, how Chase National Bank kept its Paris branch open under Nazi occupation and reported growing profits to Manhattan, how the Bank for International Settlements laundered looted Nazi gold throughout the war, how Prescott Bush — grandfather of two US presidents — had his assets seized under the Trading with the Enemy Act, and how a Swedish banking dynasty quietly played both sides and walked away to build a $60 billion empire.

Most of these men were never prosecuted. Most were promoted. And the systems they built are still running today. This is what economic history actually looks like.

”We Need a Wealth Tax on Billionaires.” Here's Why | Aaron Bastani Meets Gabriel Zucman

May 24, 2026 | Introducing a wealth tax on the very richest people in our society has never been more popular amongst the electorate, with recent polls showing 90% approval. This figure is basically unheard of when polling people on any form of policy proposal.

This week's guest, Gabriel Zucman, is a French economist who is a key inspiration for the UK's leading wealth tax advocate and friend of the show, Gary Stevenson.

Bolivie : des affrontements à La Paz malgré les concessions du président

LE FIGARO : Les manifestants rejettent la politique économique du gouvernement, réclament des hausses de salaires et accusent les autorités d’avoir distribué une essence de mauvaise qualité qui aurait endommagé des milliers de véhicules.

Des affrontements ont opposé lundi manifestants et policiers à La Paz lors d’une marche de milliers de personnes exigeant la démission du président Rodrigo Paz, qui a annoncé réduire son salaire pour tenter d’apaiser la contestation sociale.

Le président de centre-droit fait face depuis début mai au plus important mouvement de contestation de son mandat, entamé en novembre, alors que le pays traverse sa plus grave crise économique depuis quatre décennies. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | lundi 25 mai 2026

LESEN SIE AUCH :

Proteste in Bolivien: Präsident Paz will eigenes Gehalt um 50 Prozent kürzen: Seit Wochen kommt es in Bolivien zu Protesten. Nun will Präsident Rodrigo Paz sein Gehalt und das seiner Minister deutlich kürzen. »

Out of Gas, Cubans Cook With Charcoal and Wood to Survive

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The U.S. oil blockade has left millions without cooking gas. In Santiago de Cuba, the cradle of the Cuban revolution, apartment tower residents resort to charcoal and firewood.

On a recent night, Yusimi Castellano crouched over her squat iron stove, arranging charcoal and gently placing the Styrofoam and the plastic she used as kindling over it. She used a cigarette lighter to start a small fire.

Noxious smoke billowed through her 18th floor apartment, eventually sweeping out toward the former military barracks where the Cuban Revolution is said to have begun and the verdant mountains that wrap around Santiago de Cuba, the country’s second-largest city.

Slowly, the charcoal began to glow. She put a grill made of old coat hangers on top and boiled some spaghetti for her family’s dinner.

“I shouldn’t be cooking with charcoal,” said Ms. Castellano, 58, who has asthma and lately has been short of breath and coughing constantly. “But if I don’t cook, I die.”

Ms. Castellano’s crude cooking methods have become the norm across the complex of five 18-story buildings, each with 120 apartments, where she lives and that were once meant to showcase the revolution’s promise when they opened four decades ago.

Today, some people can’t even afford charcoal, and resort to chopping firewood to cook in their homes. » | Ed Augustin and Lisette Poole González | Photographs by Lisette Poole González | Ed Augustin and Lisette Poole traveled to the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba to document the energy crisis engulfing the island. | Monday, May 25, 2026

This is a BLOODY DISGRACE! What the ORANGE MAN in the White House is doing to those poor people is nothing short of CRIMINAL! All in the name of IDEOLOGICAL WARFARE!

Trump can ponce around in luxury in Mar-a-Lago, and pilfer BILLIONS OF DOLLARS from the state’s coffers to line his own pockets, fill his banks accounts, and puff up his investment portfolios, yet he is happy to put his head on his pillow at night—when he is not writing on Truth Social—and rest, knowing that he is causing these poor people such distress and hardship. What manner of man can Trump be? And what sort of people can Americans be, allowing their leader to persecute innocent people like this, in their name?

The sooner the world turns its back on this regime, the better! This is nothing short of the behaviour of devils. Long live compassion! Long live Cuba! — © Mark Alexander

Why the Vatican Wants Tougher AI Rules | DW News

May 25, 2026 | The head of the Catholic Church is taking on artificial intelligence. Pope Leo XIV is calling for tougher AI regulation, warning against autonomous weapons, concentrated corporate power, and a future where humans lose control. But can the Vatican really shape the AI revolution?

Hitler über Berlin - Der Aufstieg des Nationalsozialismus von der Weimarer Republik bis 1939 (1/5)

Sep 17, 2021 | Der Film zeigt Berlin und den Aufstieg des Nationalsozialismus von der Weimarer Republik bis in das Jahr 1939. Zitate aus der Zeit dokumentieren die Ereignisse, wie die Berliner diese Jahre erlebt haben. Das zum Teil stark beschädigte schwarz-weiß und farbige Originalmaterial wurde in einem Durchlauf mithilfe von künstlicher Intelligenz restauriert.

Zusammenschnitt der Irmgard von zur Mühlen Dokumentarfilme "Weltbühne Berlin" (1988), "Berlin unter dem Hakenkreuz" (1987), "Bomben auf Berlin" (1983) sowie CHRONOS-MEDIA Film- und Tonarchiv.