The Pressure of Existing in Trump's Authoritarian America

May 16, 2026 | Trump’s opposition to climate policies have increased long-term energy, food, and housing costs by expanding fossil fuel dependence, complicated by his war in Iran. His abusive rhetoric towards immigrants and minorities creates a national anxiety, incompatible with the values of humanity. Then there's the criminalization of protest, free speech and opposition to his nationalist regime - all contributing to the pressure-cooker-like environment of Trump's America.

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Cuba, un país a oscuras

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Estados Unidos cortó el suministro de combustible a Cuba, sumiendo a la ya empobrecida isla en una aguda crisis energética.

Los cubanos no son ajenos a las penurias, tras más de seis décadas de régimen comunista y hostilidad y embargo estadounidenses.

Pero la isla no había sufrido nada parecido a lo que está padeciendo ahora. Este año, el gobierno de Donald Trump cortó el principal suministro de petróleo de Cuba, procedente de Venezuela, tras decapitar al régimen de Caracas, aliado de La Habana. Cualquier medida para conservar la energía solo pospuso lo inevitable: las reservas de petróleo de Cuba se han agotado, según dijo el gobierno esta semana.

La escasez de combustible y el desmoronamiento de las infraestructuras han provocado apagones cada vez más prolongados; mucha gente solo tiene electricidad una o dos horas al día. Eso ha generado pequeñas protestas, incluidas algunas en las que la gente ha encendido hogueras en las calles.

Cuba se está deslizando hacia un estado preindustrial de ciudades y pueblos oscurecidos, donde la gente depende de las llamas y del músculo para sustituir el combustible ausente y la maquinaria que permanece inactiva.

Sin un suministro fiable de electricidad y gas, mucha gente ha vuelto a recoger leña y carbón para hacer hogueras al aire libre. » | Por The New York Times | viernes 15 de mayo de 2026

Read in English.

Visite de Trump en Chine : la délégation américaine a jeté tous les objets chinois avant de remonter dans l’avion

LE FIGARO : « Rien de Chine n’est autorisé à bord » d’Air Force One pour raisons de sécurité, a indiqué une journaliste américaine qui suivait la délégation.

Les cadeaux chinois n’auront pas passé les portes de l’avion. Selon une journaliste américaine envoyée par le New York Post en Chine pour y couvrir la visite de Donald Trump, la délégation américaine a jeté l’ensemble des objets offerts par la Chine « dans un panier » juste avant d’embarquer dans l’avion et de quitter le pays, ce vendredi 16 mai.

« Le personnel américain a pris tout ce que les officiels chinois ont distribué - accréditations, téléphones jetables du personnel de la Maison-Blanche, badges pour la délégation - les a collectés avant que nous montions à bord de l’AF1 et les a jetés dans un panier au bas des escaliers », a ainsi indiqué la correspondante à la Maison-Blanche Emily Goodin dans une publication postée sur X, qui a fait le tour de la toile. « Rien de Chine n’est autorisé à bord de l’avion », a poursuivi la reporter. » | Par Jeanne Durieux | samedi 16 mai 2026

Rob Groves: The Crypto Billions behind Farage & Reform UK

May 16, 2026 | Nigel Farage is under formal investigation by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner after it emerged that Thailand-based crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne secretly handed him a £5 million personal gift. Just before Farage reversed his decision and stood for Parliament in 2024. He never declared it. But this isn't just a Farage story. Harborne has a remarkable track record of donating to right-wing British politicians and watching government money flow back toward his business interests. He gave Boris Johnson a million pounds, and two months later, Johnson's government handed an £80m MoD contract to a defence company where Harborne was the largest shareholder. His total donations to Reform UK now exceed £22 million. That's roughly two-thirds of everything the party has ever raised. And the timeline of Farage's sudden conversion to cryptocurrency evangelism tells its own story.

Michael Lambert: Starmer Going? - Will Andy Burnham Start to Reverse Brexit

May 16, 2026 | Since Brexit, Britain has had six prime ministers and is about to have a seventh — and not one of them has fixed the economy. Not one.

The ‘SS British Economy’ continues to sink, and changing the captain won't save the ship.

In this video I explain why: The UK economy is falling behind the economy of every major European nation.

Trump Looked ‘Nothing Like the Man We Know’ in Beijing

May 15, 2026 | Mark Logan, former Member of Parliament, and Vice-Chair All Party Parliamentary China Group, joins Maddie Hale to analyse Donald Trump’s two day trip to Beijing to meet with Xi Jinping.

Großbritannien: Starmer unter Druck – Britisches Pfund fällt

BERLINER ZEITUNG: Hohe Energiepreise und innenpolitische Unsicherheiten belasten die britische Wirtschaft. Die Währung Pfund Sterling fällt.

Britische Staatsanleihen, Aktien und das Pfund Sterling sind am Freitag gefallen, wie die Nachrichtenagentur Reuters berichtet. Innenpolitische Unsicherheit und Sorgen um einen Inflationsschock infolge des Iran-Kriegs trugen dem Bericht zufolge dazu bei.

Das Pfund fiel laut Reuters auf ein Fünf-Wochen-Tief und verlor in dieser Woche fast zwei Prozent gegenüber dem US-Dollar. Damit steuert die britische Währung dem Bericht zufolge auf den größten Wochenverlust seit November 2024 zu. Zuletzt fiel der Kurs demnach um 0,3 Prozent auf 1,3364 US-Dollar, nachdem er zuvor mit 1,3335 US-Dollar den niedrigsten Stand seit über fünf Wochen erreicht hatte. » | Anika Schlünz | Freitag, 15. Mai 2026

Trump Worships Xi Jinping in Embarrassing China State Visit.

May 15, 2026 | Donald Trump spent years portraying China as America’s greatest enemy, yet during his Beijing summit with Xi Jinping he appeared far more comfortable admiring authoritarian pageantry than defending democratic values. The visit exposed a deeper contradiction at the heart of Trump’s politics: his hostility toward China has never really been about authoritarianism, but about competition with a system of centralized power he openly envies.

ANTHONY DAVIS can be supported on Patreon here.

Great News!

MARK ALEXANDER: When I checked the visitor counter on Google last evening, I was delighted to find that we have already well exceeded 2,000,000 visits. In fact, it is already nearly 13,000 more than that as I write this short report This, of course, delights me. And it couldn’t have been achieved without YOU. For your loyalty and support, I thank you ALL kindly. Your loyalty and support are deeply appreciated. Naturally, I am already looking forward to clocking up the next million! With your help and support, we shall be able to achieve 3m very soon.

Kind regards to all,
Mark

Trump Hits Back after Xi Claims US Is ‘Declining Nation’

THE TELEGRAPH: Donald Trump has pushed back on claims made by Xi Jinping that America is a “declining nation”.

The US president accepted that “tremendous damage” had been done to the US in recent years but blamed his predecessor Joe Biden.

“When President Xi very elegantly referred to the United States as perhaps being a declining nation, he was referring to the tremendous damage we suffered during the four years of Sleepy Joe Biden and the Biden Administration, and on that score, he was 100% correct,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social ahead of the second day of talks. » | Emily Blumenthal. Connor Stringer Chief Washington Correspondent, Beijing. Allegra Mendelson Asia Correspondent, Taipei. Robert White | Friday, May 15, 2026

Xi Jinping is right, of course. A blind man could see that the US is in steep decline. The country shows all the signs of an empire in decline. It is rotting from within.

Trump is wrong, and very unfair to blame “Sleepy Joe” for the rot. The rot started for America long before Biden’s presidency. Fact is, America has never been the same since 9/11. That attack did more to damage America and its trajectory than is easy to describe in a few words. And when it comes to apportioning blame, Trump himself must share the lion’s share of the blame in recent years. His corrupt and ludicrous presidency has brought America’s decline forward. It has also brought it into sharp focus. — © Mark Alexander

Russia: New Restrictions on Reporting Drone Attacks, New Rules for Expelling Foreigners

May 14, 2026 | In today’s Russian papers: new restrictions on reporting drone attacks, new rules for expelling foreigners, new local governors, new data shows financial situation worsens for ¾ of large Russian industrial companies. The joke at the end is about old lifts.

Xi Warns Trump of Potential "Conflict" over Taiwan in Beijing Summit on Iran, Trade, Tech & More

May 14, 2026 | U.S. President Donald Trump is in Beijing for a highly anticipated summit with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping. It is the first U.S. state visit to China since 2017, during Trump's first administration. Trade, the Iran war, artificial intelligence and the fate of Taiwan are some of the issues being discussed, although it's not clear if any new agreements are likely. Trump traveled to China with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, along with a delegation of top U.S. executives including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Elon Musk of Tesla and Jensen Huang of Nvidia.

The summit comes after years of rising hostility between the two superpowers, but leaders recognize the importance of improving the bilateral relationship, says Zhao Hai, director of international political studies at the Institute of World Economics and Politics in Beijing. "This is a very critical historical moment [at] a crossroad, and both sides now are working together to establish a stable relationship that will have a global ramification," he says.

We also speak with Jake Werner, a historian of modern China and director of the East Asia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He says the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and the resulting economic chaos have strengthened China's position.

"China has ties to all the countries in the region. It has acted in the past to help broker the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran," says Werner. "So it has some experience in this realm, sort of acting as a broker towards peace."


Democracy Now! can be supported here.

Back to the Future of Brexit

May 13, 2026 | Ten years after the vote to leave the European Union, the rise of populism and increasingly radical leftism could be a foretaste of the American political future.

One can but weep for this country! Brexit has put us into a fine old mess! Brexit has brought us impoverishment, no opportunities for economic growth, and nothing to look forward to. Britons’ rights as citizens have been stripped away, replacing them with a few feudal ‘rights’ as subjects of the King, and little else. Prior to that ridiculous, ill-thought-out Brexit, Britons had a decent future. They could move to any EU country and work there, start a business there, set up home there, avail themselves of free healthcare there, travel visa-free there, and for those who love their pets, because of the ‘EU Pet Travel Scheme’, they could even move there with their beloved dogs, cats, or ferrets! Now, just to travel there involves all manner of hurdles to jump. One could call it the steeplechase of the century!

One of the main architects of Brexit and all the troubles and travails that Brexit brought with it is, of course, that infamous, self-serving, self-enriching snake oil salesman, Nigel Farage. And how the naïve and ill-informed have been taken in by him! They have even gone and cast their vote for him in recent local elections, voting for the very man who has made them poorer! Talk about turkeys voting for Christmas, this was it! — © Mark Alexander

China’s Xi Warns Trump on Taiwan at Beijing Summit

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Xi Jinping, China’s leader, told President Trump that Taiwan, if handled poorly, could lead to a clash with the United States. The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and the Iran war at the two-day summit.

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, delivered a warning on Taiwan to President Trump as the two leaders began their summit in Beijing on Thursday, saying that the issue, if handled poorly, could lead to conflict and “an extremely dangerous situation.”

The two men met in the Chinese capital in a ceremony laden with pageantry and pleasantries. But Mr. Xi’s warning was a stark reminder that Taiwan, a self-governing island claimed by China, is a red line.

The two-day summit, the first U.S. presidential visit to China in nearly a decade, could determine whether a détente that has prevailed between the two countries will continue — and what concessions, if any, either side is willing to make.

Mr. Xi greeted Mr. Trump on Thursday morning outside the Great Hall of the People. They shook hands before walking together past an honor guard and rows of cheering children. As “The Star-Spangled Banner” played, a 21-gun salute echoed across Tiananmen Square.

Inside the Great Hall, Mr. Xi called for the two countries to work together to confront an increasingly “complex and turbulent world.”

“We should be partners, not adversaries,” he said.

Mr. Trump emphasized his personal relationship with Mr. Xi, and said the two leaders speak to each other on the phone to work out problems. “You’re a great leader,” he told Mr. Xi.

But Mr. Xi made clear that Taiwan had the potential to spoil the relationship. “If handled poorly, the two countries will collide or even clash, putting the entire U.S.-China relationship in an extremely dangerous situation,” he said while referring to Taiwan, according to a readout from Xinhua, China’s official news agency.

One of China’s related priorities is persuading the United States to curtail its arms sales to Taiwan.

Aside from Taiwan, Mr. Xi and Mr. Trump discussed trade, the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula, according to Xinhua. Details about the talks were not immediately released and there was little indication of whether there had been any breakthroughs. Live Updates » | Lily Kuo and David E. Sanger | David E. Sanger reported from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. | Thursday, May 14, 2026

Labour Leadership Contest Could 'Plunge Country into Chaos', Says UK Chancellor | BBC News

May 14, 2026 | Chancellor Rachel Reeves said in an exclusive interview with the BBC that any Labour leadership contest would "plunge the country into chaos".

It comes as Angela Rayner, seen as a potential challenger to PM Keir Starmer, was cleared by HMRC of wrongdoing over her tax affairs after settling £40,000 in unpaid stamp duty, saying she had been "exonerated" of the accusation she had "deliberately sought to avoid tax".

On Wednesday, allies of Health Secretary Wes Streeting said they expected him to launch a challenge as soon as today.

A Speech to Europe 2026 by Anne Applebaum

May 13, 2026 | For A Speech To Europe 2026, historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Applebaum will address whether Europe’s time has come and what characterises this historic moment in her lecture:

»The European Moment«. Applebaum is among the most prominent voices on the rise of authoritarianism and the fragility of liberal democracy, and she puts the challenge squarely to her audience:

»This is the hour of Europe — but do the Europeans even know it?«

Since 2019, A Speech to Europe, initiated by the ERSTE Foundation, has provided a fundamental reflection on the present and future of Europe. The venue is Vienna’s Judenplatz, which serves as a reminder that Europe can only be understood in the mirror of its history. The speech will be held in English. This event is free of charge and takes place outdoors at the Judenplatz Vienna.


A wonderful and very important speech. Erudite, hard-hitting, informative, interesting, and inspiring. Thank you, Anne Applebaum! — © Mark Alexander

Face à un Donald Trump pressé par le temps, la Chine joue la montre

LE FIGARO : DÉCRYPTAGE - Xi Jinping reçoit avec faste son homologue américain enlisé au Moyen-Orient, pour arracher un répit stratégique et des garanties sur Taïwan.

À Pékin, Xi Jinping offre un accueil impérial à Donald Trump, sans jamais déroger. Le président chinois accompagnera son hôte jeudi sur les dalles de pierre du Temple du Ciel, là où les empereurs accomplissaient jadis les rites confucéens en quête de récoltes propices et de certitudes face au chaos du monde.

Après la Cité interdite, en 2017, la Chine déroule à nouveau le tapis rouge au président américain, dans un autre haut lieu de son histoire, à l’occasion de la première visite d’un président américain depuis près d’une décennie, sur fond de rivalité stratégique au long cours.

Face aux caméras, la promenade des dirigeants projettera la force tranquille d’une seconde puissance mondiale tenant tête au trublion de l’Amérique d’abord, en pleine convulsion géopolitique au Moyen-Orient. La Chine entend travailler avec les États-Unis « sur un pied d’égalité » afin de développer la coopération, de gérer les différends et d’injecter « plus de certitude dans un monde instable et interdépendant », a déclaré Guo Jiakun, un porte-parole du ministère des Affaires étrangères, à la veille de cette visite qui débute ce 13 mai. » | Par Sébastien Falletti, correspondant en Asie | mercredi 13 mai 2026

Réservé aux abonnés

Is the US Empire in the Middle of a Long Decline? | The Bottom Line

May 11, 2026 | When the United States threatens to take over countries and destroy civilisations, “these are the wild gesticulations of a sinking enterprise”, argues Richard Wolff, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Massachusetts.

Wolff tells host Steve Clemons that US leaders refuse to face the reality that the US empire is in decline. Around the world, he adds, people are “deeply internalising” the lessons from the US's inability to defeat Iran.

The people in the US are becoming “bitterly angry” at their situation, where the richest 10 percent of Americans own 80 percent of corporate stocks, making the stock market “utterly irrelevant” to the masses.


Trump is a dunce in clown’s clothing! — © Mark Alexander

Violent Tobacco Black Market Wipes $6b from Federal Budget

FINANCIAL REVIEW: The booming illicit tobacco market has wiped $6 billion from the federal budget bottom line in just five months and revenue from tobacco excise is now forecast to plummet to just over $2 billion a year by 2030.

The government raked in more than $16 billion from tobacco taxes in 2020, but the continued raising of the excise sparked a violent black market trade run by criminal gangs that has decimated the legitimate market and resulted in a massive fall in revenue.

The government is now spending hundreds of millions of dollars on dealing with the fallout, including $14 million in the budget to boost the ability of states to disrupt the illicit tobacco and e-cigarette markets.

In the mid-year budget update, the government expected to raise $5.5 billion in tobacco excise in 2025-26. Five months later, that figure is now $4.1 billion, or 24 per cent lower than expected, and will fall to $2.1 billion by June 2030.

Legal cigarettes cost about $50, of which $34 is tax and excise, while the readily available illicit product is priced at about $15. NSW Premier Chris Minns in 2025 called on Chalmers to consider lowering the excise, saying it was contributing to the illegal tobacco industry, while economist Chris Richardson has labelled the continued raising of the excise one of the worst policies this century.

“We’ve cratered the tax take, stalled the fall in smoking rates, and invited organised crime into the everyday lives of more than a million Australians,” Richardson wrote in The Australian Financial Review in April.

The budget expert said the failure by successive governments to do anything about the issue meant it would now be much harder to fix.

“Organised crime will fight tooth and nail,” he said. “They’ve been a huge success at that already: after all, they fought the law, and the law lost. Given we’re now handing them a tasty $5 billion a year in risk-free revenue, they’ll be cashed up and cranky if serious efforts are made to reverse course.” » | Ronald Mizen | Political correspondent | Wednesday, May 13, 2026

And so it will be here in the UK with Starmer's stupid, undemocratic, illiberal, and ridiculous generational smoking ban! Mark my words! That law will have to be REVERSED, REPEALED! Free up the people! You will enchain them at society's PERIL. — © Mark Alexander

Steve Rosenberg: "Powerful Missiles" & "Downgraded Growth Forecasts" in Today's Russian Papers

May 13, 2026 | In today’s Russian papers: • “The world's most powerful missile”; • Russia downgrades economic growth forecast; • Russians turn to cash due to mobile internet shutdowns & “rumours” regarding bank deposits.