Links 5/18/2026 | naked capitalism

Nepali mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa summits Everest for record 32nd time Anadolu Agency

A timelapse showing the incredible movement of a growing vine, exhibiting both nastic movement to find, and then a thigmotropic response to grasp and hold.

📽: Roger P Hangarter pic.twitter.com/BBPAp9os7j

— Wonder of Science (@wonderofscience) May 14, 2026

Empty Waymo taxis have been invading Atlanta neighborhoods and circling cul-de-sacs for hours early in the morning pic.twitter.com/rBx85f8OLv

— Dexerto (@Dexerto) May 15, 2026

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The original Doom soundtrack is officially in the Library of Congress Engadget

We still can’t see dark matter. But what if we can hear it? Space.com

Those Goddamn Federalist Papers HOGELAND’S BAD HISTORY

Tick that causes meat allergy, other rare virus is spreading: What symptoms to watch for The Hill

Climate/Environment

Lurking below the surface in the equatorial Pacific is possibly the most impressive blob of above average ocean temperatures we’ve ever recorded since we’ve had the ability to measure this stuff. When that enormous concentration of bath water reaches the surface over the coming… pic.twitter.com/Olip0bQwRN

— Matthew Gross (@HurricaneAddict) May 17, 2026

Declare climate crisis a global public health emergency, experts tell WHO The Guardian

Fire is transforming the West’s public lands Colorado Newsline

Do renewables make electricity cheaper or more expensive? Bright Spots

Amid the fertiliser crisis, Africa has a chemical-free option: Agroecology Al Jazeera

Ebola

Epidemic of Ebola Disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda determined a public health emergency of international concern World Health Organization (press release)

The reports of unlinked #Ebola cases in Kampala and a case in Kinshasa are deeply concerning.

Kampala and Kinshasa are densely populated cities with millions of residents and major regional and international transit hubs. Combined with ongoing transmission in mining towns with… https://t.co/7rU4Tp5X6X

— Krutika Kuppalli, MD FIDSA (@KrutikaKuppalli) May 17, 2026

Public Health Experts Point to Trump Aid Cuts as WHO Declares Emergency Over Ebola Outbreak in DRC, Uganda Common Dreams

In Ebola outbreak, a number of Americans in the Congo believed to have had exposure to suspected cases STAT. “…there is an effort afoot to get some Americans out of the DRC quickly. These efforts are likely made more difficult by the fact that one of the facilities that can quarantine people suspected of being infected with a high-consequence pathogen like Ebola and care for them if they are infected is currently housing Americans who were passengers on the MV Hondius, the cruise ship on which there was a recent hantavirus outbreak.”

Hantavirus

Canadian from hantavirus-hit cruise ship tests positive BBC

Water

US plan for Colorado River could cut up to 40% supply for Arizona, California and Nevada The Guardian

China?

MOFCOM briefs media on preliminary outcomes of China-US economic and trade consultations, two sides reach agreement including on agricultural products, tariffs and aircraft procurement Global Times

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Secures Historic Deals with China, Delivering for American Workers, Farmers, and Industry The White House

Lai says Taiwan will not be ‘sacrificed or traded away’ after Trump remarks Focus Taiwan

Chinese Hegemony is Not Happening…Un-Diplomatic

Beijing draws the line on digital dollars East Asia Forum

India

India bets on data centres even as water, energy-use concerns mount Mongabay

Syraqistan

Israel to raise military compound on ruins of UNRWA office it razed TRT World

In Iraqi Desert, Two Israeli Outposts Were Kept Secret for Months New York Times

ICC Prosecutor Asks for Arrest Warrants for Israeli Officials, Source Says Haaretz

Israel’s northern shock: Hezbollah exposes the limits of ‘Arrows of the North’ The Cradle

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From Mutual Suspicion to Political Embrace: How the U.S. Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Pakistan Drop Site

Pakistan’s New Logic of Limited War May Not Keep War Limited War on the Rocks

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Trump’s Hormuz ship insurance facility has done $0 business FT

⚡️JUST IN

Iran has created an Insurance Company to guarantee safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz

Vessels pay their Insurance Premiums in Bitcoin

This move will hurt the World’s largest Marine insurers pic.twitter.com/80iGCqmnKW

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) May 16, 2026

Cracking empire: FBI offer huge bounty for ex-military operative who defected to Iran The Canary

European Disunion

Ryanair has plans for ‘armageddon’ scenario as CFO warns weaker European carriers may not survive jet fuel crunch CNBC

EU’s foreign policy chief warns US, China, Russia seek to weaken united Europe Anadolu Agency

Spanish PM Sánchez’s party suffers historic loss in key Andalusia election Euronews

No, Bulgaria’s New Premier Isn’t Pro-Kremlin Jacobin

Africa

Trump Claims US Military Operation Killed ISIS Leader in Nigeria Antiwar

Old Blighty

Prime ministers keep getting forced out of Downing Street. Could fixing poverty save them?  Big Issue. Any politician who effectively finds a way to go against neoliberalism could be elected for life.

New Not-So-Cold War

Putin signs decree easing Russian citizenship for residents of Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region Anadolu Agency

Why the Russians would feel the need to hit anything in Kiev in retaliation for Ukraine’s demonstration of military impotence earlier is beyond me, but never interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake.

— Armchair Warlord (@ArmchairW) May 18, 2026

The Spoiled Prince of Kiev is Bleeding Tarik Cyril Amar

With Friends Like These… Landmarks: A Journal of International Dialogue

INCOME INEQUALITY IN RUSSIA HAS REACHED ITS HIGHEST LEVEL IN 18 YEARS. Natylie’s Place: Understanding Russia

Imperial Collapse Watch

Technocratic Takeover: Dismantling Nations for AI Control with Fiorella & Vanessa Beeley  WBAI

Defence groups clamour to delay US ban on Chinese rare earth magnets FT

US Needs Another Decade to Fix $1.2 Trillion Rare Earth Crisis Bloomberg

South of the Border

BREAKING: US armed forces & Bolivian police are preparing a joint operation to kidnap Evo Morales and massacre the indigenous communities in the vicinity.

Police officers opposed to the plan have leaked documents confirming the operation. pic.twitter.com/ZFvK7ggwMn

— Ollie Vargas (@Ollie_Vargas_) May 16, 2026

Venezuela hands Maduro’s financier to US in show of loyalty to Trump Intellinews

The Economic Consequences of the War Phenomenal World

Trump 2.0

How Trump’s New Counterterrorism Strategy Puts You at Risk The Intercept

GOP Funhouse

Iran War vs. Epstein Files Ken Klippenstein. “What Gallrein represents is something both parties have been quietly building toward for twenty-five years: the national security state as its own source of political legitimacy, floating above democratic accountability, not answerable to the public it claims to serve.”

Senator Bill Cassidy Loses Senate Primary in Louisiana American Conservative

Republican politicians blocking the recovery of America’s national icon, the American bison, are not true conservatives Ben Goldsmith

Big Brother Is Watching You Watch

What’s at Stake in Chatrie v. United States Tech Policy Press

Mamdani

Filling the Gap Ghost Runner. “Mamdani and Menin’s Status Quo Budget.”

MAHA

After USDA cuts, complaints over food safety spike Investigate Midwest

AI

AI as the new avatar of American capitalism Blood in the Machine

MALTA OFFERS FREE CHATGPT PLUS TO ALL ADULTS AFTER AI COURSE Malta News Agency

The US Is Using AI to Hunt Down Insider Trading on Polymarket Wired

Casino Nations

‘They can shape the outcomes they claim to forecast’ – could Polymarket influence an election? The Nerve

Guillotine Watch

Monopoly Round-Up: The Rage of the Billionaires Is Coming Matt Stoller

Industrial Capitalism Needed Us. Primitive Accumulation Doesn’t. Un-Diplomatic. That’s what they think. 

Economy

Falling wages, spiraling credit card debt Stephen Semler

The housing market is starting to look K-shaped too Yahoo! Finance

Mr. Market Plays Disciplinarian

Bond market rout deepens as investors fear ‘stagflationary shock’ from higher oil prices – business live The Guardian

Class Warfare

We’ve Optimized Fragility, Failure, Denial–and Rage Charles Hugh Smith

Fisker went bankrupt and owners built open source car company from the ashes Electrek

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