UK: Health secretary resigns in scathing letter, setting up challenge to Starmer’s leadership

Source: CBS News

“Efforts to unseat British Prime Minister Keir Starmer broke out into open rebellion Thursday, with one potential rival resigning from the Cabinet and another clearing the way for her to enter any future leadership contest. Health Secretary Wes Streeting became the first senior minister to quit Starmer’s Cabinet in what is expected to be a precursor to challenging his leadership. … Streeting, whose political ambitions have long been known, is considered one of a handful of people who could try to unseat Starmer. … Another likely challenger, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, said Thursday that she had reached an agreement with tax authorities to clear up questions about her taxes that forced her to leave the Cabinet last September.” (05/14/26)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/uk-health-secretary-resigns-prime-minister-keir-starmer-challenge/

What Silicon Valley can learn from the Eastern Establishment

Source: hypertext
by Geoff Kabaservice

“There was a time when Silicon Valley and the tech industry seemed — not cool, exactly, but vaguely countercultural and brashly anti-establishment. That was the point of Mark Zuckerberg wearing pajamas to an investor pitch, or tech execs spurning coats and ties: to emphasize that they were unlike traditional elites in every way. They consciously presented themselves as rebels whose products would liberate humanity from the old constraints of authority and tradition. Back in the early 2000s, it would have seemed far-fetched to imagine that these former outsiders would become an elite themselves.” (05/14/26)

https://hypertext.niskanencenter.org/p/what-silicon-valley-can-learn-from

AI Won’t Necessarily Lead to Mass Unemployment: The Case of the Financial Industry

Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker

“There is widespread concern that AI will lead to mass unemployment in the years ahead. As I and others have pointed out, we have yet to see any evidence of this in the data on job growth or productivity. But maybe we just have to wait a bit longer. But the idea that AI will eliminate all the jobs ignores the ways that creative entrepreneurs can develop new industries that require hundreds of thousands, or even millions of employees. These new industries may contribute nothing to well-being, but they create jobs. The best example of this sort of waste is the financial industry.” (05/14/26)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/05/14/ai-wont-necessarily-lead-to-mass-unemployment-the-case-of-the-financial-industry/

China summit is Trump’s best chance to choke off Iran’s terror cash

Source: New York Post
by Elaine Dezenski & Max Meizlish

“A bombshell report this week laid bare a startling truth: Hong Kong is the lifeline for the Iranian regime and its terrorist proxies. Hong Kong-registered shell companies are funneling billions of dollars in illicit oil revenue, along with weapons technology and surveillance tools, to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, fueling Tehran’s repressive military machine. But more than two months into the war, not one of Iran’s most important financial enablers — in Hong Kong or anywhere else in China — has been taken offline. Donald Trump and Xi Jinping shaking hands, with the US and Chinese flags behind them. It’s a glaring loophole in President Trump’s ‘Economic Fury’ and ‘Maximum Pressure’ campaigns that he’s promised will break the regime. So this week, as the president meets with Xi Jinping in Beijing, he should present the Chinese Communist Party with the bill for its continued support of Tehran’s terror.” (05/13/26)

https://nypost.com/2026/05/13/opinion/china-summit-is-trumps-chance-to-choke-irans-terror-cash/

US weekly jobless claims increase moderately, labor market remains stable

Source: Reuters

“The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits increased moderately last week, pointing to ​a stable labor market even as ‌rising energy prices from the war with Iran drive up inflation. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 12,000 ​to a seasonally adjusted 211,000 for the ​week ended May 9, the Labor Department ⁠said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters ​had forecast 205,000 claims for the latest ​week. … The government reported ​on Wednesday that producer prices recorded their biggest increase in ‌four ⁠years in April. There are concerns that shortages and rising inflation could cause layoffs in some industries.” (05/13/26)

https://www.reuters.com/business/us-weekly-jobless-claims-increase-moderately-labor-market-remains-stable-2026-05-14/

When Businesspeople Run Government, the Government Doesn’t Become a Business

Source: Reason
by Veronique de Rugy

“Central planning from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, President Donald Trump, and others reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of what makes private markets work.” (05/14/26)

https://reason.com/2026/05/14/when-businesspeople-run-government-the-government-doesnt-become-a-business/