Source: gCaptain
“Iran is discussing with Oman how to set up some form of a permanent toll system that will formalize its control of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. … ‘We’ve always said a tolling system in the strait would be unacceptable,’ US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Thursday when asked about Iran’s intentions. ‘No one in the world is in favor of a tolling system. It can’t happen. It would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible. It’s a threat to the world that they would try to do that, and it’s completely illegal.’ … Iran refuses to reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the US agrees to lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports.” (05/21/26)
https://gcaptain.com/iran-and-oman-discuss-hormuz-toll-regime-as-rubio-warns-it-cant-happen/
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“Critics of the May 2026 summit between President Trump and Xi Jinping, president of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), widely condemned the outcome as being long on pomp and ceremony but short on meaningful substantive results. They noted that most of the agreements reached, especially on trade and other economic issues, were either preliminary or relatively minor. There was a virtual consensus among the opinion-shaping elites that Trump had secured no major concessions on either his commercial or his security objectives. In other words, the outcome of the summit was rather bland and boring. That criticism may be true, but in international affairs boring is usually good.” (05/21/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2026/05/20/the-boring-trump-xi-summit-boring-is-good/
Source: SFGate
“Trucks carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles rumbled over forest roads, atomic-powered submarines set sail from Arctic and Pacific ports, and crews scrambled into warplanes as Russia and neighboring Belarus held the final stage of their joint nuclear drills Thursday. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko inspected Russian short-range nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missiles at a military unit involved in the drills …. The three-day drills that began Tuesday come amid a surge in Ukrainian drone strikes, including on Moscow’s suburbs that killed three people and damaged several buildings and industrial facilities. The strikes made it harder for officials in the Kremlin to cast the conflict in Ukraine — now in its fifth year — as something so distant that it doesn’t affect the daily routines of Russian civilians. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the exercise involved 64,000 troops, over 200 missile launchers, more than 140 aircraft, 73 surface warships and 13 submarines, including eight armed with nuclear-tipped ICBMs.” (05/21/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/russia-holds-nuclear-drills-on-land-sea-and-air-22270103.php
Source: The Daily Economy
by Stefan Bartl
“Washington, Beijing, and Brussels are all moving toward state-managed commerce and geopolitical trade blocs. The recent US-China summit accelerates the shift.” (05/21/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/controlled-commerce-the-march-of-a-new-global-economic-order/
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Americans are contending with almost daily shifts in how the Trump administration characterizes the war-slash-ceasefire with Iran that began Feb. 28. Yet just as important to this current Middle East struggle is a series of resolutions proposed in Congress to either end the conflict or seek approval by lawmakers to continue it. On Tuesday – in its eighth such vote since strikes against Iran began – the Senate advanced a measure to debate a requirement of the 1973 War Powers Resolution that a president obtain congressional approval within 60 days of starting a conflict. The House is expected to vote shortly on a similar measure for the fourth time.” [editor’s note: None of these resolutions are necessary — absent a declaration of war, the war is illegal, full stop – TLK] (05/20/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0520/The-vital-voice-of-Congress-in-launching-war
Source: Quartz
“Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week to their lowest level in months, offering another sign that layoffs remain muted despite a range of economic pressures. Thursday’s Labor Department report showed 209,000 new applications for the week ending May 16, a decline of 3,000 from the previous week. The result came in below the 213,000 that FactSet-surveyed analysts had expected. At 202,500, the four-week average — which irons out week-to-week swings — marked its lowest reading since 2024, Bloomberg noted, representing a 1,500-point drop. Continuing claims, covering the week ending May 9, climbed to 1.78 million, an increase of 6,000.” (05/21/26)
https://qz.com/us-jobless-claims-209000-labor-market-052126
Source: The Anarchist Experience
“Rich and Riley discuss the modern use and function of AI chatbot girlfriends and explain how the price signal works to the troll in spite of his perfect game theory example.” (05/21/26)
https://theanarchistexperience.wordpress.com/2026/05/22/the-anarchist-experience-581/
Source: The Dispatch
“All the Things Wrong with Trump’s Billion-Dollar Fund.” (05/21/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/all-the-things-wrong-with-trumps-billion-dollar-fund/
Source: WBEZ Chicago [US state media]
“Chicago’s top federal prosecutor announced Thursday he was dropping charges against the remaining members of the ‘Broadview Six’ in a stunning hearing that revealed apparent misconduct before a grand jury by his assistants — but which he insisted he knew nothing about until recently. … Boutros said events on Sept. 26, 2025, outside an immigration holding facility in Broadview — in which the defendants and others allegedly surrounded a federal agent’s vehicle and slowed its approach to the building — is ‘unacceptable in a civilized society. It is for the grace of God that that agent moved at 2 miles per hour.’ … Specific details of the misconduct were still coming to light Thursday afternoon …. a prosecutor allegedly had a conversation with a grand juror outside the jury room. And some grand jurors who disagreed with the case were allegedly prevented from participating further.” (05/21/26)
https://www.wbez.org/crime/2026/05/21/broadview-ice-protest-grand-jury-transcript-kat-abughazaleh-trump
Source: Cobden Centre
by Ryan McMaken
“Fears over price inflation returned in a big way this week as bond yields rose in the wake of recent government reports on consumer and producer prices. The US-Israel war on Iran continues to take a toll on global supply chains, and related price hikes appear to be partly driving growth in long term yields for both US, British, and Japanese debt. This week’s CPI and PPI reports both showed price inflation surging to multi-year highs, and not just on oil prices. This, combined with new increases in oil prices, appears to have spooked investors who are now, in the face of rising prices, are demanding higher yields for long-term debt.” (05/21/26)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2026/05/price-inflation-accelerates-as-wars-and-deficits-expand/
