MAY 14. 2026

As tick bites surge, conspiracy theories follow

Where experts see climate change, others see the designs of a global cabal.

Scott Wiener Opposes a California Billionaire Tax. So Do His Tech CEO Backers.

Crypto executive Chris Larsen has spent millions fighting billionaire tax measures and funds a PAC backing Wiener.

First crypto, now data centers: How tech is reshaping this North Carolina community

Cryptocurrency mines are being repurposed as data centers to power the AI boom, sparking a regional backlash.

The Brazilian government keeps giving out mining licenses in the Amazon – in spite of evidence of gold ‘laundering’

An InfoAmazonia investigation found patterns of illegal gold laundering in the Tapajós River basin in Pará state, where Indigenous communities like the Munduruku people face mercury contamination from mining activity.

A Unique Oregon Law Allows It to Block Healthcare Deals. In Five Years, the State Hasn’t Done So Once.

Lawmakers said that giving the state oversight would stop multibillion-dollar deals from reducing care and increasing costs. Some who supported the law say it hasn’t been nearly as effective as they hoped.

The power of fungal networks

Fungal networks underpin ecosystems, regulate carbon flows and shape the health of soils worldwide.

MAY 13. 2026

Where Does Madagascar’s Gen Z-Led Movement Stand Now?

The country has announced a constitutional referendum and elections. Can that bring democratic change?

Both Trump and Xi Overestimate Themselves

Elites in both China and the U. S. are too easily tempted to buy into their own myths.

Trump Has One Major Focus While in China: Trade

The U. S. president is expected to downplay other issues to secure new trade deals.

Trump, Xi Prepare for High-Stakes Summit in Beijing

The U. S. president is expected to downplay other issues to secure new trade deals.

India Still Stands By BRICS

The group’s foreign ministers convene in New Delhi amid global tensions.

Immigrants Detained in Chicago Military-Style Raid Seek Millions in Damages

New accounts from 17 men, women and children taken in a midnight raid paint a violent, terrifying portrait of the federal agents’ alleged actions. These descriptions form the basis of claims filed this week against DHS and other federal agencies.

There’s No Need to Fear China’s Economy

Beijing can’t easily afford to escalate any economic struggle with Washington.

Group Work

On the labor, love, and strange multiplicity of coral

Why Congress Can’t Stop Trump’s Iran War

A half-century of messy politics has inverted the Constitution’s design—and there’s no easy fix.

Miami Beach Official Hired Billboard Truck to Call Pro-Palestine Activists “Jew Hater, ” Lawsuit Alleges

City commissioner David Suarez is accused of hiring the trucks to single out members of the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace.

Deeply I Groaned

sent me several questions about translation. She worried that they were somehow “too remedial, ” but they were actually something worse: ancient, unanswerable debates. Take this one: “How much ‘editing’ of an author when translating is considered permissible? What is the outer limit of acceptable on that score? ”

Is It Really a ‘Cease-Fire’ if Both Sides Are Still Shooting?

A mediation expert explains why the U. S. -Iran cease-fire is so vulnerable.

Deregulation Will Make Europe Poorer, Not Stronger

Three former European Commissioners warn that scrapping social protections in pursuit of competitiveness will leave the Union weaker, not stronger.

Declining Dollar Dominance: Potential Euro Gains

Without large-scale joint debt and deeper safe-asset markets, the euro cannot capitalise on Trump’s assault on dollar credibility.